you mentioned hazel. you look at the duration of hazel or hugo or matthew as people mark their lives down here. you talk about quicker duration. that was a weird scene. we just had a fox just run out of nowhere down the beach. the storm brings out all kinds of strange situations. this red fox just ran down the beach. something i have never seen before in my life. in terms of how thing to stand up with duration. what is your concern of the atlantic beach area? >> we have a lot of older beach houses and a lot of newer ones. i just -- i just don't know. i don't know how to call it. i was 3 years old when hazel came. it hit at a category four. you know, that had happened with this hurricane and it would have been completely devastating like hazel. the fact it came in as a two, you know, i'm feeling better about it. i really don't expect buildings to be completely torn down like hazel did. i think some roofs and windows out. things like that. that's what i am hoping for. >> well, miss bynum, we will see. we wi

hazel landed near wilmington, north carolina with 140-plus miles an hour winds.m surge that did most of the damage and led to changes in building codes, which is the reason why homes along the coast are built on stilts. hazel killed 95 people and did $281 million in damage. hurricane hugo came in 1989. made landfall as a category four just north of charleston destroying countless homes and buildings in resort towns like myrtle beach. hugo killed 21 people and caused $8 billion in damage. it remains the third most intense hurricane to ever hit the united states. in 1996, hurricane fran came ashore in came fear, north carolina as a category three storm but a big hurricane and wind damage was reported as far west as raleigh-durham. 165 miles away. in 1999, hurricane floyd came ashore near cape fear. strong category two. proof that water is more dangerous than wind. of the 56 deaths, 50 were because of flooding. >> shepard: wow, trace. thanks. top of the hour headlines minutes away. stay tuned. , we really pride ourselves on making it easy for you to get your windshi

charlotte experienced the devastation of hurricane hazel here in 1954 devastation of hurricane hazelastation of hurricane hazel here in 1954 and she is not hanging around. i dread it for everybody. i dread it for us. i want the house to be here when i come back. some plan to ride out the storm, likejohn and lloyd, who are braced. it is our home. we want to stay and make sure everything is ok and looked after. loss,itis everything is ok and looked after. loss, it is kind of exciting. but this is a catastrophic, life—threatening storm. you are taking a risk, aren't you? yes. but thatis taking a risk, aren't you? yes. but that is just what we have to do, we have to watch after things are. most have to watch after things are. most have heeded the warnings and fled to be the monster storm is fast approaching. you can track the progress of hurricane florence on our website. there's lots of information there, including this video about why many americans ignore hurricane warnings. just go bbc.com/news or download the bbc news app. germany's catholic church has expressed shame over thousands

people remember hurricane hazel ripped the island apart. when janice dean talks about the uncertainty let me talk about why this is so dangerous in this area. not only hurricane winds and category for but storm surge expected to be 9 to 13 feet, guaranteed flooding if you have the rainfall in excess of 25 inches if that does indeed stall, looks like it will, it was two years ago hurricane matthew which was a catastrophic flooding event brought that, a little bit him and, 25, 30 miles, entire rivers, the situation where people were underwater 15 or 20 feet and couldn't get out. the mayor here in atlantic beach, richard porter, his message for residents very clear. >> get off the island, don't put our first responders in harm's way. don't put yourself in harm's way. get off the island. honors a mandatory evacuation and get out. >> if you do try to stay here and survive the wind, it is likely this story will be one of flooding. we talk to some of the residents who decided to stick around like this gentleman from jacksonville. chris davis. >> w

i want to read something from a bloomberg article, saying, unlike hurricane hazel which made landfallolina border in 1954 and moved through the region, florence is coming straight on and will stick around for days. they say the potential costs are $30 billion. jay, what does a storm like this due to communities, industries manage rules roles and? speak of what we see with the storm surge potential, rainfall potential, those two particularly will be the story for hurricanes lawrence. it will be a lingering storm that will exacerbate both of those. the storm surge will go through two high tide cycles, that is not good news for those beaches along the coast there. we have seen it happen before with many other storms, sometimes -- a storm like hazel, you mention, racing and went back in '54. very different from florence's slow path. >> shannon: what does it take to rebuild? we have a few days of this rain and flooding we expect all through both the states, further inland and just its impact on the coast. what does it take? what kind of timeline and how do people put things back together?

