our team make it to sanibel island and what they found.nsure about the fate of many throughout their community. the coast card arriving with helicopters, lifting survivors to safety. rob marciano taracking this int the night. we begin with elwyn lopez in charleston, south carolina for us. >> reporter: tonight, ian is on the move, making a third u.s. landfall as a strong cat-1 hurricane with 85-mile-an-hour inds. roaring on shore in south carolina's low country at the worst possibly time, during high tide. >> the surge is coming in hard! >> reporter: ian's powerful storm surge sending a wave of trash cans and debris through the streets south of myrtle beach. in georgetown county, authorities using high-water vehicles to rescue families trapped, guiding people and their pets through water up to almost their waste, carefully assisting them as they climb inside. off pawleys island, debris from a pier ripped apart by the sea. in charleston, powerful winds tossing boats in the harbor. sheets of rain rushing into this garage as ian roars ashore,

sections of the sanibel causeway washed away. debris filling the streets in every direction in fort meyers. tonight, there are water rescues under way across the state as we come on the air. krufs pulling people from flood waters. on the ground and from choppers overhead. a nursing home evacuated in orlando. first responders with children in their arms carrying them to safety. tonight, president biden warning of what could be a horrific death toll here. we have just learned the storm is now a hurricane again, regaining strength for its run up the east coast. tonight, nearly 2 million customers here in florida are without power. and tonight, we're with the families, those who sought shelter and who are still unable to get back to their homes. some who lost everything in the blink of an eye. georgia and the carolinas bracing in the coming hours. now the storm surge threatening charles on the. ginger zee, rob marciano, both here in florida with me tonight. and our team spread out across the storm zone. >>> the other major news this

ware is there with the sanibel navy. >> we are going to help some people in sanibel. >> you need helpem bedroom. >> okay. give us a minute, and we will come up there. >> we follow the cry for help ashore on sanibel and find a gentleman eager to accept a boat lift, but unable to convince his better half. >> we are going. >> to where? >> fort myers. >> the bridge is out. the bridge is knocked out. >> i am not ready to go. >> the area reveals plenty of hazards, including a hiss from the natural gas tank. but some of the structures have held up which is in stark contrast to pine island. look at, this flattened. especially mobile homes of the working class and retirees living in st. james city. >> before we go, new images showing the rescues of very, very valuable family members of the storm. and plucking dogs and cats from the floodwaters, and the message on facebook, pets are family, period. and now, try to have a peaceful weekend. ana cabrera is going to pick up our coverage right now. >>> hello and thank you for being with us. i'm ana cabrera in new york, a right now, the people in sou

that's located right as you head out into sanibel island. again, we are only 48 hours into this and the only access you can get to these islands is by boat. this down here is fort myers beach. we showed you, all this aluminum from the subdivision has been tossed around and that happened down here around the fort myers beach area that we can show you coming up next hour. it gives you a better idea with the geography and what folks are trying to deal with down there. >> dana: you know that area better than i do. i've been there quite a bit. a highly populated area. there are a lot of homes, a lot of property, a lot of businesses. so a lot of people will face some difficulties. >> bill: just a point on that. when you don't have a hurricane for 100 years you get more comfortable and build more and think it's a great life. it is. they've taken it very hard at the moment. the reason we carry these briefings in full is because it's where we get our best information. the next time they do it we'll bring it to you from florida as well. >> dana: now t

the hurricane ravaged island of sanibel cut off. the only way to reach survivors is by boat or helicopter this is coast guard aircrew rescuing people along with their cats from a flooded mobile home park and this is the coast guard rescuing a survivor who rode out the hurricane in a boat. the storm surge left him hopelessly stuck and stranded in the middle of mangroves near sanibel. news team coverage again tonight. meteorologist adam del rosso with the latest track and perry with stories and shomari stone and it hit near myrtle beach, south carolina >> reporter: it's an example of ian's powerful winds anchored 12 miles away and the strong winds pushed it here luckily they say no one was injured and no one was on the boat at the time now, rescues were made here earlier and these are images of myrtle beach fire crews rescuing four people who were trapped on the second floor of this building about 20 miles south of here, a pier at pawleys island collapsed and a number of private docks destroyed. many residents unable to reach their ho

the causeway on the way to sanibel being that the bridge is breached in five area, and sanibel is not accessible by ground vehicles, and so we are right now doing a rescue operations with the boats and from the air. the same with pine island and the roads are completely washed out, and the bridges are destroyed, and so we are, it is slow going, but the search and rescue operation has been under way since just about day break yesterday, but it is slow going. >> a member of the cajun navy told us that in sanibel specifically that he is worrying that hundreds of people may be dead and not discovered yet, and are you worried that is possible, and do you know anything about lives lost that you can share? >> i can't verify numbers of fatal tis, but yes, am worried. when you are taking a look at the the buildings and see it is a pile of rubble, and we also know that not as many people evacuated from islands as we had hoped for, we know that there has to be many fatalities yet to be accounted for. >> roger dejarlais, the county manager, and i my heart is with you, and i speak on so many peopl

