Live Updates: Hurricane Ian hits South Carolina as death toll in Florida rises

Speaking from the White House's Roosevelt Room, President Biden gave an update on Hurricane Ian as it continues to thrash the South. The president reiterated that the federal government will handle 100% of the cost to clear debris in Florida's hardest-hit counties. 

"We're just beginning to see the scale of that destruction," Mr. Biden said. "It's likely to rank among the worst … in the nation's history. You've all seen on television homes and property wiped out. It's going to take months, years to rebuild. And our hearts go out to all those folks whose lives have been absolutely devastated by this storm. America's heart is literally breaking, just watching people watch it on television. I want the people of Florida to know, we see what we're going through and we're with you. And we're going to do everything we can for you." 

Hurricane Ian made landfall near Georgetown, South Carolina, on Friday shortly after 2 p.m. EDT, according to the National Hurricane Center. It was a Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Friday afternoon the state was "feeling the impacts" of Hurricane Ian as the storm was making landfall in South Carolina.

During a press conference, Cooper reported portions of the state were seeing up to 8 inches of rain and gusty winds, and coastal towns were experiencing storm surge. Flash flooding and tornadoes were possible across the state.

North Carolina will likely see such conditions through Saturday, the governor warned.

He encouraged residents who live in flood-risk areas to come up with a plan and prepare for inclement weather. Cooper also asked that people who are out on the roads be cautious of emergency workers and first responders who may be out trying to help people.

The Carolinas were experiencing "life-threatening" storm surge Friday, as well as damaging winds and flash flooding, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Forecasters said at 2 p.m. the storm's second landfall was imminent.

"Hurricane conditions are occurring within the Hurricane Warning area in South Carolina and southeastern North Carolina soon," the hurricane center said in its afternoon advisory. "Tropical storm conditions are occurring in parts of the warning areas on the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas, and hurricane conditions are possible within the Hurricane Watch area in North Carolina by this afternoon."

Ahead of Ian's expected landfall in South Carolina Friday afternoon, Gov. Henry McMaster called the hurricane "very dangerous," but he also said "this is not as bad as it could have been." 

"A lot of prayers have been answered, but I ought to ask people, don't quit yet because it's still coming," McMaster said during a briefing Friday afternoon. "We are not out of the woods."

The governor urged people to stay inside and avoid driving.

"Right now, when the storm seems to be receding in certain parts of the state and is moving onto others at hurricane speeds, this is when people normally get careless, get hurt and, unfortunately, often lose their lives, so don't forget that human error is the deadliest thing that we have," McMaster said.

A National Weather Service official warned Ian was set to make landfall Friday afternoon in South Carolina.

"Hurricane Ian's landfall is imminent along the northern Charleston County coast," the official said during a briefing with Gov. Henry McMaster.

Ahead of Ian's second expected U.S. landfall, the hurricane's effects were being felt across the state, the official said. 

Charleston County emergency services were suspended Friday as officials prepared for Hurricane Ian to make landfall on South Carolina's coast.

In a tweet, officials said they were pausing response efforts "due to current wind conditions" and would resume service "as soon as it is safe to do so."

Charleston police were also restricting access to the city's Battery area, a spot at the tip of the peninsula that is home to many multi million-dollar, historic homes.

New photos on Friday showed floodwaters in Florida two days after Hurricane Ian hit the state as a Category 4 storm:

The American Red Cross was on the ground in Florida even before Hurricane Ian made landfall, with hundreds of volunteers and trained disaster workers helping with relief efforts. They are accepting monetary and blood donations. CBS is supporting the American Red Cross.

The Salvation Army is working to provide food and shelter for those impacted. The group has sent members to provide assistance in Florida and Georgia, and has said it will help those in North Carolina and South Carolina, if needed. They are also providing ongoing aid to Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Fiona. 

Florida has set up its own Disaster Fund to help with disaster response and recovery. Donations made to the fund go to the nonprofit Volunteer Florida Foundation, and up to 3% of each donation will be taken to cover administrative costs. 

There are other ways to help — Read more here.

 The Coast Guard posted body camera videos of an aircrew rescuing people stranded on Florida's Sanibel Island in the wake of Hurricane Ian on Thursday.

In one video, a Coast Guardsman waded through knee-high water after descending from a helicopter.

"There's a whole bunch of people just like y'all, thousands of them," the guardsman told a couple in a house.

Footage from the guardsman's bodycam later showed a woman holding a cat carrier rising in a basket out of floodwaters to the helicopter hovering above the area.

In another video, the guardsman gave advice to a man with a little dog.

"Even when you get all the way up -- they're going to pull you in -- just keep holding the dog," he said. "You just don't want him to jump out."

Kevin Guthrie, director of Florida's Division of Emergency Management, said there have been more than 700 rescues so far in the state in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.

