the wind had gone high enough in charleston. hoping maybe around 2:00, you know, as the winds die down, they'll be able to get their crews back out. i anticipate that the outages will be along the tracks, that you expect. charleston, georgetown, myrtle beach. reporter: john q. you said when it hit the coast and goes through the inlands, will it hit around 5:00, 6:00 do people who are at work right now need to head home early? >> if the track of the storm has shifted a little bit, so it's going make landfall along the coast and it's going to track through the northeast part of the state. so the midlands won't be experiencing the brunt of the storm but we're already seeing high wind gusts out there now of 40 miles per hour in many areas. i think that threat will certainly just continue to increase here over the next couple of hours and i think be with us through the afternoon and the commute home for many people. so i think people just need to use caution. those winds, even in the midlands, we're still going to expect to see trees

charleston floods on a good day. so they expect to see some needing here but it looks like the worst may come to other areas and they are warning anybody in the much lower areas to stay away from the ocean and treat the storm with great respect and we saw what it did in florida and now it is here in south carolina. kate. >> absolutely. miguel, as we've seen in florida, perfect example of don't anticipate and you know where this hurricane is going to hit and where the worst of it is going to land as we've seen across the southwest part of florida. miguel, we'll check back in. thank you. >>> joining me right now is republican congressman nancy mace. her district stretches along the coach and includes charleston. thank you so much. i know you're back home to help. what are you most concerned about right now? >> well right now looking at the high tide, and the rain that is coming up in this potential storm surge as you just mentioned, when it rains it pours and it floods. and fortunately right now it is only 7.5 feet of

but it will not necessarily be doing a b line for charleston and charleston could be included on that and it's not a direct hit so for that city. some relief there but not entirely, certainly not for the state. we'll have a lot more after this. millions have made the switch from the big three to the best kept secret in wireless: xfinity mobile. that means millions are saving hundreds a year with the fastest mobile service. and now, introducing, the best price for two lines of unlimited. just $30 per line. there are millions of happy campers out there. and this is the perfect time to join them... add a line to your existing plan, or see for yourself how easy it is to save by talking to our helpful switch squad at your local xfinity store today. when people come, they say they've tried lots of diets, nothing's worked or they've lost the same 10, 20, 50 pounds over and over again. they need a real solution. i've always fought with 5-10 pounds all the time. eating all these different things and nothing's ever working. i've done the diets, all the diets. before golo, i was barely eating bu

the storm hit a little north of their so it was good news for charleston. the water did not go over the wall which is good news but it was six inches to a foot at that time about an hour ago i guess. and in the hospital district which usually it seems it's always there but in the grand scheme. [inaudible] two. [inaudible] and surfside we're expecting the farther north you go thelater the high tides are . around 12:30 today, the next one that john mentioned is that water was coming in and windwas coming in , whoever's trying to get out can't get out and that's what causes the flooding conditions. >> you think a lot about infrastructure, is there anything infrastructure wise that can be done to help the coastal areas or is this something ... >> that's the reason we have so much interest in 26 because that typically is a place that has a lot of traffic when a storm hits. as you know we are ahead of schedule. i'll ask miss paul to address that question on our roads. that's the main thing you can do is get those roads and also have people understand that the dan

charleston, especially. it is really built up. it is not just the threat to people but also environmentally we have big threats taking place here as well. i talked about the wind gusts. savannah, 30 miles per hour. hilton head, the wind gusts have really increased here over the last hour or two. at last report, 52 miles per hour. even in charleston, wind gusts close to the 30 miles per hour and all the way up towards myrtle beach. where is it going to make landfall? the computer models are suggesting in this vicinity. along the central and northern coast of south carolina. charleston apparently was in the line of sight in the cone. we were looking at it earlier in the day. it shifted a little further north along the south carolina coast. it isn't just south carolina and north carolina, it is virginia and maryland and west virginia where it will advance northward. we are looking at fairly substantial rainfall totals across south carolina. as we look at this, all the way from charleston and into the north carolina coast we could see

as i speak, the center of hurricane ian is in the coast of south carolina just above charleston mainly from the bay through myrtle beach. i spoke to a number of mayors in those areas and they are well prepared. the grandstand particularly right now seeing rough seas. behind the grand strand the water is backing up can't get out behind the beaches and creeks, this is not as bad as it could have been. a lot of players have been answered but don't quit yet because it is still coming. we are not out of the woods. i remind people as john just said, water on the roads, we seen photographs of it, people have been sending us, the mayors and others, it is still very dangerous and winds even where there's not much water in other parts of the state so if you don't need to go outside in the wind, stay inside. if you don't need to drive and get wet, don't drive. be careful and be smart. so far, fortunately no deaths have been reported as a result of the storm but there's still life-threatening conditions and we need to continue to be very careful. in charleston, according to the mayor a little whil

