back to you guys. >> thanks, gadi. incredibly important for one of those lanes to stay open to emergency responders can get in. >>> let's go to mariana atencio at miami beach where we've seen incredible gusts of wind this morning. >> reporter: guys, this is an area of miami beach where it always gets flooded. you can imagine what hurricane irma is doing to this area right now. what i'm standing on here is the pier that is at least a couple of feet tall. you can see that the water has already entirely covered this pier. and the wind is just pounding very strongly right now. you can also see that there are sailboats behind me. they have been tied down. but irma might be too much for them. i'm going to move over here to show you those temporary pumps we've been talking about throughout the morning that the city installed. these are the pumps. this is connected to a generator. and this goes under to the sewer. they're hoping that these pumps can suck up water and bring it back out to the ocean. again, this is the first tim

let's go to nbc's gadi schwartz in homestead, florida. good morning to you, gadi. homestead was wiped out a couple years ago and completely rebuilt. i think that was after hurricane andrew. they know what they're dealing with when it comes to big storms. >> reporter: that's right, alex. hurricane andrew devastated this area. we've been driving around. let me show you what it looks like right now. we're seeing some of the outer bands of this storm. this is something people have been preparing for. a lot of people remembering what hurricane andrew did to this town. in fact, a little while ago we were driving by one area. it's almost like a monument to what happened in hurricane andrew. we're going to head out there in just a second and see if we can show you pictures of what happened to that live. i want to show you what we're looking at. these are the outer bands. that's the outer bands and that's way up here, that's where we are right at that blue dot. we're starting to see the storms and the outer bands drenching the area. we're not seeing the hurricane-force wind

gadd d gadi, take it away, what's happening?> reporter: yeah, matt, did you see that, debris is about to get ripped off and go over there and banging against the trees. over on the other side, if you walk with me, we're protected by this ed sed by building but we' strongly considering going to the other side of the street. it looks like a building that is sturdier. we're going to wait to see what the situation brings. just be careful, there's some that debris, just flying over there. got stuck in the bushes over here. this right here, thi cardboard we just checked. so, this can't pose any damage to us. we have been trying to clear this area of debris that can hit us. we're going to try to stay close to this wall here. >> gadi, can you hear us? as much as we love your images, we wouldn't mind in your camera person and crew backed up and got away from that overhang. >> reporter: yeah, that's what we're thinking. it looks like it's going to fall that way. right now, we're devising a plan to get back to the other side of the street

gadi, good morning to you. indoors, we're happy to see that. >> reporter: yeah, savannah and matt, immediately after we talked we spotted a policlace. we found a church. you see it there, you see the winds whipping through. we're in a wonderful shelter. this is the baptist church here. it is made out of solid concrete. we've found a couple families here. we've actually got an audience. you guys are sitting here watching the hurricane, right? first of all, some of you guys were saying you were a little bit nervous earlier. i'm going to just show you what we're looking at. i know cell phone service is kind of hard out here. we've got this image and that's the hurricane right there. and it's going this way. and this is where you guys are. eventually, this is going to go up this way in the next couple of hours. and we're going to see this go by. so, maybe two or three more hours of you guys sitting tight and watching out the windows and everything is going to be okay. let me ask you, what do you guys think? you're

i think we've got gadi now. do you hear me now, gadi?eporter: good it. >> what are you seeing? >> reporter: right now we are heading -- yeah. so we're going south right now. we want to check on the 1 to see what it is looking like. u.s. 1 is that critical juncture that takes us into the florida keys. so yesterday we saw the storm surge coming up just a little bit, but it wasn't cresting the road. it was just spraying ocean spray on to it and it had taken out a couple of fences. so we're 15, 20 minutes away from there. we'll actually take some videos, send them to some emergency crews. a lot of people are wondering what this road looks like at these bands come through here, sustained winds off and on. they are a he blblowing pretty . back where we were in florida city we were starting to see quite a few palm trees down and regular trees down in the road. but for now the road seems passable and seems very clear. back to you. >> gadi, thank you very much. >>> lester and al are in tampa. they're where this storm is headed. guys, good morning

