at least 12 people have been reported killed, and it brought epic rain and flooding to the central part of the state. hundreds of people have been rescued, that work continues overnight. over 2 million homes and businesses are without power. today president biden visited fema s headquarters in washington, d. c. and said federal aid is on its way to florida. this could be the deadliest hurricane in florida s history. when conditions allow it, i ll gonna be going to florida. will you be talking to florida ron desantis when you re down there? the answer is yes if he wants to see. let s go right to nbc meteorologist, michelle grossman. i know michelle, that we got the 11 pm update from the national weather center just moments ago. what did you learn? hi there stephanie great to see you. well it s strengthened even further, so back to a category one storm. we re looking at 80 mile per hour winds. it did weaken earlier this morning to a tropical storm, dropped into the at
with devastating winds, storm surge and flooding. our correspondents are in the heart of some parts of florida right now. we re tracking ian in the weather center as we bring you live special coverage of this hurricane disaster. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer and you re in the situation room. this is cnn breaking news. this hour ian s brutal assault is still very much underway. hurricane force winds. brian todd is on the scene for us in naples, florida. brian, we re just beginning to understand the scope of the damage from ian. reporter: absolutely, wolf. people in this town just beginning to come to grips with this devastation. we are on a gulf shore boulevard here in naples, within 150 feet of the beach. a 12 foot storm surge pushed the water up underneath these apartments. now people are tossing their biggest positions on to the street like this. debris hazards are all over the place. and this comes as rescue
category 4 storm leaving a huge path of destruction and millions in the dark this morning. we ll have a live report in just a moment. meanwhile, rescue crews have been busy trying to get people who decided to ride out the storm to try and save them. they re stranded now by rising flood waters and we re still tracking ian as it slowly makes its way across florida. at this hour, it still has more to go. good morning, and welcome to morning joe. it s thursday, september 29th. joe is off this morning. along with willie and me, we have the host of way too early, white house bureau chief at politico, jonathan lemire. without power this morning, first light this morning will begin to show the damage in florida. that s right. that s when we re going to start to see the story of what happened last night, what happened overnight. tropical storm now ian downgraded from a category 1 hurricane. in just the last hour, but still wreaking havoc across florida as it made landfall as a
alert to southwest florida, president biden has just landed and is set to get a first land look at the devastation there unleashed by hurricane ian. the president will also be meeting with governor ron desantis of florida during the trip as the region faces what could be ears of rebuilding. hello, welcome, sandra smith in new york. and a big welcome to bret, i m sure you heard the voice and thought that s bret baier. bret: good to be with you, bret baier here for john roberts. one week since the category 4 hurricane ian made landfall with historic winds and storm surge. damage estimates are staggering, as high as $50 billion. sandra: the numbers continue to climb. the president expected to reaffirm the commitment to rebuild during remarks a short time from now. bret: the storm killing at least 109 people in the u.s. so far. sandra: so heartbreaking. alexandria hoff is in fort myers beach, what is the president s plan? yes, he s going to get a unique view of this off