let's go to accuweather storm chaser and meteorologist reed timmer.g us all week with updates. reed, what have you been seeing today? >> well, earlier today, we were in new bern, north carolina. our team split in two with one focusing on the eye wall here in wilmington, we went up to new bern where there is substantial flooding, mainly tidal flooding as well but there's also a rainfall being measured in the feet. we saw many of these water rescues unfolding right before us with the cajun navy bringing people in from that coast just as that high tide was increasing and it's those high tides that are the most dangerous. we saw white water just ripping down the road there in new bern. abandoned vehicles with car doors opened and people just must have left when the water rose. we went to the fire department and saw one of those meetings with the cajun navy. there's also local law enforcement pulling people out there and it's just every single high tide with that persistent easterly wind with this stationary tropical cyclone that continues to pile up that

. >> reporter: accuweather's reed timmer battles fierce storm surge and coastal flooding. in pensacola gordon turned deadly. authorities say a child was killed after a tree fell on his home during the storm. states of emergency remain in effect across louisiana, mississippi and parts of alabama. as tens of thousands of people are waking up this morning without electricity and the rain still pouring. >> we got all the supplies we need. we got batteries, flashlights, all that stuff. >> reporter: this storm is fast moving, and as quickly as it hit us here overnight, it's already started to move out of the area, and now the major concern is that as gordon moves north, it's expected to start slowing down and that could cause flash flooding further inland. diane and kendis. >> yeah, fast moving is a good thing in this case. we hope that part continues. maggie rulli, thank you. we'll have more from accuweather in just a few minutes. >>> we turn to politics and a major upset in the massachusetts congressional primary. michael capuano, a ten-term incumbent, has lost to boston city

to meteorologist reed timmer.gallons of water people along that line will be looking at here, huh? reporter: we are on the barrier island here, just passed high tide at noon so it is starting to go out a little bit but you can really see the massive waves right at high tide. they are already lapping up against the sand berm here. we even saw wall clouds, potential water spout tornadoes going by and the outer band of convection here. we are at top sail beach and the next high tide will be 11:30 p.m. tonight. the hurricane will be much closer, we will be getting battered by onshore flow with a six to nine-foot storm surge that will go up and over this berm and inundate the entire island. that includes all the barrier islands up to the outer banks, and that's why you absolutely want to heed those evacuation warnings and get out of here, because the hurricane is likely not going to be survivable on these islands. neil: you get storm surges up to 13, 14 feet, as some have been warning, that would annihilate a lot of th

. >>> allegatiso joining me rights meteorologist reed timmer, he's an accuweather storm chaser and he's live in north carolina. you're also used to getting rained on, reed, as the mayor was getting rained on. you heard the mayor of carolina beach. they are all evacuating. he thinks that at least -- almost oall of them will be evacuating. they're facing a curfew at the top of the hour. that's not far from where you are. how worried should they all be? >> we're in wrightsville beach right now and it looks like the residents are gone. we haven't talked to anybody that's staying behind but i'm sure there are a few residents out here. we've talked to the checkpoint there on the bridge on the other side of the mainland and they said they want everybody off by 8:00 p.m. they could even be blocking those roads but if you stay here and try to ride out the storm, you're absolutely not going to be able to get rescued. we're already starting to get increases in the wind speed. we've got the hurricane eye wall research vehicle. you can see the anomometer. we're finally getting that slow increase of

there's reed timmer. he's getting beat up for us to take us inside the storm. hopefully he can hear us. reed? >> yeah, i can hear you loud and clear right now. we are getting northerly winds right now gusting 60 to 70 miles an hour. i'm right along highway 17. we just came inland from north carolina. we were there earlier saw the surge at noon. it was already coming over and inundating some of the homes. already causing some storm surge damage. another high tide coming up at 11:30 tonight. and that is when the worst of the storm surge is going to happen, is during high tide. but it's likely not going to go out after that with those winds continuing to batter the eastern side of the barrier island. but as we were driving south on highway 17 we saw numerous trees down almost blocking the road. we were able to get around them. right now we're trying to reposition south of that wobble to the west and head toward the wrightsville beach area, possibly topsail beach to reposition when the surge comes in. right now with these northerly winds even as damaging as they are

and we were even seeing as we learned just a few minutes ago from reed timmer new bands of rain that are developing. we are expecting several more inches here in south carolina. and it's not just the rain that will continue to fall. it is not just the records that have been broken in the state of north carolina. the other concern is what comes next. there is the flooding. rivers that are not expected to crest. 3, even 5 days, well in the middle of next week. that is a major concern. even as rescues are under way for folks who need help in this storm. we can tell you that here in myrtle beach, the mayor telling me about 60% of residents did evacuate. she was very happy to report that number. driving around here we were out for a couple of hours. the good news, not a lot of damage. but, again, the concern is the flooding in the coming days. myrtle beach itself, the bridges, the roadways that can bring people in and out of this area. there's concern that perhaps those could be cut off by flooding by a number of rivers in the area. also the flooding coming down that's moving in of course

joining me also right now, meteorologist reed timmer, an accuweather storm chaser. the beach where you are could take a direct hit. what are you expecting that beach to look like when florence makes landfall? >> here in wrightsville beach, we're on the furthest part of the north carolina outer banks and you do not want to be here when this storm approaches on thursday. most people are evacuating the island here. with the storm surge of 10 to 15 feet, depending on exactly where that track's going to go, this barrier island is simply too low in elevation to handle that, you're going to have feet of water on this island, winds gusting to 150 miles per hour on top of that and latest model trend they're also hitting at a stallout of this storm so those types of conditions could last even longer here. >> florence is being compared to a lot of big old bad storms from the past, some of the worst storms that have hit the carolinas. we're talking hurricane hugo in '89, more than 20 people died in the united states. it caused billions of dollars in damage and also hurricane fr

t reed timmer on what happens now. what do you think? what are you getting a sense of? the winds are slowly starting to subside as hurricane florence drifts off to the southeast. we still do have gusty winds but they are becoming a bit more sporadic. we do expect these gusty winds to last quite a bit, quite a long time and with weakened branches and trees, also with so much rain as well, it won't take very much of a wind to knock down a tree or put a power line in a dangerous spot. you certainly want to be careful if you are out and about in the wilmington, north carolina area. most of the area is completely without power. there are large trees down everywhere like this one behind me. now the threat really shifts toward that inland -- watching upstream, there is very prolific rainfall rates happening up there and the bands from southeast to northwest, a very slow-moving florence and there's nothing more dangerous than a slow-moving [ inaudible ] because of the flooding aspect. we do expect all of that water to run off into rivers like the cape fear river that comes thro

i do believe we have new video coming in to us from reed timmer would works for accuweather from new bern, north carolina. look at the flooding there. >> you can see that water is almost as high as the street signs. >> yeah, you can gauge on that building it's almost up to the top of the first floor. that's a lot of water right there. >> and it's not over yet for this area. at all. new bern, we saw by 5:00 p.m. it was nearly flooded and so it's been some 12 hours of that nonstop rain pounding that area. >> new bern has gotten hit pretty badly but also towns like jacksonville, of course, wilmington, we've seen those live shots from ginger zee and amy robach and emily rau there in the middle of it. the storm intensifying over the last couple of hours as we expected it. causing a lot of damage there in wilmington and plenty more damage expected in the next couple of hours. and throughout the weekend. >> even as of the last report it was still 90-mile-an-hour storm. it is still dropping a whole lot of rain. sam, less than a minute left before we toss over to "good morning america." what