>> oh, no, northport's the largest city in sarasota county. that's in the heart of my district. u're talking about a large amount of people that are there. it's a, you know, a working class community, a lot of people that work many sarasota the live in northport, venice area. have been misis a large retirement area, but northport is a lot of young workers, a roth of families -- lot of families are in that area. so there's a tremendous amount of people hard going to be impacted by flooding. pete: so, representative, if the evacuations that occur, hay knew the water was still rising from the river and there was a threat to the levee. and you're correct, we were just about to talk to the county sheriff, he had to -- he said i can't do an interview right now which lends credibility to what you're talking about that perhaps the levee has, indeed, broken. if it has and not everyone is evacuated, it's not completely clear, what kind of surge are we talking about into a populated area? >> he was saying 4-5 feet, but alert that a i just got says 15 feet. these communities in northport wer

sheriff's deputies in sarasota county warning residents after a possible levee break.e haven't been able to confirm that yet, but we're getting early indications that may have occurred as a nearby river overflows. will: that flood being also shutting down some of i-75 near if northport. that's where this traffic was seen last night. rachel: wow. will: also this morning, a terrifying warning out of

northport is at the south end of sarasota county, the largest city in the county. we have a resident population of 80,000. we've got some pretty significant infrastructure issues down there. thousands of homes with water intrusion. we evacuated approximately 150 people in the overnight hours last night, which got them to shelters and got them to safety. it appears that we have just kind of reached the crest today and water will begin going down. but we have got 7, 8 feet on some street levels down there of water. up into the homes. we are accessing houses with boats, high-water vehicles, and trying to get people out of those affected areas that don't have water, don't have food. we have been balancing that with the emergency calls, trying to get into them. it's been quite an operation. some of the major thoroughfares have become impassable even as the water recedes, there is washouts. so we have a long, long recovery. >> i experienced some of that myself yesterday across alligator alley on i-75. some of it was closed. officers closed it just as we were getting thro

jacqui: fox weather a letter, live images from sarasota county florida where firms issued alert earlier this morning of possible levy break sending deputies door to door in hidden river community to advise evacuation and 14 miles of major interstate in the area, i75 now shut down deemed unsafe for travel as water rises from nearby river. welcome to fox news live, i'm jacqui heinrich. griff: i'm griff jenkins, thousands of residents without power in the wake of powerful storm as cleanup and recovery efforts are well underway. we have live fox team cover with alexandria hoff, adam klotz in fox weather center and doug in charleston south carolina but let's steve with steve harrigan in north port florida, what are you seeing now? >> they purchased rafts, blowing up and gotten possessions out of their houses and pets waiting here trying to get shade in the hot sun. we have seen florida search and rescue teams go out from the government in rafts but mainly at this point the pace has slowed somewhat. it is not emergency medical rescues but simply people who are stranded, stranded in the high w

i do want to get back to the warning that came out of sarasota county.es, there's been a little bit of back and forth. the sheriff's office has clarified that initial warning about a possible levee break, it really is a more specific area that they're concerned with right now. there's a neighborhood called hidden river in particular, and officials are going around the impacted areas as we're told knocking on doors, notifying people they do need to evacuate. neil? neil: thank you very much for that, alexandria of. i want to go right now to the mayor of fort myers, florida, kevin anderson. mayor, we're hearing, sir, i think to characterize what happened in your city, 90% gone. in other words, 90% destroyed. is that true? >> neil, that's -- when people say fort myers, they think about the metro propoll tan area. the city proper has suffered some heavy flooding damage, a lot of wind damage. but it's not to the extent that some people are reporting. neil: all right. so maybe you can characterize how are things there now or, mayor? >> i can speak only for the

and it flow through a valley on the inland or eastern part of my district in sarasota district and flows through manatee countym sarasota down to charlotte county and we're seeing four days of the hurricane has gone through, all of that flood water, all of that rain is depositing in the valley and the pictures you're seeing on the screen right now, you can see we can't absorb all that water. our public works department has done a great job trying to lower the level of the river before the hurricane hit, but there's just such a huge volume of water dumping in, there's nowhere to go. pete: i think i'm correct on this that most of the deaths have been attributed to drowning to your point now. anything you can clear up for us really quickly, fiona, on the status of the levy? is the water clearing the levy and has it broken and being a important issue on the level of the water, what's the latest on that levy? >> so the level of the water has peaked over the level i have and in some cases water has peaked over the top and if you don't know what a levy is, it's the same as a berm or hill that separates the high point