we are hopeful for the folks in charleston at this comes ashore just north of charleston. because the winds go this way. that is not pushing water in the charleston, which is too close to call and of course my concern for the folks there up the coast with an onshore winds. sean. >> sean: if it does go there that low country in the charleston area and have a storm surge that say 7 feet of the ring to talk about or that mean for charleston? siegel the problem is it's very low. now we have these king tides that are than ever ask you floods there in the regular high tide. so this is a stunning threat to the old part of the city of charleston and it low country. like they said i hope it misses there but there is a lot of other south carolina coats like i'll the palms up to coast th there. the trick significant to those people and local authorities there have a talk about this all day and hope that everyone does get to a safe place. >> sean: do you recommend evacuation? >> i hesitate to preempt the go against we are local officials say. but whatever they're gonna say that i can

sandbags lining the charleston streets, the governor says he knows what is coming. and now, zooming out, still trying to comprehend the tol tolerating pain, and the death toll. and now, sanibel island is only reachable by boat, and city after city in florida decimated by hurricane ian. and in fort myers, decimated by heaps of concrete and debris and the people trying to pick up their lives and send help. >> we lost everything last night, everything. the family is okay, and the dogs are okay, and the parents are okay, and we have lost everything, and we have been in the house since 1987, and everything is gone, pictures, memories, everything. >> and now, going to charleston where the community is waiting, and we have miguel marcus there, and the high tide just as the hurricane is set to come ashore, and what are you seeing? >> yeah, it is pretty miserable right now, and this is the worst that we have seen. the winds are really starting to dust up, and you can see that rain coming in, and pushed by the wind. when it is starts to hurt your face and feel it through the

and with us now is charleston county emergency management director joe coats. thank you very much for being with us on what i know is a very intense afternoon for you. >> yes, we are very blessed that we were spared from the worst of the storm. the storm made landfall up in georgetown county, about 60 miles from charleston. >> so how are things holding up for folks where you are? >> we did receive high winds and also storm surge, first responders are out doing surveys right now, so we should have a good idea of how well we faired here shortly. >> it all became pretty clear that the carolinas would take a hit. do you feel like you had time to prepare, to get ready? >> yes, we had multiple hurricanes in the past five or six years, and so our plans are always updated and ready to go, and our emergency operations center and our staff are always prepared and ready at a moment's notice. >> i know you've seen images, we just showed some of them, of what ian did down in florida. as somebody who does what you do, what are some lessons to draw, about preparations and fol

right now, let's bring in charleston county sheriff, she's in charleston county. what's it looking like where you are right now as we see the counterclockwise winds coming around, hopefully keeping the storm surge away from the city of charleston. >> yeah, well, thank you, first, for checking on us and before i get to that i want to offer our prayers and our thoughts to our friends and our neighbors to the south in florida who are suffering much more devastating effects from ian than we currently are. but we are getting the wind, we are getting the rain. the rain has not been as bad as the wind is picking up right now, i think we are at 62 mile an hour sustained winds with 87 mile an hour gusts being tracked. for the most part we are hunkered down and riding out what we can. >> gillian: sheriff, we understand over the last two hours the number in south carolina without power has doubled, now 69,000. does that track with your numbers on the ground? >> it does, and we expect it to climb. the winds are heavier, gusts more frequent and sustained winds, we anticipate t

maybe around charleston in about 12 hours or so. is the red cross ready to deal with two natural disasters, in two states at the same time? >> absolutely! the red cross has been fueling for as long as you've been around in this country. with multiple disasters going on in any given time. not just the big disasters like the wildfires down in california, to the major hurricanes here in florida. but even just the home fires that happens. even in atlanta, for example, when back in georgia, we are constantly responding to those overnight home buyers. so big or small, the american red cross are going to be there to help people make a difference, and we are constantly planning and preparing for the next big thing to come. >> at this, point our survivors from hurricane ian, and the red cross. what do you guys need more than anything else? >> i would say there are two things right now that we can really use. first it's blood. we did a really good job pre storm landfall for an. getting hundreds of blood products from all across the country on

it's very prone to flooding, especially charleston. i know charleston very well. they are expecting maybe 5 to 10 inches of rainfall, maybe some isolated heavier amounts. i want to show you where that rainfall is going to head as it moves across the central sections of south carolina to north carolina. but everybody here, this is such a broad rain field, that everybody here on coastal georgia, coastal south carolina and into north carolina, maybe into virginia may be affected. but now there's a little bit of a shift. it looks like we could split the difference between myrtle beach and charleston and we could see landfall somewhere there. we're not gonna rule out charleston completely and we're not going to exclude some of these other areas, but these have been the target songs that we have been talking about all along. the national hurricane center gave us an update at 11:00 eastern time, 50 minutes later we got another update, which have the winds at 85 miles per hour gust to 100. already we're starting to see the winds really kick up here. we don't have a clearl

molly line is joining us from charleston, south carolina. talk to us about what's going on since we checked in last hour. >> we are still fighting these heavy bands of wind that have been coming through. right now we are having a moment where i can talk to you, gillian. the rain has been coming down, some concerns about flooding, particularly in the downtown and the lower areas and keeping an eye on that. but the bands of wind, over 100,000 people without power, they are working to get the lights back on, and this is the ashley river, runs along the side of charleston, south carolina. we have been watching these boats bobbing in the water, trying to keep things steady. the dock master is out there tying things back down, and people do seem to be, for the most part, staying off the roads. the james island highway up here, this big bridge, and we have not seen that much traffic. so at least during these really impactful hours, authorities have been begging to stay inside, it does appear for the most part people are going that. we have seen a f

