sanibel island, florida. cut off because part of the causeway is destroyed. the horrific scene. victor oquendo with search and rescue teams tonight. the other major news this friday night. vladimir putin holding a massive rally in red square, declaring four regions in ukraine are now part of russia. putin s nuclear threat tonight. what he said about the u.s., and president biden s response. ian pannell in ukraine. the verdict tonight for an american sailor accused of destroying a u.s. navy ship, accused of setting it on fire. what the judge ruled today. and what the u.s. navy is saying tonight. martha raddatz is here. in texas, opening fire on migrants. a former ward and his twin brother facing charges for the group pulled over the get water. the terrifying moment on the football field, seen by millions. the nfl quarterback, the head injury, and his hands, his fingers appearing to curl. what that signaled. and tonight, the nfl facing intense scrutiny over its concussi
this afternoon it came ashore as near category 5 strength, as a high category 4 after bidding for hours as it approached. oh, you got to be kidding me! you got to be kidding me right now! right now it is still a category 3 storm, still a major hurricane with damaging winds spanning out 175 miles from the center. oh, my god. no less troubling than the winds tonight, potentially even worse hurricane ian is still pushing a massive storm surge onshore. forecasts as high as 18 feet in places where buildings living close to the water was why so many people moved there. take a look. this is fort meyers beach, and that is a community outreach center knocked off its foundation and floating down the street. making matters worse, the flood waters affecting residents who are doing the same to rescuers. a fire station here in naples is what first responders are up against along with anyone needing emergency help. and again, these conditions are not expected to improve throughout t
residents are urged to stay inside. our team is on the ground, crews mobilize before sunrise and senior meteorologist is here tracking ian in new york city. todd: phil keating, where we begin our coverage in st. petersburg, we got the latest update the hurricane has been downgraded to a tropical storm, what are you seeing right now? good morning, had u.s. coast guard helicopter land across the water at tampa general, now flying off, they have a real busy day doing search and rescue operations all day, still unknown whether they have numerous people that need to be rescued or whether the day will actually be better than they feared. here in tampa right now issue most people are still sleeping after a night of heavy pounding rain and wind, but for the most part, the bulk of the storm right now, not raining here issue mostly moved east by now, slamming around orlando and the east coast along i-95 corridor and the winds here, you can see, not too blustery, only maybe in the 2
field currently. they will work 24/7 until we get the lights back on, again as the governor said, not our first rodeo, but every storm is also different, and always poses different challenges. appreciate all the support from the state, governor, thank you, from local law enforcement as well, the national guard, this is a team sport and a team effort and we are going to all work together until we get florida back up on our feet and where we all want to be. thank you. and when fpl and the other companies have crews in, the ex ten to which that infrastructure has remained is critical because it s a lot easier for them to reconnect an existing system than to have to rebuild it. so to see some of that that was able to withstand is encouraging. it s also just a testament. some of these folks put money into the resilience of the infrastructure, and this is like the ultimate test. you have a hurricane that s a massive hurricane coming in at 155 miles an hour, producing this type of
ian now setting its sites on the south carolina coast, as we come on the air, with the tropical storm expected to strengthen back into a hurricane as it moves, look at it there, very slowly across the atlantic and back towards the east coast, after a trail of destruction in florida. people there are reeling now from one of the worst storms that has ever hit them, and doing what they can to start picking up the pieces. sanibel island, captiva island, a storm surge, with a huge chunk of the causeway there, that is the only way in or out, in a state overall, more than two and a half million people are without power and look at where that deep red is, some counties in southwest florida are totally we re live with officials, from across florida, as well as somebody from part of the federal response to this storm. cabinet secretary, homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas, hallie jackson in washington and we have the team covering every angle, and every location, and steve p