and right now in sarasota county, this is a highway under water, and a potential levee break in the nearbymunity could create even more chaos. lots of worries continue there. i want to bring in sarasota's mayor, erik arroyo. so good to see you. so, this levee or the concerns about the levee are in sarasota county. i'm wondering how it might impact your city. >> at 3:00 a.m., there were indications of a possible levee break in what's called the hidden river community, which is on the other side of the highway, and the compromise of this levee break will only impact the homes in that side of the highway. it's very far away from the city, but we will feel the impactis of it because it's causing the highway to be basically blocked off and nobody can access the highway going south, which is a key area, because south is where north port is, and ft. myers and the are a areas that got hit worse by the hurricane. it's impacting us getting them aid. >> what is life like for you and your fellow residents in sarasota right now? >> fred, we are truly -- we were very lucky to have avoided the direct hit

in sarasota county, talk to us to see as you're in the car there. and it's a fluid situation that you are dealing with there. talk to us about what we know about this possible levee break where folks are, how they are trying to make sure the folks are in a safe place if this actually happens? >> he hasn't yasmin the reason we are in the car right now, what is going on behind this year. we can see a line of cars. an rv there and a lot of people backed up on a road. we were just turn this direction. we are not allowed to go that direction, and police officer who directed us this way. i asked if the road was flooded, he said it has been washed out. we have seen with our own eyes, other roadways washed out. we have seen communities and even inland, that are completely flooded over and also there is this concern over a levy. possibly having broken. showing a tweet that the sheriff's a partner directed us to hear, in sarasota county. i believe we have the street, we can see right here. the image on the right or want to direct you to, we can see there's an

that's south of sarasota county there. meanwhile, we're at a food and water distribution center, aid efforts are ongoing. this one is being run by the cajun navy, a group of men and women who go out and they make rescues with their personal watercraft and right now trying to help the folks here. but they say there's simply not enough food and water to give out to people. this line of cars, well, it stretches down the street. i counted at least 50 to 100 vehicles in this line, a tough situation for a lot of folks and making things worse, we have a closure along i-75. that's a mileage artery in western florida. and this closure is because of flooding along the myakka river that causes delays in both directions along i-75. even though the storm has passed, runoff is making its way into rivers and water ways and that's causing the flooding. that flooding causing issues in sarasota county where the shelter in place warning was issues after concerns that a levee could break. while many are in the dark and they're slowly restored

and this is in sarasota county.ars were stuck, as water was flooding a 12-mile stretch of the highway and fema gave an update what we're dealing with with the stolen rivers across the state. >> there are nine river gauges right now indicating record flooding across florida, st. john's river and rivers in central and eastern, northeastern florida will continue to rise or main at record levels until the middle of next week before slow recession begins. >> meanwhile, in southwest florida, rescue crews are still going door-to-door in some places, helping people who were trapped riding out the storm. we expect an update from the governor in the next hour and here in kissimmee, we know the army corps of engineers is sending a team to pump water from creeks like today. jacqui: make sure that i heard you right. the water is not going to crest for four days and begin receding for days? and can you confirm and explain why it is the way it is? >> that's right. county officials gave an update about this and reiterated that poin

pete: that warning sent to eastern sarasota county, one of the hardest hit areas by the storm when itll as a category 4 hurricane this week. search and rescue efforts underway is 30 people confirmed dead. 7 deaths alone in florida. more than one million people in florida without power this morning. will: en making its third and final landfall searching inland as a post-tropical cyclone. waves forcing the years off its legs and collapsing into the water, the death toll from ian is still expected to climb. raymond: coverage on the latest with rick reichmuth standing by. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we are at an emergency staging site in lee county where the county is 75% without power. the national guard is going to transport this larger location to a distribution site for food and water and to put in perspective we are in the mainland area of fort myers where destruction is widespread. we did a survey yesterday where we put out boats into homes, homes taken off their pilings, cars obliterated, gone, getting to this location is difficult but this mainland does pale in compar

this is how the entire day has looked out in this part of sarasota county.very few minutes, one of these boats will pull up with someone who has been stranded in their home because of the floodwaters out here. the soldiers here will pick that boats up and they will take everyone out, their luggage, you can see that woman there has two doc dogs with her, all of this the result of severe flooding still being experienced in this part of southwest florida. hurricane ian dumped several inches of rain and that has left this part still under water. we're expecting this kind of scene to continue in large part because the water levels out here are not expected to recede until then. the big question into the night is how long these folks will be able it to go out on to these streets and neighborhoods. there are people that are still waiting for their loved ones. there is one family here who told us they have been waiting for three hours just to see if someone can use their boat to go out on to one of these streets to get their loved ones. carlos suarez, cnn, north por

