i expect 2 to 3 feet of rain to fall on this from myrtle beach all the way up to cape lookout. this is a phenomenal situation. part of it is because of the slowed movement and the collapse of the steering currents. it's only moving 5 miles an hour. and it's trying to organize over the gulf stream. charles: essentially this will be a storm of historic proportions and traps we can't begin to measure it at this point. is that what you are saying, jeff? >> for that area we have thanked stronger hurricanes hit in there in have been stronger hurricanes that hit in there. this is not an extraordinarily strong storm. charles: is the rain? what's making it so exceptional? >> the circumstance of very slow movement, a large system, beating on an area for one to two days, folks near wilmington and on the beaches, wrightsville beach, you will not just have 3 to 4 hours of hurricane force winds. it's like a siege going on. that constant pounding, more water coming into the ground, making it easy for trees to go down. it's and slower movement. this is a large powerful storm. but in that parti

cape lookout, ft. macon, sust n sustained hurricane winds are occurring at cape lookout, to again this is moving in, but i want to talk about this rainfall, and, of course one of the worst hit areas has been new burn. it's going to be wilmington. wilmington has had its wettest year to date. when we talk about north and south carolina, the storm systems that have broken records as far as the most amount of rainfall for north carolina, it was floyd. in 1999 dropping 24 inches, florence is going to shatter that record. for south carolina, it's jerry in 1995. that storm dropped 18. so we're looking at 18 to not just create a new landscape here, and devastate the whole areas well inland. this is going to shatter records and go well into the record books, that's why a category 2 means absolutely nothing. we're getting updates every hour now, and we'll continue to share them with you. >> tom, do you agree with the metaphor, somebody was telling me earlier, a different meteorologist, usually a hurricane as a b

here is a look at some of the peak wind speeds, i've just gotten in at cape lookout peak wind gusts of 106 miles per hour, and ft. macon at 105, also the same in wilmington, so imagine wind speeds coming from the southwest and turning more northwesterly and once they get on the other side of the eye the winds will shift from the northeast so that's going to bring down a lot of trees within the next few hours. we will avehave more live updat in a few minutes. for more i'll send it over to you. >> as we watch this newburn police sending messages out to the residents, we are coming for you. hurricane florence may have lost its intensity but delivering a punch as it moves over land. the storm so massive it required a wide angle lens to capture it from space. these are from the international space station. the air of tropical force winds span 300 miles across and a storm surge watch and warning covering 450 miles of coastline. >> it's hard to fathom. officials are warning people the severe conditions right now are just the nnay gray is in nor >> reporter: -- intense conditions here and i wa

and here's a look at some of our top wind speeds we've measured this morning around those areas, cape lookout 106 miles per hour, just unimaginable wind speeds and peak wind gusts. wilmington 105 and davis 90-mile-per-hour winds, and then once those winds shift direction, we could see a lot more damage and debris in the areas. we'll continue to monitor that as we look at our current fo highs today will reach into the upper 70s for our inland valleys. more updates coming up in a few minutes. >> thank you, kari. >>> we have nbc reporters all over the carolinas as hurricane florence continues to move in. it may have lost some of its intensity but still delivering quite a punch as it moves over land. so big, in fact, in the international space station, they used their wide angle lens to capture it from space. the area of tropical force winds spans 300 miles across, storm surge, watches and warnings about 450 miles of coastline. >> the eye of the storm itself made landfall a little more than an hour ago. kind of calm here as this live look that we take in carolina beach where "today in the bay's"

from cape fear to cape lookout. we're talking about anywhere from ten to 20 inches of rain, some places getting 40 inches and what we always have to worry about. the northeastern quadrant, the possibility of tornadoes. we have a tornado watch up for the next several hours. lester? >> all right. al, thanks very much. this rain coming off the river now like bullets and as we speak, the powerful destructive winds are blasting a big part of the coastline. nbc's gadi schwartz is in the tiny coastal community of radio island, it is about 100 miles northeast. you've been getting knocked around for a good part of the day. what's what happening there now? >> reporter: good evening, lester. as bad as the winds look, they will get much worse tonight. they are gusting 50 to 70 miles an hour. but tonight, they are going to get up into the 100 mile an hour plus and it's going to coincide with the storm surge. we're going to see a high tide at around 11:30. the storm surge is expected to come up significantly, 7.5 feet. in this pa

we have a gust near 100 miles per hour near cape lookout. so we're already getting very, very strong winds, strong gusts, around it's only moving at 5 miles per hour. and i just want to tack onto what brian todd was saying about the high tide cycles. with this rain and wind and everything pushing west, he's right. we're going to have another high tide cycle along this coastline around midnight, give or take a little bit of where you are. and once the tide starts to come back down, it's not going to come down, because the water and the wind continues to push in. so basically each high tide psych that will cycle that we g water will build on itself, because this water is constantly being pushed in. so we'll continue to have the rain and the flooding, the storm surge, all of that will last for the next 24 to 36 hours, anderson. >> and just -- i mean, the size of this storm, you know, it went to a category 2 when folks woke up this morning. but it really doubled in size. it's been just -- it's been fascinating, kind of terrifying to watch how bi

