how best to build the fema workforce that depends upon part-time employees that are called reservists that are called up when needed, and especially as a job market heats up, there is fewer and fewer people that are idle that can be called up for disasters. >> former fema administrator craig fugate, thanks so much for being a resource for all of us and understanding how this is all unfolding. thank you very much for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> and for more information on how to contribute to the hurricane relief efforts, you can scan this qr code which you see right there on the screen. and it will send you to all different kinds of ways to help. that will do it for us today. i'll see you back here tomorrow, same time, same place. i hope everybody who is dealing with the aftermath of the hurricane stays safe in the days ahead. jose diaz-balart picks up the coverage right now. good morning. 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m.

pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart. we begin with breaking news. an urgent search and rescue operation is unfolding across florida's gulf coast after hurricane milton crashed ashore as a powerful category 3 storm, killing at least six people. right now, more than 3 million people are without power in florida, the storm unleashing a life threatening 10-foot storm surge in some areas, dumping more than 18 inches of rain in st. petersburg. it also spawned a historic tornado outbreak yesterday that destroyed more than 100 homes. take a look at this, 100-mile-an-hour wind gusts toppling this huge construction crane, sending debris flying on to the street, ripping the roof off tropicana stadium, home of the tampa bay rays baseball team, which is being housed as -- to house emergency workers. also this morning, president biden and vice president harris are set to be briefed on the federal response to the storm.

joining us now, "today" show co-host dylan dreyer who is in bradenton, florida, and chase cain in daytona beach, florida, and meteorologist angie lassman. bradenton was hit very hard. what are you seeing there when the sun rises? >> reporter: -- helene where the storm surge came up to about three feet. now, we did not get the storm surge here that we were expecting, but we did get wind gusts up to 102 miles per hour at the bradenton airport. we're seeing a lot more wind damage this time around. you can see these big trees just toppled over right into the streets. the crews were just here to tag the fact that the power line has been impacted by this tree here. so, you know, they didn't cut down the tree and clear the road completely because it is actually protecting folks from running into that power line that is hanging low over the street here. but, it is part of the reason why it explains that we have 500,000 people without people here, because the toppled trees

come down and the power lines and we're causing just that ripple effect of no power here across the area. so, this whole storm system, i think the fact that hurricane helene came first really protected the lives of a lot of folks in this area. because while we are seeing a lot of damage in this little neighborhood here in bradenton, we have not seen a lot of people around. really so far this morning it has been a ghost town. some folks have come back to kind of assess the damage, but there really haven't been that many people around. i did talk to one gentleman, bob, who owns a restaurant up the street, he said unfortunately the inside of his restaurant was destroyed from hurricane helene because of the flooding. this time around it was the outside of his restaurant that was destroyed because of the gusty winds. so, it is kind of been a 1-2 punch with two different things happening. that's why there really is so much to clean up here. while we didn't get the storm surge, it is the winds now that people have to pick up after and now with, you know, the days ahead, that's exactly what they'll be doing. >> yeah, dylan, it's so

interesting that you say that helene was so much more of a wind phenomenon right there, and you're right, the sarasota/bradenton border area. the airport is between sarasota and bradenton. this was more of a wind phenomenon. what were the differences there? >> reporter: well, it was that track of the storm. we were following the track of the storm so closely and by the time the storm is make its way onshore, it is wobbling a little bit. tampa bay area, here in bradenton, we were really worried about that 10, 15 foot storm surge potential. but then it just shifted a little further to the south, just enough to spare this area from that inundation of water that is being pushed on shore. instead, the water was pushed off shore, so it really helped with the flooding. but because it was a category 3 storm, you know, you naturally have those very gusty winds. so we did end up with that instead of both. because if that didn't wobble, the way it did, then we would have been dealing with the wind damage and the storm surge on top of that.

