derek van dam in stuart. thanks to both of you. >>> the mayor of palm beach county, florida, mac bernard, joins me now on the phone. thank you for talking with us. >> thank you for having me, rosemary. >> as your state braces for hurricane dorian. you have some evacuations for some structures and made shelters available. where do things stand right now? >> well, right now, the evacuations were for two zones in palm beechl county. that's for mobile homes and our substandard housing and low-lying areas that are prone to water intrusion and the barrier islands. we opened up nine shelters. we also opened up a special needs shelter for our most vulnerable population. we have 3,000 people in our shelters in palm beach county. >> those people have gone to the shelters or elsewhere, then. >> we've been sounding the alarm for all of our residents. this is a dangerous storm, as we're speaking right now. this storm is battering the bahamas. and our thoughts and prayers are with the residents of the bahamas. specifically

>> derek van dam, you're doing a great job out there.e'll talk to you later. >> thank you. >> many thanks. >>> well, it's not just humans who have been affected by hurricane dorian. one woman in the bahamas is protecting 97 dogs from the storm. she posted on facebook that 79 of them are in her bedroom. she runs a rescue shelter for abandoned dogs, but the hurricane has made things especially tough. her home flooded and she had to use buckets to bail the water out when the pumps failed. despite it all, though, phillips says all of the dogs are doing okay and a fund-raiser to help her has raised almost $170,000. and that's just so far. so we'll keep an eye on that. i want to thank you for keeping us company here. i'm rosemary church. "early start" is next with more of our special coverage of hurricane dorian. do stay with us. >>> we have been attacked by a vicious, devastating storm. >> unspeakable devastation in the bahamas. entire towns flattened by hurricane dorian. the storm now moving dangerously close to the southeast. >>> walmart ta

let's head to jensen beach now in florida and cnn meteorologist derek van dam is standing by live there. good to see you, derek. so what is the situation on the ground where you are right now and what is the biggest concern for people in that area? >> yeah, good day, robin. we've had our fair share of tropical weather today from driving rain, tropical storm force winds, treacherous seas on the intercoastal where i'm located now and on the ocean. but it is a far cry from the nightmare that has unfolded just 100 miles to our east in the grand bahama island and into the abaco. we understand what has happened there. we really think of those people at this moment in time. but i think for this particular region the martin county that i'm located in near jensen beach, you know, there's a collective sigh of relief because if you recall, four to five days ago there was a category 4 taking aim directly on the east coast of florida. and you know, we sort the forecasts and we listened to the meteorologists. we saw the computer models and we were hoping for that right turn. and that's exactly what t

let's bring in cnn meteorologist derek van dam in stuart, florida, along the state's east cone and nicka further north in melbourne, florida. good to see you both again. so, derek, what's the scene this hour in stuart and has anything changed in terms of weather conditions since we last talked? i'm looking at the foliage behind you. it seems to be a lot windier now than when we last spoke. >> yeah, the winds are definitely picking up in speed here but it's remained largely unchanged from last time we talked. you know, i don't want to oversensationalize what's happening but the point is we understand that the storm as it makes its closest approach to the east coast of that within the next 24 hours we understand that that could bring in winds over 100 kilometers per hour, close to 75 miles per hour for the coastal areas. not only the storm surge but strong gusty winds but flash flooding. those remain the largest thre threats. we have mandatory evacuations for the barrier islands that run parallel with the peninsula of florida. the evacuation centers here, the shelters set up in place for

our paula newton and patrick oppmann are both in the bahamas for us and meteorologist derek van dam is standing by in charleston, south carolina. first, let's get more on what's going on with the storm right now and who is in the cross harris. our meteorologist karen maginnis joins us from the cnn weather center with that. karen, hello. >> natalie, yes, we just received an update from the national hurricane center as we continue to track hurricane dorian which has travelled in excess of 3,000 miles all the way from barbados across the atlantic through the caribbean all the way through the bahamas, as you've seen that devastation, and now has been threatening the coast of the southeast for the better part of several days. it is battering mostly the coastline of north carolina. a little bit here right around myrtle beach and surf side. beautiful area. this is environmentally a very fragile region, so as the winds here between 100 to 120 miles per hour continue to be battered throughout the night, we're looking at the potential for some storm surge. could between 5 and 7 feet. rainfall, 6

