Michael King got the news he wanted this week. The Yankees reliever, who fractured his elbow throwing a pitch on July 23, will not need Tommy John surgery.

“The [ulnar collateral ligament] is intact,” King said with a big smile before Friday night’s series opener against the Orioles. “No partial tears.”

While King is out for the rest of this season as the bones heal with the reinforcements put into his elbow, it does mean he should be back to normal by spring training.

“And a pretty normal offseason,” King said.

The 27 year old said he is planning to begin his offseason throwing a little earlier. He will be cleared to throw again in November.

“I think I’d prefer that coming off an injury,” King said. “Throw a little earlier and build up slower.”

Losing King was huge to the Yankees bullpen this season. The right-hander had an All-Star-worthy first-half. He struck out 60 and allowed just 13 earned runs in 51 innings pitched, over 34 appearances. He had earned Yankees manager Aaron Boone’s trust for multi-inning appearances as well as high-leverage spots.

So, Tuesday night when the Yankees clinched the American League East division, a lot of his teammates remembered him, FaceTiming with him during the champagne celebration.

“I was sitting home watching the game, my girlfriend FaceTimed me and then I saw Scott Effross was trying to FaceTime me. So I asked my girlfriend If I could take it,” King said. “I thought it was cute that he remembered me. He’s a rookie and I know when I was a rookie and popping champagne for the first time, I wouldn’t have thought of anyone like that. He told me I was a big part of it and that was really nice. And a bunch of the guys texted and called to tell me that too.”

WANDY WINDING UP

Wandy Peralta, who is on the injured list with “spine tightness,” threw his first bullpen on Thursday and is a possibility for the final series of the regular season in Texas this weekend.

“He is scheduled to throw another bullpen on Sunday. And then we’ll decide if he’s going to pitch with us in Texas which is an option or if we just have to start getting some live situations,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “So that’s something that we’ll kind of tackle as the next few days unfold. “

In other bullpen news, Miguel Castro, who has not pitched since July 16 because of right shoulder inflammation, was back in the clubhouse before the game. He’s ready to be activated, but Boone was non-committal on his return.

“I mean, he’s available but we have made any moves as of now,” Boone said.

MONTAS MOVING FORWARD

Frankie Montas, who is on the IL with sight shoulder inflammation, will “probably,” begin his throwing program on Saturday. The right-hander, who the Yankees acquired at the trade deadline specifically for his success against potential playoff opponents the Astros and Rays, likely would not be able to be ready to start in the postseason.

Since coming to the Yankees, Montas has been less than impressive. The 29-year old right-hander the Yankees picked up at the trade deadline specifically because of his track record against the Astros and the Rays with the playoff rotation in mind. So far, he has a 6.41 ERA in eight starts with the Bombers.

The Yankees dealt minor league pitching prospects Luis Medina and Ken Waldichuk along with J.P. Sears, who had already contributed to the big league club for Montas and reliever Lou Trivino (who coincidentally is the only one of the Yankees’ deadline acquisitions who has not been injured).

ALT SITE

The Yankees will keep a group of high-level minor leaguers working out in Somerset to help them keep ready for the playoffs. With the first-round bye, they will have five days off between the end of the regular season and the Division Series.

“We will pull who we need for that day. So who’s scheduled to throw live, for example, I think we have like eight or so arms and a handful of position players. So we’ll pull what we need each day,” Boone said. “They’ll have a full site going over there. So they’ll be working out every day. And then, depending on who’s scheduled to throw that day or who we will pull from that.

()

SANTA CLARA — Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo called it a “scary situation” to see Miami Dolphins counterpart Tua Tagovailoa go down Thursday night with what appeared to be his second concussion in five days.

“With the protocol, you just have to trust the process, trust that everyone is doing their job the correct way, and let things fall where they may,” said Garoppolo, noting he’s thankful to have avoided a concussion in his injury-laden 49ers tenure.

Tight end George Kittle, who’s cleared sideline concussion tests in his career, put the onus on teams to save players from their inert desire to play through injuries, as serious as brain trauma is.

“It’s on the team to really protect these guys. Last night is a scary example of when a guy is not protected,” Kittle said Friday at his locker. “I’m not saying the Dolphins did anything wrong. Tua could have passed all these tests, and maybe his concussion last week wasn’t so bad; I don’t know all the details.

