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
i was on the police department for almost 25 years. saw a lot of storms here. this is by far the worst storm i have ever witnessed. i promise you i m never going to stay for another storm ever again here. however, i am one of the lucky ones. recovery efforts begin after utter devastation in parts of florida. while millions more people are now at risk as ian moves north. also tonight, he isn t tossing paper towels but governor ron desantis is handling this hurricane in a weirdly trumpy way. what we re learning about ginni thomas meeting with the january 6th committee when she wasn t texting the white house in the days leading up to the insurrection, she was encouraging states to reverse trump s embarrassing defeat. ian is one of the most powerful storms to ever hit the u.s. now, the state begins the colossal task of picking up the pieces. we get a first glimpse at the destruction. from what we have seen so far, it is staggering. this is ft. myers, homes completely des
the governor talked about how impressed he was. these are dangerous missions. i m grateful for the brave women and men in federal, state and local governments working as one team risking their lives to save others. and we re going to learn a lot more in the coming hours. but we know many families are hurting. many. many are hurting today. and our entire country hurts with them. because it s been all over the country we have seen so many crises. but in florida today, it s the epicenter. we re continuing to see deadly rainfall, catastrophic storm surges, roads and homes flooded. we re seeing millions of people without power and thousands hunkered down in schools and community centers. they are wondering what s going on left. what s going to be left when they get to go home. or even if they have a home to go to. some of the folks have been through this before. but that doesn t make it any easier. it makes their anxiety even higher, in my view. my message to people of florida, ti
ian now setting its sites on the south carolina coast, as we come on the air, with the tropical storm expected to strengthen back into a hurricane as it moves, look at it there, very slowly across the atlantic and back towards the east coast, after a trail of destruction in florida. people there are reeling now from one of the worst storms that has ever hit them, and doing what they can to start picking up the pieces. sanibel island, captiva island, a storm surge, with a huge chunk of the causeway there, that is the only way in or out, in a state overall, more than two and a half million people are without power and look at where that deep red is, some counties in southwest florida are totally we re live with officials, from across florida, as well as somebody from part of the federal response to this storm. cabinet secretary, homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas, hallie jackson in washington and we have the team covering every angle, and every location, and steve p
sean penn responding to international disasters. we watched people learn they matter. they can make a difference. reporter: mila kunis organizing support for her native country, ukraine. and glenn close, break down the stigma surrounding mental health. don lemon and dr. sanjay gupta join us as we recognize the humanitarian work of those who are using their star power for good. going to be brighter days, brighter days this is cnn heroes salutes. i m erin burnett. for more than 15 years we have celebrated remarkable individuals as cnn heroes. these so-called ordinary people work every day without access to fame or power, and they do it to make the world a better place. well, tonight we re doing something a little different. for the next hour we ll be featuring celebrities who are taking action on issues close to their hearts, whether helping people in war torn ukraine, destigmatizing mental health or responding to global disasters, these public figures are using the