there've been wind gusts in the 80 miles an hour, 90 miles an hour, doing a lot of damage on the ground. we've seen that in different pockets. wind gusts recorded in cape canaveral over 100 miles an hour. hurricane matthew right now steady at a category 3. that means it packs winds of a maximum 120 miles an hour. but the wind is just part of the trifecta of problems. you have the wind, you have the storm surge, and you have the rain. jennifer gray knows that as well as jean one. she's our meteorologist in palm bay. she's been getting hit hard there all morning. what's it like now? >> yeah, we have been getting hit hard. really hard. right before the sun came up. now we are finally starting to feel like things are getting better. you still get the very strong gusts. they weren't as strong as they were a couple of hours ago. when we were standing out talking to you and we had gusts pounding us that 80 miles per hour, or even a little bit more. now those gusts aren't quite as frequent. the sun has come up. you can see the clouds just racing across the sky here in

palm bay just outside of melbourne, and the eyewall came very, very close to us. within just a couple of miles. and it's crazy to say, but that made all the difference when you're talking about the proximity of this powerful storm, and the coastline. with that eyewall staying just offshore, it spared us winds that could have been 100 miles per hour, which is -- which can cause much greater damage than winds of about 80 miles per hour. and then unfortunately, just to our north, cape canaveral, as you mentioned, recorded winds of about 100 miles per hour-plus. and it battered cape canaveral for quite awhile. they are still in the thick of it as we're talking. and then that eyewall only about 30, give or take a few miles, away from daytona beach. so, quickly, within the next two to three hours, daytona beach will be feeling the brunt of the storm. and then it will continue northward from there. chris you are right, south of that eye, and south of

melbourne, people are breathing a sigh of relief. they are saying okay, things are getting better. but this is far from over. daytona beach, cape canaveral, still in this. and anywhere up the coast, up in through florida, georgia, south carolina, by tomorrow. and it is going to be a nasty one. chris? >> all right, jennifer, parts north of where you are just need to look at their screen right now. that is your future. that's daytona beach. the winds picking up here where we are in jacksonville and we still have a long way to go. the governor's office just sent word the i-10 corridor runs east/west here in florida is clear right now. if you need to leave, now is the time. heed the local warnings. boris sanchez is in daytona beach. he has had to move several times this morning because of the wind effect. how is it now? >> chris, we're going to have to move again soon. we've started to have to dodge debris that's coming in from the street here. this is a piece of roofing insulation that almost hit our

camera guy just a few moments ago. it's just a mess out here. the wind continues to just pound this area. i'm sure some of these palm trees are going to start falling over at some point. i've seen them bend pretty far. you can see behind us there are still people driving through this. i can't imagine why. the dangers in these kinds of hur kans are numerous. you not only have extremely strong winds but you have the debris that they throw around. power lines that get knocked down. you also have extreme flooding. we're at the shore here. the ocean is just on the other side of our hotel and with the storm surge in this area supposed to be higher than seven feet you can expect flooding in these neighborhoods, and you pair that with the debris that's in the street. the power lines that are in the street, a very high chance of a fatal incident here in daytona. you also have to deal with the pounding rain as the wind continues to gather speed behind me. it is going to continue to get worse here as the eyewall draws

near. again, chris, i can't believe i'm saying this but there are people in the street right now. i'm not sure who this guy is, but i've seen several cars pass since we've been standing here. i saw one guy walking around earlier. it is just so, so poorly thought out to be out in these kind of conditions. especially when they are going to get worse. so if you are out on the street, i mean, the best thing you can do is get inside and find a safe place to be right now. before this eyewall gets closer and closer to daytona. >> you're right to keep putting the word out there boris. it is stupid to be out in these conditions right now. you're not just endangering yourself, you're endangering the first responders who are going to have to come and get you if there's any trouble. boris and i are basically blind on the ground. we can only see what's around us. on your screen we have cameras of other parts of daytona beach. there's a camera shooting on the beach right now. you can see just how violent the action is with this current band of weather that is feeding this

hurricane matthew? the camera shaking there. it's locked down. who knows how long it will stay up, and what you have to see is, what's at play is this three different effects. the wind, the storm surge, and the rain. this is called a wet storm hurricane matthew which means it's that storm surge that is going to have the most devastating impact. and the rain amount of volume and the wind kind of work in concert with it to create this trifecta problem for those people who are in structures that aren't safe enough to take this type of beating. here in jacksonville, the added concern with this st. john river is that there are a lot of crossovers here. bridges. 40 miles an hour, they're done. the sustained gusts are getting close to that right now. i'm looking at an american flag. it's just been pinned facing westward for the last hour because the storm is getting closer. the bands are coming. the wind is here. which means you make the wrong move, then you're going to have to live with it. because, you're not going to be able to get anywhere in a place like this.