people to go to the polls and he himself, flynn himself is -- signed up be tob a poll worker in sarasota countyconfidence in the elections. it's scary stuff. the documentary is excellent. hopefully people will watch it. it's fantastic. it is a frontline documentary. michelle smith, thank you very much. appreciate you being here tonight. thank you. >>> coming up next, my pal, rachel maddow, joins me to discuss her brand-new awesome new podcast "ultra" which is a deep dive into extremism in american history and we're witnessing similar behavior with today's republican party. stay here because rachel is on the other side of the break. t getting screened for colon cancer, and hear their reasons why. i screen for my son. i'm his biggest fan. if you're 45 or older at average risk, you have screening options, like cologuard. cologuard is noninvasive and finds 92% of colon cancers. it's not for those at high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider if cologuard is right for you. everyone has a reason to screen for colon cancer. if you're 45 or older, get started at mission

at sarasota county's emergency management center in florida, the director knows he cannot let his guardown >> this is september 30. we have all of october, all of november, the remainder of the hurricane season. we are not taking our eyes off the atlantic. there could be another system that pops up. this has been a very quiet year in some people's minds until this. it only takes one and this was our one. john: this operation center has been staffed 24 hours a day, two 12 hour shifts since this past weekend. the director says he expectst to remain up and running for some time to come, although not necessarily around-the-clock, as the long recovery effort continues. judy? judy: thank you. i want to ask you also, we have been seeing reports about a significant number of nursing homes, assisted living facilities that have had to be evacuated. do we know how many there are and what is their status? john: the officials at the florida health care association, which represents nursing homes, say there are about 8000 residents who have been evacuated. mostly in southwestern florida because of th

we've seen other roads still flooded out and here on the eastern side of sarasota county, we heard from the sheriff's department that there was this threat of a levee possibly reaching that could have flooded out a community. we are told that this is about 70 homes. it's not going to cause more expansive damage beyond that, according to the sheriff's office. i just got another update from the sheriff's department here saying that they do not have any reports of missing people or fatalities. that, of course, is good news, alex. all of this, just for context, is unfolding more than two days after ian first struck this area. we are talking about a potential breach of a levee that occurred overnight in the early morning hours. that's when police started making the evacuations, according to the sheriff's department. just to give you an idea of how much water is here, it was still putting pressure on infrastructure. more than two days after this storm force struck. i can tell you, it's still very difficult to navigate these areas. because of the cell phone issues, i can imagine it's even hard

npr fleming the political fans but southwest florida liens republican with the counties of lee, charlotte, sarasota delivering wins for de callingthose areas "political stronghold." all three counties were debited by the category four storm, hurricane ian killing more than a hundred people in its path. as they say on the left, never let a good strategy go to waste. another blue state takes a hit ahead of election day. the new york governor's race is now officially a toss-up. >> carley: did you hear about this? lee zeldin within single digits striking distance within kathy hochul. that is being attributed to one key issue. we are going to be digging into that next. this fall, xfinity rewards is thanking you with spooky perks and surprises. enter for your chance to win a trip to universal's halloween horror nights for a terrifyingly good time you'll never forget. or bring the scares home with movies that will frighten up your night on us, and a host of other chilling halloween activities all on the xfinity app. explore your rewards today. xfinity rewards. our thanks, your rewards. there's a reason co

the sheriff there says there have been more than 600 rescues in that county alone. near sarasota police officers evacuated a neighborhood early this morning as a levee appeared in danger of collapsing. that threat, a 15-foot wall of water crashing into the neighborhood. just a short time ago the state reopened a 12-mile stretch of interstate 75 in both directions bet an over flowing river has forced a closure there. governor desantis said overflowing lakes and rivers have also created havoc. >> there's also other areas where we may expect additional flooding. i was touring central florida with some of the aerial tours. there was more standing water in central florida than there was in southwest florida from the imp immuno impact of the storm serurge. >> i want to bring in jim acosta in fort myers, one of the hardest hit areas. what are you seeing there today? >> reporter: we're in a maria in fort myers right now. you can see the power of this hurricane and what it unleashed on this area of southwest florida. these boats tossed around like toys, resting on dry land in the backgrou

most of the outages are in lee, sarasota, man tee counties. >> can we get help down here? is that too much to ask? look around, we have nothing. no power, no phone service, nothing. i'd like a little help to get my home back in shape because i have nowhere to go. >> reporter: for many people recovery will begin when the lights turn back on. so we're at the sarasota county fairgrounds, the main hub for power crews that have come from across the country. they're leaving to spread across florida. florida crews and some people came from new york state, as far away from new york state. i spoke with a lineman from hoe ohio, who told me it looks like we're going to be here for quite a while. >> people pouring in to help. thank you for your terrific reporting in a very, very difficult environment. >>> in the meantime, the lee county sheriff is pointing to the shifting forecast ahead of hurricane ian for any delay in getting the mandatory evacuation orders issued. >> we weren't in the projected path or cone. so i'm confident that we gave everything to this storm that we should have

