the devastation in very direct terms. the impacts of this storm are historic and the damage that was done has been historic and this is just off initial assessments. take a look at fort myers, close to where ian made landfall. you see the downed trees and the boats tossed around like toys. storm surges as high as 7 to 10 feet swept through surrounding areas making streets look more like oceans. ian has left more than 2.5 million floridians without power. folks who were in shelters are leaving to see if they even have a home to return to. the focus is now on the people who did not evacuate. finding a lot of the roads are impassable. we have a lot of power lines down, a lot of flooding going on. i don t want to speculate on fatalities, but we have had some reports being called into us in reference to potential bodies being found. right now the storm is moving eastward through florida with the carolinas and georgia in its sights with flash flooding a major concern. you c
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 face different challenges. and i appreciate all of the support from the state, governor, thank you, and from local law enforcement as well, the national guard, and this is a team sport, and a team effort, and we re 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 extent to which that infrastructure has remained is critical, because you know, it is a lot easier for them to reconnect an existing system than have to rebuild it, so to see some of that thats was able to withstand a hurricane, it is also just a testament, i mean some of these folks, put money into the resiliency of the infrastructure. and this is like the ultimate test. when you ve got a hurricane that is a massive hurricane coming in at 155 m
hello, and welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i m john vause, at the cnn center in atlanta. as we head into the midnight hour on the u.s. east coast, almost the entire state of florida is bracing for the impact of hurricane ian, a monster storm stressing 500 miles across. which earlier made landfall on cuba, blocking out the eyelids electricity grid and causing a nationwide blackout. 11 million people right now are in the dark, waiting for morning to assess the damage. as of, now there are no reports of fatalities. since leaving cuba, ian has grown in strength, fueled by the warm waters of the gulf of mexico, as it heads towards florida, now category 3, with sustained winds of 135 miles per hour. along with life-threatening storm surge, florida is facing catastrophic flooding and strong powerful winds. all they, long tuesday, residents across the state braced for the hurricane to make landfall. now expected the first forecast, and further south.
hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from the united states and all over the world. you re watching cnn newsroom. i m kristie lu stout. it is now 2 am on the u.s. east coast. almost the entire state of florida is bracing for the impact of hurricane ian, a monster storm stretching 700 miles across and getting stronger. causing a nationwide blackout in cuba, ian is turning in the gulf of mexico as a category three hurricane with sustained winds just shy of a category four. and along with life-threatening storm surge, florida is facing catastrophic flooding and powerful winds. now, conditions will deteriorate throughout the night ahead of the expected landfall in the coming hours. more than two and a half million people are under some form of evacuation warning. state authorities say the time to leave is quickly running out. people in southwest florida, this is going to likely make landfall as a category 4 hurricane. there will be catastrophic flooding, and life-threat
could be called catastrophic conditions there. we ve never seen storm surge like the kind that is predicted in this area of florida. they re expecting surges up to 15 feet, the height in the past was four feet. so they re trying to shut it all down right now. that s what you re looking at on the right-hand side. airports closing, schools closing, waterways. ever battening down the hatches ahead of what is termed a 100-year storm. so most people by far have not witnessed anything like this who are living in florida right now, this is the stunning space image for you the space station. gives you a sense of how mammoth this area that is affected is, that is ready to lit florida. max gordon is live in st. petersburg on the ground in one of those areas that is expected to see some of this devastation. i can see just a little wind picking up there now as you get ready for this. hi, max. hey, good afternoon. mandatory evacuations are in place in pinellas county. folks in evaluatio