let anyone know that if they have a boat, get people. our coverage of hurricane ian continues now with anderson cooper 360. the sheriff here in lee county told reporters about the afternoon destruction that is everywhere tonight. no words to describe what we saw and are seeing in the present tense, which is important to note, because this is an ongoing disaster in florida and potentially in coastal carolina. hurricane in yes, it is a hurricane again taste is taking ada. this is what it did to fort myers beach. is the most impressive storm ever to hit this part of florida. here is our first look at the area from above. it is far from the only look at the destruction that can be revealed from the air. in struct the barrier islands hard severing the bridge to pine island, as you can see here, along with the santa bell causeway which is impassable tonight. it also did considerable damage to marinas up and down the coast, pushing even larger boat around like toys. florida
looks like something fell hard on your carport. careful. i don t know if i can open it. is it unlocked? i ll help you. let me try. does it work from the inside? can you reach around? right over here. i think it s wedged against the frame. but you can careful. i got you. yeah. hold on to my arm. i got you. there you go. wow . wow. amazing. it s absolutely amazing what that water did. reporter: my goodness . this is disgusting. what do you think? done. reporter: i think so. i hate to say. i know you were so hopeful. as i said, there s people worse off than us. all those people out there on sanibel. all those people that don t have a second home to go to. wow. it s amazing too. reporter: isn t it? describe what you re stepping in here. it s just like muck. our thanks to bill weir for that report. i want to go live to orlando, florida now and cnn s ryan young. ryan, tell us what you re seeing there. reporter: yeah, jake, so much pain in this area. pe
begin to assess just how many lives have been lost. the high waters, homes, buildings and roads ripped apart, ongoing search and rescue missions, and the damage is not just along the coast. welcome to the lead, i m jake tapper. we start with the first look at the death and devastation left behind by hurricane ian across southwest and central florida. this same system first made landfall in cuba then onto florida s west coast. now ian is about to strengthen and make its third landfall. let s show you what ian has done already. this is fort myers beach this morning. chunks of metal and trees thrown across the streets, buildings ripped apart, cars destroyed a. resident who has lived there his entire life said this is the worst hurricane he s lived through. bear islands have been cut off near ft. myers. all the bridges have failed and massive sections of the sanibel causeway were washed away by the storm surge, severing the only connection they have to the florida mainland. s