plenty of time to save up. continuing coverage good morning, america. breaking news. hurricane florence slamming the east coast right now. makes landfall, pounding the coast with life-threatening storm surge and hurricane force winds, hitting 90 miles an hour. >> the emergency situation right now in new bern, north carolina where hundreds are trapped in homes, on roofs, in cars. we're speaking with some of them live as rescue crews and the cajun navy rush to save them. >> eight month's worth of rain in just a few days. power knocked out for hundreds of thousands. we're tracking the monster storm as it barrels ashore on our air. our team right there in the storm zone. a special edition of "good morning america" starts now.

good morning, america. we are live for our viewers in the west. we want to get right to that breaking news. hurricane florence hitting the east coast so hard this morning. that was the scene earlier this morning. our team out there in wilmington, north carolina, facing torrential rain, heavy winds. they are all safe, but it was a tough few hours. >> it certainly was. the hurricane making landfall, packing winds that topped 90 miles per hour. now one of the reasons it's so dangerous, speed or lack thereof, is moving so slowly, just hovering over towns, hammering them for hours. torrential rain up to 40 inches in some areas. >> we have seen that. we already saw that life-threatening storm surge. up to 10 feet in new bern, north carolina. rescue crews have been called in to save hundreds of people who have been trapped. >> our weather team is spread

out all over the storm zone, and we'll begin with our "world news tonight" anchor, david muir. once again, it's acting up there. good morning, david. >> reporter: yeah. this is the backside of the hurricane we're now seeing, robin. as you know, the front side, that eye wall generally brings the most destructive wind and rain which is what we saw in the early morning hours as we were on the air. now that we're on the air live in the west, you can see the winds though do continue here, and the rain which is going to be the really big story over the course of this day, and straight through tomorrow for the next 24 to 36 hours. i want to show you the wind actually. dale will spin around and show you the traffic lights and this is how dangerous it is. authorities don't want people on the streets here. that's the biggest wind gust they have had since 1958, since hurricane helene.

don't be fooled by the fact they set that number, the first and highest wind gust since 1958. robin, as you mentioned, now up to 40 inches of rain in the forecast. they have already had more than 30 inches of rain in atlantic beach, north carolina, and that emergency playing out in new bern where they are rescuing families because the water came up so quickly. take a look. this morning, hurricane florence now crashing into the carolina coast as fears of catastrophic flooding have already been realized. in new bern, north carolina, the formerly calm streets have now been flooded as waves now reach first floor windows. >> it's starting to get deep, folks. >> reporter: 200 residents already rescued. they tell us this morning 150 are still trapped. >> i'm amazed. i have never seen this kind of damage here. >> reporter: the town is now advising its residents to move up to a second floor or an attic because, quote, we are coming to get you. >> that curfew has been ordered by the mayor from 7:00 a.m. this

morning to 7:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. after the transformer blew in the hurricane's path, firefighters putting out that blazing inferno. in jacksonville, summoned at a motor inn. the jacksonville high school is completely submerged. 300,000 north carolina residents are without power this morning. authorities are now warning people to prepare for days, possibly weeks, in the dark. winds now raging up to 90 miles per hour. so strong the roof of this gas station collapsed. ongheast, barrier wing away.ce' islands. take a look at the waves crashing inside this home in north top sail beach. we were just looking at the track that's just come in this morning, you know, this tornado

is about 20 miles now, just about south of where we are in wilmington. we have watched the brunt of this storm coming through, and you can see the power of these winds still. myrtle beach has not seen this, and the coastline of south carolina will be hit throughout the day today, and as robin mentioned at the top here, it is very slow moving which is why they are so concerned about this. it's just going to continue to hammer these communities here. one of the things the police chief did tell me is they wanted families to know who did decide to stay behind here, it could take time to get to them if there is any need, if there is an emergency. we did contact the national guard this morning. authorities telling us, with these winds, and you see them still here, the tropical storm force winds that extend out 200 miles in each direction from the eye, 400 miles across, t aeoeth oppers itheey havee deploy, muc new bern this morning, robin. >> it's best you stay in place.

if you didn't evacuate and you are there, just stay where you are? >> reporter: absolutely, and, you know, we have seen a couple of people walking out and about, you know, hovering when they hear something crashing in the street, and as we have been on the air, you saw a car drive by earlier. i just saw another car moments ago, but that's a really dangerous proposition because you saw those traffic lights. the wind is still blasting through here, and it's going to be hours before we're in the clear. >> still a very dangerous situation. right, david. thank you. >> we see david talking about and experiencing those strong winds from hurricane florence, but those winds are ripping roofs off of buildings. ginger is in the thick of it right now in north carolina. ginger, you have already seen hours of tropical storm force winds, and you can see these through tomorrow night. >> reporter: oh, easily, and that's the thing i think that david and robin were just making, the point, that a gust to 60 even is like a severerm. i show pictures every morning on "good morning america" of the damage that going to be doing

that heruslong the coast, but through south carolina. we were hammered by that eye wall. you can see some of the damage, some of the trees that have been snapped off there down. i have also seen people out and about, and i unfortunately think that this area of dry air that is not going to last long by the way, has lulled people to thinking that, oh, it's ending. it is far from ending. this thing is hovering now just off the coast. i'll show you the radar. it's half on, half off. it's moving southwest. you're seeing the radar image there, and there are gusts of 90 plus miles an hour, and they are making their way closer to the state line. a lot of those islands on the very bottom half of northeastern north carolina are feeling the brunt of it, but on top of it all, and if we can't emphasize enough, the rain. this wind is going to subside by tomorrow, but the rain stays with, and it will move inland and that's really the issues is it doesn't just stop at south

carolina or western north ek. by tuesday, two inches possible all the way north, not just to new york, but to new england. guys? >> as you said, you cannot emphasize enough about the wind and the rain and hunker down and being safe out there. amy, you're also there in wilmington. earlier this morning, we saw you in the middle of the heavy wind and rain, looked like you were about to blow over, and the wind is still coming. >> reporter: right. so the rain has subsided just a bit, but as we heard from ginger, that's just a temporary lull, and it's interesting because you will have moments because you're, like, oh, the wind isn't whipping so badly, and i have also seen some cars out. we just saw a man up here on the roof which is flooded, walking around barefoot taking pictures. so people are fooled into thinking, right here. it's nice and calm, but if you just wait 30 seconds, all of a sudden, a massive gust of wind will come out.'s jorred that

up, and you can barely stand. you can't keep your footing. that's how strong these gusts are right now, and you can see where we are here up on the roof and of course, all eyes are on the cape fear river behind me. many people expecting that to crest as well as we go through several high tides with the wind and rain that is going to be with us for the next several days and i just -- you can see right here how it will go calmly and then all of a sudden, whip up and almost knock you over. i'm legitimately having to hold onto this, and we're in a covered parking lot right here where we have a roof and we have actually two walls around me, and we're still getting whipped around with this wind. so it is far from over, and as we have been telling everyone this morning, stay indoors. stay hunkered down if you are in this area along the coastline. back to you guys. >> thank you, amy. better to stay indoors. better safe than sorry, and just because it dies down, does not mean it's not coming back. >> not at all.