. >> gadi's only made it down from key largo to right here. that's it. the center of the storm came onshore right about here. so this whole area from marathon to where he's located doesn't look pretty. >> i want to bring chuck lindsey, city manager for marathon, florida. chuck, you made a decision to get a little closer to the mainland before you could evaluate what happened. have you had a chance to get back yet? we've just been watching gadi and it is not looking terrific. >> yeah, ali. we're on the move. we've got all of our emergency service personnel and county fire, we're just going tree by tree, pushing our way, getting back south. our objective right now is to get to marathon, get that airport open so we can start getting aid and assistance in and out of the middle keys. yeah. we made the decision to move our emergency personnel services up here and now we got to get back and we're pushing to get back as fast as we can. >> have you had any contact with anybody in marathon in the recent hours to find out what the situation looks like th

back to you guys. >> thanks, gadi.ncredibly important for one of those lanes to stay open to emergency responders can get in. >>> let's go to mariana atencio at miami beach where we've seen incredible gusts of wind this morning. >> reporter: guys, this is an area of miami beach where it always gets flooded. you can imagine what hurricane irma is doing to this area right now. what i'm standing on here is the pier that is at least a couple of feet tall. you can see that the water has already entirely covered this pier. and the wind is just pounding very strongly right now. you can also see that there are sailboats behind me. they have been tied down. but irma might be too much for them. i'm going to move over here to show you those temporary pumps we've been talking about throughout the morning that the city installed. these are the pumps. this is connected to a generator. and this goes under to the sewer. they're hoping that these pumps can suck up water and bring it back out to the ocean. again, this is the first time

gadi, what are you seeing? >> reporter: right now, alex, what we see is those winds that are starting to hit us. they're taking down some trees. you can see down that road there, some of those trees are starting to go. we've also seen some transformers blow as these winds whip up. but so far the main concern out here is whether or not these homes are prepared and whether or not a lot of the boats that you're seeing out in these waterways are well enough anchored. you see some of those lines out there. people have put some tremendous effort in making sure that there are different anchors. some of those different lines actually have shock absorbers so the boats can go to and fro when the storm starts up. the other concern is what's going to happen to these homes over here. we caught up with a man who lives inside one of these homes and he told us exactly what it's going to take to get him to leave. >> all my family, everybody thinks we're stupid to staying here. there's a team of us who i hate to say experts but

. >> that's nbc's gadi schwartz in puerto rico earlier today. rural community.s gadi was saying, it's been largely cut off from the outside world since the storm hit a week ago. residents with zero power and zero running water all week long. walking miles for gasoline to power generators. had zero assistance until today, very first work to clear the mud slides. joining us by phone is gadi schwartz, been in puerto rico for eight days reporting on the hurricane and its devastation in its wake. gadi we appreciate your time. >> reporter: no problem rachel. >> tell us how you're able to get around and what you make of the progress toward physically accessing interior puerto rico and towns that have had such trouble getting aid. >> reporter: first things first, start and end the day thinking about how much gasoline we have, we have to ration it, and sometimes waiting in hours long lines. really how far we go into the island depends on how much gasoline we have and how much to get back. something all puerto ricans are thinking about, whether go to town or not, stay hom

gadi, give us an update. >> reporter: hello. >> gadi, can you hear us? >> i can kind of hear you. sorry, the coms down here are a little bit of a mess. we're starting to see the winds pick up a little bit. they were giving us a little bit of a break but when they were the worst, this is the damage that they did. this is a solid door and it was blasted off of its frame. over there, you've got plexiglass that was broken and then the roof here, a little bit of the ceiling coming in. this is a huge structure. i mean we're talking about a coliseum. it stretches down there. those doors that you see open over there, this were lashed together with zip ties and with fire hoses and they blasted open when the worst of the storm was hitting us. but let me show you where we're at. this coliseum is where we had hundreds of people there were taking shelter during this storm and they were actually down here. this coliseum has been cleared out, at least the floor has, because there were things that were starting to fall down from the ceiling. you see all that debris down there. they didn't want to

