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

field badly damaged by the powerful winds. we have team coverage on what conditions are like on the ground and how long milton will stick around. milton's power forcing many florida airports to close, with some evacuees catching the last flights out of town. their concerns as they ride out the storm outside of florida. all this as the storm response creates its own political storm. president biden and vice president harris slamming rampant misinformation as former president trump criticizes the fed's response. in the wake of hurricane helene, utility workers helping to restore power form a very special bond with a young boy. and the mets are the first to punch their ticket to the championship series, plus the rest of the highlights from the mlb playoffs. it's thursday, october 10th. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm frances rivera. we begin in florida, where hurricane milton continues to

charge across the sunshine state. there are more than 2.5 million power outages 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 -- we're going to go, we gotta go, we gotta go. >> tom and his team are okay. they were able to get inside and shelter from the dangerous storm that has triggered flash flood emergencies. as milton approached florida, it also spawned a tornado outbreak. at least two people were10100 h destroyed. the roof of tropicana field was also damaged. one of the biggest threats to life is the storm surge.

some areas were expected to see a rush of 5 to 13 feet of water. the governor activated the florida national guard. >> we have massive amounts of search and rescue equipment and personnel standing by. and that's not just our state a and local. it's also our national guard, state guard. we have about 9,000 national guard personnel between florida and other states. >> now let's get an update from jay gray, who's in fort myers, florida, where the streets have been turned into rivers. >> reporter: conditions here in fort myers dropping off, and that will continue to deteriorate for more sustained winds and a more constant rainfall. we're already dealing with problems with the storm surge, water pushes into coastal businesses, and that's going to grow. we could see a 10 to 15-foot storm surge before it's all dodone here. that would push water into

places it's frankly never been in this area. that's saying something. they've dealt with a lot of storms here over the last few years. helene bringing damage to this area, debby, which was a tropical storm before that. two years ago, ian, which really ravaged this area, destroyed so many homes, damaged so many businesses. i talked to a couple that was evacuating, moving to higher ground and out of the path of the storm. and they said they were just feeling a sense of normalcy, that they had gotten things back from ian two years ago. now they've been forced to leave it all behind, move out of the way. some of the toughest hours are right now, watching this all develop and unfold, wondering what's going to be left here when they can finally get back in. there's concern that power in some of the hardest-hit areas will be out not for days but for weeks here. a lot of people preparing for what's going to be a long, a difficult go here as well. we'll continue to watch things for now, though, that's the situation here. i'm jay gray. >> okay. thanks, jay. time now for a wrup update on

milton's path from michelle grossman. what's the concern right now? >> good morning, frances. we're still seeing very heavy rain falling. wind gusts over 100 miles per hour during the overnight hours. rainfall totals near 20 inches in some spots. so feet of rain. and we're continuing to see the rain falling. we're looking at the winds at 85 miles per hour as it has weakened to a category 1 fa cat bstorm. we expect milton to be out of here later on this morning. but we're going to see devastating wind and rain. flash flood emergencies through noon today. and milton moves off the florida coast later on this morning. that's the good news. let's talk about the places where we're seeing the most die

most extreme conditions, that's jacksonville. peak winds, 45-65. and orlando, we're looking at rainfall totaling, 8 to 12 inches. some spots saw nearly 20. we might go over the 20 mark as we go throughout the morning hours. we won't know the devastation until that sun does come up. flood alerts, 11 million people at risk. we have flood watches, flash flood warnings and flood emergencies. that's where you're looking at the hot pink color. tampa included in that. we're going to see that as we go through the a half or so. concerns conditions are not great. we're looking at the weekend in just a bit. >> thanks so much, michelle. now, let's turn to the political storm over disaster relief and the federal government's response to hurricanes helene and milton. gabe gutierrez has more.

>> reporter: with hurricane milton churning in the gulf, president biden is ramping up his criticism of misinformation ahead of the storm. >> it's un-american. it's not who the hell we are. >> reporter: meanwhile, former president trump in battleground pennsylvania, attacking vice president harris. >> she's just led the worst rescue operation in history. in north carolina. >> reporter: and sintensifying political storm as both candidates battle over relief. >> you know where they gave the money? illegal immigrants. >> reporter: that is false. it's from a different federal program, not disaster relief. harris on a late-night show slamming trump. >> it's crude. have you no empathy, man? you know, the suffering of other people. >> reporter: the former president also falsely says fema will only give storm surv

survivors 7$750. >> those rumors are totally unsubstantiated. >> reporter: still, chuck edwards says there are legitimate questions about fema's response. >> it was more than three days before we ever saw the first folks in here from fema. >> reporter: the several governors now say the feds have provided the aid they need. some survivors are still desperate for fema's help. >> why aren't they here? why aren't they helping people that need it. >> reporter: ahead of hurricane milton, a watchdog says fema staffing is running on a razor's edge. for example, of the more than 1200 workers who specialize in disaster recovery assistance, just three are listed as available. but the fema administrator insists the agency can handle multiple disasters, saying it has a layered staffing approach. >> our thanks to gabe for that report. hurricane milton has forced some of florida's biggest

