landfall as a hurricane. ian is moving inland as a post-tropical cyclone. even though it s been downgraded, officials warn it could cause heavy rain, wind, and floods. in south carolina the storm flooded homes and vehicles along the shoreline. you can see in this video high winds pushed the storm surge even higher, and two piers, one in pawleys island and one in myrtle beach both partially collapsed. officials are warning residents to avoid leaving their homes, to steer clear of floodwaters that could pose hidden dangers. the obvious one of the water itself can isolate people, drown people. but it can also hide downed power lines, obstacles in the water, even contaminants in the water. so the waters themselves are the most dangerous. ian slammed into southwest florida as a severe category 4 hurricane on wednesday. it almost became a category 5, packing sustained winds at 150 miles an hour. the storm is now being blamed for at least 45 deaths, though, officials believe t
southwest florida as a category 4 hurricane, making it the most powerful storm to ever hit that area of the state. the death toll now standing at 45, but that number could rise as crews reach areas cut off by flooding. people who chose to ride out the storm describe their harrowing experiences. the water was up to my balcony here. it was just you could dive off the balcony. just water everywhere, stuff floating on it. i never stay again. they say evacuate, go. right now the remnants of ian are moving along the country s northeast after the storm hit georgetown county, south carolina, as a category 1 hurricane. let s send it down to boris sanchez anchoring our coverage from fort myers, florida. boris. fred, as the sun rises on another day here in fort myers and southwest florida, the scope of the damage from hurricane ian is becoming more clear. communities are reeling as many folks are getting back to their properties and seeing what was left behind by this near categor
hurricane ian. 65 people here in florida did not survive the storm. search and rescue efforts in many areas are ongoing. 2 million people in multiple states are without power. the sunshine here revealing more and more damage, hour-by-hour. the hurricane and storm surge laid waste to entire towns, including ft. myers beach, robbing people of homes and livelihoods. rescue efforts will take months and years for some of the areas to get back to normal. i tell you for myself, i spent much of the day out there. that is the case. it will take many months and weeks to get back to normal. south of here, naples, florida, officials say it will take months or longer to recover. prosecute damage could top $2 million. the fire chief says the city is having challenges with restoring power. brian todd is in naples for us. brian, i know you ve been doing this hour after hour. every corner you turn, every street you go down, you re seeing more and more devastation. tell us what you re seeing.
wonderful, wonderful, laura, is a reference to steve martin s great film l.a. story when he says he s falling in love. and here i thought it came to mind because you saw me in canary yellow. that s what inspired it. anyway, it was a cinematic theme. i like the trivia. i like the fun facts to start the show. that s awesome. next i ll work on a pop up video for it. very good. and you re awesome too, jake. good evening, everyone, i m laura coates in washington. and i m allison camerota in new york and this is cnn tonight. we re also here with our panelists across the political spectrum there s actually one team in washington with me. and the other team here in new york with me. basically we have so much work we need two studios. it doesn t fit in one. so let s start with all the developments heading up to the mid-terms. the big guns from barack obama to donald trump are about to hit the campaign trail, and we ve also got new polling that tells us a lot abou
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