making news in america this morning, breaking right now, hurricane matthew marching up florida's coast. >> it's here. it's absolutely here and it is a monster. overnight, pounding rain, 120-mile-per-hour winds. and the power outages s >> this morning our team in the storm zone. >> the storm surge is where i am on the coast of florida, expected to be six to ten feet or more. >> we're still getting that powerful wind and rain. >> a steady stream of people fleeing the coast and grocery store supplies running low. >> i saw two guys fighting at a gas station yesterday. actually throwing punches. >> we're tracking the storm's

preparations for what's still to come. good friday morning. i'm kendis. >> i'm and mara schiavocampo. the effects of the storm being felt throughout the state. >> here's what it looked like from behind the wheel of a police lucy in the heart of the hurricane zone. officers trying to keep the area safe but they're barely able to see what's outside their window there. the powerful storm forced millions to evacuate along the southeast coast. florida, georgia, south carolina are all under states of emergency. we have team coverage with abc's ginger zee standing by in melbourne, florida, but first we head to new smyrna beach and abc's lauren lyster.

and kendis. the impact intensifying where i am. that category 3 hurricane packing 120-mile-per-hour winds bringing major gusts to coastal cities like this. in some places clocking in at more than 70 miles per hour. hurricane matthew barreling towards florida. the brutal conditions intensifying as the eye of the storm taunts coastal cities. overnight violent the beaches. gusts in some places clocking in above 70 miles per hour of the storm bringing the look and sound of fireworks in the form of downed power lines. thousands facing outages. officials fearing up to 3 million may end up in the dark. the national weather service saying matthew will be devastating. florida's governor making this dire warning. >> unfortunately, this is going to kill people. >> reporter: already it has. matthew taking the lives of more

through haiti. the death toll there skyrocketing as the floodwaters recede and matthew battering the bahamas before heading for florida. residents thursday preparing for filling up those final sandbags. stores were boarded up. their shelves bare. more than 3 million people urged to evacuate here and in the carolinas. some refusing to go. >> everyone left town. everything is boarded up. and i'm just waiting. >> reporter: but many getting out, clogging th miles while nearly 4,000 flights canceled. a major concern here now the storm surge. it's expected to be six to ten feet or more and they fear the waterway could rise flooding their homes. the dock is completely submerged. kendis and mara. >> that's noted especially with high tide just a few hours away from now and, lauren, you there

>> reporter: i can tell you the winds have really picked up. they have become very gusty. walking out by the water it became a lot more uncertain than it was earlier where it felt safe. now it feels like the wind has picked up a lot of power and rain is pelling you with that sideways rain which is a change from earlier and, of course, the power is out where we are. wow, lauren lyster in new smyrna beach, thank you for that. >> 77 miles south of where lauren is ginger zee is melbourne, florida. what are conditions like there? >> reporter: conditions here are sounding a lot more like a tropical storm/hurricane. we've had hurricane-force winds north of us, 74 and now 79 miles per hour in melbourne the airport reporting 63-mile-per-hour gusts. the outer wall is 20 miles. the inner about 30 and that's going to make all the difference

storm running parallel to the shore is one thing, once that outer wall gets closer to some of these communities and beaches like cape canaveral as it nears there, that's where you'll see that type of devastating potential damage. obviously the wind, the surge, all of that still happening, the waves will be climbing in intensity. right now i can hear the rain, i can hear all of it but i don't know how it's a miracle we still have power at this hour. i know a lot of people a do not, i think it's in the hundreds of thousands that do not. this is not over and have a couple of more hours but as it moves up along the coast what i am most concerned about not only it guessing closer to land but as it gets closer to jacksonville, it's not going to help anybody by that piling of water and storm surge will become more of an issue. >> ginger, in terms of the timing, how long can we expect until this storm has moved off

communities will be affected. >> reporter: everyone by the end of the weekend will be just watching matthew as it kind of meanders back towards florida. it will be a lot weaker by then but i would say after sunday, folks in south and north carolina will be finally over with the storm but, again, it's tonight, i'd say all through the day today in florida then tonight through tomorrow it's coastal georgia into south carolina and then saturday into sunday s carolina. >> and, ginger, we've heard so much about how devastating this will be. you're so good at what you do. you always are so measured. you don't get caught up in the hype and really focus on the science. does this storm look as devastating as it has been predicted to be? >> again, it's all about how close it can get. at point i feel so fortunate that it did not get closer to