right now, 140-mile-per-hour winds, 785 miles from cape lookout, north carolina. by friday afternoon, we expect landfall. so everybody to the west and south of myrtle beach all the way to cape hatteras have to be on alert because this storm could make landfall anywhere along that cone. >> al, thank you very much. we'll ask you to stay close. we're back to you in just a moment with a brand new storm track. but we want to get right to gabe guer carolina where those mass evacuations are under way. gabe, set the scene for us there. >> reporter: lester, a hurricane warning just went into effect here. this popular beach town is now shut down. the carolinas bracing for potentially their strongest hurricane in decades. tonight, the rush is on to get out. from the carolinas to virginia, more than a million people are desperately trying to outrun hurricane florence. how terrifying is this storm? >> yeah, it's something that i've been dreading since i moved here. >> reporter: in south carolina, authorities closed this highway in one direction, all lanes now leading west away

then it's going to be with us for 24 to 36 hours, cape lookout, 70 almost there. topsail beach close to 70 late thursday night. and then everybody starts getting to it. hurricane force winds in southeastern north carolina, even fayetteville gets to 62 miles per hour by friday afternoon. at that point, it is like a washing machine. not just the wind, but you've got that storm surge, that big bubble of water pushing against the land. 9 to 13 feet there. 2 to 4 feet that includes charleston. and then, of course, the rain. 30 to 40 inches that will fill up some of these big rivers, they will flood for days and by sunday, even, the cape fear behind me, just 25 miles away, expected to get to close to record level. david? >> all right, ginger, thank you. we're feeling the first effects of this, the real outer bands, the wind already arriving as we're on the air tonight. we're going to see real effects tomorrow morning first thing. the hurricane hunters were up in the air late today, it was their final trip of the day. and i spoke with the team as they were flying around

from cape fear to cape lookout and we're talking about anywhere from ten to 20 inches of rain, inches and what we have to worry about, e northeastern quadrants the possibility of tornados. we have a tornado watch up for the next several hours. lester? >> all right. mu al, thanks ver. this rain coming off the river like bullets and as we speak, the powerful destructive a winds are bl big part of the coastline. wa nbc's gadi schrtz is on radio island, about 100 miles northeast. you've been getting knocked around for a good part of the day. what is happening there right now? >> reporter: good everyone, lest. as bad as the winds look, they will get much worse tonight. they are gusting 50 70 iles an hour but tonight, they are going to get up into the 100 mile an hour plus and it's going to coincide with the storm surge. we're going to see high tide at around 11:30. the storm surge is expected to come up significantl7.5 et. in this area, the town has never seen a storm surge that high but it has seen significant damage from storm surge as high as seven feet. so we're expecting the worst of

cape lookout sticks out so far it has been getting a lot of wind, not so much rain right now but a lot of the wind at about 97 miles per hour. wilmington, that number is 71 but we've seen a 76-mile-per-hour wind gust there. >> this could cause -- this new development could cause life-threatening storm surge. >> absolutely. >> along the coast. >> well, as long as that eye is offshore you still have every bit of that push of water onshore. and what happens is that c constant wind keeps that water up in those rivers up in those bays. so it doesn't get a chance to drain out and meanwhile it's raining adding more water. if we're getting two inches of rain an hour adding much more inland that also can't drain out so, yes, every impact is enhanced. more rain in the areas that had wind and we've got more of ma or we're not relaxing that water is being held into the bays at all. so hang tight. stay where you are. this storm is still going to be whipping up exactly the same thing it's been serving for the past few hours for the next few hours. >> based on that information, based on a lot of the

>> interesting question because it is so big everybody from cape lookout to georgetown and 50 miles inland will get devastated one way or the other. the difference is you went through hugo and you know it moves very quickly. this is going to be a 1 to 2 day siege in places like wilmington, myrtle beach, just not going to come and go. >> would you compare it more to katrina? >> know because katrina moved quite quickly also. it may be more like harvey as far as the extent of rain for the causes of that are different but harvey stalled and hung around on the texas coastal bend. this is a storm, folks, that because of the slow movement and very unusual movement southwest word, sort of we haven't seen a storm like this in this particular area. look at the hurricane tracks, you see tracks of storms moving like this over the atlantic and stalling 300 miles away but no one cares about those. this is a shift westward of what nature can do except it is long the coast line. there will be unprecedented events when you combine the wind and rain in southeast north carolina, northeast south carolina and

we will have this wedge from cape lookout to cape fear, that's where we expect the biggest storm surge, so from 7 to 11-foot surge from cape fear. we will continue to watch it over the next several days. again, experiencing life-threatening flash flooding and storm surges right now. your rain forecast through monday, we are looking at 20-plus. that is in the pink. we could say isolated amounts of 40 inches. when we say those numbers we think of snow, but we're measuring this in feet over the next several days. we have this model here that is going to time out where the storm will be moving over the next 24 hours. this is the center of the storm. this is at 2:00 friday, right about now. as we go throughout time here, again, moving, very, very slow. it is moving at six miles per hour. we walk about three to four miles per hour, you know, if we are walking leisurely, so it is pretty close to that. it is going to take a long time to get to the coast. it will allow all of this rain to fall over the next day, the next two days. where we're seeing the darker colors is indicating the heaviest

