breaking news. hurricane matthew slamming florida's east coast right now, as a major category 3. the strongest storm to hit that state in a decade. wind gusts up to 150 hour. power knocked out to hundreds of thousands. a sandy like storm surge expected, airports, schools and theme parks, all shut down. the worst is still to come today, friday, october 7th, 2016. from nbc news, this is a special edition of "today"

lauer and guthrie. welcome to "today" on a friday morning, florida, north carolina, south carolina, georgia, they have a mess on their hands. >> we are in the thick of it right now. we're going to get to the latest on the storm. it has weakened slightly but remains a powerful category 3 hurricane with 125 miles sustained winds. gust the good news, it has gone to the east. >> here is what we know. nearly 300,000 people in the state of florida without power this morning. officials are expecting the number to grow throughout the day. >> overnight, a chilling reminder just how powerful and destructive it can be. the death toll in haiti has skyrocketed to 283 people.

al will track it from the hurricane center. let's begin with ron mott. he is being hit hard in daytona beach right now. ron, good morning to you. >> reporter: matt, good morning to you. we got the last update last night, 11:00 eastern time. we thought we had a little good news, in that this forecast was going to take the eye of hurricane matthew a little bit further east than some of the early projections. i can tell you, looking at the radar since, it is coming close to the beach and we are not any where near the worst yet. the winds are blowing very, very strongly at this hour. in fact, we just lost one of the lights just before air time here. so bear with us, we've got one more here, we hope to keep it upright while these winds plummet us here. we are expecting up to 100 miles per hour sustained winds, not gusts. once the eye gets closer to us.

could go off a little further, giving us a little break with these winds, but they'll be coming in strongly from the north and northeast and as the eye moves away, they will start to shift from the northwest to the west and thend again to the south. now, we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, we know the forecast projections show the storm taking a hard right turn, eventually up the florida, georgia line and redeveloping and coming back to haunt some of these communities to the late right now, this is really, really bad, and we've got the storm surge to worry about, right around the 12:30, 12:45 time period, because that's the next high tide. almost certainly going to put water into the homes and businesses along the oceanfront and well inland, especially along the intercoastal water way. we're getting some good winds right now. let's send it back to you in new york. >> thanks, ron.

he is about 90 miles to the south of daytona where we just saw ron mott. lester, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savanna, we believe we've seened worst near melbourne, still getting strong gusts as you can see here. what we've mainly seen are trees down, however, i took a little survey trip just a couple of hours ago, and what we saw were showers of sparks as power lines were being snapped. it got very dangerous, so we this a powerful punch, not the punch perhaps was expected here because the eye stayed offshore. no one will be complaining. but the last couple of hours, the power has flashed on and off. we've been off now for about a half hour at this location, but just down the street, they do have power. stories down, blocking streets, fences down, signs, that sort of thing. i just spoke to a couple of my

they say there is no significant damage right now, just some palm frawns down. i went by the water earlier, if we were seeing the surge. no sign yet. that may be because of the way it passed by, offshore. right now, no signs of flooding that we have seen here in the melbourne area. we believe the worst has passed. we're told there will continue to be gusts. a few minutes ago, there was a 70 mile per hour gust here. so not the blow that many people had anticipated. we haven't seen 120 mile per hour winds here. >> lester holt in melbourne, thank you. it wasn't long aftermath you hit southern florida that people started to lose power. tens of thousands in the early stages, and those outages have now grown as the winds have picked up overnight. nbc miguel almaguer is in cocoa beach. good morning to you.

good morning. the wind remains in consider ked below intense. we have seen lots of lightning. the weather here is still incredibly violent, even though it is still on the move. overnight, hurricane matthew slammed into florida's coast with furry. powerful storm with high winds. so strong, sheriff's deputies had to get themselves out of harm's way. in palm beach, l were knocked to the ground, sending sparks flying into the street. across the region, transformers exploding, illuminating the night sky. governor rick scott deploying thousands of national guard troops, prepared for search and rescue operations, for those who did not heed warning to evacuate. >> activated 3,500 national guard members. this is over a half, over 50% of the available troops.

activate. >> reporter: during the burnt of the storm, the rain came from different directions. one piece of good news, most people were at home, and hunkered down. thousands took shelter at nearby schools. hundreds of pets, housed with their owners. at some gas stations, reports of price gouging, while drivers rush to fill their tanks before leaving town. for many, the roads have been the only all flights at miami international, canceled. in orlando, disney world is shut down again today. still, despite all of the warnings, some decided to stay behind. >> i've good food, water, flashlights. i'm hoping for the best. >> reporter: residents preparing for the worst, stocked up on supplies. grocery store shelves throughout the state, cleaned out.

warning to those who refused to leave. >> this is not hype. this is not hyperbole. do not think you can survive if you choose to stay. >> reporter: even though we have seen these conditions for the last few hours, we haven't seen substantial damage. that's certainly the good news. the bad news is daylight may change that situation. matt and savanna, back to you. >> be safe. thank you very much. let's go to hurricane center. >> as we said last night, we were looking at this system, and it has been staying offshore. eventually, geography will come into play here. category 3 storm, east/northeast of cape canaveral, north/northwest, movement at 14 miles per hour. here is the path and here is what i'm talking about. as we make our way this afternoon, it is up just to the north of daytona.

start to hug that curve along from georgia on into the carolinas by saturday morning, and as those winds start pushing into the shoreline, that's we're going start to see more storm surge, and probably more damage. it is down to a category one by saturday afternoon. but by sunday morning, it is category 1, but then look what happens monday, tuesday, on to wednesday, it hooks back towards nassau as a tropical storm, but it has been pounding these so much, it won't need much more to cause more damage. going into this afternoon and this evening, 7 to 11 foot storm surge, florida/georgia border, 15 inches of rain. we move on into saturday. hurricane force winds along the coast from savanna, as we expect it away from the coast by sunday. storm surge, again, the big

tides. savanna, 7 to 1 1 feet storm surge, an then charleston, on into wilmington, 2 to 4 feet, around myrtl beach. we could see upwards of 15 inches. storm surge, again, the big problem. that's where the most deaths occur. we'll talk about that more in-depth a little guys. >> al, thank you very much. let's go to florida governor rick scott, he has been sounding the alarm for days. he is on the phone with us good morning. thank you for your time this morning, sir. >> good morning. if you're in the jacksonville area, you're going to see a lot of storm surge. there is no reason to take a risk. we've been working to get everyone to evacuate that can. we've had a lot of people evacuate. we're seeing hurricane force