“With all the scrutiny that’s on it right now, I’m going to assume things are going to get even tighter moving forward,” Kittle added.

Cleared by independent neurologists (per NFL rules) to return despite a hit that wobbled him last Sunday against the Buffalo Bills, Tagovailoa’s scary situation Thursday night saw his fingers freeze and he lay on Cincinnati’s field in the first half of an eventual loss to the Bengals.

“It was not a good look for our league,” 49ers general manager John Lynch said Friday morning on KNBR 680-AM.

Lynch endured multiple concussions as a hard-hitting safety en route to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but the sight of a concussed player remains “a hard thing to take, kind of makes you queasy in your stomach.”

Watch: #49ers Jimmy G on Tua and NFL concussion protocol pic.twitter.com/BzcZxXwK8c

— Cam Inman (@CamInman) September 30, 2022

DeMeco Ryans, the 49ers’ defensive coordinator and a former star linebacker, concurred that it was tough to watch Tagovailoa go down again Thursday night.

“We know he had one Sunday, and to have it happen again Thursday, it’s not something you want to see with anybody,” Ryans said. “You have to trust that the concussion protocols in place are set up in the best interest of players and the best interest of the game.

“Our game is nothing without players,” Ryans added. “And players’ health and safety is of the utmost importance. We’re hoping Tua is OK and we’re trusting those protocols are good.”

Former 49ers offensive lineman Randy Cross expressed his dismay via a Friday morning Tweet: “Tua was clearly concussed (the previous) Sunday and had zero business being allowed back in that game (against Buffalo). He also had zero business playing in a game 4 days later. The NFL should be embarrassed … if they can be.”

#49ers George Kittle on Tua and #NFL concussion protocol pic.twitter.com/tdtscYjfEQ

— Cam Inman (@CamInman) September 30, 2022

Arguably the 49ers’ most renowned concussions involved Hall of Fame quarterbacks Joe Montana and Steve Young. Montana got knocked from a 1986 divisional playoff after a concussion-causing hit from Jim Burt. Young’s final concussion came early in the 1999 season when sacked in Arizona, effectively ending his career.

Last December, the 49ers saw Trenton Cannon endure a concussion covering the opening kickoff, and after being taken by ambulance to a local hospital, he wasn’t cleared until two month laters for the NFC Championship Game. Nick Bosa exited the 49ers’ playoff opener at Dallas with a concussion but did not miss the ensuing win at Green Bay.

Of the multiple injuries Garoppolo’s endured the past four seasons (knee, ankle, calf, thumb shoulder), he hasn’t had a documented concussion.

“It’s a scary situation,” Garoppolo added about Tagovailoa. “You always just hope for the best for a guy like that. We’ve all been in those (serious-injury) situations.”

Of course, some concussions go unnoticed or undocumented publicly. Former 49ers tight end Greg Clark was 49 when he committed suicide last year, after privately battling what later was diagnosed as Stage 3 CTE – chronic traumatic encephalopathy – from a posthumous study by Boston University’s brain bank. “He totally was suffering in silence,” his widow, Carie Clark, recalled in April.

“Do I think they have our best interest in mind? The protocols since I was a rookie (in 2017), they’ve gotten way stricter and a lot better,” Kittle said. “… Sometime the team has to protect you from yourself.”

Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, a 49ers assistant the previous five seasons, insisted after Miami’s loss Thursday night and again Friday that proper procedures were followed by the team.

“If there would’ve been anything lingering with his head, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I prematurely put someone out there and put them in harm’s way,” McDaniel told reporters in Miami.

The NFL already was conducting an investigation into Sunday’s incident before Thursday’s follow-up trauma.  “I know that he was checked after (Sunday’s) game, I know that he was checked the following day,” NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills told NFL Network’s Judy Battista. “In fact, every player who gets an examination on game day gets a follow-up exam the following day even if that exam was negative — that’s part of our concussion protocol.”

Our interview with NFL CMO Dr. Allen Sills on why Tua Tagovailoa was allowed to fly home, what happened last Sunday and on the subsequent concussion checks during the week, and on whether the concussion protocol could be changed as a result. pic.twitter.com/Q5N9TLBYgt

— Judy Battista (@judybattista) September 30, 2022

Lynch noted he’s experienced the “fencing” response position that Tagovailoa exhibited except for ever seeing fingers lock up like they did to Miami’s quarterback.

