breaking overnight. hurricane milton pummels florida. the storm striking the sunshine state as a category 3 with

ferocious winds topping 100 miles per hour and storm shuurg as high as 13 feet, knocking out power to nearly 3 million people across the state. and it is not done yet. the monster storm swirling over central florida right now. our team is tracking its path and when it will move out of water. plus, the fight over the fema response. the biden administration blasting donald trump over hurricane misinformation. and the new federal warning about price gouging in the wake of the storm. it's thursday, october 10th. "early today" starts right now. glad you're up early with me. i'm frances rivera. we begin in florida where hurricane milton continues to bring life-threatening conditions. about 3 million power outages are being reported at this hour. the storm made landfall as a category 3, hitting the barrier islands next to sarasota, with wind gusts reaching over 100

miles per hour. tom llamas was in sarasota when the worst of the storm hit. >> reporter: welcome back to our live coverage of hurricane milton. the situation here in sarasota is starting to turn dire. at first we had -- oh, we're going to go. we gotta go, we gotta go. >> tom and his team are okay. they were able to safely move inside. as milton approached florida it spawned a tornado outbreak. more than 100 homes were destroyed and two people were killed in st. lucie county. the sheriff there spoke with nbc news. >> 10,000 square foot structure housing our vehicles was hit by a tornado 50 yards away from where we were and completely wiped it out. we were outside pulling out as much high-water rescue vehicles out of that. complete devastation. we're talking tens of millions of damage.

>> tropicana field's roof was ripped. and a crane was toppled in st. petersburg, damaging a high rise that was still under construction. no injuries were reported. now let's go to sam brock in fort myers where flash flooding is a major concern. >> reporter: good morning here. in the overnight hours we are standing in a parking garage in fort myers. the wind has been coming in at definitely velocities of a hurricane strength. but the bigger story right now is what i'm seeing outside here, which is just rivers of water. it's so dark, it's going to be hard to tell. but i can't even see patches of ground anymore. it's just feet of storm surge, coming through fort myers, and, to give you context for that, we are still about 8 to 10 miles away from all those barrier islands that had to be evacuated. this is the downtown core where the storm surge is just full and voluminous enough to come right through the street.

i'm looking at a dumpster across the street where -- ah, as the winds come in, i'm looking at a dumpster across the street where the water is halfway up. it's 3:00, 4:00 in the morning. there are flash flood emergencies, storm surge warnings continuing for this part of lee county where i am all the way through the central part of the state up through the tampa and sarasota areas as well. and what we're talking about in terms of understanding the depths of all this, there are several reported deaths from one tornado. on the other side of the street, emergency crews have stopped responding once winds get to 45 miles per hour or higher. we are way past that. we have no sense at this hour of how many people might be stranded, need to be rescued, how many may have died. this is going to unfold in the days and weeks to come. as you can see right now from over my shoulder, there's no power here. we have our lights using a generator. but roughly, at this point of the night, a million and a half

customers throughout florida, no power. millions with no power, no electricity at all. it is a crisis that will continue into the days and weeks ahead, most likely. that's the very latest here from fort myers, we send it back to you. >> all right, sam, thank you. many holding their breath to see what daylight will expose. for now, let's get an update on milton's path from michelle grossman. hi, michelle. >> we're looking at milton moving very quickly. it's going to move off the coast in the next couple hours, we're looking, still, though, at very heavy rain falling. the winds are gusting as well. we're looking at winds at 85 miles per hour. the location, 10 miles northwest of cape canaveral florida. it is moving quickly. notice all those bright colors. >> the reds, oranges, yellows, seeing where the heavy rain is falling. we're still seeing torrential downpours and concerns for flash flooding. that's what we're dealing with

this morning, as you look at the track, notice it's going to move quickly off the coast. this is moving very, very quickly. by later on thisn this morning leerki le l i looking over the atlantic. but for now we're looking at heavy rain falling, also concerned about damaging winds. we're still seeing winds gusting very high before milton completely moves off the coast. most extreme conditions are jacksonville until noon, and orlando, we're looking at those most extreme conditions until about 8:00. this is the concern here. 11 million people at risk. flash flood warnings. the good news is the flash flood emergency is gone. we had that just lifted over the past 10, 15 minutes. but we're looking at tampa, spring hill, orlando, daytona beach under a flash flood warning. we'll see once the sun comes up. we're looking at 83 miles per