cape lookout already 105. the strongest winds to the right of the eye. this is always the case. where the most damage will occur. offshore in myrtle beach no surge at all. even chris said the water's far away, way down the coast because they're getting an inverse shift here. that's why it's so dangerous. still 11 to 7 foot surge all around the barrier island. clearly this is dangerous situation for those rivers in the bemlico sound area. and it will not be allowed to come back down the river because the wind is just blowing it straight up. this number, atlantic beach, occurred around 7:00 last night when i was actually going to bed. it was 12 inches. it's rained all night long. i have no idea what this number is right now. it could be 24. that could be 2 feet of water rained out of the sky and then the wind trying to push all that water back up toward ed, too. >> yeah, it's like a -- isn't it? behind me i have this cape river and this flows down into the atlantic basically. but what's happening is the surge will push it up at the same time that the flooding rain brings it down.

very close to wilmington, cape lookout, maybe all the way to cape fear. but now this is what has changed. the model says, hey, after 48 hours, there is no wind at all. there is nothing to push this around. the models are now drifting it to the left. and along the coast of the carolinas. look to see where our cone is. our cone here on the south side is offshore. that could possibly happen as well. that would be great. but somewhere it's going to turn left again, whether that's georgia, florida or south carolina. that's what's changed in the overnight hours. more people are involved in this now, especially even myrtle beach because the storm was not forecast to turn to the left toward you. hurricane warnings are still posted in the same places. that will likely change at the 11:00 advisory. there is still going to be a lot of rain, up to 20 inches. that has not changed, just spread out. more storm surge from bloomington to morehead city. here are the models. i'm going step by step. here's the european model. there's the center of the storm. it takes it just

wrightsville beach and myrtle grove, topsail beach, atlantic city, moorehead city, all the way up to cape lookout. all that area along the north carolina coast experiencing the beginning of the hurricane force winds and could go on for many hours. according to the national hurricane center, the report of deadly flooding and storm surge has not changed even though the storm's winds have slowed down to 105 miles an hour. meteorologists have down graded florence to a category two. right now we know that this is the radar look. before with the satellite image, this is ground radar. now to the ground radar. you can see the first bands of rain are beginning to hit myrtle grove and the entire coast up from there. so that is myrtle grieve, wrightsville beach, topsail beach, up to swansboro, kill devil hills, all of that area of the carolina coast getting rain bands coming ashore and their first taste of hurricane force winds, at least in the areas closest to the center of circulation. you can see that on the ground radar. remember what ground radar shows is the rain, the darker the colors, the heavier th

will cool and then we can just before it hits cape fear but you will have an entire area from cape lookoute beach getting wind over 100 miles an hour. you will have gust over hundred. wilmington, north carolina, getting hurricane force gust 414 to 36 hours. cheryl: it's horrible, joe. frightening storm. appreciate you being here today. we expect landfall and we want to have you back for that. thank you so much. lauren: switching gears to talk about apple because they are going big literally unveiling their largest and most expensive iphone to date. surprisingly, the apple watch which now doubles as a heart monitor my create more buzz. lets big in lieu of disruptive tech research. good morning. i want to start with a watch. listen to at the coming's chief operating officer had to say about it. >> all reporting, classification, notice, symptoms are stored in the health app in a pdf you can share with your doctor, so now your doctor has a detailed picture of your heart rhythm similar to a lead one ecg that is usually only done in the clinic. lauren: is a game changer because now you have an o

these areas you see from cape lookout, morehead city, hatteras, nags head, in the yellow, they are getting-mile-per-hour winds. so tropical storm force winds. look at the squally weather. live doppler out of morehead city. that is heavy rain starting to fall. there is so much more to come over so many hours. in fact, let's track it. it is 170 miles east-southeast of wilmington. it will be there during the overnight hours and come in as a category 2 with 105 miles per hour manipulate winds. it makes the right-hand turn. heads between florence and myrtle beach, drops to 60 miles per hour. it will be raining like crazy. one to two inches per hour. over columbia, unwinds at 30 miles per hour. it dumps heavy rain. it moves up the spine of the appalachians. 3 million people under a flash flood watch in the carolinacaro. we could get up to 40 inches of rain. storm surge up to 13 feet. flooding coasts, sounds, rivers, inland. we'll have damaging winds and tornados. back at home, low to mid-50s. pretty quiet weather wise. no fog, drizzle, low clouds. comfortable temperatures. those coming up. how a

around the lunchtime hour today so that's going to be a concern around 12:30 for areas north of cape lookoutht along the beach area at 12:37 and south of that at 1:20 near myrtle beach. that sea water coming in to shore. that's on top of what's falling down already. the fresh water from the clouds. that rain continuing to fall in the same spots as the slow moving storm continues to progress. you can see that will cause serious flooding for a lot of the rivers and tribeutaries. also the cape fear river looking at the minor flooding stages here. so we'll watch that into early tuesday as the storm continues to make its way up to the northwest and take a turn to bring that mugginess and saturation up this way into new york city. a lot of that rain still falling. we're tracking all of it and it's a big storm as well. not only slow moving. it's looking to be one of the storms for the century and we'll tracking the totals for you. >> we'll talk about florence for some time to come. including later on this morning. catastrophic flooding for the carolinas. coming up next the story of one city bracing