Lynch lauded the NFL’s strides in concussion management. “From the days I played where it was, ‘Hey, how many fingers do I have up?’, and you’re back in the game, to (now), there is a thorough and laborious and so many cross-checks in the concussion protocol.”

Still, with so many independent evaluations necessary to keep playing, Lynch noted: “It begs the question, having what happened in Miami the week before: What went wrong there? Playing on a short week, he was cleared (a) to go back in the game in Miami (last Sunday) and cleared to play against Cinicnnait last night.

“I can tell you, for real, that process is intense and has so many different avenues to catch a mistake,” Lynch added. “I can’t imagine it becoming more intense and more laborious, but I’m sure it will, and it’s important it is, because something was missed.”

Tua was clearly concussed on Sunday and had zero business being allowed back in that game. He also had zero business playing in a game 4 days later. The @nfl should be embarrassed……if they can be. #coveryourass pic.twitter.com/FAkaJ7PksI

— Randy Cross (@randycrossFB) September 30, 2022

Dr. Chris Nowinski, who co-founded Boston University’s CTE Center, tweeted before Thursday’s game that he  not only feared for Tagovailoa’s health but how playing him would be a “massive step back” for the NFL’s concussion care. Nowinski followed up with strong condemnation upon Tagovailoa’s first-half injury. “This is a disaster,” Nowinski tweeted. “Pray for Tua. Fire the medical staffs and coaches. I predicted this and I hate that I am right. Two concussions in 5 days can kill someone. This can end careers. How are we so stupid in 2022.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mangia! mangia!

Little Italy San Jose’s annual street festival returns this Sunday, Oct. 2, with a huge lineup of Italian food, from homey specialties to restaurant favorites, plus wine booths and dozens of arts and crafts vendors in the historic district and Guadalupe River Park.

The event runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., with live entertainment starting at 11:45. The headliner, tenor Pasquale Esposito, will take the stage under the Little Italy arch at 3:15 p.m., and the Anthony Nino Lane Band will play at 5:30. A new exhibit area will showcase 25 Italian-made Ferraris and Lamborghinis.

But you’re here for the food, right? Here is who’s making what:

Paesano Ristorante:  Arancini, cannoli

Poor House Bistro:  Muffulettas, calamari, Creole pasta

Henry’s Hi-Life: Italian beef sandwiches

Locanda Sorrento: Strozzapretti pasta, eggplant parm, caprese skewers

Palermino’s of Morgan Hill: Meatball sandwiches

Sons of Sicily: Sausage and peppers sandwiches, plus sfingi

Tricarico Club: Polenta

Bibo’s Pizza: Pizza

Sicilia in Bocca: Gnocchi, tiramisu

Sugo: Lasagna

Risotto’s Kitchen: Risotto

La Fenice: Pizza

Roxanne’s Biscotti: Biscotti

La Copa Loca: Gelato

​Little Italy (DeBernardo Family): Espresso/coffee

Ian has been downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone after pummeling South Carolina Friday afternoon with destructive winds and life-threatening storm surge, and after killing at least 42 people in Florida, leaving behind a trail of apocalyptic destruction.

The storm, which made landfall near Georgetown as a Category 1 hurricane, continues to pack winds of 70 mph as it moves farther inland over the Carolinas.

“It should be emphasized that just because Ian has become a post-tropical cyclone that the danger is not over,” the National Hurricane Center warned. “Dangerous storm surge, flash flooding and high winds are still in the forecast from this cyclone.”

Reports of property damage, power outages, and water-rescue calls have multiplied as officials across the state continue to issue dire warnings to residents to stay inside.

FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES

A hurricane warning was issued from the Savannah River at the Georgia-South Carolina state line to Cape Fear, North Carolina. Considerable flooding is possible from seawater and rain, especially in parts of coastal South Carolina, where storm surge up to 7 feet and 4 to 12 inches of rain could hit, forecasters say.

And a tornado watch covering nearly five million people is in effect until 10 p.m. ET for parts of the Carolinas and Virginia, including Myrtle Beach, Wilmington, Norfolk and Virginia Beach, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

More than 200,000 power outages were reported in South Carolina, as well as more than 138,000 in North Carolina, by 3:50 p.m. ET, according to PowerOutage.us. In Virginia, more than 17,000 customers have lost power, largely on the east and south sides of the state.