hour gusts in daytona beach. >> i hope those people will be able to exhale if not this weekend then after. let's turn now to the other storm. the political one. over misinformation about disaster relief and the federal government's response to helene and milton. all this less than a month before election day. alice barr joins us from d.c. hi, alice, good morning. >> reporter: florida residents are hunkering down as hurricane milton bears down across the state, while president biden is urging those in the storm's path to listen to local officials. and he's promising to help recover and rebuild, despite misinformation about the federal government's response. on wednesday, the president called out disinformation from some on the right about the federal emergency management agency, calling that un-american and ridiculous. >> there's been a reckless, irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation and

outright lies that are disturbing people. it's undermining confidence in the incredible rescue and recovery work that has already been undertaken and will continue to be undertaken. and it's harmful to those who need it the most. >> reporter: the jabs continued with former president trump and vice president harris battling over disaster relief. >> she just led the worst rescue operation in history. they had no money. you know where they gave the money? to illegal immigrants coming in. many of whom are killers. >> how crude. have you no empathy, man? you know, the suffering of other people. have you no sense of purpose? if you purport to be a leader to understand that being a leader means lifting people up in a time of need. and not manipulating them. >> reporter: fema says the more

than a billion dollars it distributed to shelter migrants is from a different government program, not disaster relief, despite the swirling misinformation, deanne criswell says the agency is ready and focussed to respond. frances? >> alice, thank you. homeowners in florida are having a hard time getting insured as destructive hurricanes become more frequent. here's stephanie gosk. >> reporter: in the middle of hurricane helene. >> we saw the water come into the house. we immediately filed a claim. >> reporter: er pediatrician dr. meagan martin was already worried about soourns, showing the damage to her home on social media. >> now you have milton barrelling in. >> luckily as an er doctor, when the crisis hits, that's when i go into my focus mode. >> reporter: this is what her st. petersburg neighborhood looks like after helene. what have your premiums been like in recent years? >> we've lived there for eight years, and the premiums have

tripled. >> reporter: on average, nearly $11,000 annually for homeowners insurance. flood insurance is separate. and it's not going to pay for everything. dr. martin says she is covered for $25,000, but facing $75,000 in damage. and that's all before milton hits. her neighborhood is facing a complicated bunch of claims. helene was a water event. milton is going to be a wind and water event. how are they going to be able to determine which was damaged by which storm. after massive damage on florida's west coast, a "washington post" investigation found that some policyholders received less than 20% of what they claimed in damages. some insurers have even pulled out of florida all together. the director for the national center for disaster preparedness at columbia university says the insurance market is under pressure due to climate change. >> we're seeing hurricanes

intensifying more quickly, carrying more rainfall. and, unless we get ahead of that, there's really no possibility of creating an insurance market, when you're constantly being battered and having to have record payouts. >> reporter: it includes changing where and how houses are built. but that's not going t goithe doctor now. hurricanes helene and milton are causing a short supply of iv fluids after catastrophic flooding from helene forced the closure of a north carolina baxter international facility. baxter is the country's largest iv fluid manufacturer. and then on tuesday, b-braun medical announced they were temporarily closing two facilities in daytona beach ahead of milton. the limited supply is forcing some hospitals across the u.s. to postpone elective and non-emergency surgery. besides milton, let's get an

early check of your weekend forecast for the rest of the country, with nbc meteorologist michelle grossman. welcome back, michelle. >> thanks, frances. looking really good for many of us, from the northeast to the mid atlantic, the great lakes and midwest as well. lots of sunshine across the country. temperature wise, feeling a little fall like in the northeast. a great day on friday. we're going to feel like summer in the northern plains, central and southern plains. sunny and hot in the southwest. notice a little green in florida. so we do have lingering showers on friday, but much better on saturday, happy to report this for cleanup. because we looking at a nice day there in florida, also in the southeast. that sunshine extends all the way through the ohio valley, northeast, mid atlantic and back to portions of the southwest he

midwest. 87 in omaha with lots of sunshine. 84 in rapid city. all right, that's yours t thurs forecast. one of the biggest stars in the world making a big contribution toward disaster relief. taylor swift donated $5 million to feeding america. in a statement, the non-profit thanked swift and said her donation will help provide food, clean water and supplies to those affected by the storm. coming up, a full day of clenchings and blowouts in playoff baseball. and what the government is doing to prevent price gouging in storm-ravaged communities. ng in storm-ravaged communities. ni. 24/7 moisturization with vitamin b3. (knock on the door) are you using all the old spice? oops. ♪ (old spice mnemonic) ♪

