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.
terms of any kind of negotiation. reporter: and that s why the caution on calling russia out. it s going to take global unity to get putin to back down.n. nic rorobertson, cnn, london. coming up, getting much needed food to those in florida following hurricane ian. we ll tatake you inside the efft to get water and meals to residents in that state. chestray 600,000 vehicles passing through their uk port every year. don t just connect your business. (dock worker) right on time. (vo) make it even smarter. we call this enterprise intelligence. i found a cheaper price for my meds, with singlecare. ( ) whether you have insurance or you pay cash for your prescriptions, you can still save with singlecare. insured, uninsured, cash pay, or copay. it doesn t matter. singlecare is accepted at major pharmacies nationwide. just look up your prescription on the singlecare app and show the coupon to your pharmacist. always remember to check the singlecare price
houses have been lost in the water. they re flooded right through. and they have had to abandon them. they have had no other way of doing it. they re trying to get out. and obviously what we ve got here is relatively high ground. so we re lucky enough to be able to talk to you. and this is a place where people in naples, florida are now coming to try to get away from the water essentially. yeah. wow. incredible. obviously the waters were rising so fast and they just did everything to help out. hurricane ian is likely the largest natural disaster in florida s history. the places hardest hit, the barriers islands along the southwest coast. 90% of ft. myers beach is gone. all that debris just littered
petersburg was northwest of ft. myers. thank you for the correction. you noted that cone of unterpbt for hurricane ian was extremely widespread. as you well know, sir, a lot of floridians see a category 3 storm and they often shrug. they don t take it as seriously as a category 4 or 5. i m wondering how well you think folks were prepared across the person part of florida for this level of devastation, for this size and strength of storm? in pinellas county, we were prepared. we have 24 cities in the county. when the county called evacuation, we were all supportive of that. because we know what devastation these storms can bring. and we are especially vulnerable in pin necessary lass and st. petersburg as a peninsula. but really all of coastal florida is part of that.