0 school students in oakland. what police are now saying. world news is coming up next and i will see you back here at 4:00. tonight the desperate search is under way in florida. families still being rescued days later and major new questions about mandatory evacuation orders. should they have come sooner? and tonight the remnants of ian affecting the east, north carolina through new jersey and new york in the coming hours. tonight the staggering death toll from hurricane ian now rising. survivors of the hurricane still being airlifted days after the deadly storm made landfall. lee county alone reporting at least 54 deaths, and more than 800 rescues. the new images emerging showing hurricane ian blasting pine island with wind, waves and debris and many asking about those mandatory evacuation orders, should they have been issued sooner. tonight you will hear authorities defend their decisions. also tonight, the remnants often ian now along the east coast this evening. heavy winds, rai
who emails and says i m my mom stuck in her home, could you take her meal? mercy chefs is taking care of all of those in need the best we can. last you for doing that. i know you re amos 30,000 of meals a day, how close are you to get to that? we have two of our mobile kitchens here, we re going to go over 20,000 today. we have a third mobile kitchen arriving in the next hour. 30,000 is in reach and we should be at that number tomorrow. what are you eating right now, gary? those viewers that are here watching you and think we want to help you and help the effort that mercy chefs, what can they do? the first thing i will do is to ask everyone to pray for the folks in florida. our hearts are breaking they have endured so much. the need to know that the rest of the country standing with them and that they have not been forgotten. i was in puerto rico last week and it was the same thing i heard from the people in puerto rico. please don t forget us here.
volunteers, and first responders are getting hot heels thanks to the charity mercy chef who was founded in the wake of hurricane katrina. with us now is gary, ceo of mercy chefs. one thing that is so critical in this disaster, maybe overlooked, is the difficulty and making the important decisions on an empty stomach or without eating properly, let alone if you re frightened or overwhelmed. talk to me about the importance of these quality quality hot meals that you are serving. well, alex, we believe that mercy chef that something amazing happens over a shared meal. you might know that with friends and families, but coming to folks who have just lost everything in such a great honor. we see people take a moment, maybe it s the first time they ve contemplated the circumstances, or just had the time of normalcy. you see for a brief moment of people will break down into
thank you for what you do, thank you for the people who work with you and thank you to the people i know are going to be supporting your mission. gary, founder and ceo of the mercy chefs. about 30 miles north of where i am in fort myers beach is the small town of port charlotte. it is across the charlotte harbor from putin gorda. eons winds left most of port charlotte in shambles. a lot of neighborhoods are entirely flooded. if you look at video taken by bailey, that s what you re watching right now, who waited out the storm with her in laws, her husband, and a 20 month old son. take a look at this video she took when the eyewall of the storm hit on wednesday. remember, the eyewall is the strongest part. the eye is relatively calm, the eyewall is the worst of the storm. she took this video in that. bailey joins me, she s in st. petersburg after waiting out the storm in port charlotte. bailey, thank you for being with us. that is a lot of people that