jersey as much room as that takes up. and the reservoirs out west are down to almost zero. we re in a situation where the colorado river looks more like a stream. there s a lot going on. and i think the one thing thas finally ended is discussion of whether or not there s climate change and we should do something about it. folks, i also want to jill and i have had you all in our prayers, and i mean that sincerely. and we re here today because we wanted to tell new person that we re thinking of you, and we re not leaving. we re not leaving until this get done. i promise you that. you know, you walk around here, what s left of fishermen s wharf, and you don t have to have much imagination to understand that everything is historic, titanic, and unimaginable storm just ripped it to pieces. you got to start from scratch. got to move again. it s going to take a lot, a lot of time. not weeks or months. it s going to take years for everything to get squared away in the state of fl
ian are unlivable. the scenes, apocalyptic. responders working by boat and aircraft. nearly 2,000 rescues in southwest and central florida since last week when hurricane ian hit the state. this morning, the number of customers without power is now below half a million in florida. president biden travels to florida tomorrow for a firsthand look at the devastation. cnn s randi kaye is live this morning in fort myers beach. randi? reporter: john, i know you ve seen fort myers beach from the air, but seeing it on the ground firsthand is certainly like nothing i have ever seen before. there were stairways to anywhere because homes were literally blown out of foundations. there were homes on top of homes. as you said, fort myers beach is still closed to residents, but we got a firsthand look up close with a search and rescue team out of miami, florida, and here wrap we saw. this is our first look from the ground at fort myers beach. hurricane ian s winds combined with storm s
101 people across florida across 11 different counties. ian s wrath is also blamed for at least four deaths in north carolina. right now, search and rescue operations remain under way. 2,000 rescues have been carried out across florida. the red cross housed 2900 people in their shelters sunday night. the state has 2.3 million meals and 83,000 have applied for assistance. this morning, fort myers beach remains closed. crews are searching for survivors, working around the clock. 400,000 people there remain without electricity. and an official warns it may be weeks or months for some to get it back on. well, tomorrow, president biden fresh off the tour of hurricane-ravaged puerto rico is set to visit florida. let s begin in florida with anchor and fellow correspondent boris sanchez. boris, good morning. thank you for being with us. that is a really significant jump in the death toll from when we spoke to you yesterday morning. at the same time, officials haven t given up hope
morning. we re probably still another three to four days left in search and rescue and recovery, so that s a rough time frame that could go in either direction. these are not numbers. this is family members, people didn t just lose their homes. we can rebuild a home. we can get another boat, but when you lose a loved one, there s just no words that can describe how we feel for that family. so we hope and pray those numbers stay as low as possible. more than 430,000 people remain without power across florida, and some in places like fort myers beach and sanibel island could be without power for more than a month. crews are already trying to reconnect the hurricane ravaged barrier islands to the mainland, a temporary gravel bridge to pine island could be done by the end of the week. cnn s boris sanchez is there in lee county. boris, we know that it will take months, if not years to put these communities back together. what s the latest on that path that you know now? re
ian is rising in florida. 88 people lost their lives to this storm. 54 of them alone were in lee county which includes fort myers, as you re seeing on your screen here and fort myers beach. that town is decimated by the monster category 4 storm. officials there now facing questions over the timing of the mandatory evacuation orders, were they given early enough. search and rescue teams still going door to door looking for survivors especially on the barrier islands of sanibel, captiva. and pine. ian s strong winds destroyed homes and businesses leaving behind despair. can we get some help down here? you know, would that be too much to asky i mean, you luke around here, there s nothing. we have no power, no phone service, nothing. we d just like a little help. i d like a little help to get my home back in shape because i ve got nowhere to go. florida governor ron desantis said there s been more than 1600 rescues. some floridians providing their own boats for help. the ligh