meteorologist derek van dam is there for us this morning. derek, good morning to you. are you seeing? >> reporter: yeah, good morning, dave. i can't believe that we still have power where we are set up at the moment, but people in charleston, south carolina, waking up to a triple threat. we know fresh water flash flooding a possibility today on top of storm surge as well as hurricane force winds. that is what they are waking up to this morning because dorian intensified overnight. as you've seen on your tv screens this morning, you may understand that there's a whole different scenario taking shape here. we have seen power flashes behind us lighting up, illuminating the skies with greens, purples and blues as transformers continue to blow across this area. and just on my phone about 45 minutes ago we had the alert. the national weather service issuing a flash flood warning for charleston. we have seen reports on twitter. we have seen some of the social media of the roads being cordoned off in downtown charleston because of the ongoing flooding and believe me, it is onl

coming up, our paula newton is on the island of abaco and our derek van dam is standing by in charleston, south carolina. but let's begin with the forecast. so we turn to meteorologist pedram javaheri, who joins us from the international weather center. so talk to us about this. it's been upgraded and where is it going? where is it headed? >> yeah, rosemary, it's a menacing storm system. a major hurricane, as you said, a category 3, sitting just about 100 miles south of charleston, south carolina, at this hour. take a look at the fortunate nature of some of these cities, daytona beach, jacksonville, savannah, in incredibly close proximity to the storm system. the luck going to run out in the next 24 hours as we see dorian make landfall and approach the u.s. significant rainfall already beginning to be pushed in across savannah, charleston, and with this expecting some 6 to 10 inches of rainfall inside the next 12 to 24 hours. so significant flooding going to be the big story for some of these cities that are going to be directly impacted with hurricane dorian. some cities could see isola

>> thanks for that, derek van dam, in florida. te it, derek. >>> coming up here on cnn, president trump is heading back after hitting the links. his response to criticism he played golf while hurricane dorian pounded the bahamas. at fidelity, we believe your money should always be working harder. that's why, your cash automatically goes into a money market fund when you open a new account. just another reminder of the value you'll find at fidelity. open an account today. at t-mobile, what can you get when you a buy a samsung galaxy note 10? you get unlimited data while on a network that goes further than ever before. use as much as you want. when you want. a netflix subscription on us. stream all your favorite movies and shows. and for a limited time. buy any samsung galaxy note 10 and get one samsung galaxy note 10 for free. that's right. get one samsung galaxy note 10 for free. your eyes won't show it. new super stay concealer from maybelline new york. dark circles wiped out full coverage and up to 24-hour wear. new super stay co

our derek van dam bringing us that live report. derek, get into the shelter, get warm and get dry and we'll talk to you again very soon. >>> well, for two days, dorian's category 5 winds of relentless rains devastated grand bahama island. the airport in freeport is usually one of the busiest in the country. and one of the main entry points for tourists headed to the island paradise. our cnn team made it there on wednesday and describes the damage as breathtaking. our patrick oppmann filed this exclusive report. >> reporter: we saw airplanes coming over this island with helicopters, the first sign of any organized rescue effort to bring in help from outside this island. we thought perhaps that meant the airport here was functional or had re-opened. so we went to the airport and what we found was total devastation. we are on the runway at the freeport airport. it has been inaccessible for days. there was a river between. it looked like waves were crashing on this airport. look how destroyed it is right now. just about every side, 8 fe

thanks so much, derek van dam. so nick valencia is live this hour in melbourne, florida, and we're going to go straight to nick there. millions of people under these alerts, under evacuation orders. how prepared do you think the coastline is? >> reporter: i think there's a little bit of fatigue going on, robyn, because they started to prepare wednesday of last week for the possibility of a direct hit. you know, when this storm was first forecast, it was predicted to make a direct impact, direct landfall into central florida. the track changed, and i think a lot of people sort of breathed a collective sigh of relief and let their guard down. we can tell you what's going on right now. we've felt the strongest winds that we've felt since we've been out here. we haven't felt a single drop of rain just yet, but we just felt a really strong wind gust here. that is only going to get worse throughout the morning hours. i mentioned the fatigue factor. what i'm seeing here is a lot businesses as early as yesterday hadn't rea

