field currently. they will work 24/7 until we get the lights back on, again as the governor said, not our first rodeo, but every storm is also different, and always poses different challenges. appreciate all the support from the state, governor, thank you, from local law enforcement as well, the national guard, this is a team sport and a team effort and we are going to all work together until we get florida back up on our feet and where we all want to be. thank you. and when fpl and the other companies have crews in, the ex ten to which that infrastructure has remained is critical because it s a lot easier for them to reconnect an existing system than to have to rebuild it. so to see some of that that was able to withstand is encouraging. it s also just a testament. some of these folks put money into the resilience of the infrastructure, and this is like the ultimate test. you have a hurricane that s a massive hurricane coming in at 155 miles an hour, producing this type of
is almost 10% of the population of florida. that means over 90% of people in florida to have electrical power. the number of people without electrical power is expected to rise as these slow-moving storm cuts across florida with hurricane-force winds. a major concern right now and overnight would be flash flooding caused by the heavy rains. more than two feet of rain is predicted in some areas, officials are warning residents to shelter in place if they have not evacuated. as many cities today are suspending rescue efforts until the storm passes. we begin with nbc news meteorologist bill for the latest. bill, what is the situation now? we are watching a storm that is weakening overland, but we still have areas that are losing power at this hour. we know we have people who need rescuing, need help from us. what happened during the day today, that is the situation as we go throughout these overnight hours. the center of the storm is over sebring, florida. it is about halfway
gulf coast more than five people rescued in charlotte and lee county so far. if you need to be evacuated step out of your front door. the fort meyers fire chief said they conducted 200 water rescues overnight. lee county was the hardest hit. this is a home on fire after the storm. fire crews as you can imagine unable to reach it. this is a neighborhood completely inundated as you can see floodwaters have yet to receive. new video from the lee county sheriff s office confirming the work worse. whole towns have been completely level and mayors giving details about their town out the day. i came here in the mid-70s and was on the police department for 25 years and saw a lot of storms. this is by far the worst storm i have ever witnessed. debris is everywhere. my yard looks like a war zone. as of this hour there is some places that are impossible to reach by road. this is the only bridge destroyed in multiple spots as a result of hurricane ian. this is fort meyers bea
torn off buildings. the treacherous situation has led to rescues all across florida. the fire chief of fort myers says his department conducted 200 rescues overnight over the course of just a few hours. this video shows a group of good samaritans who call themselves the call your county cowboys, they pulled a man stranded in his car to safety. in orlando, a reporter who happened to be on the scene rescued a woman trapped in flood waters. the situation has led biden administration to pledge a fulsome response. president biden has officially declared ian to be a major disaster, a move that makes federal funding available immediately to several hard hit counties. president biden warned of tough times ahead for floridians. this could be the deadliest hurricane in florida s history. the numbers are still unclear, but we re hearing early reports of what may be substantial loss of life. we re going to learn a lot more in the coming hours, but we know many families are hurting, man
hour. the category 4 storm is currently barreling across southwest florida with winds up to 150 miles per hour. more than 1.5 million people in the state are currently without power, and that number is growing. but the most imminent and life-threatening concern is the storm surge. some areas seeing 12 to 18 feet. to give you an idea of just how severe that is, a meteorologist for the national hurricane center says no one alive has seen 12 feet of storm surge in that area, and many areas could take years to recover. just take a look at this surge today. the dangers are a reality for many who chose to hunker down and wait out the storm despite the evacuation orders. take a look at what family told nbc affiliate wbbh as their house flooded. so this is ft. myers beach on cutlass drive. it s four of us. four of us? on cutlass drive. and you re on the second floor already? yeah. six of us in here. do you have do you have a roof? 15 feet of water now. there s 15 fe