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
ian are learning more about how their lives are upended by one of the most powerful storms to ever hit florida. minutes ago we learned that power will likely not be restored in many areas before next sunday. think about that. but ian is also proving to be one of the most deadly in recent years and officials in florida say that at least 66 people are confirmed dead and more than half of the fatalities are here, amid the widespread devastation in lee county which is home to fort myers, sheriff says there that more than 600 rescues in that county alone, and more than 100 1,100 across the state. and there is a threat of a levee collapsing which is a 15-foot wall crashing into the neighborhood. officials reopened a stretch between north port and englewood and there have been lanes that had been shutdown in both direction, but it is reopened now. and earlier governor ron desantis said that overflowing lakes and rivers have created havoc. there are other areas that may be experien
between north port and englewood and there have been lanes that had been shutdown in both direction, but it is reopened now. and earlier governor ron desantis said that overflowing lakes and rivers have created havoc. there are other areas that may be experiencing additional flooding. there is more standing water in central florida than southwest florida even though they are a couple of hundred miles away from the storm and the storm surge, and a lot of water in the rivers and the inlets overflowing. so it is creating a lot of problems really across the state. all right. i want to bring in jim acosta in fort myers, one of the hardest-hit areas, and i know that you have a lot of experience, unfortunately r covering hurricanes and the devastation, and you have been there on the ground. how does this compare to past hurricanes that you have
department of transportation. 1,300 miles of roadway have been cleared. i think people heard that yesterday you had a lot of river flooding in charlotte county. fdot had to close 75 for a five-mile stretch. they are constantly monitoring that. it will open as soon as they can. as of this morning, they were still doing the detours around the flood impact. there s other areas where we may expect additional flooding. i want was interesting, 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, even though they re a couple hundred miles away from the initial impact of the storm and the storm surge. just a lot of water. some of the rivers and inlets overflowing. it is creating problems all across the state. if that impacts bridges, roads, fdot needs to maintain. all major ports are open for fueling. the fueling is going to be