i guess sanibel would be one of the last to get it. >> reporter: you imagine sanibel would. go in order of operations. the search and rescue is still immediate. they are still rescuing people by the hundreds every day. that is top of mind. then it's figuring out which scenes are safe enough to do that. then which scenes are safe enough to get somebody in a bucket to restore power lines or cut a line or to get emergency rations to people that may be trapped. there's still so much to be done here in such a scene of devastation, that restoring power, unfortunately, is probably very low on the order of operations, unless it's an emergency situation. in that case, you probably got a list of other problems happening. the emergency effort that's happening on sanibel not too far from here must be taking precedence. those people are entirely cut off if many are still there. so much to do in so little time. a window that may be close on people that may be trapped. there's so much wreckage that you don't know. you can't see beyond it. >> steve, thank you for rushing to get there and gi

sanibel just off the coast of cape coral and ft. myers. >>> another big story, vladimir putin is hours away from one of the largest land grabs in europe since 1945. what is putin's annexation and absorption plan? that's ahead. >>> but first, a time-lapse view ofof ian moving in. a a traffic cam captured this, giving us at least some perspective of thehe ferocious stororm surge that governor desantis called biblical. and the force of this storm. we'll be right back. relax from daily stress.p me plus, shoden ashwagandha r quality sleep. so i can wake up refreshed. neura think bigger. absorption plan? liz, you nerd, cough if you're in here! shh! i took mucinex dm for my phlegmy cough. what about rob's dry cough? works on that too, and lasts 12 hours. 12 hours?! who studies that long? mucinex dm relieves wet and dry coughs. . >>> this just into cnn. stunning new drone footage of the sanibel island causeway or what's left of it. you can see entire sections of the highway just missing, now sitting in the gulf of mexico. other sections of

and washed away parts of the sanibel causeway. so you can't drive to sanibel anymore. is rear admiral brendan mcpherson. he's the commander of the seventh coast guard district. admiral, thank you for being with us. let me first ask you about the now. what are you doing now? how much need is there to reach people this morning? >> yeah, good morning, john. it was a busy day of search and rescue for the coast guard yesterday. we had 16 aircraft up in the air throughout the day and overnight. we were able to rescue 95 people. and we're starting get at first light this morning. we've got our aircraft in the air this morning. we're going to get out there. we're going to find anybody else that needs assistance. >> so 95 rescues yesterday. and some of the places, we should note, we talked about sanibel, the only way to get there was by helicopter. you're the only people who could reach the folks on that island. describe the types of rescues that were going on. >> yeah, that's right, john. you know, this is an all-hands effort. we're working with the florida national guard and

it has to be entirely rebuilt and sanibel island has to be rebuilt as well. sanibel island here. this is where you see that road where it just fell in. during the last briefing they heard there is a lot of road damage. it is in several locations. what the mayor of sanibel said a moment ago the operations they have now to bring boats out and help people bring them supplies, 200 homes she believes it's 200 homes. she continues to get text messages. that number could change. 200 homes decided to stay there on sanibel island. you have to think the boats have to come out and get everybody out of the homes. if you won't have power or electricity a tough way to live. this is fort myers beach here south of downtown. the reason why we point this island out is because this image here. this was fort myers beach before wednesday afternoon and this is largely what looks to me a pretty fancy rv park. a lot of structures are made of aluminum. you see what happens when a cat four storm comes and stays for hours with winds packing 140, 150 miles-per-hour. the aluminum scatters. it looks like a to

the absolute devastation of sanibel island.ing that we could really compare that situation to is some of the destruction that we saw back in the keys a few years ago after a hurricane hit there. also to a certain extent, cutting off some of the access to the keys. all that being said, as you're taking a look at the devastation there, the difficulties that lie ahead, especially in getting folks back and forth, getting resources to them, what are your biggest concerns? >> well, to be able to complete the deployment of all of the search-and-rescue teams and to get the national guard in there with the search-and-rescue teams because 700 we were able to rescue yesterday were the ones that were easy to find, yasmin. that work is going to get harder. as we found out in katrina, we found a lot of elderly, disabled, and emotionally poor people alone at home. most of them elderly. and we thought we were doing pretty good the first week until we made the secondary search and went in those homes. and every building that flooded will have t

