the state with life threatening storm surge. multiple people are dead after more than a powerful tornadoes ripped through the state. at least 116 tornado warnings are still in place. you're watching "fox and friends" first here on a thursday morning. i'm top pilot and i'm carley shimkus in saint petersburg. strong winds ripped the roof off of tropicana field, which is home to the tampa bay rays. now, that stadium was converted into a 10,000 person base camp earlier this week to emergency workers. we have team coverage this morning just as in studio. but first, we begin with fox sweaters. >> yeah coach at the backside of the day i will is no joke. when we set up shop here, a little after 1:00 in the morning and we were taking the northern iowa wall things quieted down.

we had woken up so i didn't have a chance to dig into what i had in the radar and we are actually in the eye and to eye a little bit north inland and made landfall a little farther to the south and the moderators were show but this back i will is no slouch. for a second there i was thinking the worst is over in atlanta. it doesn't look terrible on raider with the ferocious northern eye while in daytona beach right now causing a lot of damage. but we have had sustained winds 40-50 miles an hour and a couple of gusts over 70. it is pretty legit cat 1 hurricane which is milton right now. orlando overall relatively minor. downtown orlando not far from the hotel where couple block radius and we still have power so that is a good thing. that is the big thing everybody

was buzzing about, will be have long-lasting power outages? i don't think we will be out of the woods yet considering the back i well and it will stick around for little bit. but overall so for the damage relatively minor entry branches and over the road and some are blocking the storm drain we've had a cooling of water on the roadways. but again, i'm talking a couple block radius so there could be damage on the outskirts obtained. we will have to wait and see on that. went the sun comes up we will have a better idea. we will walk around to have a better scope. that is the situation in orlando. this back eye wall a pretty solid chance to see significantly more damage. >> todd: before we let you go, one of the concerns janice reminds us of in storms like this not letting your guard down too soon. not thinking it is over. obviously you were in the

eye wall for a while and it was common i was listening to the coverage and it looked picking up now. you see anybody else who may have said, we are all done and we can walk around orlando where is everybody hunkering down trying to stay safe? >> everybody is hunkering down. i seen a person or to let mainly in the parking garage. it is interesting to experience this because even as a meteorologist who has covered some of the steps there was a moment, are we done and going to have win to show on the shots? it would pinwheel around the iowa wall and guess what, it happened in here we are. i think it will be bad for little while longer. >> carley: thank you for bringing the latest from orlando. and a stain with the fox weather forecast. one of the things i thought about as i woke up this morning is without 24 hours ago at this time, the storm would be heading. right now, you see orlando the

middle of the state is already gone to the west as. people on the east coast experiencing the storm right now. speak of it is a humbling profession because as much as we can tell you, we have a good idea where the track will go and the timing. these storms have a mind of their own. they can do what they want. tropical meteorology so we give it that column that the uncertainty and we always tell you we can't give you the exact time or location with the center will make landfall. it caught us off guard 8:30 was the landfall. we were expecting overnight hours and it was a category three in fact cohen so the forecast was great but it did make that two were eastward a little bit faster than we predicted that the result still the same. we still have incredible storm surge and we will see tornado damage. that would be for me that they surprise but this hurricane. we always talk about the storm

surge, the heavy rainfall, hurricane-force winds we talk about the tornado risk. however, this was insane! 126 tornado warnings and this will probably in terms of how many tornadoes we got from landfall hurricane, top three. because the set up was we just had the conditions favorable for the spin outs. usually, they are weaker tornadoes, quick movers. these were like legit tornadoes that you see from a set up across the great plains when you have a cold front anza two air masses, the warm air mass and the cold air mass. when we study hurricanes coach at this will definitely be something people are going to write papers on the fact that we got so many tornado reports. interim avenue heavy rainfall st. petersburg 18 inches of rain in the north side of the storm was the rainmaker, south of the

core, the strongest winds would be the surge. it will take some time to go out there and see all of the reports and see if they verify to what we were forecasting. flash flood warning right now. we had when he and tampa st. petersburg area. it looks like we have some letting concerns for orlando where we saw ari fleischer a few moments ago. here is the track and it is about to move into the atlantic and we have the potential 3-5 inches of heavy rain again north of the center circulation, and then we will see the storm move out into the atlantic a an end it will not bother anyone else. 100 mile-per-hour winds and 107 mile-per-hour winds st. denis, st. petersburg. the forecast was right on in terms of the track and again it will take times to assess the damage to see if we got those storm surge totals. certainly the heavy rain is verifying because we were predicting a foot or more of heavy rain.

