i was on the police department for 25 years, saw a lot of storms here. this is by far the worst storm i have ever witnessed. i promise you, i m never going to sit through another storm ever again here. i am one of the lucky ones. just some of the survivors of hurricane ian after the storm decimated wide sections of florida, and now the storm is on track to make a second u.s. landfall threatening the carolinas and georgia. good morning, and welcome to morning joe, it is friday, september 30th. joe is off this morning, but we ll get right to the latest with ian. intensing into a hurricane again, heading to south carolina after leaving a trail of devastation in florida. it is expected to make landfall near charleston around noon today as a category 1 storm. the national hurricane center is warning it could unleash life threatening storm surge, floods and strong winds. a state of emergency is in place for the carolinas, georgia and virginia. the damage from hurricane ian is
good day, everyone. i m andrea mitchell in washington. president biden will speak this afternoon about the federal government s coordination with leaders in georgia, south carolina and, of course, hurricane ravaged florida. we expect to hear from ron desantis later this hour. let s begin with nbc s kathy park in charleston, south carolina. residents are used to flooding in that historic district. this looks like it s going to be an unprecedented event. reporter: yeah. good afternoon. that s absolutely right. hurricane ian is still barrelling this way. we are getting slammed with these heavy bands of rain and wind. every so often we get slammed with wind gusts you see right now. this is the pattern that we have been experiencing all morning long. i want to show you what s happening behind me. that s the ashley river you are seeing behind me. there s sawgrass, and it s almost covered by the water. it s high tide. that s the big concern throughout the day. the combination of
it s the top of the hour on cnn newsroom. i m alisyn camerota in new york. hurricane ian has killed at least 13 people. it s the strongest storm to hit the west coast of florida in nearly 20 years. local officials say we should brace for that number of victims to rise. the life and death danger from ian continues as it pushes northeast, still pummelling florida. rescuers were pulling people from high water all day and night. survivors describe no time to wait as people had to carry children, as you can see, through chest-high waters. ian made landfall just west of cape coral. our cnn drone shows the devastation there. i mean obviously you can just see these are supposed to be streets, but they are completely flooded. nearby ft. myers and naples further south are both decimated. countless neighborhoods are still submerged in the floodwaters at this hour. the communities of sanibel and pine island are now cut off from the mainland after ian washed away parts of this causewa
customers in florida. and the other major concern at this hour, the tornado watches in effect into the night. airport closures, the ripple effect now, and this hurricane now headed inland. headed straight for orlando before then tracking north. alerts at this hour up across florida, georgia, and now the carolinas. our meteorologists ginger zee and rob marciano both on the ground again tonight with our team across florida. also, the acting deputy director of noaa s national hurricane center right here with us tonight. what concerns him most as we head into the evening hours. the other major news this wednesday night, the u.s. state department now urging americans to leave russia immediately. the american embassy warning russians may force americans with dual citizenship into military service. and the allegations involving potential russian sabotage of the pipeline that would deliver russian natural gas into europe. ian pannell inside ukraine tonight. in this country, the m
down, you have trees that are down, you have a lot of hazards right now. we do anticipate a lot of the water will subside in some of the barrier islands, in some of the coasts, but some of those inland places off rivers and off these inlets, you know, you re likely to have standing water there throughout all of today and even in the days ahead. so that is a hazard and just please be aware that that is something that you if you weathered the storm to this point, going and doing and getting involved in that is just totally not worth it, and we want to minimize any harm to anybody as a result of what we re seeing right now in the streets. we have had 26 states provide support. we really appreciate that. it s going to be put to use. this is i don t think we ve ever seen an effort mobilized for this many rescues this quickly. but we appreciate it and we will make good use of it. we want people to be safe. those who have who are in need of life support right now, help is on t