that's the only way on sanibel island.rations to help people there have been mostly by air. all told, search and rescue operations, it started in the wee hours in the morning. as soon as the winds died down enough to where it was safe, you had coast guard assets, you had urban search and rescue teams, we had the national guard out assisting people. there have been more than 700 confirmed rescues and there's likely many more than that that will be confirmed as more data comes in. people have been rescued from places like ft. myers, ft. myers beach, sanibel, marco island, as well as the barrier islands in charlotte county. obviously there was a lot of calls coming in as the storm was really raging yesterday. people who did not evacuate were hunkered down. there was storm surge, there was a lot of apprehension, understandably, when initially the first responders came this morning, people would wave them down, whether they were by helicopter, boat, or high-water vehicle. now what they're finding is on places like ng, but they

we've seen the images of sanibel now and the utter devastation.en the storm hit? >> it was awful. there are no words for what that was like. we thought we'd be okay in a three-story building. we ended up being safe. but it did flood to the second story. the house began to move. the roof began to rip off. the shingles from other houses were ripping off. all three vehicles were flooded out front, trucks had water over the top of them. at one point we had to question how we would get out of the house if the roof were to tear, how we would swim. >> kelsey, you must've thought that, at a time, that you weren't going to make it. >> absolutely. and at the same time we were getting random signals and text messages would come through of people who were also lost or trapped. a friend of mine had lost her grandmother and her two dogs. and those reports were coming in at the same time we were in that same situation. it was terrifying. >> truly you talk about your friend's grandmother. i know that when you were talking to a producer earlier today, you talked a

>> well, sanibel is destruction. this is -- those of you who have not been, it's a beautiful, beautiful place. a really neat community and it got hit with really biblical storm surge and washed away roads, it washed away structures that were not new and could withstand that. there have been a number of people that have been identified and brought off the island safely and those efforts are ongoing, not only with the coast guard involved with that, our usar teams and local law enforcement. i think most people have seen the images of the bridge, the causeway going out so sanibel, and you have destruction of that. that's something we will rebuild but will not happen overnight. most of what's done to assist is air operations, since you cannot get there on the ground. i think kevin will probably have more boats head over there as well, but the important thing is, i was able to speak to the mayor this morning and she and her key staff did evacuate and so they have been operating off more the mainland and lee county and man

the sanibel bridge had breaks in multiple parts of it. it was not where the water and the pylons were. told held up very well. it was where you had it on some of the sandbar and that basically just got washed out from underneath. in the meantime, kevin can talk about this, they're going to be running barges to be able to bring more heavy equipment onto the island to be able to hem with the response. the first responders that have been there by and large coming in via air, you know, they do have some equipment, but they're traveling lighter just to be able to go and get the people as quickly as possible. there have been six health care facilities evacuated southwest florida. they were having problems with water or problems with power for an extended period of time. we're also prioritizing getting power and running potable water to the rest of the area's health care facilities. there have been 117 facilities ha had lost power that now have power restored. the ports, tampa bay, miami, everglades, they are reopened for fueling, and i think be

the sanibel causeway, which connects ft.orter just filed this report from really what was that causeway. listen. >> the first time in daylight that we are seeing this catastrophic and quite frankly historic site here on the sanibel causeway. the bridge connecting the mainland, ft. myers, to the sanibel and captiva islands. i want to just step out and let you take this in for a second. this is 50 feet, approximately 50 to 60, maybe 65 feet of the bridge that has collapsed into the gulf of mexico during the hurricane ian that we experienced for the last 48 hours here. this is a monumental piece of the bridge. i don't know any other word than to say monumental piece of this bridge that collapsed. and paul, can we zoom in here to this actual piece of roadway? this one here, you can still see the guard barrier, kind of the jersey barrier, if you will. and you see the center line. it's just laying in the gulf. it's truly a breathtaking sight. wherever we walked up here in the middle of the night, it was kind of like one of those m

i know sanibel used to be an island that you had to ferry too anyway. we have some of those throughout the state of florida that's how they do it. i think most people appreciate being able to drive back and forth. we'll do that. those island communities that were severed by the bridge were probably the most difficult to get to. so you just had to use these resources. that's why we had all the aircraft stationed in the run-up to the storm. hey, we have another 50 aircraft. now we have 250 aircraft ready to go. f.w.c., national guard, all these different task forces and everything. we have these -- the same guys that responded to the surfside tower collapse in south florida, they were on alligator alley midnight while the storm was still kicking so they can rescue people. it's been a real herculean effort. the issue will be who will want to stay there long term knowing that the power situation is not great? they will fix it but if they have to rewire the whole infrastructure, just going to take a little bit longer than if they have to fix one utility pole