so many great options to choose from, the red hen, hazel. >> we've done hazel and unconventional diner. i like it. not terribly expensive. >> that's the key. >> no ia what you'r talking about. >> we need to go out to eat. >> just a real quick -- i'm going to moderate a panel for the smithsonian on this michelin guy. >> would you like to know about the hurricane? >> yes, i would like to know about the hurricane. chuck bell? >>> hurricane florenceas been for now. it will become a hurricane once again. it's been encountering wind shear over the last 24 hours. that's the reason it's reduced in speed and intensity for just a bit. there's a wide range of possibilities for this storm. trmuda there, looks like it's going to g the south of bermuda. there's ast lot of reale to make a turn and potentially go back out to sea. as it continues to work its way towards the u.s. coastline, we will have to watch this real careful. anywhere from savannah, georgia, to the jersey shore. if it was going to threaten the coast, it could affect the carolinas in the wednesday-thursday timeframe. this is a storm

>> i know all about hazel. i came to southport shortly after hazel left. i remember people floating out of their houses on mattresses. so there was very, very terrible times. >> thank you so much. >> can i say something please, quick, quick? >> quick thing. >> the heavens declare the glory of god and the earth shows his handiwork. i've live heardd here 41 years, this is heaven. >> a lot of people praying. >> all right, a colorful character there, but we hope everybody is safe. i want to go to nbc meteorologist bill karin. what are we really dealing with? >> this has a chance to be a combination of two worst nightmares. it could be a major category 4 or 5 hurricane. i don't think it's going to be a 5, nor a 4. maybe a 3. plus the wind damage which adds the storm surge. then if it stalls, you get the flooding problem. like you saw with harvey. we borrowed ourselves a little more time. instead of 8:00 p.m. landfall, now the hurricane center has it more towards friday at 2:00 a.m. i think it could go slower than this into maybe friday at 8:00 a.m. we bought ou

planes and helicopters assisted with firefighting activities in the hazel creek area in the northeastsouthwest. crews successfully contained three small spot fires in the damnation peak area. friday, crews will be focused on securing lines on 5 in the hazel travelers on the likely to see firefighting operations gibson road and crews will aggressive fire efforts along the northeast edge of wildcat peak. aircraft will continue to assist crews in this rocky terrain.i-5 is open with limited traffic control between redding and mt. shasta. all truck load restrictions have been lifted. ramp closures effect at sims road and gibson evacuation orders effect.o'brien and now open. due to damaged freeway travelers may be lane traffic daytime hours and pollard flat. to use caution that emergency in the area. some systems off of remain closed suppression efforts.public safety suppression of shasta-trinity lands, roads, and fire perimeter closed.county sheriff's office has issued mandatory residents along corridor from exit north to exit 714 the siskiyou office has issued an evacuation mandatory evac

the last time there was a direct hit on north carolina like this was actually 1954 with hurricane hazelto one woman who was here then as a child, she remembered the utter devastation that hurricane hazel brought. now aged 68, she and her husband are getting out of dodge because they don't want to risk the damage to their life they believe staying put would actually represent. so, yes, normally in hurricanes i find, rico, at least one third of the people ignore the warnings and stay put, but here on wrightsville beach, most people are fleeing for the hills. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. the european parliament is to begin disciplinary proceedings against hungary for flouting the union's core values. more than two—thirds of meps backed the motion, the first such vote against a member state. prime minister viktor 0rban‘s government is accused of attacks on the media, minorities and the rule of law, charges he denies. here's our europe correspondent adam fleming. so now that this boat has passed in the european parliament, it's in the hands of the 27 other member states

the carolinas was hurricane hazel. there have been other hurricanes since like hurricane hugo, but it is the nature of this one. it is weakening a bit out at sea, but it is gigantic. currently the size of four ohios, and it poses this tri e first of all, the storm surges to be twice as high as me, if you can imagine that. rainfall up to 40 inches. you remember from hurricane harvey in houston last year that covered, it was catastrophic flooding that continued for a week afterwards which really damaged people's homes. then of course you have what could be hurricane-force winds, enough to take the roof of your sturdily built home. these of the real threats that people are facg, and that is heedingany people are e warnings and leaving. jane: certainly a lot to worry about. laura trevelyan, thank you for joining us. russian president vladimir putin says two men accused of trying to murder former spy survey -- a surrogate screwball -- daughterripal and yulia are not criminals. it is a week since they were named by military

. -- hazel. as we watch the map on the left, in 1953, was the last time that it got this big and this close for this long as we are watching it. it was life changing, it was definitely landscape changing then. 15,000 buildings lost to that storm and dozens of lives. we now have live team coverage, mike emanuel in washington on the federal response to this storm. meteorologist adam plotz in the fox extreme weather center. you have gotten an update, what is it? >> still a strong storm. likely still intensifying over the course of today before beginning to slowly weaken, harris. florence still a large one, winds at 130 miles an hour, category 4. we are getting to get closer and closer to the coast. begin to see an impact likely tomorrow. here is the strak, very defined track. pay attention to how it slows done. this will be a big part of the story. that slowdown means we will have more time for wind, more time for rain, more time for storm surge, unfortunately. all of the problems could get worse be

