landfall as a hurricane. ian is moving inland as a post-tropical cyclone. even though it s been downgraded, officials warn it could cause heavy rain, wind, and floods. in south carolina the storm flooded homes and vehicles along the shoreline. you can see in this video high winds pushed the storm surge even higher, and two piers, one in pawleys island and one in myrtle beach both partially collapsed. officials are warning residents to avoid leaving their homes, to steer clear of floodwaters that could pose hidden dangers. the obvious one of the water itself can isolate people, drown people. but it can also hide downed power lines, obstacles in the water, even contaminants in the water. so the waters themselves are the most dangerous. ian slammed into southwest florida as a severe category 4 hurricane on wednesday. it almost became a category 5, packing sustained winds at 150 miles an hour. the storm is now being blamed for at least 45 deaths, though, officials believe t
southwest florida as a category 4 hurricane, making it the most powerful storm to ever hit that area of the state. the death toll now standing at 45, but that number could rise as crews reach areas cut off by flooding. people who chose to ride out the storm describe their harrowing experiences. the water was up to my balcony here. it was just you could dive off the balcony. just water everywhere, stuff floating on it. i never stay again. they say evacuate, go. right now the remnants of ian are moving along the country s northeast after the storm hit georgetown county, south carolina, as a category 1 hurricane. let s send it down to boris sanchez anchoring our coverage from fort myers, florida. boris. fred, as the sun rises on another day here in fort myers and southwest florida, the scope of the damage from hurricane ian is becoming more clear. communities are reeling as many folks are getting back to their properties and seeing what was left behind by this near categor
hurricane ian. 65 people here in florida did not survive the storm. search and rescue efforts in many areas are ongoing. 2 million people in multiple states are without power. the sunshine here revealing more and more damage, hour-by-hour. the hurricane and storm surge laid waste to entire towns, including ft. myers beach, robbing people of homes and livelihoods. rescue efforts will take months and years for some of the areas to get back to normal. i tell you for myself, i spent much of the day out there. that is the case. it will take many months and weeks to get back to normal. south of here, naples, florida, officials say it will take months or longer to recover. prosecute damage could top $2 million. the fire chief says the city is having challenges with restoring power. brian todd is in naples for us. brian, i know you ve been doing this hour after hour. every corner you turn, every street you go down, you re seeing more and more devastation. tell us what you re seeing.
we re going to take you to one of the hardest-hit areas where almost an entire island was decimated. and her rescue during the hurricane made headlines. a nurse desperately trying to get to work was caught in the rising floodwaters. thankfully a nearby reporter was there, saved her and saw her. and that is my guest tonight. good evening, i m erin burnett. out front tonight, ian s fury still remains an extremely dangerous storm making its way through the carolinas tonight. let me show you this powerful video showing a pier in north myrtle beach torn into pieces as the hurricane came ashore. the storm surge ripping through neighborhoods like the ones i m showing you here, leaving even more destruction of homes in its wake. even these homes built up on sticks. so many of them deeply damaged. and parts of charleston s historic downtown also underwater. and tonight there is still concern for life-threatening floods as the storm could dump up to 12 inches of rain as it moves no
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