this river has 2 1/2 more feet of high tide in it, without any storm surge, it's already cresting at the top of this promenade. that means these areas will be flooded. let's check in right now with dr. rick knabb at the national hurricane center. we understand there's a new advisory, doc? what is it? >> good morning, chris. we've just issued an intermediate public advisory. this doesn't have a full update on the five-day forecast but we have updated the position, and the intensity and the motion still 120 miles per hour, the maximum sustained winds, category 3, major hurricane moving north/northwest at 13 miles per hour. and we'll update the track forecast at 11:00 a.m. the warnings are still in effect. hurricane warnings for a good chunk of the east coast of central and northern florida, and then georgia and south carolina. no changes to the prototype storm surge warning areas that we're concerned about that are in play here, because even if the center of circulation never comes onshore, the center of action is going to be on the

coast, and at some points inland, and i'm really worried that folks are letting their guard down because they think, well the center's offshore and the track stays offshore so i'm not going to get hit. that is not the message we want to be sending. this is going to be really, really close to the coast. following a path almost the same shape as the coastline itself, and it could come ashore, or it could come close enough that storm surge and inland flooding in addition to the hurricane force winds have a great potential to take lives if people don't follow evacuation instructi instructions, and there's still time to do so in many locations, especially in georgia and south carolina. >> doctor i was saying to you when i was back in new york, boy i hope we're wrong about this. i hope we're wrong. one of the things that's unusual about this is the duration that we're dealing with as this things makes its way up the coast in a coastline unfamiliar with hurricanes. i'm starting to see online from people in jacksonville they're saying all right, it's rainy, it's blowy, there's going to be a little built of damage but

it's not that bad. i would love for that to be the case for the rest of the day. but is that being overconfident way too soon? >> yeah, the weather is just starting to get bad in jacksonville. we're just beginning to get to the phase in which you're getting winds of tropical storm force in the first coast region. so it's only going to get worse from here. the center of circulation is still way to your south and southeast as it moves northward, the winds will get stronger, the rainfall will get heavier and more persistent, and the hurricane will start pushing ashore the ocean. there is a significant life-threatening danger of storm surge flooding in the first coast area. areas like ponte vedra beach, jacksonville beach and even the possibility of the storm surge getting into the st. john's river, that is a very real threat here. and it's only going to be a very short time before the winds get so strong that the authorities will close bridges, and people can't get out anymore. so, the weather is only starting

to get bad. and it's going to be bad for awhile. >> upwards of 300 people lost their lives in haiti. obviously it's a very different place than the united states. certainly florida. we don't know about the bahamas. and here we don't know yet. very few localities have been able to go out and do any type of impact assessment. so really we don't know what has happened here. other than what we see around us. doctor as you know, that's the only reason i'm out here right now. there's nothing enjoyable about this but we're out to have local authorities to understand the current situation, to be out here to feed other people's curiosity so they don't have to be. in terms of when you're looking at this. this word that it's big and slow but still a far way to go, that still is the status quo as far as you're concerned? >> you know, absolutely. and we want to talk especially to folks in georgia and south carolina where the winds of tropical storm force haven't gotten there yet and we're hearing concerns that people aren't heeding the evacuation

destructions. but we're hearing a lot of talk about how historic this storm is. how unusual it is to have a hurricane this strong in this area. but part of the history of this hurricane might be how many people died. and if you're in an area where you've been told to evacuate and you haven't evacuated yet and they're telling you there's still time to go you need to leave now so you're not in our report afterwards in one of the lists of the fatalities that is greatly possible due to storm surge and inland flooding. water takes the most lives in tropical systems in the u.s. >> dr. rick knabb, thank you very much. we'll be back in touch. alisyn, the governor just said the i-10 corridor, which is the main artery here, to get out of jacksonville and the area surrounding is open. now is the time to go. i hope to god we're wrong about all this and that it stays the way it is and everybody's okay and it was just that we got the assessment wrong. that will be great. but we do not know that anywhere close yet. >> well it doesn't look like you're wrong because on the split screen on the right side

is daytona beach. that's where the hurricane is hitting right now and it sure looks different than how it looks, chris, in your location there of jacksonville. in data beach, it is just an incredible scene. i mean it looks like the camera is under water there's so much rain. and so much wind. and the reason that we know so much about this hurricane, and its track, is because of the work of our next guest and his team. richard henning is a meteorologist, and he is the flight director for noaa's hurricane hunters. what you're seeing on the right side of your screen is them flying into hurricane matthew. you can see their plane. their little prop plane bouncing around in the outer bands of the hurricane. and they do that so that they can gather data. richard, let's see if our technology works at 45,000 feet. are you up in the air in a plane right now? >> well, good morning, alisyn. and good morning to all your

viewers. yes we've been flying an eight-hour mission in the noaa gulf stream 4 aircraft. it's an unusual piece of technology. what we do is we actually fly across the top of the storm, and across the environment that surrounds the storm. about a 4,000 mile track that took us several hundred miles out into the atlantic. and across the top of the storm. and now we're actually in the gulf of mexico. the whole idea is we drop dropsondes which are weather instruments that fall from our aircraft. they fall by parachute. they take about 15 minutes to reach the water and the whole time they're transmitting data. the important meteorological data on winds, pressure, temperature, all the things that a computer model would need to help forecast the track of the storm.