>> dylan dreyer, thank you so much, so great seeing you, appreciate it. chase, you're on the other side of florida. the flooding has been substantial. what are you seeing there this morning? >> reporter: jose, a couple of things. we just talked to the volusia county sheriff. they had three deaths here in volusia county adding to the total from the storm. the other thing i want to reference what we're seeing here behind me is yet another vehicle getting caught and stuck in these flooded waters as a couple good samaritans helping push them out of the water. this is one of the things, they say don't drive through standing water. this is just an hour we have been here at least ten vehicles have gotten stuck in the waters. they had to bring in tow trucks, back to the conversation with the sheriff a few minutes ago, he said of the three deaths, one he knew was from a tree falling on a home, haven't been able to figure out the conversation, what caused the other two deaths. they are out in the county assessing this. the sheriff said the flooding here is substantial, it is all across the county, some of the precipitation reports, rainfall reports, 14, 15, inches of rain

and they are still trying to get to everyone. it wasn't really until 7:00 a.m. he said they were able to start getting crews out safely to check on folks and get them to medical care if they need that, jose. >> chase, if you would, show us what's going on right to your right. i mean, there is people that are still getting their cars affected by the water. >> reporter: yeah, i mean, this vehicle stalled, a gentleman helping push him out of that and then you see on the other side, a lady taking her chances, and following this truck, kind of using the weight created by the pickup truck in front of her. she was able to get through. not everyone has been able to. we actually got to the spot, because there is an apartment complex several blocks down the road where there is water in people's homes. mothers with children and they're trying to figure out how to keep them safe. everyone there is apparently okay, but that's where we are trying to get to and couldn't get any further down the road, jose, because too much water on the road here. >> thank you so very much for

being with us, appreciate it. and, angie, let's talk about well, these, you know, this -- the path of this storm. we were talking about it yesterday at this time. it eventually hit as a cat 3. we were saying what dylan was saying that in sarasota, bradenton area it was more of a wind phenomenon. where is it now and what was that pass through florida like? >> so, yeah, the good news is, jose this system is moving away. so it is a category 1, yes, but we're essentially starting to wrap up the impacts and now we'll focus on the destruction, the damage, the cleanup that comes. and assessing exactly where the storm surge heights landed, how much rain we received in some spots and, of course, those wind reports that i'm going to show you here in a moment. it has winds at 80 miles per hour, moving away, well off the eastern coast of florida. more than 130 miles from cape canaveral. so we're not going to be worrying about, you know, any

ramp up of kind of the impacts here from here on out. we're going to slowly but surely start to see those kind of wind down and we have for most part. places like tampa, sarasota, orlando, things are much quieter. a couple of rain bands still working through parts of the space coast, daytona beach and points south of there, titusville, you heard chase tell you in parts of volusia county, brevard county, 6 to 12 inches of rain in a short period of time. the flooding you saw, the visuals from where chase is, we're seeing that across much of this area. that's some of the spots we still have the flood alerts up for and those will likely stay with us definitely through the morning hours and even into this afternoon. when it comes to the wind, that's also winding down. more good news. we just got some gusty winds still for places like melbourne, daytona beach, but those really destructive winds are long gone. and we're going to kind of start to see things getting quieter. here is where they were, though. we topped out at 107 miles per hour in venice beach. these are some of the areas,

sarasota, sky way, fishing pier, where the sky way bridge is at the mouth of tampa bay, those are the wind speeds where that northern eyewall was. the area we were most concerned for folks to have to go through with wind damage. that was the strongest winds that we were likely going to see, even st. petersburg, over 100 miles per hour. some of these saw stronger gusts, but we saw the gauges break. we'll get to see kind of what shakes out with the wind damage after we see national weather service go out there and start to survey some of the damages along with national hurricane center, that goes for the storm surges as well. but the rain was just incredible across this region, specifically i want to point you to st. petersburg. yesterday, between 8:00 and 9:00, over 5 inches of rain. that is just unprecedented. one in a thousand year rainfall event happening in over 18 inches in just a 24-hour period. so, you got all of this rain happening, all at once, nowhere to go. one thing is, florida is flat. so much like, you know, the same