the cone of really the big storm surge is from cape fear to cape lookout.ike a wall of water that comes rushing in. it's water that makes its way, being pushed by those winds. the forward motion of the storm is aboutpe the same that you will see with that stormge s so you're basically talking right now, the storm is moving west-northwest at six miles an hour. well, it could be even faster because of the low-lying and flat surfaces of the carolina shoreline. it's a very shallow shoreline. it's a shallow continental shelf. so there is very little friction to slow down that water. it could be actually moving faster than hix miles pr when that storm surge happens, guys. >> probably some bel sea level. it's one of those things that it doesn't ist roll in. is. now at pylon three feet of rain. yo see what has officials so very worried this morning. al, thank you. we will have more coverage live, hurricane florce battering the carolinas this morning. we will take a check of these . at carmax? that's a great question. if you'd stop in a monsoon to help someone chang

the folks in north carolina from cape lookout all the way back to perhaps georgetown in south carolina going to be under one to make two days of hurricane conditions, tremendous amount of rain, tremendous amounts of pounding going on because the same high steering it northwest, it breaks down. a new one develops to the northwest storm, and so this is a cork in a stream. it's coming northwest and then it turns back southwest. it does it very, very slowly. this is a siege coming for the north carolina coast. i don't want people to get fooled by the apparent weakening this afternoon. maybe i'm going to be wrong about this, but we have been saying that the last 12 to 18 hours as it's coming to the coast, that's what it would reach its maximum intensity. and then it falls off as a gets near the coast. a very dire situation. >> neil: isaac, a tropical storm, soon to be a hurricane. olivia near hawaii. is it unusual to have this many turning this quickly? >> yes, it is. but we identified this back on august 23, we identified and put it out as much as i could. saying look out. there's going to

. >> at cape lookout. around 60 miles per hour i believe at the airport. mike, we understand. these winds are coming and going but sustained right around 90 miles per hour. according to the weather center. there around the eye wall. how long you expect for the eye wall? how long do you expect it to take before it hits land fall. >> that new convection wrapping around the west side of the eye wall is interesting. it looks like it's expanding. but there's a dry slot. it's hard to gauge. but we'll have eye wall conditions within the next hour to hour and a half. >> when you talk about that, you talk about eye wall conditions that will continue. hour after hour after hour. because we're talking about a storm that you can equate to a person walking down the street. >> not sure if we have him. are you with us by phone? we may have lost mike. he was with us with accu weather. riding the storm out here in wilmington. all right. coverage continues here from wilmington. we will continue of course to monitor the situation. bring you the very lathes after the break. stay with us. cnn brea

winds were extreme, the max wind we've seen, that we had measured was 106 miles an hour at cape lookoutith wilmington with sustained winds onshore 95 miles an hour. fort macon. that is where we have tools to measure winds. there is some misreporting coming in but a lot of areas that are pushing 20 inches. winds continue to gust not as strong because the center of the storm is weakening a little bit but the wind field expands. even by the time you get say, tuesday, we'll watch really windy conditions across parts of the hugh valley as well. we're looking at tornado watches that will pop up throughout the day today. trish. trish: goodness, rick. busy time for you. we'll be right back with more after this. xfinity mobile is a new wireless network designed to save you money. even when you've got serious binging to do. wherever your phone takes you, your wireless bill is about to cost a whole lot less. use less data with a network that has the most wifi hotspots where you need them and the best 4g lte everywhere else. saving you hundreds of dollars a year. and ask how you get xfinity mobile

highest wind gust: 106 miles- per-hour, cape lookout, north carolina. and rain-- get this-- nearly two feet in carteret county. and, again, that flash flood emergency for areas near new bern, because they are getting this hefty band of rain-- which will slowly, very slowly-- shift southward and westward over the course of the next 24 hours. so i suspect here in wilmington, we'll likely get a little taste of that coming within the next day. jeff? >> glor: already coming down at an unreal pace here in wilmington. megan, thank you very much. that is tonight's "cbs evening news." coverage continues all night long on our streaming network cbsn, and then tomorrow on "cbs this morning." i'm jeff glor in wilmington, north carolina. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org finding himself front and center. good evening, i'm allen martin. >>> now at 630, the star- studded climate comments -- conference missing key democrats. this self-made billionaire finds himself in front and center. x new york city mayor m

cape lookout, 106. rain accumulation still to come. we could pick up an additional ten inches of rain across some of these locations in north carolina and south carolina. don, it is going to determine where the bands set up, of course. the river gauges, major flood stage, moderate flood stage. we'll see records broken well inland, well away from the coast, don. >> reporter: jennifer, you said bands are coming toward us in myrtle beach. the forecast this morning at least earlier was the bulk of it may not hit us until 10:00, 11:00, midnight. what's in store for us here? we are starting to feel it more. >> all day you have been getting offshore winds. that's why the waves aren't that big, the surf hasn't been that big. another on the south or west side of the storm getting offshore flow. once the eye gets closer and winds shift, you'll get not only heavy rain, stronger winds, you get on shore flow. that will pull in more surge to the area, increase waves, and that's when we will see more flooding in the myrtle beach area. don? >> reporte

