Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the united i didnt states Around The World and streaming us on cnn max, Im Rosemary Church just ahead, parts of the us. Are bracing for impact as Hurricane Debby Insurance towards landfall, bringing the threat of catastrophic flooding Kamala Harris is search for a Running Mate enters its final hours as the Vice President then sits down with some of her potential picks for a final interview. And two Olympic Triathletes fall ill. Just days after swimming in the same its forcing belgium to pull out entirely as competition is set to resume just hours from now live from atlanta this is Cnn Newsroom with Rosemarie Church good to have you with us and we begin here in the united states, were debby has now strengthened into a category one hurricane. As the Storm Moves towards floridas big bend region, is expected to further intensify before making landfall in the coming hours. The national Hurricane Center says the storm now has winds near 80
surges there reaching at least 9 feet. president biden is calling on congress for additional money to replenish fema s disaster relief fund as costs mount from natural disasters from florida to hawaii. jasmine wright is live at the white house and isabel rosales is in live oak, florida, where we expect to see the president and first lady in just a couple of hours. walk us through what they re going to see. reporter: so the president is focusing on the big bend area, the area between the panhandle and the peninsula. this storm, hurricane idalia, has been the most powerful storm to hit that region in over 100 years. he s going to do an aerial tour and get a clear picture of the storm-ravaged area. over a thousand homes have been damaged by 125 mile per hour winds. he s expected to speak with survivors, get their stories. he s known for this, becoming comforter in chief. also from personnel and first responders. areas like this, a distribution site where you can see the florid
in for fredricka whitfield. president biden and the first lady are set to depart the white house, they re going to have a full day visiting areas of northwest florida hit by category 3 hurricane idalia last wednesday. they ll be taking a helicopter tour and meting with residents impacted by those flash floods and powerful winds. aerials like suwannee county included in the president s disaster declaration. residents rf access to federal funding, president biden is calling on congress for additional money to replenish fema s disaster relief fund and as costs mount from natural disasters from florida to hawaii, cnn s isabel rosales is in live oak where we expect to see the president and first lady jill biden in a couple of hours. isabel, morning. the people you have been speaking to, what do they tell you is their greatest need right now? reporter: they re telling me that power is a huge concern. now, in this area of the big bend live oak, suwannee county, it wasn t necessari
good wednesday morning and the breaking news we are following this morning, a significant storm, now a category 4 storm, hurricane idalia now in the extremely dangerous category, that category 4 storm designation is intensified over the hours from a category 3 now to a category 4, it is expected to make landfall onto florida s gulf coast in just hours. forecasters are calling the storm dangerous, life threatening, a once in a lifetime storm that could bring catastrophic storm surge of up to 16 feet in florida s big bend region. at 6:30, just about a half hour from now, florida governor ron desantis will be giving an update from tallahassee. we will bring you that live. desantis says if you wanted to see a press can he not. analog for a storm hitting this place at this scale, go back more than a century. sarah sanders has been there live, part of team coverage, bill weir, in florida, derek van dam in tampa. and brian todd. and we ll be speaking with local officials and the dir
from tampa to tallahassee. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. you re in the situation room. this is cnn breaking news. we are standing by for an urgent update from the governor of florida, ron desantis, on the hurricane disaster all along the state s gulf coast. this as hurricane idalia was just weakened into a tropical storm. but it is still packing a punch as it takes aim at georgia and south carolina. cnn correspondents are on the scene covering idalia s devastation in florida and the storm s assault on georgia happening right now. but first, let s go to john bierman in the city of perry. john, you just got there. what have you seen so far? reporter: yeah, alex, the storm made landfall on keaton beach. 18 miles due that way and then passed directly overhead here in perry. you can see some of the damage it did. i m at roady s truck stop. you can see the wind just completely blew the awning over. it ripped up the brick there. t