done in this area, you know, there are some signs of hope, some glimmers of hope, on the horizon, we re hearing from officials that sunday is the target date to restore power, to most of the people in this area, and sort of buildings that can withstand power and can accept power, we also hear that sunday is the date, the target date for the restoration of power, and water services, so there s some glimmers of hope on the horizon, there s some progress happening, but still so much work that needs to be done here, hallie. shaq brewster, thank you. there is so much work. and gabe you know with the people on the ground in puerto rico, they know that, and you have reported from the island so many times and what it has been like with the aftermath of hurricane maria of course years ago and now this. talk to me about the mood on the ground and what you ve seen change and what you have not seen change. yes, hurricane maria is about five years ago. and here we are, yet again, an island that
looking at this area it just looks like it was put into a blender and dumped back out again. boats hundreds of yards from the marina. not just boats, to level ships! some deciding to ride out the storm in those boats tossed around like toys. amazed to be alive. this debris just scattered. pieces of peoples lives all tangled up with power lines, with the signing of homes, children s toys. it is just sad and surreal to walk through it here. rescue efforts are going around the clock. cruz going back and forth from those hardest reach areas that have been cut off from civilization except for by air or water. the only way to get people out of their waterlogged homes trapped without water without power, we spoke with some of those rescued as they were coming off of those boats rescued by the coast guard. let s listen to their experiences. well, we haven t had much water. we ve been trying to get by. a couple of buckets for the
least 77 deaths have been caused by ian and florida and north carolina. more than 800,000 floridians and tens of thousands in the carolinas remain without power. creating a new facet of this emergency. some hospitals in the area now scrambling to evacuate critically ill patients. in florida s hard-hit lee county, yesterday the sheriff confirmed that 35 people had died from the effects of ian. pine island, one of the hardest hit areas in lee county is largely with the self-service or electricity this morning. the only bridge going in and out of the island was destroyed. making the delivery of food and medical supplies nearly impossible. even worse, the situation may have been avoided. the new york times is reporting that officials in the county actually delayed evacuating the area. quote, deciding to see how the forecast evolves. president joe biden and the first lady plan to travel this
week to the areas devastated by the back-to-back hurricanes. tomorrow, the couple will start the tour in puerto rico where 233,000 homes and businesses were still without power almost two weeks after hurricane fiona and a death toll at least 25 people. joining me now from fort myers beach florida is nbc correspondent elise mclaughlin. liz, give us a sense of what the damage was like there. what are people telling you about their experience and losses? just unbelievable, jonathan. this area completely ripped apart. now, they are trying to put the pieces back together. you can see this excavator behind me starting a clear rubble. this entire area is just covered with debris. there is loss of life, of course, we keep hearing that death toll going up. the people i have spoken with who decided to ride out the storm just harrowing experiences. losing neighbors, pets, their homes.
landfall. this gives individuals the opportunity to get additional assistance from fema to help them start their recovery process. we ve delivered meals, over 1 million meals into the area. leaders of water, right to where the states have the points of distribution so we can get the food and water into the individuals who need them. administrator criswell, governor desantis says 1100 rescues have been made with more than 860,000 people still without power in florida, spotty cell phone service, extreme flooding, how difficult is it to find people in need? we had well over 2 million people without power immediately following the storm. the power companies there have done an amazing job of getting the majority of people back online. they are going to continue to do the efforts that they have. the state laid out mutually supported effort to re-vamp the power institution.