sue suska is a wildlife biologist at the cape lookout national seashore and she joins us via phone.t this story, as well. people are in harm's way, sue. good evening to you. but these wild horses are beloved by locals and visitors to the outer banks, a facebook page for the herd has been inundated with people asking about them. with the storm approach, how concerned should people be for these incredible animals? >> well, it's great to be with you. i can speak mostly for the shackleford bank horses. those are the ones that i work with professionally >> although we all work with each other with the different herds, shackleford banks is 900 miles long, and the western part of the island is dune fields with a thick forest on the northern edge. and these horses being pretty savvy about weather because they're out in it all the time will be moving to higher ground as the water rises and will be moving out of the wind as the wind gets stronger. >> so they instinctively go that the storm is approach [they try to take shelter, correct? >> i believe that. i believe that. >> so we've got video

swansboro just below cape lookout. and the rainfall total there shattered any previous record. they saw over 30 inches of rainfall. myrtle beach saw just over 7 1/2 inches of rainfall. this is a multi-day event. but the stories coming out of north carolina, even in the long-term, are going to be staggering. i mentioned people are so concerned about their homes being destroyed. their businesses, their livly hoods -- livelihoods, agriculture, livestock, the roads have been so compromised, if not damaged or destroyed. but still this long fetch of moisture still being drawn up from theed a land tick -- from theed a land -- from the atlantic and moving across the west. if it does, the rainfall is going to be heavy at well. so natalie, the story is not over, even though the national hurricane center says we have sent out the last advisory. we all understand this is not it. >> yes, absolutely. still need to be very careful. thank you, karen. appreciate it. >>> another major storm is planned for the western hemisphe hemisphere. typhoon hangkhut is bearing down on hong kong. we'll take

the biggest area that we are worried about is between cape fear and cape lookout, a and this is the wedge that could see a 9 to 13 storm surge washing everything out. and then, of course, the rain with the system. we are talking about the isolated amounts of up to 40 inches, but as you can see from the south of cape hatteras and to myrtle beach, 10 to 15 to 20 inches of rain, and of course, the ground is saturated here already. another thing to mention as we are looking at the time line for wilmington, wind gusts of 100, and the storm surge of 4 to 7 feet. all along the carolina coast, the continental shelf which follows along the eastern seaboard, you have the continental shelf, but it is a very shallow area here just offshore. so there is nothing really to impede that storm surge coming in. of course, on the land, it is very, very shallow, and look all of the way down to the coast charleston and you can expect the rainfall of 4 to 8 feet, and the storm surge of 2 to 4 feet, and andrea, this is an inland position, and fayetteville will be seeing the tropical storm conditions, and moving

cape lookout to moorehead city it's pretty rough, too. and right along or the sound. where we saw kerry sanders here, you're just starting to get into some bands. you're worst will arrive overnight and. tomorrow morning that's where the strongest winds will be where kerry is located. now just a gust of 63 in ha vkslock. and offshore buoys now getting up there at hurricane strength there just off the coast. hurricane center, winds still at 105, a very healthy category 2. we have this as satellite imagery. the top of the clouds, we've color coded those to identify it. because the stronger the thunderstorms, the stronger the storm. look at these burst of thunderstorms just to the north of the eye. that's the first time it's shone any signs of intensification or trying to organize. we don't think it's going to have a big explosion in intensity, but it could go up a couple of notches. the hurricane center had it going pretty much west. and every jog to north potentially puts and the northern eye wall as we go through the overnight hours. hoping to avoid that, but it could

tide, and another one tonight around midnight tonight, and the big zone is between cape fear and cape lookout for a 7 to 11 foot storm surge. the rainfall amounts that we are talking about again another 10 to 20 inches possible. atlantic beach up right along the shoreline there, and north carolina is just outside of wilmington, and we are talking about so far 30 inches of rain, ali. so, again, depending upon this path, if it is not going to make a little bit of the turn, it is going to be coming out into the ocean, and now your area is going to be seeing a strong storm surge from the east or the northeast. >> al, really quickly, can we talk about the population here, because this is such an unpredictable storm. ov over to the last few days, we have talked about charlotte, and columbus, and raleigh, and even mentions of atlanta, and what are the cities in danger of getting at least remnants of the storm that could at least cause some serious flood iing? >> well, i want to come back again over here to the path map. here, you have a tropical storm past myrtle beach. and tropical storm past charl

