i was on the police department for almost 25 years. saw a lot of storms here. this is by far the worst storm i have ever witnessed. i promise you i m never going to stay for another storm ever again here. however, i am one of the lucky ones. recovery efforts begin after utter devastation in parts of florida. while millions more people are now at risk as ian moves north. also tonight, he isn t tossing paper towels but governor ron desantis is handling this hurricane in a weirdly trumpy way. what we re learning about ginni thomas meeting with the january 6th committee when she wasn t texting the white house in the days leading up to the insurrection, she was encouraging states to reverse trump s embarrassing defeat. ian is one of the most powerful storms to ever hit the u.s. now, the state begins the colossal task of picking up the pieces. we get a first glimpse at the destruction. from what we have seen so far, it is staggering. this is ft. myers, homes completely des
tropical storm force winds. the greatest concern right now is in the gulf coast where a combination of heavy rainfall, massive storm surge and rivers already at flood stage could send up to 12 feet of water into low-lying areas. the january 6th smcommittee canceled tomorrow s hearing because of the storm. jennifer gray is in the weather center. i want to start with a new bulletin. so what have we learned now? we have 120-mile-per-hour winds with gusts of 150. it s still moving to the north-northeast at about 10 miles per hour. basically it s paralleling key west right now. the lower keys have received tropical storm force winds, and conditions are only going to deteriorate across the southern peninsula of florida throughout the overnight tonight. tropical storm force winds will be arriving across south florida within the next couple of hours and throughout the day tomorrow and the early afternoon. or early to mid afternoon. we should be seeing a landfall. so 8:00 tonight, b
todd: hurricane ian plowing through western cuba yesterday knocking out power to the entire country and devastating the most important tobacco farms in the country used to produce cuba s iconic cigars. you are watching fox and friends first, i m todd piro. carley: i m carley shimkus, our reporters are live across florida this morning, we begin with senior meteorologist, janice dean who is tracking it from our studio. janice: they just upped the winds, that is a strong category four storm, the pressure has dropped by 10 millibars. it is strengthen as it approaches the coast, we r expecting landfall this afternoon. heightened awareness to the storm surge and for hours it will batter the coast and interior sections of florida. rain and wind and storm surge will impact coast of florida and inland will flood two-story homes at the coast. you don t have time, you can hide from the wind, you have to run from the storm surge. wind gusts in excess of 100 mile per hour for dura
spinning toward the west coast of florida this morning. bringing with it life-threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds and flooding. we ll have a live report from tampa in just a moment. and also ahead, a former d.c. metro police officer does not hold back at a sentencing for a capitol rioter. plus, we ll dig into new data that suggests significant covid waves could be coming this fall and winter. good morning. and welcome to way too early on this wednesday, september 28th. i m jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us and we re going to begin in florida where millions of residents are bracing for hurricane ian as the powerful storm barrels towards the state intensifying every hour. the storm is expected to make landfall on the southwest coast of florida, as early as this afternoon. just moments ago, it reached the status of category 4 hurricane. the center of the storm is then forecast to move over the central part of the state, with winds likely re
keep coming. willie? yeah. start in florida, though, this hour, mika. millions of residents are bracing for hurricane ian as that powerful storm barrels towards the state getting stronger by the hour. just this morning it became a category 4 hurricane expected to make landfall in the southwest coast of florida as early as this afternoon. the center of the storm forecast to move over the central past of the state with winds reaching more than 130 miles per hour. the national hurricane center also warning of dangerous storm surge and flooding with up to 18 inches of rain expected in some areas. more than 2.5 million people under evacuation orders along parts of coastal florida. the powerful storm passed the florida keys last night causing a couple of tornadoes and some damage there. officials say there also is significant flooding across that area. yesterday the hurricane battered western cuba knocking outing the island s electrical grid, causing a nation-wide blackout. offic