SUCCESS. >> Announcer: LIVE FROM CNBC THE FACTS. THE TRUTH. THE"THE NEWS WITH SHEPARD SMIT." >>> GOOD EVENING A TREACHEROUS NIGHT AHEAD FOR FLORIDA AS DARKNESS BEGINS TO FALL AND HURRICANE IAN CONTINUES ITS CATASTROPHIC RAMPAGE THE CATEGORY 4 STORM MOVING AT AN EXCRUCIATINGLY SLOW PACE. ONLY 8 MILES PER HOUR FORWARD PROGRESS NOT MUCH FASTER THAN A PERSON GOING FOR A JOG. MORE THAN 1 MILLION FLORIDIANS HAVE NO POWER RIGHT NOW. HURRICANE IAN MADE LANDFALL TIED AS THE FIFTH MOST POWERFUL STORM EVER TO HIT THE UNITED STATES. A CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE, MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS 150 MILES AN HOUR, JUST SHY OF A CAT 5. THE CENTER OF THE STORM STRUCK CAYO COSTA, A BARRIER ISLAND WEST OF FORT MYERS AND CAPE CORAL IN LEE COUNTY. AND THIS IS FORT MYERS BEACH AS A BARRAGE OF WIND AND WATER SLAMMED THE CITY FORECASTERS HAD WARNED THAT THE STORM SURGE WOULD BE UNSURVIVABLE, UP TO 18 FEET IN SOME SPOTS A SHORT TIME AGO LEE COUNTY OFFICIALS SAID PEOPLE WERE CALLING FOR 911 HELP BUT THEY WERE STRANDED IN HIGH WATER BUT THEY HAD TO HOLD BACK THEIR RESCUE TEAMS BECAUSE CONDITIONS ARE STILL TOO DANGEROUS. TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF HOW FEROCIOUS THE WINDS THERE WERE, LOOK AT THIS, ENGELWOOD BEACH RIGHT BY THE EYE WALL OF THE HURRICANE SHORTLY BEFORE IT MADE LANDFALL THIS WEB CAM DID NOT LAST LONG AFTER THIS MOMENT. IT FROZE AND GOT KNOCKED OFFLINE JUST MINUTES LATER AND THIS IS A PARKING LOT IN NAPLES DURING THE PEAK OF THE STORM. THE STORM SURGE TOPPING A RECORD BREAKING 9 FEET THERE. FLOOD WATERS PICKING UP CARS AND SMASHING THEM TOGETHER THE WATER REACHING THE BALCONIES OF SECOND STORY BEACH CONDOS AND THIS REFRIGERATOR REMOVED FROM A HOME AND BOBBING VIOLENTLY IN THE WAVES AGAIN, THIS IS NORMALLY A PARKING LOT. AND LOOK AT THIS FIRE STATION. THE STORM SURGE SWAMPING FIRE TRUCKS AND AMBULANCES. FIREFIGHTERS SCRAMBLING TO GET THEIR GEAR OUT OF THE WATER AS IT CONTINUED TO RISE HIGHER AND HIGHER FLOODING THE CAB OF THE LADDER TRUCK. IMAGES OF SHEER DESTRUCTION ARE EMERGING THIS IS A PHOTO FROM FORT MYERS BEACH. THE SHREDDED REMAINS OF BUILDINGS AND HOMES FLOATING BY. IT APPEARS TO BE THE ROOF ON THE TOP OF THE GARAGE -- OF THE WRECKAGE SADLY TONIGHT THERE IS MUCH WE DO NOT KNOW, ESPECIALLY ABOUT THE BARRIER ISLANDS WHERE THIS INCREDIBLY POWERFUL STORM CAME ASHORE WE'VE HEARD LITTLE FROM CAPTIVA, LITTLE FROM SANIBEL, VERY LITTLE FROM THE FIVE BARRIER ISLANDS ALONG CHARLOTTE COUNTY WE KNOW THEY HAD A STORM LIKE NOTHING THAT COAST HAD EVER SEEN WE DON'T YET KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO ANYONE WHO STAYED BEHIND. WE BEGIN TONIGHT WITH NBC'S ALI VELSHI WHO'S LIVE IN NAPLES FOR US TONIGHT WHERE WE WATCHED HIM ALL DAY LONG WITH REMARKABLE STORIES. ALI, WHAT ARE YOU SEEING TONIGHT? >> Reporter: WELL, WHAT I'M NOT SEEING, SHEP, THAT'S REMARKABLE. THIS IS THE PARKING LOT THAT YOU WERE JUST REFERRING TO WHICH WAS FLOODED. IT IS NOW ALMOST ALL COME DOWN YOU CAN SEE THOSE ARE THE CONDOS ACROSS THAT I WAS SHOWING ON TV EARLIER. THERE WAS WATER ALL THE WAY TO THOSE BALCONIES. SO THAT'S DROPPED BY ABOUT 10 FEET IF YOU TURN AROUND HERE, I'M GOING TO ASK RANDY TO SHOW YOU THE GULF OF MEXICO WHAT YOU SEE IS BEACH FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SIX HOURS. WE DIDN'T SEE SAND, WE COULDN'T SEE ANYTHING THERE ARE A NUMBER OF THINGS STILL GOING ON ONE IS WE'RE IN COLLIER COUNTY THEY SAY THEY HAVE PEOPLE