gadi, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, lester. the death toll from hurricane irma is expected to rise as search crews inspect homes and inspect boats around the florida keys. meanwhile, rescuers are out rushing to get aid to those who have been cut off from power and water in dangerous heat. the sound of military choppers touching down at this key west strip mall brings relief. those who survived hurricane irma are desperate for supplies. >> i'm so thirsty. thank god for the army. >> reporter: days after the storm, power, water and cell phone service are still cut off to most of the island chain. >> everything's down and gone. everything's blocked. the telephone poles are down. >> reporter: national guard crews now rolling in to clear out roads. >> it's devastation out here. so we're taking it street by street. >> reporter: while the navy is bringing in ships and helicopters to reach remote areas still looking for aid. from up above we see a lot of boats shipwrecked on some of these keys and capsized upside down. >> thank you. >>

nbc's gadi schwartz has more. gadi?es, there is always a chaotic scene in san juan, puerto rico until the sun comes up. this is a gas line, it stretches for blocks. over here there is another gas line at a gas station. that gas station just ran out of gas so now they are telling people they need to go home. the police have been going up and down the street telling people that they are now past curfew. and that curfew here in puerto rico goes from 7:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. it has been extended indefinitely by the governor here. he says it's a state of emergency. but people are just trying to get gas for their generators and this location and it's something they have been waiting for, this gas, for four, five, six hours. so, very difficult line between law and order when it comes to people standing in line to try to get enough petrol to power their generators. when it comes to cell phone service, they're starting to see a little bit more connectivity. there are some stores popping up, but the scenes here in san juan continue

nbc news correspondent gadi schwartz was out in it from the start of the storm. he has made his way to key west, florida, tonight. gadi, i know it's quite literally true, everywhere you look, you discover something new. bring us up to date tonight on the extent of the damage and the recovery effort. >> reporter: good evening, brian. some mixed news out here in key west. actually, some surprising news, really. we're out here, we're looking around, we can see lights starting to flicker on and off. in fact, the place where we're staying right now, we just saw the lights come on, so for a while people were being told it could be days, possibly weeks before the power was going to be restored. we're definitely seeing some parts of the city re-energized with electricity at this point. key west is doing a pretty good job with cleanup, however, we're seeing pretty alarming problems when it comes to things like basic supplies. so there's no gas in town. there's -- it's very hard to get food, very hard to get water to go buy. and it's -- it's very difficult. you got long li

i guess we'll go to gadi since i introduced you first. let's talk about what's happening in homestead. lots of wind week see out the window but what about rain and any water? >> we just came down to key largo and we're still 150 miles away from the storm. there's been talk about how the storm, the hurricane has now been downgraded to a category 3, but i want to show you this. you can see we're going down this street here in key largo and that category 3, even as far away as we are, is knocking things down. we've got branches down in the street, we've got water already coming up. again, this is key largo. as we go down a little bit, you can see this is basically a ghost town. we've seen about three people outside down here in key largo. most everybody else has evacuated. we've also seen maybe four or five cars on the road. so this area is under mandatory evacuation. most people have heeded those warnings. we're going to get out of here once things start kicking up. look at this key down here. if we can just stop right here, we're going to

. >> we're losing gadi's audio. very hard just to establish contact with gadi since he's been in the keys but he has been from key west all the way to island marada and marathon. we saw winds of 120 miles per hour. those areas have suffered as gadi is saying, structural damage. we've seen boats and cars moved. houses emptied of things. key west, many of you have been asking, what's the situation in key west. i spoke to the custodian of the hemingway house last night on the phone. he said it was okay but it's a solidly built cinderblock house. gadi is now saying limited structural damage in key west but in the areas in which the storm made landfall in big pine, there is, in fact, structural damage in those areas. we'll try to get more from gadi and also the video. again, it's very hard to get communication from there. he's going to get that video. as soon as we get it, we're bringing it to you on tv. >>> the president and vice present, remember, it is 9/11 today. they were participating in their first 9/11 commemorat