populated areas south of there. that was on point and prediction. it is right along the national hurricane center's track like they had it as of last night. so it's riding up along the coast. we will see damage but, again, when you're talking because i'm measured and often really concerned about the accuracy, i definitely still have like genuine heart and stomach concerns for folks along the coast of florida and in coastal georgia, this is far from over. the next 24 hours are crucial and, going to make the difference of life and death. >> wow. been a very long night for ginger there in melbourne, florida and a long night for people up and down the coast in florida and georgia and as ginger is pointing out, it's not over yet. ginger, thank you. she will have the latest there from florida. on "good morning america." and matthew is impacting air travel across the country with nearly 4,000 flights canceled through tomorrow. >> ft. lauderdale international airport completely shut down for

katrina. it will re-open at 11:00 a.m. miami and palm beach international remain open but temporarily halted commercial flights. in orlando, walt disney world is shut down and will stay closed throughout the day that includes theme park, golf courses and the espn cleblgs. this is only the fourth ever shutdown of the 4/7 mainstay. each time it's closed it's because of a hurricane. we should mention that disney is the parent company of abc news. still ahead much cover on matthew. we are just getting started. hurricane experts with what's expected next. dramatic video from the bahamas. hurricane matthew ripping a roof right off a home. plus, a family's clever way to keep their car safe in the

we're looking at satellite imaging. the storm roars off the southeast coast. it is the most powerful u.s. hurricane in more than a decade and it could wreak havoc on florida and the carolinas for the next few days. millions have already moved inland to escape the path heeding calls for evacuation. central florida utility companie deal with explosions going off throughout the state. widespread outages are expected as it barrels through. almost more than 140,000 customers without power. >> we need to remember that matthew left a mess behind in the bahamas. take a look at this video that shows the roof of a home being torn off by the 100 plus mile an hour winds. officials in bahamas issuing an all clear for the islands in the southeast part of that chain but the bigger question for many

have in store for today as well as the rest of the weekend? >> earlier we spoke by phone to john cangelosi. >> it has weakened but only a little bit and that's the true message. max wins 125 miles an hour getting close to the coastline. due east of zero beach. coastline then weaken. matthew is not doing that and riding the coastline so it's moving and affecting a lot of real estate along florida's east coast and then points north during the next few days and then for the northeast portion of the state, the conditions will be at their worst and through the evening hours and improve from south to north and

we talk about heroins it comes with a package of hazards. not just about the wind but critical to see if the eye comes ashore but what we have more confidence in is the heavy rains, widespread areas of 6 to 12 inches right along florida's east coast and then the storm surge which is usually the deadliest hazard. >> talking about that packages of hazard, storage surge, flying debris, power outages creates a dangerous situation. >> and florida officials were noting that throughout whi away they were saying you can always hide from the wind but you need to run from the storm surge because that is really the thing that ends up killing a lot of people in these sort of situations. when we come back the new video just in showing hurricane hunters flying right into matthew. and the waffle house index. yes, the waffle house index, a real thing. why fema looks at the restaurant chain to see how serious the

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you're taking a look at the latest satellite view of hurricane matthew. we see this massive storm moving just off the florida coast and officials are saying that over the next 24 hours we'll be seeing how powerful and potentially devastating this storm is. >> from end to end it is 300 miles wide and thousands of homes have been left without power as a result of this. some people did get lucky if you can say that. missed miami as well as ft. lauderdale. give you this vantage point. this is one of those hurricane hunters from incite the cockpit of the plane that is piloted by noaa's hurricane punters through the eyewall and into the eye of that storm. the storm safely landed a short time ago saying it was a very turbulent flight. >> i can only imagine. they continue those flights 24 hours as long as the storm stays off the coast.

of people in the storm zone. >> some defenses are in place to protect against it and here with the details is abc's kenneth moton. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. this morning reports of price gouging already coming in, of course, we know florida, georgia, south carolina and even parts of north carolina are under states of emergency. that means price gouging laws in those states are in effect. the essentials are see for those trying to evacuate or ride out the food, water, ice, gas, hotel rooms, attorneys generals in those southeastern states have promised investigations into any complaints of businesses overcharging people during this emergency and florida, there are hundreds of reports pouring in like gas stations raising the prices for a gallon of gas by as much as a dollar for bottled water, complaints about a pack costing more than $10. hot lines have been open across

hit with a thousand dollar fine or even 30 days in jail for hiking up the prices and kendis and mara, those laws will be in effect for the next 30 days. >> thanks for that. it's not just the strong winds and rains from hurricanes that can be the most damaging, one of the things that officials are most concerned about is the storm surge. it's responsible for so many deaths. >> yes, it is and ginger zee is back with an explanation abo it's so dangerous. >> reporter: storm surge is basically water piling up along the shore ahead of and inside the hurricane. in the center of the hurricane as pressure falls, water levels rise all the water piling up while still over the open ocean water. as it closes in on land the strong winds push it toward the coast. it has nowhere left to go but up and inland.