kind of rainfall amounts were happening in places like asheville, a couple of weeks ago, thankfully, jose, this region's topography saved the really devastating floods that we saw in asheville, but, still, the flash flood emergency was ongoing and we're going to continue to see the flash flooding concern for parts of the east coast here at least for a little while longer while that water recedes. you see some alerts still up at this hour. >> and so, angie, explain how this hurricane also spawned these tornadoes that were deadly in the eastern part of the state. >> yeah, so, you know, when you see these hurricanes coming on shore, you have a circulation and you have the potential for spin-offs in the atmosphere. there is a lot of movement going on. so it is not uncommon for us to see these tropical tornadoes. now what was different yesterday is these were in a lot of cases wedge tornadoes. some of the ones you saw cause

fatalities. those kind of tornados are something that is happening, say, in the middle of the country in spring. not so much in florida. florida is more common for an ef0 or ef1. we know with climate change we are seeing the potential for these more frequent tornadoes with tropical land falling systems. that's something to be said. on top of that, we know climate change has an impact with really incredible rain events like what we have seen. we saw how fast helene and milton kind of ramped up in the rapid intensification that has happened in our warming world and we know that is, of course, influenced by those unprecedented warm waters of the gulf of mexico as well. >> and angie lassman, thank you so very much, appreciate it. you know, one of those deadly tornadoes that angie was talking about took out a 10,000 square foot building, steel structure, look at this, part of the st. lucie county sheriff's office and used for vehicle storage.

joining us now, scott samples, public information officer for port st. lucie. scott, thank you for being with us this morning. four people lost their lives from these tornadoes. what happened? >> yeah. so, as your meteorologist was discussing, there was a severe tornadic activity. we have not seen anything like that in this area. and i think those are very difficult to prepare for. we're used to preparing for hurricanes. when something like these tornadoes and so many of these tornadoes occur, it can be very difficult to prepare for that sort of sudden storm. so, it really was, you know, something that was unprecedented, but also incredibly sad and for those folks that have lost their lives and as well as folks whose homes and properties were damaged. >> indeed, how widespread and intense was the damage? >> so, i think what you've seen

and we're still doing a lot of assessments in the city, as well as the st. lucie county, our partners there are still doing a lot of assessments. i think what you've seen is a lot of very localized damage. where as when we see a lot of hurricane damage typically, that seems more widespread. and so, this is -- you're seeing it in pockets, maybe more so than traditional hurricane damage where you're seeing severe flooding, you're seeing severe wind damage that is sustained. this is a very unique, i think, for this area and, you know, it is something that is, again, very difficult to prepare for. >> yeah. it certainly is. and so unexpected, even though we knew that this hurricane was coming. but, you know, way across the other part of the state that this would happen. what resources do you need? is there something you need? how can we all help you all? >> well, the governor is coming to st. lucie county, i believe

in about an hour. we work very closely with our county. i think at this point really going through the assessment will be the next important stage to determine what those needs are. and then how we can provide those to residents. >> you know what do you see as the next days and weeks looking like for you all? >> yeah, again, i think that will be dependent on the assessment of what we see and what the damage is. as of 9:00 a.m., 25% of the city was without power. but, you know, i think by and large we withstood the storm as well as could be expected, given the unprecedented nature of what this storm brought. >> scott samples, thank you very much for being with us. appreciate your time. >> thank you very much. up next, sarasota officials warning people to stay off the roads, which are littered with downed power lines and trees. we're going to go to a hospital there that has been preparing for days. how they're faring this morning. and new pictures of the

flooding in tampa. we'll talk live to congresswoman kathy castor who represents the city about what she is hearing from residents. we're back in 90 seconds. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. s you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. t-mobile's 5g network connects a hundred thousand delta employees

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devastated parts of florida, over 3 million people are still without power after milton ripped down trees and power lines, tossing cars, mobile homes and turning debris into projectiles. right now, president and ceo of the sarasota memorial healthcare system is with us. he joins us from the group's main hospital. i thank you for being with us. and this is an area, sarasota, that has been affected numerous times, just in the recent weeks by different phenomenon, first you were estimating there could be between 4 and 5,000 people, patients and staff, at sarasota memorial locations throughout the storm area. how are folks managing right now? >> so, i think we're relieved somewhat to be quite honest with you. we saw that hurricane coming at us, cat 5, as you mentioned. we had three named storms in this area over the past month. and i think we built some muscle

memory into that. i just want to call out our caregivers and the people who come in during these storms, they come in here to take care of the community. they come in to this hospital and leave their families and their property behind. and put community first. and it is with great appreciation that we have for everything and gratitude for what they do. >> yeah, i mean, you have actually mentioned that hospital staff members work in two main shifts, one team actually slept at the hospital, and now another team scheduled to come in and relieve them at about 10:00 a.m. earlier today. in the wake of all the damage there, was everybody able to come in and get out in time? >> it is a process. so we do have a team that we have what we call our team a comes in and we lock down. i'm starting to lose track of time at this point, about 48 hours ago. and everybody got in place and ready.

