0 with first cause of this surge right now. reporting in fort myers, robert ray fox. >> whether. all right. thank you so much for sticking with us. right here on fox weather. a hurricane in a water log in southwest florida. streets and buildings completely flooded, as you can see here. power knocked out to two million people. and one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the united states . the hurricane making landfall wednesday afternoon near jocasta. a protected barrier island just west of fort myers in the hours since landfall in have moved inland, hurricane force winds likely to be felt well into central florida. yeah, thanks again for sticking with us right here on fox. whether i'm local customer. >> and i'm jim enah. thank you for joining us and a special welcome to those watching on fox news channel. well, the 2:00 a.m. advisory is in mike lindell, still a category one hurricane. so no major changes there, although and continues to shift and land continues to weaken just a bit, right? >> not necessarily under that threshold. of a category one hurricane just yet. usually if it's if we see maximum sustained winds at or below seventy five miles per hour, it would then be classified as a tropical storm that hasn't happened yet. >> but we are starting to see some signs of improvement in terms of an increase in barometric pressure, which is kind of interesting because, you know, the higher the pressure, you would typically you think to yourself, oh, my goodness, you know, high pressure, that must mean that it was more ferocious. >> that's not the case. that's right. lower pressure means a stronger storm . so we are seeing those millibars tick up a bit, but we don't want to let our foot off the gas because we still have a lot of communities in for some wind and rain overnight. and this system could sneak back out into the atlantic, expected to make a third landfall. we're going to have to watch for that strength looks like very closely. so let's get to that latest advisory, the newest information we do have hurricane ian here and we do have it sliding up through central florida remains a category one . winds sustained at about 75 miles per hour that pressured about nine hundred eighty millibars, moving to the northeast at about nine miles per hour. but you can see in that loop of our infrared imagery here, this is the cloud tops. and the brighter those colors, the more ferocious those thunderstorms are. you can see we've had some drier air kind of invade in on the south side. and a lot of this system is going to continue to lift up. but we are seeing a lot of those clouds and that rain on the north side, that center that we're still tracking with hurricane and very closely . so if i can get to the next graphic here, we are anticipating to see ian bring in the potential for wind and heavy rain for the next several hours. in fact, let's take a look at some of the images that we saw coming in throughout the day today. hurricane ian lashing florida, leaving behind all of this devastation. >> listen to this one woman that that was my house. my house is gone. that's my grandparents house. that one right there on the ground. >> devastating. this is in fort myers, florida. a storm surge, a big component to the devastation that we did see there. and unfortunately, this woman's home, her grandparents home felt in the destruction of the storm surge, the hurricane force winds that came into fort myers throughout the day today, peaking in the afternoon and really doing the damage when you saw that home there next door to where her grandparents home was absolutely devastated. and that first floor of the home was buckled in. and that's what happens when we're talking storm surge. imagine yourself just standing, wading into the ocean at the beach and you can tell those winds or the waves, rather, continue to lap . and all of that energy and that pressure is what really brings in the destruction to our buildings. now, as we go into the night tonight, i know we're in these overnight hours. we do have a hurricane warning that still stretches both coasts. we still have the potential for those hurricane force gusts. i mean, we still have a category one hurricane and moving up through orlando, florida, it's going to continue onto the space coast. that's where we do have a hurricane warning in place just to the south of daytona beach. tropical storm warnings for northeast florida. and then that's going to continue up the coast into georgia and south carolina. we also have a hurricane watch . so we're going to detail a little bit more into what we are anticipating and to do once it emerges back into the atlantic later today. but take a look at the roads right now. orlando, florida, taking the brunt of ian right now. heavy rain continues to come down. good to see not many people on the roads. we do have emergency officials out there. so maybe some of these roadways are being shut down at persay. we do have flooding, a big concern and hopefully people are heeding these warnings in these overnight's, these darker hours, not getting out onto the roads. we have over two million people without power. a lot of those power outages felt on the southwest coast of the florida peninsula. but we're starting to see those power outages kick up in northeast florida. orlando. we do have a number of outages for our customers all the way down into daytona beach. we're going to start to see those power outages shift a bit further to the northeast as ian continues to move to the northeast, bringing in that wind and that rain potential for the next several hours, but two point three million people in the dark. so for those of you who are watching us at home, perhaps you're in orlando in jacksonville, now's the time to keep those chargers clicked into your phones, take up all of that energy that you can now before the lights do go out. you can't take advantage of that power. so as we take a look at the track of hurricane ivan continues to remain a category one as it lifts into the space coast throughout the morning hours, we are anticipating it to emerge into the atlantic off the coast of florida throughout the day today. on thursday, but it's really going to have a healthy amount of time into the warmer waters that are just off the coast of georgia and florida to perhaps keep its strength as a strong tropical storm . there is a slim window that we could see restrengthening back into that category. one sometime, perhaps thursday night into early friday. we'll watch for that forecast closely. hence why there is a hurricane watch in place for our coastlines in georgia and south