of ian s destruction in florida is still being revealed. we re seeing horrifying new images of wiped out communities, as rescue operations continue and the death toll rises. also tonight, vladimir putin vows victory will be ours. that s what he says and throws a red square celebration after annexing one fifth of ukraine. the u.s. and its allies are condemning the land grab as illegal and president biden is warning putin won t get away with what he calls this dangerous escalation of the war. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. this is cnn breaking news. we re following the breaking news right now in south carolina, ian s newest target, after its catastrophic onslaught in florida. cnn correspondents are on the scene in both states, covering this disaster. and our weather center is tracking ian s path right now. first, let s go to cnn s miguel marquez in pauley s island in south carolina
somehow. so, anyway, they are getting, this is just south of myrtle beach, down there by garden city, surfside beach on the southern part of the grand strand, just south of the grand strand on down toward georgetown. georgetown in this area here, and then i want to make a note of this spot right here, this is mcclellanville, and behind it is march. it was notorious near hugo, they had a high school that flooded and they had to hang from the rafters and on top of tables and stages to save themselves. looks like right now the center of this broad circulation is going to come ashort, kind of a little face i drew there, isn t it, come ashore somewhere near mcclellanville, right about there, that puts the worst of the water to the north with the winds like this. the worst of the water into the georgetown area, and just north of georgetown is the famous place, pawleys island, and the pier, a famous attraction there on the island, i ve seen the images of that now of the end of the p
i want to welcome our viewers joining us here in the united states and all around the world i am live from the cnn headquarters. just ahead on cnn newsroom. there s going to be damages throughout the whole state and people in other parts of the state, be prepared for some impacts. i m concerned for people who either chose to ride the storm out or didn t know any better. why did you leave your home? this is the reason why, because these conditions are grueling. we have multiple residents including elderly residents trapped. we have water on the streets, down power lines, it s a dangerous situation. thursday september 29th, 4 am on the u.s. east coast where much of florida is still being hammered by heavy rains, hurricane-force winds and devastating flooding, irking ian has been downgraded to category one storm, it is now moving north east, it has knocked out power to 20% of the state, that s more than 2 million homes and businesses. these terrifying images are fr
yeah, that s right, look, as you mentioned it s weakened now to a tropical storm, but weakened or not, ian is still one for the record books cutting this brutal path across florida s west coast. as much as 20 inches of rain fell in some areas. this morning, there s 14 million people under flood alerts. more than 2 million homes and businesses are without power across florida. and that intense flooding that berman mentioned there in places like fort myers and naples, here you re seeing pictures of those areas, it s leaving people who decided to ride out the storm just trapped in their homes. berman. yeah, the sun will come up soon. cnn has live team coverage up and down the coast. up into orlando, where the storm has yet to hit. our first report is from our randi kaye in punta gorda, florida, rand di, i am so happy to see you well this morning. thank you, john. good to see you as well. we got up early, we re trying to make our way to fort myers, which we know was so hard
top of the hour, this busy thursday morning, i m jim sciutto. i m poppy harlow. welcome to our viewers. the breaking news we are following this morning, hurricane ian leaving just stunning devastating destruction in florida as a hurricane then a tropical storm. still pummeling the state though. 14 million people in florida are currently under flood alerts. 2.5 million businesses without power along with homes. they re rescuing people trapped inside flooded homes. governor ron desantis spoke about the devastation so many are waking up to this morning. there s 1.5 million outages in 7 southwest florida counties. lee and charlotte are basically off the grid at this point. the amount of water that s been rising and will likely continue to rise today even as the storm is passing is basically a 500-year flood event. the impacts of this storm are historic. and the damage that was done has been historic and this is just off initial assessments. well, the risk of storm surge and