airstrike airntsbiggest airports to close. from nbc new york, we talked to concerned passengers at laguardia, airport. >> this is my first time in new york. >> reporter: at baggage claim at laguardia, airport, stacy callahan and her son quinn are making the most of a difficult situation. >> we are fortunate to be able to come to new york where family is. but there are so many people that we love, and our hearts go out for them right now. >> reporter: they left palm beach on one of the last flights before the airport suspends operations, grounding flights until hurricane milton passes through. >> one of the bad things is that the ground is so saturated. that i don't know where this water's going to go. >> people are nervous, for sure. a lot of people were calling me, wondering how the weather was like. >> reporter: this mom leaving miami, though not in the hurricane's direct path, she's

grateful to be leaving until the worst of the storm is over. >> hopefully everybody's safe. >> reporter: with mass evacuations issued along k alon tcoastal communities. >> i'll find out after the storm what i'll find. >> our thanks for that report. president biden and vice president harris both spoke to israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu wednesday. the white house described the call as both productive and direct. the three discussed potential israeli retaliation against iran for their ballistic missile attack last week. the read out of the call did not offer any news on the plans. it was the first call between president biden and netanyahu since august. mr. biden said a diplomatic solution is needed in lebanon, while urging the israeli prime minister to minimize harm to civilians in his bombing campaign in densely-populated areas. we are learning more about

the afghan citizen whos with ar who was arrested in oklahoma city. nbc news is told that he worked as a security guard for the cia in afghanistan. court documents say tawidi had ple pledged allegiance to isis. they are investigating whether he was radicalized before or after he came to the u.s. in 2021. the cia declined to comment and tawidi has yet to enter a plea in court. hurricanes helene and milton are causing a short supply of iv fluids after they forced the closure of a manufacturer. the country's second-largest manufacturer 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 a quick look at your weekend forecast in other parts of the country. hi, michelle. >> hi there, frances. i think you're going to like this one. we're going to be nice and quiet in so many spots. lots of sunshine, which is good news. we need the break as we go throughout the weekend. as we head towards the new england area, we're looking at a great day there. temperatures in the 60s on friday. summer highs in the middle of the country into the 70s and 80s. still lots of sunshine. the heat does continue in parts of the west, southwest. sunny and hot there. and a really nice day in parts of the pacific northwest. by saturday, a few showers move into northern california, but still lots of sunshine in the great basin and northern plains, southern plains, portions of the southwest still hot there. looking really good in the northeast as well. temperatures in the 60s and 70s, and finally, a nice day for

florida on saturday and the rest of the southeast. sunday, showers return to portions of the great lakes, but not heavy showers. just wet weather on sunday and much cooler in ptions ofor lots of sunshine, though. 83 in minneapolis. 87 in omaha. all right. that's your thursday forecast. >> thanks so much, michelle. coming up, an important recall for honda drivers over a steering problem. and we're back in a minute with a major donation from taylor swift to help in the wake of hurricanes milton and helene. of hurricanes milton and helene. (whispered) vanilla and shea. 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 faa says the twin-engine plane went down shortly after taking off from catalina airport wednesday evening. the wreckage was discovered after authorities received an emergency innovatinotification cell phone that had been on board. the ntsb will investigate the crash. a turkish airlines pilot died while flying from seattle to istanbul. the co-pilot took over and executed an emergency landing at jfk airport in new york. the 59-year-old underwent a health check in march, and no issues were found. it is unclear what caused the medical emergency. turkish airlines expressed condolences for the pilot's family. one of the biggest stars in the world is making a major cru contribution toward sdisaster relief. taylor swift don'ated $5 millio to feeding america. they revealed the donation, thanking swift for her

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bringing life-threatening storm surge and catastrophic winds. the hurricane has knocked out power to over 2 million people across the sunshine state. hurricane milton making landfall less than two weeks after hurricane helene hit the region. that monster storm tore a path of destruction across the southeast. in georgia, linemen are still working to restore power in some areas. one crew befriended a 5-year-old boy with special needs and made him a member of the team. meredith anderson from our augusta affiliate has the story. >> there's a bucket truck. >> reporter: as a lineman, devin's job is to bring light. >> i've been doing it since i was 19. took me a lot of places. i've met a lot of good people. >> reporter: he's the general foreman for a crew here all the way from ft. worth, texas. >> he calls him light-light. he turned on our lights. >> reporter: lights in a dark time for everyone whose power they restored. but especially for 5-year-old

ryan dial. >> he's very sensory oriented and needs everything to be roo y rueueoutine. >> reporter: which is why devin and his crew became so powerful. they restored ryan's routine. but they also found a way to disrupt it in the best possible way. the rest is nothing short of electric. >> he's a wild man. >> reporter: it's not just the m mega watt smile. can you actually feel their spark. >> when ryan was firstborn, everybody said that children with special needs default to love. and that's what he is. he's just feuer love. >> reporter: devin had a special sister with special needs. he lost her in 2012. >> she was only 4. so around the same age as him. i've always, i actually

volunteer for the special olympics, do a lot of stuff like that. >> reporter: devin's also the father of a 3-year-old girl who he misses desperately. but they'll likely be heading to florida next to help with milton. >> we'll go home when the work is done, i guess. >> reporter: spreading even more light to other families who need his light too. >> you can see that smile, around the laande laugd the lau electric. coming up, we'll have more across florida. have a great thursday. ve a grea.

landfall, striking the sunshine state with ferocious winds, knocking out power for millions. daylight is provid