Additionally, two piers in South Carolina — Cherry Grove Pier in North Myrtle Beach and Pawley’s Island Pier north of Charleston — partially collapsed Friday due to the storm.

“It’s a pretty scary sight,” Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune said of Hurricane Ian. “I’m seeing way too many cars passing by. And I think people just don’t realize how dangerous it is to be out in these types of conditions. We’ve seen so many people’s cars get stuck and emergency personnel has to go out and rescue people.”

Charleston International Airport’s airfield closed Friday because of high winds, the airport said. And Myrtle Beach residents are urged to stay inside during the storm, Mayor Brenda Bethune told CNN.

Coastlines along Georgia and South Carolina may sustain significant alterations because the powerful waves and storm surges brought by Ian could inundate coastal sand dunes, according to the US Geological Survey.

In addition to flooding communities behind the dunes, the storm may push sand back and deposit it inland, which could “reduce the height of protective sand dunes, alter beach profiles and leave areas behind the dunes more vulnerable to future storms,” the agency said.

In Florida: At least 42 reported dead

Meanwhile, Florida confronts the dizzying destruction Ian wrought through much of the peninsula Wednesday and Thursday after it smashed into the southwest coast as a Category 4 storm and plowed through central and northeastern areas.

At least 42 deaths have been reported in the state. Homes on the coast were washed out to sea, buildings were smashed throughout the state, and floodwater ruined homes and businesses and trapped residents, even inland in places like the Orlando area.

Hundreds of rescues have taken place by land, air and sea, with residents stuck in homes or stranded on rooftops, and searchers have made many wellness checks, especially in the Fort Myers and Naples areas, where a storm surge inundated streets and homes.

Roger Desjarlais, manager of Lee County, which encompasses Fort Myers, told CNN Friday that it isn’t an overstatement to say that Hurricane Ian decimated parts of the area and “there has to be many fatalities.”

“It looked as though someone had just dropped from the sky picked up hotels and buildings and took them away. So much so that in many places there wasn’t even debris,” Desjarlais said. “We also know that not as many people evacuated from those islands as we had hoped for. We know there has to be many fatalities yet to be accounted for.”

President Joe Biden continued to pledge federal support for Florida as it deals with the devastation caused by the storm, which he said was “likely to rank among the worst… in the nation’s history.”

“We’re just beginning to see the scale of that destruction,” Biden said, adding that the largest team of search and rescue experts “in recent history” was currently deployed to the state. “It’s going to take months, years to rebuild.”

And now, the storm’s aftermath poses new, deadly dangers of its own. Some standing water is electrified, officials warned, while maneuvering through debris-strewn buildings and streets — many without working traffic signals — risks injury. Lack of air conditioning can lead to heat illness, and improper generator use can cause carbon monoxide poisoning.

In North Port between Fort Myers and Sarasota, Rosanna Walker stood Thursday in the flood-damaged home where she rode out the storm. Part of her drywall ceiling was hanging down.

“And all of a sudden, the water was coming in through the doors — the top, the bottom, the windows over here,” she told CNN’s John Berman. “It’s all in my closets; I’ve got to empty out my closets.”

“Everything got ruined.”

Here’s what to know about the destruction in Florida:

• Deaths in Florida: At least 42 deaths that are suspected to be related to Ian have been reported in Florida. That includes 16 in Lee County, 12 in Charlotte County, eight in Collier County, three in Volusia County, one in Polk County and two in unincorporated Sarasota County, according to officials. Unconfirmed death cases are being processed by local medical examiners, who decide whether they are disaster-related, state emergency management Director Kevin Guthrie said.

• Power outages: Florida had more than 1.6 million power outages as of Friday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us. Most counties with the highest percentage of residents without power lie in the southwest, including Lee, Charlotte, DeSoto and Hardee.

• Historic flooding in Florida: Record flooding was recorded across central and northern Florida, including at least three rivers that hit all-time flood records. Officials in Orlando warned residents of dangerous flooding, which exceeded a foot in some areas.