just like you would have a weather balloon, except instead of the balloon going up, the dropsonde goes down, and again, we sample the environment around the storm, and this data is fed directly by satellite to the computers that the national hurricane center uses to forecast the track of the storm. >> so, richard, you are up in the air. you're 45,000 feet up, and you say that you're in the gulf of mexico because that's where you're gathering all the atmospherics around the storm. we're watching the video of one of your colleagues who flew directly into the storm. i know you've had that experience. can you just tell us what it is like in this little propeller plane when you fly through those outer bands of a hurricane? >> yes, we have two different aircraft that we employ at noaa. we have our gulfstream g-4 which is the aircraft that i'm flying

in right now. and then we have a p-3 orion, which is a four engine turboprop plane that actually does the real dirty work flying into the peak of the storm down at 10,000 feet. that's the one that actually penetrates the eyewall, and hits the really nasty ride. we get a lot of turbulence up here at 45,000 feet. because this is where all energy from the storm flows out. it's called the outflow region of the storm. so it gets pretty turbulent up here, as well. but not nearly as turbulent as we get going through the eyewall down at lower altitudes in our other aircraft. >> oh, my gosh. richard i mean honestly just watching the video is sending a shiver down my spine for anybody who's ever been in turbulence on a commercial flight the idea that you're on a little prop plane there going through the eyewall is so intense. so, richard, what have you learned now that you've been flying around and dropping these

instruments. what have you learned about hurricane matthew that makes this one different? >> well, one of the most important things that we saw tonight is that the storm is always changing. that the structure of the storm continues to reorganize itself. the folks around cape canaveral, the melbourne area, caught a little bit of a break with the storm making a slight turn to the right that spared them the worst of the eyewall. but, these storms can be very tricky. and they can veer back to the left. and reorganize and so this is still a very, very dangerous storm with winds well in excess of 100 miles an hour. and the folks in the warn area out ahead of the storm in the jacksonville area, and obviously the folks in georgia and south carolina have to pay very close attention to the emergency

management warnings, being issued by their communities, because this is potentially a very deadly storm. if it were to make direct land fall on the coast, and there's really nothing to prevent that from happening. it could very well cross the coast. central florida looks like it's been spared but the folks down the road may not be so lucky. >> richard henning thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us on "new day." we know you have our hands full and our meteorologists are relying on the data that you are gathering at 45,000 feet right now so thanks so much. we'll check back with you throughout the day. okay. so once again, there you see what's happening in daytona. it is a mess. it's very intense, all of the winds and rain there, that's what's headed in your direction, chris. >> and actually, as you were talking to the storm chaser there, the path of the storm has shifted west. and obviously every time it

moves west, it's bad for florida, because that means that the outer edge of the eye is now closer and that means more intense rings are now closer to aspects of florida. so let's collect in in daytona beach where the dramatic pictures of hurricane matthew present are coming from. and let's check in with the police chief, chief chitwood there in daytona beach. chief, we told you we would be doing the public service with you. of getting the word out. they're seeing people out on the roads. people have this understanding that they think it wasn't as bad as they expected. gut the truth you want people to know is you have no idea how bad it's been because you can't do an impact evaluation of anything and it's still far from over. chief? >> that's exactly correct. we're out here now with the city manager. we're up on a1a on the beach side. the winds have picked up tremendously. you know we have some rooftops that have been ripped off. some trees that have been snapped. gas stations have been overturned. there's, you know, we're looking at it now. we have not gotten the worst of

it yet. i cannot preach enough that you have to stay indoors. stay hunkered down. the worst of the storm is about to begin here for the next four or five hours. do not get out on the roadways. the winds are gusting at about 100 miles an hour. >> we're looking at really rough surf in st. augustine right now showing it to the audience. obviously as a, you know, something that serves as a reminder of what is potential right now, and your outer areas there of daytona beach, are you pretty sure that people evacuated there? >> we're about 75% have evacuated. even as we're out here driving around. you can see there's quite a few homes where there are cars in the driveways. there's a few hotels, and a few condos. so there's some people that are still here. they just have to remain inside until we give the all-clear. and like i said it's the next four or five hours are going to be really, really crucial for us. you can really see how the conditions have deteriorated.

you can probably see about 50 yards in front of you from the wind and the rain and the sand. >> i've been checking on my phone while we're hear in jacksonville and looking at it, and you know alisyn, my co-anchor, really explained it well. it does look like an underwater shot right now coming from that beach. and it's going to be sustained for several hours. and that's what the real concern is for you. the duration, because during that win go you won't be able to go out and get people and that's when the impact will be its worst. >> we're almost there right now. and i think one of the things that really concerned me is you just said that the eye jogged a little bit west. which means that's going to give us a greater impact here in daytona? >> and how are you going to be in terms of safety? do you have to stay out there? do you have a place where you could get back to just hold down operations until you get a window of opportunity? >> that's exactly what we're going to do. we've got the city manager out. we wanted to take a quick assessment then we'll be heading back to the emergency operations center and hunker down until the