. >> residents in sarasota county received an automatic text message early this morning warning them to shell merri bowl place if it was safe to do so due to a possible levy break and saying there's no imminent levy break at this hour. there's heavy machinery deployed throughout the communities and it's become a distribution site for food and water. this entire county, lee county is still without drinkable water right now and the impact of that can go beyond what the national guard can supply with jugs that they're giving out. the sun sentinel reporting that 67 babies, infants from a local hospital had to be transferred elsewhere because their care could not be sustained without drinkable water. pete: that aspect of clean drinking water is a tragedy. alexandria hoff, thank you very much. let's go to meteorologist rick reichmuth tracking ian up the east coast. >> yeah, go to florida and the rain fall foal and the storm surge came on shore and all the pictures of that aftermath in fort meyers area, that was largely from the storm surge, which all pushed upright here, right there is for

flood waters have still been plaguing and this scene is out of venice, florida, in sarasota county near a portion of i-75, a major interstate was shut down for hours after water made the roadways unsafe for cars. on wednesday, president biden and the first lady will be traveling here to florida to assess the need and assistance and to really take a look at this damage and let me tell you, guys, it's something where you're out here grateful in the darkness because once it becomes light, you see the layers of the mess and destruction that's been inflicted on so many families. guys. >> alexandria, thank you so much. you see the flooding and we had the doctor on yesterday talking about infections and viruses lurk in the waters and cause the secondary problems for people health wise. another problem is looting. i read an article yesterday about people who should have left their homes but were afraid of looting and tried to ride out the storm because of that. that's why the governor was putting out messages early saying in this state of florida, we will not tolerate looting and reminding peop

storm surge on the gulf coast of florida, and the highest risk areas from collier county up to sarasota countyin any of those counties it's no longer possible to safely evacuate. it's time to hunker down and prepare for this storm. this is a powerful storm that should be treated like you would treat if a tornado was approaching your home. >> brian, if you're in that unfortunate position of being forced to hunker down and not having enough time to get out, how do you handle that? what is the best thing to do? >> yeah, there are certainly instances people can't leave. even if they wanted to, it's very hard for them to evacuate. and in the situation like this where you have more than ten feet of surge coming in a short amount of time, there's not a lot you can do. if you're in one of those coastal areas going to get some of that worst storm surge and you're still there, it's very hard to find a safe place to be. you just want to be up as high as you can in your house. a lot of people i've heard throughout this past week, you know, who have been through hurricanes before, keeping an ax at the top

steve harrigan is near sarasota county, chad pergram at the white house on federal response but first to alexandria hoff to pine island, florida. alexandria. reporter: arthel, we are in an area that's called mat lachet, it's complicated what's happening behind me. rescue effort being led by the u.s. coast guard to rescue people who will be stranded on pine island ever since this storm hit and this has been a large-scale operation. what ends up happening here those stranded on pine island have to get on boat to mount lachet and plenty of people have been rescued by helicopter as well. a couple of minutes we know that ems personnel was catering to somebody with the injury and something we heard over and over again which made frightening experience and amplifies the experience that people have gone through. for four days he has been living with broken hip unable to get help, pine island is the access is completely destroyed to anywhere else so they were completely stranded there. another woman named laura spoke with us. she told us she almost died in her vehicle while trying to get to hi

in lee county, sarasota county, the lines to get gas are long as people have been waiting for hours to fill up their tanks were standing in line to fill up gas cans for governor desantis at more than 1.5 million gallons of gas have been sent to southwest florida but the need is still so great but with so many homes wiped out, thousands are left with nowhere to go, no running water, no power. shelters in florida are packed with thousands with little to nothing left to go home to. power crews have been working since the storm hit to restore power and at its peak there were more than 2.6 million customers without power here in florida. that number currently over 600,000, but it is much better for the hardest hit places. it could be weeks until they can get the power back on. i want to take you to these stunning before and after views of fort myers beach. that shows just how badly it was hit. florida senator marco rubio said places like this will never be the same. >> it was a slice of florida you can't recover. i imagine it's a character altering event. >> today the cleanup continues at l

schools in sarasota county will begin a phased reopening on monday. chools will remain closed until at least mid month. >>> take a look at some of the destruction to ft. myers beach elementary. you can also see lee county, hear from lee county school district. the county plans to make an announcement tomorrow in terms of what their plans are for next week. we'll be watching for that. joining us this morning, the superintendent for the charlotte county school district on the phone today. you're hopeful that maybe by the 24th you can get schools back up and running. this is a massive undertaking for the thousands of students and staff in your district. how many of them can actually go back to being schools at this point? what was the damage? >> we did receive damage at every one of our school sites, all of our ancillary buildings, damages from roofs peeling back, water intruded in all of our buildings, soffit and fascia damage, walkways, canopies, exhaust fans relocated, i'll say. air conditioning systems that sit on roofs relocated. those are all bad th

