we start in florida, where the state is being battered by hurricane ian. this is the scene live in tampa bay, showing the sunshine skyway bridge, which is getting battered by the heavy wind and rain. there are warnings of catastrophic damage, both from the high winds, which are gusting at up to 235 kilometres per hour, that s around 145 miles per hour, and from the heavy rain. combine that with what experts are saying could be the highest storm surge on record, and there are fears for the safety of thousands of people. azadeh moshiri is in tampa for us. a life threatening hurricane is now barrelling towards america s sunshine state. and put millions under evacuation orders across the west coast. ian is unpredictable. it s already caused widespread damage in cuba, wiping out power to the country s entire grid, with some residents killed. but now its hurricane force winds are leaving the gulf of mexico and taking aim at florida s coast. this satellite image shows the eye of the
begin to assess just how many lives have been lost. the high waters, homes, buildings and roads ripped apart, ongoing search and rescue missions, and the damage is not just along the coast. welcome to the lead, i m jake tapper. we start with the first look at the death and devastation left behind by hurricane ian across southwest and central florida. this same system first made landfall in cuba then onto florida s west coast. now ian is about to strengthen and make its third landfall. let s show you what ian has done already. this is fort myers beach this morning. chunks of metal and trees thrown across the streets, buildings ripped apart, cars destroyed a. resident who has lived there his entire life said this is the worst hurricane he s lived through. bear islands have been cut off near ft. myers. all the bridges have failed and massive sections of the sanibel causeway were washed away by the storm surge, severing the only connection they have to the florida mainland. s
it s six in the morning in singapore, and six in the evening across florida where the state is being battered by hurricane ian. there are warnings of catastrophic damage both from the high winds which are gusting at up to 240 kilometres per hour, that s around 150 miles per hour. and from the heavy rain. combine that with what experts are saying could be the highest storm surge on record and there are fears for the safety of thousands of people. let s get the latest now from our correspondent azadeh moshiri who s in tampa bay. a life threatening hurricane is now barrelling towards america s sunshine state. and put millions under evacuation orders across the west coast. ian is unpredictable. it s already caused widespread damage in cuba, wiping out power to the country s entire grid, with some residents killed. but now its hurricane force winds are leaving the gulf of mexico and taking aim at florida s coast. this satellite image shows the eye of the hurricane packed w
protesters. we start in florida where the state is being battered by hurricane ian. there are warnings of catastrophic damage both from from the high winds which are gusting at up to 235 kilometres per hour, that s around 145 miles per hour. you can see the image that this is the seen life in florida at the moment. the gusts of wind that are blowing throughout that are blowing throughout that state as i was saying at around 230 kph that is around 145 mph and also the damage thatis 145 mph and also the damage that is being caused by the heavy rain. combine that with what experts are saying could be the highest storm surge on record and there are fears for the safety of thousands of people. azadeh moshiri is in tampa for us a life threatening hurricane is now barrelling towards america s sunshine state. and put millions under evacuation orders across the west coast. ian is unpredictable. it s already caused widespread damage in cuba, wiping out power to the country s entire gri
it will severely impact millions of people and put the barrier island communities completely under water. joining me this hour, the acting director of the national hurricane center to update the track of the storm. i will talk to mayors up and down the coast as ian comes onshore. let s go to our meteorologist with the latest on the hurricane s path. what are you seeing from the latest updates? with each update, the conditions continue to grow dire. right now, we are seeing lots of rain and strong winds moving into ft. myers. if you look at the latest trajectory, we have this making landfall as a mjor hurricane, a strong category 4, 155 miles per hour winds. once you are in 157, you are in cat 5. they are seeing strong winds move into areas. streets are under water. i want to note that it s not until the center of the eye makes landfall that we call it a landfall. we are anticipating within the next three to four hours this will make landfall just outside of ft. myers and so