cnn meteorologist derek van dam is live for us in charleston this morning. k, good morning to you. what are you seeing? >> reporter: yeah, good morning, dave. you know, residents of charleston can breathe a sigh of relief this morning because they really were spared the worst from hurricane dorian. we are in the historic district of downtown charleston right now, and just driving around assessing the damage, we've seen wind damage. we've also seen downed power lines. you see the street lamp here in front of me. we've also seen swamped roadways from some of the surge and the flash flooding that took place throughout the day. it's incredible, the businesses and homes down here took the storm very seriously. they took the opportunities to block their windows and sand bag the lower parts of their doors because they know that this is such a vulnerable coastal city it does flood quite regularly, but they are prepared for it. what you are seeing behind me is one of the quintessential charleston businesses. they've had what i like to call nuisance damage. in reality,

meteorologist derek van dam is there for us this morning. derek, good morning to you. what are you seeing? >> reporter: yeah, good morning, dave. this is a city on edge this morning facing a triple threat, storm surge, flash flooding and the potential of hurricane force winds which we have been battered by during the course of overnighttime. every so often we get a green illuminated sky that indicates the transformers. we are surprised we have electricity. we know this area is so vulnerable to the potential of heavy rainfall moving from the inland areas towards the coast. you get an approaching category 3 hurricane, it only makes matters worse. we have reports of flooding downtown. the threats going forward are real. people are taking them seriously. you can see how i'm getting battered by the gusts of wind. national weather service starting to pick up on a real flood threat here. i can't overstate that enough as this eye wall makes its closest approach this morning coinciding with high tide, we have the potential here for over 15 inches of rain. that is a serious amou

we have more from jensen beach from derek van dam. whafl what -- what are i seeing there? >> reporter: good morning. we've had our fa irshare of driving resign. a surging ocean overnight. this is a far cry from what our neighbors in the northern bahamas have experienced just 100 miles to the east. nonetheless, we spoke to one of the officers from the martin county sheriff's office. they're not reporting any significant damage across the county that i'm located in. speaking to some of the onlookers that came to check out the surging seas and crashing waves today, they said they are breathing a sigh of relief because we were hoping or they were hoping for that right-hand turn in the hurricane, and it did it just in the nick of time, just before making landfall here along the east coast of florida. good news for them, sparing the worst of the conditions in martin county where i'm at. we still have very treacherous next 12 to 24 hours as this storm rides along the coastline and targets the carolinas in the coming days. back to you. >> all right. stay safe. thank you so much. j

cnn meteorologist derek van dam is in charleston, south carolina, live this morning. derek, you've been walking around the streets there. you can see the evidence of the wind damage and the storm surge, at least for charleston though not as bad as feared. fortunately, they can breathe a sigh of relief. they were spared the worst from hurricane dorian. we are in historic downtown charleston. the quintessential area of this particular city. driving around assessing the damage, we've seen awnings ripped off of buildings, we've seen downed power lines, we have seen trees toppled over but this vulnerable coastal city knows how to handle large storms like this. they know they're susceptible to flooding and storm surge so they've boarded up some of the local businesses and homes across this area. we managed to talk to the mayor of charleston yesterday before he went on "new day" speaking with our colleague john berman and he mentioned to me that this city really knows how to prepare for storms of this magnitude but, of course, the big threat was the storm surge that really wa

live there, bringing in derek van dam. hey, derek. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, christine. since we've been here overnight, we have had driving rain, tropical storm-force winds, and a surging intercoastal waterway and atlantic ocean about half a mile behind me. of course, nothing, this is a far cry from what they've endured the past two days. just 80 miles to my east in the northern bahamas. we are in martin county, the evacuation orders here have essentially been lift, as well as the st. lucie county evacuation orders. we talked to some of the officials at the martin county sheriff center, and they were explaining to us that there hasn't been any significant damage reported across the county. good news, as well. minimal power outages here. but this is a huge sigh of relief here because if you think about the residents, four days ago they were staring down a category-five monster headed directly toward the east coast of florida. they were hoping, praying for the northeast shift. they got it. that means the storm is going to continue to ride the coastline of florida, sparing

