landfall as a hurricane. ian is moving inland as a post-tropical cyclone. even though it s been downgraded, officials warn it could cause heavy rain, wind, and floods. in south carolina the storm flooded homes and vehicles along the shoreline. you can see in this video high winds pushed the storm surge even higher, and two piers, one in pawleys island and one in myrtle beach both partially collapsed. officials are warning residents to avoid leaving their homes, to steer clear of floodwaters that could pose hidden dangers. the obvious one of the water itself can isolate people, drown people. but it can also hide downed power lines, obstacles in the water, even contaminants in the water. so the waters themselves are the most dangerous. ian slammed into southwest florida as a severe category 4 hurricane on wednesday. it almost became a category 5, packing sustained winds at 150 miles an hour. the storm is now being blamed for at least 45 deaths, though, officials believe t
ripped through the state as a powerful category 4 storm. almost a category 5. the highest, most powerful kind of you hurricane there is. 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 m
feet high, could plunge into the neighborhood. it s just one of the many gulf coast communities still suffering from catastrophic flooding. it s been quite an operation. some of our major thoroughfares have become impassable even as the water recedes, there s washouts. so we have a long, long recovery period. all of this following hurricane ian s destructiv ive h across florida. it slammed into the gulf coast as a category 4 hurricane. entire towns leveled. florida governor ron desantis is expected to give an update on the situation later on in this hour. we ll take that for you live. let s send it down to boris sanchez with our coverage from ft. myers, florida. boris? fred, you just broke the news that we have been dreading all day. initially, when we got up this morning, officials had told us that the death toll from hurricane ian was hanging at around 45 fatalities, and you just broke the news, 64 people killed by hurricane ian here in the state of florida and potent
hurricane-force winds already recorded offshore from charleston. the national weather center warns storm surge is expected there. people are warned to take this storm seriously especially after what was seen and happened from ian in florida. more striking images are emerging as well. capturing the level of devastation especially where the storm came on shore in southwest florida. you re looking at have i had from sanibel island showing the community torn apart, completely severed from the mainland. people stranded without water and power. cleanup efforts have begun in some areas, including fort myers beach. residents still reeling from all of this destruction. i mean, there s just stuff going everywhere. i ve lived here my whole life, it s unreal. we thought possibly we were one of the lucky ones. unfortunately it s really too sad for me to talk about. thank you, guys. some areas, high floodwaters are still a major concern, not yesterday receded. governor ron desant
earlier demonstrated just how powerful those winds can be. there is the wind speed, as i am standing next to the building. i will take a knee. oops. i ll have to take a knee there. okay. you guys got it i m going back out. the powerful winds created record level storm surges in areas like fort myers and naples, florida. over 2 million are without power tonight. and flash flooding is still a major concern, with potentially up to 30 inches of rain predicted in some areas. let s go now to nbc news meteorologist michelle grossman for the latest on hurricane in. michelle, hurricane ian has been downgraded to a category one storm. what should residents in its path expect over the next 24 to 48 hours? i, they re great to see you. they can expect flood and rain we. need to prepare for that flash flooding. when it comes to water and hurricanes, that s the number one reason for deaths in hurricanes, it s the salt water, the storm surge that we talked about, and also fre