how close they came to catastrophe. you ll hear the urgent calls from air traffic control. the black boxes found after the passenger plane crash that killed at least 69 in nepal. the final moments caught on camera. the search tonight for answers. the death toll growing in one of the worst russian strikes on civilians since the war in ukraine began. italy s most wanted man captured. how a notorious mafia boss was found hiding in plain sight after 30 years on the run. and honoring a civil rights icon. the images from across the country on this martin luther king jr. day. announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. good evening, everyone. california tonight suffering the effects of its tenth consecutive storm. weeks of rain from an atmospheric river undermining roads. some crumbling right before the eyes of horrified onlookers. saturated hillsides turning to mudslides. the round of storms now blamed for the deaths of at least 22 people. search and rescue
our thoughts remain with those impacted by hurricane ian. for those who need help, please ask for it. and if you can give help, please, give it. on that note, i wish you all a very good and safe night. from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, thanks for staying up late with us. i will see you at the end of tomorrow. when hurricane ian came ashore yesterday afternoon and what was one of the stronger storms to ever hit the united states, period, and after a terrifying night in southwest florida daylight today brought harrowing evidence of the destruction of a storm like that brings. this is fort myers beach, one of the barrier ion islands that in slammed into as a near category five storm. for the hurricane it was a popular beach destination full of resorts and restaurants. as you can, see much of it has been leveled. when local resident told his local tape paper, quote, fort myers beach is gone. this is the causeway leading to sandoval island, just west of
good day, everyone. i m andrea mitchell in washington. president biden will speak this afternoon about the federal government s coordination with leaders in georgia, south carolina and, of course, hurricane ravaged florida. we expect to hear from ron desantis later this hour. let s begin with nbc s kathy park in charleston, south carolina. residents are used to flooding in that historic district. this looks like it s going to be an unprecedented event. reporter: yeah. good afternoon. that s absolutely right. hurricane ian is still barrelling this way. we are getting slammed with these heavy bands of rain and wind. every so often we get slammed with wind gusts you see right now. this is the pattern that we have been experiencing all morning long. i want to show you what s happening behind me. that s the ashley river you are seeing behind me. there s sawgrass, and it s almost covered by the water. it s high tide. that s the big concern throughout the day. the combination of
of the florida coast of that this is sanibel island, an island decimated by hurricane ian. right now there s no way to get help in to sanibel. the only bridge that connected the island to the mainland, it s a long causeway, it s caved in. so there s no way to get on or off the island unless you travel by boat. and that s been incredibly difficult for anyone to do. and that loss right now spans the florida coast. i ll show you cape coral. our bill weir was here today. this is a picture he took. you can see home after home totally destroyed and flooded. the ones that are still standing, you can see siding ripped off. at one point ian s winds were 155 miles an hour. we re going to have much more from bill weir in a moment. not far from where he took those images, ft. myers beach, striking images of what is left. not much. the beach community 48 hours ago looked like that. now, take a look at this. estero boulevard, 24 hours later. a restaurant called the whale surrounded by debr
the vatican says benedict s condition has worsened in recent hours. and a powerful winter storm in north america has claimed more lives in new york state. we ll speak to a recovery worker in buffalo, one of the worst hit cities. for you watching in the uk, on pbs in the us and around the globe, welcome to bbc news. america has become the latest country to impose mandatory covid tests on chinese tourists, after beijing announced it would reopen its borders next week. it comes as china s covid cases surge. tighter measures have also been imposed by italy, japan, malaysia, taiwan and india. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams reports. from the world s most populous nation, alarming scenes china s hospitals overwhelmed, covid infections soaring. the country s abrupt decision to dismantle much of its strict covid regime apparently yielding worrying results. wards full of desperately ill people. outside this hospital in chengdu, a queue for emergency services. government offi