the most important thing. >> governor, i heard your warnings yesterday. it is hard to get out, people who hunker down, don't tend to advertise that they're hunkering down. do you have any idea how many people heeded your warnings and those who didn't? >> we have 22,000 people in shelters right now, we had a lot of people that went inland, the west coast. theel we did a good job, highways stayed open, a little congestion. we had fuel throughout the state. we still do. we had a few stations without fuel for a period of time. people had the opportunity to evacuate. i think most people did. and you know, we're going to see, at daylight, how much damage we have. about 400,000 homes without power right now. >> we just heard al talking about the danger of the storm

dangerous during a storm like this. is that your number one concern at this hour? >> absolutely. if you look at the last hurricane we had, which was just a category 1, we had up to 10 foot storm surge in the pan handle. she didn't evacuate when she was supposed to, got up to a foot and a half, the water was rushing in, she got out of the oh house and she was lucky. there was a high water vehicle that took her to safety. if they hadn't, she would have passed away. it is worst. we're going to have up to 12 feet of storm surge, and waves on top of that. jacksonville area, they've got low-lying areas. if you have have a chance to evacuate, you need to get out now. you've got to get out. save your life. that's what i care about. everybody's life. >> governor, i know you spoke to the president yesterday, he declared the coastal areas a federal disaster area. what exactly does that mean for

for you? >> the first thing we ask for is food, water, tarps. yesterday, we asked for some support, things like that generators. i've been talking to the head of the army corps of engineers, and we need, you know, debris removal crews, power support, utilities, but people are working well together right now. we're going to assess the damage. but right now, my biggest concern is save every fe somebody who has a family, take care of yourself. >> florida governor, rick scott, an incredibly busy morning. so happy to have your time. thank you, sir. >> thank you. >> all right, jeff gammons grew up in florida chasing storms. he is with us by skype from cocoa beach. good morning to you. talk about this storm in comparison to others you have followed throughout the years.

from cocoa beach florida, where light is just breaking. i was a little concerned about this storm, thinking that we could be looking at another hurricane charlie that i encountered over a decade ago in southwest florida which was a category 4 hurricane, but thankfully, the eye of this storm has remained well off shore. we've been experiencing maybe the worst over the last hour here in cocoa beach, with category 1 gusts, and maybe a little bit sustained just on the threshold of so thankfully, most of this is just offshore. there is a lot of power outages. a lot of power flashes. trees down. but i don't see any structural damage yet, but i haven't left the parking garage. i should know that pretty soon. >> jeff, did you hear or see a lot of people that didn't heed the warnings from the governor and others to get out of these low lying coastal areas?

>> just wondering if you have seen people who apparently did not heed the evacuation orders, or is it empty? >> i originally started at fort pierce, north of palm beach, and when we saw the eye was further offshore, i relocated up here to cocoa beach. i was the only one on the road. i didn't see anyone. it looked like everyone was gone by 9:00, 10:00. it was complete ghost driving north on u.s. 1. >> people did heed evacuation warnings. >> what can you tell us about the situation by cape canaveral? >> power outages that we expected, a look out front as we drive into the pelican beach

the entrance to what is the beach. i mean, we are less than a short walk to the beach. so what i'm going to do is put on my safety goggles, and i'm going to get out of the car. give me one moment. going to do is take you up here. this is the biggest surprise. the concern was the storm surge. the storm surge that we know can travel well into several miles. here we are at satellite beach, and as we take a look here, as the sun is first coming up, you can see the storm surge didn't even make it up to the sand dunes here. it is a rough sea, of course, this morning.

what we're looking at here is the biggest surprise, at least in satellite beach. right now, cape canaveral, patrick air force base right up that way, the area here was not hit hard. the hurricane is just right up there. what we've got is the back end winds now hitting us in this area, and even though you can see it sort of over here moving the sea grapes around and buffetting the area, these are >> all right, thank you so much. stay safe. i know you'll report back to us. we want to go over to al, because we keep hearing about the storm surge, but clear it up. is it something you would expect to see immediately or something that comes on shore a little bit later? >> well, it is not ahead of the system, as you start to see this, you will start to see, as the pressure falls, water levels start to rise, and the winds, the hurricane force winds push

coast. really eventually on to land. so 11 foot at high tide, 11 foot storm surge, that's on top of the high tide. so to give you perspective, the highest surge, when sandy was 4 to 9 feet, as we get to northern florida and the georgia coastline, we put the radar up, i can show you, this is what the big problem will be. you're going to be looking at this system pushing all this wet weather, wind and rain up against there, and thatn will causal the flooding and so that's why we are so worried about jacksonville, and those places up as you get into georgia. look at those seas. you can see, all those waves pushing. this is satellite beach, florida. the waves pushing up against the shore and causing the flooding and beach erosion. we'll get to your local forecast

>> that's your latest

life threatening storm hammers florida and now it is also inching toward georgia and south carolina. >> we're going to talk to the head of fema coming up as well. but first on a friday morning,

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we are back now at 7:30. it is friday morning, 7th of october, 2016. and these are the conditions in daytona beach as matthew, the most powerful hurricane to hit florida in a decade, is raking the florida gusts of up to 150 miles per hour reported in some places, and of course, all morning long we will have the very latest on matthew. other stories to bring you up to date on with that storm barreling up the coast, donald trump and hillary clinton's campaigns have moved staff out of harm's way, moving offices and canceling some campaign events. clinton is off the trail today preparing for sunday's debate. trump spoke at a new hampshire town hall last night.

session for sunday's showdown. investigators now say the commuter train that crashed in hoboken, new jersey last week was going twice the speed limit. the data recorders have also revealed the train's emergency brake was engaged less than one second before the accident. as you know, one woman was the platform and was killed. more than 100 others injured. the jonbenet ramsey case making new headlines today. burke ramsey, her older brother, is suing a forensic for defamation for claiming that burke killed his 6-year-old sister. complaint alleges the doctor in a recent radio interview said that burke bludgeoned jonbenet to death in 1996. burke ramsey is seeking at least $150 million in damages. we want to go back to this morning's breaking news, hurricane matthew. >> nbc's kerry sanders is driving through the storm near cape canaveral. now he's gotten out in a parking lot. kerry, good morning to you.

