officials in florida now say at least 66 people are confirmed dead, more than half the fatalities are here amid the widespread devastation in lee county, home to fort myers. the sheriff there says there have been more than 600 rescues in that county alone. near sarasota police officers evacuated a neighborhood early this morning as a levee appeared in danger of collapsing. that threat, a 15-foot wall of water crashing into the neighborhood. just a short time ago the state reopened a 12-mile stretch of interstate 75 in both directions bet an over flowing river has forced a closure there. governor desantis said overflowing lakes and rivers have also created havoc. there s also other areas where we may expect additional flooding. i was touring central florida with some of the aerial tours. there was more standing water in central florida than there was in southwest florida from the imp immuno impact of the storm serurge. i want to bring in jim acosta in fort myers, one of th
strength and it s taking aim at the carolinas, where people now are bracing for the worst. i m john berman in ft. myers, florida. the storm now barreling towards south carolina with 85-mile-per-hour winds. it is expected to make its third landfall in the coming hours near myrtle beach. after seeing the damage in florida, the governor of south carolina says, we know what s coming. so this storm might be the largest natural disaster in florida s history. the destruction here in ft. myers, i m standing in the middle of it, it is hard to comprehend. ft. myers beach, i had a chance to fly over it in a helicopter, much of it flattened. one official there describes the damage as, there s really nothing to come back to. at least 19 people have died from this storm. power is out this morning across the state. there have been hundreds of rescues. the coast guard has been out in force, airlifting people from flooded homes and neighborhoods. sanibel island hit very hard. the storm destro
path the danger is real to state the obvious. please obey all warnings. brian in florida desperate search and rescue efforts underway this morning. at least 10 confirmed dead. officials warn that number likely to climb. significant damage that i saw was on fort myers beach there have been more than 700 confirmed rescues and there is likely many more than that. brian: there you go. before and after photos showing the extent of the damage in fort myers. curfew being enforced there to prevent looting. more than 2 million people across florida still have no power. we have live team coverage this morning. meteorologist adam klotz is standing by with ian s latest track. but, first, fox weather correspondent robert wray is live in fort myers with a look at the damage. robert? yeah, it s tremendous. it s really everywhere you look. and especially when you start heading down to fort myers beach where all those rescues have occurred and where governor antioxidant just talked ab
everywhere. i ve never seen damage like this in my whole life. it s unreal. reporter: boats tossed like toys. the lone bridge connecting the island cracked and crumbled with the storm s winds putting some sections totally under water. we had about 200 households that didn t evacuate on the island that we know of. reporter: anyone still trapped on the isolated island now waiting for rescue by boat or air. we joined the lee county sheriff as he surveyed some of the hardest hit areas to see the full scope of ian s power. you know that as we are speaking right now, there are people that want us and need us and we can t get to them. reporter: people like jack and betty. an elderly couple who hasn t been heard from since the storm hit their continue dope. the worst part is the waiting and the unknown and not knowing that they re okay. reporter: their son scott says his parents were unable to evacuate in time and forced to hunker down on their ground floor. but rescuer