the storm itself, and by the way, large storm as we were talking about, a very compact hurricane and 5 and when interacting with a cold front, it started expanding, a large storm. much of the state will fill this, 62 per-mile-an-hour winds daytona beach, 384 madero beach and that will go the next couple of hours. and you saw the backside of the storm and then by this afternoon it will be out of here. but we will see some pretty frisky winds on the east coast of florida. and the damage when the sun comes up here till they will be extensive damage, there is no doubt. >> carley: you were talking about the tornado someone at the big tragedies we already know about when it comes to the storm coach at the tornadoes ripped through st. louis seemed to and it hit a mobile home retirement community and there were

fatalities reported. i can imagine people in the area thought they were on the east coast of florida and stayed in their mobile homes and how people have died. >> listen, we have the warnings and we knew potentially it could be bad. we always knew the orlando east coast of florida with category 1 hurricane with 100 mile-per-hour winds. you can only do so much as a forecaster and local officials to say hey, this is a big deal not only for the best ghosts the for the whole state of florida. listen, i have gotten text reports from people taking we didn't know the tornadoes were going to be the cause of the most damage. >> you have been working overnight on fox weather and fox news and now into the early morning hours. we thank you so much. we will check back with you. let's bring in center jay collins. thank you for joining us in your

in odessa, florida, a half an hour outside of tampa area and janice was talking about flash flood warning that how would you describe the scenario outside right now and how have the overnight hours been for you? >> well, it it was a rough night across the bay. you heard about the violence of the storm and you heard about the rain, the wind, in speeding up. and fortunately, we did have people that he did rescue, 40 plus calls in the town & country and waiting right now 368 plus in hillsborough county. here at our house, we left several trees just outside of our door. it was pretty interesting here with our family. hunkering down in our home across the community. it has been pretty rough. >> todd: governor desantis said you had the largest national guard ready. how long before they really get

to began in earnest searching and rescuing people questioning. >> i know they are working overnight making sure they have good intelligence and good information on the ground. listen as they get out, they will be out there. i know within the hillsborough county, we have people ready, getting out and do damage assessments across the community. we have almost 600,000 people without power just in our county. i believe the number was 2.93 million across the state. this is incredibly complex storm because of how wide it hit and how many people involved in it. the governor is incredible what he does. there is no equal for what they are doing in response to the hurricane. >> carley: senator, we mentioned earlier but what about tropicana field and the bends with think the roof off? maybe so more important because it was turned into a base camp for 10,000 emergency workers.

so what about that? >> thank goodness they removed a lot of stuff and signs. but the magnitude of this storm and the violence with which it hits. it is something that definitely people should remember. as floridians we see a lot of hurricanes and beat complacency and say hey, one more storm up broadside hit of the storm this magnitude is a game changer. i know personally my family and i were out yesterday and we were trying to push people to leave their homes, especially those in mandatory evacuation areas. we got many of them to leave that some decided to stay steadfast. i hope those communities are safe and we will check on them later. >> todd: you are an attorney general with a pretty grim instruction to those people. write your name in sharpie on your arm. that coming from ag, ashley

moody, in case a recovery mascul mission. >> how long do you think people will make it to in-state? let's face it, this is not a situation where they have nothing else to do. they have been dealing with helene and still damage not only throughout florida but georgia and north carolina and all of the carolinas as well. how long before out-of-state resources will make their way into florida? >> i know we have 50,000 power truck stage right here within the state. hundreds of thousands, the call right now across the country. i think you will see those things marching into the state as soon as thumbs up all clear to move into the areas. moving already in stay as close as they can. florida's response team is amazing. what governor desantis needs an florida emergency management along with d.o.t., they are at the top of the game.

