morning, particularly in the areas that were hard hit, just understand, this is still a hazardous situation. those folks that were in there, in the wee hours of the morning, were taking big risks as first responders navigating this. you have power lines that are down. you have trees that are down. you have a lot of hazards right now. we do anticipate a lot of the water will subside in some of the barrier islands and some of the coasts, but some of those inland places off rivers and off of these inlets, you re likely to have standing water there throughout all of today and even in the days ahead. so that is a hazard. and just please be aware that that is something that you if you ve weathered the storm to this point, going and doing and getting involved in that is just totally not worth it. and we want to minimize any harm to anybody as a result of what we re seeing right now in the streets. we have had 26 states provide support. we really appreciate that. it s going to be p
strong winds and heavy rain are battering the orlando area as the storm moves its way toward the atlantic ocean. the storm created catastrophic flooding that left entire communities under several feet of water and sent cars and debris floating down streets. take a look at these images. the water was just relentless. crews are still carrying out emergency rescues on land, air and sea. in bonita springs, a group of good samaritans rescued an elderly man stranded in his car in surging flood waters, dragging him through waist-high water to safety. ian s strong winds brought down trees, power lines, knocked out power to more than two and a half million homes and businesses. the winds also literally ripped off roofs from a number of homes, including this mobile home. a short time ago, governor ron desantis call canned the impact historic ask also addressed comments from the lee county sheriff that there may be hundreds of fatalities, something that s not been confirmed. we have h
torn off buildings. the treacherous situation has led to rescues all across florida. the fire chief of fort myers says his department conducted 200 rescues overnight over the course of just a few hours. this video shows a group of good samaritans who call themselves the call your county cowboys, they pulled a man stranded in his car to safety. in orlando, a reporter who happened to be on the scene rescued a woman trapped in flood waters. the situation has led biden administration to pledge a fulsome response. president biden has officially declared ian to be a major disaster, a move that makes federal funding available immediately to several hard hit counties. president biden warned of tough times ahead for floridians. this could be the deadliest hurricane in florida s history. the numbers are still unclear, but we re hearing early reports of what may be substantial loss of life. we re going to learn a lot more in the coming hours, but we know many families are hurting, man
zone, particularly in the southwest florida counties, your time to evacuate is coming to an end. you need to evacuate now. a life threatening category 4 storm headed right towards florida. i m john berman live in tampa this morning. brianna keilar is in washington and that is the news from overnight. hurricane ian strength jentd to a category 4 storm with sustained winds of 140 miles per hour. wind gusts of 165 miles per hour. the storm forecast has adjusted somewhat south of where i am in tampa headed right towards the fort myers area in florida about 100 miles south of here, but the threat to florida is enormous. more than 2 1/2 million people under some sort of evacuation order. yes, the wind speed is a serious threat now, a category 4 storm. storm surge where i am in tampa, they could see storm surge of 6 feet which would put the water pretty much right where i m stand going it hit the maximum levels down towards where the storm is expected to make landfall. they could
one of two leaders taken out. martha raddatz standing by. herschel walker, the republican senate candidate in georgia, tonight taking questions about the report he paid for an ex-girlfriend s abortion. as a candidate, he opposes abortion rights, no exceptions. rachel scott in georgia. the death toll rising after hurricane ian. more than 120 people killed in florida alone. and now the plan to set up some sort of an amphibious landing to try to get power trucks to areas where they re most needed. to january 6th, and tonight, the breaking headline. one of the leaders of the proud boys, the first member to plead guilty to seditious conspiracy. pierre thomas is here. the war in ukraine tonight. and with russian men fleeing russia to avoid vladimir putin s draft, the russian nationals showing up in alaska, asking the u.s. for asylum tonight. in new york city, an nypd cruiser out of control. ten people injured, several in critical condition tonight. and at the end this e