we cover the devastation caused by hurricane ian. here is the newest information coming in this saturday evening. the storm s death toll in florida now stands at 66. this is the scene in north port, which is in sarasota county. state officials say the latest known death is that of a 62-year-old woman also from that county. she apparently drowned after getting trapped in her vehicle. take a look at the massive amount of water people risked traveling through today east of sarasota. they re in their car. this is a car, not a boat, makes its way down a very flooded state highway. sheriff s deputies and firefighters went door to door in the community of hidden river warning people about a potentially levee beach. on cape coral, they are checking on victims who may need urgent help. fire rescue say they have been collecting people and pets and taking them to a fire station where helicopters are ferrying people to safety. this afternoon, governor ron desantis said while more than ha
a crisis with no ordinary solution because this was no ordinary storm. look at the staggering scale of destruction. complicating hundreds of rescue efforts. it laid waste to entire towns, robbing people of their homes and livelihoods. some residents are now beginning to pick up the pieces. others have no pieces left to pick up. i just returned from a boat ride with the cageous navy where i saw some of the destruction for myself. this is what ian did to matt lachey in lee county where most of the deaths occurred so far. in matlacha. they find one of your neighbors? yeah. yeah. they found, like, i think three bodies so far in the water. i know there s more. cnn s nadia romero is in arcadia. we begin with brian todd in naples. officials said it could take months to recover. we have seen evidence all day long from our boat ride to where you are right now. where do things stand today where you are? jim, we re going to show you more evidence of why it s going to take so lon
officials in florida now say at least 66 people are confirmed dead, more than half the fatalities are here amid the widespread devastation in lee county, home to fort myers. the sheriff there says there have been more than 600 rescues in that county alone. near sarasota police officers evacuated a neighborhood early this morning as a levee appeared in danger of collapsing. that threat, a 15-foot wall of water crashing into the neighborhood. just a short time ago the state reopened a 12-mile stretch of interstate 75 in both directions bet an over flowing river has forced a closure there. governor desantis said overflowing lakes and rivers have also created havoc. there s also other areas where we may expect additional flooding. i was touring central florida with some of the aerial tours. there was more standing water in central florida than there was in southwest florida from the imp immuno impact of the storm serurge. i want to bring in jim acosta in fort myers, one of th
raphael warnock was just obviously a tremendously and profound person. i spent some time with him on the trail in georgia in the last election and you never lost sight of the fact that he was john lewis s pastor irreverent. he is a force of nature. thanks to you at home for joining us. when hurricane ian came ashore last afternoon, we knew it was one of the strongest storm to ever hit florida, or ever hit the united states period. and after a terrifying night in southwest florida, they like brought harrowing evidence of the destruction in storm like that brings. this is fort myers beach, one of the barrier islands that ian slammed into as a nearly category five storm. before the her again, it was a popular beach destination for resorts and restaurants. as you can see, much of it has been leveled. one local resident told local paper quote fort myers beach is gone. this is the causeway leading to sanibel island just west of the fort myers beach. it s the only road to that isl
our thoughts remain with those impacted by hurricane ian. for those who need help, please ask for it. and if you can give help, please, give it. on that note, i wish you all a very good and safe night. from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, thanks for staying up late with us. i will see you at the end of tomorrow. when hurricane ian came ashore yesterday afternoon and what was one of the stronger storms to ever hit the united states, period, and after a terrifying night in southwest florida daylight today brought harrowing evidence of the destruction of a storm like that brings. this is fort myers beach, one of the barrier ion islands that in slammed into as a near category five storm. for the hurricane it was a popular beach destination full of resorts and restaurants. as you can, see much of it has been leveled. when local resident told his local tape paper, quote, fort myers beach is gone. this is the causeway leading to sandoval island, just west of