• Hundreds of rescues and thousands of evacuations: More than 700 rescues have happened across Florida so far, the governor said Thursday, and thousands of evacuees have been reported. In Lee County, a hospital system had to evacuate more than 1,000 patients after its water supply was cut off, while other widespread evacuations have been reported in prisons and nursing homes. In Fort Myers, the fire chief was “pretty comfortable” by Friday morning that everyone needing help there had been rescued, Mayor Kevin Anderson said.

• Much of Fort Myers Beach obliterated: A helicopter flight over Fort Myers Beach shows utter devastation: empty or debris-littered lots where homes and businesses used to be and boats tossed into mangroves. “You’re talking about no structure left. … You’re talking about homes that were thrown into the bay. This is a long-term fix, and it’s life-changing,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said.

• Coast Guard continues rescue Florida flights Friday: Coast Guard crews rescued 95 people in Florida on Thursday, including by lifting people from flooded areas by helicopter, and will continue rescue flights Friday, Rear Adm. Brendan McPherson said. “We’re going to find anybody else that needs assistance,” he said.

• Coastal islands isolated from mainland: Sanibel and Captiva islands in southwest Florida are cut off from the mainland after several parts of a critical causeway were torn away. At least two people were killed in the storm in Sanibel, and the bridge may need to be completely rebuilt, local officials said. Chip Farrar, a resident of the tiny island of Matlacha, told CNN that 50 feet of road essential to reaching the mainland bridge has been washed out, and a second nearby bridge has also collapsed.

• Insured losses in Florida may be enormous: Ian may have caused as much as $47 billion in insured losses in Florida, according to an estimate from property analytics firm CoreLogic, which could make it the second-most expensive storm in the state’s history when adjusted for inflation after 1992’s Hurricane Andrew.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

Former Pacific Gas & Electric officials have agreed to pay $117 million to federal agencies affected by the deadly and devastating Camp and North Bay fires caused by the utility’s equipment.

Although the money will be paid by insurance firms, the former officials are unlikely to get hired for similar jobs in the future, according to a lawyer who led the litigation.

The $117 million settlement announced this week resulted from legal action against 20 former PG&E officials, including four CEOs, about a dozen directors, and senior officers of electrical transmission and distribution, said attorney Frank Pitre. The money will go to agencies, including the U.S. Department of the Interior, that helped fight the fires and assist victims, resolving claims from those agencies and paving the way for victims of the blazes to receive additional compensation beyond the $4.9 billion already paid by the utility through the PG&E Fire Victim Trust, Pitre said.

“What was important about this case was making sure that corporate executives understand that if they’re going to shirk their responsibility to the corporation, they’re going to be identified and there’s going to be a lawsuit filed against them,” Pitre said.

Of the officials targeted in the legal action in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Pitre said, “I don’t see them getting hired as directors or officers anywhere else.”

The October 2017 blazes that made up the North Bay fires killed 44 people and laid waste to huge swathes of the Napa-area Wine Country. The Camp Fire of 2018 left 86 dead as it razed the town of Paradise, east of Chico. PG&E pleaded guilty in 2020 to dozens of counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the Camp Fire. State fire officials found the utility responsible for 12 of the North Bay fires, but state and local prosecutors found insufficient evidence for criminal charges.

PG&E has for years faced public and official ire over catastrophic fires sparked by its transmission equipment, with many critics attacking the investor-owned utility for spending billions on shareholder dividends that could have been spent on fire prevention. In 2019, Judge William Alsup of U.S. District Court in San Francisco went after the firm over its forest fire problem, saying, “PG&E pumped out $4.5 billion in dividends and let the tree budget wither.”

The $117 million in settlement funds, as is common with lawsuits targeting corporate officials, will be paid by companies that provided the firm’s directors-and-officers insurance for the company officials sued by the trust, according to a PG&E regulatory filing.

The utility, which filed for bankruptcy in 2019 because of billions of dollars in fire-related debt and liabilities, in a Friday statement called the settlement “another step forward in PG&E’s ongoing effort to resolve issues outstanding from before its bankruptcy and to move forward focused on our commitments to deliver safe, clean and reliable energy to our customers, and to continue the important work of reducing risk across our energy system.”

The settlement sum was based on the amount of insurance money available to settle the trust’s legal action and other legal claims, Pitre said. “It was a good result,” he said, describing it as “one of the largest settlements of its type in the United States.”

