off of the gulf coast there. we re not going to get a sense of it until tomorrow. but yes, it looks pretty path down in. and we ll be talking about this later in the hour. thanks, chris. and thank you for joining us. hurricane ian continues to create a swath of in made landfall just after 3:00 this afternoon in southwestern florida, near k o connor, a island off of the coast of fort myers. ian came ashore as a category four hurricane with 150 mile per hour winds. just a few miles per hour shy of a category five. only for hurricane stronger than that have made landfall in the united states ever. but it is not just the strength of the storm, it is the size. this is the view of hurricane in from the international space station this afternoon. just showing how massive the storm is. the national river describes in as battering the florida peninsula with tied and winds, and flooding. ian has just now weakened to a category two storm with maximum sustained winds of 105 miles
earlier demonstrated just how powerful those winds can be. there is the wind speed, as i am standing next to the building. i will take a knee. oops. i ll have to take a knee there. okay. you guys got it i m going back out. the powerful winds created record level storm surges in areas like fort myers and naples, florida. over 2 million are without power tonight. and flash flooding is still a major concern, with potentially up to 30 inches of rain predicted in some areas. let s go now to nbc news meteorologist michelle grossman for the latest on hurricane in. michelle, hurricane ian has been downgraded to a category one storm. what should residents in its path expect over the next 24 to 48 hours? i, they re great to see you. they can expect flood and rain we. need to prepare for that flash flooding. when it comes to water and hurricanes, that s the number one reason for deaths in hurricanes, it s the salt water, the storm surge that we talked about, and also fre
miles an hour. it down trees and power lines, even without power. created storm surge in areas like fort myers and naples, florida. officials are warning residents about potential for flash flooding overnight, some areas inland could see over two feet of rain. let s go now to nbc news meteorologist michelle gross. michelle, you have been following the storm all day. what is the latest? i, there we are looking at really strong storm still. it is moving inland but we are still seeing winds at 90 miles an hour. so it s still moving on to his strength. it was a very storm strong category four storm, almost category five, really wide in distance as well and moving very slow. so, it s three things that kind of came together to make the worst-case scenario. we saw a really strong winds up to 135 mile an hour wind gusts in cape coral. and i was the story with the storm surge. what storm surges is a push of wind. it s a push of water, salt water, onto dry land. so, we saw feet,
category 4 storm leaving a huge path of destruction and millions in the dark this morning. we ll have a live report in just a moment. meanwhile, rescue crews have been busy trying to get people who decided to ride out the storm to try and save them. they re stranded now by rising flood waters and we re still tracking ian as it slowly makes its way across florida. at this hour, it still has more to go. good morning, and welcome to morning joe. it s thursday, september 29th. joe is off this morning. along with willie and me, we have the host of way too early, white house bureau chief at politico, jonathan lemire. without power this morning, first light this morning will begin to show the damage in florida. that s right. that s when we re going to start to see the story of what happened last night, what happened overnight. tropical storm now ian downgraded from a category 1 hurricane. in just the last hour, but still wreaking havoc across florida as it made landfall as a
washington. president biden is about to arrive at fema headquarters. the president approved a major disaster declaration for florida and spoke with governor ron desantis. you have power lines that are down. you have trees that are down. you have a lot of hazards right now. today is about identifying the people that need help, who may still be in harm s way, but also beginning the process of rebuilding some of the things that we need. the tropical storm continues to barrel towards the atlantic ocean where it s expected to regain strength and make a second landfall tomorrow along the south carolina coast. right now, tropical storm winds can be felt as far as 830 miles out from the storm. let s go to bring in meteorologist bill karins. this is not over yet. the focus is northeast florida and the second landfall we are expecting in 24 hours. what are you seeing in the latest update? unfortunately, it looks like it s a hurricane when it make landfall when it hits charleston.