not reopen until at least friday around noon, with one exception, of course, if there s damage. it s going to take a lot longer. and we ll have to wait until the storm moves through to find that out. without a doubt, these closures will impact travel across this country, not just here in florida, for days, david. gio benitez with us, thank you. as we said, they re now preparing inner l orlando. let s go to janai norman. i know a lot of people headed inland and many headed to orlando to seek cover and now ian is headed your way. reporter: that s exactly it, david. we saw those images of cars jamming onto roadways as residents fled southwest florida to try to escape hurricane ian, but now, and forgive me, there s a siren, now with that rain and more rain and wind expected to move through central florida, many of those people who evacuated are now forced to h hunker down and ride out the storm here in orlando. i spoke to them here in our hotel, many of them with pets,
and east tonight, tampa, orlando gets the brunt of it. jacksonville tomorrow. a strong storm surge on the east side of this. comes off the atlantic as a strop call storm. a strong one making another landfall in south carolina come friday. with that, we ll have more rain in south carolina, but up to 15 to 30 inches of rain here in central florida, because, david, it is so slow moving. we are far from done with this hurricane. wow. potentially 30 indiches of rain. rob, thank you. of course, this is still a very dangerous situation for millions in the path of this storm, now headed inland as a hurricane still. i spoke with michael brennan, the acting deputy director at noaa s national hurricane center in miami just before we came on the air. michael, thank you for coming back on with us. weer with on the air just been landfall this after. at this hour, what are you seeing, what concerns you most? well, we re seeing the center of hurricane ian move inland. it s past port charlotte and
hurricane ian now moving inland towards orlando. then, ginger, there are the emergency calls to come. reporter: as we go into hour five of storm surge and intense winds here in fort myers, what i m most worried about, david, is this storm is not yet done. right out my window, that surge that i was showing you, the home gone, the pool barely visible. it s gone down a little. this is a long time for first responders to have to wait to get to people that inevitably need their help. david? no question. that s the next wave. we ll have much more on gma first thing in the morning and i ll see you tomorrow now from ag
please join us there. tonight, breaking news. hurricane ian slamming into florida as a category 4 hurricane. making landfall along florida s southwest coast. winds at 150 miles per hour. the strongest september hurricane in two decades. the images coming in at this hour of catastrophic damage. a life threatening storm urge along the coast. we re now seeing dangerous winds and massive flooding in fort myers. homes destroyed. elsewhere, cars disappearing under water. reports of families trapped. one on the second floor of their home. firetrucks trying to navigate through the deep waters. some communities suspending emergency operations, saying it s just too dangerous to answer calls. tonight, the power already out for more than a million customers in florida. and the other major concern at this hour, the tornado watches in effect into the night.
that s the type that takes cars and homes. it s not just life threatening, it s not survivable. reporter: then, about an hour later. that little house that we were talking about all day, has gone. succumbed to the storm surge. now, the blue roof is all that s left floating in the water. what you need to be doing right now is getting away from walls and windows. treat this like a tornado warning. reporter: families trapped by the storm surge. and you re on the second floor already? yeah, we re all there s six of us in here. reporter: our affiliate wzvn facetiming with a group in fort myers beach. there s 15 feet of water now. there s 15 feet of water. and it s still coming in? yeah, it s still steady rise, and the waves keep pushing it through the window sills. reporter: the fire department unable to reach them due to conditions, offering this advice they need to get as high as they can from the water and try to ride out the storm. that s the best advice i