bill, stick around, because you talked about going to sanibel island. there was a member of the cajun navy and an incident commander named jake carter. and he's actually with you at your location right now. i want to bring him into this conversation, because as you talk about the importance -- jay, please come on in. i'm so glad that you're here. i'm so glad to think about the work that you're doing. i just have to know, while we're talking, we're seeing all these images that are just devastating to think about. can you just help people understand what motivates you to go in and the so-called cajun navy and how invaluable it really is. is there an alternative? is there other help coming? or is that what motivates you to be there now? >> honestly, i just know there's a need. i mean, that's really the most basic answer possible. but i hope one day if my kid ever needs something, there's somebody like me, somebody like you that's willing to come get them. and that's really the bigger picture for me is just being willing to help my neighbor, man, help out a

people have been rescued from places like fort myers, fort myers beach, sanibel.arco island as well. the islands in charlotte county. obviously there were a lot of calls coming in as a storm was really raging yesterday. people who did not evacuate were hunkered down. there was a storm surge and a lot of apprehension understandably, when initially the first responders came this morning, people would wave them down. whether they were by helicopter, boat, or high water vehicle. now what they are finding is in places like sanibel, most of the residents are weeping thank you for coming but say they are fine. that they are staying put now. i think there are going to be issues with being on some of those islands because they are not going to have services like we expect for quite some time given the limitations of transportation. but nevertheless that is a sign that some of the folks who did write it out are stabilized in their homes. first responders are doing targeted searches, going home my home, searching if people are ok. when responding to specific reports if they

my sense would be looking at it, sanibel had serious destruction. a lot of destruction on some of the underlying infrastructure which is obvious importantly is to not have a bridge to take a ferry back and forth. now you're back to before the causeway was there. fort myers beach really, really serious damage. some of the other places when you're in a helicopter looking over i see the homes are intact. i did not see massive debris in some of the neighborhoods. you also do not know how much flood damage they had put water could've been 4 feet at this time yesterday. then it subsided. that will all be things people will determine as the days goes on. i think the folks in lee are prepared for some level of displacement. i know kevin has worked and fema has worked on some solutions. i do not know that we know exactly how many. kevin doing to add what you are seeing so far? >> agree with the governor wholeheartedly on the damage assessment. this was ariel damage assessment flying into the area. flying around a little of the ground transportation we are do

sanibel island one of those hardest hit areas, the causeway ripped apart by ian, -- cuts the island off from the mainland.-- cuts the island off from the mainland. cuts the island off from the mainland. cuts the island off from the mainland.cuts the island off from the mainland. >> that's your name? >> harry. >> tyler. >> if you guys can make it out the window you can come this way. >> we will do that. >> make sure you have a bag with a dry pair of clothes, with id, cell phones, wallets. >> all you can take with you and your pet maybe. we are covering all the angles of the dangerous storm. cnn's miguel marquez is where we start, he is on grountd in charleston. miguel, high tide only hours away, we saw what the storm surge did in florida. what are you seeing there and what are officials worried about? >> reporter: it's exactly that, that high tide with the storm surge at the same time and it just depends on where that storm makes landfall and where the tide happens to be at the moment. i want to show you what's happening here now, we are in a bit of a lull, have been in a lull for 45 min

the video shows a home burning on sanibel island, a popular getaway in the fort myers area that took up the barbed of the storm. portion of the bridge that serve as the only connection with the mainland are destroyed. the only way off right now is by air or by boat. no word yet on exactly how many people remain stranded. meanwhile in cape coral, a video captures len hiatt ripped from a home including the roof. it blew over the home before landing in a neighbors yard. many floridians are now returning to homes that are no longer standing. take a look at that, that poor lady, her story being the story of many as we take in the the scenes of devastation. >> it blew through hurricane doors, hurricane shutters, and it really took everything from everyone. and, it is just devastating, you do not know where to begin. 111 feet of water took everythig out [crying] >> kayleigh: harris i know it's hard to watch i know we are within 2 minutes of the president speaking to us and something start out to me from the florida briefing, you appropriately cautioned, be careful with numbers, we know 21 s

they were having people voted basically ferried from the island of sanibel captiva, to fort sanibel marina. even citizens, anyone who had a book, they were asking for help to get citizens off of the island. there's no way they are able to get police cars, fire trucks, emergency vehicles on the island at this point. the only way can access it is by boat or by some kind of helicopter or plain. that's the only way you can get the sanibel at this point. residents have been telling me that it is catastrophic destruction. i was able to speak with some people getting off of some of the boats right from captiva island. i was probably the first person that they actually spoke to to even recount what had happened to them the night prior. they are terrified, they are not sure what they're going to do. they have no idea if they will ever be able to get back to see their homes again. i don't want to use the word unprecedented, but it really is unprecedented. >> we hear people say over and over again, they were told to evacuate, why didn't they evacuate? it's their own fault. can you remind our audience