Guthrie said they are still in "hasty search" mode, while the governor said there are more than 1,000 rescue personnel going up and down the Florida coast.

The emergency response to the situation has been a "herculean effort" as communities continue to suffer, said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Guthrie said officials have confirmed a storm-related death in Polk County. Twenty other deaths have been reported, he said, but they are awaiting medical examination to determine if they were storm-related. Those include 12 deaths in Charlotte County and eight in Collier County.

There have been deaths in Lee County, he said, but those numbers are still being processed.

He also described a specific harrowing scene in a location that was not specified, of a completely flooded house with what is believed to be bodies inside.

"The water was up over the rooftop. But we had a Coast Guard rescue swimmer swim down into it and he could identity there appeared to be human remains. We do not know exactly how many," Guthrie said. "We do not know what the situation is. And before we comment on that - we want to be transparent - but we just don't know that number."

He said there are "a couple of other situations where we had that particular type of situation."

Rescue teams need the water to recede and are awaiting special equipment to investigate those situations further.  

Water and power issues have resulted in the evacuations of half a dozen health care facilities in Florida's southwest. 

Lee County, among the hardest-hit areas, had a water main break and "does not have water at this point," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a press briefing Friday morning. FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers have arrived in that area to assist. 

Power also continues to be an issue for many Floridians, he said. While Lee and Charlotte counties have had about 15% of their power restored, 85% remain without power, DeSantis said, and some of their utilities will "require some rebuild." 

Overall, about 1.9 million customers remain without power in the state as of 10 a.m. In Hardee County, 99% of the area remains without power. 

Pine Island and Sanibel will also need to undergo rebuild efforts, DeSantis said, particularly with getting reconnected to the mainland. Ian destroyed parts of the bridges that connect the islands to Florida, making them only accessible by air or sea. 

Recovery is underway, officials assured. Roughly 800 bridges across the state have been inspected and reopened, including 67 in Lee, Charlotte, Sarasota and Manatee counties that were deemed "high priority," DeSantis said. He also believes that all of the state's ports will be operational by the end of Saturday. 

Lisa Sanez and her two sons fled to the Charleston, South Carolina, area from their home in Tampa, Florida.

They were trying — unsuccessfully — to steer clear of Ian.

"My sister, actually, she brought us out here to get away from the storm," Sanez said. "... It's headed this way, and I don't know, we're going to hunker down here."

"We are storm chasers," she said with a laugh, "unintentionally." 

Charleston International Airport says it closed Friday morning due to high winds from Hurricane Ian. 

"The airfield plans to reopen Saturday, October 1, at 6 a.m.," the airport tweeted.   

Other airports already affected by Ian were were working to get back to normal.

Tampa International said it reopened Friday at 10 a.m. Melbourne Orlando International Airport also reopened Friday morning, and  Orlando International Airport plans to resume passenger flights after noon.

Rear Admiral Brendan McPherson, U.S. Coast Guard Seventh District Commander, spoke with "CBS Mornings" about the ongoing rescue efforts in Florida in the wake of Hurricane Ian, the destruction they're seeing on the ground, and the challenges ahead for their team. 

Watch his interview in the video below.

The southeast coast of South Carolina is expected to take a direct hit from Ian. It's a region known as Lowcountry, filled with saltwater marshes, waterways and beaches — areas that are already prone to flooding. Storm surge there could be particularly devastating.

The National Hurricane Center warned Ian could produce life-threatening flooding, storm surge and strong winds from Georgia up through North Carolina.

"It's going to be blowing strong winds, and it's going to be all over the state at different levels," South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said.

"This storm can still be dangerous and even deadly," North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said. "Heavy rains, up to 7 inches in some areas, are likely to bring flooding. Landslides are a threat in our mountains, and there's a chance of tornadoes statewide."

In Bryan County, Georgia, conditions on the water started getting rough midday Thursday. The Coast Guard helped rescue a man in the Ogeechee River who was trying to secure his Jet Ski when he got pulled out to sea.

"You see these waters out here, you need to be careful," marina owner Butch Broome told WTOC-TV. "You need to stay off of them." 

Charleston, South Carolina, started seeing some impacts of Hurricane Ian Friday morning, according to the city's Twitter account, and some roads in the city were already closed.

Police said flooding was being seen "in many of our usual locations" and that road closures were expected to continue throughout the day Friday. Authorities urged people to stay home.

"Emergency Management officials recommend citizens stay at home or in a safe place throughout the storm," the city of Charleston tweeted.

The early impacts were seen as the center of Ian was still about 100 miles from the city. 

Tropical-storm-force winds started hitting the Carolina coast Friday morning, before life-threatening storm surge — up 7 feet in some areas — is expected there Friday afternoon.

