be felt nearly 300 miles from the center, which means that millions of people across the south from georgia to virginia will be affected. this is the scene in the towns of myrtle beach and south port, south carolina. they are facing life threatening storm surge from hurricane ian. we are also getting a fuller picture of the devastation on the ground now in towns across florida. the new york times describing it this way. quote, the scale of the wreckage was staggering. even to florida residents who had survived and rebuilt after other powerful hurricanes, this storm pulverized roads. it toppled trees, gutted downtown store fronts and set cars afloat, leaving a soggy scar of ruined homes and businesses from the coastal cities of naples and fort myers to inland communities across the state including orlando. at least 14 deaths have been linked to the storm. more than 1.8 million people are now without power. more than 700 rescues have taken place including these from sanibel i
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
carlos suarez. just for people to be clear, that s an access point to pine island, right? business owners and residents are getting to go back and see firsthand the damage? reporter: that is exactly right, poppy. there are two things happening now across southwest florida. first, the folks who live on san able island, this morning for the very first time, the folks who live there get their first opportunity to go back home since that storm hit. emergency official are being strict with how folks can get back out. you have to do it by private boat, you have to have a special pass. residents are being told you can only take one guest. they re going to allow the folks to be there for a few hours, then they have to come back. state official are trying to reconstruction that causeway that was wiped out. here in matlacha, eastbound taking to boats to get to pine island, a barrier island. they just have been showing up here at matlacha, and boat captains are saying if you need a ri