that was sanibel earlier.e continues as we roll on on the day after here and many more to come. national hurricane center, new numbers out in 35 minutes. we'll have that for you. veteran homeowners, need cash? with the newday 100 loan, there are no upfront costs for appraisal or termite inspections. no upfront costs at all to get the cash you need. veterans get more at newday. it's the greatest sandwich roster ever assembled. next is the new great garlic. the tender rotisserie style chicken is sublime and the roasted garlic aioli adds a lovely pecan flavor. man, the second retirement really changed you. the new subway series. what's your pick? hey, i just got a text from my sister. you remember rick, her neighbor? sure, he's the 76-year-old guy who still runs marathons, right? sadly, not anymore. -what, you mean-- -mhm. -just like that. -wow. so sudden. um, we're not about to have the "we need life insurance" conversation again, are we? no, we're having the "we're getting coverage so we don't have to worry abo

myers, sanibel, cape coral, where the situation is most dire. even as rescuers search for those who need help, lee county's public hospital system announced they are evacuating all their patients, at least 800 people, out of that county because of a lack of power and running water. the storm may have moved on from southwest florida. but the grappling with what it left behind is just beginning. joining us now from ft. myers, florida, is cnbc correspondent. we spoke last night after ft. myers was devastated. can you tell us about the last 24 hours and what it has been like? >> today went to ft. myers where there is flooding. you have entire neighborhoods separated by water. we heard stories of surviving and stories of saving. on the surviving side, we met an 80-year-old woman who was found by a couple 20 somethings. she was taking her cell phone and just tapping it against a window. she was trapped inside of her house. and the 20 somethings heard her and dove into the watt eastern got her out. we met a woman named mandy, she was wearing a lifejack

. >> fox weather is back with more weather, sanibel bridge, collapsed, cutting off the island from thenland. this live look from fort myers, florida, implementing curfew after emergency response operation. we've seen a few cars in the back drop today. joining me is the sheriff that has been active, what does charlotte county need, sheriff? >> charlotte county will need a lot of support and prayers. we've requested assets from the state. we have a federal search and rescue team in, combining our search and rescue teams with theirs and starting to hit the road. we've had daylight for a day and a half and starting to get visual of what is going on out there. >> thought it would hit tampa and it didn't, it hit you first, is that indicative how many people decided to stay behind? are you finding a lot of people stayed behind? >> that is my fear, i believe a lot of people did stay behind. in florida we watch hurricanes come and go every year and people become complacent, it will not hit us and this one did. we haven't had a hurricane since 2004 and charley was devastating and this was worse.

they can only get to sanibel by boat. less than 200 miles to the north of sanibel, stunned orlando residents northeast really have been waiting to evacuate flooded areas which have received up to 16 inches of rain. cnn's don lemon joins us now live from orlando. and don, you've been out with some rescue workers checking in on residents. what are they finding? how are the citizens of orange county doing? >> reporter: hey, jake. this is what they're finding really. we're in a neighborhood, this is the middle of downtown orlando. and you can see the cars stuck here. this water actually has receded. and we're just a couple blocks from lake yola, and i believe some of this is from there. obviously some of it rainwater. but inland flooding. and they're seeing this all over the place. -- earlier -- they're seeing -- past the street signs here. the traffic signs in the neighborhood. we went out today to get on a rescue boat with some of the people from the orlando fire and rescue go out and look for pe people. many of them stayed

there was damage to some of our infrastructure, particularly the sanibel causeway. there were breaks in that in multiple different areas. it's interesting, the pylons on the water where yet that part of the bridge that actually was good. it was a point where it was on a sandbar that got totally wiped away, or from the mainland there was breaks there. that's going to require major, major overhaul and potential a complete rebuild. they will look at it and see. that's the only way on sanibel island. so the operations to people there have been mostly by air. all told, search and rescue operations it stored in the wee hours of the morning as soon as the winds died down enough to where it was safe u.s. coast guard assets, your urban search and rescue teams. we've had the national guard out assisting people. there been more than 700 confirmed rescues and there's likely many more than that that will be confirmed as more data comes in. people have been rescued from places like fort myers, fort myers beach, sanibel, marco island, the barrier islands. obviously there was a lot

we're standing on what was the causeway into sanibel. that bridge was the only way no or out. can see a huge chunk of it collapsed, washed away during the storm. now the only way to get to people who are still on the island, boat or helicopter. those rescues now under way on the island. as they are throughout the state. we set out with one group of volunteers. >> this neighborhood in ft. myers is completely flooded. i'm on a boat right now with the cajun navy. they got word three people were trapped inside one of these home records we're going to take a look. >> cajun navy's here! >> reporter: eva and leo stranded over 24 hours. >> give me your hand. nice and easy. >> reporter: following her out, her dog and mother, aurora. they were hunkered down together. >> the three of you rode out the storm together? >> yeah, we did. >> holding onto the dog on top of the car. >> reporter: standing on top of that car for three hours. three hours watching the water rise. what was that like? >> scared to death. scared to death. i thought i was going to die right there. and the car was -- was

