puerto rico today, devastated by hurricane fiona two weeks ago and the president and white house officials did their part to try to tamp down that controversy. white house correspondent peter doocy starts us off tonight live from the north lawn. good evening, peter. peter: good evening, bret. white house officials are putting out the word that federal help is on the way for people who need it the most. race is not going to be a factor, despite what the vice president said. hello. surveying damage from hurricane fiona. president biden is already sounding the alarm about storms that won t hit for years. today i m announcing more than $60 million in funding to help coastal areas in puerto rico. [applause] become better prepared for the glorm he says his response doesn t favor friends. times like these our nation comes together, put aside our difference our political differences and get to work. we show up. that s different than what vice president harris suggeste
ainsley: remember in sauna bell and then the bridge collapsed. steve: luckily around tampa a lot of those causeways are built up 10, 15 feet for just such an occasion, 16 feet is what they are forecasting as a flood surge in certain parts of florida. particularly the big bend area. janice dean has been over at the maps and looking at the very latest. and the information you guys in fox weather have been able to provide is stunning because these maps, i have never seen these kind of maps on tv before. janice: right we simulcast last night. ainsley: great coverage. janice: 140 mile-per-hour sustained winds overnight. they upgraded did to a category 4 storm. the winds down to a category 3 but we have been telling you, you know, don t focus on the category. the damage is going to be the storm surge. and when you are talking about 16 feet across the shallow land, it s going to cause massive catastrophic damage, unfortunately. you talked about ian last year. remember what happened
Correspondent phil keating is in fort myers tonight. good evening, phil. good evening, bret. there continues to be a great need just for the essentials for so many floridians. here they can drive up, get a couple of cases of water, a big box of food as well as bags of ice, all things to the national guard at their 25 distribution sites in the two counties most hardest hit by hurricane ian. lee and charlotte. hurricane ian ravaged florida s barrier islands of sauna bell, port island and sanibel beach. flattened or rubble it. will have to totally be rebuilt. my colleague steve harrigan sanibel today. see the descrusktz winds everywhere. some of these houses blown off their foundations 50 or 100 yards. kevin lives on fort myers beach or perhaps used to. is he one of tens of thousands