hi, gadi, what do you see? >> reporter: we are just across key on the southbound side of the u.s. 1, south dixie highway going south and we realized that the northbound lanes, i don't know if we have that video, but if we can play that, the northbound lane going north was completely impassable. so we were going down south dixie highway. we were unable to turn around because that would have exposed the side of our suv here to those hurricane force winds so we continued in. we're actually right now at the tip of key largo. so we are in key largo right now. if you take a look, basically what we did is this turn-around spot, instead of going through these winds, we're going to take a little bit of a break here. i'm going to the out and show you where we're at because we found a decent spot of protection. but this is where our suv is here. give me two seconds, i'm caught in but this right here, this building is very sturdy. we've got a brick building here. over here you can see how hard the wind is blowing. i'm just

gadi, thank you. let's check in with jeff rossen north in tampa. jeff, you're seeinging in very odd up there in tampa bay, where the water is actually going out to sea and being pulled into the hurricane? >> reporter: yes. yeah, we're seeing this prestorm surge. though, a couple hours ago when we first got here, you can see it's a little discolored here. we had several feet of water right here. same all the way down there. several feet of water. this is tampa bay. this is what we keep talking about, about it flooding. look -- can you see right now, the current of water, kate? it's going the opposite way. it's going back out into the bay. it should be coming this way. what we're told is happening, the free storm sturge going out that way. the worry is when the storm blows in it's still 12 hours away, it's going to come back hard, kate. >> jeff rossen, thank you. i want to go to the governor of the state of florida, rick scott. let's listen in. >> -- today and tonight. this is a life-threatening situation. remember, in southwest florida, the storm st

hi, gadi, what do you see? >> reporter: we are just across key on the southbound side of the u.s. 1, south dixie highway going south and we realized that the northbound lanes, i don't know if we have that video, but if we can play that, the northbound lane going north was completely impassable. so we were going down south dixie highway. we were unable to turn around because that would have exposed the side of our suv here to those hurricane force winds so we continued in. we're actually right now at the tip of key largo. so we are in key largo right now. if you take a look, basically what we did is this turn-around spot, instead of going through these winds, we're going to take a little bit of a break here. i'm going to the out and show you where we're at because we found a decent spot of protection. but this is where our suv is here. give me two seconds, i'm caught in some cords here. but this right here, this building is very sturdy. we've got a brick building here. over here you can see how hard the wind is

hi, gadi, what do you see? >> reporter: we are just across key on the southbound side of the u.s. 1, south dixie highway going south and we realized that the northbound lanes, i don't know if we have that video, but if we can play that, the northbound lane going north was completely impassable. so we were going down south dixie highway. we were unable to turn around because that would have exposed the side of our suv here to those hurricane force winds so we continued in. we're actually right now at the tip of key largo. so we are in key largo right now. if you take a look, basically what we did is this turn-around spot, instead of going through these winds, we're going to take a little bit of a break here. i'm going to the out and show you where we're at because we found a decent spot of protection. but this is where our suv is here. give me two seconds, i'm caught in some cords here. but this right here, this building is very sturdy. we've got a brick building here. over here you can see how hard the wind is

let's go to nbc's gadi schwartz in homestead, florida. good morning to you, gadi. homestead was wiped out a couple years ago and completely rebuilt. i think that was after hurricane andrew. they know what they're dealing with when it comes

. >>> this is gadi schwartz. in the dark halls of this san juan sports coliseum, one of puerto rico's sturdiest hurricane shelters. here huddled shapes hunch over radios. children play in shadows. and outside hurricane maria's winds and rain ravage puerto rico. >> it's an awakening, a rude awakening. >> reporter: this is the last 24 hours for families like this woman's taking shelter from the storms. >> what's going to happen when we get out of here? what will we end up seeing? it's very hard. >> reporter: at first in cots spread out across the massive concrete coliseum floor, but then the worst of hurricane maria bursting metal doors open. people joining hands to pray. quickly they move to the safety of the outer wings as water and debris rain down from the roof. and through the storm one voice trying to calm the refugees. this is the mayor of san juan, carmen yulin cruz, who stayed here with her family at the coliseum. >> i understand how difficult it is. >> reporter: she's gotten regular reports of what lies o