we are getting good at the complex of the storms. and i'm sure we will get squared up a moving forward quickly. >> carley: i can't wait these rain totals in st. petersburg. they receive 18 inches of rain and to put into perspective, the previous tie with 7 inches. what does that do to the community when the sun comes up, what do you think things will look like? >> i know it was out there little bit walking through my community. i know that flooding all over hillsborough county town in tampa all the way down to venice. we have friends to fort myers, there was flooding here all the way down to the coast. to your point hurricane helene just went through here. we are still dealing with the aftereffects of it. to be honest with you, over 20 inches above normal when it comes to precipitation. many trees have loose soil saturated and very prone to pulling.

we will see some catastrophic damage as we go through the community here in a few hours. >> todd: state senator we touched upon this with janice as well. do you think the atlantic coast prepare for the storm especially at the storm surge? it is tough to prepare for tornadoes that the atlantic coast is prepared? >> well, i do. kevin guthrie and governor desantis did a good job getting information out there. but i don't think anybody saw the tornadic activity coming from the storms. it operated as a nor'easter is what i saw that than the right side of the storm think the net side, t precipitation was on the north side. that is pretty strange here. couple that with the broadside hit on the state of florida and it created such unique and balance storm. one thing i know across the state communication was fantastic.

people were sending information pointing back to save the resources are out there. my heart goes to floridians who lost their lives and their families right now. >> carley: obviously you are most focused on your state right now in your constituents, pet president biden made several comments yesterday. let's get your reaction on tim. flee talk a lot about misinformation from former president trump and what people believe to be the federal response when it comes to hurricane helene. what did you think about those comments questioning. >> well, what i will tell you is this, when i talk to people cross north carolina, south carolina, tennessee, there are a lot of hurting people right now. we have a part-time legislature my full-time job, we actually see people after natural disasters and we are feeding people across all those areas and what i hear is a lot of fear. a lot of people are very scared and upset. thankfully, here in florida, our

governor is leaving, communicating, and i'm grateful for what he's doing and ultimately this plays out and we will have fake plain sight picture of what is going on and where the gaps were. but ultimately, america needs leaders and that is why elections are so vital. >> carley: you were part of the spring press conference and you said her time bring the best of people and it's not about politics but point will take an, senator collins, we are thinking about everybody in the state. >> god bless. >> todd: let's bring in storm chaser ed sweeney. storm chasers like you'd expect milton to be catastrophic. have you seen any data coming out of the storm that leads you to believe it will be anything other than the dire prediction that everybody made questioning. >> good morning, todd. no, it is significant event where the storm category 5 on

two occasions. the wind field expanded as it approached the coast which bakes and the storm surge threat here to the west coast of florida is very prone to search and a very shallow continental shelf of the best coast. so no, i expect to see pretty significant damage in that regard. and obviously a higher end winter reports as well. >> todd: 24 hours ago as we sat in these chair i don't think anybody said tornadoes would be the main story can manifest. even though it is a little premature to say it is officially the main story but nonetheless, why have tornadoes been such a major aspect of the storm? >> i think there is a couple of factors to that. one is there has been significant matter of wind shear and dry air around the storm. while wind shear will negatively impact the strike and overall

hurricane, wind shear and directional wind shear is a big component to have storms rotate in the outer bands, which is where you see the most tornadic activity typically. combined with the dry air component as janice said, much more like a system you would see in the great plains. and that tornadoes visually look pretty similar to what we would see in the great plains or american deep south. >> todd: i read an article that said the florida west coast line is going to be changed forever. what is your assessment of that when the sun comes up? are we going to see a coastline that is completely changed from what it was this time yesterday questioning. >> i think in some areas, especially to the south of st. peter where we call right front quadrant here just so in this case the storm moves northeast, that area is near the eye wall into the south would

experience the full brunt of the storm surge. so i think that would be very likely. >> todd: mansion to the top you are a storm chaser but milton compared to other storms that you have studied and that you have chased, ed! >> sure, it would be up there in terms of atlanta basin and historically at its peak, it was among the top five or six strongest hurricanes in terms of pressure, lowest pressure, which is probably the best measure how strong the storms are. it will definitely be more notable storms we see and especially for this area west coast of florida, which outside of the ian a couple of years ago has really had a dearth of significant or major hurricane lamp falls over time. >> todd: so many of the viewers on the east coast of florida and i know they write us and they are always checking in with us to the extent that they

