community near sarasota, a possible levee breech could push a 15-foot wall of water into the neighborhood. sarasota is just one of the many gulf coast communities still dealing with severe flooding. hurricane ian slamming southwest florida as a category 4 storm. the death toll now stands at 45. but that number could rise as crews reach areas that have been cut off because of the flooding. right now, the remnants of ian moving over the mid-atlantic states following friday s direct hit on the south carolina coast as a category 1 hurricane. now down to boris in hard-hit ft. myers. boris? reporter: fred, neighbors here are stunned at just is raw power of mother nature. i m not sure how well you can see it behind me, but there are several vessels, five what appear to be commercial fishing charter sized vessels that were lifted from when they were here in this marina in ft. myers and tossed onto the outside part of that bridge, just thrown around like debris, one of many scenes
Charleston area officials say they’re about as prepared as they can get for the kind of unexpected accident that happened early today in Baltimore when a powerless cargo ship drifted and slammed into Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to crash into the Patapsco River.
the storm surge. look at what happened last year at fort myers beach and parts of southwest florida where we had a 10 to 15-foot storm surge that killed dozens in that area. now the forecast is again for 10 to 15 feet up to 15 feet? up to 15 feet according to the 11:00 a.m. forecast from the national hurricane center. the only saving grace here is it would hit in an area that is much less populated than southwest florida, which is densely populated from naples through fort myers and port charleston and other location. the dirty side of the storm. what is that? the impact of hurricane idalia will extend well beyond the cone of concern that you see on the loop on tv. the cone is narrowing because our confidence level is
so far we ve only had one rescue that was late yesterday as ian was coming ashore near myrtle beach, about five miles offshore. there was a commercial fishing boat that was disabled. a coast guard helicopter out of savanna lowered a rescue swimmer and safely hoisted four people and brought them to safety, and that storm came ashore. we re still responding to calls there. as for the ports, port charleston is open this morning, ports of savanna and brunswick and we re working on moore held city and wilmington in north carolina open later today. we re incredibly grateful for your work. we know there are logistical challenges with getting folks the resources they need to expedite the recovery process but also saving lives. it s so inspiring. i m always in awe of the incredible work that the coast guard does across the water fronts of the united states.
South Carolina ports have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic like just about everyone else in the world, but the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) remains optimistic about their overall fiscal health.