now, say you're inside a home at the coast, this is what it may look like the either approaching viciously and climbing up the walls. in sandy homes filled with water reaching eight to nine feet inside the house. and when storm surge combines with high tide the rapid rise in barth can be devastating. some may think it's the high winds but it's actually the greatest threat to life and pr >> so fascinating. answers a lot of questions i've had about how dangerous they are. here's one sign of how concerned officials are about the catastrophic destruction that may lie ahead. >> people refusing to evacuation. p pawleys ask them to risk the next of kin and sign knowing they know the risks.

the 24-hour restaurant chain is known to stay open during the khat of storms. so rare for a waffle house to close fema uses its restaurant closures as an unofficial barometer of how bad it is and they expect it to be the waffle house index. >> interesting. here's something else that's interesting. a woman in florida taking drastic measures to keep her car safe as the hurricane heads her way. she spark parked her toyota in her living room and the car in a makeshift ramp. let's hope the car, the home, the homeowner survive matthew unscathed. >> you got to wonder why she didn't drive it away. how the hurricane is affecting the presidential race after the break. i have asthma... ...one of many pieces in my life. so when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my long-term control medicine. i talked to my doctor and found a missing piece

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hurricane matthew has forced the evacuation of the presidential race from the sunshine state. both campaigns have been scrambling to cancel events, close offices and move staff to safety in that critical swing state and both have pulled certain tv ads and are tweeting out support for those still caught in the storm zone. on thursday night football it was the san francisco 49ers hosting the arizona cardinals. >> and it was all arizona francisco's many mistakes. cardinals larry fitzgerald caught two touchdown passes then david johnson rushed for two more. one of them to larry. final score, 33-21. cardinals victorious. in baseball the american league division series began last night, the indians hit three solo homers and they held on. boston red sox losing 5-4, andrew miller earned the win in

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we continue to cover the breaking news, hurricane matthew slamming florida right now with powerful winds and rain. it's 120-mile-an-hour winds have so far stayed mostly offshore but there are widespread power outages. numbers sure to climb as the storm battering the atlantic coast of florida and georgia today. millions have left the path of the storm in hopes of finding drier ground. florida, georgia and sou emergency. 2 million people have evacuated their homes. three-quarters of those in florida alone. elsewhere weather, a strong storm in moving onshore in the pacific northwest. the chilliest air of the fall season is moving into the upper midwest and another nice day for the northeast. abc's lauren lyster is in the hurricane zone. >> joining us from new smyrna

the impact of hurricane matthew is intense tie finding where i am. that category 3 hurricane off the coast packing 1 120-mile-per-hour winds and you can feel the gusts it is bringing in coastal cities clocking in at some places 70 miles per hour. the concern is the storm surge. i want to show you something, this dock, i was walking out on just a few hours ago, now it is completely submerged. the as i stand on the shore. storm surge in this area along the coast expected to be six to ten feet or more. rest accidents here very fearful this waterway could continue to rise. flooding their home, 3 million have been incouraged to evacuate in florida and in the carolinas which is supposed to get hardest hit by the storm and we are really starting to see white out here. kendis and mara. >> all right, our thanks to

>> we're still seeing them show up and over the course of the evening we've seen conditions get worse and seeing a lot of sideways rain and there was a dock where she was standing earlier in the opening and now it's too flooded to be. >> absolutely and this so far it seems we've dodged mostly a bullet from all of this but you've seen some of the flooding conditions, lots of power outageses about as you've noted, some other parts of the here are preparing for this, a lot of other places are recovering from it in haiti seeing upwards of 200 dead thinking of them. that's what's making news in america this morning. we will stay with this on "good morning america."

the good friday morning to you. the big story today, hurricane matthew. overnight the storm weakened to a category 3 historic.