i'm don lemon. a little past midnight here in myrtle beach, south carolina where you can see the wind is whipping up. tropical storm florence battering the carolinas out. i have the wind meter to see what the wind speed is and the storm gusts. really now up to 25, 26, almost 30 miles per hour wind gusts. this is the biggest we've seen pretty much so far here in south carolina, here where we are i should say in myrtle beach. and then up the beach just a little bit, about 10, 15 miles

we'll find our nick watt. i don't know what the wind is like where you are, nick, or the conditions are like but they've deteriorated here over the past hour or so. >> reporter: yeah, that's right, don. i mean we're about 15 miles up the coast from you and it is similar. you know, all day we were getting battered by winds coming from inland, coming off-shore, and actually, you know, this morning about 5:00 a.m. i was trying to grab a few hours of sleep and the wind was so strong it was actually moving our house, which is up on stilts as a flood defense, but maybe it is not such a good idea in strong winds. at about 5:00 or 6:00 everything went a little bit calm and suddenly the wind starting coming onshore. look at this now. we are still maybe a couple of hours away from high tide and the water is already up and past the normal high tide level, and the real fear here is that we're going to get storm surge, that we're going to get high tide coinciding, these onshore winds, and that could push the water,

don, into the town of north myrtle beach. it has happened here before. it happened back in 1989 with hurricane hugo, and it could well happen again. now, there are about 2,000 people we think who have hunkered down and stayed in their homes in north myrtle beach to try to ride out the storm. we can -- most of the power is out. i see a couple of places, a couple of streetlights. it has kind of been on and off all day, but emergency officials said to us most of the day, listen, it is not safe for us to go out so you guys are on your own unless you are in a life-threatening situation. as i mentioned, there was that lull in the afternoon in which the fire department went out, checked on a few people and then the wind picked up again and now it is too dangerous. for these 2,000 people, they're on their own through this wet, windy night. hopefully north myrtle beach will not be inundated but that's the fear, don. that is the fear. >> all right. nick watt, thank you very much. be safe out there. i want to get to my colleague now, martin savidge.

martin savidge joins us from wilmington. what are the conditions like where you are? >> reporter: they're improving here, don, and that's to be expected, of course, as the storm comes to you. it is moving away from us. but there are new dangers that are now beginning to pop up, and that is tornado warning and tornado watches. tornados are often a spin-off of the kind of weather you have, we think of the mass hit thing of the hurricane but there's the specific threat of tornados, and that appears to be more and more a reality tonight. of course, on top of that you have deluge of rain that continues to come down, the run-off that will affect all of the waterways here in a couple of days. it is almost like you face a second storm surge although this will be predominantly fresh water as all of that rain will reach the rivers and then down to the ocean. that's another problem they will face. on top of that we are dealing with many issues in many parts of the state without electricity. i think half a million people are without electricity in this

state. it is obviously most of the coastal areas. wilmington itself, there are large swaths without electricity. we were out near wrightsville beach. we tried to get out there, it is a barrier island, we could not. it is still too dangerous to ross the bridge. there are reports of structural damage. certainly reports of significant beach erosion on the atlantic side and they had problems with water inundation coming from the intracoastal as well as the atlantic ocean. ge again, if you are driving, and you shouldn't be, most areas are under curfew including here. it is too dangerous. it is so dark you cannot see the dangers when include massive trees that have come down across major roadways. there are also large pools of standing water that you can go driving into and hydro plain ned not see because there are the traffic lights and the streetlights are not working as well. there are the trees that continue to come down as a result of ground that's super-saturated.

