south carolina. here in florida, at least 19 people are dead from ian, and that number could very well rise. as of this moment, more than 2 million people in this state remain 2 million customers remain without power. you can see some of the flooding that really inundated so much of this state. there have been rescue missions since it was safe to get out. but first we ll go to south carolina where the storm is now headed. cnn s nick valencia is in myrtle beach. nick, what are you seeing so far this morning? reporter: it s already cold and wet this morning, john, and we re feeling those tropical storm force winds come in, gusts of, you know, 30 miles per hour at some parts of the day, the morning, i should say. we re right here on the beachfront, and you would think it would be a ghost town, but in the last few minutes, we ll see a little bit of traffic. these beachfront areas, some of these businesses didn t even take precautions. the windows aren t even boarded
going to be hit by water that is coming. the question is, where will it hit and on what side of that storm will we be? if we re on the right side on the left side of that storm, as it comes up, that might help keep that water down on that right side, it might be pretty brutal. john? yeah, the concern is the combination of the tides, the surge, and the rain. miguel marquez standing in the middle of it. thank you so much. we ll check back in with you in a bit. let s go right to meteorologist chad myers, actually, and get a sense of the forecast. miguel was talking about it, it very much matters where the storm hits for him, for charleston. what s the latest, chad? the latest is that the national weather service is issuing a 9-foot-likely surge there, a 9-foot level of the water. that s the fifth highest level charleston harbor has ever seen. the highest was hugo, that was at 12 feet. we re at 9. all of a sudden, this is a major flood situation if we get it at
there? reporter: well, john, good morning. parts of englewood this morning are drying out and it seems like there is access to some of the barrier islands out here. it is quite dark in our drive in from i-75. understandably, because the power is out. debris litters the roadway out here. you can t get too far without running into some sort of law enforcement officer. there was a curfew for a part of englewood, and that s because the city is between two counties, that includes charlotte county, charlotte county does have a curfew in effect, since about tuesday. and that is going to continue on into the next couple of days, probably into the next week or so. there are some signs of folks trying to get some sort of routine back together here. there are some signs of trying to get back to somewhat of a normal life, if you will. right here at this gas station, there s a delivery that s being made. and just a few minutes ago, a fey highway patrol trooper also
land and probably make landfall, it is also going to coincide with the tide here. they re expecting it not the tide here. this sea wall and many areas of charleston flood on a day. they are bracing for very big floods here, asking they are doing everything they can to sandbag homes, to open shelters for those who may need them, and anybody in low-lying areas here, saying stay away from the ocean right now, seek higher ground. john? i can see how hard it s raining there already, miguel. but the water coming from the sky. the water just gets everywhere, all over yo, all over the equipment. and this is just the beginning. it s going to be several hours of that. you and your team, stay safe there. we ll check back in with you in a bit. i want to bring in cnn chief meteorologist, chad myers. you know, miguel standing in charleston oh, is chad there? chad, what are you seeing? what is the forecast now?