Fire Victim Trust trustee Cathy Yanni said trustees hoped the settlement would help push PG&E toward making fire safety its central operating principle. She added that the trustees were encouraged by recent company announcements that it was starting to bury transmission lines and harden its infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Forest Service has launched a criminal probe into whether PG&E equipment may have started California’s largest wildfire this year, the Mosquito Fire in the Sierra Foothills. That blaze started Sept. 6 and has burned 77,000 acres, with 90% containment as of Friday, according to federal authorities.

Hurricane Ian pummeled South Carolina Friday afternoon with heavy rain, destructive winds and life-threatening storm surge after killing at least 42 people in Florida and leaving behind a trail of apocalyptic destruction.

Ian, which made landfall near Georgetown, is unleashing lethal flooding and enough force to alter the coastal landscape, but it’s expected to rapidly transition into a post-tropical system, with a decrease in its strongest winds as it pushes inland.

“This is a dangerous storm that will bring high winds and a lot of water,” South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster tweeted. “Be smart, make good decisions, check on your loved ones, and stay safe.”

Reports of property damage, power outages, and water-rescue calls have begun to multiply as officials across the state continue to issue dire warnings to residents to stay inside.

FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES

A hurricane warning has been issued from the Savannah River at the Georgia-South Carolina state line to Cape Fear, North Carolina. Considerable flooding is possible from seawater and rain, especially in parts of coastal South Carolina, where storm surge up to 7 feet and 4 to 12 inches of rain could hit, forecasters say.

And a tornado watch covering nearly five million people is in effect until 10 p.m. ET for parts of the Carolinas and Virginia, including Myrtle Beach, Wilmington, Norfolk and Virginia Beach, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

More than 211,000 power outages were reported in South Carolina, as well as more than 82,000 in North Carolina, by 3:50 p.m. ET, according to PowerOutage.us.

Additionally, two piers in South Carolina — Cherry Grove Pier in North Myrtle Beach and Pawley’s Island Pier north of Charleston — have partially collapsed this afternoon due to the storm.

“It’s a pretty scary sight,” Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune said of Hurricane Ian. “I’m seeing way too many cars passing by. And I think people just don’t realize how dangerous it is to be out in these types of conditions. We’ve seen so many people’s cars get stuck and emergency personnel has to go out and rescue people.”

Charleston International Airport’s airfield closed Friday because of high winds, the airport said. And Myrtle Beach residents are urged to stay inside during the storm, Mayor Brenda Bethune told CNN.

The storm likely will have left behind lasting changes to Atlantic landscapes. Coastlines along Georgia and South Carolina may sustain significant alterations because the powerful waves and storm surges brought by Ian could inundate coastal sand dunes, according to the US Geological Survey.

In addition to flooding communities behind the dunes, the storm may push sand back and deposit it inland, which could “reduce the height of protective sand dunes, alter beach profiles and leave areas behind the dunes more vulnerable to future storms,” the agency said.

In Florida: At least 42 reported dead

Meanwhile, Florida confronts the dizzying destruction Ian wrought through much of the peninsula Wednesday and Thursday after it smashed into the southwest coast as a Category 4 storm and plowed through central and northeastern areas.

At least 42 deaths have been reported in the state. Homes on the coast were washed out to sea, buildings were smashed throughout the state, and floodwater ruined homes and businesses and trapped residents, even inland in places like the Orlando area.

Hundreds of rescues have taken place by land, air and sea, with residents stuck in homes or stranded on rooftops, and searchers have made many wellness checks, especially in the Fort Myers and Naples areas, where a storm surge inundated streets and homes.

Roger Desjarlais, manager of Lee County, which encompasses Fort Myers, told CNN Friday that it isn’t an overstatement to say that Hurricane Ian decimated parts of the area and “there has to be many fatalities.”

“It looked as though someone had just dropped from the sky picked up hotels and buildings and took them away. So much so that in many places there wasn’t even debris,” Desjarlais said. “We also know that not as many people evacuated from those islands as we had hoped for. We know there has to be many fatalities yet to be accounted for.”

President Joe Biden continued to pledge federal support for Florida as it deals with the devastation caused by the storm, which he said was “likely to rank among the worst… in the nation’s history.”

“We’re just beginning to see the scale of that destruction,” Biden said, adding that the largest team of search and rescue experts “in recent history” was currently deployed to the state. “It’s going to take months, years to rebuild.”