look at the numbers. 106 miles per hour was recorded at cape lookout. 105 in wilmington close to where it came on shore. those are the places where there is a station to read a reading like that. who knows other stronger winds could be in places in between that. you get an idea of the storm now. this is organized and they are saying how amazed they are with how organized it is holding together. it has plenty of moisture around it. the wind is still going offshore in myrtle beach. so you are not getting the storm surge. where you got the storm surge to the right of where it came ashore, east of wilmington there, that same direction is continuing. it's only moved since this morning. we are now at 12 hours since landfall. it has moved 45 miles. it's just creeping along. so if you have had the wind for all this time, you still have the wind. if you had the rain, you still have the rain. if the storm surge came on, it's still there. we have seen spots of over 20 inches of rain. a lot about new bern where you are talking about where the people are still trapped there. this is the radar image

of course, the big egest dangers between cape fear and cape lookout with that 9 foot storm subject. and a rain event. unprecedented rain totals are possible with this. we're talking more than three feet of rain. but generally 10 to 20 inches of rain from charleston, all the way just south of the barrettier islands in cape hatteras. this is a dangerous system. these are the time lines. wilmington, 70 to 90 mile per hour winds with gusts of over 100. rain of over 2 feet. storm surge, 4 to 7 feet. we get to myrtle beach, there could be a storm surge of 3 to 6 feet with 12 to 18 inches of rain. we move down to charleston. wind gusts of about 55 miles per hour or more. storm surges of 2 to 3 feet. rainfall, 4 to 8 feet. if you think, i'm not at the coast, i'm okay, well, fayetteville, you could see 6 to 10 inches of rain with tropical storm force -- tropical storm conditions and winds up to 60-mile-per-hour gusts. you move to the east. charlotte will see 4 to 7 inches of rain. there's a flooding rain threat. then we go into columbia. 5 to 8 inches of rain and tropical storm conditions. t

the national hurricane center says we believe that cape lookout will start to see sustained hurricane winds in the very near future. with that said, hurricane force winds now are extending outward from the center, kate, 80 miles. that is 15,000 square miles. that's like massachusetts, connecticut, rhode island altogether. it's only now about 87 miles to wilmington and as that band is coming in now with the curvature of our coast line, that's why we're seeing the surge increase. but hour after hour now of this remaining off shore is going to do more damage in the coming hours than this area has seen in quite some time if ever. we're still wondering what it's going to do next. >> yeah. and that's exactly my next question. what is the latest track of this storm? >> well, they still have it, the national hurricane center, still has it making landfall, but they push it in toward could be tomorrow morning, could be tomorrow afternoon. this is at 2:00 p.m. sure it drops at 1 but this is all about water. water from the ocean, water from above and then drops it down. the worst of it at myrtle

the greatest problems from cape fear to cape lookout. 7 to 11 feet. we could be looking at upwards to 15 to 20 inches from myrtle beach, to fayetteville, wilmington and ten inches just north of charleston out to almost charlotte and even you can see it spreads up to the north and that's going to expand out as the system slowly makes its way away from the carolinas. but we're talking about monday and tuesday into the storm so we're going to be watching this very, very carefully. we're going to be talking about it into early next week and the thing that's still struck me doing the special reporting for six hours on the "today" show talking to first responders and talking to people stranded and we always kept hearing, you know, we went to bed last night. heard it was downgraded to a category 1 so we thought we had -- the danger had passed. again, as we have been saying, super storm sandy was the equivalent of a category 1 storm and looking at the damage that happened there. so, people -- we have been talking about this over the last 48 hours. don't pay a

here are some of our peak winds gusts 106, cape lookout, fort macon and beaufort.ing 10 feet. right on top of the river there new bern where 200 people were rescued. 150 people still apparently on top of their homes waiting to be rescue you had. so first responders are trying to get there but it's too hard right now. so unfortunately that's going to be a difficult situation. this is not a wind event. i know we are focused on the category but it still has some of that energy from when it was a major hurricane. so that's why we're seeing the extraordinary amounts of storm surge, the extraordinary amounts of rain is going to come because the storm is going to slow down. already 5 miles per hour. and we think it's going to be with us for the next 24, 48 hours and can you believe we're going to feel this storm effects in new york city on wednesday. you can see between now and saturday morning still, we think, a formidable category 1 hurricane, at least tropical storm force winds for parts of north carolina in to south carolina and then parts of the virginias and tenness

wash, some salt water washing over some of these islands, i'm not sure if it's morehead city or cape lookoutves and water coming over the ocean banks will be 20 feet high. this is almost what we saw in can katrina. still a lot of rip currents, you need to stay out of the water today. storm is still far away, i know there will be surfers trying to get into this but not without a life jacket. absolutely not, guys. >> chad, thank you very much. those hurricane watchers that are flying into the middle of the storm right now that you just mentioned, we're going to try to connect with them, though it is really loud as you can imagine inside their plane. joining us on the phone is the noaa flight director richard henning. he's flying inside hurricane florence at this moment. richard, can you hear me? >> yes, hi, i can hear you just fine. our satellite connection seems to be working pretty well. yes, i'm at an altitude of about 44,000 feet. we have just exited the environment immediately around florence and we're continuing to take our observations as we head back to our base in florida. >> okay. so

to batter the coast, and with 100 miles out we're already getting hurricane force gusts around cape lookoutcomes on shore and meanders to the south, it's going to continue to just chew up that coastline, so it's not good news any time a storm is just going to sit there. with it sitting just offshore and not moving inland quicker, it's going to be over that warm gulf stream. it's going to be over the warm water, and so it's going to be able to maintain the intensity that it has now. so because it has slowed, the track has also slowed, and it looks like we're not looking at a landfall until possibly tomorrow afternoon, and if it just hangs out offshore even longer and meanders to the south, we could be looking at an actual landfall even later. it's unbelievable how long this storm is just sitting here 24 to 36 hours with incredible winds, storm surge, rain. i was looking at one of the models that we're showing. up to 40 inches of rain in just 48 hours and a bullseye around wilmington all the way to myrtle beach and if that holds true, jake, that's going to be incredibly devastating. >> jennif