this is the scene in north port, which is in sarasota county. state officials say the latest known death is that of a 62-year-old woman also from that county. she apparently drowned after getting trapped in her vehicle. take a look at the massive amount of water people risked traveling through today east of sarasota. they're in their car. this is a car, not a boat, makes its way down a very flooded state highway. sheriff's deputies and firefighters went door to door in the community of hidden river warning people about a potentially levee beach. on cape coral, they are checking on victims who may need urgent help. fire rescue say they have been collecting people and pets and taking them to a fire station where helicopters are ferrying people to safety. this afternoon, governor ron desantis said while more than half of those who lost power now have it back, several counties in southwest florida are still struggling. >> as of right now, you got about 73% of lee county without power and 77% of charlotte county without power. the county that has the

survivors and so far have rescued more than 1,000 people across the state, many were evacuated from sarasota countyfter a possible levy break threatened the area with more flooding. to get a sense of the damage the water caused, just look at this video. that's not a boat, that's a car driving over a partially submerged highway. u.s. president joe biden says he will visit florida on wednesday to offer more support and will also travel to puerto rico which was devastated by another hurricane. >>> naples, florida, residents face the daunting task of rebuilding what they lost. cnn's brian todd has that story. >> reporter: here in naples, florida, people are still coming to grips with just the devastating sense of personal loss. in neighborhood after neighborhood here we come across scenes like this, personal belongings from beds to fridges to tables, chairs, even a toilet we saw in one of these piles. they have to just take everything out of their houses or apartments and put them on the side here for officials to pick up later on because nothing in many of these units, apartments or houses, is salvage

the move follows a request from the charlotte and sarasota counties along with voting rights groups extending voting days and approving additional early voting locations to be determined very soon. in a moment, human smuggling is up a staggering 500%. cartel profits are in the billions, we'll have the latest on the border crisis. beyond our borders tonight iran's president accusing the u.s. of conducting a failed policy of destabilization targeting his nation. this as iranians protest the death of a woman in police custody. demonstrations continue in multiple cities with video showing security forces apparently firing toward some of those protesters. south korea saying north korea launched a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters today, this the latest in a spate of missile launches by the north. south korea's joint chiefs of staff saying the north flew warplanes near their shared border which prompted south korea to scramble fighter jets earlier today. this is a live look at one of the big stories -- indonesia preparing to start southeast asia first high-speed rail service. it will cut

no major concern is river flooding in sarasota county, sheriff's deputies were going door-to-door warningwarning people of a possible levy break there. steve harrigan isn't northport, florida with more on that, st steve. >> jon i've got a gator boat behind me pulling it a jet ski over here. we have seen everything that floats go in and out of these roads which are now pretty much river ways. people going to check on their houses purred going to bring people out. we have seen hundreds and hundreds of rescues over the past 48 hours. on day one was nagy emergency rescues. that is changed now. a lot of families coming out. some of them in tough shape with small children after two or three days trapped by the water. they are taken out and loaded onto military vehicles and taken to someplace where they can get food and water. they set up some charging stations as well for the people. we have seen all kinds of vehicles go in both public and private to try to do the help. some people getting a little impatient. the list for rescues several hundred long. some people decided to blow up rafts and ta

sheriffs deputies in sarasota county are going door-to-door right now in the hidden river community warning neighbors about the potential for flooding because of a possible levee break. days after the storm, the effects still being felt across the sunshine state. meantime, more than 1.2 million floridians are without power. officials say it's unclear when electricity will be restored to the hardest hit areas in the western part of florida. ian is being blamed not only for the loss of property that you are seeing on your screen, but also as least 45 fatalities. that number likely to grow as rescue crews gain access to areas that have been blocked by damage. >> the coast guard says it has rescued more than 200 people so far and volunteers have gone out to save even more. the cajun navy, a volunteer group, came to the rescue of a woman in fort myers beach who says she stood on her bed for hours as water rushed into her home. listen as she is on the phone with a loved one. >> i'm up to my neck in water. >> okay. all right. >> i am so cold. >> hopi, i'm losing you, i can't hear you. >> i love yo

floodwaters have been plaguing the scene that you're watching now, out of venice florida and sarasota county portion of i-75 was shut down for hours after water made the roadway there unsafe for cars. it has since reopened which is good. his historic flooding gripped orlando. college students used air a mattresses to rescue friends and gather personal items from apartment complexes. the white house c confirms -- te house confirms that the president and first lady will visit on wednesday. >> we're learning this morning, get this one, that the national institute of health, the nih, has awarded new funding to eco health alliance for bat coronavirus research. according to the nih's website, $653,000 was awarded to peter da dacik and eco health to analyze bat coronavirus emergence in multiple countries. you remember they did covid research at the wuhan lab funded by taxpayers. he was the lone u.s. based representative for the u.s. health organizations investigation into covid-19 orally unders which has yet, as -- origins, which has yet, as they say, to be officially determined. let's bring in kev

