into sharper focus. this picture shows fort meyers beach one of the hardest-hit areas before the hurricane and here it is after. homes wiped out. sea of debris and rubble stretching to the horizon. there is this marina during normal times in fort myers. and then after. a scene of utter destruction. the damage throughout florida. 2 million still without power. it will continue for some time. ten people are confirmed dead thus far. the number may change as search and rescue teams work their way through the flooded neighborhoods. we re moments away as dana mentioned and get an update from the florida governor ron desantis back in tallahassee. team fox coverage. city manager marty lawing is standing by. robert ray is back with us today. we begin with track of ian. adam klotz is in our studio watching that. we still have a hurricane as we remember this storm left the coast of florida as a tropical storm but we ve spent a good chunk of time over the atlantic ocean. winds curren
everywhere. i ve never seen damage like this in my whole life. it s unreal. reporter: boats tossed like toys. the lone bridge connecting the island cracked and crumbled with the storm s winds putting some sections totally under water. we had about 200 households that didn t evacuate on the island that we know of. reporter: anyone still trapped on the isolated island now waiting for rescue by boat or air. we joined the lee county sheriff as he surveyed some of the hardest hit areas to see the full scope of ian s power. you know that as we are speaking right now, there are people that want us and need us and we can t get to them. reporter: people like jack and betty. an elderly couple who hasn t been heard from since the storm hit their continue dope. the worst part is the waiting and the unknown and not knowing that they re okay. reporter: their son scott says his parents were unable to evacuate in time and forced to hunker down on their ground floor. but rescuer
to the mainland. and above the shear scale of the wreckage, the storm left some areas completely unrecognizable. one person told the tampa bay times lee koth looks like a bomb has been dropped. momentarily, we ll go live to fort myers beach where this side by side shows the destruction to the popular pier. here s a man from fort myers who had a terrifying experience. i stayed here as long as i could until i got scared for my life and went across the street. the it didn ts last too long. the big bad wolf puffed it away. i watched my house disappear with everything in it. right pfr my eyes. right before his eyes. i want to bring in kat park in south carolina where hurricane ian is expected to make landfall soon. what are the conditions you re seeing? what are you hearing about what you re expecting in the next couple hours or so? reporter: so we have been out here for several hours now. i can can tell you the landscape has changed dramatically. behind me is the ashley riv
and they ll have to be rebuilt. unfortunately, there are also homes and businesses that will simply not be able to safely take the power once it s ready. but the 20,000 plus men and women who are already here are staging and getting on the field currently. they will work 24/7 until we get the lights back on. again, as the governor said, not our first rodeo, but every storm is also different and always poses different challenges. but appreciate all the support from the state. governor, thank you. from local law enforcement as well, national guard. this is a team sport and a team effort, and we re going to all work together until we get florida back up on her feet and where we all want her to be. thank you. when fdl and the other companies have crews in, the extent to which that infrastructure has remained is just critical because, you know, it s a lot easier for them to reconnect an existing system than to have to rebuild it. to see that was able to withstand is encouraging.
field currently. they will work 24/7 until we get the lights back on, again as the governor said, not our first rodeo, but every storm is also different, and always poses different challenges. appreciate all the support from the state, governor, thank you, from local law enforcement as well, the national guard, this is a team sport and a team effort and we are going to all work together until we get florida back up on our feet and where we all want to be. thank you. and when fpl and the other companies have crews in, the ex ten to which that infrastructure has remained is critical because it s a lot easier for them to reconnect an existing system than to have to rebuild it. so to see some of that that was able to withstand is encouraging. it s also just a testament. some of these folks put money into the resilience of the infrastructure, and this is like the ultimate test. you have a hurricane that s a massive hurricane coming in at 155 miles an hour, producing this type of