And now, the storm’s aftermath poses new, deadly dangers of its own. Some standing water is electrified, officials warned, while maneuvering through debris-strewn buildings and streets — many without working traffic signals — risks injury. Lack of air conditioning can lead to heat illness, and improper generator use can cause carbon monoxide poisoning.

In North Port between Fort Myers and Sarasota, Rosanna Walker stood Thursday in the flood-damaged home where she rode out the storm. Part of her drywall ceiling was hanging down.

“And all of a sudden, the water was coming in through the doors — the top, the bottom, the windows over here,” she told CNN’s John Berman. “It’s all in my closets; I’ve got to empty out my closets.”

“Everything got ruined.”

Here’s what to know about the destruction in Florida:

• Deaths in Florida: At least 42 deaths that are suspected to be related to Ian have been reported in Florida. That includes 16 in Lee County, 12 in Charlotte County, eight in Collier County, three in Volusia County, one in Polk County and two in unincorporated Sarasota County, according to officials. Unconfirmed death cases are being processed by local medical examiners, who decide whether they are disaster-related, state emergency management Director Kevin Guthrie said.

• Power outages: Florida had more than 1.7 million power outages as of Friday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us. Most counties with the highest percentage of residents without power lie in the southwest, including Lee, Charlotte, DeSoto and Hardee.

• Historic flooding in Florida: Record flooding was recorded across central and northern Florida, including at least three rivers that hit all-time flood records. Officials in Orlando warned residents of dangerous flooding, which exceeded a foot in some areas.

• Hundreds of rescues and thousands of evacuations: More than 700 rescues have happened across Florida so far, the governor said Thursday, and thousands of evacuees have been reported. In Lee County, a hospital system had to evacuate more than 1,000 patients after its water supply was cut off, while other widespread evacuations have been reported in prisons and nursing homes. In Fort Myers, the fire chief was “pretty comfortable” by Friday morning that everyone needing help there had been rescued, Mayor Kevin Anderson said.

• Much of Fort Myers Beach obliterated: A helicopter flight over Fort Myers Beach shows utter devastation: empty or debris-littered lots where homes and businesses used to be and boats tossed into mangroves. “You’re talking about no structure left. … You’re talking about homes that were thrown into the bay. This is a long-term fix, and it’s life-changing,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said.

• Coast Guard continues rescue Florida flights Friday: Coast Guard crews rescued 95 people in Florida on Thursday, including by lifting people from flooded areas by helicopter, and will continue rescue flights Friday, Rear Adm. Brendan McPherson said. “We’re going to find anybody else that needs assistance,” he said.

• Coastal islands isolated from mainland: Sanibel and Captiva islands in southwest Florida are cut off from the mainland after several parts of a critical causeway were torn away. At least two people were killed in the storm in Sanibel, and the bridge may need to be completely rebuilt, local officials said. Chip Farrar, a resident of the tiny island of Matlacha, told CNN that 50 feet of road essential to reaching the mainland bridge has been washed out, and a second nearby bridge has also collapsed.

• Insured losses in Florida may be enormous: Ian may have caused as much as $47 billion in insured losses in Florida, according to an estimate from property analytics firm CoreLogic, which could make it the second-most expensive storm in the state’s history when adjusted for inflation after 1992’s Hurricane Andrew.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

While starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is out indefinitely with a concussion, veteran Teddy Bridgewater will start for the Dolphins, coach Mike McDaniel said Friday.

“It’s one of the strengths of our football team, and I thnk that guys rely on that,” McDaniel said. “Tua, Teddy and Skylar [Thompson] have formed a great working group, and our guys believe in all three of them.

Bridgewater will be the starter for the foreseeable future, as McDaniel said there was no timeline for Tagovailoa’s return.

“The most honest and forthright I can be is I literally have no timetable or even thought to it,” McDaniel said. “That’s where I would feel irresponsible is even thinking about it. I just want him … to get all the evaluation possible, to do all the things recommended from all the medical counterparts and I want him to get on the road to recovery from that as the human being, and then we’ll cross that bridge. But in terms of the timeline of crossing that bridge, I have zero idea.”

Bridgewater entered Thursday’s loss to the Bengals in the second quarter and completed 14 of 23 passes for 193 yards. He threw one touchdown and one interception.

The former Rookie of the Year and Pro Bowl quarterback is in his ninth year in the NFL and has played for five different teams.

