newsroom. i m jim acosta in ft. myers, florida. first thing, we have some updated figures from here in the hurricane zone. sit the most current death toll of people who sadly did not survive hurricane ian here in florida. that new official death toll is now 74. 74 people here in florida have died now as a result of hurricane ian. of course, those figures are coming in. as they develop, we ll bring them to you. residents say there is a growing sense of fear that more bodies could be discovered. some areas remain fairly inaccessible to first responders. we ll show you what i saw on the ground. in the meantime, cnn has learned that a team that responds to mass fatality incidents has deployed equipment and personnel to assist medical examiners in boast counties here in southwest florida. officials in lee county where the majority of the deaths have concerned are facing a major concern. why were the first evacuation orders issued less than 24 hours before landfall? the county s ow
considerable damage in parts of south carolina. you see it in this video. that storm ripping through a pier causing part of it to collapse. now, it also submerged this neighborhood with a strong storm surge that, in fact, was several feet high. it was so bad this man it was so bad this man had to wade through knee-deep water inside his own home. thankfully the water there is starting to recede, and some areas in the state have been spared the worst. but in florida the damage has been severe. at least 45 people have now lost their lives and hundreds of homes have been turned, well, you see there just piles of debris. the coast guard is trying to rescue survivors. president joe biden said more help is on the way. it s just a crisis for florida. it s an american crisis. we re all in this together. i ve spoken to governor desantis on multiple occasions as well as this morning as well as mayors and county officials both republican and democrat from places most affected. now,
it is 5:00 a.m. and with daylight will come more of a sense of damage and countless homes have been destroyed. but in the middle of all that devastation, we re often seeing inspiring scenes like this, a local reporter saving ae iing ad nurse who was pleading for help. he had to carry theoryher to sa his back. pawleys island, the storm washed parts of the pier away. authorities are still assessings damage and working to restore power. and brian todd is in naples, florida with a closer look at the damage there. nothing left. zero. the full extent of hurricane ian s destruction now coming fully into view. aerial damage assessments showing coastal florida neighborhoods with roofing tore off, homes flattened, house either flooded or wiped out. some buildings with nothing left but the concrete slab. remote lotions locations cut of the mainland. these images showing how hard sanibel was hit. only way to access that is either by sea or by air. reporter: so far more than 700
i m boris sanchez coming to you live from hard-hit fort myers, florida, where cleanup is under way where hurricane ian took aim. boris, good morning, i m amara walker, thank you for starting your morning with us. what is left of hurricane ian is moving north this morning after leaving half the destruction across florida and now the carolinas. and after making landfall as a category 1 hurricane in that region, it s now moving inland as a post-tropical cyclone. and even though it s been downgraded officials warn it still trains that area with heavy rain and flood. yeah, in south carolina, the storm flooded homes and vehicles along the shorelines. and as high winds purged with storm surge higher, two pier, one in pawleys island, and this one in north myrtle beach partially collapsed and just washed away. ian is blamed for at least 45 deaths. the severe category 4 hurricane wednesday packing sustained winds of 150 miles per hour. the coast guard said it has rescued more tha
we re going to take you to one of the hardest-hit areas where almost an entire island was decimated. and her rescue during the hurricane made headlines. a nurse desperately trying to get to work was caught in the rising floodwaters. thankfully a nearby reporter was there, saved her and saw her. and that is my guest tonight. good evening, i m erin burnett. out front tonight, ian s fury still remains an extremely dangerous storm making its way through the carolinas tonight. let me show you this powerful video showing a pier in north myrtle beach torn into pieces as the hurricane came ashore. the storm surge ripping through neighborhoods like the ones i m showing you here, leaving even more destruction of homes in its wake. even these homes built up on sticks. so many of them deeply damaged. and parts of charleston s historic downtown also underwater. and tonight there is still concern for life-threatening floods as the storm could dump up to 12 inches of rain as it moves no