hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from the united states and all around the world. i m kristie lu rescue crews strangling to rescue those stranded the national hurricane center says that the category one storm has regained some strength and is now expected to make landfall near myrtle beach in the coming hours. in florida, the hurricane has killed at least 19 people with that is an early figure. the u.s. president has warned that the loss of life could be substantial. hundreds of people have already been rescued, millions are without power. some of the damage was almost indescribable to see a house just sitting in the middle of a sterile bay. literally must have gotten picked up, flown because of the massive wind speed, the storm surge, and deposited in a body of water. there were cars floating in the middle of the water. some of the homes were total losses. the governor has called the storm surge and santa belle biblical. it s america s emergency cr
live from atlanta. ahead on cnn newsroom. it is destroyed and it is ruined and you have to start all over again. honestly, where do you start? how do you start in this? there is no way i am walking in that filthy water. there are snakes, fire ants. alligators and alligators. a lot of great people on every street like this in america. it is friday, september 30th. 4:00 a.m. on the east coast where rescue crews are struggling to reach residents. the national hurricane center says the category 1 storm regained strength and is expected to make landfall in the coming hours. the u.s. president has ordered federal assistance. in florida ian killed at least 19 people, and that number is expected to increase. florida s fire marshal says it is shaping up to be the largest natural disaster in state history. over 700 rescues have been carried out and over 2 million homes and businesses are without power. it is historical, a worst case scenario here. we are projecting 10 to 15 i
of ian s destruction. look at the pictures in front of you. this is what it looks like, including in lee county, where rescue crews, this is a live look now, a live look at that location, rescue crews are trying to get to people, with millions of floridians without power and water. we re going to take you live to the hardest-hit areas including lee county, which you re looking at now, for what is expected to be obviously a years-long recovery. i m halle jackson in washington. let s get to shaq brewster live for us in charleston, south carolina, nbc news meteorologist janice is with us today. shaq ian has made landfall in the last 40 minutes. tell us what you re seeing. the landfall was several miles up here from charleston, and that does not mean that charles was not impacted by this storm. throughout the afternoon and into the morning, and throughout the afternoon, we saw heavy rain bands, heavy wind bands. that tropical storm weather, that was expected for many people her
hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from the united states and all over the world. you re watching cnn newsroom. i m kristie lu stout. it is now 2 am on the u.s. east coast. almost the entire state of florida is bracing for the impact of hurricane ian, a monster storm stretching 700 miles across and getting stronger. causing a nationwide blackout in cuba, ian is turning in the gulf of mexico as a category three hurricane with sustained winds just shy of a category four. and along with life-threatening storm surge, florida is facing catastrophic flooding and powerful winds. now, conditions will deteriorate throughout the night ahead of the expected landfall in the coming hours. more than two and a half million people are under some form of evacuation warning. state authorities say the time to leave is quickly running out. people in southwest florida, this is going to likely make landfall as a category 4 hurricane. there will be catastrophic flooding, and life-threat
also at this hour, hurricane hunters are flying into the eye of the storm right now and they will be talking with us live. what they re seeing right now with this hurricane. they are the noaa team sending real-time data back. and they re joining us tonight. the other news this tuesday night, the first results coming in from vladimir putin s referendums in eastern ukraine. russia tonight saying 96% of people are in favor of becoming part of russia. we saw the images, pro-russian soldiers armed with assault rifles going door-to-door to pick up ballots. tonight, the u.s. calling this referendum a sham. the new satellite images showing the mass exodus from russia. russian men looking to avoid the new draft. the line, ten miles long. and when putin is now set to address the russian people. ian pannell in ukraine tonight. back here at home, the january 6th rioter convicted of attacking an officer. the world has seen those images. tonight, sentenced to more than seven years in p