they literally uproot and you have already reported today on the deadly, disastrous impact of that in wilmington and other places. so this continues to be a stayed wide -- actually, multi-statewide disaster. we are a long way from seeing the end of it. i know it has been said time and again, but it bears repeating. if you think the wind and rain are leaving your area, there are many other hazards perhaps that you haven't even thought of. don. >> thank you very much. i appreciate that, martin savidge. also out covering this is cnn's ed lavandera. ed lavandera joins us from jacksonville, north carolina. what are you seeing there, ed? >> reporter: well, you know, it is just simply amazing, don, that 48 hours -- more than 48 hours after we started to see the first bans of hurricane florence coming on shore in this part of north carolina -- we are on the north side, the topside of this storm, and really this

is the area that started seeing the very first effects of this storm system moving on shore. so there are several hours ahead in terms of rainfall compared to the rest of north carolina and south carolina coast, and simply exhausting just in the amount of rain that has fallen. you know, many people going to bed tonight hoping by the time they wake up tomorrow it will be down to the last few trickles of raindrops, but we'll have to wait and see exactly how that pans out. it is really causing problems. we were in the town of new bern, north carolina, don, throughout most of the day. this is the area where more than 300 people had to be rescued from their homes because of neighborhoods that were being flooded out. these were people who stayed back for a variety of reasons, either they were stubborn or didn't have the means to get out of these neighborhoods and chose to stay back. you know, you saw a fleet of volunteers and professional swift water rescue teams descend on these neighborhoods and pull out.

even saw a guy, like we met jason weinman who ten years ago had bought an old military-style troop transport truck that sits super high off the ground and he descended on that neighborhood to drive through the high water to get into the neighborhoods so he could transport people out of their flooded-out homes. so you saw stories like that unfolding throughout the day in this town, but as people go to bed tonight, don, and they continue to see these sheets of rain continue to fall heavily, not just on the coastline but inland as well, you know, they're waiting to see just how much worse the flooding situation is going to get. the good news is in some of the areas we saw where even if it stopped raining for a little while, it seemed like the floodwater would recede rather rapidly, so that is a good sign, but most importantly what needs to happen here is for the rain to stop. as you can see, picking up at a moment's notice that we're seeing once again here tonight, don. >> all right. ed lavandera, thank you very much.

downtown myrtle beach we'll find my colleague drew griffin where the flood threat is still very real. drew. >> reporter: very real, don, but i think we have to realize that what my colleagues don't have behind them, power. myrtle beach really has come through this unscathed so far. yes, they have some debris on the street they will have to clean up, but these sandbags never came into play during this storm. the wind has been dying down gradually as the storm passes. the big really concern -- it is not a threat to myrtle beach, but the concern now according to officials is all of the flooding that's going to take place in the rivers that will potentially block the roads that access myrtle beach. that's going to be a problem for all of the evacuees who are now really wanting to come back and also for all of the supplies that this town usually needs just to run, the gas, the groceries, everything else. so i think that officials here believe they have come through

the hurricane portion of this storm pretty well, don. now it is this aftermath that they have to deal with, the inland flooding not only for the people who are in the low-lying areas who are going to have homes flooded out but also for all of the access roads where you can actually get around and get material moving around this portion of south carolina. as of right now though, things look pretty good. like i said, unbelievably the power is still on. >> all right. thank you very much for that, drew griffin. we really appreciate it. listen, we want to get to a story that is breaking as this storm was moving toward the carolinas. there was a very real possibility that this administration was going to possibly replace the head of the federal emergency management agency, fema, brock long because of some possible improprieties with travel. i'm going to get now to michael venter who joins us now from the

"wall street journal" to talk to us. michael, fill us in on what happened. >> hey, don. yeah, rain and wind, it is flooding in southeast u.s., there's a real storm brewing back in washington and it is around brock long, the director of fema. we've been told at the journal that brock long has been traveling back and forth between washington and the fema headquarters and his home in, coincidentally, north carolina, hickory, north carolina. not only has he been going back and forth, but he's been bringing a crew of fema staff with him, several suvs worth of staffers driving him back and forth, a 400-mile trip back and forth, and he was warned not to do that, that this is against the law, it is illegal. this is maybe the most stunning detail of the story so far, is that after he was warned not to

travel with fema staff back to his house, the inspector general at the department of homeland security had brock long tail. he was put under surveillance and they followed him back and forth between his headquarters in d.c. and his home. the inspector general has briefed top white house officials, and this was in just days ago as hurricane florence was barrelling toward the u.s., and ultimately john kelly was the one who said, we have to wait for this report, brock long has denied any wrong doing, there's no final report, and there's a major storm coming at north carolina and south carolina right now. so we will see how this plays out maybe once this storm passes. >> it is interesting because you say they had him under surveillance. he knew that it was illegal.