worst passes by. >> obviously you can't get out there. we're really not stationed everywhere. i mean cnn's got people all up and down the coast but has anybody given you any good information about if there's been any impact on homes or what it's like in areas outside the downtown area yet? >> just from us being out. and we were out in force for about 3:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m., we didn't see much of an impact to homes. minor flooding, some trees down, power outages. but now as we're out here riding you can see there is some roof damage. you can see that there's power lines down the street. you can see that the worst is about to happen here. >> all right, chief. you know you can use us when you want to to get the word out about information people know. be safe. we'll check back with you soon. >> thank you. >> all right alisyn we're just starting to get a band here. tropical storm level is 39 miles an hour. that's an assessment level for emergency services. that's when they start saying that they can't go out and do

their evaluations. that means in jacksonville you're starting to enter a different era of urgency and we're still hours away from the worst. >> absolutely. i mean i think you're about ten hours away from the worst according to our meteorologists. we'll check back in with you in a second. i want to bring in krig fugate the head of the emergency management, fema, thank you for taking time to join us this morning. what concerns you the most at this hour? >> well, my concern has been the concern we've had all along. that's going to be storm surge. i want people to understand, you know, we're going to start getting reports out of south florida. it wasn't that bad. some power outages, some minor damages and people are going to think this storm isn't that powerful. they were not impacted by hurricane force winds. they did not see significant storm surge risk. we've known all along that was going to be a bigger risk for north florida and southeast georgia. so people may say hey it didn't look that bad. bad is happening right now right off of daytona. and it's going to continue to move up the coast.

we need people to move to high ground if they haven't. some places like the police chief said it's too late. stay where you're at. hang on until the storm passes. >> yeah, i mean, this is making a beeline to jacksonville. that's where our chris cuomo is. and it's going to work its way all the way up the coast before that. and there you can see on your split screen there what's happening in daytona. that is what is in store for millions of people. mr. fugate i know that the president signed a declaration of emergency for florida, as well as georgia, south carolina. what did that mean? what does that change? >> well, it just means we did the paperwork. we already started moving lots of people and resources in anticipation of the impacts to support the governors. we already had our teams in place. we had equipment and supplies, this is our documentation now to be able to release that to the states as they need it to deploy into the areas of impact. but again, people are looking at wind. people are looking at power outages. that is not the principle life

threat. the principle life threat is still storm surge and it could be much worse. they don't call jacksonville the river city for nothing. flooding can occur not only on the coast but well inland on the st. john's river, saint mary's and other tributaries as this storm moves into northeast florida, and southeast georgia. >> so what do you want people in jacksonville and the surrounding area to know? i mean if they're still there, and they have not evacuated what are they to do? >> move to high ground. you know, i have family live there. they all went down to my cousin's house in central florida to get away from the storm. too many people up there have not been through a hurricane. they've been through tropical force winds. the last time we had major hurricane impacts was back to 1964 hurricane dora and that hit south of jacksonville. this storm's going to put more water than they've ever seen. you have to go back to the late 1800s to see the potential impacts. a lot of people say i don't live on the beach, it's not a problem. in that part of the country, you live near rivers and creeks,

very low lying that water can go in tens of miles. you need to move to higher ground. you don't have much more time. daytona beach it's too late for some people, they just need to stay where they are. >> in jacksonville it's not too late. you're saying people still have a chance to move right now. >> yeah. i mean we're still seeing, starting to see those gusts coming in. it's going to start getting up tropical force. but time is running out. and the only thing that i can really see right now from this storm track is it hasn't gotten any better. people are saying well it's weakened, it's not a category 4. they don't understand how deadly and dangerous the water is going to be. they focus too much on the wind. they think the wind won't be that bad. i'm telling you, the storm surge is what we got to keep focused on. and people need to be moving to high ground. for some people it's too late. where you can still, move to higher ground. you only have hours left before the full brunt of the storm is in that area. >> and mr. fugate you say you have thousands of people poised

and ready to help. what will they be doing tomorrow? >> well, they won't be tomorrow. we're starting today working further south. urban search and rescue teams and other teams are on standby as the storm moves north we're going to basically be following it supporting the state. their priorities will be getting back in areas doing safety rescue missions and also assessments. utility crews will be following the storm north. so this will be one where as conditions improve further south we'll be supporting the state if they need assistance. but as we get in to the areas of heavy impact, we're ready to support commodities rescue teams, communications, the things that states may need in the immediate response, but when you -- when you also factor in the states have called out their national guard. they do mutual aid. they have a lot of resources. our job is to support. but we're ready to go starting today if needed. >> it sounds like you all are positioned in the right place. craig fugate, thank you very much for taking time to warn people, and tell us where you are. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> all right we'll be tracking

the storm, obviously, as it continues to hit daytona there. "new day" will take a very quick break. we'll be right back. i don't want to put life on hold because of a headache. that's why i use excedrin. it has two pain fighters plus a booster and for some, headache relief starts in just 15 minutes. now moments lost to headaches are moments gained with excedrin. [heartbeat] i'm jamie foxx for verizon. in the nation's largest independent study by rootmetrics, again, verizon is the number one network. hi, i'm jamie foxx for sprint. and i'm jamie foxx for t-mobile. (both) and we're just as good. really? only verizon was ranked number one nationally in data, reliability, text and call and speed. yeah! and you're gonna fist bump to that? get out of my sight. don't get fooled by a cut rate network. verizon gives you tons of data without all the restrictions. get 20 gigs and 4 lines for only $160. with no surprise overages on america's best network.