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we do need to get -- let ian pass by today in charleston. we're very resilient. we're prepared for the storm and we're going clean up tomorrow and be back in business and be thinking about sending a team down there to florida next week to try to then them out. >> even with what you are guys are about to go through. that certainly said a lot. one of the -- >> absolutely. >> one of the big concerns right now is that folks might sttry t still be out and about and secure their businesses. what is your message about staying home, especially for the next, you know, several 12 to 24 hours. >> absolutely. thanks for asking. so the intensity of the storm obviously did not necessary. we've asked people to stay off today and stay safe. and we have the most amazing first responders but if you want to show love for your first responders today, stay home and don't put them to the test. they'll be there if you need them. but let's give them a break. show them some love. we're going to be ready for cleaning up when this thing passes later on today. that too shall pass. >> mayor

this is charleston harbor tide gauge. in the gulf of mexico, the tides were only up and down about a foot, foot and a half. but here along the east coast at this point, we are up and down 6 feet twice a day. and if we put this all the way up, the forecast is for 9 feet, that's only just a couple inches, 3 inches short of matthew, about a foot short of irma, and the record with hugo, which was the biggest storm ever, was over 12 inches and we're only 3 feet from hugo. a lot of water in the streets of charleston. a lot of downtown going to be flooded, john. >> yeah. a lot of potential for problems there. chad myers, thank you very much. we'll check back in with you shortly. >>> to back here in florida, i want to bring in cnn's carlos suarez, who is in englewood, not that far from where i am. carlos, what are you seeing there? >> reporter: well, john, good morning. parts of englewood this morning are drying out and it seems like there is access to some of the barrier islands out here. it is quite dark in our drive in from i-

it's about 175 miles to the south, south, east of charleston. but this wind shield extending all the way from the central coast to north carolina, to south carolina, to the coast of georgia, and even into florida. it is so broad, everybody is going to be impacted. this is millions and millions of people in the rainfall is going to be devastating. make sure you have a plan for what to do if you get trapped or stranded in some areas. we saw that problem in fort, in naples, in some of those areas that had been so devastating. but i'll be back at this about 20 minutes, kristie, and we'll bring you another update. that's coming up. >> yeah, it's good to have all of these models, as you point, out it can change in an instant. we appreciate you will be back in 20 minutes. karen mcinnis, thank you. >> hurricane ian is bearing down on the north and south carolina coastlines. the governor of south carolina says people need to be prepared right now. >> we know what's coming. so there's a little bit of wiggle room and exactly how strong the rains, and how s

high tide is in 40 minutes from right now in charleston. we don't want the surge coming in when we have high tide. the high tide is just about now in myrtle beach, by the way, also. i want the high tide right now because then in about four, five hours when we get that landfall, we'll be heading towards low tide which is right around 5:00, 6:00 this afternoon. that will take off about 1 or 2 feet from the surge. that's a big difference between water going over the dunes, staying behind the dunes. it will prevent some of that damage. that's good. now as far as what we're going to do, the hurricane center brought us a new update, still a category one, we're starting to move this thing, though, 14 miles per hour. we won't have any more time to strengthen. it will probably maintain its intensity. it's raining all the way up to richmond and norfolk. after we get done with the landfall this afternoon, then we shift to it's a big rain story and where are we going to get the flooding as we go through tonight and tomorrow. there's the landfall positi

right now the threat is a less for charleston as far as the surge goes. but what that means is that the surge is greater for places like georgetown, you get up to polly's place, grand, so the other reason why georgetown is vulnerable, you know the river is running they are. so we'll be right over the bay they are. before high tide has just passed. so, the good news is that even though we are looking at just being passed high tide, we are not at the peak where the water is as it comes in. button 84-mile wind gust at charleston harbor means that wind and rain are the greatest threat. however, for places like georgetown, we are still on the threat for surge and looking at it like a georgetown river situation without water being thrown back up, that is where we see some flooding. >> kayleigh: amy we talked about it yesterday of the cone hook and ship to left or right again we talked about how it's going to gordo, and all of a sudden it's going to sanibel and you can predict in that cone it seems weather that storm surge is going to have its worst impact perio