i'm on satellite beach. this is called the pelican beach park. you can see the trees are still standing. the wind is blowing. what we can really do is we can take you out here to the beach. now understand, this is the sand dune and the sea grapes here. it is just there that we expected to see this tremendous storm surge that would have come over. for point of reference, we've seen in mississippi, for instance, katrina, the storm surge went up to two miles inland. it was predicted that this would be yet here we see no indication of a strong storm surge at all. just the water which is very ferocious out there. you can see, these are not the sort of waves we normally see in florida breaking out there. in fact, you can see the surf out there just really quite strong. if we look up this direction here, that's north. okay? as we look up that direction,

miles, but then out to sea is where the eye wall is. and so had it come in a little closer to shore i think we would have seen a very different situation. but the tightly compact nature of these very strong winds, about 35 miles out from the eye, means that the tropical force winds were what buffeted this area. we certainly expect some gusts but not the winds we expected. the most surprising thing is, beyond the storm surge, we still have electricity in the area. that's really rare. electricity usually gets knocked out. matt? savannah? >> that's rare but very good news for the people there. kerry, thank you very much. let's go about 15 minutes to the south of where kerry is right now. nbc's miguel almaguer in cocoa beach. >> reporter: good morning. that driving rain has finally slowed down but we still have these strong wind gusts that continue to hit us, although

minute or two ago we heard a loud explosion where we are standing at right now, about 100 yards away. a transformer just exploded sending sparks in to the air. some businesses are running on back-up generators, though clearly no one is inside them. we've seen some street lights on here that have been flickering over the last several minutes. so the power situation is still very fluid. over the last hour or so, we've also taken a look around the neighborhood here. there are some downed trees but noni been able to find yet. it seems as though homes are mostly intact. we haven't seen any roofs blown off or windows blown out yet. many though here in this area did take precaution. there it is again. another transformer exploding. flashes of green light here. so no major structural problems here again. the big issue here at this hour seems to be the wind and the power. back to you, savannah. >> does give you a scare when you see those transformers short

earlier we were with ron mott in daytona beach. the winds were really strong when we talked to him. let's see how he's doing now. ron, i can see they're still going. can you hear me? >> reporter: yeah, hey, matt, good morning. we have a little bit of a phenomenon going on here. the wind is predominantly coming out of the north-northeast. the palm trees are all facing toward the southwest. but because we are in a little bit of an alcove here, this wind is coming in, whipping around the building and hitting us back. we'll cross the light here. this is our only light. this is going to be the real culprit of any major damage, any potential loss of life possibly later on this afternoon. it is angry right now but this is calm compared to what we are expecting between noon and 1:00 eastern time. that is the next high tide, right around 12:45 where we could see that storm surge

for folks who are familiar with daytona beach, it is really a flat beach and there is little in the way of dunes protecting that water from getting out in to the community. we do expect that some of these side roads that give access to the beach will take on some water and there are a lot of inlets up and down leading into the intracoastal water way about a mile or so inland. a lot of people have homes on the intracoastal water way and this water can come up very quickly. you might look out one minute and it will look fine. two minutes later you've g water heading toward your house. so the hour between 12:00 and 1:00 is going to be really critical in the daytona beach area. back to you. >> ron, thank you very much. al of course has been tracking this storm for days now. he's over in what we are calling the hurricane center. >> we've appropriated it from the orange room and taken it over. but here is in fact -- ron mott is here, daytona beach. here is the eye of the storm just about here. so the distance right now we're

but where miguel was, melbourne, things right now are a little less but they are getting throws feeder bands coming in and around. we'll continue to watch this as the morning wears on. matthew a category 3 storm. 35 miles east-northeast of cape canaveral, 120-mile-per-hour winds, moving north-northwest at 14. here is the deal with the winds. right now these are the strongest gusts. cape canaveral, 65. st. augustine, 51. areas in white, those are the hurricane-plus-force winds. as we go on during the day, between daytona beach and jacksonville we've got those winds right on shore. the return flow, more like tropical force winds as the afternoon and evening wears on. we get into saturday. those hurricane-force winds buffeted right up against the carolina and georgia borders. what about power outages? upwards of 9 million people at

way down to miami, but we expect probably the greatest concentration of those power outages going to be in northern florida, coastal georgia, and on in to south carolina, guys. so this, again, is going to be really tough. that's w >> and you can get the latest whenever you need it on matthew, check out our friends at the weather channel on cable. guys? >> all right, al, thank you so much. of course al will continue to track the storm. live transformer.

across the region. >> cocoa beach there. >> gives you a fright when you see it. >> that's why so many people are without power. right there. just ahead, we'll tell you about the chaos matthew is causing at airports all across the country. in just a little while, the head of fema will join us live to talk about what the government is doing to keep people safe in the storm, then help them recover from the storm. an opening night on broadway is kind of magic. i'm beowulf boritt and i'm a broadway set designer. when i started designing a bronx tale: the musical, i came up... ...with this idea of four towers that were fire escapes... i'll build a little model in photoshop and add these... ...details in with a pen. i could never do that with a mac. i feel like my job is... ...to put out there just enough detail to spur the audiences... ...imagination to fill in all the blanks. this windows pc is amazing, having all of my tools...

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costello, he covers aviation. we find him this morning at hartsfield-jackson in atlanta. our busiest hub in the southeast. >> reporter: the busiest airport in the world but this morning you would think it is business as usual here in atlanta. you can see, it isn't that dramatic and here is why. most of the action as relates to aviation right now is down in florida. take a look at the photographs of miami international airport. a ghost airport yesterday afternoon with the flights all having left th the gates empty. no passengers around. and that really has been the story up and down the coast in miami. the closed airports, closed are ft. lauderdale, orlando, boca and melbourne. but just because an airport isn't closed doesn't mean that they aren't operating on a very limited schedule. we've seen that all up and down the i-95 corridor as the airlines have moved all the their planes out of position to get out of the way of the storm. so while technically the airport may be open, the number of flights there are very limited

tracker. a live view of what's going on right now in the nation's skies. and there isn't anything happening over the skies of florida to speak of. you can see that this is really isolated to florida. the rest of the country, for the most part, it's business as usual. here in atlanta, pretty much business as usual. so the most delays and the most cancellations, let's talk about delays. 100 delays so far. you may say, well, that's not much. it is not much because if your flight is canceled, it is not delays. here is the cancellations. about 2,300 cancellations today and tomorrow. again we are talking about flights in to and out of florida. the airlines were able to get their planes out of position. therefore, if you have a flight today from chicago to dallas or denver to d.a. or whatever, chances are that plane is not going to be affected by the storm. plane's out of position and therefore it should be able to make its normal run through the rest of the country. and now as florida starts to recover, those airports will start to open back up.