sanibel does not look anything like the sanibel we saw just a few days ago. it won't for a very long time. >> neil: yeah, it was always considered one of the most beautiful beach destinations on the the planet. forget just in america. all of that is taken away with this horror. i just wonder what you're hearing about the folks who did have homes there, what they're going to do? >> well, at this point, our main response right now is getting the people on the island off the island. then we'll have to look at how we're staging the next steps that we're going to have. you know, the governor has -- i've been in touch with the governor. resources are coming. our goal is to get it accessible as quickly as we can. that is a very relative term right now. it's a long time. we've had about five breaches in our cause way. there's infrastructure needs to look at. the electrical grid has to be checked, the water grid. it's fair to say and we know and we're informing the residents, the is a long-term recovery process. this is not a place that is habitable at this time. like

i encourage our individuals near sanibel, fort myers area, as the eyewall starts to come on shore, if everything stops, the storm is not over. if you can hear us, if you can see us on your tv, you are most likely have a bright sunshiny area here very soon. you are in the eye of the storm. stay inside. stay indoors. do not go outside. you do not know when that eyewall will collapse. so, please stay safe. avoid downed power lines and downed trees and standing water. when it is over use extreme caution. if you see any type of line, do not cut them. do not cut fiberoptic lines. fiberoptics are the backbone of our communication system, allows us to have connectivity for your cellular devices on wireless networks. it provides access to the internet. it provides access to social media. please do not cut fiberoptic lines. to the communication, i'm sorry, to the communities beginning to experience the devastating impacts of hurricane ian, know the state of florida is standing with you. we have plenty of resources to respond to your need. we have thousands of boats on the ground, thousands of b

the sanibel bridge had breaks in multiple parts of it. it was not where the water and the pylons were, those held up well. it was where you had it on the sand bar and that was basically washed out from underneath. in the meantime, and kevin can talk about this, they're going to be running barges to be able to bring more heavy equipment on the island to be able to help with the response. the first responders that have been there by and large coming in via air, they do have some equipment, but they're travelling lighter to go and get to people quickly as possible. there have been six health care facilities evacuated, southwest florida, they were not-- they were having problems with water or problems with power for an extended period of time. we're also prioritizing getting water and running potable water to the rest of the areas health care facilities. 117 facilities that had lost power that now have power restored. the ports, tampa bay, miami, everglades. they are reopened for fueling and i think that between today and tomorrow all the por

our job is to serve the residents of sanibel. we know the devastation is throughout the area. >> and i know you have -- this is your town, your people. you know them well. can you tell us any stories or anything you can relay to us from some of the residents there? >> well, i know a particular one couple who is 85-year-old gentleman, 79-year-old woman, who live very close to the coast and the bay. they had to climb to the highest point of their house in order to stay safe from the rising waters. they were taken off the island yesterday by a family member. so we're very grateful for that. and we're hearing other stories like that. so we know that people have been through a traumatic experience here. and they just want to get off the island and be safe. and then at the same time we are also fielding the questions about how do we recover, what are the next steps. we are trying to stay focused on the immediate needs right now. our staff is also working on what are the next steps so we can start to get boat access to people so when it

the bridges, the only vehicle access to sanibel island and pine island are now impassable says the governorentire sections of these bridges have been washed away essentially cutting off those barrier islands. in port charlotte, the monster winds blew the roof off the intensive care unit at a hospital and also flooded the er, just really scary moments playing out in many different parts of the state. florida's governor gave an update this morning and the way he put it, he says, ian is producing a 500-year flood event for cities far from the coastline where ian first made landfall. the city of orlando got more than a foot of rain in just a few hours overnight and right now, more than 2.5 million customers are without power which is a huge problem and a major focus as this day, this first light comes up and the day continues. let's start with chad myers right now. he has the very latest on this storm for us. chad, ian is not yet done. >> it's not. it's going back to be a hurricane again and the hurricane warnings are now posted for the entire coast of south carolina. yes, this thing is getting

the islands of sanibel and cap teva are completely cut off from mainland, florida.t one but three parts of the causeway. joining me now is secretary of transportation pete buttigieg. mr. secretary, thank you very much for joining us. it is a big job to do. how do you begin? >> the focus now is on getting emergency supplies to get to where they need to go, and keeping the transportation system as functional as possible. we'll be there to help with rebuilding. we already have authorities available through things like emergency relief funds through our federal highway administration. but right now, the focus is more on the infrastructure, and every accident in the department of transportation is coordinating to get information through our transportation center, and part of that broader federal effort that the president described, especially now that ian has moved through and that major disaster declaration has been declared, that creates a lot of the tools that will be needed in the recovery. and a lot of folks are remaining in the path of the storm where we're trying