one of the hardest hit places, new bern, north carolina, up to 12 feet. stranded hundreds there overnight, and i spoke with jay and sherry schreiber this morning who are trapped in their house. >> we are a condo next to the double tree hotel facing the river watching it rise up. >> and how high is it? >> it's -- i would say it's probably 12 feet up from normal and even if the storm were to stop right now, it would still take almost a week for all that water to drain out. >> wow. so what are you seeing from your windows at this moment? >> i see the water is up to the railroad trestle. the debris that shouldn't be there. there are catamarans that are

stretching their ropes. >> were you expecting it to be this bad? >> we knew it would be bad. we had a lot of friends from three rivers baptist church and the post office where we work that decided to leave, but where we are at, we have four stories in our building. we can go up higher if we have to, and the problem getting back after all this water subsides, you still have the outlying areas where the water stays even longer. it's a choice of, you know, do you leave and not be able to get back or do you try to come back, get halfway and you are struck again? >> are you going to try to ride out the whole storm in your condo right there or are you trying to find a way out? >> right now we are planning on staying. we have supplies, a refrigerator and canned goods. we also have a lot of candles and batteries. we have got good people here in the building also that stayed

with us. >> well, you sound calm. we hope you're okay. we're glad you have got the supplies there, and we know it's a tough situation right now. good luck over these next several hours. >> it is definitely a tough situation there in new bern. so serious, and so joining us now by phone is jamicia harris who helped rescue a family there. how did you go about doing that? >> good morning, robin. i have my social media up as long as possible. we're out of power. if internet is out, and i have a friend, ashley taylor who is from new bern, but she is in new york, and she has been taking all my calls and she told me about a father and a girl and a 7-month-old baby that was stranded in trent court that is literally almost underwater, and i just got me and my husband and his mom in the car and we went through and got to them, and we

were able to get them out of the house, and we got them to another house where they are safe right now. >> and what was the condition of them when you found them? how were they? >> i mean, they were literally trying to get the water out of the house. they had the baby sitting on the steps. they didn't want to leave. these are people that are just so distraught. they can't believe that their homes are literally going to be underwater within hours, and they didn't want to leave. they felt that they would be safe on the second floor and i'm trying to tell them. you have got to get out now before it's too late because we already have almost 200 people that are on their roofs right now waiting to get rescued. >> and where were you during the storm when it first hit? did you evacuate? >> no, i didn't. i got my family out to charlotte. my three kids and my parents and my dog and i stayed back because i knew we were going to need hands on the ground, and people

that are trusted local officials. i was knee deep over in water in these low-lying areas. these poor communities, and just urging people to get out and i was able to get seven families to a shelter and we were able to get another 13 families to a shelter. so it's just amazing what's going on right now. >> oh my goodness. i know that you are a member of the town council there. you bring up a good point, jameesha. some people don't have the means to get out. they don't have the funds or a vehicle. they don't hunker down by choice, so we have to keep that in mind, don't we? >> right. right. and i have been seeing some posts that there is reporters making negative comments about individuals that chose to stay, and they have to understand that these are people that these are their whole lives.

they have nowhere to go. they have no means. they don't understand what it's going to be like, and they felt like if they have their family with them, they are going to ride it out, and now it's at the point where they have called for help and they are on the roof, and we can't judge them. all we can do is just pray that they get to safety and enough time and that the rescue -- water rescue individuals can get to them. that's all that matters right now. >> you and your husband, thank you so much. i'm glad you said that. this is a no judgment zone, okay? because people feel that, yes. you have got to word to get out, but you have to keep in mind because of health reasons, and financial reasons, not all people can do that. you take care. thank you so much. that'nk you so much. and you'reoom mtleroli, f hunce. >> reporter: that's right,

michael. we're just getting a taste of hurricane florence right now. so far it's nothing like we have been seeing in north carolina, but the wind gusts are definitely picking up. we have the tropical windstorm force wind gusts, and the bushes are taking a beating. we are just at the beginning right now. what's going to turn nasty is the afternoon and nighttime, and they are set up for a disaster here because right now we're in low tide, but when hurricane florence comes through, i want to give you an idea. this is northeast, and it will be pushing right through here, and right into myrtle beach. it will be high tide around 3:00, 4:00 when those hurricane force winds come in really strong along with all that rain, and that's what they are really worried about. the flooding out here, one local meteorologist says he has never forecasted this much rain. they are looking at 25 inches possibly hitting on myrtle beach. michael, back to you. >> tom, that is a lot of rain. thank you so much. george? we're switching gears here.

we have breaking news in the russia investigation. paul manafort facing a second trial in washington, d.c. set to begin on monday, already convicted and he has instead reached a plea deal. he has agreed to plead guilty on two counts, including witness tampering. that could lead to five more years in prison. i don't kn we know the plea includes forfeiture of many of his properties. the severity of the sentence and the forfeiture, we're trying to run that down. >> thank you. let's get back to rob. good morning again, robin. the center of florence now, around cape fear. it hasn't moved much. the latest update we have for you, 50 miles from myrtle beach. about 20 miles southwest of wilmington. you see this lull, but as ginger

mentioned, that begins to the fill in. the tropical storm force winds extend out, and hurricane force winds, about 80 miles there, and this wind continues to push the water on shore, and upstream. so that's an issue as far as the storm surges go. by 10:00 tonight, still raining and still windy. at that point myrtle beach might see the center of it, and then more rain tomorrow and sunday. this means more in the way of rain and potential flooding. time for your weekend getaways brought to you by "a simple favor."

we continue our live coverage. much more on hurricane florence. we're going back into the storm zone. we're going to speak with the mayor of new bern, north carolina, where they are saying that life-threatening storm surge. that and so much more when we come back. we the people, defined by the moments we share with our families and our friends.