the organization for the storm, and to be able to take care of our patients. and then once we get an all clear, where it is safe for people to leave, we bring in our team b. and that's a little bit of a transition. it probably takes a couple of hours to do that. but we just want to make sure that we have a seamless handoff and a safe handoff for our patients and our staff members alike. we are completely, you know, full and at capacity, but we're running full operations right now. >> so, you actually said you have enough food and water for at least seven days. and that's called preplanning in a very effective way. are you adequately equipped to continue going forward? now it looks as though it wasn't hit, thank god, that it wasn't hit as some feared, but what are some of those preparations that you think have been key? >> i think it is a lot of drilling. it is a lot of planning.

we make sure we have enough power. i think we have 200,000 gallons of fuel to run our generators, so we can run that for, you know, weeks. we have enough fuel -- food and water here to be able to take care of patients and our staff alike. and then we ended up with 4700 people here last night between this campus and our venice campus. and, you know, it is -- it is really something that gives you a lot of faith and dedication of people and what they'll put in front of themselves. i mean, it is something that makes you very proud to work for an organization like this. >> yeah, and i know that the hospital is allowing staff members to bring their kids and even their pets to the facility. what kind of challenges has that created? >> it is a lot. we set up day cares, basically,

and our auditoriums, and age appropriate, so we have little kids, toddlers, we have teenage kids and we have movies playing for them during the whole thing. so they'll be entertained and have things to do. we have a lot of pets that come, because, you know, we need our -- a lot of times you won't have staff that won't leave their pets, which we understand. i'm a dog lover. i understand that. and we have a whole crew that takes care of pets. and i think we ended up housing, you know, 70 dogs and cats and one of the funnier stories, we even had one dog that had to have its -- its support rabbit with him. so, you know, you see all kinds of stuff. but, you know, we're a big family here and we're happy to accommodate that. >> david, thank you very much for being with us this morning. appreciate it. >> it is my pleasure. thank you for having me. and joining us now, nbc news correspondent jay gray live from

fort myers. good morning. what are you seeing there now? >> reporter: yeah, jose, a lot of damage in this area. thankfully as you often see as you see after the storms, a clear day so people can get out and assess what happened here. i want to show you what we have behind us. that's the awning from a rooftop ripped off and thrown into the trees, more of it scattered around the area. it came from the top of the gas pumps here. it was ripped away here and tossed about. a lot of people coming and looking for gas right now. they're not selling any gas at this 7-eleven. gas has been an issue over the last couple of days. but we believe some is going to be moving in. this from a tornado. and there were dozens of tornadoes before milton made landfall. there is a home just behind us here with damage to the roof. in st. lucie, on the other side of the peninsula, four died as a result of tornadoes. so that's something that is adding to what is going to be a

very difficult time here in florida. here in fort myers, we saw hurricane-force winds and a driving rain, standing water in the downtown area, for quite some time. it has receded, thankfully. we saw a strong storm surge that pushed water into buildings along the coastline, so they're cleaning that up as well. and, across the state, and i know you guys have been talking about it, jose, but more than 3 million people without power. we have seen line trucks out and moing around and getting into areas and some of those have to remove debris. we have downed trees with the downed lines. they'll have to make sure they can get crews in. they're starting to work to restore some of that. and it is just as you guys talked about, and as we talked about over the last couple of days, it is just another slap in the face to an area that has dealt with so many storms over the last couple of years. i talked to a family, jose, that evacuated. they had just felt like they were getting back to what they called normal, two years after ian. about 80% of their home, they

