strength and it s taking aim at the carolinas, where people now are bracing for the worst. i m john berman in ft. myers, florida. the storm now barreling towards south carolina with 85-mile-per-hour winds. it is expected to make its third landfall in the coming hours near myrtle beach. after seeing the damage in florida, the governor of south carolina says, we know what s coming. so this storm might be the largest natural disaster in florida s history. the destruction here in ft. myers, i m standing in the middle of it, it is hard to comprehend. ft. myers beach, i had a chance to fly over it in a helicopter, much of it flattened. one official there describes the damage as, there s really nothing to come back to. at least 19 people have died from this storm. power is out this morning across the state. there have been hundreds of rescues. the coast guard has been out in force, airlifting people from flooded homes and neighborhoods. sanibel island hit very hard. the storm destro
you know, most of this county, you know, did evacuate, because we were worried about the storm surge and this isn t the first time we ve had hurricanes, but fatalities here have been an extremely small number. there have been deaths for numerous reasons, not to the severity as we ve seen north of us. yeah. no, we did see the pictures of the storm surge in naples, as it was happening. good work getting as many people out of there as you could before hand. rick lecastro, county commissioner from collier county, thank you so much for being with us. i can tell you hard you re w working. thank you, john. yes, sir. we re digging out and my prayers for everyone. thank you for your support. thank you, rick. so governor ron desantis said sanibel island hit with biblical storm surge. cnn takes a look at whaet effors arare being made to reach peopl there. and huhurricane ian forcing