hello again, everyone. thank you for joining me. i m fredricka whitfield. we begin with a new update on the devastating toll hurricane ian has taken on florida. at least 64 people were killed across the state. as recovery efforts continue, the number is expected to rise. governor ron desantis at this hour giving a briefing on the storm response and recovery. hurricane ian slamming into florida as a category 4 storm, leveling entire communities. and today severe flooding is complicating rescue and recovery efforts. let s go back to boris sanchez anchoring from ft. myers, florida, for us. reporter: hey, fred. as you reported just a moment ago, the tragic news that the death toll has again climbed earlier today. it was sitting at 45 fatalities. now cnn has confirmed from state officials that it has reached 64 people killed as a result of hurricane ian. and those devastating, nearly category 5, storm force winds. obviously, this is a difficult time for so many across the stat
hurricane ian. 65 people here in florida did not survive the storm. search and rescue efforts in many areas are ongoing. 2 million people in multiple states are without power. the sunshine here revealing more and more damage, hour-by-hour. the hurricane and storm surge laid waste to entire towns, including ft. myers beach, robbing people of homes and livelihoods. rescue efforts will take months and years for some of the areas to get back to normal. i tell you for myself, i spent much of the day out there. that is the case. it will take many months and weeks to get back to normal. south of here, naples, florida, officials say it will take months or longer to recover. prosecute damage could top $2 million. the fire chief says the city is having challenges with restoring power. brian todd is in naples for us. brian, i know you ve been doing this hour after hour. every corner you turn, every street you go down, you re seeing more and more devastation. tell us what you re seeing.
almost the entire state of florida, think about that, is bracing for the impact of hurricane ian., a monster storm is expected, several hundred miles across, and getting stronger by the minute. that is after causing a nationwide blackout in cuba. ian is turning in the gulf of mexico as a category three hurricane with sustained wind of just shy of a category for. now, along with life- threatening storm surge, florida is facing catastrophic flooding and powerful wind. conditions will deteriorate throughout the night ahead of the expected level in the coming hours, more than 2 1/2 million people are under some form of evacuation at this hour. the window to leave is running out. even before the hurricane makes landfall, authorities are warning residents to be on alert for tornadoes overnight. these images show the impact earlier after a tornado hit the airport in south florida, causing significant damage to several aircraft hangers. our meteorologist attracting the system for us.
this storm will only continue to intensify. if you want to leave, as the governor has said, now is your last chance. we cannot send first responders into harm s way because you decided not to leave. 155 mile per hour winds. that is what hurricane ian is now producing as it bears down on florida s coast. i m john berman live in tampa this morning. brianna keilar is in washington. this is cnn s special live coverage of a storm that is getting more powerful by the minute. the national hurricane center just reported it had a plane flying through the center of this storm measuring sustained winds, sustained of 155 miles per hour. that is just 2 miles per hour short of a category 5 storm and it could still strengthen before it makes impact over the next few hours. expected to make landfall, direct landfall southwest of where i am south of where i am near the fort myers area. the wind speed just one of the major concerns here. the storm surge, which the wind speed only exacerbat
also at this hour, hurricane hunters are flying into the eye of the storm right now and they will be talking with us live. what they re seeing right now with this hurricane. they are the noaa team sending real-time data back. and they re joining us tonight. the other news this tuesday night, the first results coming in from vladimir putin s referendums in eastern ukraine. russia tonight saying 96% of people are in favor of becoming part of russia. we saw the images, pro-russian soldiers armed with assault rifles going door-to-door to pick up ballots. tonight, the u.s. calling this referendum a sham. the new satellite images showing the mass exodus from russia. russian men looking to avoid the new draft. the line, ten miles long. and when putin is now set to address the russian people. ian pannell in ukraine tonight. back here at home, the january 6th rioter convicted of attacking an officer. the world has seen those images. tonight, sentenced to more than seven years in p