WHO ARE TRAPPED. DOWNTOWN NAPLES STILL HAS WATER, FLOODING IN IT THEY'VE ALSO RELOCATED -- REDIRECTED THE PHONE CALLS THAT ARE GOING TO LEE COUNTY, WHICH YOU WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT, TO COLLIER COUNTY, AND THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE DESPERATE FOR HELP THEY'RE PUTTING OUT WORD IN THIS COUNTY, PLEASE, DON'T CALL US UNLESS IT'S A DIRE EMERGENCY WE CAN'T COME AND GET YOU ANYWAY THOSE BARRIER ISLANDS ARE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHO DIDN'T LEAVE THOSE BARRIER ISLANDS. THEY WERE UNDER MANDATORY EVACUATION ALL THAT MEANS IS IF YOU DON'T LEAVE THEY WON'T COME AND RESCUE YOU UNTIL THEY CAN THEY CAN'T THE WINDS AREN'T DOWN ENOUGH THE WATER IS NOT FAR ENOUGH GONE THERE'S NOT EVEN GOING TO BE A BEGINNING TO RESCUES AND THINGS LIKE THAT UNTIL TOMORROW, LET ALONE THE 1.5 MILLION PLUS PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE POWER IN FLORIDA, AND THAT NUMBER IS GOING UP THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE WITHOUT CELL PHONE SERVICE AS YOU SAY, WE'RE STARTING TO SEE THE END OF THIS THING, THE BACK OF IT IN POINTS NORTH OF ME, TAMPA, NORTHEAST TO THAT IN ORLANDO AND JACKSONVILLE, THEY'RE ACTUALLY SEEING THE WORST OF IT BECAUSE THE STORM HAS SLOWED DOWN TO REALLY THE SPEED AT WHICH A HUMAN CAN WALK AND THAT'S JUST GOING TO SATURATE THE GROUND AND MORE TREES AND POLLS ARE GOING TO COME DOWN AND THAT WILL CAUSE MORE OUTAGES THERE IS A LOT THAT THE STATE CONTINUES TO FACE THAT WE PROBABLY WON'T KNOW UNTIL THE SUN COMES UP AGAIN HOW MUCH DAMAGE THERE ACTUALLY IS THERE'S SOME RELIEF THAT WE'RE SEEING THE BACK OF IT, BUT IT'S NOWHERE CLOSE TO OVER. >> IN THAT WAY IT FEELS LIKE WE'RE WAITING FOR THE MORNING AFTER ANDREW, YOU KNOW, ALI? I KNOW THEY'VE GOTTEN TWICE THE STORM SURGE THEY'VE EVER GOTTEN AND A LOT WE DON'T KNOW BUT LOTS OF PEOPLE ARE TRAPPED AND NEED RESCUE AND THEY'RE NOT GETTING IT UNTIL TOMORROW, IS THAT RIGHT? >> Reporter: AND WHAT WE SAW HERE IS THAT IF YOU LIVED IN THE FIRST FLOOR, YOU WERE IN BIG TROUBLE. IF YOU HAD A SECOND STORY. WE'VE BEEN ON THIS BALCONY ALL DAY AND AT ONE POINT WE CONTEMPLATED DO WE NEED TO GO HIGHER THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE TRAPPED, WE DO KNOW THAT THERE ARE STRUCTURES THAT ARE DAMAGED. IN FACT, RIGHT HERE THERE'S ONE. YES, WE DO NOT KNOW BECAUSE THEY CAN'T GET OUT THERE. WE KNOW THAT THERE ARE 40,000 PEOPLE READY TO FIX THE ELECTRICAL LINES, BUT THEY CAN'T GET OUT TO EVEN START DOING IT THERE'S A LOT OF DAMAGE THAT WE HAVEN'T EVEN BEGUN TO SEE, YOU KNOW, WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE, AT LEAST IN A PLACE LIKE THIS EVERYBODY GETS TO SLEEP TONIGHT HOPING IT'S BETTER IN THE MORNING. THERE ARE PARTS OF FLORIDA WHERE THIS STORM IS RIGHT ABOVE THEM RAINING DOWN WITH HEAVY, HEAVY WINDS. IT'S A PROBLEM FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE ACROSS THE STATE TONIGHT. >> BEFORE WE GO, YOU'VE BEEN GOING TO THESE THINGS FOR DECADES. EVER SEEN ANYTHING QUITE LIKE THIS >> Reporter: I HAVE NEVER WITNESSED STORM SURGE THE WAY I DID TODAY. I'VE CONCEPTUALIZED IT, I UNDERSTAND IT TO BE FLOODING WE KNOW IN AMERICA THE WATER IS GENERALLY MORE DAMAGING THAN THE WIND I HAVE NEVER SEEN IT THE WAY I DID TODAY. WITHIN AN HOUR WE WENT FROM THIS BEING AN ENTIRELY MANAGEABLE SITUATION TO US LOOKING AT EACH OTHER SAYING, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S GOING ON HERE? I'LL TELL YOU THIS,