sarasota county sheriff's deputies are going door to door warning residents about a possible love a breaklatest a levee break is nothing to play with, at all. >> certainly. you know that while arthel purred we see an airboat come in here, we've seen regular rescues probably several hundred over the past couple of days. a lot is the national guard of florida fish and wildlife. a lot is private citizens with all kinds of boats and high water vehicles. if several ambulances hereto now. we have a lot of family members gathered over here. they've been stranded mostly bread mostly medical emergencies were taken out yesterday. we are seeing our people stranded in their homes. they are in rough condition but not medical emergency condition for a lot of elderly people, some people and oxygen, some people in wheelchairs, a lot of pets as well. there's actually a waiting list of several hundred to get rescued. people on islands out there in their own homes. some people getting impatient pretty spoke to some women today said they decided to do it for themselves, here they are. >> we have lost his thr

and lee county and sarasota county, they were sitting there, lightening, wow, i feel bad for those peoples just jog. a little bit of wind, they weren't sure of the wind sheer, was it going to cut the top off, bring down the power of this thing, or was it going to steer it in a different direction, and it ended up steering it in a different direction. it is, you know, the way things are when you're talking about hurricanes. and yet, like everything else, it's pretty politicize -- politicized because it wasn't spot on. you didn't give these directions to these people, and you didn't predict the exact path. and so it's a politician's fault which is, it's almost laughable. kennedy: yeah. if that were the case, then all the greenies would make climate change magically disappear. they haven't been able to do that yet. i will be very excited to see how gutfeld talks to you. i don't know if you're going to be evil trace gallagher. we'll have to be watching tonight for that wonderful, seamless transition. good luck to you, trace. we will be watching. you're amazing. >> thank you so much for that.

it shut down a 14-mile stretch of i-75 in sarasota county has reopened. the rising water levels could cause the critical highway to close again in nearby northport more flooding neighborhood streets submerged for many help can't come soon enough. we just like little help that like little help to get my home back in. because i have nowhere to go food and water running low on sanibel island ian cut them off from the mainland. we're because we're in the bridge out. that makes it's what really difficult for us to get assets on the island. these newly released satellite images highlighting the storms destruction governor ron desantis saying the return to normal won't happen overnight. we understand that they're working on connectivity. we understand they're working on cell phone service. we understand they're working on getting getting the electrical back further north coastal south carolina now recovering from me as category one landfall friday live two doors down for the pier. we watched it cromwell and watch it float by with american flag. still floating. p

there is a shelter in place morning in sarasota county for one community there.so many people are still in the dark here. still without electricity. that is slowly being restored. around 42000 utility workers are here in the state from all over the country. but still more than a million floridians are currently in the dark without power right now. other issues that have also popped up in collier county was hard-hit by the hurricane and non-roman systems went down today those have now been restored. trees are still down in some areas, both scattered along roadways. we spoke to one woman about what she went through during this event. >> it was horrible. the whole back of the roof came down. it was never stopping. it was going for hours and ho hours. but there are so many people that do not have homes out here in north fort myers and there is nobody helping. trees are in the houses. suncoast is destroyed. those people do not have means to get out here to drive. i was hoping to get some water to drive it up there to them. i cannot find gas. my car is almost empty. th

more than 1.65 billion in total aid, providing housing to eligible in charlotte, collier, lee, sarasota countieslks, for example, we were there just a month ago, folks are saying i've lost everything. i don't have a computer. i don't have internet access. how can i get had especially that fema is offering us? >> yeah. it's a really good question. and one that, you know, we work to try to get information out there. so i appreciate the opportunity here today to continue to get that message out. we know that there's a lot of different ways for people to get assistance from fema but also from our federal partners. one of the things they can do is call and register. they can go online. we also have disaster recovery centers set up across the state. i believe as of this morning we have 21 different disaster recovery centers in the most impacted neighborhoods. and we also send teams, disaster survivor assistance teams, who go out to either questions, help people to register if they haven't already registered. we are using technology to help target some of those teams. we look at the impact that ian had

this scene is out of venice, florida, in sarasota county.near a portion of i-75 was shut down after water made it way onto the roadway making it unsafe for travel. ap reports in orlando college students have utilized air mat threatses to rescue friends -- mat are rests to to rescue friends and grab items from their complexes there. in talking to people out here, there's a lot of trauma associated with what they've gone through even if if they weren't here to ride out the storm. that's part of damage that a storm like this causes, it is truly taking a toll on the mental health of this community. the white house does confirm that the president and first lady will be arriveing here in florida on wednesday. pete? pete: not just the physical, the emotional and mental damage as well. ian's devastation the inspiring many to help those who lost everything including our next guest. >> what are you doing with your piggybank? >> sending it to people in need in florida, because they had a hurricane, and their offices went down and they need more stuff w

