mid-atlantic states. after leaving florida, ian did make landfall earlier today near myrtle beach, south carolina, as a category one hurricane. it heavily flooded a local street. do you see this? this was a scene a few miles south and nearby pawleys island. the streets are turning into rivers look at this. the power of the storm surge as the hurricane was churning, the atlantic ocean, it sliced a peer into. as ian news northward tonight, a tornado watches now in effect for parts of the carolinas and virginia for at least one more hour until 10 pm eastern. meanwhile, back in florida, the extent of the destruction, well, it s staggering. this, that we re looking at, that is aerial video of fort myers beach. much of the committee has simply been totally obliterated. the result of a hurricane smashing into that part of florida as a massive category four storm. last night, the sheriff s office in lee county what you campuses the fort myers area, is releasing this new video, showin
completely blown over by the wind. but what s completely striking about this spot is the boats that have been tossed across the street here. we have a bit of a bottleneck of human activity because this is the road to fort myers beach, and the sheriff s department is not letting anybody on. if you haven t seen any pictures of fort myers beach, this is why. there is a first and former law in florida that s suppose today give us access when there s a state of emergency, but you got to feel for the sheriff s deputies just trying to manage the crowds here that are piling in. you ve got journalists, you ve got first responders, you have residents who are just curious coming by. but this is what i wanted to show you. this is across san carlos boulevard. and just get a load of this. just wanton, indiscriminate destruction. but that is nothing compared to what we saw then when we came back here to fort myers and put the drawn up over the yacht base here. this is around joe s crab shac
considerable damage in parts of south carolina. you see it in this video. that storm ripping through a pier causing part of it to collapse. now, it also submerged this neighborhood with a strong storm surge that, in fact, was several feet high. it was so bad this man it was so bad this man had to wade through knee-deep water inside his own home. thankfully the water there is starting to recede, and some areas in the state have been spared the worst. but in florida the damage has been severe. at least 45 people have now lost their lives and hundreds of homes have been turned, well, you see there just piles of debris. the coast guard is trying to rescue survivors. president joe biden said more help is on the way. it s just a crisis for florida. it s an american crisis. we re all in this together. i ve spoken to governor desantis on multiple occasions as well as this morning as well as mayors and county officials both republican and democrat from places most affected. now,
it is 5:00 a.m. and with daylight will come more of a sense of damage and countless homes have been destroyed. but in the middle of all that devastation, we re often seeing inspiring scenes like this, a local reporter saving ae iing ad nurse who was pleading for help. he had to carry theoryher to sa his back. pawleys island, the storm washed parts of the pier away. authorities are still assessings damage and working to restore power. and brian todd is in naples, florida with a closer look at the damage there. nothing left. zero. the full extent of hurricane ian s destruction now coming fully into view. aerial damage assessments showing coastal florida neighborhoods with roofing tore off, homes flattened, house either flooded or wiped out. some buildings with nothing left but the concrete slab. remote lotions locations cut of the mainland. these images showing how hard sanibel was hit. only way to access that is either by sea or by air. reporter: so far more than 700
i m boris sanchez coming to you live from hard-hit fort myers, florida, where cleanup is under way where hurricane ian took aim. boris, good morning, i m amara walker, thank you for starting your morning with us. what is left of hurricane ian is moving north this morning after leaving half the destruction across florida and now the carolinas. and after making landfall as a category 1 hurricane in that region, it s now moving inland as a post-tropical cyclone. and even though it s been downgraded officials warn it still trains that area with heavy rain and flood. yeah, in south carolina, the storm flooded homes and vehicles along the shorelines. and as high winds purged with storm surge higher, two pier, one in pawleys island, and this one in north myrtle beach partially collapsed and just washed away. ian is blamed for at least 45 deaths. the severe category 4 hurricane wednesday packing sustained winds of 150 miles per hour. the coast guard said it has rescued more tha