it is just shy of that now. we won t get ahead of the news on this. we are expecting an official storm update at any moment. i m harris faulkner and you are in the faulkner focus. hurricane ian is now carrying sustained kinds of 155 miles per hour. if they gain to 157 it s a category 5. the biggest threats facing floridians are massive storm surge, raging winds, inland flooding, tornadoes, experts already using words like catastrophic to describe hurricane ian s potential. 21/2 million people are under evacuation orders. for those people in the storm s path directly, that swath that i just told you to the south, cape coral and to the north sarasota. it s too late to evacuate if you re still there according to the governor. governor desantis also saying it is time just to hunker down for you. he spoke last hour. this amount of storm surge. it will have very ferocious winds and it will be life threatening. people are taking a risk with their health, safety and lives by bein
trying to avoid this outcome for months and paid a visit to saudi arabia in july after he vowed to make the country a pariah over its human rights abuses. dagen: the fist bump fell flat along with the president s promises to lower gasoline prices for americans struggling with inflation. president biden: i m doing all i can to increase the supply for the united states of america, which i expect to happen. i m using every lever available to me to bring down prices for the american people. i have a plan to bring down the cost of gas and food. i m doing everything in my power to blunt putin s price hike and bring down the cost of gas and food. i led the world to could odd nate the largest release of global oil reserves in history. dana: jacque heinrich is live on the north lawn waking up to difficult headlines. there were reports they were trying to work the opec members up until they lost. there sure were. tough day here for officials at the white house. yesterday they a
Landfall. we know that s imminent here. but we also recognize that high tide later on this morning could only add insult to injury in an area that is already seeing a far too much water in such a short period of time. this is not an area where anyone should be continue. foat this point.staying indoorsn is the best thing can you do keep yourself safe as this storm continues to pummel. even areas like tampa bay far from where this storm is expected. this major hurricane, i should say, is expected to make landfall in just a matter of hours. steve: that is correct. nicole, thank you very much. the live report from the water side there in tampa. now, let s turn to here in studio m, we have got senior meteorologist janice dean who is tracking the storm. janice, we could see behind her some lightning strikes. what about tornadoes? that s one of the other things you have got to worry about right now. absolutely. land falling three-point line
Change the trajectory of a hurricane if we put it towards fighting climate and climate change? until india, russia, china does anything about their carbon footprint these things will continue to happen in terms of pollution. to say this hurricane would have been lessened if the united states spent more to fight climb all change is disingenuous. dagen: john kerry said the use u.s. michael shell berger who we will talk to next hour said hurricanes are not the lines where hurricanes are becoming more frequent and intense, no land falling u.s. hurricanes have fallen and no increase in the cost of hurricane damage. but you still get this even from the president. dana: millions of people have moved there, joe. that s not mentioned. a great point. not mentioned also there are hurricanes that hit florida and other parts of the united states
Threat. dozens of tornadoes out of land falling hurricanes and we ve seen tornado warnings not only today but yesterday and it will be on going. the peak storm surge. what kills most people in the path of a hurricane. this warning is 12 to 18 feet vulnerable coastline here. that will overtop homes. that will move well inland. and that s the biggest concern. looking at some of the rivers that are going to crest here at historic levels over the next 12 to 24 hours. 13-foot storm surge here and again that s falling on high tide it will be further than that. it will be upwards of in some cases maybe close to 20-foot storm surge because of the high tide. the tropical related death surge is the highest and this is what is going to inundate fort myers up to sarasota, florida in the next couple of hours.