said, was restored. and now they had to leave everything, move to higher ground, and not knowing what they'll return to is very difficult for so many. it is a physical strain, obviously. but the emotions and the frustration and the fear is something else. the mental side of this is also very difficult for thousands here in the strike zone. >> yeah, i mean, jay, ian just was so destructive in fort myers and fort myers beach. jay gray, thank you very much. we are getting in more video of the aftermath of hurricane milton. here is tampa police evacuating a home with 15 people inside after a tree slammed into the house. we'll talk to congresswoman kathy castor about conditions in tampa right now. plus, we'll get a lot of updates from st. petersburg with milton's ferocious winds shredded the roof off the tropicana field stadium.

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28 past the hour. the tampa bay area was hit hard by hurricane milton, high winds tore the roof off of tropicana field stadium. no workers were in it when this happened. marissa parra joins us from

outside the stadium in st. petersburg. what are you seeing there today? >> reporter: well, i can tell you a lot of people in shock as they're driving and walking past this, because this is a structure, home of the tampa bay rays and this is the place that is pretty iconic for the local area here in st. petersburg and the tampa bay area. you can see those pieces of fabric kind of flapping in the wind there over that exoskeleton-looking structure. pieces of metal remain. we understand overnight witnesses did hear ripping sounds, which corroborates what we're seeing right now. and we do know, we learned some new information as we have been trying to figure out who was inside, we know the tropicana field was used pre-landfall as a base camp for first responders. this is coming from florida's division of emergency management and they said the state supported local debris removal efforts as long as conditions were safe to do so. so then we understand from governor ron desantis' team during the press conference, he says first responders and linemen had moved to a safe

staging area before milton's landfall, that they were not inside of here, but i will tell you, jose, i know that there were people inside of here. the question is who. i spoke with fire and rescue and they told me they were in contact with the people who were inside and they were taking shelter inside of the corridors, but that they were safe and all accounted for. so no injuries from this specific instance. all of this as we're really trying to get a full sense and scope of the damage around the region, which was difficult to do overnight because those winds were roaring, we could hear them from where we were taking shelter and this is all happening at night. so today it is a long day of not just doing those assessments, still rescues happening in other parts of the state as we speak in those flooded areas, but, of course, the cleanup and a lot of that was the remnants of helene that has now been scattered and tossed around in the street, especially with all of that flooding, jose. >> yeah, i mean, you're not far from where the storm winds, a crane crashing into a building.

>> yes, that was a big concern. i think i was right here talking to you about that, about 24 hours ago. the concern in st. petersburg about the cranes. it takes weeks. you have to schedule it weeks ahead to lower the cranes. and instead of weeks they had days and it was not possible. instead, they put out a notice, the city of st. petersburg put out a notice to anyone in the radius of those cranes, stay away from the windows in case they come toppling down. you can see the video on the screen there, a lot of cinder blocks, metal. thankfully no one was in the path of it. it did crash on to a structure. but that building did not seem to have anyone in it. it had businesses, including the tampa bay times, and you can see it took out at least two stories, that corner of the two stories there, jose, but thankfully, again, it did not cause anyone to be hurt from it. but i will tell you, a lot of people were very nervous, hunkered down, one of them

telling me they're staying at a hotel next to the crane on the other side of it, and they refused to go near the window because they were very afraid that it might swing their way. i think in these instances, in particular, we're still trying to figure out the full scope of this, and we're trying to figure out exactly where the worst damage is here, but in these two instances, tropicana and this crane, people did seem to get lucky here, jose. >> indeed they did. marissa parra, thank you very much. now, elsewhere in that region, authorities say there is extensive flooding in tampa and nearby communities, the storm also brought down trees, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses. tampa officials say they received more than 100 emergency calls. joining us now on the phone, florida congresswoman kathy castor who represents the tampa area. she is on the road, surveying damage. congresswoman, thank you for joining us. what are you seeing this morning? >> hey, thank you, jose. this is an unprecedented 1-2 punch.