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for the latest on the forecast, let's get to our meteorologist derek van dam. >> that's right, dave andulia. can you believe it? it's friday morning and we're talking about the remnants of what was tropical storm imelda. it's brought devastating rain to east texas. look at the rainfall totals, in and around the houston metro area. just to the north and east, there were rainfall reports of 30 to 40-plus inches, incredible amount of gulf moisture just streaming into the area. it's no wonder that we have 8 million americans under a flood threat here today, including the greatest houston region and it extends towards southwestern louisiana. in terms of the heaviest rain going forward, we're going to focus our attention to the north and east of houston. that's where the computer models are showing the greatest possibility of heavy rain. texas and the louisiana and arkansas border. 87 for new orleans. 82 degrees in chicago. a comfortable 79 for the big apple. here's a look at the weekend and into early next week. comfortable across the great lakes, as well. back to you. >> derek, thanks. >>>

>> derek van dam there in stew wart, florida. >> joining us live from florida, american red cross spokesman, anthony tornetta. if you look at the map with all of the mandatory evacuations,ness theory how are you preparing. we have about 60 evacuation centers and/or shelters on stand by. over the last 24 hours we will 2,000 people or so stay in the evacuation shelt sters. we expect that number to grow as dorian makes its approach. a lot of people have boarded up and say they're going to stay safe. make sure they have everything they need inside their house. >> what are the steps to say safe. what is your 30-pinch? >> if you're going to evacuate, we encourage you to have a three day supply of extra food and water in your house. make sure you have your documents electronically filed. nonperishable food items. we want people to take that approach now before that approach. >> if you could rely what information you have from your colleagues in the bahamas? >> yeah. right now we know the bahamas are prepositioned. they had more than 200 volunteers and team members standing by to assist. they are w

our derek van dam is following the details in the international weather center. derek? >> every time i see the images, so difficult to comprehend what the people have gone through. obviously, george, the search and recovery efforts, still under way, across the bahamas. and this is the last thing that residents and tourists want to see. another storm looming in the distance. this picture taken yesterday, in nassau, in the bahamas. i want to be clear to our viewers, we have no indication that the storm will be nearly as powerful, with storm surge and devastating winds. but the threat of another storm system looming is really just a terrible situation, out of an already difficult and problematic one at the moment. we're unleashing the full atlantic tropical basin at the moment. three disturbances that we're watching. one newly formed just off of the west coast of africa. another over the central portions of the atlantic ocean. the more immediate threat, this one, the disturbance of thunderstorm activity, across the southeastern bahamas. that is quickly becoming organized.

. >> derek van dam is with us. you covered harvey two years ago. and it was said back then if houston doesn't build back its resilience, it will happen again. it has. what's behind this? >> as our planet continues to warm, the atmosphere has a better ability to hold moisture. so we get these storms that produce incredible amounts of rain. we're seeing tropical systems slow down and they sit over locations for an extend period of time. this was unofficially the fifth wettest tropical cyclone in continental history. these are troubling scenes that played out just 24r, 48 hours ago. they were spared the worst of the rainfall. the heaviest was just to the east of the metro downtown houston. but, wow, they saw their fair share. they closed the airports there. they had over a foot of rain for most locations in the city of houston. but to the east, over 40 inches of rain fell from what was tropical storm imeda. the rivers and bayous are going to take some time. you can see our forecast radar imagery quieting down. the remnants of imelda have slowed down.