he still continued to do it, and as i understand -- correct me if i'm wrong, michael -- is that the chief of staff, john kelly, kept him in the position until this investigation is through? >> that's right. brock long has maintained throughout the whole time that he's done nothing wrong, and part of his defense has been that past fema directors have done it, too. if that is true, that would still be -- that would still violate federal statute as the general counsel of dhs and the inspector general have already told mr. long. but that said, john kelly, you know, he's a military guy. he is a four star general. he's -- you know, he's inside the white house and, frankly, at dhs and fema they see a certain honor in john kelly's decision to give brock long his say. you know, there are some people who say perception is reality,

right, in politics and the mere fact of these allegations should force long out of his position. john kelly said no, we're going to wait to see what final report says. we're going to let brock long defend himself and, most importantly, we're going to get through this storm that's hitting north carolina right now. >> michael vendor with the story breaking for us in washington. michael, you framed it right. there's a storm brewing in the carolinas and one brewing in washington as well with the fema director. we'll keep on top of it. our coverage is going to continue here from florence in just moments, and we'll get an update on exactly what tropical storm florence is doing to this area, pounding wind and rain right now. when you're particular,

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conditions. big trees were falling down. you know, i can't get my arm around how big these trees were. if any vehicles were under there, you know, you would be trapped. so i did manage to get my way down here, and it is much clearer here but as the winds pick up tonight we could have some trees come down here as well. >> do you ever end up helping with rescues, mike? >> i do. a lot of times -- you know, it hasn't happened as much hurricane chasing, but tornado chasing, many, many times we are chasing a tornado and we're first on the scene because we're chasing and we turn into search and rescue mode. >> i've been telling people on the air all day, the hurricanes come through, obviously they don't move as quickly as tornados to, but they come through and they move on. >> right. >> and then you get the ram nants. this one is just hitting here. >> it is just sitting here. it is agonizing. everybody just wants it to get over with. but, you know, yeah, that's the thing about it. some move slow, some move fast, some have a little eye, some have a big eye like francis that

hit florida ten years ago. they're all different. this one will definitely have a story to tell and make history. >> but the thing is the sitting is the problem, especially when it comes to flooding. >> right. the sitting, the constant rain, you know, just rain. the water has nowhere to go. the ground is very saturated and, again, that's what i saw with the giant trees that were coming down. it may not have been so much the strong wind as much as the soil was so soft and then just a little bit of wind would knock 'em over. >> all right. so how do you -- tell me what you do here. how do you figure this out? >> okay. so i have -- this is a radar loop. you can see there's the eye. this was an image from a little bit earlier. it doesn't still look quite like that but i wanted you to see the representation. when i left wilmington earlier, which is up here, i literally stayed inside that eye and followed it all the way down to a certain point and then i got stuck behind a tree that fell and all of a sudden the eye wall came.

remember, you "throw-back thursda thursday" -- remember, you got the eye with the strong winds wrapping around it. at some point you have to go through the eye wall to get back out of it. >> you can see all of the debris on the road. this is all from wind. >> this is all from wind, big tree branches. further north there are giant trees completely laying down and blocking the road, but this is going to continue all through tonight and in part of tomorrow as well. of course, further north in the new bern area, i have some friends up there that are helping to actually rescue people right now, and it is really bad up there. you know, we predicted this could happen if the forecast was correct, and it looks like the rain forecast was correct. >> also the issue with this is that because it didn't make landfall at a 3 or a 4 or even a 2, right? >> right. >> the next time there's a concern -- >> yeah. >> of what? >> well, that's what i always worry about. people get frustrated and they say, oh, that was all hyped up, it wasn't as bad. well, the computer models, a lot were showing it would be that