several roads have already been shut down in charleston. they are at their highest level of alert here in the city and the county, ready for anything that ian can throw at them. there are lots of low-lying areas along the coast here, telling people at this point to stay in place. but hopefully, they have sought higher ground. low-county areas or low-country areas across the carolinas are going to be hit by water that is coming. the question is, where will it hit and on what side of that storm will we be? if we're on the right side -- on the left side of that storm, as it comes up, that might help keep that water down on that right side, it might be pretty brutal. john? >> yeah, the concern is the combination of the tides, the surge, and the rain. miguel marquez standing in the middle of it. thank you so much. we'll check back in with you in a bit. let's go right to meteorologist chad myers, actually, and get a sense of the forecast. miguel was talking about it, it very much matters where the storm hits for him, for charleston. what's the la

it looks like it's aimed right at it at charleston. orm su >>rg and from my understanding, there could be a storm surge of, what, nine feet? >> well, they're forecasting four to seven feet on and it's going to be close toston w charleston. we can crossith th our fingers e and hope it goes just to the north because charlotte hiarleston is very, very low country. i mean, it's called the low country and the historic cityooe of charleston floods even inve high high tides, which we have this time of year called the king tide season. we think o f the southwest coastphase of florida and that destructionn is being phase one .in centr the record flooding in central florida as being phase two. e ps and now we're on to phase three of ian .re take a look at the satellitenow. picture here where it is now. it looks like this very disheveled storm , but very eve strong winds, maybe evenst stronger than the 75 miles perth hour of the hurricane center was estimating back at eight o'clock from the hurricane hurrice as i just. at their observations. but

let's begin with nbc's kathy park in charleston, south carolina. residents are used to flooding in that historic district. this looks like it's going to be an unprecedented event. >> reporter: yeah. good afternoon. that's absolutely right. hurricane ian is still barrelling this way. we are getting slammed with these heavy bands of rain and wind. every so often we get slammed with wind gusts -- you see right now. this is the pattern that we have been experiencing all morning long. i want to show you what's happening behind me. that's the ashley river you are seeing behind me. there's sawgrass, and it's almost covered by the water. it's high tide. that's the big concern throughout the day. the combination of high tide, the storm making landfall in this area and then, of course, that storm surge which could potentially get up to seven feet. if all those materialize together, we could be looking at widespread flooding. where we are, we are at the waterfront area from downtown. we are not seeing flooding. we are getting reports of the downtown area seei

in charleston, the city's airport is shut down. and tornado watches are in effect for parts of all -- both of the carolinas and virginia. of course, in florida, we now see more of the pure devastation, the death toll from ian there at least 25 people and that number will probably rise. we have all seen the videos of the homes and the businesses destroyed, like you're seeing on your screen right now. this is all along florida's west coast. and yet it is still hard to describe the full aftermath. all of lee county is still without running water at this hour. in fort myers beach, it is even hard to bike through the destruction. the messages from residents there, if you can send help, we need it. sanibel and cap teva islands cut off from the main land, only accessible by boat or air after, as you know, ian destroyed this major bridge that connects them to the main land. many of the homes there are in pieces or completely washed away. the coast guard is now going door to door, still trying to rescue people. >> make sure you have a bag f

we're grateful charleston was not as hard hit. to the folks north of us, we'll be helping clean up there, to the north of myrtle beach. >> neil: and the storm was very dangerous and it's better than it could have been but still pretty bad. i'm wondering for you and your daughters going through this, what was that like? >> well, i sent my kids out to their grandparent's house to help them. i've been urging folks the communicate with your neighbors, especially the elderly. those that might need assistance. as soon as i get back, i'm sending them outside to help clean up the debris now it's a bit safer to do that. i'm putting them to work. >> neil: like a good mom. it's interesting too, congressman and you know your area better than i do, i'm thinking of the building and expanding going on. it's one of the hottest areas in the country that people have gone to. much as they have in florida. so you have all of this build-up. i'm just wondering if that development made things trickier? >> it is. in fact, the first congressional district

we're in charleston. right on the waterfront at a big marina. you look over there, there's a dingy that is partially sunk. you can see the canvas on the boats that has been torn away. a surprising number of people that left their boats out here. they seem to have weathered the storm well. we'll take a look at one that is right here. you can see how many lines that they have added to this boat here, all the fenders along the side. and you know, it seems to do well. it's a sizable boat. the wind was substantial here. for the most part, they held. i'm standing on a floating duck. they went up and down with the title surge and the storm surge. the concern here is that charleston itself would be inundated with water. so far so good. we're still waiting to hear more reports from throughout the city. flooding is always a concern here. tidal flooding even. you add to that the storm surge, there's real concerns that there would be significant floods. we never felt a sense of panic here. a lot of folks said they would weather this out. they've been throug

so charleston could get it if the storm comes just to the south of charleston. but if the storm is coming in to the north of charleston, they will not get as much, if that makes sense. we will be zeroing in on this forecast tomorrow afternoon landfall time to determine who will get this new jestorm of 4 feet. charleston will flood just with an abnormal high tide. we're talking 4 to 7 feet. this could cause potentially at a certain location, downtown charleston could be underwater. we could be seeing more water rescues like we saw in florida for today. so, wolf, this is far from over. we could see a lot of devastation still to come across the southeast coast in the u.s. >> it is picking up speed as it's going across the warm waters of atlanta, right? >> it is. that atlantic fueled the storm. it does look very disorganized right now, but that doesn't mean anything. this storm is packing a punch with winds of 75 miles an hour and it will bring some surge and up to a foot of rain across portions of south carolina. >> it is by no means over at all. jennifer, thanks v

