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Extremely dangerous four. It s more than 400 miles across, pushing a storm surge that officials are calling unsurvivable is now hitting florida s gulf coast as much as 20 feet of water what are forecast along the shore south of tallahassee, which itself is expected to take a direct blow. Some coastal areas already flooding. Take a look live pictures right now from gulfport in tampa on the right interstate to 70 prison biden this evening, urge anyone in the storm s path that take it extremely seriously. A lot of water there is certainly there graham gulfport, especially emergency managers and florida s taylor county are telling people choosing to stay and there are people choosing to stay to write her name and date of birth on a leg to help identify their bodies. Storm warnings are now in effect as far north as charlotte, north carolina. We ve got cnn correspondents all along the places now harm s way in chad myers in the cnn weather center, let s start with cnn meteorologist derek van ....
the winds are gusting at 85 miles per hour, and the other big concerns are life-threatening storm surge and heavy rain. we are tracking who is in the most danger. all of this as millions of people in florida are taking those first painful steps towards recovery. so many lives are upended by hurricane ian s devastation, and the storm is likely one for the record books as the grim evidence of the powerful strike now litters coastlines. today, fort myers beach impassable. shells of buildings is all that is left. boats are tossed like toys as well as homes at this point, we know that 25 people have died in florida. roughly 2 million without power, and staggering level of destruction and damage estimates are climbing fast. we have teams covering it all, and we begin in south carolina where ian is bearing down and our nick valencia is in myrtle beach. what are you seeing there, nick? well, ana, we are getting a break in the rain, and wred not expecting it to last, but the r ....
in fort myers beach, it is even hard to bike through the destruction. the messages from residents there, if you can send help, we need it. sanibel and cap teva islands cut off from the main land, only accessible by boat or air after, as you know, ian destroyed this major bridge that connects them to the main land. many of the homes there are in pieces or completely washed away. the coast guard is now going door to door, still trying to rescue people. make sure you have a bag for your clothes, with i.d., cell phones, wallets. emergency officials will run barges to sanibel island to help with cleanup and recovery efforts there. but let s begin in south carolina, cnn s nick valencia is in myrtle beach. tell us what is happening around you right now. reporter: it is a little hard to hear because the wind is such a major factor, just in the last few minutes these gusts of wind have crept up to about 40 to 50 miles per hour. and, you know, the sustained wind is almost as ....
It was from 1 inch to 10 feet in the matter of ten minutes. reporter: nearly 1400 people perished during the hurricane and the floods that followed. most of them drowned. katrina is a prime example of how deadly a storm surge can be. in 2008, hurricane ike made landfall as it swept over galveston island on the texas coast. i was a category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 110 miles per hour. much of the area saw devastating storm surges of 15 to 20 feet above normal tide levels. the ocean came through the house. it came literally came through the house. there is sludge and snakes and you name it. reporter: years earlier in 1995, hurricane opal made landfall near pensacola beach, florida as a category 3 storm. again, the story was the storm surge. totally gone. we didn t do anything but lock the door on our way out. reporter: with opal, the storm surge spanned about 120 ....
Wasn t so much the wind as the water. i tried swimming to higher ground, but there was no higher ground. reporter: according to the national hurricane center, storm surge flooding measured 10 to 28 feet above normal tide levels. the storm surge that poured into lake pontchartrain breached the levee system, flooding most of new orleans. catastrophic flooding spread for miles inland, destroying residential neighborhoods. it came in so fast. it was from 1 inch to 10 feet in the matter of ten minutes. reporter: nearly 1400 people perished during the hurricane and the floods that followed. most of them drowned. katrina is a prime example of how deadly a storm surge can be. in 2008, hurricane ike made landfall as it swept over galveston island on the texas coast. i was a category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 110 miles per hour. much of the area saw devastating storm surges of 15 to 20 feet ....