this hour, and on the ground frenzy in the state. millions under mandatory evacuation orders. the entire state faces flash flooding. and then record-shattering storm surge, water officials say as high as 18 feet. enough to swallow two suvs stacked one on the other. one official warning if you are caught in that surge, you simply will not survive. let s get straight to our correspondents on the ground binning with beginning with bill weir. what are you seeing and what are you told to expect? reporter: this whole community is really bracing for the worse. the new numbers this morning sunk the pit of the stomach everyone here, trying to think about a 17 foot storm surge. and we re on the back side of the storm and this is sort of the reverse storm surge. locals never see this exposed seabed here. we re looking at crab traps and oyster beds blowing around in the wind with the rest of us here. but of course the water as the storm comes ashore will fill in fast. and we re next
Southwest florida, crews are working to quickly restore power. of course, 200,000 is a drop in the bucket for what s going to happen over the next 24 to 48 hours. widespread power outages, particularly in southwest florida. we have over 100 portable cell towers ready to be deployed into the area once it is safe to enter. once the storm has passed and it is safe to go outside, you still need to be cautious. avoid downed power lines, standing water, stay clear of downed trees and don t drive in standing water, and please, if you are going to use a generator for your home, don t allow it to be inside. exist needs to be outdoors. stay out of the way of emergency crews, out of floodwaters and away from all downed power lines. stay off the roads. no need to rush back. you are going to have a massive surge of people that are going to be going in to provide, of course, life safety assistance for those who may have stayed in
0 from the shoreline to the back bays and also to rivers inland. so, know your high tides. we are looking at the images, increasingly dire. stay inside as the storm approaches and wreaks havoc, pray for the charlotte county community and the rest of florida as we toss it over to america reports. john: any moment now we are expecting an update from florida governor ron desantis as the eyewall of hurricane ian begins to move on shore bringing with it the potential for catastrophic damage. hello, john roberts in washington. sandra, welcome back. sandra: good to be with you, sandra smith in new york. america reports, a quickly developing situation, ian expected to make landfall between 2 and 4:00 p.m. right now packing top winds of 155 miles an hour. that is just a couple miles shy of a category 5 hurricane. john: when you get that high it does not make much of a difference. forecasters warning of the storm surge could be as high as 18 feet as the eyewall comes on shore. sand