we're just off of the harbor in charleston. a lot of people out on the roads and bridges perhaps getting to the destinations to ride out the storm. that's what the authorities are advising people to do. they're very concerned here there charleston. will was talking about the stress, what it takes to get through a storm. that's the point where they are. the officials here in south carolina are. they're urging people to be weary not only of the rain, which could drop up to a foot of water here in this area, but also the storm surge. several feet anticipated. so they're warning people about that and the high winds, which could lead to a multitude of power outages. a big concern, utility crews standing by, getting ready to deploy in the wake of this storm. really they're concerned about human beings being out on the roads and urging people to stay home and find a safe place to hunker down. if you're in a low-lying areas that got hit hard in recent hurricanes like matthew, irma, now is the time to take precautions. this is the major

and anyone who has been to charleston, you are right on the water. those homes are on the water and not a lot of room for the water to go when it rises above its back. you are used to dealing with flooding but are used to dealing with something like this? >> this is not a normal occurrence and weights and those with matthew, irma but this is not a day-to-day thing for us. this is the first storm that has made a direct impact, matthew in 2016. >> carley: the presta also recognizes this is not normal occurrence either. he already approved south carolina's emergency declaration which means the federal funds will assist the state and local funds. how critical is that to the state? >> it is definitely critical to move those resources. a lot of the state emergencies will help us with moving the resources. for example, south carolina with the state of emergency, and we can move the national guard throughout the state. so we have got some high water vehicles position within the region just to respond and take care of the citizens and residents if there are a

high tide in charleston is at noon, so we know there's gonna be water a lot of water in charleston at noon. president biden is already approved south carolina's emergency declaration clearing the way for federal assistance. now let's get ian's latest track from accuweather's melissa constand's er. and good morning. ian is on the move and expected to make its second u. s landfall here in south carolina . as we head through the day it's going to be late friday morning into the middle of the day here, and it's going to be about charleston to myrtle beach somewhere around the georgetown area with it. we do have the risk for tornadoes and some very strong winds. then on top of that, these winds of more than 80 mph in some spots will be pushing seawater towards the coast. that's going to create storm surge, unfortunately from charleston to myrtle beach. more than six ft. possible that can be deadly stating and deadly. unfortunately in the storm's not fiished yet and works northward , even as we go through friday night into the weekend, where it hangs out and brings him heavy rainfall, so as

mollyline is live in charleston, south carolina. molly. >> hi, it is now and the next couple of hours are thaw are the most critical hours. there is a flash flood warning here for charleston. concerns about the storm surge coming and high tide which is happening at 11:40. we're standing along the ashley river here. this is one of the marinas along the river and watching the boats bob and the winds and rain beginning to pick up in the last hour. we've seen some pretty powerful gusts here as the storm intensifies and begins to move onshore and watching the water rise, a big concern. just beyond where i'm standing is the harbor and the atlanta and the storm coming in and the city of charleston. there are low-lying areas in the historic parts of town that people are familiar with in this beautiful city. this is the water we've been watching get higher over the mud and sweet grass the area is known for. this drive here acts as a natural levy to protect the city. if the water comes up quickly in a couple of hours they'll see an inundation

after 5:00 today, charleston will have the parking garages open for free. you have time to get sandbags. encouraging everyone to call on their neighbors, reach out to folks, especially if they are elderly, i sent my kids out a little bit ago to help their grandparents prepare for the storm that's coming tomorrow. i want to thank governor mcmaster, and let people know there are two websites to get information for the south carolina coast. first one is hurricane.sc, and on our website we have information where to get sandbags, local resources, we have three shelters right now and how to follow the storm and best prepare in the next few hours. only a little bit of time before it hits us tomorrow. >> gillian: congresswoman, governor desantis asked president biden to grant fema the special authorization to do cost sharing with the state of florida in the aftermath that's now been granted. is your state considering making a similar request or have you done so already? >> i haven't talked to the governor about that yet. i think for us and our state right now, we a

he's in charleston with the latest on this historic hurricane. good evening. good evening to you, frank. well here in charleston, we saw the worst of hurricane ian this afternoon around noon eastern time before it made landfall in south carolina. a little bit to the north of us, but we had 70 80 mile an hour winds. we had heavy , heavy rain pelting us and that did lead to some minor flooding here in the downtown area, but most of the heavy damage in the state today happened a little bit to the north of us. i want to show you guys some video that we got that was filmed about an hour or so north of here. take a look at those white caps in the water rolling all the way up to the dock. very very scary. storm surge right there. we also want to show you guys images from pawleys island again. whitecaps in that water that heavy storm surge the edge of the pier. if you guys can see in these pictures from the pawleys island police department the edge of the pier, collapsing and being swept away and other areas like myrtle beach had water levels. at least five ft. higher