carolina. so places like savannah, georgia, don't let this sneak up on you, make those preparations. now we take a look at what the average water temperatures are just off the coast of florida and georgia. and this is a key component in the forecast right? it was the reason why we saw ian strengthen so much, undergo that rapid intensification off the coast of southwest florida because of how warm those waters are. what we have an average water temperature right now of eighty five , the maximum water temperature that it will be emerging into about eighty eight . and that's all fuel for the storm. now it's losing some of its structure. so whether or not we're going to see a stronger storm than what we're seeing right now, not so likely. but what we are anticipating is to see these warmer waters continue to keep some strength to hurricane. and at that point could be tropical storm and by tomorrow afternoon and that is going to set its sights on the coast of georgia and south carolina later this week. >> jane , one thing that you mentioned that i just i love the fact that we are talking about can we have a time to do so? >> is the fact that those warm waters could is a very slight window of time where we could see in perhaps strengthen in the atlantic. >> and so folks in southeast georgia joining us from the carolinas. >> that's right. you got to stay vigilant on this. you can't let your guard down there either, because, again, this is work through the state of florida. we've seen the damage and destruction. and again, it is the same exact system that's going to work into parts of the southeast. so as you mentioned before, we are not letting our guard whatsoever check out your television set. >> naples on the left of marco island. >> on the right, the streets look like rivers, right? >> you can see it. they're flooded, at least up to like knee high in spots for sure. and again, unfortunately, all of that water in the water and really the storm surge element on all of this is really what i think is perhaps one of the most destructive parts of it. and that will certainly be remembered not only for years to come, but perhaps even for decades to come in places like fort myers, florida, unfortunately. let's talk a little bit more about the rainfall, because over the past 24 hours, it's truly been remarkable. now, these are estimated rainfall totals that we've seen . >> i want to focus in on a couple of spots. generally speaking, here's the i four corridor connecting tampa up toward daytona beach. and again, in and along the corridor, we've picked up anywhere between a good five to eight inches of rainfall. >> but notice that this darker coloring just south of tampa, st. pete area and just north of fort myers, that swath right here and especially that bull's eye area of pink that is indicative of estimated rainfall anywhere between 18 inches to 24 inches of rainfall. >> and again, that can lead to what we call freshwater flooding. >> so not necessarily due to storm surge. >> this is just everyday sort of rainfall. right. so watch out from venice over toward port charlotte. our friends in rotunda area. >> and again, north of that especially is where i think that we will continue to see ongoing flooding concerns not only through the remainder of your thursday, but perhaps even to friday. it is going to take plenty of time for all of that moisture to finally evacuate all those areas and a rush back into the ocean. so friends and family down that web again will want to make sure that we are connecting with them if possible. just to make sure that they are safe and free from harm. the good news is this is a live look at current radar outside in southwest florida. still seeing some areas of green that represent some light rainfall up and down, say, from parish towards sarasota. but again, in that area that we just bull's eye that picked up the eighteen to twenty four inches of rainfall. again, that's two feet of rain. thank goodness. we're seeing perhaps just a little bit of a break, a couple of light sprinkles being seen along the seventy five corridor and along the florida state. highway, route 17 toward arcadia as you're heading toward fort charlotte. otherwise, the area of greatest concern right now that we are still watching for you is places like orlando, florida, right. maybe you had that vacation planned to disney world, perhaps to epcot, and you flew on down to florida and perhaps weren't quite aware of what was going on earlier in the week and of course, late week last week. and boy, oh, boy, if you're stuck in orlando right now, it is some big time rainfall that is leading to some flash flooding concerns. still tracking flash flood warnings in effect for parts polk county. you can see that there. it does include not only haines city, but our friends and lake walls as well. >> that's right along the i-20 or the florida state route. twenty seven . so watch out for higher water levels there. and again, up toward orlando. look at this strip of red , the red on the radar. >> any time you see that that is indicative of is torrential blinding rain. that's that type of rainfall where if you were on the roadway, it is a 10 and two grip on that steering wheel. you're turning the radio off one 100% of your undivided attention is on that roadway in front of you because of the tremendous amount of rainfall that we're seeing. thank goodness at this point, and especially at this time, not very many people on the roadway, but just south of some of the big parks in orlando and toward downtown orlando and the kissimmee, we go again, the red just indicating where we're tracking more tremendous rainfall that way. >> and then up toward titusville in the i-95 corridor, one of the reasons why flood watches are still ongoing at this hour, not only for parts of central florida, but also for parts of southeast georgia as well. my goodness, the winds were whipping all of this rain. you can see the power of it. and as moved through venice, florida, the palm trees barely hanging on , stop signs were shaking. just take a listen to that. and this is going to be something that's going to continue to unfold. hurricane force, wind gusts are still expected in the forecast overnight through central florida. getting to the space coast as we open up tomorrow morning or i should say thursday morning, as it is at this point tomorrow, since yesterday when we saw hurricane ian come through venice, florida, we take a look at some of the top wind gusts from ian , especially on the west coast, sarasota, 80 to miles per hour. i think the one to stand out here, of course, gorda. one hundred