people all throughout this state, not just in tampa bay but in charlotte county and lee county and sarasota countycan divert rise horses to anyone that needs them. this is really going to be an all hands on deck type situation. >> you know, i've spoken to so many people. when i was at this shippers yard, i asked people who lost their votes, really ensured? and they said, no they're uninsured. i spoke to somebody enables yesterday who said they lived in a trailer park. they lost two of their cars. one is insured, the other one just isn't. they couldn't afford the insurance. you can't live in southwestern florida, in western florida, without a car, for most people. these are the stories that people who don't live through this stuff don't necessarily know. some people don't evacuate because of their health, or because they can't afford the extra tank of gas. what does equity look like in these situations? the commissioner from collier county was saying sometimes youo well and sometimes maybe even taking care of first. i know that my phone has been blowing up with folks that need food. to your point a

one of the groups flynn is supporting is a place called the hollow, in sarasota county.f his slogan that "local action has national impact." i try to check it out from the outskirts of the surrounding nature preserve. (gunfire echoes) un cnu i'm hearing what sounds like automatic weapons... from not very far away. the hollow emphasizes its family-friendly activities. it has waterslides. it even holds weddings. but i'd seen posts online about right-wing political events there, and it had offered weapons training for kids as young as six. michael flynn himself s often there. and i thought, what is going on here? i wasn't able to get any closer, but my colleagues at "frontline" managed to return for a tightly controlled tour. >> we're in the cave. this is the introduction to the kids, when they first get here, because their cell phones won't work. and then, when they get into the meeting area, they'll at least have somewhat of a clear, uh, slate of a mindset. it's general flynn, and i think he's a important part of our country's history, and i think the future will show tha

he, himself, has just joined the sarasota county, florida republican executive committee.ds building his own influence within the party. >> associate press correspondent michelle smith, thank you so much. "michael flynn's holy war" premiers tonight on pbs and is available to stream on pbs.org. >> you will know them by their fruits jesus said. and this version of christianity that he pushes out there, which, of course, is just absolute nonsense, is pro -- it's pro-putin. he has pro-putin quotes and says that he's a strong leader and that they're fighting for everything. and he calls zelenskyy a dangerous fool, and he does that on qanon. so, yes, his version of christianity is supporting somebody that right now is using iranian missiles to kill ukrainian children. >> civilians. >> some faith you've got there general. we'll be back with more "morning joe." l be back with more "mornig joe. plans help by paying some of what medicare doesn't... and let you see any doctor. any specialist. anywhere in the u.s. who accepts medicare patients. so if you have this... consider adding t

we are also following this developing situation, sarasota county on the florida gulf coast, there is a possibility break threatening flooding of up to 15 feet. the hidden river community. a neighborhood of about 50 homes or so and the sheriff's office issued a shelter placed morning early saturday morning for an emergency response teams. going door to door to ensure that that morning is actually getting to residents and i want to bring in nbc's jesse kerr. she has been following this for us. give us an update. what is happening? alas we spoke, we look at those images that we brought to us and we hadn't got the confirmation that the levee had broken but it looked like it had considering what we have been seeing at some of those images. where are we now? >> yes so yasmin, within the last half hour we have gotten an official update from the sheriff's department they're confirming that the levee has been compromised. and i want to show that image again that we were talking about earlier. this is something that has been shared, an area from the sheriff's department. they have a red arrow

and within the last few hours, the sarasota county sheriff says a levee broke in sarasota, putting more than 50 homes in danger of 15 feet of floodwater. this is serious, folks. so let's check in on the ground with our crews in the field. nbc news correspondent liz mclaughlin and is with us. and so is nbc correspondent emily anita, she's on james island in south carolina. liz is in florida. liz, i want to start with you. you are standing in the middle of just stunning destruction. i have been watching you for the last couple of hours. can you tell us what you are seeing? >> yeah, absolutely. this road just crumbles of concrete now. the only way to get to and from pine island from me. you might see rescue cues walking around, they are starting to survey the damage. starting to restore communications, still spotty self-service here. just cars floating in the water, boats washed up on land. some homes only a stairway to where a doorway used to be. you can see some remnants of what was once -- a peloton still sits upstairs, a fridge with the cover just torn off. food still neatly tucked ins

