to the mainland. and above the shear scale of the wreckage, the storm left some areas completely unrecognizable. one person told the tampa bay times lee koth looks like a bomb has been dropped. momentarily, we ll go live to fort myers beach where this side by side shows the destruction to the popular pier. here s a man from fort myers who had a terrifying experience. i stayed here as long as i could until i got scared for my life and went across the street. the it didn ts last too long. the big bad wolf puffed it away. i watched my house disappear with everything in it. right pfr my eyes. right before his eyes. i want to bring in kat park in south carolina where hurricane ian is expected to make landfall soon. what are the conditions you re seeing? what are you hearing about what you re expecting in the next couple hours or so? reporter: so we have been out here for several hours now. i can can tell you the landscape has changed dramatically. behind me is the ashley riv
be felt nearly 300 miles from the center, which means that millions of people across the south from georgia to virginia will be affected. this is the scene in the towns of myrtle beach and south port, south carolina. they are facing life threatening storm surge from hurricane ian. we are also getting a fuller picture of the devastation on the ground now in towns across florida. the new york times describing it this way. quote, the scale of the wreckage was staggering. even to florida residents who had survived and rebuilt after other powerful hurricanes, this storm pulverized roads. it toppled trees, gutted downtown store fronts and set cars afloat, leaving a soggy scar of ruined homes and businesses from the coastal cities of naples and fort myers to inland communities across the state including orlando. at least 14 deaths have been linked to the storm. more than 1.8 million people are now without power. more than 700 rescues have taken place including these from sanibel i
obvious. please obey all warnings and directions from obvious. please obey all warnings and directions from emergency. and directions from emergency officials russia prepares to formally annex four more territories of ukraine with a signing ceremony in moscow. the west has condemned the vote as a sham. a fourth leak is discovered in the nord stream gas pipeline in the baltic. nato calls it a deliberate act of sabotage. #asl # as i walked to the valley of the saido of death, i take a look at my life. tributes are paid to the american rapper coolio, who s died at the age of 59. we have three major stories to cover tonight. parts of florida are being devastated by hurricane ian, the storm s being described as a once in a 500 year event. russia is preparing for a ceremony in red square on friday when it ll formally annex occupied ukrainian territories in defiance of international law. but first, we start here in the uk. the prime minister liz truss has been defending her econ
this afternoon it came ashore as near category 5 strength, as a high category 4 after bidding for hours as it approached. oh, you got to be kidding me! you got to be kidding me right now! right now it is still a category 3 storm, still a major hurricane with damaging winds spanning out 175 miles from the center. oh, my god. no less troubling than the winds tonight, potentially even worse hurricane ian is still pushing a massive storm surge onshore. forecasts as high as 18 feet in places where buildings living close to the water was why so many people moved there. take a look. this is fort meyers beach, and that is a community outreach center knocked off its foundation and floating down the street. making matters worse, the flood waters affecting residents who are doing the same to rescuers. a fire station here in naples is what first responders are up against along with anyone needing emergency help. and again, these conditions are not expected to improve throughout t
all covered for you. it is packing winds up to 115 miles per hour at this point and where i am now in central florida is expected to get worse overnight as we are on the air now so stay tuned, we have got it covered for you. you have to see this moment. this moment is from earlier. it is on the southern tip of pine island earlier today. check it out, if you will. whoo! whoo! you got to be kidding me! you got to be kidding me right now! and the threat is not over yet. there s still people who are out there sheltering in place. gaoept know their condition. we don t know if they re in a safe place now. there are power outages up to almost 2 million people across the statement we have our correspondents and our crews fanned out over the state of florida. bill is in punta gorda. brian todd is in largo. jerry is in bradenton and jeremy the weather center. bill, ace understand you re on lockdown tonight. you ever seen some of the biggest action with the wind and rain. what are