bad. if it were as bad as some of the models showed it, you would not survive staying in the coastline. at the end of the day it is for your own safety. >> yeah. mike tyson joins me now. mike has been kind enough to give me his wind meter. i have been wondering why -- this wind is really picking you have. this is as strong as we've seen it in myrtle beach, right? >> oh, yeah. the winds have picked up over the last several hours since i arrived here. i think the winds are going to continue to increase here throughout the night. >> yeah. about 33 miles per hour, that's the wind gusts. we can get our meteorologist to figure out exactly what is going on. that's bands that are coming through and this is exactly what was predicted. as i was driving around with you, we saw lots of things down, we saw trees, we saw little inland flooding. you drove from where? you were at wrightsville beach when it made landfall? >> that's correct. i was in wrightsville beach when the eye made landfall there and it had winds of 87 miles per hour i measured, but then i

decided to follow the eye. i stayed inside the eye and drove all the way down here to myrtle beach. on the way i encountered trees in the road. luckily i had a chain saw with me. i was literally out there cutting up trees out of the road to get there as well as flooding was going on, and the winds were picking up and blowing debris in the road. it was a treacherous haul down here. >> you called the vehicle the hurr? >> that's correct, the hurricane eye wall research vehicle. we decided to develop this because we wanted to record extreme winds within the eye wall of hurricanes. sometimes hurricanes make landfall in areas that don't have weather stations, so we want to be the mobile lead to record the winds for historical data. >> i'm going to bring in -- stand here with me, mike. i'm going to bring in our meteorologist. allison, we are getting giant wind gusts here. tell us what is going on. >> so the big reason you are seeing it is that the storm itself is shifting. if you think about it, think of the power outages for example. for the majority of the day

friday we saw the large numbers in north carolina because that's where the center of the storm was located. now that you're starting to see that shift where the center of circulation continues to move into areas of south carolina, the power outage numbers are going up there. the strongest portion of that storm is now shifting into areas of south carolina, so naturally you are going to see those winds begin to increase, especially along those coastal regions. so your areas like myrtle beach and north myrtle beach as well. i would like to point out too, don, mike talked about part of the reason they do this is because they want to go to places where they don't have those weather stations, that they can get data. one of the other things we noticed is even the places where the weather stations exist, they've gone off line because they've lost power. so it is also very important for what he is doing because it gives us that data to know where this storm is going and get that fresh information as well. >> yeah. our meteorologist said because of the power outages some of the information they need has gone off line. they actually get the information from people like you

and from your truck, and the national weather service, they use you in their reports, right? >> yes, they've used my data in the past including hurricane charlie when we recorded a barometric pressure of 942 millibars. we were the only ones that recorded that low rate in charlotte harbor. the national hurricane center will occasionally use our data. it is calibrated equipment so it is verifyable and that's the purpose to try to be mobile to get into the eye wall. i developed it with the windows protected and the way i did because to penetrate the eye wall is dangerous. there's lots of flying debris everywhere. so you have to be able to get into the zone to record the winds. >> and you developed the truck after you said you were stuck, you had a very close call that pretty much destroyed your car, and you went to an expert and said, listen, i want to do this, i want to develop this vehicle and that's how you put it together? >> that's correct. after hurricane charlie in 2004, i was in just my regular car with no armor on it at all and i recorded a category 4 make

landfall and shred a gas station to pieces while i'm sitting in my vehicle. i said, you know what, i need to armor a car so next time i do this i have a lot more protection. >> so when you are in that, let's say if you were out in this, do you try not to get into winds like this? do you try to stay within the eye wall or do you allow yourself to be in conditions like this so that you can get the reading? >> yeah, no, i try to get into the eye wall. i'm trying to get into those places that most people don't go to record this data, and i'm trying to get into the calm eye, the center of the storm. the only way to get to the calm eye is first you have to go through the eye wall. so it is a double whammy because you go through the eye wall, you get into the eye, you collect the data and then you have to go through the eye wall a second time. >> mike, thank you so much. i appreciate you letting me ride around with you and giving us the information. >> any time. >> you be careful out there. >> all right. >> allison, thank you. these wind gusts are unbelievable. i want to get now to the mayor