this morning. >> tom, thank you very much. craig fugate is the administrator of fema. previously he served as the director of florida's division of emergency management. administrator fugate, good morning. nice to see you. >> good morning. >> you know florida well. not only if your official role down there but you lived through something like half-a-dozen hurricanes. what's your early take on this storm? >> people should not be looking at the damages they're seeing and say this storm isot bad. i wouldn't focus on the power outages. those are what we expect. the real danger still is storm surge, particularly in northern florida and southern georgia. these are very vulnerable areas. they've never seen this kind of damage potential since the late 1800s. and very few people are i think really prepared for what we're seeing. that's why we're telling people, the evacuation, it is probably too late for some folks, but if you can, go to higher ground.

hurricane-force winds, get out. >> this echoed what we heard from governor scott a few minutes ago. he's really telling people in jacksonville in particular to get out of there, if you can. sounds like the southeastern coast of georgia as well. >> yeah. this is, again, if you go back into the history of hurricanes, they don't see them very often. but when they have had them, the storm surge has been the principle damage and also the principle risk to loss of life. and in florida it can go well inland with the st. john's river and the other st. mary's. these areas are extremely vulnerable to storm surge. don't look at what's happened in south florida. they've got winds and power outages. but the most deadly impacts of the storm may yet to be approaching that coast so they need to be moving to high ground. >> not out of the woods by a long shot. fema administrator, craig fugate. thank you so much for your time p. coming up, carson shows you what it is like to fly right

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we're back at 7:51. we have an up-close look at the power of this hurricane. carson is in the orange room with that. >> guys, this is crazy video no one's shared on facebook. that is noaa getting a lot of traction online at their research crew in a plane flying through the eye of hurricane matthew showing just how powerful those winds are. another indicator o it or not, is the closure of several waffle houses along the i-95 coast of florida. may seem like we're joking but in the past, fema administrators have referred to waffle houses an informal way to track storms of staying open during extreme conditions. the #braveforflorida. people offering free lodging on

some people doing their best to keep spirits high. here is a full list of activities going on today. you've got bingo, family karaoke, just some things to do, especially with the kids. now throughout the morning we're going to be keeping you updated on air as well as online. dylan is streaming right now with the latest. you can follow the "today" show on twitter and facebook or head to today.com to see a full live stream of this morning's show. >> that airplane video is no >> i've been on those and it is a scary time. >> i'd be wearing nine of those little patches behind my ears. just ahead, much more on the impact of hurricane matthew. al is getting in a brand-new update right as we speak. >> the national hurricane center track at 8:00. i know you're my financial advisor, but are you gonna bring up that stock again? well you need to think about selling some of it.

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it's 8:00 on "today." coming up, breaking news. a dangerous hurricane matthew hammering florida this morning. a days-long pounding of damaging winds, flooding rains, and a as it inches up the coast. mass power outages already being reported. we're live across the region with the very latest "today," friday, october 7th, 2016. welcome back, everyone, to this show -- this "today" on this friday morning. hurricane matthew is lashing the eastern coast of florida. but as the fema administer said to us a short time ago, don't really pay attention to what you

winds and the rain. get ready for that storm surge which will come a little later this morning. >> that's right. and they are looking at other, northern parts of florida now, southeast coast of georgia, south carolina. we have already seen power outages for hundreds of thousands across the region. officials in haiti just released the latest death toll from the storm there. it's risen now to nearly 500 people. >> we have complete coverage beginning with nbc's ron mott, he's in daytona beach ron, good morning to you. >> reporter: hey, matt, savannah, good morning to you. we're told by meteorologists that this band that is ever approaching the daytona beach area will give us a bit of a test here over the next hour. we are starting to feel it, let me tell you. you see these palm trees behind me. these trees are facing out toward the ocean. those behind me are facing away from the ocean. that's because the wind is coming in to this portico here,

hotel, whipping around and hitting us. the real concern is, you guys have been mentioning all morning, is the surge. that's the thing everybody is worried about here. the last 20 minutes this ocean has churned up quite a bit. don't know how well it is registering on the camera but that water is getting ever closer to the seawall. from noon to 1:00 eastern time is when we are expecting the next high tide here. that is going to be a real critical hour for daytona beach and surrounding communities because we could see potentially storm surge. all of these small access roads that lead to the beach, and especially important, those water inlets that head inland to the intracoastal waterways. that water is going to rise rather rapidly. folks who have homes on the intracoastal waterway may look out and see the water where they always like to see it, and two minutes later it may be in their house. so the next four, five hours very critical here. back up to you in new york.

thanks. "nbc nightly news" anchor lester holt is about a two hours drive to ron's south in melbourne, florida. lester, good morning. >> reporter: savannah, good morning. the eye has now moved past us but we are still picking up some very strong wind gusts interrupted by moments of calm. and then torrential rains interrupted by moments of just sprinkles. the wind right now picking up. as i walk you into the street here, part of this downtown area is without power, part of it behind me does have power. one going through the streets like tumble weeds. you mention the storm surge. earlier i had gone out to look around the indian river area. there was no sign of any flooding. i just walked over there about ten minutes ago. it is about 200 yards in that direction and it is now beginning to overtop the highways. we're seeing our first signs here of the storm surge. in fact, if you were watching "nightly news" last night, i was anchoring very close to there. that area now is underwater.