it is just unprecedented that we would have two hurricanes in two weeks. so, you know, helene -- these are two unwanted visitors, it is like someone came over -- helene came over and flooded out your house and then milton comes in, and takes away your power, takes down your trees, floods your neighborhood. thank goodness we had excellent local first responders and the mayors of tampa and st. pete have been on the case. this is going to take a long time to recover, especially for those families who were flooded out during helene. they have a long road ahead. >> yeah, and i'm just thinking because folks may not be aware of just -- first of all, the beauty that is the tampa bay area. st. pete right beside it, and all of that area. but, congresswoman, there is so

much water in and around that area, do you see a lot of the flooding and a lot of the storm surge that was, you know, people were worried that that was going to be something that was going to affect them. the fact that the tampa st. pete area got so many inches of rain in just one hour, what are the after effects of that? >> all around town, the areas that were outside the flood zone a and b, they now have standing water near the university of south florida, plant city to the eastern part in eastern hillsborough county, significant flooding. we have a lot of creeks and rivers, the floodwaters because of the rain this time flooded out neighborhoods. and people don't have flood insurance -- after helene, i was

glad to hear that aid was getting in to bank accounts for folks who needed it. >> yeah, so, what is it that you are asking of us? how can we help and what help is needed? >> right now, it is making sure folks understand that fema is available, aid is available through disasterassistance.gov. whether you have flood insurance or not, whether you have insurance or not, fema is there to help provide that immediate assistance. president biden has been very engaged. talk to your local first responders. take your time going back home today into st. pete and hillsborough county because the power is out and our local first responders have to get in there and clear the trees. there is not a lot of gas on the roadways either. it is probably a good idea to delay coming back into town.

>> congresswoman kathy castor, we lost you just at the tail end of your conversation. i appreciate so much that you joined us this morning and for all that you all are doing. up next, 11 million people are at risk of flooding and flash rains. we'll talk to a hurricane expert about how this storm could affect residents for years to come. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. me you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" omsn nbc. upset stomach iberogast indigestion iberogast bloating iberogast thanks to a unique combination of herbs, iberogast helps relieve six digestive symptoms to help you feel better. six digestive symptoms. the power of nature. iberogast. ♪ the power of nature. like a relentless weed, moderate to severe ulcerative 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. at one year, many people experienced remission...

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breaking news, the death toll from hurricane milton now stands at nine across florida. rescues are happening now in a race to save people's lives. a woman and her children are alive right now, thanks to the quick work of a news crew and a good samaritan. amber and her four children were trapped inside their home in lakeland 35 miles east of tampa. she was looking out a window and she was spotted by a news crew from wfla tv. a short time later, a good samaritan arrived and used headlights to help henry and her kids find a way to escape. henry described her situation to the news crew that helped her. >> when it got up the window, it got up the window and started coming in the house from the

window. and the refrigeraor started floating. i turned out the power. me and my children hopped on the oven and once we hopped on the oven, i called my mom and told my mom, i think me and my children are about to drown to death. but i had to literally break into the neighbor's house to get higher level and thank god i looked out the window, i don't know what told me to look out the window, but i saw you guys, and you guys came to save us. >> family was taken to a shelter to dry out there. 155 shelters open throughout florida. want to turn to john morales, veteran meteorologist and hurricane specialist at nbc station wtvj in miami who covered so many hurricanes and other storms in florida for more than three decades. always a pleasure to see you. again, unfortunately these news cycles include so much devastation, but what is milton looking like right now? >> well, it is heading offshore,

and, you know, the full magnitude of the impact of milton has yet to be revealed. i want to warn everybody that the well forecast weakening of the hurricane before making landfall, of course, meant that we avoided that worst case scenario and also the fact that it made landfall 20 miles south of tampa also meant that we avoided the worst case scenario. but let me tell you, this is still going to rival hurricane ian two years ago as potentially $100 billion disaster in the state of florida. you know, there are locations along the coast, jose, longboat key, siesta key, this is near sarasota, boca grande, and near venice, i always have that issue, i never knew how to pronounce -- >> tough more me too. >> regardless, and i have a colleague that was present in