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>> good morning, i'm jessica castro from bay area. heading to the carolinas now. during the aftereffects of hurricane florence and travis air force base has four medical teams on stand by. they have their bags packed an ready to go in north carolina whenever they get that call. and now let's look at our local traffic. hi, alexis. >> a quiet start but things have gotten busier at the last 30 minutes. near grant line road getting out of tracy, multi-car crashes, two cars stacked on one another that's blocking two left lanes. not easy. that back-up really heavy on 205 and westbound still recovering from an earlier crash at the toll plaza from the richmond san

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here's to you all that see every day as an opportunity to thrive your way. >> here's a look at the live doppler. you can see florence is slowing down consider whether i and tab flooding potential is increasing exponentially. 11 degrees cooler here at home. most of us in the low to mid 50s. here's the way your commute plays out. there's a little bit of fog in the north bay. blustery after noon and mass transit comfortable all day today with highs in the 60s and 70s. a few neighborhoods get to 80. those will go away tomorrow and come back sunday. jessica? >> mike, thank you. coming up, gma is live in the storm zone with the very latest on hurricane florence and the hidden dangers from flood waters. stay tuned for that and we'll

have another abc7 news update in about 30 minutes and always

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only eggland's best. better taste, better nutrition, better eggs. welcome back, everyone. we continue our live coverage here on "gma." looking at wilmington, north carolina. earlier this morning getting pummeled by hurricane florence, es per hour, and ith winds in new bern, north carolina. they are now facing a flash flood emergency. the life-threatening storm surge there. already 10 feet, a very scary situation at this hour. we'll hear from the mayor from there in just a moment. >> but let's go back to "world news tonight" anchor, david muir, who is in wilmington with that torrential rain that's coming down. david, tell us what you are experiencing. >> reporter: yeah. heavy winds still. the outer bands, the backside of this hurricane now, michael, and robin just mentioned the emergency in new bern in north carolina here, north of where we are right now, and one of the things we want to follow as

we're on the air here in the west now is the fact that over the course of the next hour, they're going to face the high tide which could exacerbate that problem as they try to get to those families. the water rose so quickly, and they were telling families to get to the second floor, as high as you can, and quickly. to try to put this in perspective for you, at the nearby wilmington international airport, they clocked wind fields at 500 miles per hour. we're going to see this throughout the day today for the next several hours 60 miles across, and then you have the tropical storm force winds from the eye on each side. 400 miles across. this is a huge hurricane as it slowly moves south of here. again, parts of south carolina now bracing for the brunt of what we saw earlier as we were on the air as it lashed us.

the first part of that wall, the eye wall brings the destructive winds and those heavy bands of rain. we're now on the backside of it. we can continue to see the wipds picking up here, and every once in awhile, you get one of those gusts. i want to turn to meteorologist ginger zee because as you have been saying all along, this is about the rain that comes with this hurricane, and we have already seen on atlantic beach, more than 30 inches of rain. >> reporter: more than 30 inches there, david, and some folks were worried that report was erroneous. we have another report of 29 inches. it looks like we may have an official that this would be the wettest tropical system that has ever made landfall here in north carolina. any tropical system at all really, so we know that the rain is going to be a big deal, but you know what else has been a big deal, the wind. i am holding a piece of the deck that i'm standing on. while we were live earlier in the morning as this thing was coming close to us, the eyewall

was on top of us, and those 0 105-mile-per-hour gusts were very near, and the boards on this deck started popping up under our feet. i chose this place as many of us do. i'm an experienced storm chaser. i studied meteorology. i choose places that i feel safe. this building is more than 100 years old. it has been through dozens of tropical storms and hurricanes. this storm took part of it away, and i think that speaks volumes to how strong this is. i was mentioning the rain totals. there have been several that popped up that are already in that 20 to 30ish range, but these are estimates right now by the radar. just giving you an idea of who has got. the heaviest. new bern didn't even have some of the heaviest rain. that tells the story of the surge plus the rain. look at that bull's-eye south of us in wilmington.

this is only going to expand not just along the coast, but as this thing hovers along the coast, those will expand to the south and to the west, and we'll end up seeing 7 to 11 inches today, 4 to 8 inches tomorrow in some places and as this moves west, we'll see this as this even goes into the northeast. the storm we warned about, that we will be talking about through early next week. >> joining us now by phone is new bern's mayor, dana outlaw. what is the situation right now? >> it's very unsafe. i spoke with the police chief, and we decided we need a 24-hour curfew. we do not need people out with lines down and things like that, and so it's just very, very dangerous situation right now for new bern. >> can you tell us how many people have been rescued and how many people are still waiting to be rescued, sir? >> we had about 200 residents

that had been rescued and they are now in shelters. we have about another 150. we're trying to be very careful that our first responders are safe in getting out in this type of weather. >> what can we do? what help do you need right now? >> we need america's prayers and we just need to, you know, work through this. we have been around since 1710. we have had many hurricanes before. we'll have them in the future, but we are a very tenacious group of folks down here. we love all americans and we are just so -- our arms are welcome to folks coming into our community, and we'll have the roads fixed and we'll be back in business. just again, we do have teams coming in from missouri. we have a rescue team that told me a couple of hours ago that they are coming in from houston, texas. so we just appreciate so much, the resources, and again, on a

state level we're getting the resources we need. the national guard is here. we have been door to door. we knew this was coming. we have fire trucks with p.a. systems going around the communities followed by national guard, followed by the city of new bern recreational buses to get folks i these buss and get them to state shelters. >> that's all good to hear, and i appreciate and admire your spirit and your resiliency, mayor dana outlaw, and you do have our prayers. you take care. thank you. >> thank you. thank you so much. >> all right. just when you think about a state, local, national, the concerted effort when it comes to a storm like this, and that's a perfect example. talking about people coming from houston, you have the cajun navy, and locally what they are doing to help themselves. >> he seemed like a calm leader in that time of crisis. we'll have much more on hurricane florence ahead.

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back now on "gma," been covering hurricane florence all morning long. i want to go to north carolina right now where jennifer weatherington is trapped in high water right there. you were trying to did a rescue earlier. what happened? >> we were unable to get there, and the water was way too high where we were at. as far as we know, everyone is still stuck in attics. we need rescue teams that can get to the houses. please make sure you check the

attics. there are a lot of kids involved. >> any sense of how many people are trapped in those houses? there a7 at one house in downtown new bern, and anywhere from four to five people in each house that i have got. >> and you have beting a >> yes, sir.rrect? i have had over 112 calls since last night around 10:00. >> and what is the situation like right now? how much water is out there? is the rain still coming down? >> it's -- it's raining pretty good down here. the water is in the roads. it's over 3 foot. >> over 3 feet in the roads? >> yes. >> and you are in the road right now? >> yes. >> can you move through that? >> we have a lifted up truck, so we are pedaling through it slowly, but we're trying to get away from it.