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the storm made landfall last night, bringing dangerous flooding across the state and leaving over 3 million people without power. and nearly a quarter of gas stations in florida ran out of fuel ahead of the storm, while store shelves were pick the clean, as people stocked up on essentials. the shortages prompting the biden administration to issue a warning about a heightened risk of fraud and price gouging in the wake of milton. cnbc's charlotte reed joins us with the details. good morning, charlotte. >> good morning, frances. well, indeed, the department of justice, the ftc, the consumer protection bureau are warning consumers of fraud and price gouging in the wake of hurricane milton. the warnings come after reports of businesses taking advantages of the disaster to hike prices on essentials like groceries and gas, but also on hotel prices as people prepared for the hurricane or fled it. the justice department warned that companies were on notice and shouldn't use the hurricane as, quote, an excuse to exploit

people through illegal behavior. now most states have laws intended to curb price gouging in states of emergency. fraudulent charities are claiming to raise money for the victims of the disaster, offering relief in exchange for personal information. on to other news, we are expecting important economic data with the latest reading on inflation. economists see inflation continuing to cool with 2.3 compared to last year. these numbers will help investors try to get an idea where the fed might go next after cutting interest rates just in september by 50 basis points. will these numbers allow them in september to continue cutting interest rates and by how much in the next meeting in november. >> charlotte reed from cnbc, thank you. still to come, have you met these mets?

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bronx bomber stepped up when his team needed him the most. >> high fly ball. deep left field. back goes melendez. forget about it. it's gone! >> jean carlos stanton broke a yankees stalemate with that bomb to left field. the yanks have a chance to close out their series against kc tonight. earlier in detroit, the tigers moved just one game away from knocking out the guardians. they blanked cleveland and could advance to the alcs in front of their home crowd later today. when we come back, a popular candy bar is getting its first new flavor in ten years. and it's out with a bang for the tropicana hotel and casino after the break. a hotel and casino afr the break. colitis symptoms can keep coming back. start to break away from uc with tremfya... with rapid relief at 4 weeks. tremfya blocks a key source of inflammation.

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without power right now. let's go live to nbc's jay gray, who has weathered the storm in fort myers. what are you seeing there? >> reporter: yeah, and look, things much calmer right now here in fort myers than they obviously were overnight into the early morning. we had strong winds, driving rain here. we know that the storm surge has caused some problems along the coastline, water getting into businesses there. we have standing water in the downtown area of fort myers. let's talk about where we are with the storm right now. more than 3 million people are without power across the state. it continues to move across central florida and over to the east coast, pounding orlando right now. and we know in st. petersburg that tropicana field there had a portion of the roof ripped away by this storm. so it's definitely leaving its mark. we'll know a lot more about the damage, about what's happened

here in fort myers, fort myers beach, of course, as well, as soon as we get daybreak here. as soon as the sun comes up. that will give us a better chance to really assess what's happened here. but power outages the big problem right now. flooding the big problem right now. and tornados. this has spawned two dozen or more tornados across the state, including one here in fort myers. one on the east side of the state that is obviously been blamed for a loss of life there. and so that's something that they are working through on the other side of the state. most every portion of florida right now under some type of emergency order, some type of emergency warning as this storm continues to push its way through. and still a category 1 hurricane. category 3 at landfall, and now losing some steam as it moves across the state but still causing some major problems. >> really tough especially when it comes to those anxious residents, jay, who have to wait

until morning to see what the damage has left behind. all right. jay, thanks so much. and coming up on "today", later this morning, we will have a full recap on hurricane milton. and the damage left behind. team coverage continues here on nbc. of course our correspondents are fanned out across florida to bring you that coverage. for now, thanks so much for watching "early today." i'm frances rivera, hope you have a great thursday. we'll see you back here early tomorrow morning. have a good one. have a good one.

hurricane milton slams into florida, knocking out power to millions, bringing devastating flooding and spawning deadly tornados. the roof of tampa'