, the backside winds will be pumping the water towards the beach from wrightsville beach up to cape lookoutslow county. we will just deal from there, brian, with the horrendous rainfall for this area, which the rain story will go through saturday, maybe saturday night and even into sunday in the mountains of western north carolina. when the mountains of north carolina get five to ten inches of rain, that's another issue with flash flooding. >> we are already seeing roof-top rescues because we were told on the air earlier tonight -- >> yes. >> at this stage in the storm they have to be by boat. you cannot launch rotor aircraft in this, v-22 ospreys, any of the helicopters they have at camp lejeune, they will not fly in this. >> 60 to 80 miles per hour wind gusts, firefighters in these rescue boats, think of the logic ticks, 60 to 80 miles per hour winds, you are in beat and with people on a roof top and you are trying to get them into your boat safely at night. that's what is happening right now in eastern north carolina. those are the heroes out there doing that work right now, and, you kno

along the beaches from carolina beach to wrightsville beach, emerald isle to atlantic beach to cape lookout's when we could see the 7 to 11-foot storm surge. that's when the most destruction will take place from the storm surge. if you going typical new bern area, right now their water level is up six feet because that wind and the east wind is piling the water up here in the pimlico sound, a and the new bern area is located where the trent river and the neuse river meet. it's a disaster taking place right now. one local television station has water up to the doors. they had to evacuate the television station and stop the coverage. that's how bad it is in that region. finally, rachel, once we get done with all the storage surge mess and the rain mess, the rain machine continues right through saturday into sunday, even into areas of western north carolina. someone's going to get three feet of rain. i was just checking one of the river gauges. we're going see rivers in south carolina not cresting until tuesday of next week. so there are marathon hurricanes. i'll call this one the ultra marath

we're getting gusts around cape lookout and north carolina with 100-mile-per-hour winds and gusts of 120. this storm is not going anywhere fast. only moving at 5 miles per hour. the track has actually slowed a little bit. not making a landfall until tomorrow afternoon, and if the storm decides to just sit offshore a little bit, we could be looking at even a longer period of time before we get an actual landfall. the storm surge and the rain is going tonight scariest part of the storm. it's basically sitting here out in the atlantic in very warm waters. it's now signature over the gulf stream and so it is just churning and just bringing all of that rain and all of that wind along the coast. so we're going to see this storm continue to sit there and travel off finally by the end of the weekend if you can believe it. the outer bands hitting the coast and it's pushing the water in, and the problem is when you get a high tied it's not going to be able to push the water out. this storm as it's pushing the water in, it's going to basically build on top of each other, so each high tide cycle

and midnight in the zone of greatest concern from cape lookout through emerald isle, surf city, wrightsville beach, carolina beach area. 11:13 p.m. is the high tide of wrightsville beach. because the storm is walking, we have to go through another high tide cycle tomorrow, through the afternoon, and it could be higher than the one we're seeing tonight. it's a long, drawn out thing. that's what makes this storm different. chris, finally, the rainfall amounts, and we'll deal with these problems as we go throughout the weekend. we're going to see a wide area of 20 inches of rain. someone's going to get 30. maybe even up to 40 inches of rainfall. a lot of the rivers are expected to go into record territory and it will take them a couple days to head out to sea. we're going to see homes and businesses with water in them. that's going to happen overnight tonight. then during the weekend we're going to have these rivers sending water into homes that hadn't previously been flooded. the first responders on the ground there, they're going to have to be going and rescuing people and going door to door

this is the area, the cone from cape fear to cape lookout where we are expecting the problems.l amounts, still we could see totals of about 40 inches of rain. oriental, north carolina picking up 20 inches of rain so far. so there are places that will still see those accumulations, ali. believe me, i have been on a beach before during a hurricane. the good news for you, my friend, is you are getting a free dermabrasion. >> reporter: my skin is feeling so much better already. >> you look magnificent. >> reporter: that's what it feels like. it is those little pinpricks it feels like. let's talk about raleigh, charlotte, columbus. are these places that are going to get rain or do they have to worry about flooding? >> columbia is going to have to worry. we have charlotte as it makes its way up. you see heavier rainfall amounts. raleigh is right on the three-to-five-inch rain and some areas could overproduce and end up towards the seven-inch range. i think we will have windy conditions. we will have heavy rain. as you know, ali, this area has already been saturated and inundated so t