sureor put themhave ston a rack.e tires. but the specialists at ford like to show off their strengths: 13 name brands. all backed by our low price tire guarantee. yeah, we're strong when it comes to tires. right now during the big tire event, get a $140 rebate by mail on four select tires. ♪

all right. we're here in jacksonville. this is the new focus of maximum impact of hurricane matthew but that's not for several hoirs from now. but we are getting these intermittent bands with winds about 40 miles an hour. that takes you into tropical storm status. the only reason that's relevant is it triggers certain things. that is when emergency services stop getting out and organizing to make calls because it becomes too dangerous. it is just the beginning of what they're going to see in jacksonville. we'll put up on the screen what's going on right now in daytona beach. that is really the ghost of christmas present for people who are trying to figure out what hurricane matthew might mean to them. expert after expert keeps saying the same thing. everybody hopes that they are wrong about what can happen with a bad storm. but this storm is doing what they expected. this is just the beginning. they keep saying that matthew is big, it is slow, and has a long way to go. daytona beach has been getting

pounded. let's bring in chad myers right now. you're hearing it and i'm hearing people are saying this wind isn't that bad. it hasn't been that bad. first of all almost every locality has not been able to do impact assessments yet so they don't know what has been done. as you keep saying, still got a long way to go. >> and as you just said, there was a little wobble to the left. and you saw it, too, on your little radar you can look at on the phone. there has been just a slight wobble to the left and now that the eyewall is completely on land here, right along the cape, that's like playa linda if you know the area, not that fall from oak hill, new smyrna beach would be to the north. this is the first time we've seen an eyewall on land, wind gusts at 107 miles per hour. and that's what we expect if the eyewall stays on land all the way up the east coast. what you're also talking about, chris, was the onshore flow. the onshore flow of what's

happening here across parts of daytona. there should be a beach here. and every once in awhile a massive wave comes all the way through, runs all the way up past the light pole. this is on our surf line. here's flagler beach. i've watched this, i watch this live shot from surf line for many hours at a time. people should be on here fishing, and there should be another six feet of distance between the top of that pier, and the bottom of the water there, and i think that pier may have a little bit of damage before all is said and done here. here's the onshore flow that we've been talking about. i'm going to make some arrows here so you kind of get the idea. the wind is coming this way. on this side of the storm. the wind is coming this way on this side of the storm. so those arrows will push that water all the way in to jacksonville. and it will continue to do that as we work our way in to the rest of the day. chris your forecast is still going to be ten hours from where we are right now, compared to

where we will be by the time the storm gets as close to you as possible. so we have a long way to go. we have a dig distance before this storm makes its way up the east coast. it will eventually turn to the right away from the carolinas and away from even georgia. but for now we are in a slow motion. it feels like -- it feels like we're in quicksand with this storm because it should come right onshore and move and be done. but this isn't coming onshore. it's not dying. it's not doing that. it's lumbering up the east coast. so we'll have hurricane conditions in jacksonville and savannah. jacksonville probably i would say four hours before you really get hurricane conditions. and eight to twelve before it's the worst it will be. and then finally a category 2 off savannah, off hilton head, finally up to almost myrtle beach, and then completely offshore. that's the problem we've been talking about all day. eleven feet of water. you have high tide, four feet,

can you imagine four feet plus another eleven feet and where you would be at that time. our satellite truck would be completely under water. that's why i think you might need to scramble at some point in time during this day. >> cnn's got another shot set up and everybody's thinking ahead here. because we know what comes. but just over my shoulder this is the st. john river. as chad is explaining there aren't that many cuts in the east coast of florida for storm surge for water to flow through the ocean and come inland. we're about 15 miles inland here in this part of jacksonville. but this is it. this is the st. john river. look where it is already. almost to the top of the promenade. there's still 2 1/2 feet until high tide here without any storm surge. that's why things could change so quickly. that's why people keep telling you that's the risk with hurricane matthew. and even someone with mild common sense should heed the governor's latest advisoradviso. the i-10 corridor is still open. you have time to move. be safe. be safe. and if it's not what people expected, great, the laugh is on everybody who told you to be

scareful. right now be safe. somebody who wants that message to be very, very heard is senator bill nelson here of florida. senator, i saw you with vice president biden under very different circumstances earlier in the week. and now here we are with a hurricane upon us. >> what a difference a few days makes, chris. right now, the eye of the storm is off the kennedy space center, about 15 miles off the two launch pads that are perilously close to the water. i spoke to the head of the kennedy space center, former astronaut bob cabana. they're all buttoned down. but he's worried about the erosion and the damage that is going to be done to the structures there. but it's moving right up the coast, exactly as you said. >> we keep hearing from local

authorities, and i wondering if you have better information or you can echo the sentiment that they just don't know what the impact has been in the hardest-hit areas yet because they're not able to get out and do evaluations because the conditions aren't safe enough. is that what you're hearing? >> yes. and they don't know, the people who disobeyed the mandatory evacuation orders from the coastal barrier islands, they don't know because they can't get in there, in the middle of the storm. so, that hopefully we're not going to have any loss of life. but, watch out. >> god willing. you're building in the surprise factor here, not because there hasn't been word. but the eastern coast of florida, we always think of florida as being very storm savvy. but the east coast has not seen anything like what we're having here in jacksonville, let alone what's expected to come. is that true? >> not for a dozen years.