take for this area to get back to normal given the expertise in this area seeing, you know, in sarasota county, for example, a levee had some issues and crews rescued 200 people this weekend. and emergency officials are almost playing whack a mole in trying to pull out survivors. >> it may seem like chaos but it is controlled activity to get through the initial stages of response after a storm like this. i won't hesitate to guess how long it will take. but what i could tell you at federal level is that the united states army corp of engineers and fema has been set in conditions for a week ahead to make sure assets with prepositioned to respond should the assets needed exceed the county or state capabilities. and we're ready to do that. but i will say, the counties ant the state are doing an amazing job to the capabilities they have on their own right now. >> and what is your sense of, we're seeing that the death toll right now is at 74, given your agency's experience in dealing with these kinds of disasters, it may take several days i suppose, well into the week before we have our arms around

even after the storm passed, a levee breach in sarasota county, threatening homes over the weekend. pouring in from all directions. jose andres' world kitchen and other areas are in hard hit areas. a lack of water affecting hospitals, forcing them to transport patients old and young, including nicu infants. for tiffany henning. >> my baby needs help for breathing support and is dependent on running power, it was very scary. >> the twins ultimately transferred by helicopter to a nearby hospital with power, and we're told they're doing well. >> nbc's sam brock with that report. >>> also in cuba, massive protests erupted after hurricane ian left the country in the dark. the storm knocked out power to about 11 million people when it plowed through western cuba. earlier this week, officials said on friday that power had been restored to about 60% of havana's 2 million people. over the weekend, thousands of people took to the streets demanding for power to be restored. internet watchdogs reportedly accused authorities of blocking internet communications in an attempt to stem the unrest. a

. >> hi there, sandra, the three counties receiving the special elections relief package are sarasota in lee county. the most heavily hit by hurricane ian for elections. workers as well as voters, there are significant challenges. for example, how is somebody going to vote by mail when their mailbox is gone and maybe even their house? over in fort myers beach there were two polling sites on the island. now none. both destroyed by hurricane ian. at least 90% of the island is not living there at their houses or condos because they can't. homes gone. but democracy marches on posing significant challenges for election officials as well as displaced residents who aren't yet sure how they are going to vote. patrick not only lost everything in the devastation, he is also a voter and running for town council. >> one of the things that i think that i've heard from the constituents and residents is they really want to vote. they want to vote. i hope that we have -- give them the opportunity for those that can't get there. >> several impacted counties are getting the guidance from bay county aro

>> well, i've been in collier, lee, sarasota, charlotte and osceola counties.s what i'm seeing. i'm seeing the sheriff's departments are working their butts off, fire rescue, red cross is there, emergency management teams are there, fema has come in. i know everybody is working really hard. so everything i'm seeing is people are working their butts off. i'm scared to death that people haven't been rescued yet because there's still -- as of this morning there's still people to go. what i'm seeing is everybody is working their tail off. >> is that because of governor desantis' leadership? >> it takes everybody. it takes federal, state and local leadership to get this done. i'm appreciative that everybody cares about all these people and appreciate that everybody is working hard. >> senator, i know you're understandably very focused on what is happening in your state of florida. i have to ask you about what appears to be a threat by former president trump against your colleague, senate republican leader mitch mcconnell. trump said, quote, he has a death wish for s

most of the outages are in lee, sarasota, charlotte, volusia and manatee counties. >> could we get some help down here. would that be too much to ask. i mean look around here, there is nothing. we have no power, no phone service, nothing. so, we would just like a little help to get my home back in shape because i have nowhere to go. >> reporter: and one the biggest pleas i keep hearing is for ice. people don't have ice to keep food cool and to keep themselves cool because it is so hot in there florida sun. this is highway 70. it should extend. you could notice how quickly the water is moving. previously it was a standstill. when you see the campers we could only see the roof and now you're starting to see the windows and the doors and that is a sign that the water is coming down. but still you need a boat to get on this highway. kate. >> and the fact that that is how we're measuring how it is receding shows how high that water is and how much devastation there is still to be seen. nadia, thank you so much. >>> as we've mentioned, the forecasters warned for the significant threat of life

county. just outside of sarasota, kind of on your way if you're trying to get to sarasota to ft. myers. and we're seeing neighbors coming out helping people with their own boats, airboats and other vehicles to try to help people out. finally, some relief, but just as soon as cases of water show up, they very quickly end. just as soon as those boxes that are filled with mres, they're picked up. we're told it will take another hour before they can get another shipment of food and water to this site. boris? >> nadia romero reporting from arcadia, florida. it underscores the tremendous amount of need, not just where you are but all over the state of florida, as far south as ft. myers beach, into naples, and orlando, and obviously into the carolinas. we want to take you to naples right now, though, because that's where we find cnn's brian todd. he's been tracking the storm since shortly after it made landfall and has been giving us a closer look at some of the damage on the ground. brian, behind you, it looks like a neighborhood that was turned upside down. >> reporter: it is. last hour we s