of new bern, dana -- i'm sorry. dana outlaw. pa me. mr. outlaw, listen, i know that you have had some major flooding in the area. you've had some -- many rescues. i have spoken to you quite a number of times throughout our broadcast here. what's going on now? have you been able to get all of the people out of new bern that you were trying to rescue? >> there's probably still about 30 residents that are not -- have not been rescued. we have gotten about 300 that have been rescued. three days prior to the storm we really mobilized the ideas about how we were going to get out and get the word out to the state channel, the media, and in addition to that we went out with fire trucks with p.a. system, with national guard vehicle and two recreation buses

with our recreation department, and we just were going door to door, our police officers were going door to door asking people to evacuate. in addition to that, if they were not home we would leave them flyers. i helped a lady over to a shelter and there was a lady next door and i rolled the window town and asked her did she want a ride with us. she said no, i got my car right here, i'm going to wait a while, and not knowing whether or not the roads will be passable. this is what was going on a little bit. new bern has not had a major hurricane like this since probably hurricane hazel. so i think just we're a little bit cultured that these things don't happen in new bern and they actually -- this has been proven that 10 1/2 feet of water in new bern, north carolina. >> oh, any gosh. well, you guys are really getting it there. 300 rescues, that is amazing.

30 more that you believe that you have to do. listen, mayor, i'm going to let you go. we appreciate you joining us. we may have to get back to you to get an update from you. but, again, that is the mayor of new bern, dana outlaw. he has really had a hectic day when it comes to this particular storm. listen, people are riding this storm out and we're going the talk to one of them just on the other side of this break. we are back with our continuing coverage. keep it here on cnn. ♪ you shouldn't be rushed into booking a hotel. with expedia's add-on advantage,

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hit very hard by florence over the last 36 hours or so, and finally this storm is starting to release its grip on this city and on this area. i think you guys are still feeling it quite strongly down there, but finally the wind is starting to taper off, the rain is certainly less right now. but they have a long, long way to go. this is a town that has seen roofs blow off, seen walls come down. they've seen a lot of trees that are down. they won't know the full extent of it until morning. they are still dealing with flooding in certain areas, of beach erosion for miles along the beach here, which will be difficult for a town and an area that survives on its beach and it is known for its beach, but two feet of sand is now just completely washed away down there. in the morning authorities will be able to get out and figure out how bad the flooding is, how bad the damage is to the surrounding area and figure out when they will be able to get

people back in here. there's one way in, one way out. about 600 people of the 6,200 that live here rode out this storm. tomorrow we will get a full account of how they did. don. >> all right. miguel marques. take care of yourself. we appreciate your reporting. listen, as i've been saying, people have been riding this storm out. one of the people who rode it out, still riding it out, john crutch. john, you're originally from north carolina. come on in here. originally from north carolina but now you live here in myrtle beach. why did you decide to stay? >> made a promise to myself a long time ago, don, if there was a big hurricane and i had the opportunity to ride it out, i would stay and if i could help afterwards i would be here. there will be a lot of people that need help after the storm so i want to be here to help. >> how are you feeling about your decision now? >> i feel pretty good. we got really fortunate in myrtle beach. the whole time it was forecast as a category 4 and got close to the coast, and now we're down to

a tropical storm and we were spared. this is comparable to hurricane matthew back in 2006. >> tell us what you have seen while riding the storm out. >> this is minimal damage compared to two years ago when hurricane matthew came there. a lot of wind, but not as much water as we saw. i have not seen as many trees town throughout the city of myrtle beach. i've heard a few power outages but i'm curious to see what will come tomorrow? >> how is your home faring. >> i'm in old air force base housing so they're pretty solid. >> i went through that neighborhood the other day. i saw there's plywood up that said, "florence go away." i don't know if you saw that house. >> florence can go away. >> going away now. it is you and your dad here? >> yes. >> so you are fine. that's a low-lying area and those are single-story homes. so if there is flooding -- >> luckily our street has never flooded. they flood a little bit until