and the real monster was way back in 1992, hurricane andrew. we thought, as this approached, it was going to be a strong category 4. fortunately it's down to a category 3. >> right. right now it's staying at category 3. unfortunately, it is a very slow storm. it's moving at about 10 miles an hour. obviously that adds to the duration of impact. what is your caution to people who are saying, oh, this is isn't andrew. that was a much more powerful storm? >> well, you better take cover and keep cover, because the wind is blowing. i'm some 30 miles inland at orlando and you ought to see how it is blowing here. so they better stay indoors, don't become an accident that emergency crews are then going to have to worry about you.

let me say that the good news is that all levs of government in the six emergency operations centers up and down the coast that i have visited, all of them are working seamlessly between the federal, state and local level, and i think you'll see in the aftermath of the storm, all the people start coming together as florida has done so many times after tragedy after tragedy. >> let's hope that we don't add to the list of great comebacks that are necessary. we do know that president obama declared a state of emergency for the states that have been under the warning for hurricane matthew. freeing up funds to help with anything that is in the aftermath. senator bill nelson, thank you very much for joining us. as we've been saying to all the authorities. as you get information that you need to get out, please allow us to use our audience to help you. that's why we're here. thank you very much, senator.

>> thanks, chris. >> all right. we're showing you live pictures right now of daytona beach. that is hurricane matthew present. there are still hours of intensity to grow, even in what you're seeing right now there at daytona beach. there is an old expression that the definition of luck is when preparation meets opportunity. the authorities have prepared as well as they can and they have told people in the relevant areas to leave. now you have that last opportunity in and around jacksonville. the governor has said the i-10 corridor is open. if you are in a zone that was told to evacuate, please, do it now, and be safe. we're going to take a break. we'll bring you the latest on hur cane matthew in just a 340e789. finally! whatever captain obvious. hotels.com. great for families. mom! and for sore losers!

a john deere 1 family tractor there nevwith quik-parkt? lets you attach and go. imatch quick-hitch gives you more time for what you love, so it takes less work to do more work. autoconnect drive-over mower deck? done. they're not making any more land. but there's plenty of time if you know where to look. now you can own a 1e sub-compact tractor for just $99 a month. learn more at your john deere dealer.

i'm beowulf boritt and i'm broaa broadway set designer. when i started designing a bronx tale: the musical, i came up... ...with this idea of four towers that were fire escapes... ...essentially. i'll build a little model in photoshop and add these... ...details in with a pen. i could never do that with a mac. i feel like my job is... ...to put out there just enough detail to spur the audiences... ...imagination to fill in all the blanks. this windows pc is amazing, having all of my tools... ...right at my finger tips is incredible.

all right. this is chris cuomo in jacksonville. we've been here this morning. we have learned that jacksonville and the surrounding area will be the area of the eastern coast of florida to see the maximum impact of hurricane matthew. but that is not for many hours from now. and already we're getting these outer feeder bands of weather through here sustained gusts at or near tropical storm level. that's about 40 miles an hour. it's a relevant number or level because that is when emergency services stop operating. so this is just the beginning here. but at daytona beach, if you can look up on your screen right now and see what's going on. that is the ghost of hurricane

matthew present that's going on. it's just been pounding, winds in excess of 100 miles an hour have been recorded in several parts of that eastern coast. we have jennifer gray in palm bay, she's been getting hit with gusts there well over 80 miles an hour. a little bit of a lull. what's the current situation? you're right chris just before day break we had those very, very strong gusts. now, you can definitely tell that the storm is starting to move away. those gusts are less frequent. they are not as strong, we're getting probably 35, 40-mile-per-hour gusts now, as opposed to 80-mile-per-hour gusts earlier today. about five minutes ago we heard sirens. that's a sign emergency vehicles are starting to get out little by little now that the storm is moving away. unfortunately that means most likely somebody was in need. hopefully people along the coast were able to get out. i know that along the coast as

the storm was approaching storm surge was going to be a huge concern. we haven't been able to get out to the coast yet to check things out and see what the status is there. as this moves away the storm surge threat is going to stay to the north of the storm. is going to stay right around daytona beach, right now as we speak, it's all of that water is pushing onshore, and then as we get closer to where you are, chris, the storm surge is going to be a threat, as well. as you see, we are still getting some gusts. we are getting the powerful winds, as well. definitely nothing like we saw just before morning. now that the sun is up, you can kind of get a scope of how things are looking around. we took a walk around the grounds here at the hotel. there's minimal damage here but i expect that once we get closer to the coast, chris, things will unfortunately change because winds were definitely stronger closer to that eye. closer to shore. that eye stayed just offshore to us. luckily, but unfortunately it's paralleling the coast and any

