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
phil keating and chad pergram from the white house. let s start with alex and roy hoff live from cape corral, florida. hi, alex. alex: we are in an area called matt lachet and the coast guard is leading major effort to rescue people who have been stranded on the pine island ever since the storm, this is a major operation, we have probably seen at least a hundred people in this location coming in by boat. those residents had been on the island since the storm including even volunteers who showed up just after it. some really have arrived here in terrible condition. ems personnel have been on hand assisting several people who have returned by boat. one man said he had been suffering with a broken hip for days and laura was very emotional. she told me that she lost her entire home and spoke with gratitude for those who came to save her especially after the effort she made to make sure that she needed help. it s very devastating. we are just great to have our lives. the water a
south carolina continue to recovery from rains wind and cataclysmic flooding. ian slammed into south carolina just shy of category 5. the current death toll of at least 45 people likely to come in the days as search and rescue cruise go through blocked floodwaters, as of this morning, 1.3 million homes and businesses still in the dark. according to the latest estimate ian may have caused as much as $47 billion in insured losses which could make it the most expensive storm in the state history. the figure comes from core logic, that s a research firm that estimates losses from natural disasters. the estimates, combined ensured losses through private insurance, which typically covers wind damage. and fema s national flood insurance program that covers water damage. their estimates as of thursday, wind damage, $20 billion to $32 billion. flood damage, $6 billion to $16 billion. so the low end of the combined estimate would be $28 billion. before we spend, let s ask ourselves, is
feet high, could plunge into the neighborhood. it s just one of the many gulf coast communities still suffering from catastrophic flooding. it s been quite an operation. some of our major thoroughfares have become impassable even as the water recedes, there s washouts. so we have a long, long recovery period. all of this following hurricane ian s destructiv ive h across florida. it slammed into the gulf coast as a category 4 hurricane. entire towns leveled. florida governor ron desantis is expected to give an update on the situation later on in this hour. we ll take that for you live. let s send it down to boris sanchez with our coverage from ft. myers, florida. boris? fred, you just broke the news that we have been dreading all day. initially, when we got up this morning, officials had told us that the death toll from hurricane ian was hanging at around 45 fatalities, and you just broke the news, 64 people killed by hurricane ian here in the state of florida and potent
that we helped to rescue, to evacuate from those flood-prone areas. we are still out in the community today going throughout each of the communities assisting with placing taxpayers and removing tree limbs so they can get to their cars and anyone who is trapped and cannot get out, if it s a emergency situation, they dial 911 and we will be there to assist them as well as the partners that stand behind me. i will stand ready to assist the community. okay. other questions? i had a question. jacqui: fox weather a letter, live images from sarasota county florida where firms issued alert earlier this morning of possible levy break sending deputies door to door in hidden river community to advise evacuation and 14 miles of major interstate in the area, i75 now shut down deemed unsafe for travel as water rises from nearby river. welcome to fox news live, i m jacqui heinrich. griff: i m griff jenkins, thousands of residents without power in the wake of powerful storm as cleanup a