and twenty four mile per hour, a wind gust. i mean, that is really incredibly impressive. and this storm is going to continue to bring in wind gusts upwards of 70 miles per hour in the coming hours to come. venice, again, 80 mile per hour winds. we also saw some very strong winds in fort myers, one hundred mile per hour gusts. this is all through the afternoon. on wednesday, as we saw that eye wall come on shore and eventually the center of it and tracking through kayako, that barrier island just outside of fort myers, picking wind gusts at landfall. one hundred and fifty miles per hour. and this is just the concern that we do have all of this wind pushing that water onshore storm surge, a big component. the forecast leading to immense flooding in naples and downtown fort myers. and these wind gusts to is what caused lots of damage to homes, to structures, to power lines that went down and has continued to knock out power for nearly two million people. more than two million people across the state of florida. we take a look at orlando, florida, because that's where we are seeing the conditions really continue to deteriorate as ian moves up through central florida, where you can see here is at least over the last five hours, we've been pretty steady with wind gusts between, say, 50 and 60 miles per hour. a few gusts now beginning to pick up in that 70 mile per hour range as we go into these early overnight hours. that center tracks a bit closer to orlando just along that i4 corridor. we are expecting to see those wind gusts continue to peak in that 70 mile per hour range. right now, sustained winds with hurricane ivan are at seventy five miles per hour. so it's not out of the realm that we will see those gusts, even sustained winds at times within the 50 to 60 mile per hour range in the coming hours. what that's going to do is if you haven't already lost power, you are at risk for losing power. here's a look at some of our current winds. so this is sustained winds across central florida. thirty three mile per hour sustained wind out of orlando, cocoa beach. we have gusts up to about fifty three daytona beach, 19 mile per hour winds. so it's a bit breezy, but it's certainly going to continue to pick up. and i'm sure you can hear that wind outside the window as well. the wind direction out of orlando, leesburg, all coming out of the north just to show you that that center of circulation, that core of ian still off to your south as it continues to lift up, we will see a shift in that wind direction. but it's those north northeasterly winds, especially across the coast in northeast florida, that we are going to see the concern for some of that storm surge begin to pick up in the coming hours as we have that onslaught of winds pushing that water into our coastal communities. take throughout the day on thursday, you can see that center, that core of emerging into the atlantic. we can see that wind shift, that direction pushing that wind on shore. so places like jacksonville, st. augustine, we're going to see the possibility of 50 to 60 mile per hour wind gusts through the afternoon. storm surge is going to be a concern. we take a look at some of the power outages that we do have right now in florida. that's a new number, one point eight . so it looks like some of us are maybe seeing some of that power come back on. but as we are anticipating to go into the day on friday, we're going to watch as the core of end makes that third and final landfall sometime in the afternoon. right now, our forecast model pinpointing the coast of south carolina for seeing that by the end of the week. but still winds going to be a big component of that forecast. and we are anticipating to see power outages continue. >> folks, weather. katy burne is in orlando, florida, which is going to be taking the hit in these coming hours. as far as wind and rain goes. >> katie, how are things doing out there this evening? well, you know, i just checked in with the fox forecast center ,and it looks like there's a band heading right towards us . so we're keeping our this in the next half hour or so is when we could really see a lot more rainfall after hours and hours of consistent rainfall gusting winds. and we're talking about how we're watching and waiting kind of at this point, because it seems like we've been watching some of these palm trees sway back and forth, tip back and forth and some of the bark off of these trees fall on to cars. it seems like it really could just take some more really strong gusting winds to potentially be dealing with some damage here in orlando. i've already seen some reports from people talking about a potential flash flooding. i can tell you right before you came to me, guys, i got another alert on my phone. we had a flash flood warning here up until two forty five . that one was just extended until the four o'clock hour. this morning. so that's something that you're going to be seeing around the orlando area. right over here. actually , there's what i believe is a shed. it's red . and we've been watching that water inch up along the door there. so there is some flooding right by us. and we're pretty high above ground here because most of this parking lot is doing okay. so it's really just that back corner where you can basically looks like a pool right now that's typically just the ground. so we're monitoring this as things progress here. we're right in that window where things are intensifying. and i don't know if you can hear that winds are definitely gusting. there's that tarp we've been watching, this tarp, this umbrella. they seem to be a little bit loose, not super tied down or right by a gas station here. and you know what? it's very quiet because a lot of people, i think, went to bed early today, at least at the hotel where we are at. i expected the hotel lobby to be busy because that's how it's been the last day or so with people, many of them evacuating from other parts of southwest florida, ending up here in orlando for safety, not realizing because none of us realized at that time that those hurricane warnings would then expand to include more inland towns and cities like orlando itself. so a lot of people are hunkering down, hunkering down, waiting to ride this out here instead of at home. but no matter what, they ended up dealing with hurricane conditions. so for now, i'll send it back to you guys. i'm trying to make sure i'm not missing anything but i think you should stick with us this hour because we're in some action here. just absolutely that wind picking up. and we are anticipating to see those wind gusts. it's good to see power sti