well inland and flood charleston. how far in will it go? we still have areas of 2 to 4 and 3 to 5 in coastal areas of georgia. when you focus in on the coastline of south carolina, here's kiowa island. here is charleston. yellow is 3 feet, okay? you get into this area of orange, we're talking 6 feet. this is mainly marshy area. again, of course that's okay where we have some area of red, which is 9. it can absorb that. but you get into area of ashley river, you get into wanda and cooper, this goes well inland. so, i think a lot of people are going to get shocked. and if you live anywhere on these rivers, i wouldn't just sandbag. i would pack up what you can and try to get inland a little bit because we don't want to get shocked like we were down in southern florida. we knew what the forecast was for the surge, but to see the pictures, it's hard to wrap your mind around it. then you toss in a good 6, 7, 8 inches of rainfall in some areas. this is going to be a big deal in columbia and up toward the north in part of ral

there's kiowa island and charleston up to the north. look how far inland that the surge now moves in on the southeastern coastline. some of this is marshland. that's fine. but not when you get into charleston and all these tributary sxwz waterways as well. the wind field is another big story here. the wind field now, jake, is 600 miles. i mean, we knew it was going to encapsulate the entire peninsula of florida. that's twice the size and width that we had at landfall. 600 miles. so every time the system underwent rapid intensification right before landfall as well, every time it went through one of those eye wall replacement cycles and reorganizes and now that it's generated to a category 1 hurricane, the wind field continues to expand. so not only are we going to have more water rescues, i mean, it's all across areas of north central florida to the northeast. it's mind boggling that tens and tens of thousands of personnel that are out search and rescue in every city that has been inundated with 15, 20, 25 inches of rainfall. the hurric

first we go to charleston. doug? >> good morning. we are seeing things intensify, and it's up to see on tv, but these clouds are flying across as the outer bands of the storm arrived. you see all the boats behind here on the marina, people have chosen to leave their boats here. there's not really a sense of panic, as we've been saying, here in south carolina. they have been reports of some people going to higher ground, but a lot of people are seeing behind. the city of charleston is really preparing for that. one of the things they did was allow residents to park and all the city parking structures for free to get their cars up to higher levels, because this is a city that floods. when we arrived here yesterday, before the storm had even arrived, we saw low areas flooding. that is naturally occurring here any time you get close to high tide. we are not far from high tide as this storm begins to come ashore. it's going to arrive later today. we'll see what it brings with it. a category one hurricane is nothing to trifle with, but the

this is the bay here in charleston, this is an area that often floods in charleston, so they expect it will. 7 feet tide is where it normally floods here, they're expecting a 9 foot tide plus a storm surge, plus water coming down in the form of rain. so all of that added together they are concerned about. there have always been some street closures, they are at the highest level of awareness and now they are -- >> tallahassee, florida -- miguel, hold on for one second, apologize, let's get straight to florida governor ron desantis with an update from tallahassee this morning. >> thank you for being here. you had people immediately descend on to the scene, particularly in southwest florida. there's life rescue making sure people are okay, following up on any type of calls, and there's been really a herculean effort. there's also the assessment, okay, of what's been damaged that's going to impact the entire community and of course the power is a big issue, there are people that are working, i think, lee in charlotte have about 15% restored, there will be able o to be more restored in the

they're moving in just to the north of charleston. it does look like you can see a lot of the forecast projections take it kind of in between myrtle beach and charleston, but i think the consensus is pretty close to charleston and so it's making his move and then the path over the weekend later today in the saturday will start to take it up through north carolina, virginia, west virginia, as it moves north of the cloud shield goes all the way up to the northeast. still a lot of fog out there, but the key is it's mainly out. there are those parts of it now. coming back parts of the mendocino coast, san mateo coz very shallow parts of monterey co. i mean, it's solid. if you go south, there's a lot of fog and low clouds south but for us it's too much of an offshore breezes not strong, but that's a north northeast, coming in off the oakland berkeley hills, mount diablo mount veeder speak also for middle peak there, that's all a northerly direction, so that equals warmer temps for just about everybody, except maybe for a few over by the co

now, one of the things or among the things that charleston, the city of charleston did to prepare this open up all the parking garages. get your cars above sea level. there was a line apparently to get some cars into some of these parking garages. but, people want to at least make sure that they have cars left to drive once this thing passes through. beyond that again, it looks like people are saying -- we went to a walmart last night just to stock up on goods and there was no sense of panic. the store did close early because of the looming storm it there wasn't a run on water or anything of that nature. people seem to be taking this in stride. we will see how it goes throughout the course of the day though once this thing really arrives in earnest. again, it's not the window. it's the water that they are really concerned about. brian all right, doug, thanks so much. after we saw florida i can't imagine people taking precautions, if i had a boat it's on a trailer and out unless i want to get rid of the boat. pull it out of the water. why are we seeing so many boats in the water? >> ain