still have power and watch us right now. any warning or any advice to them as this storm is basically over them right now, if not about to be there in the next couple of minutes? >> sure. i think the best advice is especially in a lot of these areas as a primary threat now, there is still a search that to some degree, lesser degree on the east coast of florida but still there and especially no north. the rem net eye in center circulation. the heavy rain threat and the high wind threat would be hunkered down and stay inside and don't go out unnecessarily, even post warm to lots of things can happen. air is downed wires, down trees, glass around so hunkered down. at the center is pretty close to merging up the east coast of florida. so state and shelter where you are and follow the national

weather service and local officials, their advice pretty closely. >> todd: i am so glad you mentioned post storm and i will throw went live power lines down and electrified water, those do not mix and can be deadly. ed sweeney, thank you for your time here this morning. our coverage of milton continues all morning long as residents across florida are waking up to disruption. >> losing everything that biden administration's focus is on misinformation. more on the response from the white house next. >> quite frankly, these lies are un-american. >> the administration also continued to work out and call out misinformation and conspiracy theories around the storm. ♪ ♪

have you ever thought of getting a walk-in tub for you or someone you love? now is a great time to take a look at getting a safe step walk-in tub. with safe step's standard heated seat and new fast fill faucet, you can enjoy a nice warm bath up to 20% faster! and the convenient touch pad control is right at your fingertips. each tub comes standard with a dual hydrotherapy system. the ten water jets can help increase mobility, relieve pain, boost energy, and improve sleep. while the microsoothe advanced air therapy system oxygenates and softens skin. safe step walk-in tubs are built to maximize safety. so you can stay in your home and enjoy the comforts of bathing again. so call now for more information

and a free no obligation consultation. ah, these bills are crazy. she has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect.com.

why choose a mobile network built for places you'll probably never be... ...instead of for where you are most of the time? xfinity mobile was designed for where you need it most. xfinity internet customers, ask how to get a free 5g phone and a second unlimited line free for a year. ♪♪ when you have moderate to severe eczema, it's okay to show off. with dupixent, show off your clearer skin and less itch. because you have plenty of reasons to show off your skin. with dupixent, the #1 prescribed biologic by dermatologists and allergists, you can stay ahead of your eczema. it helps block a key source of inflammation inside the body that can cause eczema to help heal your skin from within. many adults saw 90% clearer skin, some even achieved long-lasting clearer skin and fast itch relief after first dose.

serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes including blurred vision, joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines without talking to your doctor. show off to the world. ask your eczema specialist about dupixent. >> carley: the biden-harris administration is preparing the response to hurricane milton as they continue to face serious questions about the federal response to hurricane helene. >> todd: kevin corke has all the details, kevin. >> president biden describing milton looking like the storm of the century. as you know, yelled a briefing prior to the store making landfall in the state of florida addressing how his

administration would respond to the massive storm. >> hey, mr. secretary, you have any need from all of the federal departments and the agencies in support of this response? is there anything lacking. >> we certainly do have all the resources and we are well-positioned to continue to respond to hurricane helene, to respond to hurricane milton. mr. president, we are meeting them on the meeting the challenges because of these extraordinary people who have spoken before me. >> so for alejandra may work as it is go and he slammed his former opponent warmer president trump for criticizing the government's response to both helene and the 20. >> quite frankly, these lies are un-american. and they were simply no place for them, not now, not ever. former president trump has led

onslaught of lies. speak with the administration will continue to work out and call out misinformation and conspiracy theories around the storm and federal and state responses. this is wrong, dangerous, and it must stop immediately. >> milton hitting days after helene devastated large areas of the southeast. and as for the president you dress the storm yesterday during a rally in redding, pennsylvania. >> i want to send their prayers to the people of florida getting hit just about now in a little wild. you will see a hurricane like we haven't seen in a long time as well as all of the people recovering from hurricane helene. >> now according to estimates, hurricane milton could end up costing taxpayers up to $175 billion in damage. and i say costing taxpayers because one way or another, we all have to chip in for