drop, if you will, in this whole storm system. we've only had a look around this immediate area because it is still a little dangerous to get out. there are no signs of any major damage to any homes or structures. we understand one hotel nearby a window was blown out. also some of our folks who were at the beach area about a mile or so from here, they didn't see any signs of damage there from the wind. we didn't see the 120-mile-per-hour winds here. we did see, however, some very, very strong gusts of 70 miles also, a lot of power lines have been snapping. when we went out earlier, there was just a shower of sparks on the horizon as some of those lines were pulled. a very, very dangerous situation. people here have largely heeded the call to evacuate. there are some people who have stayed in this area, hoping it wouldn't be as bad as feared. but no one can really get out there to really see how bad the damage is for a couple more

york. national correspondent craig melvin also in melbourne. he spent the night checking out damage to see what he could find. craig, good morning to you. >> matt, good morning. we just heard lester talk about the debris that's littered throughout this town. another major concern, the high winds. not long ago, i'd say two, two and a half-hour ago, we saw wind gusts just over 100 miles per hour. no surprise that you've seen these downed branches, some downed trees as well. officials yesterday, including florida governor rick scott. two seem as if folks took those warnings very seriously and prepared for the worst. overnight, monster matthew slamming into florida. relentless rain, thrashing winds, exploding transformers. people praying for the best. many waking up without power this morning. here in melbourne, few businesses stayed open.

fire grill. the owner and his 2-year-old toddler in his arms. most other heeding dire warnings. >> evacuate, evacuate, evacuate. >> reporter: 1.5 million people in this state under evacuation orders by the governor. bumper to bumper traffic as a mass exodus of floridians escaped the coast. >> i know you don't want to sit in a shelter but it might be the difference between life and h. this palm beach county shelter are not taking any chances. they've brought their pets, dogs, cats -- even a chicken -- with them. but some, like this 72-year-old, are staying home and risking it all. >> do not assume you can survive if you choose to stay. >> reporter: the weather channel with a blunt message aimed squarely at people choosing to stay. >> this is like no storm in the record books. >> reporter: an understandable fear when you see the devastation matthew left behind

killed. that number expected to rise. this morning, entire communities flattened, homes reduced to rubble. the scope is jaw-dropping and will likely worsen as the waters recede. in the bahamas, 140-mile-per-hour winds ripping up docks and uprooting boats. but matthew appears to have left the bahamas without any loss of life. it's now racing full throttle to the south carolina under a state of emergency. >> we do want people if they've been holding out, to go ahead and realize -- it is time to move. >> reporter: power outage is again a big part of this story here. we lost power on this main thoroughfare about four hours ago, roughly. 1 00,000 households in brevard county right now without power. that number is expected to rise.

last 48 hours, that death toll has already gone up to north of -- close to 500. matt? savannah? >> craig melvin, thanks. al's over in our hurricane center. you just got an update, didn't you? >> we did. this is the latest. as you can see on the radar, there is the eye. it is in between daytona and melbourne. as it pushes north, we can tell you that we still have a category 3 storm. it is 35 miles north-northeast of cape canaveral. 120-mile-per-hour winds. the winds haven't died down at all. north-northwest at 13 miles per hour. the barometric pressure has been rising a little bit. that's good news. the storm is not intensifying at this point. it is passed daytona by later this afternoon. then it comes up along jacksonville. that's where we'll start to see some of that storm surge. by early tomorrow morning, it is parallel to savannah, then makes its way past myrtle beach. and by sunday, it is making its way monday back toward the bahamas by wednesday as a tropical storm. it is not unheard of that storms

usual. again, four to six feet above high tide for storm surge from west palm to ft. pierce. not going to be that big a problem. here's where we're most concerned. from daytona beach up to savannah, on top of the high tide, a 7 to 11-foot storm surge. and then as we get closer to charleston, on in to myrtle beach, about four to six feet, generally speaking. a little bit less as you get closer toward wilmington. we are looking for anywhere from 10 to 15 florida into the carolinas.

>> and that's your latest weather. guys? >> all right, al, we will keep an eye on it. of course we'll have a lot more on the storm ahead. but first, there are other stories making headlines. turning politics as well. donald trump and hillary clinton getting ready for sunday's prime time debate. nbc's peter alexander is at the white house with a preview on that. >> good morning. donald trump facing a lot of pressure today to improve upon this sunday in st. louis. it's going to be a town hall style event and trump's been getting a dry run of sorts. he got one last night in new hampshire. it was a town hall event. but this one was invitation only. as you can imagine, the questions were pretty friendly. hillary clinton, she has no public events scheduled between now and sunday. she's been holding up with her senior advisors preparing for this weekend. what's interesting is a poor performance for trump, and there are already some rumblings among congressional republicans also

they may have to try to distance themselves from trump to start campaigning as a check on hillary clinton. another note in the midst of this powerful storm, matthew could potentially impact voting in the southeast. clinton campaign had requested that the voter registration date, the deadline of next tuesday in florida, be extended. but florida's republican governor there, rick scott, he is the chairman of the super pac supporting donald trump's campaign, said he has no plans to extend the voter registration of opportunity and plenty of ways to vote between now and november 8th. south carolina, by the way, did extend its deadline because of the hurricane and evacuations. i'm told by aides here the president will be briefed on the storm again early this morning. waiting to see if he will make any public remarks. he leaves for his hometown of chicago at 11:00. >> peter, thank you for the political head lines. for the first time we are seeing what happened inside a minnesota mall during that stabbing rampage last month.

video on thursday. according to the fbi, adan had been radicalized by extremists or himself. colombian president juan manuel santos won the nobel peace prize today for his efforts to end a five decades long civar killed more than 200,000 people. award came just days after colombian voters narrowly rejected the paegs deal that santos helped bring about. the norwegian committee says it does in the mean the peace process is dead. just ahead we'll talk to a storm chaser who's been following the worse o'of hurricane matthew basically throughout the night. and you will not believe the price gouging that our "rossen

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beach, florida. caleb, what can you tell us? >> it is windy and rainy. and that's been pretty much it for the last 24 hours or so. >> caleb, let me ask you a question. a lot of people look at you guys out there in these storms and they say, why is he out there in areas where other people have been told to evacuate. do you take special precautions? you look like you are in a typical family car. >> yeah, there is a lot of precautions that go into it. i have bottles of water that i bring along with food for multiple days just in case anything goes wrong. but the reason that we do this is, there's nowhere else in any part of the world that you're ever going to be able to experience this sort of raw, natural power. and nowadays you can pretty much do it within the confines of some sort of safety or refuge that will allow natural spectacle, if you will. >> yeah.