little wobble to the west is going to mean very, very strong winds right onshore, chris. >> and we just saw a movement to the west. and obviously that's going to shift all of the considerations. we just heard from the governor's office two big points of information. one, 430,000-plus customers without power. the expectation of when it can be restored, uncertain. certainly for hours from now, most of those people will not have power which is why evacuation was so important. the second point of information, the governor is going to give a media statement. he's going to come out and do a press conference at 9:00 a.m. cnn of course will carry that live and hear from governor rick scott here in florida. jennifer gray is telling us what's going on right now, and she has said from the beginning the concern with this storm is it being a wet storm. storm surge. now that means in a place like this in jacksonville the st. john river one of the few cuts in the eastern coast of florida. that means that the concentration of water, the

volume of water, we saw 17-foot wave recorded 20 miles offshore, an indication of how much water is being pushed this way. it can come through these few cuts like this one here, we're 15 miles inshore, feeds into the st. john river, and that will create the surge of as much as ten feet, alisyn, and when that happens, then the whole game changes. because now you can't move. now power is out. now gas lines are stressed. and the resulting problems can't be addressed for many hours by emergency services. that's why you have to get when the getting is good and that is right now. >> that is exactly what everybody has been warning. the storm surge is what they think could be most deadly, even more so than the dramatic waves that we've been seeing. we'll be back with you in a second. on the right side of your screen you're looking at daytona beach. data is in volusia county. that's the place being hit the hardest right now and it has been for the past couple of hours. we want to bring in the director of the volusia county emergency management james judge. mr. judge we have been keeping an eye on your location for

hours on our program. what's the situation there? >> well, good morning. of course senator bell nelson did an outstanding job just kind of outlining some of the actions that have taken place here in florida. also, been in close contact with governor scott. governor scott did visit with us just a couple of days ago. but of course, as you know, this is something we planned for. this is something we've trained for. exercised for. for years. you know, to be able to deal with a situation like this. so, i would say things are going very well. of course we have the usual problems. power outages as you mentioned. we've got trees down. we do have sustained winds of over 45 miles an hour now. making it possible for public safety resources to respond to the community. we do have 21 shelters open at this point. five of those are special functional needs. we do have over 3600 people within those shelters.

we continue to monitor those activities and make sure those folks are safe. we do have a is your few in place that went into operation at midnight last night and it will last until saturday at 7:00 a.m. so we're encouraging people, unless you've got a heck of a good reason to be on the roads, you need to stay off the roads. >> yeah. about that curfew i do see director judge that you're taking a little bit of grief on twitter from people who are saying a curfew until 7:00 a.m. saturday, really? can you guys lift that curfew? you know i think the people think that once it's passed, why are they going to be under a curfew for 22 more hours. tell them what the -- what the fear is. >> well, that's a great question. when the curfew was put in place we were looking at sustained winds of 110 miles an hour with gusts to 130. we were looking at storm surge of over 11 feet. so obviously, you know, when you take those protective actions, you put that in place, you continue to monitor the conditions. of course conditions have somewhat improved.

it's still a very dangerous storm. you know, you're going to have trees down, power lines down, lots of dangerous conditions on the road, until the weather clears. public works is able to get out there to clear the road, the power companies are able to restore power and our public safety assets are able to respond to medical emergencies. as far as the curfew, obviously we're going to continue to monitor that, and should the need be there to pull that back a little bit, certainly the county manager will factor that into his consideration for the county. >> you were just mentioning that you have thousands of people in shelters, because your planning actually paid off and people listened and went to shelters. do you anticipate when the clouds and the rain clears that you will have to execute some evacuations there for people who were stuck in their homes? >> at this point, you know, if there's anyone -- damage opening activities right now given the

conditions it just would not be safe to be on the highway for anyone. so we will wait until the conditions improve. and then of course if we -- if we have any requests we can certainly fulfill those. we do have quite a bit of shelter space still available. but gern once the conditions improve. we expect that to be later tonight. initially we were looking at one or two-hour time frame on saturday morning for the tropical storm force winds to leave volusia county. we continue to monitor that based on the forward speed. so it might be earlier than expected and that could be good news for us. >> yeah. well again it looks like your planning did save lives there today. james judge from the volusia county emergency management. thank you very much for joining us on "new day." >> thank you for all you're doing to, you know, enhance the preparedness activities, inform the citizens. we're very grateful. >> you're welcome. we are trying to get the word out for anyone who still has power this morning and there are

millions of people in florida who do we are trying to get the word out. chris, back to you in jacksonville. >> all right, alisyn, let's bring in chad myers. do us a favor. take a look at what we know right now and project forward. what are we looking at in terms of direction, duration, and impact? >> let's move ahead 30 minutes, chris. and we'll move ahead to hurricane conditions on daytona. i know we've already seen some gusts to wind to hurricane strength. but we're not talking about gusts. we're talking about sustained winds now, as the category 3 off the shore, just off cape canaveral. now we're going to move you ahead about three hours, move it on up to jacksonville. and then eventually up to hilton head. those hurricane force winds are still onshore. and then they move a little bit farther to the right. we go past charleston. we may make a run at the myrtle beach area. but it is the storm surge that we're the most concerned about. 7 to 11 feet of storm surge on top of where the water already is now. winds are already gusting to 109

miles per hour on the cape canaveral coast right there, very close to where the eyewall is on land. the eyewall, the outer eyewall is absolutely onland moving into new smyrna beach. that's where the sustained winds of 100 miles per hour will be likely. hurricane hunters found a wind gust to 115 at the surface. that was in this little squall band here. guess where that squall band is going? that is going right in to daytona. that will eventually move to the north and get into your area as well. it is the push of the water, and it's the rain that's going to come down. i have rain fall to your west and to your northwest, chris of over ten inches of rain expected. that means we have all water coming down the rivers, and we have wind pushing the rain back up the rivers. so we may be over that 11 foot storm surge because of the flooding, the fresh water flooding mixing in with the salt water flooding. so moving you ahead now.