Bridgewater knows what Tagovailoa is dealing with, as his 2021 season ended prematurely when he suffered a concussion against Cincinnati in Week 15 last year. He said his experience was scary, and he has no memory of the injury or ride to the hospital.

“It’s very scary,” Bridgewater said after Thursday’s game. “You hear people say injury is a part of the game. That’s the part of the game that sucks. It’s fun to compete, it’s fun to score touchdowns and make plays, but it’s that one side of the game that really sucks, and it’s unfortunate.

“For me, I just think about my son. And one day he’s going to be old enough to use Google, and he’s going to Google his dad, and he might see his dad getting carted off on the field, or his dad had a concussion. All those things play in your head.”

McDaniel also had praise for Thompson, who made the roster as a rookie after excelling in preseason play.

“He’s just working constantly,” McDaniel said. “When he’s on the field, we’ll make some plays. So he’s in a great spot, too. Feel very fortunate to have those two guys.”

Howard’s status

McDaniel said the Dolphins would evaluate star cornerback Xavien Howard and Byron Jones’ status on Monday to see if they would be able to play against the New York Jets on Oct. 9.

“We’ll probably re-evaluate that at the beginning of the week, which we’ll always do,” the Dolphins coach said. “I don’t really have anything for that today.”

Howard started Thursday’s loss to the Bengals and played 40 snaps, but he departed the game after aggravating a groin injury that had been bothering him earlier this month.

“[Howard] is a competitor and a fierce one at that,” McDaniel said Friday. “I know he’s going to do everything to make sure that he’s completely capable.”

Byron Jones’ status will also be determined next week. The eighth-year veteran has missed Miami’s first four games this season while on the physically-unable-to-perform list following offseason leg surgery. Jones is eligible to return for the Dolphins’ game against the Jets.

“I know Byron is working his tail off,” McDaniel said.

Kicking issues

Kicker Jason Sanders had a 52-yard field goal blocked and missed an extra point when he hit the upright. He talked about both briefly after the game.

“The extra point, I hit it well,” he said. “I just happened to push it a little wide. The starting point was a little off. It was a good kick.

“And the block I haven’t seen the film yet so it’s going to be something we’ve got to look at and see what the issue was. I’m not sure what it was yet.”

Outside noise

The Dolphins turned a lot of heads and piqued a lot of curiosity by starting 3-1. But they’re not keeping tabs.

“I couldn’t care less about anybody else,” tight end Mike Gesicki said. “We just have to come out every single week, and try to win every single week. That’s about it.”

Linebacker Jerome Baker said no one in the locker room cares about impressing people outside of the locker room.

“We know the team we have, we know the guys we have in this locker room, and we know the potential we have,” he said. “So we don’t really care what anybody says about us or anything like that. Our main focus is getting back right, getting healthy and going on to next week.”

()

Two days after an Oakland school shooting left six people injured, police continue to search for the gunmen who stormed the campus before fleeing in a getaway car.

As the manhunt pushed past 48 hours on Friday, police offered no new details about the three suspects – two shooters and a driver – who entered the front door of the King Estates education campus in Oakland’s Eastmont Hills and unleashed a barrage of at least 30 bullets. Law enforcement has attributed the shooting to a “group and gang conflict.”

“The individuals who are responsible for this are still out in our community armed and dangerous,” Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said during a Thursday press conference. He said surveillance video from the scene captured the shooters.

Police are now offering an award of up to $30,000 for information leading to an arrest in the case.

The education complex where the shooting occurred remained closed on Friday with more than 600 Oakland students unable to attend classes.

Among the victims were two students – both of them at least 18 years old – a school counselor, a security guard, and two carpenters working at the education complex. As of Friday morning, one of the victims remains in critical condition and another is in stable condition at Highland Hospital. All other victims have been discharged from the hospital.

As the manhunt continues, questions have arisen about potential warning signs and security precautions at the cluster of schools on the King Estates campus, including Rudsdale High School, Rudsdale Newcomer High and BayTech Charter School. About six weeks ago police responded to a stabbing during a “gun-related incident” at Rudsdale High School, police said.

John Sasaki, a school district spokesperson, would not comment on whether the front door to the complex was locked. He said district policy requires doors to be locked during the day and added that police are investigating the matter.