hello again, everyone. thank you for joining me. i m fredricka whitfield. we begin with a new update on the devastating toll hurricane ian has taken on florida. at least 64 people were killed across the state. as recovery efforts continue, the number is expected to rise. governor ron desantis at this hour giving a briefing on the storm response and recovery. hurricane ian slamming into florida as a category 4 storm, leveling entire communities. and today severe flooding is complicating rescue and recovery efforts. let s go back to boris sanchez anchoring from ft. myers, florida, for us. reporter: hey, fred. as you reported just a moment ago, the tragic news that the death toll has again climbed earlier today. it was sitting at 45 fatalities. now cnn has confirmed from state officials that it has reached 64 people killed as a result of hurricane ian. and those devastating, nearly category 5, storm force winds. obviously, this is a difficult time for so many across the stat
climate change the past few years. what i m seeing now is the legislature, governor, certainly local officials and certainly the biden administration all working together to support the infrastructure to provide the aid that we need right now. and i think going forward we are going to invest, make our capital investments and our growth planning with the knowledge of what climate change means to the state of florida going forward. it s going to be a different climate than it was when i was growing up. we need to make the investments for my daughters and the generations to follow so we have a resilient state. yeah. it is going to be a difficult shift for many. clearly a necessary one as we see the effects of hurricane ian. mayor ken welch, thank you again so much for the time thank you. appreciate it. take care. of course. florida governor ron desantis gave an update on the storm response just moments ago. we want to share with you some
on. boris, as you mentioned, more than 60 died from hurricane ian. there is still concern more could die in the aftermath. they don t have access to medications or hospitals. on the other side of this highway is a hospital. the only way to get there is by boat. boris. you know things are tough when the sounds of an air boat signifying relief. nadia romero from arcadia, florida, thank you for that report. i want to turn it back over to fredricka whitfield. fred, as you have heard in these reports, an unprecedented level of destruction. actually, we want to actually bring in the mayor of st. petersburg, florida. sorry about that, fred. ken welch is joining us now. we are grateful you are sharing part of your weekend with us. it is a busy time for officials
welcome back to the cnn newsroom . i m boris sanchez coming to you live from ft. myers in southwest florida. we re getting details on the devastating toll that hurricane ian has taken on the sunshine state. officials now confirming at least 64 people were killed across the state of florida. as we take a look at aerial views of naples. entire buildings raised from the ground. brian todd is in naples for us right now. brian, we lost your signal a few moments ago. we re back now. you re with a resident getting a first look at their home after leaving for the hurricane. reporter: that s right, boris. jeff tanker lost his apartment back here. this is a look at the water line. it took 20, 30 minutes to get to that point.
it was sitting at 45 fatalities. now cnn has confirmed from state officials that it has reached 64 people killed as a result of hurricane ian. and those devastating, nearly category 5, storm force winds. obviously, this is a difficult time for so many across the state of florida. as you noted, search and rescue efforts are still under way. there are parts of the state here in the southwestern region that are inaccessible. southwest florida is made up of thousands of different islands. and access has been cut off not only because bridges were demolished but because of rising waters that have not allowed crews to get to where they need to be. in fact, a few hours ago we heard from a sheriff at north port, florida, telling us his team rescued 150 people overnight. keep in mind, this hurricane made landfall several days ago. those folks were stranded for days. fortunately, he tells us, many