rising death toll and questions being raised over evacuation orders. this morning florida continues to reel from hurricane ian. i m brianna keilar with alex marquardt this morning. john berman is off this morning. officials are saying ian killed at least 76 people in florida after the monster storm barreled through the state. governor ron desantis says more than 1600 rescues have been made since the storm made landfall. communities have been left unrecognizedable. this morning more than 613,000 customers are still without power. many floridians still without clean tap water. shocking pictures. meanwhile florida governor ron desantis is defending officials in lee county where more than half of the storm-related deaths have been announced so far. they are now facing criticism for issuing evacuation orders a day later than neighboring counties. here is what governor desantis had to say. is that something you ll be reviewing, looking at the evacuation orders. lee county, if t
quote, for weeks or months. there you see the calm waters now. that was nothing like that in the midst of the storm. in lee county officials try to defend their actions after facing hard questions over just how soon they ordered people to evacuate. critics asking why those mandatory evacuations were not issued there until one day before ian s land fall, surrounding counties have been told to evacuate. this morning the death toll from hurricane ian is climbing. boris sanchez has the latest. reporter: the death toll rising from hurricane ian. as people recall harrowing tragedies and those lost. storm surge came all the way up and they had the windows were sucked out. these guys pushed their wives out the windows to where a tree was and they were looking at them and the guys were holding on and they just looked at their wives and they said, we can t hold on any more. we love you, bye. and that was it. does they make it. no, they didn t make it. speaking to john sayin
have made a difference? plus how is russia going to respond now that ukraine is taking back land that putin wants to say is his. and what kind of roller coaster ride are we in for as the supreme court kicks off its new term today. this is what we re watching at this hour. thank you for being here. i m kate bolduan. the dem toll from hurricane ian is rising still in florida. as rescuers are now working through some of the hardest hit areas. at least 76 people have died in the state from this monster storm. governor ron desantis said more than 1600 rescues have been conducted in parts of southwest and central florida. more than half of those people killed are in one county. lee county. and now county officials are facing questions about how long they waited to order a mandatory evacuation, despite repeated forecasts of the life-threatening storm projections from the national hurricane center. i m going to speak with a top fo official in just a moment. still over 600,000 are w
counted at least ten people from his building who died trying to get to the roof during the height of the surge. i personally covered one with a blanket. we made deceased signs so the helicopters could see them. also, a devastating tragedy involving one of ft. myers most vulnerable residents, scott lumly. according to the washington post, he walked with a cane, his legs and right arm were progressively paralyzed by lou gehrig s disease. he was sheltering with friends as the floodwaters rose quickly in their single story home, forcing them to try to break through the ceiling. they tried to lift him to safety. one friend recounting, quote, we tried to get him, but we couldn t. i feel awful about it. i think if we kept trying, we three would have all been washed away. i spoke with captain lewis mcdonald. his boat miraculously sustained
hold on any more. we love you, bye. and that was it. does they make it. no, they didn t make it. speaking to john saying, quote, we ve seen bodies everywhere. and that his group counted at least 10 people from his building who died trying to get to the roof during the height of the surge. i personally covered one with a blanket. we made deceased signs so the helicopters could see them. also a devastating tragedy involving one of fort myers most vulnerable residents, scott lumly. according to the washington post, he walked with a cane. his legs and right arm were progressively paralyzed by lou gehrig s disease and he was shellered with friends as the floodwaters rose quickly in their single stormy home forcing them to try to break through the ceiling. they tried to lift lumly up to safety. one friend recounting, quote, we tried to get him but we