>> and of course, there is the threat that the waters could rise again if the rain continues. >> yes, sir. and it's rising fast. >> i can imagine. tell us what it was like through the evening, and into early morning. >> last night it was really rough. this morning, i have had a lot of people saying that there are bodies floating where they are. if we could please get to them, send help any way possible. >> did you see any of those bodies yourself or you said you were told about that? >> i was told about them. we were not able to get across the bridge there in the early morning because of how heavy the rain was. >> and where do you think this was occurring? what were you told? >> main street area downtown new bern. and in bridgeton, north carolina. >> you see you're trying to get out right now.

where are you trying to go? >> we're trying to go to roanoke rapids, where we are from. >> but the roads as you say, are industrial pretty dangerous, aren't they? >> heading out is getting a little better the farther up we get. coming into greenville, it's just raining. there is not very much water. >> well, you stay safe there. i know that's a pretty desperate situation. we're going to try to find out more about what is exactly going on right there, but we know it's been such a tough situation right there all morning long. jennifer, thanks very much for joining us by phone. coming up, more on florence. andttg0 building s fe. inthan ever. [darrell'] uh, honey, isn't that s fe. [dog sfx i towe s

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with instant acceleration, electric cars are more fun to drive and more affordable than ever. electric cars are here. plug into the present. i want to switch gears to an emergency north of boston where fire ripped through, injuring dozens, killing at least one person. abc's linsey davis is on the scene in lawrence, massachusetts with the latest, lynn sinsey. >> reporter: good morning to you, george. this home right behind me. i want you to look. that's where siding used to be. this is where one of the explosions happened. this is one of many homes in this area now destroyed. >> we need to stop all gas into this area. we need to get it stopped. >> reporter: armageddon is how the fire chief described the scene here as homes throughout three boston suburbs burst into

flames without warning. >> we got another one. basement fire. >> reporter: each consisting of a firefighter, police officer, at fault, about issue with the gas main. from columbia gas, told to shut off their gas immediately and evacuate to shelters. >> they said, get out of your house. so we went. >> reporter: at least 25 people injured. an 18-year-old perished when a chimney fell on his car. columbia gas saying in a statement, the first priority for our crews at the scene is to ensure the safety of our customers and the community. injuries range from smoke inhalation to blast trauma, and listen to this. the gas company is currently in the process of going door to door to 8,600 homes in the area to make sure they are safe, george. >> what a terrifying situation.

okay, linsey. thanks very much. >> yes, it is. and coming up, as hurricane florence slams the east coast, george is speaking with the head of fema about the emergency efforts under way. start with 100% cleancheese? ingredients. like vermont white cheddar. then... add bacon, bbq chicken, or baja blend. catering and delivery now available. panera. food as it should be.

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but earlier trees were getting taken down all over the place. >> reporter: absolutely. we have gusts that feel like they are close to 60 that come through once in awhile. look at the streets, rob. just littererd with the trees that have fallen. we have not ventured off our street and we won't do so. and there's the river. the cape fear river, and my crew was remarking from yesterday to today, how swollen that river looks and we're not even close to the end of this storm or not even close to when that river has the potential to flood the most which would actually be late weekend, early next week. this area, wilmington, had 20 inches above their average to date before the storm started. >> just incredible. >> reporter: they had 63 inches. they could do it. >> they could have over 100 inch 100 inches before this season. now we're looking at the rainfall that you mentioned.

not just the cape fear river, but the river in new bern, and we have seen the flooding and we don't have much in the way of camera. several high tide cycles of this storm surge, and the rainfall will continue as well. ginger, you had some floor boards come up underneath you. that's a brick structure. not many spots have brick homes. so it's still very dangerous. >> reporter: you know, and this is in the historic district. this is more than 100 years old, so we felt like this was a safe structure. the house itself was, but this deck pulled up with the nails with the wind. it was coming up under our feet, rob. >> stay safe.

let's get up and get going. >> i'm jessica castro and meteorologist mike nicco is here with our forecast. >> looking at florence. hi, jessica, hi, everybody. you can see it's wobbling along the north carolina coast and drifting to the south and unfortunately, the flooding is going to begin and continue all through the weekend. nice day to be out and about. sunshine on the bay, a small craft advisory. my accuweather seven-day forecast, 60s at the coast and 70s and 80s for the rest of us. >> slow spots out there with the toll plaza. not terrible but the metering lights are on and typical back-ups into the maize. one drive time in particular near grant line road and tracy, left blocked due to the crash and to dublin. southbound, 680 out of dublin to the mission boulevard area and

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good morning, america. it's 8:00 a.m. in the west. hurricane florence thrashing the southeast. new video images streaming in. the hurricane force winds gusting up to 99 miles an hour. >> the emergency situation right now in new bern, the storm surge inunkdating the town. families trapped as the fast rising waters are forcing people up into their attics and onto their roofs. stranded in cars and trucks. people volunteering with private boats as the cajun navy race to save so many. >> fears growing now. eight months' worth of rain in just a few days. power already knocked out for hundreds of thousands of people.

we're tracking the monster storm. our team right there in the storm zone. a special edition of "good morning america" right now. good morning, america and everyone in the west coast. thanks for being with us this friday morning all morning long. we have been tracking hurricane florence live. it made landfall this morning right in north carolina. >> the storm came across pummeling the region. we're going to talk to one of the people from new bern, north carolina. so many of you are concerned about your families and coming up, we have apps to help them stay safe and connect you with your loved ones. >> and our team is spread out across the storm zone, but first we want to get right to "world news tonight" anchor david muir who is in wilmington, north carolina. good morning again, david. >> reporter: good morning again, and you can see that we're still

feeling the effects of the rain, the winds here in wilmington, you know, the eye of this storm making landfall shortly after 7:00 a.m. eastern, about 7:30 this morning, eastern time the northern wall brings a really destructive wind and rain, but look at the backside of the hurricane continuing to bring, and that's the real concern about the sheer size and scope of this hurricane. it is so wide and slow-moving. 5 to 6 miles per hour that it's going to bring destructive wednesday and rain throughout the day today and right into tomorrow, and keep in mind, the eye of the hurricane, the center of the hurricane, we'll have hurricane force winds that extend out 80 miles on each side. that's 160 miles across of hurricane force winds, and then you have tropical storm winds that are destructive in and of themselves, 400 miles across. that's hard to wrap your head around just the size of this

hurricane, and again when it made landfall, it was a category 1, but don't be fooled by the fact that it was a 1 and not a 2 or 3 because they measured the wind gust of 105 miles per hour not far from here near the wilmington national airport. that is the biggest speed recorded since 1958 helene. this is not over yet. i want to check in with amy robach not far from here. what do you see? >> reporter: yes, that's right. it's far from over here as we're still experiencing those hurricane force wind gusts that have been whipping us all morning long. we have been out and about since about 5:30 this morning east coast time, and we have seen the effects of hurricane florence in every way. the strong winds, then the lulls. the rain bands that have come through here at times, 3 inches whipping across us, and then

they were ferocious at this hour. we have seen people out and about, which is certainly not advised at all in this situation right now. it is still very dangerous. in fact, we're on a parking garage on the roof of a parking garage. we're covered. we are safe, but we can see two gentlemen right there on a neighboring group on skateboards and that just really is not a smart move here. for the most part though, most people are hunkered down, and all eyes are on the cape fear river which is behind me and it's at the heart of this historic city here in north carolina, and we are looking to see if it will crest with all of this rainfall that's expected over the next several days. we're not talking about hours of rainfall. we are talking about days of rainfall, and so so many people from the coast here in north carolina in wilmington specifically all the way inland are keeping their eye on the sky and making sure that they are in a safe place and we certainly have talked the people who have sandbags, who have taken the

precautions they can, and are simply putting their faith in god that they will make it through this time because a lot of these folks went through this just two years ago with hurricane matthew, and suffered catastrophic results. some of them still not back in their homes. this area has been hard-hit over the past several years and they are feeling the effects of florence right now. back to you, robin. coming up, we'll have much more on hurricane florence. our team continues to be spread out all across the storm zone doing some great work this morning, and we'll join them again live when we come back. ♪ carla is living with metastatic breast cancer, which is breast cancer that has spread to other parts of her body. she's also taking prescription ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor, which is for postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive her2- metastatic breast cancer as the first hormonal based therapy. ibrance plus letrozole was significantly more effective at

