that number could rise even higher as search and rescue crews work to reach cutoff areas, removing debris from destroyed homes and businesses along florida s southwest coastline and we re learning that miami-dade fire rescue crews are conducting helicopter evacuations on sanibel island. boris sanchez is there in fort myers, florida. boris, you just spoke with the lee county sheriff a few moments ago. what was said? reporter: fred, there have been a lot of questions today about the timing of when lee county ordered evacuations. we re in lee county right now in fort myers. what we ve learned is lee county ordered its first evacuations more than a day after forecasts met the county s criteria despite the fact the county has an emergency plan that suggests evacuations should have happened earlier. the county s comprehensive emergency ma or more of water would indicate the need for hurricane evacuations in the most vulnerable areas. a lot of lee county is a vulnerable area. one
newsroom. i m jim acosta in ft. myers, florida. first thing, we have some updated figures from here in the hurricane zone. sit the most current death toll of people who sadly did not survive hurricane ian here in florida. that new official death toll is now 74. 74 people here in florida have died now as a result of hurricane ian. of course, those figures are coming in. as they develop, we ll bring them to you. residents say there is a growing sense of fear that more bodies could be discovered. some areas remain fairly inaccessible to first responders. we ll show you what i saw on the ground. in the meantime, cnn has learned that a team that responds to mass fatality incidents has deployed equipment and personnel to assist medical examiners in boast counties here in southwest florida. officials in lee county where the majority of the deaths have concerned are facing a major concern. why were the first evacuation orders issued less than 24 hours before landfall? the county s ow
this predator as a neighbor and they may not know it. one of the victims will tell us what she is thinking knowing the man who attacked her will soon walk free. i m sandra smith in new york. mike, great to have you here today. mike: great to be here, mike emanuel in for john roberts. sandra: tiffany was 13 years old, one of the nine attacks he has admitted to. we will hear her message, and the bureaucrats decided he only had to serve part. and the race to control congress a month before america casts their ballots. and, here we go, battle to control congress as tight as it gets at this point. exactly four weeks out from election day, that s particularly the case in the senate. but let s begin with the house. brand-new fox news power rankings show republicans holding their advantage. gop forecasted to win 231 seats, democrats 204. keep in mind, 31 house races are considered toss-ups. since last month, republicans have gained two in the rankings, three races shifted towards
that responds to mass fatality incidents has deployed resources to assist medical malmers in lee and charlotte counties. officials in lee county are macing mountaining questions about the timing of this evacuation orders. the first ones issued less than 24 hours before the hurricane ian landfall despite evacuations should have been happened sooner. i ve been on the ground in lee county documenting the devastation and today matt le shay today in bonita springs. here is a look at what i saw. did you ride out the storm or anything? did i ride out the storm? . the water was up to half way to the front door with the waves crashing in the house. and our neighbors got stuck here and they had to safe harbor in our house. it was six inches of mud. i m going to see if they could salvage it. and we re just the back is worst than the front. the back is blown out. can we take a look? yeah. i said i leave in paradise and there was a roof over my head and i was literally in th
ian s death toll in florida is rising today. can we get some help down here? more supplies are coming in. there were four boats that just arrived moments ago. this community has never ever seen this high of flooding before. now we re going into day four without having electricity. that s when you get to that life-threatening range. we have no power, no phone service, nothing. the buildings are ripped off of their foundation and swept backwards. should there have been a mandatory evacuation that came sooner. i wouldn t have changed anything. this storm was unpredictable. there s a degree of personal responsibility here. i think people got complacent. lyman was completely liberated. it s likely to have a roll-on effect to russian positions further towards the russian border in the days ahead. i m pamela brown in washington. you are live in the cnn newsroom. the death toll from hurricane ian jumps again in florida. 74 people now confirmed killed by th