and nbc's gadi schwartz takes us there. >> reporter: in corozal, puerto rico, she's looking for things that survived hurricane maria. she finds vinegar and wd-40. >> the windows were shaking. the water was going through the door. >> reporter: she's the type of woman that holds your hand while she shows you where she once slept. >> there was my room. there's my bed. >> reporter: candida and her son julia. >> paradise lost. >> reporter: down the road others holding on to each other as they make the long trek for gasoline. every day you walk seven miles? >> to find gas. >> reporter: in these rural areas gas cans are the first steps in getting back to work. this man waiting near a washed-out bridge, a government welfare manager, wants to get back to giving aid to pregnant women. the woman supervising the roadwork, an engineer who has lost everything. she says that even though she lost her house, the reason why she's here is because she loves her country, she loves puerto rico, and this is what she can do to help. in even more remote areas black hawks are flying in food to people like veron

okay, i love you. >> reporter: -- that help them persevere. >> i'm glad we're alive. >> reporter: gadi schwartz, nbc news, luquillo, puerto rico. >>> the desperate search for buried survivors is running up against the clock in mexico tonight. but miracle rescues in the rubble are fueling searchers with hope more than 72 hours after the deadly quake hit. nbc's miguel almaguer is with the search teams. >> reporter: tonight, desperation and determination. this is the frantic race to bring the buried back to life. it happens again and again. more than 100 rescued. many still missing. >> we need information. any type of information but we need real information. >> reporter: maria mendoza is looking for ivan fernandez, buried under six stories of steel, concrete and rebar. >> my cousin's there. he's 27 years old. >> reporter: at the elementary school where the search gripped a nation, authorities apologize for earlier reports that a girl was trapped but say they still believe there could be a survivor in the rubble. it's all hands on deck including frieda, the lab working with the mexican na

nbc's gadi schwartz is in florida city, florida. this is inside miami-dade. gadi, word a short time ago that hom home depot, those stores are shutting down. tell us about that. >> reporter: yeah, that's right. all home depot stores on the east side of florida below jupiter city have now shut down. so anything below jupiter home depot is starting to look like this. that in the back of the truck right there is an elusive piece of preparation there. that is plywood. and plywood is running out. earlier we were seeing home depot rationing supplies, and there was a line right here that stretched around the corner. hungs of people waiting for that plywood. they were given five pieces of plywood per family. but you can see right now, they have just closed down the doors. they have just shuttered it. and this family over here seems to have gotten the last load. they have been rigging this up to the top of their car for a little while. senora, can we ask you a couple quick questions? >> yes. >> reporter: okay. so it looks like you got some of the last plywood around. h

nbc's gadi schwartz is in plantation key. what does it look like there? >> reporter: lester we're coming across some very difficult scenes. i don't know if you can see all the way down, but this is one of the debris fields from the storm surge that came up and if you take a close look, you're starting to see these were inside of people's homes. this right here is a couch. that's a refrigerator with people's food inside. this right here, this is a christmas tree ornament, and it's littered all throughout this road. over there is actually a boat that has floated up onto the road here. we understand that this, that you're looking at over to the left, this was a mobile home park of about 100 mobile homes. we talked to the manager here. he came out, he was very emotional. that house right there that you can't see because it's been crushed by a tree, that is his home. he thinks it's a total loss. he was evaluating all the homes. he says he believes that about 70 homes here have been lost. lester? >> gadi schwartz with our first look at the damage in the keys as

. >>> this is gadi schwartz. dark days in puerto rico expected to last months after hurricane maria ripped apart the island's entire power grid. nearly all of its 3.5 million residents without electricity tonight. cell phone service so unreliable that people like this woman still haven't heard from their family. >> we're desperate. i have lived here for 35 year and this is too much. >> reporter: she's desperate for any news of her mother. >> i haven't talked to my mom either. so i'm trying to go to my mom's house. it's sad. >> reporter: the streets are littered with downed power lines. this storm even cracking concrete in half. damaging an infrastructure that was already crumbling. officials say help is on the way, but a full recovery could take half a year. which one's going to be worse, the storm or what comes after the storm? >> after the storm. >> reporter: terrifying for those standing in line for hours to get gas to power their generator. she says she's scared what the next six months are going to bring. sh