risks and kind of stay out of the way of people who need to get around but thank you very much. >> absolutely. now to a sad fact of life. this often comes with disasters like this. price gouging. we're talking about everything from gas to hotels. "today" national investigative correspondent jeff rossen has found a number of troubling cases down in florida. jeff, good morning to you. >> reporter: hey, matt and savannah, good morning to you. we're here in orlando this morning. there's been some heavy rain and some wind. you can see the palm trees blg certainly not awful here and that's part of the point. we are west inland here in florida and people are fleeing to places like orlando, places like tampa, evacuating from the east coast to get away from the worst of the storm. we have uncovered this morning stores, gas stations, even hotels taking advantage of those storm victims by jacking up their prices. >> reporter: this woman and her young children scared for their

>> last night i paid $37. >> what do they want you to pay tonight? >> $200. >> $200. >> yes. >> and now you have to leave. >> yeah. >> can you afford that? >> no, i cannot. >> reporter: that's right. as matthew barreled in, she says this days inn tripled the rates. >> they ever's just taking advantage of us. making extra money because there is a hurricane coming. >> in a state of emergency. >> yeah. >> when peoplee desperate as you've probably ever been. >> yes. sad to say i have to say that, but i am desperate right now. i have to do the best that i can. >> to take care of these little ones. >> yes. >> where are you going to stay tonight. >> i have no clue. >> reporter: and she's not alone. this woman says the hotel did it to her, too. now she's in her car stuffed with all her belongings. >> what do you make of this? >> i think it is heinous and insane and just dreadful. >> reporter: we wanted to see

watch what happens when i sent my producer in pass a customer. >> what's your rate tonight? >> $199. >> $199? aren't they normally like $50? >> $62. >> reporter: state investigators received a complaint and showed up. now considering legal action. sir, jeff rossen from nbc news. i know you are the manager here. >> i don't run the hotel. corporate sets the prices. >> you think it is wron >> raising the price by three times the night of a hurricane? >> i have no idea, sir, i have no idea about the prices. >> reporter: days inn telling nbc news we are deeply troubled by these allegations because they are no way reflect our brand values. this hotel is franchised so we don't manage inventory and rates and we'll investigate. but it is not just hotels. >> that's where we're seeing a lot of our price issues. >> reporter: the florida attorney general's office setting up a special price gouging hotline, getting thousands of tips -- and people

out gas stations like this one charging $8.88 per gallon. another, charging $9.99 per gallon. and this store selling bottled water for a whopping $30! is this illegal? >> absolutely. during a state of emergency, you cannot for substantially raise prices, whether it is a hotel room, fuel, commodities such as water. generators. you cannot raise prices substantially and that's what these bad p it is hurting our good citizens in a time of need when they are the most vulnerable. >> reporter: by the way, no matter where you live in the country, we can all learn something from this. price gouging does happen whenever there is a storm. what you want to do if you notice it happening during this storm or any other near where you live, call your state's attorney general's office. here in florida, matt and savannah, they actually have investigators out today responding to these complaints in real time so you may actually get some resolution. by the way, we are happy to

mother and her family a nice hotel room for last night and again tonight. they've been able to ride this storm out safely with their young kids. we're happy to report that. we checked in with them, all is good. >> jeff, thanks. these events bring out the best in people and, unfortunately -- the worst as well. the low country of south carolina may escape a direct hit by flooding is expected to be a major problem there as we head flu this weekend. we have the mayor of charleston on the phone cuss now. mr. i think a lot of people are looking at south florida and thinking, it wasn't that bad. you have a storm headed your direction. does that make your work more difficult? >> well, good morning, matt and savannah. thank you for having me on this morning. our hearts, by the way, and prayers go out to the folks that are feeling this storm right now down in florida. and those pictures from haiti and some of the islands, i mean we want to help those folks when we get through this ourselves.

serious flooding here in the low country and we're urging folks, still, there is time for them to get out today and move inland and evacuate. folks who haven't left yet. but we have a confluence, a triple threat of high tide, storm surge and torrential rain that will surely lead to flooding here in the low country. >> and mr. mayor, not to bring up bad memories, but you guys had some severe flooding in your city just a year or so ago. what did you learn during that event that helps you prepare for this one? >> need to have rescue equipment and boats and inflatables available and we have that equipment now. we've also learned to take better care in cleaning ditches and storm drains, and just be ready to help water flow as well as we can. but we've also learned in certain areas, just to move people to higher ground.

door, knocking on doors, urging folks to get out and evacuate and move to higher ground. >> are you finding that people are heeding that warning, sir? >> yes, ma'am. yes, ma'am. and today folks are still leaving and we still have buses picking up citizens and taking them to shelters that we have available in the higher ground of the county. >> mr. mayor, we're thinking about you and the people in your region. we thank you for taking time on a really busy morning. >> but after this storm, come sunday, things are going to be bright and sunny we welcome you all to come back. i can tell you that. >> beautiful city. >> thank you for the invitation. we'll be covering hurricane matthew throughout the morning. just ahead though, we'll take a little bit of a turn. al will go one-on-one with the first lady. and laura prepon is stopping by. she's in "the girl on the train." but first your local news and

i'm...vince vitrano alongside brian gotter...lets get a check of the weather.. wisconsin stepping up to help those affected by hurrican matthew. red cross staffers and volunteers already left from wausau and madison. 18

milwaukee is also sending its emergency response vehicle. that's shoving off this morning. the red cross asking for people around here to donate money to help in the relief effort... and to donate

8:30 now on this thursday morning. it's been a busy morning with storm coverage but we have a great crowd out on our plaza as we continue to think about those folks in the southeast dealing with hurricane matthew. coming up, white house green thumb. al's going to catch up with the

she prepares for her final fall harvest at the white house kitchen garden. then, straight from the confines of litchfield penitentiary, "orange is the new black" star laura prepon is here, talking about her big onscreen role in "the girl on the train." we have the play by play for "sunday night football," chicken on a stick and, fellas, someg >> i live for dude dip! >> there you go. but first, let's get a check of the weather, including hurricane matthew. >> that's right. we want to take a quick look and show you what's happening in your week ahead. here's how we shape up. again, we've got matthew on the southeast coast. heavy rain in the pacific northwest. showers in the southwest. plenty of sunshine through the gulf coast. then as we look into sunday -- sunday -- we're looking at that wet weather.

