is barreling through the carolina with high winds, heavy rain and the threat of floods. the storm has been downgraded from a hurricane but it still poses a threat as it makes its way inland. it has already caused considerable damage in south carolina where it made landfall on friday. in this video, you can see the storm ripping through a pier in north myrtle beach, causing part of it to collapse. it also submerged this neighborhood with a storm surge that was several feet high. so far there have been no reported deaths in south carolina. but in florida, at least 45 people have lost their lives, and we re getting a clearer picture of the damage the storm has left behind. entire neighborhoods that once were brimming with life are now flattened fields littered with debris. this is footage from fort myers beach where one woman s struggle to survive was captured in a phone call. i am up to my neck in water. okay. all right. i am so cold. i m losing you. i can t hear you.
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 bad. f
the devastation in very direct terms. the impacts of this storm are historic and the damage that was done has been historic and this is just off initial assessments. take a look at fort myers, close to where ian made landfall. you see the downed trees and the boats tossed around like toys. storm surges as high as 7 to 10 feet swept through surrounding areas making streets look more like oceans. ian has left more than 2.5 million floridians without power. folks who were in shelters are leaving to see if they even have a home to return to. the focus is now on the people who did not evacuate. finding a lot of the roads are impassable. we have a lot of power lines down, a lot of flooding going on. i don t want to speculate on fatalities, but we have had some reports being called into us in reference to potential bodies being found. right now the storm is moving eastward through florida with the carolinas and georgia in its sights with flash flooding a major concern. you c
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we heard from deanne criswell, fema s administrator, who said that the disastrous irfund is nearly out of money. it s only august, which means the peak of hurricane season is not even here yet. when you hear that, and it s going to cost about $6 billion, that s what we re hearing in terms of the estimate, in terms of, you know, maui s wildfires and the response there, what could this mean for the future? i mean, are you concerned? well, obviously. and, again, when people say it s fema s money, it s not. it s yours. it s the taxpayers money. seeing more and more of these events. the other thing we are seeing is combined with the insurance crisis. fema only reimburses for uninsured losses. more and more without insurance, more governments without insurance. it increases the tax bill for you and me. and this is increasing. so, again, congress i am not worried about fema running out of money. but i think we need to be