we start with one of the biggest threats facing our nation, the fentanyl crisis. it s a fox news alert. fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 80 to 100 times stronger than morphine. an opioid 100 times more potent than heroin. there are millions of these dangerous fake pills out there and they are killing thousands of americans. the lethal drug expected to kill 80,000 americans this year alone. for context, that would mean more americans killed by fentanyl in a single year than killed in the entire vietnam war. john: all stemming from cracks in the southern border, a breeding ground for drug cartels. exactly what the house homeland security committee will talk about in a hearing moments from now. sandra: social media plays a huge role in the cartels marketing. teens are buying the drugs online often not knowing that they are laced with the fentanyl. and sometimes the drug is even disguised as rainbow colored candy. the epidemic is hitting neighbors, friends, families, ju
top of the hour, this busy thursday morning, i m jim sciutto. i m poppy harlow. welcome to our viewers. the breaking news we are following this morning, hurricane ian leaving just stunning devastating destruction in florida as a hurricane then a tropical storm. still pummeling the state though. 14 million people in florida are currently under flood alerts. 2.5 million businesses without power along with homes. they re rescuing people trapped inside flooded homes. governor ron desantis spoke about the devastation so many are waking up to this morning. there s 1.5 million outages in 7 southwest florida counties. lee and charlotte are basically off the grid at this point. the amount of water that s been rising and will likely continue to rise today even as the storm is passing is basically a 500-year flood event. the impacts of this storm are historic. and the damage that was done has been historic and this is just off initial assessments. well, the risk of storm surge and
latest on the landslide that s happening in southern california. but first, let s get to nate foy in vermont. nate, how are things looking there compared to yesterday, and what may be coming on the way? well, sandra, the water has certainly receded but a big clean-up effort ahead. first, i want to show you these cars right here, governor phil scott, fema administrator chriswell, as well as both vermont senators are during the damage, and unfortunately we just missed an opportunity for a live interview, but if i can ask my photographer connor to walk down here along with this gentleman personally impacted by this, tim, tim owns multiple rental properties, over 50 rental properties here in berry, vermont. take a look down the street right now, you can see it is absolutely flooded. they are clearing the mud today, i m going to bring in tim jarvis