southwest. look for heavy rain in the pacific northwest. got some nice folks here from chicago. what's your names? the gerber family. that would make them >> and that's your latest weather. of course, "sunday night football" night in america, it is going to be a good one. the new york giants are heading

the packers. good weather for you tailgating. clear, mild, 54 degrees. that's sunday night, "football night in america". >> announcer: this "sunday night football" weather is brought to you by verizon. introducing verizon lte advanced. powering america's largest and fastest 4g lt e! network ever. better matters. >> all right. you had a busy thursday. you were in the weather center tracking hurricane matthew and you found time to take a trip to the white house for the "today's garden" series. >> thursday marked the end of an era at the obama white house. final fall harvest in the kitchen garden. the first lady started it as her

focusing on healthy eating for kids. we talked to her about that in this bittersweet final phase. ?? >> reporter: from seed to sprout, it's full season for this garden on the go. our 1952 dodge pick-up truck is back where it all began. >> i don't think anyone would mind if i park here. >> reporter: at 1600 pennsylvania avenue celebrating the first lady's final fall harvest at the white house kitchen a salute to let's move, michelle obama's initiative dedicated to encouraging children and families to make healthier choices through food and exercise. >> how has this garden changed the way you look at food? >> what i tell kids is, food is fuel in some very fundamental ways. because i know that i feel differently. i perform differently given what i. you the in my body. it's really done a lot to make

>> who's the better cook in the house? you or mr. obama? >> you know, now he would argue that he's better at everything. but i was the person who cooked the most. i was the family's cook. so i definitely have more tricks up my sleeves. >> this is exciting! you guys ready? >> reporter: the first lady planting and harvesting this 1,500 square foot plot since 2009. through the work of let's move, 11 million children attend schools where they strive to make anr activity the norm. and in public schools across the country, 50 million kids have access to healthier meals and snacks. >> let's move really has literally, no pun intended, become a movement. >> now you've got fast food restaurants that serve salad. you've got skim milk and apples in kids' meals. so we're seeing this cultural shift and i think that let's

partners have been a part of reshaping the way we think about what we eat and how we move. and i'm proud of that. >> what would be your advice to the next first lady or first gentleman who's going to reside here? >> in the words of sasha obama, i'd say, do you. i would just urge the next person coming in to this role to make it your own. because it's believable when it comes from the deepest part of platform to make a lot of change. >> well, in honor of mrs. obama's initiative, we are presenting our garden goodies to edible schoolyard nyc. they've embraced the first lady's philosophy of healthy eating. we are with kids from ps-7 from east harlem. see everything in the truck back

give you guys all the stuff in the truck for your lunches and to take home. and there's even honey. i'm going to have you hold this because i'm an old man. i need a young, strapping guy like you to hold that. you really like eating healthy, right? >> yeah. >> how has it changed your way of eating? >> i changed my way of eating, first of all, whether i went to the kitchen, i didn't want to eat nothing. i didn't want to i thought it tasted good. >> how many people are eating vegetables now that you didn't eat before? there you go. that's what we're talking about. there is even honey. they've got bees at the white house. pretty cool, huh? everyone make a bee sound. all right, we'll check in with you during the school year. this is all from mrs. obama

conversation with her in our 9:00 hour. that vegetable pizza you saw earlier, we got the recipe on today.com/food. that was fantastic flat bread pizza. >> awesome. congrats, guys. those are presidential vegetables. >> flatbread pizza or dude dip? which one? >> i'm going with flatbread pizza. >> good answer. coming up next. the very busy laura prepon talks "the girl on the train"nd but first, this is "today" on

my sweethearts gone sayonara. this scarf all thats left to remem...

we are back now. 8:40. we've got laura prepon here. of course you know her from the starring role on "that '70s show" and "orange is the new black." she's also part of the all-star cast in the new movie, "the girl on the train" playing the best

of times. >> here, put this on. you posted another picture of the baby. >> it was a cute picture. >> facebook and drunk ex-wives do not make good friends. >> i got it. i got it. >> all right. i'll just get you to your room. rachel, you have to stop calling them. >> laura prepon, good your character, i think she's a saint. she puts up are rachel, the roomie, who's kind of a mess. >> i know. it is one of those things when is too much too much. when do you become -- when does it become enabling. >> yeah. >> so kathy is faced with some tough decisions when it comes to someone she cares about, someone who's so kind of obsessive about something. it is hard to watch your friends go through things like that. >> it is like this real-time unraveling. were you a fan of the book?

i read the book before the scripts came across my desk and when i was filming "orange" season four is when i was approached about the movie. i immediately wanted to be part of it. when i heard taylor was directing it, then when i heard who the cast was, i was -- then the script was wonderful. i feel like we do a very good job and i feel like we do the book justice because the book was such a wonderful piece of material. and i feel like we did a reall >> you did. as i understand, your schedule, you wrapped "orange is the new black," and then no vacation for you. four days later you were sloot shooting this. >> that's exactly what happened. we're used to that. but, yes, i am -- we filmed in new york so i was in new york for a pretty long time going right from the show to the movie. but it's a blessing. i mean to go from such an incredible cast of women that i work with every day on "orange is the new black," to then step

blunt a few days later, it was truly magical. it really was. >> i think "orange is the new black" just got renewed for three seasons. so the travails of alice continue! what's she going to do no you? >> never a dull moment. let me tell you. we are filming right now. we're doing season five right now. the audiences will not be disappointed. there's us a -- our writers are incredible actresses on and we say what do you do in your spare time or what do you do for fun? in your case, apparently you hike mt. kilimanjaro. tell me about that. >> i did. i tend to just get myself into situations where before i know it, i'm like i didn't know anything about kilimanjaro. i didn't know that it was just under 20,000 feet. i didn't know about the training you needed to do. >> you have to acclamate yourself to the lack of oxygen.