recovery, guys, back to you. >> carley: kevin, it was a remarkable thing because president trumps spoke both times yesterday and it started out information from the present regarding hurricane milton and preparations on a federal level and it ended in a lecture. it was a lecture directed at hurricane victims of helene. then saying there is misinformation regarding the response. but how can it be misinformation if these victims are olympic experience? >> this is part of the messaging. they always feel like on the attack. they don't take a beat or a breath. we will see if that pays dividends in a few minutes during the election, but i think a lot of folks, carley, this would suggest this was not the time or place to make that turn. >> todd: we are entitled to ask questions of their leaders. we are entitled to ask questions of fema to make sure they are

responding in a manner that is commensurate with their stated mission and took all those questions themselves based upon this and disinformation. there is a extreme this service to our nation and does not put our leaders offering what i will call excuses in a really good light. kevin corke, we appreciate your time this morning and great coverage over the course of the last couple of hours and so my cast on fox news. the latest on the ground with fox weather's lives in orlando. >> it is pretty bad here and we got your 1:00 a.m. and the northern eye wall and we got into the eye so it calmed down quite a bit to the northern part of the eye. i looked at the radar, wait, this whole thing will pinwheel around and we are on the backside of the eye wall, western eye wall and taking his time getting out of here. but actually the lands gusting

like crazy just before we took that shot. a few wind gusts over 70 i would say. we have been sustained 4 40-60 miles per hour where i would say over the last half hour or so is when it got bad. it is a good reminder, never leap on the backside eye while. janice dean says that that the damage in orlando so far relatively minor with a lot of tree branches all over the road and some walking storm drains that we have standing water on the roads and a little bit of urban flooding. we have seen a couple of power flashes. we are downtown. the surrounding area around the hotel a couple block radius, we still have power and i don't know how long it will be able to withstand this onslaught of wind here typically saw flower power flashes in tens of thousands of people without power in orange county alone. unfortunately milton is behaving

as advertised. came in a lens and continue to be a hurricane and hurricane conditions right now. stayed to ari i was thinking as you were talking and you mentioned hurricane like conditions and a lot of people moved in the temperate area into orlando to get out the storm surge and be in a safer area. now that the storm is in your area, what does it mean for those people? they people need rescuing? >> i haven't seen any of that yet. we will see how the rest of the night progresses here. but we were in a shelter yesterday, and there were a lot of people that migrated from the coast. you know, wind and rain is one thing, but the storm surge they were dealing with along the coast when we say unsurvivable, there is a reason for that. part of the coast becomes part of the ocean. that is why they evacuate and lend. i guess you could be in a better situation, right, evacuating

indlas and it would be nice if you are not running into the eye of the hurricane, right? >> todd: so many people traveling to the city of orlando for disney world they in your hotel, where you in there with any families? always think of young kids trying to read stuff out like this and having kids in your home under normal circumstances that i can imagine being in a hotel in the middle of a hurricane so talk a little bit about that. >> i saw some families around. they were some kids making noise in the hotel last night and it was a little louder than usual. nothing faces me because i have three girls under seven so it doesn't bother me and i actually slept a little better. coming from the coast people are coming in and a lot of these families, not only families with kids but i saw a lot of dogs. our hotel opens to be pet friendly hotel so we saw a lot of dogs at the shelter. the families are hunkering down with a few more hours to go here it comes, guys, probably over

60 miles an hour. not a big fan of having my back to the land back but i have my field producer watching my back or i can do the shot like this the whole time. >> carley: well listen to hear the wind whipping around that thankfully you have 2 feet firmly planted on the ground. go ahead and get inside as we go to break. thank you so much, ari, we will check in with his and. already on the ground but even this responders can't reach. >> todd: how a veteran is answering the call to serve again next. >> no doubt, this is the worst this season. >> we had to break out that old fashion hurricane helmet. there is a lot of flying debris. >> this thing is not going anywhere! ♪ ♪

