ian are unlivable. the scenes, apocalyptic. responders working by boat and aircraft. nearly 2,000 rescues in southwest and central florida since last week when hurricane ian hit the state. this morning, the number of customers without power is now below half a million in florida. president biden travels to florida tomorrow for a firsthand look at the devastation. cnn s randi kaye is live this morning in fort myers beach. randi? reporter: john, i know you ve seen fort myers beach from the air, but seeing it on the ground firsthand is certainly like nothing i have ever seen before. there were stairways to anywhere because homes were literally blown out of foundations. there were homes on top of homes. as you said, fort myers beach is still closed to residents, but we got a firsthand look up close with a search and rescue team out of miami, florida, and here wrap we saw. this is our first look from the ground at fort myers beach. hurricane ian s winds combined with storm s
the storm watched away the entire ground floor of their two-story house. this is just one area of fort myers beach where you can really see the destruction. nothing is where it belonged. this laundry finish came from that laundry mat, what s left of it over there. those homes were there, now th th they re over there. shredded, crumpcrumpled, nothin left s them. this woman has cancer and rode out the storm to keep getting her treatments. pulling houses, roofs apart pt literally. you could see them float by. we were sits up in my bedroom watching all of this debris go by. reporter: there s no power or water in this area. so anyone still at the beach a completely cut off from services. the search and rescue team has been using high-water vehicles