i was doing my book tour right before -- i went to kill pin jar row a week and a half after i finished my book tour for "the stash plan" and all my friends were like, you need to train. i'm like, i know. what am i going to do? i got to oxygen tank that i could sleep in. like put in my bedroom. >> that sounds super fun. >> it was crazy. it was fully worth it. i highly suggest it. >> i'm sure it was amazing. can i recommend like a spa vacation? hang out in your like next? >> that's what i've been told. meanwhile, next i want to hike very similar to everest space camp. clearly i need a challenge all the time. >> it's very impressive. i'm feeling kind of like a loser right now. >> i mean come on! you're going to have your hands full. >> yes, i will. that's true. laura prepon, such a pleasure to catch up with you. "the girl on the train" by our

today. coming up, dude dip. i don't even know what to say about that. [bus honks] mom avo: as a working mom, i need after-school snacks to be easy. so, snack time is now us time. we pull out buddig original and get rolling. it's the quick and tasty protein pick-me-up we need before we're out the door again. and it gives us more time together. ly little for a little while. announcer it goes fast. savor every delicious moment. buddig. make more than a sandwich. feingold: i'm russ feingold and i approve this message. this is wisconsin. and this. and this. and this. full of good people who work hard. why let washington take our jobs and send them off to china and mexico? my opponent backs bad trade deals that export jobs,

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we're back now, 8:47 with "today food loves football." sunday night's big game, you know who it features? new york giants/green bay pack with some treats to try as you watch the game. chicken on a stick and something called a dude dip. elizabeth, good morning. >> good morning. you know eli went to ole miss which is oxford, mississippi, is my hometown. let me tell you something, we are famous for football, william faulkner around chicken on a stick. so i had to do this because eli loves it. >> you know i love you. >> i know you do. how much do you love me? >> i may have a healthier

>> it is just one day of the week. we're not eaten chicken on a stick every night. this is our greek seasonen, cajun seasonening, flour, pickles. whisk up some egg. then we have our skewers. these have been soaked. there's some tongs. first we're going to let all of this just swim in here for a little bit. then we'll end up skewering those. >> we say it every time, if you handle the rawck tongs? >> exactly. here's what it looks like. layer it like that. little pickle, little potato. >> when i -- delores franklin taught me how to fry. first thing she said was taste that flour. you have to. that's the only way that you can see if it's seasoned enough. that needs a little bit more

would not have known that had we not tasted it. you're going to have to taste the raw flour. we've got one that's in here now. just always know that when we're frying, doesn't matter what it is, it will rise to the top when it's ready. so that's our signal. >> you don't have to keep guessing and taking it out. >> you really don't. leave it in there. once it rises to the top. >> how long do you think that takes? >> for something like this that's skewered, just to be safe, ten minutes. >> our tasters are downstairs. frie front of them. >> it is so funny when you say it. it is fried chicken on a stick. it is chicken on a stick! >> do you like it? >> i'm knee-deep in dude dip right now. >> did any of you try the fried pickle? >> i did. >> how did that go? >> yummy. >> haven't tried it yet. >> this is the deal. let me just tell you something. those green bay packers with be they are not wearing that cheese hat because it is stylish. they're wearing it because they love some cheese. i mean i'm not talking about

i'm talking about some good old american cheese. this dip i completely stole from my brother-in-law, who i adore. you start with an amazing cheese dip. we have our melted cheese. we're going to add some chilies. those are just canned chilies and tomatoes. mix that up really, really good. that's our base. >> can i throw the lipitor right in there or actually take it afterward. guys, how you liking the dude >> i'm exploring new things. >> i'm telling you! it is the most fun thing. it is tacky as it can possibly be. we only serve this during football season. never any other time. >> you go the that melted up real good. >> now we have ground beef. we're going to add a little bit of taco seasoning to this. make sure you drain this really, really well. we would hate to have any more fat in this dip. we do want to make sure that we really get that drained. now we're going do build.

of cheese. it is fantastic. so we want to get it all mixed together. now look, you have to be really careful because we just want it to go in the middle. we got to keep that moat of cheese. now add our black beans on top. >> little diced tomatoes. >> exactly. some pico. nobody eats a this. it has to be a chip. keep layering it up. now we have our sour cream. and this is what we're going to eat while we watch the giants take over the packers. >> you like that. you came in strong at the end there. elizabeth, thank you. guys, downstairs, we'll go run about ten miles right now. we have these recipes and more at today.com/food. packers host the giants sunday night on nbc.

america." we're back in a moment. this is "today" on nbc.

can't believe you guys dissed triscuits. >> i just don't think it goes with that dip. triscuit is either cheese whiz --

>> exactly. >> you've got the weather, you did the first lady interview. now you have birthdays. >> some smucker's jam on a triscuit. sweet, salty, love that. first up, happy 100th birthday to russell brown. this proud granddad is from austin, texas. world war ii veteran. we thank you for your service, sir. lizzy curry of orangeburg, south carolina, 100 years young. love that hat. she loves taking care of her farm animals. shows them off every year at the county fair. julia purol of detroit, michigan. frederick vaughn celebrating 100 years. every morning at 6:30 he sends each of his grandchildren an e-mail and loves using face time and he's teaching matt how to. viola brown, 100 years old, makes christmas cookies every

and a happy 103rd birthday to bruce groherring. if you know somebody turning 100, head to today.com/celebrates. >> willie's here. >> willie! >> what you got? >> i just walked away from that dip. plan, is that stuff good! coming up on "sunday today," we'll talk obviously about the storm, talk about the tow debate on sunday night. and the producer of adele, beyonce, u2, the list goes on and on, and he is always thinking about music. >> i think recording in the least suspecting places is oftentimes way more inspiring. just your bedroom, an apartment. a hotel. an airplane bathroom. >> we also cooked some steaks in his kitchen. he is a big chef as well. carson, you know this well.

is lined the scenes on all these songs but he is producing a lot of the music that's at the top of the charts. a fun conversation coming up with him on sunday. >> he writes for so many other people. we hired him at "the voice" one of our seasons to help us out with the original music for our artists. he's prolific, to say the least. >> willie, thank you very much. i didn't see you loving that dip. i didn't see that coming.

brian gotter...lets get a check of the weather.. a inmate is back in custody this morning after he was waukesha county jail.dustin palubicki turned himself in to the forest county jail around 10 last night, after enjoying nearly 13 hours in freedom. he was released yesterday from the jail because his sentence was over... however... he is wanted in forest county... accused ofnot paying child support. the sheriff's department posted a notification on facebook, but didn't activate the reverse 911 call to notify the public since he's not considered a

good morning today a new tool to determine how liveable your community is. plus now that most farmers markets are done how to get the freshest produce on your table. and molly fay, where are you? >> good morning tiffany super excited to be on the grounds live this morning at the nari home and remodeling show. i will give you a tour in just a bit. the morning blend starts right now.