they recently moved to charleston from florida, where family members weathered the category four storm. i got family in orlando. it was just mostly a lot of lot of water. i don't think any i don't think they lost power. where they were at our friends and, uh, navels, alex and sara. they are with no electricity. and i've seen the news. it's it looks devastating over there for sure. florida leaders now reporting more than 20 deaths in the state search and rescue missions continue, especially in places like santa bell island, where people needed to evacuate by air because the main causeway is washed out. rescue personnel have gone to more than 3000 homes in the hardest hit areas. going door to door to check on the occupants of those residences there over 1000 dedicated rescue personnel who are going up and down the coastline. this won't be robert and elizabeth's first hurricane . but it will be for tomas, who was four months old. today we have a little kids, so we're like, want to be a little actually more cautious before we'd be like, like the rest of the community, the floyds picked up

it is at about 170 miles to the southeast of charleston. this is what we are anticipating, as far as the -- is concerned. you can see it moves fairly rapidly, so that doesn't just that range failed is probably going to be picking up. this is not a classic looking hurricane. far from it. the hurricane hunters investigated, and it looks like there was a window where the wind went from 75, to 80, to 85 miles an hour and higher gusts. now, that wind coming out of the north and northeast along the south carolina coast, the entire state is under a state of emergency. that will allow for them to clean up for help and assistance once it passes through. you will notice definitely this will get heavy and heavier, maybe 10 inches of rainfall. 85 mile an hour winds. that is the latest update. it is moving at about 10 miles an hour. not slow, not fast. wow, there is a lot of rain here. from florida, all the way out to northern north carolina. about midday, we think it will make landfall. where? computer models are suggesting somewhere between charleston

now the storm surge threatening charleston. chief meteorologist ginger zee, senior meteorologist rob marciano, both here in florida with me tonight. and our team spread out across the storm zone. >>> the other major news this thursday night, the stunning turn in the war in ukraine. just days after those alarming images showing pro-russian soldiers armed with assault rifles going door-to-door to collect ballots in referendums in eastern ukraine. tonight, vladimir putin is now on the eve of a major speech. he's now expected to formally annex four of those occupied territories in ukraine. planning to take them for russia. the u.s. is responding tonight. ian pannell inside ukraine. >>> in washington, the wife of supreme court justice clarence thomas testifying before the january 6th committee in person. ginni thomas questioned about her efforts to help former president trump overturn the 2020 election. >>> and there is news tonight about queen elizabeth. her cause of death now made public. >>> and good evening from florida tonight,

depending upon where it hits, that could really push a lot more water into charleston, charleston county. charleston is now at its highest level of alert. they are warning anyone at lower levels to watch what is going on, seek higher ground if necessary. they are already starting to shut down roads in charleston itself. so they are prepared for whatever ian has. it's just not clear how big a punch it's going to take here in south carolina. back to you. >> all you can do now is wait. mig ed marquez in charlton, we'll come back to you shortly. let go to the weather center. chad myers is there. what do you see? >> still 85 miles an hour, though i'm seeing a player up on the satellite. that probably is more of an indication of heavier rainfall that's going to come in. right now, charleston, you're right on the edge. you are so close to this. the winds are still out of the northwest and that's great news for you. we are going to see this wind possibly blow the water out of the harbor. not so much here for georgetown and myrtle beach i don't think but we can really hope that wind continues. th

expected to hit over charleston . we've already seen some reports of some fallen trees, a little bit of rain there as well . but nothing too dramatic just yet. we want to show you what ian has left behind here in florida, and these are pieces of video coming from all over the state. we're talking places like fort myers, cape coral, even around central florida, orlando and over to the northeast coast , jacksonville space coast as well where we just see other damage all over the place that you foundations absolutely destroyed people, of course, cleaning up and metal pieces of roof all over the ground places where they are not supposed to be. and while cleanup in search and rescue missions are still continuing all over the state emergency crews very much keeping their hands. busy. flooding continues to be a problem in florida from the southwest region in fort myers, two parts of central florida in orlando, the coast guard and national guard. continue answering calls for help. these videos are prompting a warning from the

waves bashing this marina in charleston. it made landfill as a category 1 storm bringing torrential rain and 85-mile-per-hour winds with officials warning the storm surge is life-threatening. this is the pawleys island pier, the waves crashing into the structure, it falls and sinks into the ocean. the city of charleston bracing for severe flooding. fema projecting 12 inches of rain in some areas with a storm surge between two and four feet. here's a live look at ian's path moving north and inland now and as ian is hitting south carolina, we are seeing the immense destruction and the catastrophic damage it left in its wake in florida. search and rescue efforts still happening right now. you're seeing a dramatic moment in fort myers. a man who was trapped in rubble and debris was saved. rescue workers pulling the man to safety. this new video showing the sheer destruction in fort myers beach. homes and neighborhoods completely decimated. just the foundations left. and on sanibel island these areas showing the staggering magnit