and what gadi is talking about, that flooding is now happening. we spoke to the mayor who said at least half of san juan was flooded. that was an hour and a half ago. >> an hour and a half ago. sam champion, give us the weather history. why is this happening? i mean, two weeks of devastation. >> yeah. so right now what you've got is the eye of this storm moving right across the island. the worst winds. and of course the rain are carried along with that eye that are now fanning out. we have no way to show you where the heaviest rain bands are. bill is going to walk you through all this later. the color enhancement, you want to look for the deepest shades of red. the deepest shades of red will show you where the intense rainfall is coming in with the higher cloud tops right there. so we now have flooding. and we're going to see more of it over the next couple of hours. again, what you see with this is you get the storm surge. you get the worst wind damage. and the hurricane center has not come off this 25 inch rainfall total. so we still believe the

. >>> i'm gadi schwartz this hotel lobby is mission control for hundreds of rescuers. >> so this area is still somewhat dark? >> correct. yeah. >> reporter: for many of them, like this crew from virginia, hurricane maria is yet another disaster in what seems like an unrelenting season of catastrophe. >> folks here have taken a pretty big hit with these storms. we're going to do whatever we can to help them. >> reporter: so many organizations have been stretched thin. fema supporting more than 30,000 people in disaster zones. the red cross deploying more than 5,000 workers and nearly its entire vehicle fleet. samaritan's purse, a north carolina nonprofit, responding to their third hurricane in the last few weeks with 50,000 pounds of emergency supplies to puerto rico. the scenes of devastation and suffering stir an overwhelming need to help. this crew in san juan are headed to check on a family who hasn't been heard from since the storm. but then contact. and a satellite phone call back home. >> lisa? i'm okay. >> reporter: through the strain of back-to-back calamities -- >> they came,

gadi schwartz, nbc news. corozal, puerto rico. >>> in washington today cheers and tears as congressman steve scalise made a surprise homecoming to the capitol. his first time back since the baseball field shooting that almost took his life. kristen welker has the emotional moment for us. >> reporter: just 15 weeks after nearly losing his life, a powerful homecoming. congressman steve scalise on crutches walking on to the house floor. a bipartisan standing ovation. a fight he wasn't sure he would win. >> i'm definitely a living example that miracles really do happen. >> reporter: it was june 14th when a gunman opened fire on republicanpr baseball game. scalise was shot in the hip, gravely wounded. >> when i was laying out on the ballfield, the first thing i did once i was down and couldn't move anymore is i just started to pray. >> reporter: today praising capitol hill police who helped save his life, officers crystal griner and david bailey. >> crystal couldn't be with us today, but david bailey is with us. d

in florida city, gadi schwartz has been driving around in a vehicle as safe as he can make himself. what do you have there? >> it is fascinating to hear you talking about that. . we're watching it right now, this right here, this little dot between the yellows and the greens is where we're at right now. we're seeing a little break in the weather, but we had red bands passed over us. i want to show you what kind of damage that did. this is a hostile here in florida, and those are pretty big trees. i'll turn the camera as we drive by, but you see the root systems, water saturating the ground, and then those trees just toppling over. we have not seen any houses destroyed, but we have seen a lot of these trees down, a lot of debris in the road. we also took a trip down to key largo. it is still, you can reach it by going down the highway southbound for emergency crews. northbound lanes are impassable. the debris and the amount of storm surge in the roadway right now, you just can't get through. emergency crews coming and going are taking the southbound lanes to get back to the mainland

gadi schwartz, thank you. can we just reiterate? two-thirds of the people in florida are without power. and we know there's still a gasoline shortage. this thing is far from over. joining us on the phone is commissioner of monroe county district three which includes the keys. heather, you have been on conference calls with emergency management officials already a few times today. how long is it going to take to get food and water to those people? i mean, you've got so many people in the keys who didn't evacuate. they're stuck in their houses. >> yeah, we don't know exactly how many people didn't evacuate. i guess the latest estimate is about 10% which is about 7,000 people. i think most people who did stay knew that this was going to be a long haul, so they're probably personally well provisioned. that said, we had red cross and salvation army trucks going down monday morning. so we're setting up distribution points at high schools. and we'll know exactly when those places are going to be provisioned later on today. >> heather, some