"Tropical storm conditions are occurring in parts of the warning areas on the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas, and hurricane conditions are expected to begin in the Hurricane Warning area in South Carolina and southeastern North Carolina by this afternoon," the hurricane center said in its 8 a.m. advisory. "Hurricane conditions are possible within the Hurricane Watch area in North Carolina by this afternoon."

The storm is currently a Category 1 hurricane, hurling winds of 85 mph.  

With all of South Carolina's coast under a hurricane warning, a steady stream of vehicles left Charleston on Thursday, many likely heeding officials' warnings to seek higher ground. Storefronts were sandbagged to ward off high water levels in an area prone to inundation.

On Friday morning in Charleston, powerful wind gusts bent tree branches and sent sprays of steadily falling rain sideways. Streets in the 350-year-old city were largely empty, an ordinarily packed morning commute silenced by the advancing storm.

With winds holding at 85 mph, the National Hurricane Center's update at 5 a.m. Friday placed Ian about 145 miles southeast of Charleston and forecast a "life-threatening storm surge" and hurricane conditions along the Carolina coastal area later Friday.

National Guard troops were being positioned in South Carolina to help with the aftermath, including any water rescues. And in Washington, President Biden approved an emergency declaration for the state, a needed step to speed federal assist for recovery once Ian passes.

As if they didn't have enough problems due to Hurricane Ian, many Floridians were finding empty tanks at gas stations, according to a tweet from GasBuddy's Patrick DeHaan Thursday evening:

He wrote, "Big spike in gas outages in Florida from last update. 13.4% of stations without gas, including 30.8% in Tampa, 26.1% in Ft Myers/Naples."

An 11-year-old boy who'd evacuated with his family from Jacksonville due to Hurricane Ian was killed when he fell from a 19th-story condominium balcony in Panama City Beach, Florida, town officials said.

It happened at the Sterling Reef Thursday afternoon.

He was already dead when rescue crews arrived, officials said, adding that foul play wasn't suspected.

The Fort Myers area was particularly hard-hit by Ian. The hurricane ripped homes from their slabs and deposited them among shredded wreckage. Businesses near the beach were completely razed, leaving twisted debris. Broken docks floated at odd angles beside damaged boats. Fires smoldered on lots where houses once stood.

"I don't know how anyone could have survived in there," William Goodison said amid the wreckage of a mobile home park in Fort Myers Beach where he'd lived for 11 years. Goodison said he was alive only because he rode out the storm at his son's house inland.

The hurricane tore through the park of about 60 homes, leaving many destroyed or mangled beyond repair, including Goodison's single-wide home. Wading through waist-deep water, Goodison and his son wheeled two trash cans containing what little he could salvage — a portable air conditioner, some tools and a baseball bat.

The road into Fort Myers was littered with broken trees, boat trailers and other debris. Cars were left abandoned in the road, having stalled when the storm surge flooded their engines.

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said his office was scrambling to respond to thousands of 911 calls in the Fort Myers area, but many roads and bridges were impassable.

Emergency crews sawed through toppled trees to reach stranded people. Many in the hardest-hit areas were unable to call for help because of electrical and cellular outages.

A chunk of the nearby Sanibel Causeway fell into the sea, cutting off access to the barrier island where 6,300 people live.

s Hurricane Ian headed for a forecast landfall over South Carolina, President Biden issued an emergency declaration for the state late Thursday night.

It lets FEMA work with state, tribal, and local agencies to help locals cope with the anticipated damage.

"Specifically," the White House said, "FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency."

Christine Bomlitz became more and more distraught as Hurricane Ian gained in ferocity Wednesday, sweeping across southwest Florida. Hours passed, but there was still no word from her 84-year-old mother.

Thursday morning came. The storm had drifted away overnight. But still no word.

Stuck on the other side of the country in Las Vegas, Bomlitz posted pleas for help on social media - anywhere she could. Can someone check on her mother?

Bomlitz had no way to contact her mom, Shirley Affolter, who lost her cell phone before the storm. Then her landline went down. With nowhere to go, she hunkered down for the night. Before the storm, an evacuation vehicle had missed her on its route.

By Thursday afternoon, a Good Samaritan came to the rescue.

Cheynne Prevatt, 26, had sustained damage to her own home during the storm. But the Florida resident waded into chest-high floodwaters to search for Affolter.

Flooding in Englewood, Florida, had cut the mother off from her neighbors and the rest of her community. She couldn't escape on her own because she needs a walker to get around.

When Prevatt walked through the door, there was relief. The woman was alive and safe. Prevatt said: "I didn't know who she was, but she was really kind of surprised to see me."

Mother and daughter were able to speak briefly on the phone, enough to ease Bomlitz's worries.