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back here on "gma." again, a live look at wilmington, north carolina.

hurricane florence, just hammering the east coast. our team is all up and down the storm zone covering this category storm, and i don't even want to say what category it is. it doesn't matter at this point. it is a dangerous, dangerous storm. i know people thought at first it was going to be a category 4, and so when it lowered in numbers they let their guard down a little bit, but it's every bit as dangerous, and ginger knows full well. she is there in wilmington. ginger? >> reporter: yeah, robin. when you have been standing in tropical storm force winds or hurricane force winds for four to eight hours, you definitely don't care what category it is called, and you see the streets here filled with debris in wilmington alone. we keep saying how big this storm is, and how there are tornado threats. now we have a report of a tornado and it's 170 miles to my north and east. yes. so in mary hill, north carolina which is kind of close to elizabeth city there. you see that tornado warning on

the bands. that's 170 miles away, they are still seeing that type of damage. my producer carlos was asking me, when is it going to kind of calm down? i said, we have these bands that are going to come through, and we could still see gusts easily of 60 plus, but you go toward myrtle beach and you will see what we have already seen. look at the peak gusts. we know that 105 was here in wilmington. cape fear, 100. look out, and i have to tell you that as much as the wind matters and we talk about the categories and that being confusing, it really ends up being about the water, and not only do we see those tornado warnings on the map, but flash flood emergencies and flash flood warnings that surround the shield that is florence. this thing is having such a tough time wanting to make its way on land. it's just crawling west/southwest, but it's crawling toward myrtle beach, and that is where we find our tom llamas. you are in the outer bands, tom, but that eyewall, once that gets

close to you, that's when it's going to get real. >> reporter: definitely starting to feel it right now. hurricane florence coming in, ginger. we are under a hurricane warning until 4:30 tonight, but i have to tell you with that storm slowing down, that will likely be longer kus currently at its 85-mile-per-hour winds. as we look down the street, you can see the palm trees. we just lost power on this stretch of myrtle beach on ocean boulevard, and this is the iconic stretch of myrtle beach. you have construction crews coming n bin, but nobody is out here right now. about 30,000 people across the state without power. that is only going to grow. i was talking to our local meteorologist here. he just forecasted 36 hours of endless rain. right now it's low tide, but that high tide will start at 3:00 along with that storm surge and all that rain.

that's what they are really worried about now. they are not worried about the hurricane fenthoughheare daers. all those hours of endless rain in the low lying areas. that's 60 miles of pristine beach line where 18 million visitors come every year. they are worried about all that water and where it's going to go. so far we made a big deal about this. this is the sky wheel in myrtle beach. it's an iconic image. they took all the gondolas off. it is staying strong right now. it's supposed to withstand those winds. right now we're getting a taste of hurricane florence. not too bad as of now, but things are picking up and we're getting those gusts as they push through, michael. >> an army volunteer has assembled to help those in its path. the united cajun army helped. joining us from north carolina is todd terrell, of the united cajun navy, and you have

volunteers all over the carolinas. they have driven hundreds of miles to be there. how many volunteers do you have on the ground? >> oz as of right now we have 3 volunteers on the ground, and that's from nine different states. >> and what conditions are they seeing right now? >> right now we're in fnew bern and we have made 57 confirmed rescues so far this morning. we are working with the local authorities to make rescues. that's what i know of so far, but we have more than that. we are dealing with the tidal surge, and the eye is coming close to that area. the tide came up really, really strong. 5 to 8 feet just about, and a lot of the people could not get out. they tried to drive out, and a lot of them got stuck in ditches pop so a lot of those people we were rescuing from the tops of their vehicles. >> do you know how many people you have rescued so far? >> i don't have 100% confirmation, but out of the 57 rescues we had, they said it was

at least two to three, so 160 to 170 people at least. >> you do by any means necessary. air mattresses i have been told have been used to help people. >> we have the airboats and the fan boats. the problem is those is the winds are so high we couldn't get them in there, and it was unsafe for us. we had to use air mattresses and float people out. >> the cajun navy, you led an incredible rescue effort during hurricane harvey as well. how does this compare? >> the difference in this was hurricane harvey, the water came in, and it was a rainstorm, and it was raining for a couple of days and it was a slow-moving flood. this one here came really, really fast, and it was basically really, really swift water. the current is way stronger in this one, and the water came up in, like, minutes. two to three feet of water came in within minutes. >> you are in columbia, south carolina right now. what preparations are your team making right there?

>> right now, columbia, south carolina is where we based our main operation, the south carolina fire school up here at the college, and a lot of the teams are here, so we figured we would be in a close vicinity of where they are. we're about to mobilize in great falls which is about an hour -- i guess about 45 minutes from where we are right here. great falls is an area with three counties and they are expecting a lot of flooding in that area. we have a bunch of boats on their way right now, so we'll just about double our volunteer force by the end of the day today. >> all right. thank you, todd terrell. thank you. thank you to the cajun army and all the other guys. please be safe. we appreciate the help you're doing, and helping everyone out there in the flood zone, and really incredible work. put themselves in harm's way to help strangers. >> hurricane florence is topping ten feet. the floodwaters are so dangerous and dr. jennifer ashton is here, and michael just brought up about hurricane harvey. you were there in houst,

when ym medical standpoint, the flooding? >> the problem medically, robin, when we hear about this kind of magnitude of flooding that is going to go on with this hurricane, it's the dangers that you cannot see. this is not like walking into your bathtub. when you talk about what is in that water, human waste, raw sewage, oil, gasoline, potentially wildlife, snakes, alligators. then there is the possibility for anyone with an open cut, scrape on their body, for an entry, portal of entry, bacteria to get in there. falls, objects underwater that you cannot see that can then cause an injury. anything from a fracture to a major laceration, and in houston, we saw electrocutions and drownings. this is to be taken very seriously. >> you want to get out and assess the property and things like that, and it's so dangerous. what are the long-term risks? >> infection, bacteria,

parasites in this water. there is obviously will be the need for clean drinking water and plumbing in this area. without those two things that is a setup for a major medical crisis, and one thing that i saw in houston, robin, that was really striking, when you cannot move an ambulance or a vehicle from one place to another to transport a patient to a hospital, that makes me very nervous, and you have to realize what isn't getting in. not getting into those hospitals and care facilities, anything where patients or critically ill people have sly suppliupplies. i mean, medication, food, blood. >> i can't help thinking if someone is pregnant. >> we're going to be talking about that next, and i have been in touch with the president of acog next because pregnant women are disproportionately affected by this. >> there are apps and social