the city stormwater catches up, but it is the intracoastal and the river that has flooding over the next few days. >> you still have power? >> yes. >> some people in their home being rescued, did that draw concern for you? >> not for me. north carolina has been hurt more than we are right now. my heart goes out to them. we have been fortunate and we haven't had a lot of water issues yet. >> thank you very much, john. glad you are okay. we're glad your dad is okay as well. i want to get now someone else who has been riding this out. michael halman and he joins us now. now are you faring? >> i'm doing well so far. fortunately, you know, the house is still sbookintact. we didn't have any water. the general neighborhood is not in good shape at all. i mean there's massive trees that have been here for, you know, decades and they're deleaved and debranched and broken in half.

it is pretty sad actually. >> yeah. i understand that you're in a mandatory evacuation area. you didn't leave, your dad didn't. tell us exactly where you are and the conditions. >> well, the storm is still pretty -- the winds are still pretty high here. you kn, we are probably getting gusts up to 50 or so. i don't know, i don't have any wind meters or anything like that, but we had a bunch of flooding earlier today we were able to kind of help stave off a little bit, trying to keep the storm system -- there was so much debris a lot of the storm drains and stuff were clogging with the debris and keeping the walter from being able to flow out. so we were out circulating around, trying to keep some of that stuff open as well as pulling, you know, limbs and branches out of the roadway. >> i understand that you've lost power? >> oh, yes. yeah, it went off about 8:45 this morning and has been out ever since.

>> so, listen, can you get out if you want to? are the roads flooded where you are? >> no. well, we are actually on an island, and so the authorities closed the bridges to those islands when the winds get above 45 miles per hour. so if you don't evacuate at some point, you know, you are forced to stay. at some point it may open up. i really haven't been out in too many areas, you know, wandering around with winds at 70, 80 miles per hour, it is not a prudent idea. so i don't know. tomorrow at first light we will get out and once the winds get down really and assess the area and how much, you know, how much damage. there's neighbors that have been asking us, you know -- there's about four or five of us that actually stayed and neighbors asking us, hey, can you go by and see, is there any damage to my house, you know, any flooding and stuff like that. so we're trying to help the folks out in the neighborhood as well, you know, with getting them reports and things about

how their homes are doing. >> mike, any idea when that evacuation order might be lifted? >> no idea. i mean it is going to depend basically on services and accessibility. i mean the area i live in, i'm not on the beach but i'm about a quarter of a mile from it. to get to it, you have to go down a road that's, you know, along the beach and these -- these latest winds since the eye has moved past us here at oak island and started going westward, you know, the winds have been pushing all the water up against the beaches. so it is hard to say whether those roads are going to be accessible or not. i mean once the winds die down, i'm sure they'll have crews to clear them, but it is possible you can't get out now because the roads are blocked. >> yeah. michael, we thank you for joining us and we wish you the very best. stay safe, okay? >> thank you very much.

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there you go. that is what the ocean looks like, the atlantic ocean looks like in myrtle beach. but all over this area, florence has been really battering the carolinas. i want to get now to my colleague, brian todd. he joins us now from wilmington. brian, you have been riding all over the area and you have seen some pretty interesting things over the last couple of days. i know last night you got a really good look out on the roads, what is going on. i'm not sure how much you have been able to drive out tonight and see. >> reporter: well, don, we have patrolled around the wilmington area quite a lot today, witnessing --

>> all right. we lost brian todd. brian todd is in wilmington. again, he's been -- he's also been able to witness some of those rescues that have been happening. brian also witnessing some flooding as well. i got a chance to go out with storm chasers and also with police to survey some of the neighborhoods around myrtle beach, and some -- there are some areas that are bad, but considering they fared well. i should say worse than others is a better way of putting it. there was some flooding, there were some downed tree lines. there were some power lines that were down as well. and then so we got brian todd back i think. brian, can you hear me? do we have you back? no brian todd. listen, we're going to continue on here. we're going to talk to some of the business owners who have having to deal with this, having to deal with the loss of money, also being displaced.