>> at this point, the winds are blowing in my face. it feels like pins and needles

coming into my face as well. >> walked into my vehicle, all of a sudden, boom! the tree comes down. over 30% of the county without power in a major concern is when will they be able to get that back on because this thing is not going anywhere? >> the man has not stopped. it has been relentless. i had to break out that old fashion hurricane helmet here. there is a lot of planning to bring out. >> no doubt, this is the worst conditions we have is hurricane season. milton menacing, absolutely menacing snakes be my nearly 3 million people waking up in darkness as hurricane milton tracks across florida, international rescue group based in tampa mobilizing chris at home to rescue people and first responders cannot reach. france turns the founder of great bull rescue enjoins me now. you are always in the thick of it and should come as no

surprise this storm found you in your hometown of tampa. what has tonight been like for you? >> this is the second time we got punched in the face the last 13, 14 days by the ever again. so we have been busy in tampa, florida, and the surrounding region. last night was rough. it was definitely wet. it was definitely windy as we know the roof on the top, ripped off an streets flooded. at least where i am, it wasn't terrible, but it is definitely at the station, clearly sarasota and down on that area a lot of issues. there are people on the way there now and i will be down there shortly. >> todd: what is the plan when the sun comes up? >> the big thing is safety. we have to worry about safety first to get to where we are going. we have a lot of people

registered on the website, and that is where family and friends can go and if you haven't heard from friends and family especially elderly, please register on the website and it worked so much better if we know where to go and wandering around hoping to bump into somebody. that is also where people can go to donate, we are donor-funded. that is a plan. we have people registered with fast intensity mapping see where the clusters of people are that have asked for help. and moved to contact until we find them. >> todd: how many people and how many boats do you have ready to go? >> good question. we don't know what survived the night yet is part of her problem. so we have boats paged all over the place that everybody had to provide that night and still based on that, we know at least one person on my team whose house was flooded pretty bad to. so we are still getting the

resources together and communications remain down in a lot of places so it is a little challenging at the moment. >> todd: that is an important point, the people doing rescuing in your organization, they have suffered a lot overnight as wealth because they are in florida in these regions that have gotten hit, too and to make a sacrifice to put the community about themselves, it is always amazing with organizations and groups like you. describe you would expect to head into and will first responders cannot reach because they are vehicles and their equipment can't make it. >> ed is at, we work with where the gove there isn't either environmental or a policy thing, we don't care and it doesn't matter to us. and the why someone is in trouble is a secondary question. as long as we know someone is in trouble and we can help, that is what we like to do and that is

true 600 some nation and 7,000 people and lives saved over the world the last 13 days. i've had hurts and members have my team lose their homes and then deployed to tampa and then deployed to north carolina. i just came back from beirut where we do operations there and here we are doing milton. that is what we love to do is rescue and evacuate americans and our neighbors from places where the government can't get. in this case, we will have a lot of elderly. we will have a lot of elderly we see in the sarasota area older people who didn't have much of the family oars his families did not take care of them, we will see that sadly and all the barrier islands and beach communities and barrier islands told to evacuate and didn't and wanted to ride it out and realize it is a mistake.

we see this every single time and we saw this with helene this week anna hurricane ian. so we will see. the registrations are coming in. the areas that are really bad and the population demographics that are hit harder and we are still putting that together. >> todd: you mentioned the website to request help from grable rescue go to grablerescue.org/help usa and we are doing the lords work loosely and you are truly doing the lords work and go out there to bless lives. appreciate it. volunteer helicopter pilots impacted by helene and al milton. the operation of the mission i should say of operation milton ahead. ♪ ♪

is it possible to count on my internet like my customers count on me? it is with comcast business. keeping you up and running with our 99.9% network reliability. and security that helps outsmart threats to your data. moaire dida twoo? -your data, too. there's even round-the- clock customer support. so you can be there for your customers. with comcast business, reliability isn't just possible. it's happening. switch to reliable comcast business internet with security and get started for $49.99 a month. plus ask how to get up to a $500 prepaid card. call today! dupixent can help people with asthma breathe better in as little as 2 weeks. so this is better. even this. dupixent is an add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma that's not for sudden breathing problems. dupixent can cause allergic reactions that can be severe. tell your doctor right away if you have rash, chest pain, worsening shortness of breath, tingling or numbness in your limbs. tell your doctor about new or worsening