media sites you can use to call for help, find shelter and to locate the ones you love. abc's becky worley has the details in san francisco and good morning to you, becky. how can people use smartphones and social media to reach out for help in case of a natural disaster like this? >> reporter: you're so right, michael. it's not too late to prep your smartphone. this is a lifeline. now 911 should always be your first call, but if you can't reach them, and you still have some data connection or wi-fi, a few apps that can really help. the first one, zello, it's the number one app, and it turns your phone into a two-way radio, sort of like a cb, and it works on even the weakest wi-fi or cell signal. it allows you to join channels on previous topics and you can listen for people who need help, reach out for help yourself, and the fact it works on such a slim cell signal might help in an emergency. another app, crowd source

rescue. it maps people in need of rescue. often stranded by this high water that you were just talking about with the cajun navy, and then it connects them with volunteers. people with boats, trucks. the app maker says over 35,000 people have been rescued this way in previous hurricanes and they are active as florence is making landfall, and i want to mention one more. you probably heard of nextdoor. in a noncrisis, you plan garage sales with your neighbors, but in a crisis, it may be the most hyperlocal source of information and you can post if you need help, michael. >> and becky, what if you lose all connectivity? what can you do? >> reporter: there is one app. you have to download it in advance, and if you still have a signal, there is still time. it's called fire chat i. it works by creating phone to phone connections like

walkie-talkies. it works in neighborhoods or apartment buildings. it could connect you to a neighbor especially if you all agree in advance to install it. there is power in numbers here. >> all right, becky. thank you so much for that great advice. really appreciate it. now let's get to rob. >> here's the latest. it is now barrelling towards oak island, carolina beach down highway 17. about to get to the south carolina border. a bit of an eastern eyewall, and then another batch of bad weather. tropical force winds extend over 150 miles from the center, and with that are the on shore winds, and the storm surge is coming on the beaches but also up the neuse river, and the new river, and the cape fear river, but we'll see that later. and the rain we're expecting to see. by monday, we expect record flooding there, well into tuesday. that is not good. this high pressure is letting things drift into south

carolina, and then eventually into t we have been talking about how to stay safe in the storm and what happens when your home gets flooded. we learned that just 3% of the homes in the inland area, the owners in north carolina have flood insurance. just 3%. 9% in south carolina. our weather contributor, sam champion, is home, and he is going to tell us more about this. first of all, i want to get your

take about what we're seeing before we get to the insurance part of it. >> i want people to know that everything that you guys have said, and ginger and rob have done an incredible job, and everyone in the field, stay inside today. if you are in north carolina, south carolina, and maybe longer than today. everything's going to be dangerous out there, even if it gets calm for a minute. stay inside and just ride it out. >> ride it out. if you are in there, do that. sam, i remember when we went through katrina, and we lost our home and the insurance and going through that, and it was a real lesson for a lot of people. what advice do you have where that's concerned? >> that's the problem, robin. most people think they have flood insurance. most people say, my house is insured. we're good. flood insurance isn't in your homeowner insurance, and so it's part of the national flood insurance program. google it and find out if it's involved in your area. some areas do not allow it. some areas require it. it's very complicated. you can check with your insurer,

but do that now because it takes 30 days to go into effect. if you decide to buy it, you don't get the benefit of it in a week, two weeks. it takes 30 days. you need to find out about it because it's something that we all think we have, and chances are we don't have it. >> we learned that lesson. we have it now down home because i remember mama, you know. you remember mama. she just assumed because she would ask our insurance agent and he you're covered. you need to ask what you are not covered for. don't just ask what you are covered for in your program. ask what you are not. >> it's the perfect advice, and everybody should find out today because like you said, when you are in a disaster, you don't want to find out you don't have it. >> welcome home. >> hi, everybody. nice to be here. >> he has been up for 26 hours, and he is looking fresh. very fresh. >> he will be with us all morning. >> don't get close. coming up, we'll have much more live from the storm zone, so do come back with us here on "good morning america" on this friday morning to see the situation down south.

. let's see that friday morning traffic looks like from aluaalexi alexis. >> struggling to bounce back from an earlier crash. westbound 580 beyond the richmond san rafael bridge. it's been on the shoulder for over an hour now but we still see a back-up of about 40 minutes approaching the toll plaza. looking better out of the central valley. the crash, westbound 580 is gone

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now your accuweather forecast with mike nicco. >> a quick look, you can see it's just meandering around north carolina and heading for south carolina, flooding going to be a big problem all through the weekend. foggier in the north bay. blustery in the afternoon.

temperatures in the 60s and 70s. slightly warmer this weekend. slightly warmer this weekend. >> thank you, welcome back to "gma." that's a live look at kitty hawk, north carolina. you see the surf is picking up from moments ago when we saw gio benitez there. the wind picking up there as well and we've seen all morning long also lots of wind, lots of rain, storm surge, all across the storm zone right now from hurricane florence made landfall in north carolina just moments ago. >> let's go back to david muir there in wilmington and, david, what are you seeing right now? >> reporter: incredible winds, robin. you can see them behind me and the rain just whipping around here, and i should mention that we have had a number of tweets from viewers, and we really, really appreciate them, so keep them coming, but we do want you to know that the entire crew that's here with me this morning, we are keeping everybody safe. in fact, there is what you can't see out of frame is a giant concrete wall of this hotel. it's built strong enough to sort

of protect us from any kind of debris whipping around corners but it is a concern for us too but you can see the rain coming down, sheets of rain and this is going to last for hours, in fact, we're getting some of the staggering numbers already, just think about this. 30 inches of rain have fallen already in atlantic beach, north carolina. 30 inches. the last total that actually made news here was 24 inches of rain. that was back in floyd in the late '90s, that was a significant headline at the time. so to put that in perspective. already seen more than that. 30 inches. in some spots expect up to 40 inches of rain in this hurricane and that's why they're really concerned about the storm surge and we have already seen that in new bern, north carolina this morning, but the fact that this hurricane is so slow moving, five miles per hour at some points, moving very slowly. that's why millions will feel the effects of this and why the concern is truly the water. you can see the wind and you can

see the destruction from the wind as we're on live television here this morning but it's the rain and water and how it moves in very quickly and when you think about the storm just battering the coast, pushing that water, the storm surge in and then the next wave of water. that's why we're seeing streets inundated and continue to follow that this morning and as we've been saying all morning long, what authorities are most concerned about is the fact that many people did stay behind. they stayed here and it could take some time. we did check in with the national guard just a short time ago and they told us that they won't be able to get those choppers up at least until this afternoon, certainly not in these winds. they do have high water vehicles that they plan to take out throughout the day to try to do some of the rescues that we've seen that have been necessary already this morning and one of those incredible details to come out of new bern is the fact that people with their private boats have begun to try to jump in and help save some of those families and you can see that water just going right up that condominium building you've shown and some

