Welcome to The Beat. I'm Eman Mohi Dinh in for Ari Melburgh this hour.

Catastrophic destruction, reports of substantial loss of life.

President Biden saying it could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida's history.

At least nine confirmed fatalities so far, that number expected to grow.

This is what Hurricane Ian did across Florida. Governor Ron DeSantis

calling it historic. And we are awaiting a news conference from him at this hour. Ian's the fourth

most powerful hurricane to hit the state ever. Right now, search and rescue teams are on the ground

in hard hit areas all along the Gulf Coast. More than 500 people rescued

in Charlotte and Lee counties today so far. This is the Orange County Sheriff's Office. If you

need to be evacuated, step out of your front door. Now, the Fort Myers Fire Chief says they

conducted about 200 water rescues overnight. Lee County on the southwest side of Florida

was the hardest hit. This is a home on fire after the storm. Fire crews, as you can imagine,

unable to reach it. This is a neighborhood in Punta Gorda, Florida, completely inundated.

As you can see, floodwater is there yet to recede. There is new video

from Lee County Sheriff's Office confirming the worst, whole towns, decimated, completely level.

Mayors giving us details about their towns throughout the day.

I came here in the mid-70s. I was on the police department for almost 25 years.

Saw a lot of storms here. This is by far the worst storm I have ever witnessed.

There's just debris everywhere. My yard looks like a war zone. You know, it looks disastrous.

As of this hour, there are some places impossible to reach by road.

This is the only bridge to Sanibel Island, destroyed in multiple spots as a result of

Hurricane Ian.

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