this is noon. your wind is onshore jacksonville still from the same direction down where jennifer gray is, moving offshore. moving away. pushing that storm surge away from shore. but then the storm surge gets right up into georgia, up into the carolinas and it will be a brutal afternoon. this is a long-term event. we are in the first quarter of this storm. >> all right. thank you very much, chad. i'm just looking on the screen here why this is getting more intense as i'm hearing you, and it's because there is a squall that's coming right over the top right now -- i can see how the haze is coming in. you know that is that offshore effect we're getting here 15 miles inland. the-river here storm surge is going to be the story of hurricane matthew. we're already at the top of this promenade. we're not even at high tide let alone dealing with the storm sung. let's go to jason foster. he is in the thick of it right now in central florida near cape canaveral. we know you've been gathering elements. jason, you're broadcasting as you drive, a storm chaser to the

end. what are you seeing? >> yeah, well i did actually stop, go ahead so i could get a view because i wasn't really getting a view but as you can see behind me, winds are picking up, same squall line. things are really kicking up for a moment there i was not quite full whiteout but it was definitely getting close to that whiteout conditions. certainly what most people would not be driving in at all. i was going maybe 20 miles per hour and i think this road is like at 50 miles per hour speed limit. so, gives you a little idea of the precautions you have to take sometimes, even though i'm out, i'm not going very fast. >> all right jason thank you very much. appreciate it. please stay safe and let us know what we need to tell everybody about how to stay safe, as well. alisyn, here in jacksonville, the situation has changed. you know we actually came here to set up thinking this would be the most stable place to be for the duration of hurricane

matthew. we're now being told that this area is actually going to feel the most concentrated impact of the storm but that's not for some hours to come. the situation is changing. right now, as we speak, we're starting to feel these next wave of these, you know, these energy driving bands that surround the hurricane. the winds picked up, about tropical storm level now but it's going to get much much worse and the story of the storm will be storm surge. rivers, like this. really flooding and changing the landscape for days to come. >> yeah and chris i mean it's a nerve-racking feeling there for people in jacksonville knowing that they're you know sitting ducks, and that the storm that they've seen play out so dramatically there south of them is moving up, and what you're experiencing, chris, there in the rain, is only going to intensify over the next ten hours. we also understand that governor rick scott of florida will be giving a briefing about the status of the hurricane so that will be coming up very shortly on cnn in the meanwhile chris

stay safe. great reporting. and hunker down as best you can there. >> well, we'll be here for the duration. we're going to cover governor rick scott's press conference right after this break. i'll stay on and do the coverage. "newsroom" will pick it up for cnn. the -- but they're already enough to shake -- with cnn. >> quick break. woah! you're not taking these. hey, hey, hey! you're not taking those. woah, woah! you're not taking that. come with me. you're not taking that. you're not taking that. you're not taking that. mom, i'm taking the subaru. don't be late. even when we're not there to keep them safe, our subaru outback will be. (vo) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. but when we brought our daughter home, that was it. now i have nicoderm cq. the nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release

technology helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. it's the best thing that ever happened to me. every great why needs a great how. across new york state, from long island to buffalo, from rochester to the hudson valley, from albany to utica, creative business incentives, infrastructure investment, university partnerships, and the lowest taxes in decades are creating a stronger economy and the right environment in new york state for business to thrive. let us help grow your company's tomorrow- today at business.ny.gov yeahashtag "stuffy nose."old. hashtag "no sleep." i got it. hashtag "mouthbreather." yep. we've got a mouthbreather. well, just put on a breathe right strip and ... pow! it instantly opens your nose up to 38% more than cold medicine alone. so you can breathe ... and sleep.

shut your mouth and say goodnight mouthbreathers. breathe right. try theraflu expressmax,nd flu hold you back now in new caplets. it's the only cold & flu caplet that has a maximum strength formula with a unique warming sensation you instantly feel. theraflu. for a powerful comeback. new expressmax caplets.

this is cnn breaking news. >> and good morning, i'm carol costello. i want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. chris cuomo live in jacksonville, florida. starting to feel the effects of hurricane matthew. all right so he can't hear me right now so the wind is causing all kinds of technical problems for us in jacksonville. the monster storm hasn't even hit where chris is in jacksonville. hurricane matthew batters the florida coast as a category 3 storm. more than 400 thought people are without power. and more than 4,000 flights have been canceled. the storm already slamming places like merit island, florida near cape canaveral. you can see power lines blowing out from the storm's force. also getting a clearer look at the devastation in haiti. nearly 300 people died. that number expected to rise.