that's one of the draws, the charm of sanibel island.here to be at the shore, at the water. meanwhile, so many of those cottages, you can see, are now gone. in fact, wolf, in some cases, there were some of those resorts that had 14 cottages, they're all gone. all that's left is the parking lot. they were either carried into the water, flown away into the wind. it was just such a horrible situation there in sanibel. and to see it like that is just so dramatic. those before and after photos. >> certainly is. all right, randi kaye doing excellent reporting for us, as she always does. thank you very, very much. >>> the u.s. coast guard gave cnn's john berman an aerial survey of the damage in the ft. myers area, revealing the truly breathtaking scope of this destruction. watch this. >> reporter: all of that debris, just littered everywhere. these were buildings? this was a building right there, >> there were buildings, restaurants, and what used to be the ft. myers pier. >> reporter: how far back does the sand go? >> it goes straight through

the bridge connecting sanibel island to the mainland has been severed. is the scene in bonita springs. it can only be described as catastrophic damage, with

pine island, sanibel, those will be rebuild efforts. the sanibel bridge has breaks in multiple parts. most held up well. it was where you had it on some of the sandbars and those basically got washed out from underneath. in the meantime kevin can talk about this. they're going to be running barges to bring more heavy equipment on to the islands to help with the response so first responders that have been there by and large coming into error, you have some equipment but their traveling light or just to be able to go and get people as quickly as possible. there have been six healthcare facilities evacuated in southwest florida . they were having problems with water or albums with power for an extended period of time. we're prioritizing getting power and running potable water to the rest of the areas healthcare facilities. there have been 117 facilities that lost power that now have power restored. sports, tampa bay, everglades are reopened for fueling and i think between today and tomorrow all the reports in the state of florida up and do

sanibel island we saw homes on fire. that can be a multitude of reasons why, power lines mixed with utilities open like gas lines. dramatic video also shows the fire department behind naples city hall inundated with floodwaters. it went viral last night. fire engines, rescue units and firefighters themselves, emts wading through almost chest-high water. >> now we have a truck issue and the guys are pushing the truck out of the bay. because why, chief? >> seems like the truck was going to catch on fire. it was smoking. we didn't want the station to burn down. >> they're now unloading the truck. this is a storm surge we talked about but weren't sure about. as you can see i'm on my tip toes here. it's probably four feet at least. >> harris: let's talk to the fire chief pete demario from naples joining me now. chief demario, shocking that this could happen and you are part of the answer for helping people. what has this been like? >> it has been really tough on our personnel. all these men and women take this job so we can g

this is from the sanibel causeway, just came in moments ago, really the only access by car to sanibeld. and you can see the approach there collapse. a real sign of the power of the wind and particularly the water and a lot of damage there, poppy, as you look at the rest of those pictures along the rest of that line. >> yeah, that is -- if anyone has driven on that, it's stunning to see what this storm did, what ian did there. our reporter gauge grade schooling from our affiliate wbbh was just there at the scene. i want you to watch this. >> i just want to step out and just let you take this in for a second. this is 50 feet, approximately 50 to 60, maybe 65 feet of the bridge that has collapsed into the gulf of mexico during the hurricane ian that we experienced for the last 48 hours here. this is a monumental piece of the bridge. i don't know any other word than to say monumental piece of this bridge that collapsed. and paul, can we zoom in here to this actual piece of roadway? this one here, you can still see the guard barrier, kind of the jersey barrier, if you will, and you see the

it is the only way on and off sanibel island. hurricane ian's winds and storm surge washed out the bridge. and it could take months to fix. >> reporter: coast guard crews carried out dramatic rescues. >> how are you guys? >> reporter: a family was pulled to safety off sanibel island. here, a guardsman rescued a man who lives on his boat. rear admiral brendan mcpherson. >> they're not just out rescuing they don't know. they're rescuing people that they have lunch with, they socialize with, they're in community with. so it impacts us, too. >> reporter: army corps of engineers brigadier general daniel hibner got a bird's-eye view of roads and bridges and other vital structures. what are you looking for? >> pump stations, nursing homes, hospitals the coast guard is working with fema, the national guard and search-and-rescue teams to help speed up rescue and recovery. >> in a situation like this, where you've got devastation on the ground, where it's unrecognizable, it really takes a unity of effort. >> reporter: in the aftermath of t