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sadly, in this storm we have had loss of life. we have had loss of property and really we have had loss of business as well. because there are this is a tourist area. here in the carolinas. also charleston. and let's go to charleston right now. i want to go to adam randle. the owner of the cod father. and they specialize in fish and chips. i understand you were out

yesterday and you were hep helps with the rescuers serving them meals. what's going on and talk about how much business and how much really money business owners are losing. this is going to hurt. >> yeah. it's going to hurt a lot. today was kind of like a ghost town. where i was especially. most people boarded up and gone home. not a lot of businesses were open. we didn't have a particularly great day. and we're going to be closed tomorrow. due to the weather. there's another day we'll lose. as far as the cost of probably in excess of $10,000 for me already. and it hasn't everyone started yet. it doesn't look like it it's going to. >> all right. sorry about that. so listen, talk about also the loss of power. you lost it for a little bit. you had thousands of pounds of fish you needed to obviously

keep cold. and then some of that you decided to go out yesterday and give it out to the rescue workers. but when you lose power with busine business owners ploourz. that hurts. yo lose lots of product and stock. >> obviously. health and safe temperature. and cold storage limits are a big requirement. you have to hold your food and products at the correct temperature. and the minute it breaks the threshold it's trash. as far as they're concerned. it has to be disposed of. so it can add up just throwing things away that spoiled by losing power. >> so listen, talk about what folks there are saying. you haven't really gotten the brunt of it. what are you dealing with there?

>> we're not dealing with that much. i don't know if more will come through tonight. it's already nearly 1:00 in the morning. it's windy. gusts of wind. a little bit of rain on and off. not anything really like you're seeing in myrtle beach. and nothing like north carolina is seeing. >> yeah. so listen, i'm not a business owner. is this an insurance situation? does your insurance company e help out in this? >> no. not really. i know my policy personally. set at 72 hours. so what that meeps is the first three days i'm on my own. you have to be close business for. they write the policies in the way it favors themselves. you have to take the rough with the smooth.

>> thank you very much. adam. we appreciate it. owner of the cod father in charleston. here in the carolinas. if you drive down ocean boulevard here in myrtle beach. you'll see business after business. hotel after hotel just closed. many boarded up. when you see that, that means there's no income. not only for the owners but for the people who work there. those people aren't getting paid. not getting a salary. people here many people don't have means. and so they're going to have to deal with suffering from that. not being able to have a paheck and repair homes. and fix up whatever property loss that nay have. all of this comes at a cost. if it doesn't come at a physical cost with people sadly losing their lives. it's a fiscal cost for the community and for the people who live here.

the winds have picked up here. within the last two hours in myrtle beach. so this is what folks are dealing with. the inundation of water and wind. and dealing with it for quite sometime. this has been sitting on top of the carolinas for days. it will be continue to sit and just dump water. that is it for our coverage here. in myrtle beach. i'll hand it over to my colleague george howl. and pick up the coverage from here. and zero minimums to open an account. we have fidelity mutual funds with zero minimum investment. and now, only fidelity offers two zero expense ratio index funds directly to investors. because when you invest with fidelity, all those zeros really add up. ♪ so maybe i'll win, saved by zero ♪

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cost support options. in 2011, california passed a law requiring carbon monoxide alarms in single-fami... (beeping) ...in single-family homes. that was seven years ago. (beeping) carbon monoxide alarms... (beeping) (annoyed sigh) ...typically last (beeping) seven to ten years. which means california's about to start hearing

a lot of this... (silence) but you can beat the b... (beeping) huh-huh. by getting a new kidde carbon monoxide alarm now. beat the beep by going to your local walmart to find the kidde solution that's right for you. (beeping) huh. our breaking news coverage continues this hour. welcome to viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm george howl live in wilmington, north carolina. covering florence. now a tropical storm. that has prufen