sarasota, a broadcast meteorologist from quebec, france, he was present in sarasota and he estimates 10 feet of storm surge in that area. so, what i'm telling you is once they open these roads, once we're allowed to see what went on in that location, the full magnitude of the disaster will be revealed. but thank goodness, milton is moving away from florida at this time. >> and so, gosh, because it hit as a cat 3, and i'm thinking, you know, ian was a 4, right, when it hit fort myers beach area, that devastation was massive, idalia cat 3 just last year. that was the crystal river area among other places. but, john, and the forecasting was once again, this and helene have been probably the most specific detailed forecasting as far as it coming true. but what is it that caused it to

go from a cat 5, and it got to cat 5 and, you know, from tropical storm to cat 5 in just over a day, and then go from cat 5, 4, then out to 5 and get to a 3 when it hit. >> so, when it went to 4 and then back to 5, it was going through a natural process known as the eyewall replacement cycle, which eventually led to a new eye that was wider and, yes, became stronger, and it strengthened again. but, as it started to gain latitude, moving toward the northeast, it encountered a dip in the jet stream that was driving a cold front toward northern florida. this caused some strong wind shear above the hurricane and wind shear is the enemy of hurricanes. it is our friend, because it tramples down their strength, but it was wind shear in the order of 30 to 50 miles per hour and suddenly the hurricane started to lose strength, thank goodness, and going from a

180-mile-per-hour hurricane to 120-mile-per-hour hurricane which is at the strength it made landfall. keep in mind, jose, that second run at a cat 5 occurred into the morning of the day of landfall. in other words, into yesterday morning we had 165-mile-per-hour hurricane and everybody was concerned that it would make landfall maybe as a 5 or a 4. the hurricane center was spot on. they said it would be a 3 and it was. so, it has been -- it has been certainly a remarkable forecast. >> hey, john, so, helene just, you know, two weeks ago, now milton. we're kind of going down from the peak of the hurricane season. what are your worries and what are your concerns or do you have any as to the end of november? >> so, sea surface temperatures are still very, very warm.

and we have a fledgling la nina, which tends to diminish the amount of wind shear out there. so, while the atlantic looks to take a break, much welcome break over the next couple of weeks, we hope, you know, don't let your guard down. november could -- late october and into november could still be active. >> john morales, thank you, my friend. thank you for your time. thank you for being with us. if you would like to help those affected by hurricane milton and also hurricane helene, you can scan the qr code on your screen or you can go to msnbc.com for a list of organizations that are helping provide relief. if you need help recovering from the hurricane, you can visit floridadisaster.org, you can call the florida state assistance information line. that is 1-800-342-3557. [ speaking in a global language ]

we have more breaking news to bring you right now. ethel kennedy, matriarch of one of america's most famous political families, has died. she was 96 years old. her family shared the news on x, saying she died from complications related to a stroke she suffered last week. here is a look at her storied life. >> like so many in her family, ethel kennedy's life was nothing short of dramatic, both in its highs and lows. born in chicago, in 1928 to george and ann skakel, she was a child of privilege. her father's success in the coal industry allowed the family to move to greenwich, connecticut, where she and her six siblings would be raised. it was in college where she met robert kennedy, they married three years before john f. kennedy would wed jackie. together, the two couples led the country through the camelot

era. it was ethel who encouraged bobby to run for president after the assassination of jfk. >> there was such excitement. and such a feeling that so much had to be done, but it could be done. >> reporter: in 1968, she was by his side when he was assassinated at the ambassador hotel in los angeles. six months later, she gave birth to her 11th child, rory. she never remarried. in the decades that followed, ethel endured a number of tragedies, through all the heart break she continued to carry on the kennedy legacy of public service. she created the nonprofit organization the robert f. kennedy memorial center for human rights and put time and effort into various social dire? the valves have been turned off and it's a dangerous situation. >> her life in public service inspired her children. >> they are going to make their own way. they will make their own mistakes. you live through those until it all comes out all right.