the mainland now because the only bridge that goes to sanibel island was destroyed. first responders are using everything from helicopters to boats and high water vehicles to do methodical house-to-house searches trying to see if they can find either victims or survivors of this storm. trucks are pulling generators. sheriffs departments coming from other parts of the state to help guide the response in this area. in some parts coming in, there are businesses open and people are desperate go in and get much needed supplies. it's going to be a long time and a lot of patience for that to happen. >> just extraordinary images of destruction. an area that will have many weeks if not months of rebuilding ahead. chris palone, thank you. we'll check in with you later. hospitals in florida are working to restore services and protect patients amid power outages and critical disruptions to water supplies. 16 facilities have been evacuate order in the process of moving patients. several hospitals were force forced to move patients to other floors. they gave an update on the dur s

you mentioned sanibel. yesterday, search and rescue teams were combing the entire region, trying to figure out if people who called during the heart of the storm. saying they were trapped, seeing if they were still in their homes. that was what was going on in sanibel island because that island was completely cut off. it only has one road, a causeway that goes on to the island. that bridge has been destroyed and the coast guard was running helicopters over to the island. they were also taking boats over there. they found a lot of residents who were trapped who wanted to be rescued and brought back to the mainland. others said we're okay, we'll ride this out until we figure something else out. another day of clean up and damage assessment. >> those pictures from the sky this morning are just extraordinary and difficult to take in. nbc's chris pollone in naples, florida, thank you so much, we appreciate it. a big concern, hospitals in florida working to restore services and protect their patients amid power o

we'll come up there. >> we follow the cry for help, ashore on sanibel. to find a gentleman eager to accept the boat lift but unable to convince his better half. >> we're going. >> but where? >> ft. myers. >> the bridge is out. the bridge is knocked out. >> i'm not -- i'm not ready to go. >> the cursory stroll around this part of sanibel reveals plenty of hazards. like the his of natural gas spewing from a broken tank. but in one of the most coveted zone codes in florida, the construction mostly held up. which is in stark contrast to pine island. >> look at this one. absolutely flattened. especially the mobile homes of the working class and retirees living in saint james city. >> hey man, are you okay. >> your daughter called us. >> i can imagine. >> reporter: when their phone cut out early in the storm, the grandchildren of nancy and robert sharon were so-called they called the cajun navy and project dynamo and begged them to check for proof of life. >> i heard they were going to do anything after the bridge closed down. but my granddaughters are in ohio

that's the only way on sanibel and cap tiva island.ations to help people there have been mostly by air. all told, search and rescue operations, it started in the wee hours of the morning. as soon as the winds died down enough to where it was safe, you had coast guard assets, you had urban search and rescue teams. we've had the national guard out assisting people. there have been more than 700 confirmed rescues. there's likely many more than that that will be confirmed as more data comes in. people have been rescued from places like fort myers, fort myers beach, sanibel, marco island, as well as the barrier islands in charlotte county. obviously there was a lot of calls coming in as the storm was really raging yesterday. people who did not evacuate were hunkered down. there was storm surge. there was a lot of apprehension, understandably. when initially the first responders came this morning, people would wave them down, whether they were by helicopter, boat or high water vehicle. now what they're finding is on places like sanibel, most

let's talk about sanibel. i heard sanibel got hit particularly hard cap teva same thing.hat do you know about what's happened in those areas? >> just complete devastation. we won't fully know until tomorrow the full impacts but sanibel from what i've tab has been seeing easily six feet to ten feet to 12 feet of storm surge and the island is a barrier island so people need to understand it's very skinny and narrow so it's easy for the island to be overtaken by water. obviously we have homes and businesses there. there's many natural wildlife refuges that are there. one of our major wildlife hospitals is on sanibel island in southwest florida. so pure devastation right now. >> let's talk about rescue and relief efforts. i assume there's going to be people that need to be rescued in fort myers, likely naples, likely sarasota. tell me about those efforts and when will they likely start? >> well, one of the concerns is the evacuation orders may not have been residents who railroad not in the direct coastal region. southwest florida, we've been through hurricanes before and thr

this as we learn a section of the sanibel causeway is wiped out this essentially cuts off sanibel islandthe mainland. emergency responders are there on the scene. we will continue to watch this and get more updates as the sun comes up there. tampa residents are fearing a major storm surge, state representative jackie toledo is coming up next. ♪ >> tech: when you have auto glass damage, let safelite come to you. ♪ pop rock music ♪ >> tech: my customer enjoys time with her family. so when her windshield got a crack... she scheduled with safelite in just a few clicks. we came to her house... ...replaced the windshield... and installed new wipers. that's service on her time. >> grandkid: here you go! >> tech: wow, thank you! >> customer and grandkids: bye! >> tech: bye! don't wait, schedule now. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ 80% of couples sleep too hot or too cold. because quality sleep is vital, the sleep number 360 smart bed is temperature balancing, so you both stay cool. our smart sleepers get 28 minutes more restful sleep per night. save 40% on the sleep number 360