most of those really paying a beeline towards charleston. there's one out there. one wants to take back out in the atlantic. but right now looks like charleston is going to see the system come on shore, possibly as a category one. there may be some more strengthening as we head into the 24 hours, but looks like that's going make landfall by tomorrow, guys as a category one. and all right. under the right to it. yeah, unrelenting. and we're going to see just a mess all up and down. you know that once it comes onshore, stills got a ton of moisture and all that moisture has got to go somewhere. see it all the way up and down the street. i'm afraid to ask this, but are there any other hurricanes in the pipeline? >> there's there's this time of year. there's always a tropical system out there developing nothing looks like it's going to lpproach right now, but we've got a ways to go. we can see hurricane still november's so. several ways to go. thanks, lawrence. wright. >> and while florida grapples with the damage done by hurricane ian here in california, way we worth

we already have a flash flood warning for charleston, preemptively. high tide happens sometime around noon. but it looks like it'll make landfall north of charleston before myrtle beach, perhaps around georgetown. wherever it does make landfall the push of water happens on the right side because these rotate counterclockwise and then you can get a push of water away. cecilia, surge is first concern, four to seven feet, but also five to ten inches of rain so flash flooding is the second most killer. >> all right, ginger, thanks so much. >>> let's take all of this right now exactly to elwyn lopez who's there in charleston with the latest on all of this. good morning, elwyn. >> reporter: good morning, cecilia. ian roars closer to us. this is the ashley river, about 200 or so boats here, some people live on these boats, they have retied them, many people have left. but the governor here has declared a state of emergency but has not ordered any evacuations the main concern is for the potential of life-threatening storm surge. lot of people leaving car afte

making landfall somewhere between charleston. getting up towards myrtle beach as you get into the afternoon hours. and then it continues to lift its way up across south carolina and north carolina and areas where you will see incredibly heavy rainfall. winds currently at 35 miles per hour. those are only going to strengthen in the hours ahead as we continue to track this storm. >> pete: we will, adam. thank you very much. intense water rescues are underway across florida today. >> jacob. [winds] that video from bonita springs, florida showing an elderly man who nearly drowned after his car was submerged in water. luckily a group of good samaritans saved his life. they call themselves the collier county cowboys and two of them lemme and his cousin ben join us now. first of all, let me ask what were you doing out in that? were you out looking for people and at what point was that in the storm? >> good morning, good morning. yeah. we were out and noticed that no news was reporting on -- i know we were kind of risking our lives but w

we'll see soaking rain down in charleston. we'll continue to see that threat for storm surge pushing into myrtle beach. while this is not a category 4 storm like when it hit the west coast of florida, it's a cat 1 and packing a punch. regardless of how strong or weak a storm is, you'll see the strong impacts along the coastline right now. so we're going to be on guard for the rest of the night. really tracking the rain. that's going to be the big thing we're talking about tonight. the flooding concern as we see that ramp up with some of the heaviest bands moving well into south carolina. so flooding is going to be a major issue. >> is that unusual for a hurricane to make landfall twice? >> i wouldn't say unusual. we have seen it before. but right now, just looking i think at the overall dynamic and structure of ian, seeing how strong it was, the fact it was able to regain strength like that and hit as a category 1 on to the south carolina coastline is definitely uncanny. >> samara, great to see you. thank you so much for your

the location not far from charleston, 145 miles south, southeast of charleston. and you can see on radar, already seeing that heavy rain. most of the rain is on the northern edge, we're seeing that already. where you see brighter colors, the reds, oranges, yellows, that's where we're seeing the heavy rains falling. north carolina, south carolina and a bit of georgia seeing that as well. as a result, we do have a flood watch. that is ingrained for portions of virginia, north carolina, south carolina, and georgia. also looking at those flash flood warnings. that means flooding is happening at this moment. where we see the red, that's where we see the flooding happening. we saw that on radar, where we see the darker colors. 15 million impacted by the flood alerts. we're concerned for life threatening flooding, storm surge once again, it has been such a water story with ian, and will continue to be so. 13 million people impacted by tropical alerts today. where you see the red, that is a hurricane warning. we're expecting hurricane conditions later on today in south c

jackie: and while florida is now in the rearview mirror, charleston could be next to take a direct hit. we're going to have more on the forecast later in the hour. but first, with more on the damage and the rescue operations, fox weather multimedia journalist will nunley in cape coral, florida. will. >> reporter: yeah, jackie, yesterday was about the, you know, getting through the storm, dealing with the chaos of the moment. today has been all about coming face to face with what's left behind. and let me show you what the storm has done to where i'm standing here on cape coral. i'm on the southernmost part of cape coral. this is a home where a man evacuated about 3-4 hours before the storm really hit. he said he had the sense to get out of the way, and if he came back home to just, you know, to discover this today. and he says for years they've been talking about the big one, the big storm that would cause a situation like this, fearing it. and it seems by all indications that big storm has come, and it has left a remarkable trail of damage. we're talking about a considerable loss of l