joint aches and pain or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines including steroids, without talking to your doctor. ask your specialist about dupixent. dupixent can help people with asthma breathe better in as little as 2 weeks. so this is better. even this. dupixent is an add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma that's not for sudden breathing problems. dupixent can cause allergic reactions that can be severe. tell your doctor right away if you have rash, chest pain, worsening shortness of breath, tingling or numbness in your limbs. tell your doctor about new or worsening joint aches and pain or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines including steroids, without talking to your doctor. ask your specialist about dupixent. >> carley: listen to this, volunteer helicopter pilots helping hundreds of hurricane helene victims in north carolina are now headed south to deliver crucial supplies to militant victims in florida.

the cofounders of operation hilo and they joined me now. thank you so much for being with us. you guys are in north carolina and this remarkable work is a whirlwind mission for you guys to use specific skill sets to help as many people as possible. so matt, tell us what you have seen in the aftermath of helene and what you have accomplished so far. >> good morning, thank you for having us all. you know, currently the numbers have not been compiled that 4,000 missions or maybe a few more. we rescued over 400 people. be delivered over 2 million pounds of supplies. when i say we, the volunteer force that has come behind us is unbelievable, made 100 landing zones and 320 starlinks and the largest starlink network in the united states. 200 plus helicopter pilots and over 100 helicopters in

different types to have the largest helicopter operations in the united states has ever seen. >> carley: oh, my gosh, this started two weeks ago when the storm hit and a coming together at people like you who can fly a helicopter and risk as many people as possible. you said, matt, you have ress grip on her people, is that right? >> 400 people but i have not heard yet but it was a little over 400 people we were able to rescue with a partnership organization that stood up triage center in one of the buildings all the way from walking in the door to hospice and we were able to process the people on site and a graded and the organization. >> carley: god bless you both. eric, tell us about the rescue conditions and condition people were in when you found them? that's okay, eric, go ahead.

>> you know what we saw up there that areas not used to that having that much rain in the area and that sort of time here to the mudslides, the flooding. began, i say it's got to be at least one in a thousand year storm. but what we saw when we got on the ground, number one, we didn't have communication but once we establish that nothing short of horrific. not just houses come but complete towns gone and there were people walking around without shoes or anything. they didn't have clothes or anything but just what they had on their backs. that this was nothing short of catastrophic but those people are resilient. they will overcome and get back. >> carley: eric, i understand some of you will be heading to florida after militant passes. what will your mission be there questioning. >> so, we would like to work closely with local

law enforcement, fire department same churches. we have a team heading there already later this afternoon. but our mission will look exactly what it needs to look like whether it is aid or whether it is rescue or whether flying -- will make medicine. they are adaptable and with the force we have and the volunteers we have we can meet and overcome any mission that is put in front of us. >> carley: when i think about helicopter mission, it took days for the pentagon for fort liberty and the storms and i'm sure the service members were itching to help out because this is heading for state they were paced and. do you think it would be helpful to be called in sooner? >> well, here is what i will tell you, we had hundreds have special forces guys come up to our organization and say put me

and, coach, what can we do? every single special forces guy fair rescue, 82nd airborne, recon and all the different branches were all on a volunteer basis. we may be so one, two, three military guys in full capacity, and needed information from our geo-grid tracking system. we had infrastructure systems they didn't even have that they were pulling from. but all the service members we worked with were all on a voluntary basis. they did have five or six that would run and but the issue is to get into little places big birds couldn't so a little different mission profile but in my mind, the military took days to show up when they did the, the assets they had just didn't match the profile of the mission needs that we could. >> carley: wow, interesting information. they wanted to help out and did

that before officially old man to do so. they are great people among us, eric, you are two of them. god bless you and best of luck in north carolina and florida. 's. >> we will see hurricane milton overnight. >> todd: special coverage continues at the top of the hour. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ >> carley: a fox weather alert righ