is barreling through the carolina with high winds, heavy rain and the threat of floods. the storm has been downgraded from a hurricane but it still poses a threat as it makes its way inland. it has already caused considerable damage in south carolina where it made landfall on friday. in this video, you can see the storm ripping through a pier in north myrtle beach, causing part of it to collapse. it also submerged this neighborhood with a storm surge that was several feet high. so far there have been no reported deaths in south carolina. but in florida, at least 45 people have lost their lives, and we re getting a clearer picture of the damage the storm has left behind. entire neighborhoods that once were brimming with life are now flattened fields littered with debris. this is footage from fort myers beach where one woman s struggle to survive was captured in a phone call. i am up to my neck in water. okay. all right. i am so cold. i m losing you. i can t hear you.
hello again, everyone. thank you for joining me. i m fredricka whitfield. we begin with a new update on the devastating toll hurricane ian has taken on florida. at least 64 people were killed across the state. as recovery efforts continue, the number is expected to rise. governor ron desantis at this hour giving a briefing on the storm response and recovery. hurricane ian slamming into florida as a category 4 storm, leveling entire communities. and today severe flooding is complicating rescue and recovery efforts. let s go back to boris sanchez anchoring from ft. myers, florida, for us. reporter: hey, fred. as you reported just a moment ago, the tragic news that the death toll has again climbed earlier today. it was sitting at 45 fatalities. now cnn has confirmed from state officials that it has reached 64 people killed as a result of hurricane ian. and those devastating, nearly category 5, storm force winds. obviously, this is a difficult time for so many across the stat
cnn tonight. listen, one of the most catastrophic storms in florida s history, possibly the deadliest, regained strength to become a category 1 hurricane tonight. south carolina is now bracing for ian s wrath sometime happening tomorrow. and the very latest on its track in just a moment. we have yet to learn the full scope of the destruction caused by hurricane ian in florida. but what has certainly come into focus today truly is hard to find words for. at least 17 people have died so far, and that is linked to hurricane ian. president biden warns there could be substantial loss of life, perhaps more killed by a storm in florida than ever before. but it s really too soon to know more. and also too soon to say that the danger has now passed. i mean, there is debris everywhere. there s water everywhere. power lines are down. trees have been shredded. boats thrown on top of one another. countless homes destroyed, entire buildings washed away. fort myers beach took the brunt of
we are carrying out search and rescues across the state. there have been at least 700 rescues confirmed as of thursday. first responders are doing targeted searches. going home by home, checking to see if people are okay. there will be many more rescues that are added. the absolutely expect to have from the surrogate. so far, at least 19 people are confirmed dead. there was a significant number of people that remained on the island during the catastrophic weather event. right now, it is important for us to go ahead and say, are you okay? it will take a few days to get to all of the places that have reports continue to to get them coming in. the scope of the overall destruction is coming in. areas cut off by rubble. look at this mess. we met they were left without power in central florida. falling debris, tornadoes, life-threatening storm surge. in some cases, we need to rebuild rather than simply repair. reporter: cruz look to restore power. floodwaters contin
thousands are without power still at last check with the emergency management, 13,000 were without power. portions of the pier have been broken off into the atlantic and there was localized flooding with roads inundated with water. as it stands right now, though, we do not know of any reports of injuries. we ve been checking with the local emergency management here. so far it s just significant damage to the piers. there was cause for concern a short time ago, about an hour ago, as we were reporting, a shrimp boat appeared along the atlantic ocean, just really out of nowhere, getting hammered by the choppy waves at the time. it was unclear if anyone was on the boat at the time, initially when we were reporting. we talked to the sheriff and he said the crew was evacuated yesterday by the coast guard. it was anchored a couple of miles away but intense wind caused it to drift onshore, just off camera there s a huge crowd surrounding the boat. somebody tried to climb on top of th