of those homes there, that water rising so quickly. >> just while we're watching you the gust of wind, no warning whatsoever and there will be a big gust of wind there, david. >> reporter: yeah, and wilmington international airport, robin, not far from where i'm standing and they have already recorded a gust of 105 miles per hour, and i think it's interesting. in the lead-up to the hurricanes we always reports a category 3, 2, 1 and sometimes that can be misleading. this was a category 1 that came ashore which sounds like it's on the low end of the scale and yet 105 miles per hour is the largest wind gust they have's reported at that airport since 1958. since hurricane helene, so as destructive as this has been already, can you imagine had it been a cat 2 or 3, grateful it was a 1 and still going to bring significant damage here throughout the day. >> all right, david, thank you. >> just the beginning. amy is in wilmington. let's go to her. >> reporter: yes, and you can

see right now, some of those significant gusts of wind that david was just referring to. not surprising at all to us that that 105-mile-per-hour wind was recorded not far from here. we are on the other side of the eye wall and it is just whipping around and around. you might get a moment of lull and then an incredibly strong gust just comes seemingly out of nowhere. we are in a very safe structured parking garage. we have a roof above us and concrete on both sides of us because i too am getting a lot of tweets. people wondering why are you doing this? we're showing people the strength of these winds and this rain that is coming in to north carolina to batter wilmington right now. and we know that this isn't going away any time soon. that's what makes the storm so significant. it is moving so slowly and the rain is coming down as much as 3 inches an hour if not more and we had the cape fear river behind us and high tide around noon today, but what makes this storm so devastating is that we are going to be experiencing

several high tides with these winds and this rain and so the flooding concerns are significant. but with these winds right now, that is certainly the story in wilmington at this hour. and, of course, concerns for flying debris, everyone needs to be in a safe, protected space. those who chose to stay, i will say walking around downtown wilmington yesterday, it was fairly eerie, some people stayed, of course, but a lot of people did get out. and you can see why authorities urge people to do so even for category 1 hurricanes, guys. >> all right, thank you, amy. and amy is in a protected area and she's being whipped around like that. you can only imagine if she weren't. you can imagine how it is around the rest of the state. we're going to go to ginger now. also there in wilmington as the eyewall moves through. how are you doing, ginger? >> reporter: well, thank you, michael. and, yes, we are seeing moments of calmer wind and then those gusts will push through. we are protected also. we have this big brick building

here. and watching the wind has actually shifted because we're now on the north side of the storm. we were on the west side of that eye wall when it really was at its peak when we're talking about that 105-mile-per-hour gust, but for the last three hours wilmington alone has seen hurricane-force gusts. that's a long time to deal with gusts like this and that's why the trees are littering the streets here and see things that have been flying around, and amy said it best. you don't want to venture out. even after the hurricane-force gusts end, you're going to see tropical storm-force wins all the way through tomorrow morning. those can pick up some of this stuff that's laying around and throw them at you. at cars. that's why it's best anybody that is around wilmington and certainly and coastal north carolina, give this storm the time it's going to take and it's going to take its sweet time getting back to the west and getting away from you because those outer bands will reach us all the way through tomorrow morning. guys. >> far from over, as you know, far from over. all right, ginger.

>> now we'll bring in tom bossert who was homeland security adviser for president trump. on point as the deputy both during i think maria and harvey. just give us inside the white house in the days leading up to this. you had some warning. what exactly would be happening? >> right, so at this point i love the way brock long said it. this is kind of textbook emergency management so for me on the outside and inside, i'm proud as heck of the whole team that is pitching in on this. brock said it's supposed to be locally executed, state supported or state managed and then federally supported. that's what we're seeing so what the white house is doing is making sure that all those federal department and agency heads -- >> are talking to each other. >> are doing what they are supposed to be doing, talking to each other and not having their jurisdictional fights over money or authority or who is in charge and the president should be putting the hammer down, saying brock is in charge. if you don't like that talk to me. he should be talking to the governor saying, is anyone giving you bureaucratic runaround because if they are, i'll take care of it.

>> we'll see what happens after the winds pass. >> i like brock, but the last fema administrator said this is not the end. this is not the beginning of the end. this is the end of the beginning and the reason he said that, right, the reason he said that is these rain also come for the next three or four days but will be devastating for the people going through this crazy disruption that will last another year or two. >> when they get back into the field what is the number one job? >> a couple things, i'd like to do. i think i would like to hear from our elected leaders, not just telling people what to do today, but giving them a sense of what they can expect tomorrow, next week and a couple of months down the road. this is a little bit of a late hurricane. the first answer is go slow and be patient. i know you're going to be tempted to get back in and check on your home or business and pets and so forth. go slow. don't go back in and put yourself in harm's way when access to emergency services and the doctor pointing out you can't get an ambulance. they put you in harm's way and

you don't expect. you're playing with your electric and you end up with a fire and you can't get a fire truck to you. after you go slow, though, i want to start thinking about getting their insurance claims, getting access to their contractors for repair. it seems like a common thing to point out but we're heading into winter. right? this is a kind of late storm so it's going to be one, two, three months, christmas and people will still have open homes. >> gets to another point. you have to think ahead, if you're lucky enough to get through this one, think ahead, make sure you have the insurance set up for the next time this comes around. >> bloomberg said 15 to $20 billion in covered losses. it's going to be i bet double that in uncovered losses. >> tom bossert, thanks very much. >> thank you. we appreciate it very much. coming up, we're live again in north carolina as hurricane florence hits there and dr. ashton will be back on how you ca ♪ ♪ ♪ i put a spell on you

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and we are back on "gma" covering hurricane florence all morning long. it has hit new bern, north carolina, so hard. we have been talking about that all morning long on the flooding reaching up into the second floors of some buildings there. i want to bring george who is there in new bern right now, trapped in his home. tell us what you're going through. >> george, gosh, it's -- it's like a bomb has gone off here. there's a lot of water. it has receded some but it seems the tides are still coming in. we're very fortunate.

we're on a very high lot in our neighborhood. everything around us in underwater. >> how high is the water right now and how high up are you? are you on the second or third floor? >> i'm actually on the first floor now. the water has receded about six feet from last night. there's a water line in my yard. which i would say the water probably got up close to 15 feet. i would say it's down probably maybe six, eight feet now but the tides are still coming in. and the rain and the winds are picking up. i think we're not out of the woods by a long shot. >> so you have some good news right now, but you say a lot more to come, and we're seeing some cars submerged there in new bern. do you have the supplies you need to wait this out? >> we got a lot of supplies.

actually put in a whole house generator about three weeks ago, so we've got power. our neighbors are not quite as fortunate. so as soon as -- if the water gets enough we'll try to get them to come to our house. >> did most of your neighbors stay put? >> quite a few did. you know, especially once they downgraded the storm, downgraded, you know, the category, i think they let their guard down. >> let me ask you about that. it sounds like this was a community decision for so many to stay. do you think that was a mistake? >> well, in hindsight, yes, i would have probably gotten out of here. i'm a home builder. i build custom homes and wanted to stay, stay back, you know, to help people, you know, after the storm. >> well, we hope you can do that. we hope you're okay right now. glad the water has receded at least for now. hang in there and thanks for joining us this morning.