gadi, good morning to you. you've come indoors, we're happy to see that. >> reporter: yeah, savannah and matt, immediately after we talked we spotted a policlace. we found a church. you see it there, you see the winds whipping through. we're in a wonderful shelter. this is the baptist church here. it is made out of solid concrete. we've found a couple families here. we've actually got an audience. you guys are sitting here watching the hurricane, right? first of all, some of you guys were saying you were a little bit nervous earlier. i'm going to just show you what we're looking at. i know cell phone service is kind of hard out here. we've got this image and that's the hurricane right there. and it's going this way. and this is where you guys are. eventually, this is going to go up this way in the next couple of hours. and we're going to see this go by. so, maybe two or three more hours of you guys sitting tight and watching out the windows and everything is going to be okay. let me ask you, what do you guys th

back to you. >> gadi schwartz in cudjoe key, thank you. examining the damage from the air. she's back in miami now. give us a sense what you saw, mariana. >> chris, many of the same things that we just heard from gadi on the ground. just devastating to watch what this hurricane did to the florida keys. i have to say one of the images that really shocked me the most was to see those first search and rescue crews from the air start to make their way into the neighborhoods in con key. you can see the looks on their faces as they go door to door to try to see if everybody is accounted for. again, we don't have any real idea of the death toll in the florida keys because it is so hard to access that one road in, one road out, a road that along the portion of it was blown up by just the sheer force of the storm. most of the devastation that we saw was along marathon florida. that's not even up to key west. and that's how far we could get to today. we saw marinas that were just ripped to shreds. we saw roads that had been underground. the water has receded. with the water receding,

. >> let's bring in gadi schwartz. give us an update, the winds are extraordinary. >> reporter: they absolutely are. right now we are on the protected side of a massive structure. this is a cement coliseum. you can see over there, we are not getting too close, but that's plexiglass that has broken. and that is a door that has basingly been ripped off its frame. that's a metal door. there's another door over here that is kind of collapsed in. and now we're seeing that weather, these elements come in. we have some water here. and this is where the shelter is. earlier it was inside the coliseum. there was a large area where there were cots laid out down at a basketball court. and now those are here because the roof started to leak. and then there was debris that started to fall. there was a little bit of damage to it during hurricane irma. and now during hurricane maria. they don't want a chance and have taken everybody and moved them here. people listening to the radio but there's no power here. so a lot of people nervou

i'm joined by nbc news correspondent gadi schwartz who's in san juan. gadi, give us a sense of what it's like where you are. >> reporter: that message that you heard from president trump, those words from president trump are something that puerto ricans here did not hear. there are more than 3 million people that live on this island. as you mentioned, all of them are without power, without access to a solid working electrical grid and they don't have basic necessities in many cases, they are cut off from power, from electricity, from water, from gas. in fact if you live here in puerto rico, chances are if you need gas or you need cash, you're going to stand in line for as long as four, six, even eight hours. earlier today we were out in some of those lines talking to people about what they thought, asking them if they had heard about the talk in the united states when it comes to getting aid in puerto rico and what president trump has been saying about puerto rico's debt. one of the things that a woman said was we don't care about any of that because we

gadi, if you could, describe for us what you're seeing. this is what we anticipated, we wanted to see what the keys look like once we got helicopters up in the air. you're seeing it with your own eyes. >> reporter: that's right, willie, we have heard reports out in a long time. i don't know if you can hear it, there are fire alarms going off. there are a condo on fire. there are no fire trucks. no fire -- it's basically an eerie storm. there's silence growing inside of these condos. and then alarms are going off. and there's nothing anybody can do. and -- they're trying to track down firefighters. because on the phones they're -- because they see us talking on the phones, and somebody asked hey, is that a phone? they want to call their family members. we've run into a couple people. there's no way of communicating outside of marathon right now. a lot of people wanting to get in touch with their loved ones back at home. from what we've seen, there is destruction. there are a lot of live downed power lines where we are right now. it seems as