address to respond at 8:45 this morning. we will bring it to you live when it happens. brian: just like we did yesterday live across the state with a firsthand look at the devastation and all seeing it for the first time because the sun is coming up. seen evermeteorologist is standing by our team fox coverage starts with robert ray live in fort myers. that s where it hit robert, right? did sure did good morning to you from the devastated streets from downtown fort myers. you see this debris field i m walking through with garbage cans, mud, palms that were literally projectiles when these hurricane force winds were coming through here yesterday and into the evening. this guys, if we look at the video was i am not even exaggerating and not to use a cliche a rushing river yesterday evening street after street here full of storm surge water that came up from the bay and the river about three blocks behind me made its way into streets here destroying businesses and now business
is up. we see contrast from before and after pictures. for example, fort myers, where the hurricane first hit last. 2.5 million people are without power. i can tell you specifically for florida power and light, we have just over 1.1 million customers across the state at the moment, that said, we ve been out and about throughout the storm, it s been safe to do so restoring power to our customers and we ve already restored power to 500,000 customers, but majority of lines are still above the ground and that will take time to assess. we ll use drones to figure out where biggest damage is and that will allow us to get power back on as quickly as possible. ainsley: ian is hitting central florida and we expect to hear from governor ron desantis 8:45 and will bring as it happens, meanwhile, live across the state. senior meteorologist janice dean is standing by and brandy campbell is back in orlando and fox weather correspondent robert ray is live. we are learning the sheriff in