>> yeah. thank you. >> thank you, george. want to go to rob. >> that area is still under a flash flood emergency from all the rain that's falling across new bern, the neuse river trying to unload and having a hard time with this onshore wind and now we have an unofficial report of 30 inches of rain falling already in atlantic beach. that's from a usgs site that has yet to be confirmed but that radar estimate also showing those sort of numbers so this is scary stuff and we've already seen a wet, wet summer in wilmington, over 20 inches above average there so trees are coming down with even a 60-mile-an-hour wind let alone, 80, 90, 100. also, tornado warning now up just to the southeast of new bern. this is fairly unpopulated right now, but the watch is up for a large chunk of eastern north carolina really for the rest of the morning if not in through the afternoon and the rainfall forecast really hasn't changed. 20, 30, we've already seen that recorded potentially 40 inches then later on in the weekend, into the beginning of next week this will eventually get part o

a large and destructive historic storm. we will continue to monitor it throughout the morning and throughout the next couple of days, robin. >> we shall. all right, rob. we're going to bring back dr. jen ashton and bring back the biggest medical dangers people are facing in the storm zone right now. so what are they? >> first of all you have to remember it's not just hospitals here. it's skilled nursing facilities, rehab center, nursing homes, anyone who has a patient has already planned ahead with days of disaster drills, codes. there are well established systems in place. obviously the primary goal is the safety and security and possible evacuation of patients but we have to remember, staffing, robin, people tend to think only of the doctors and nurses in these facilities.

there are so many staff and employees that keep those centers running and take care of patients from administrators, janitorial, food services, housekeeping. they are all hunkered down so we have staff to take care of them and, again, they have to secure that they have enough supplies to take care of these patients and when you lose electricity, most hospitals do have, of course, at least one emergency generator but this is not an ideal medical situation by any means. >> we were saying you would talk about if you were pregnant. >> pregnant women and newborns are disproportionately affected by these national disasters. obviously there are pregnant women in the area who may have been scheduled to have an elective c-section or induction, they are going into labor spontaneously, those things don't stop when we have these natural disasters. ideally they have been in communication with their midwife or obstetrician. last night, robin, i spoke with the president of acog. she actually -- they have a whole disaster preparedness plan

for women which you can see on their website. i'll also be putting it on my twitter and instagram and they recommend emergency home birth kits for pregnant women which is a scary thing. there are a lot of items on there. i want to tell you if you have to do a home delivery you just need two things, a lot of towels for the baby and the mom, and two shoelaces for the umbilical cord, and if that baby is coming, that baby is coming. >> you're the expert. you know this. >> she could do it with two shoelaces. >> these things don't wait. >> you should have saw everybody's faces when you said that. thank you, doc. coming up, we're going to tell you how to keep your pets - (phone ringing) - big button, and volume-enhanced phones. get details on this state program. call or visit

and accessoriesphones for your mobile phone. like this device to increase volume on your cell phone. - ( phone ringing ) - get details on this state program call or visit storm like florence creates so many challenges. one big question how do you make make sure pets and other animals stay safe. got information from ron magill. communications director of the miami zoo.

ron, thank you for joining us this morning. just start out with what people in the storm zone can do to pet.thabout what they should be t loth tirldyou edo veheoo stocked up and medications they may have stocked up. the most important thing is emotional support. remember, in your household, you are the alpha in this pet's world. it looks to you for emotional support. if you're panicking and upset your pet will feel that and do the same thing. the best advice i can give you is be close to your pet. give them emotional support, speak to them calmly. keep that continuity going. that's going to be the most important thing. if you have a kennel your dog or cat is used to sleeping in have that next to you and have them in there. there is a sense of security with that. those are the most important things. >> you made me think of my old dog charlie. he hated thunderstorms and had to pull him close for that. sometimes what happens people do get separated from their animals during a storm. how do you track them down? >> well, that's important.

it's hindsight now, but this is why i te it'so important to microchip your animals. they're going to go to kennels and when they go to shelters the microchip is what will get them back to you. make sure you have good mouanca hs of your animahel. every elr in your region every single day. these types of catastrophes overwhelm them. they get so many animals all the time and they are changing every hour. you need to call every day to see if they might not have your anim animal. >> you've had a lot of experience with hurricanes in miami. how do you protect your animals in the zoo? >> that's a big challenge. why can't really move animals out of the zoo because the stress alone can kill these animals. it's not like a dog or cat that is used to being moved. being with you. we keep them safe by keeping them in their normal night houses which are strong. the big challenge in the carolinas will be the water. flooding. you know, if an enclosure is being flooded, what do you do? they've got big challenges and hopefully set up a clearinghouse with other zoos where they can accept them.

a lot of times after storms the zoo might be destroyed and the animals are alive and you have no place to put them. that needs to be done ahead of time. >> a lot of good information there. ron magill, thanks very much. >> you're often asked to evacuate and some people don't want to leave their pets but shelters have gotten much better about allowing pets. >> we saw in in houston. >> that was big. >> we'll be right back. this is customizable str...whatever size.r family. it's saving money with flexible channel packs. live tv and the latest shows to stream. and all your streaming apps in one place - even netflix. this is how xfinity makes life. simple. easy. awesome. get started with xfinity internet and tv for just $34.99 a month for 12 months

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we'll stay on the storm all day long here on abc news. get 24/7 coverage of hurricane florence with abc news live on our website. roku, amazon, fire tv and apple tv. >> all day long we will be here online so stay with us at abc. have a good day, everybody. have a good day, everybody.

>> good morning. meteorologist mike nicco. dark and depressing outside behind me. >> i promise you, things will get cleaner and brighter, at least for us. that will hang around because this is florence that continues to just wow north carolina and now moving towards south carolina. it's stopped all the weather traffic. so we're going to be stuck in this cooler than average pattern with breezy conditions during the afternoon hours to the bay to early tuesday. alexis? >> we have one sig alert. it's a semi on southbound 80 possibly at an overcrossing there and then one lane blocked around washington avenue. definitely plan on some delays there and working on a tow truck to the scene. finally, moving a little better here. westbound 580. san rafael bridge with delays approaching. >> thank you.

next newscast at 11:00 a.m. always on our newscast and >> announcer: it's "live with kelly and ryan." today, academy award-winning actor matthew mcconaughey. plus, the cohost jump in with the great stopping competition as we continue our "record breaker week." all next on "live!" and now, here are kelly ripa and ryan seacrest! >> ryan: okay, let's do this! [cheers and applause] ♪