and that's why the flash flood threat where i'm standing all the way to the cape lookout region continues. george? >> and that's why that information so-so important, derek. i've been talking about this. who are we talking to tonight? we're talking to people who left and they're hoping their properties are okay. when can they come back, they're asking. we're talking to people who are hunkered down, riding the storm out. and those first responders who are waiting and have a lot of work certainly ahead. we want to make sure all the information very clear, this storm still in play right now. and right now in this part of north carolina there is a tornado watch. so still a lot to keep a track on. derek van dam live for us in carolina beach, north carolina. again, cnn covering two major storms on opposite sides of the globe. we'll go live to the philippines for an update on the typhoon that's bringing high winds and very strong, a lot of rain. stay with us. i'm ken jacobus, i'm the owner of good start packaging. we distribute environmentally-friendly packaging for restaurants. and we've grown

and the sweet spot if you will is between cape fear and cape lookout. that 9 to 13-foot surge on top of whatever the high tide is. so that means a wall of water that's moving inland can be several miles. and it just doesn't drain out and then that's it. no, it keeps piling in on top of each other. nine feet is really to the ceiling of a first floor building. so that gives you an idea of how much water that is. and we're talking about a flood threat. with anywhere from 10 to 20 inches of rain along the coast. isolated amounts of up to 40 inches and then that moves inland. these numbers you see, these colors don't reflect this system moving inland yet. so we still have a lot to talk about before this thing is over. it's just getting started tomorrow morning, nicolle. >> were the models sufficiently accurate so that the evacuation orders were designed to protect enough people in your estimation? >> yeah, i think so. i think the fact of the matter is if you look at this. we started talking about this on friday of last week. and the models were very strong a

water may be going inland right now from just west of or south of wrightsville beach to about cape lookout, we could see a storm surge of 9 to 13 feet. and put that on top of the high tide. so friday morning's high tide is 11:46 for charleston it's about 12:28. cape hatteras it's 11:39. the second high tide will be friday night around midnight for cape hatteras, 12:03 wrightsville beach, 12:35 for charleston. anything that is on top of that, any storm surge, that's on top of the high tides. the winds push all that water onshore, and nothing is going to stop it. it's just going to keep coming and coming. then it stops, then the next high tide, and if this does what the euro is saying, it's going to drift up the coast, down the coast, just kind of hanging around. there are no stirring currents, really, to bring this thing onshore. that to me is the worst-case scenario. that's where it literally becomes a storm surge machine. that's all it does. >> al, i want to ask you about how this pattern of the storm has changed once it even stops being a hurricane and starts pushing inland, we've got a

first of there is that area, the storm surge from cape fear to cape lookout. t that most dangerous spot. rainfall, we could be lookingt 40 inches of rain between myrtle beach up into wilmington and just southf cape hatteras. coastal flooding. precedented amounts. let's go to my colleague dylan dreyer. she is in north carolina right now. dylan, wrightsville beach, what's going on right now? are you seeg any increase in winds or rain yet? >> reporte well, the wind is starting to pick up. we can't get to the beach. this ishe base of the bridge to wrightsville beach. it's completely reclosed, as most, if not all, of the barrier islands of north carolina. they really need to get people out of that area because of the flooding you were just talking about. winds are increing. let's go the timeline as we go forward into the next 48 hours. we are going to see those tropical storm-force winds move in through the mning. thos are winds above 39 miles per hour. ri this afternoon the outer bands of hne florence will make their way onshore. that's the torrential downpour that

look at this, cape lookout, wilmington, 105 miles per hour. those were the wind fifths reported. tornado concerns. tornado warning in. that is still right there, sorry, tornado warning in effect. here you go, flood threat all over the place. everywhere you see this red, that is flash into thing going on right now, because of these extreme rainfall rates. a lot more rain ahead. we'll probably still have about another 25 inches for some spots still to come from this rain, neil. neil: i can picture that with snow, you know. but rain, i mean, man, that is staggering. >> to put this in perspective for you if it were snow, it would be about 25 feet. neil: is that right? >> yeah. there you go. neil: you're just a wealth of knowledge. you're amazing. rick, thank you very, very much, rick reichmuth. so bad, could get worse the we'll keep an eye on the storm. keeping an eye on what could be a political economic storm. john roberts, white house correspond incident, telling us that president trump given aides the green light to go ahead with sanctions on additional $200 billion worth of chin

ignore the wind we have some impressive wind gusts, 106-mile-per-hour that was the peak gust at cape lookouton, 105-mile-per-hour gusts. that's the strongest wind they have seen in 60 years since hurricane. and beaufort and davis also. the wind dies down through the next few days but the rain sticks around. let's talk through the time line what we expect into next week. right now the rain and wind continues across the carolinas later tonight we see the hurricane forepersons winds as well and kinning to keep an eye on the storm zblurj katlyn, let me ask you a question. a couple of days this was a category 3 plus, almost 4 with winds of 145 miles an hour and so forth when you see the winds now are below 100 miles an hour, it is very easy for us sitting here in the warmth and the dryness of our studio to say this storm isn't what they expected tell me why i'm wrong. >> well the story all along with florence has been that the category does not matter it is the size of the storm and where that energy is this is an enormous storm. to put it in perspective harvey was 20 oh miles wide in diameter fl