the latest from derek van dam. >>> good morning.elcome to the peak of the atlantic hurricane season. we're monitoring three disturbances. one newly formed wave off of the african continent. the more immediate threat is across the bahamas. we have a 90% chance of development over the next five days according to the hurricane center. they have tropical storm warnings in places that have felt the impacts of dorian two weeks ago. freeport into the marsh harbor region. and now, we have tropical storm watches along the u.s. mainland, from the space coast southward. shower thunderstorm activity, 30 miles per hour, with gusts nearing 40 miles per hour. but as the system moves in a general northwesterly direction, it's anticipated to strengthen, becoming a tropical storm before impacting the southeast coast of the u.s., along the coastal areas of florida. some model spread. we're trying to get a handle on this. one thing is for sure, strong, gusty winds and heavy rain into the weekend. and early next week. back to you. >> derek, thank you. >

derek van dam. >> here is my concern, george. this could delay the relief efforts at least by 24 hours as the storm moves through. remember, this is still a nation in mourning. and regardless how strong this tropical storm happens to be for them, it is not what residents and tourists in this area want to see, especially after what they had to go through two weeks ago. welcome. we're monitoring four different areas of concerns for the atlantic basin. the most immediate threat, humberto. here is the latest from the national hurricane center. 60 miles per hour kilometer sustained winds. that's roughly 40 miles per hour. that is tropical storm force. and you can see the bulk of the thunderstorm activity. the convection is to the north and east of the center of circulation. we're holding thumbs, we're crossing our fingers. maybe that will spare the hardest hit areas. tropical storm warnings in effect. the good news is for southeast florida, we have released the tropical storm watches that were in place because our computer models are

derek van dam is there. what's the latest? what are you expecting from the track and where you are?eporter: well, what we're seeing already, christine, is every 30 to 40 minutes we get battered with a strong gust of wind and heavy rainfall all associated with the outer rain bands of hurricane dorian which, by the way, is still about 100 miles just to my east, but it is nothing like the never-ending nightmare that is unfolding in the grand bahama island. in fact, i am walking faster than the storm is moving in its forward direction at the moment. it gives you the idea of the snail pace that hurricane dorian is going. it includes storm surge along the barrier islands. the susceptible low lying areas. the potential for five inches of rain. we've already experienced tropical storm force sustained at 50 miles per hour through the overnight period. if you haven't evacuated here, it's too late. evacuations as it makes it the rest of the way. >> you might not be flying today, folks. dorian is disrupting travel. more than 3200 flights canceled since sunday. look at all of those cancellations

meteorologist derek van dam is here to tell us more. >> george, that is our biggest concern, is thathe storm could stall the relief efforts in the northern bahamas, even though a tropical storm, it is the last thing residents and tourists visiting that country want to see right now, especially considering what happened two weeks ago. we have humberto as of 11:00 p.m. last night, according to the national hurricane center. welcome to the peak of the season, right? we're monitoring four different locations of potential tropical activity. the most immediate is the newly formed tropical storm now bringing strong winds and hefty rainfall to the northwestern bahamas. on satellite, 40-mile-per-hour sustained winds. look at the bulk of the convection to the east and north of the center of circulation, that's good news because maybe, just maybe, we can get spared the heaviest rainfall that is certainly not what we need across the island of abaco and the grand island. and 36 inches of rainfall two weeks. 25 feet of storm surge. let me be clear, that is not the case for this tropical storm, but

derek van dam is here. where is the storm going? >> i have the latest 5:00 a.m.te from the national hurricane center. but it does appear that the northern bahamas, fortunately, were spared the strongest of winds and heaviest of rain from tropical storm humberto. it is now due north of the grand bahama island, abaco island. we talked about those islands, and the completion devastation they experienced from hurricane dorian. this is the latest 5:00 a.m. update. 630-mile-per-hour sustained winds. look at the thunderstorms, all the con conviction, the deep red and white. that is the cloud tops. the stronger part of the storm. the bulk of that is to the north and east. it's been like that the past 24 hours. analyzing the satellite yesterday at this time, it was similar to that. so it kept the heavier rain band east of the northern bahamas. so great news for them. this is being impacted by colder than warm norms from the churning of the ocean from hurricane dorian two weeks ago. as it is predebted to make a right-hand turn it will move into warmer waters. and you can c