>> her daughter was maryland's lieutenant governor. her son was elected to congress. her grandson, joe kennedy, iii, represented massachusetts in congress. this year, her son robert kennedy junior ran for president. >> everybody could do it. there's always something just around the corner that if you see something wrong, if you speak out, you can change it. >> in 2014, she was recognized for her work and service to the country when she was awarded the presidential medal of freedom. >> such a fun idea. as you know, i'm sure, jack is the one who started it. >> she spent most of the final years of her life at the kennedy compound. she was the last member of the original iconic kennedy dynasty. >> a lot of people have made some sacrifice in their lives to make it a better world.

i think in a lot of ways it is. there's a lot more we can do. >> ethel kennedy was 96 years old. ...the worst call in the history of this sport. he should never be allowed to ref... (♪♪) ♪ i tell ya... ♪ (♪♪) ♪ how much i love you, love you, love you ♪ (♪♪) ♪ i believe. ♪ (♪♪) ♪ i believe. ♪ ♪ i believe in you. ♪

52 past the hour. communities across florida are grappling with the devastation left behind by hurricane milton, which ripped into the state overnight. in st. petersburg, it drenched 18 inches of rain in 24 hours.

officials issued a boil water notice due to major water main breaks. joining us now is dan maddox who rode out the storm there. it's good to see you. you mentioned you left your home to find shelter. where did you go? what was it like there? >> yes. i rode out the storm about two blocks away from here from tropicana field, which you can see. they have been showing the video, the covering shredded on the top of the building. my home was built in the 1940s about a mile from here. it's out of an evacuation zone. i'm not riding out a category 4 hurricane there. i'm renting a home. unsure of the roof. i went to a concrete and steel apartment building. >> what was it like? there was so much -- rightfully so, so much concern with what

category would be coming into the tampa/st. pete area. it was a cat 3. the issue of storm surge. then just the extraordinary amount of rain last night. >> yeah, yeah. the storm surge is what we saw worse than hurricane helene. this community has been through it. i helped a friend who lost his home. we spent a weekend removing nasty sewage, waterlogged debris, ripping out drywall. no one thought we would experience something like this in such a tight turnaround. i can tell you, everybody is kind of really feeling the effects of this physically and emotionally. last night, it was terrifying. i ventured out into a parking garage for 30 seconds to experience it. as someone who has a journalism background, i have covered

hurricanes before. this was a wind affect. there's no other way to describe it other than deadly. >> are you optimistic that you and so many others are going to be able to return to your homes soon? >> yeah. everybody i know took this really, really seriously. i think there are some maybe lower storms, tropical depressions, people have a hurricane party. that was not the case with this storm. everybody i know took it seriously. i'm looking forward to the roads reopening, going and checking on my house. not incredibly optimistic about that. we will see. >> dan, we here in florida have unfortunately been forced to really think about and prepare. but the state of florida -- it has this extraordinary cooperation with fema and the federal government, with local officials. but you can actually see and

sense that. >> absolutely. actually, what was here was -- inside when the roof was shredded, as you can see, were the power restoration crews standing by. it was absolutely something to see them jump into action this morning. >> dan, thank you very much. i'm glad you are okay. appreciate it. >> thank you. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. thank you for the privilege of your time. andrea mitchell picks up with more news after a quick break. dad! dad, we missed you! daddy, hi! subject 3: goodness! my daughter is being treated for leukemia. i hope that she lives a long, great, happy life and that she will never forget how mom and daddy love her. st. jude, i mean, this is what's keeping my baby girl alive. announcer: you can join the battle

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subject 7: are you ready to go have some fun? subject 8: yeah! subject 7: yay! subject 9: when we came here, we didn't know what tomorrow would hold. st. jude showed us that tomorrow there's hope for our little girl to survive. announcer: let's cure childhood cancer together. please donate now. why choose a mobile network built for places you'll probably never be... ...instead of for where you are most of the time? xfinity mobile was designed for where you need it most. xfinity internet customers, ask how to get a free 5g phone and a second unlimited line free for a year.

why choose a mobile network built for places you'll probably never be... ...instead of for where you are most of the time? xfinity mobile was designed for where you need it most. xfinity internet customers, ask how to get a free 5g phone and a second unlimited line free for a year. good day, i'm andrea mitchell in washington. water rescues underway in florida amid the devastation of hurricane milton. president biden is meeting with his top advisors in the situation room to get the latest information and what it will take for florida to start recovering. th