hazel was a category 4 at landfall.be a good comparison as a cat 3 in the same region. but fran raised inland to raleigh and became an inland storm in a different way. a lot of flooding and a lot of wind. floyd in 1999 actually is another storm that i think bears some resemblance to what we may face with florence. >> that's right. >> hurricane floyd stands as north carolina's greatest natural disaster with $6 billion in damage. there were 52 fatalities, and the rainfall was the story with floyd. it was not a powerful cat 4 or anything like that. it was the excessive rains that fell in inland counties, places that were many miles from the coast. and that really caused, that great disaster, 66 of our 100 counties were declared disaster areas. unfortunately with florence what we're seeing emerge could be a lingering storm that dumps copious rains that unfortunately might even approach what we saw in some cases with harvey. harvey set new rainfall records, and i think everybody knows that story. and right now that's one of

it's a good bit of perspective, that no one really even understands, no one really was around when hazel hit, probably. right now the storm is a strong category 3. tom was just laying it out for us. it could bring storm surge of up to 13 feet. can you put in perspective what kind of damage you are expecting in your town? >> well, kate, if we have -- and we should expect -- two cycles of tides, that means two high tides in a 24-hour period when the surge is the greatest, when that happens, 13 feet above the high tide, which might be 7, you're talking about as much as 20 feet of water coming over the dunes. our sand dunes are healthy, but they're not going to be able to keep back a wall of water like that. and we can expect at that point the water gets out on to the first two, maybe three blocks, and you know, from there, take the rain in conjunction which we have now, you put the two in combination, flooding is almost guaranteed. >> almost guaranteed. thank you for sticking it out in this rain very clearly. i can see it on you and our camera, mayor. do you have a plan for when the storm p

which devastated this town in 1954 and required significant rebuilding. >> hurricane hazel the wave action destroyed those beachfront houses. two feet of sand, we had sand in our house. everybody, heading straight for us, taking it seriously. >> reporter: mandatory evacuation of wrightsville beach takes effect at 8:00 this morning and late today things are going to get primitive to protect the water system. the town plans to begin shutting it down. they anticipate the power will go out during the storm so the few people staying on the island will have to fend for themselves once the sustained winds go above 50 miles an hour. first responders will no longer be able to conduct service calls. heather: you put those first responders in jeopardy and put their lives in jeopardy when you stay behind. joining me now to talk about that is police chief joseph hill. thank you for joining us. i know you have some busy days ahead. >> he is we do, thank you for having me on. heather: we were talking about that, you are there, myrtle beach, south carolina, people along the coast being told they ha

and a lot more service calls from what i've seen was not here for hazel. i have heard already we've exceeded water levels from hurricane irene. >> going back to those people that need rescued right now that are on top of their roofs, some are in their vehicles, how long do you think they'll need it wait it out before rescue teams can make it to them? is there an approximate time right now? >> it's really hard to say. the most important thing to look at is the safety and conditions and whether or not you can get a team in there safely but every call is being logged. everyone is trying really hard to get to everyone who needs help as fast as we can. we know people are scared. that they're in danger, that they're possibly cold. that they may have medical issues and so we really are, would go hard and have hundreds of rescue workers out there trying to help people. >> we know the city tweeted out that the message saying we are coming to get you. so they want to make sure that people know that. >> yes. >> and, amber, you know, the mayor of new bern was mentioni

hazelle was what, 1940, 1950 something hazelle came in there? >> eisenhower was president. >> this was who was exposed then. look how over time 1990, now we're talking hurricane hugo. category 4 changed the topography of this area. it was the most expensive storm in termds of damage at the time. but now look at it. look at the concentration, look at the over building and the population, sam. this is the problem. >> in the old days, chris, we would say that this part of the country is well versed in hurricanes and tropical storms. this area gets hit a lot. they have to prepare a lot. they know a lot. but what's happened in the last ten years is that population explosion, and at the same time there hasn't been a big storm. a lot of these people -- and this is a big college area inland as well. a lot of these people will be in the storm for the very first time. look how many people live along the coast line. we've got the coast line handled with those evacuations. my real, real, real present concern is what's going to happen inland. we're talking a

hurricanes were three hundred years ago the old timers tell me that this is much worse than hurricane hazel in one nine hundred fifty four which was really the worst hurricane anybody has ever remembered recorded. sun what are you expecting in the coming days in terms of cleanup in terms of what the economic impact might be on this town and we don't have any figures in on the economic end of it we do know that forty two hundred homes have been either destroyed or tomar have extensive problems we have about three hundred commercial bins buildings that are that are in really bad shape we've we've had twenty two thousand customers without power that's been restored to about six thousand are still not in power so a big concern right now is is the safety and security safety and security of our residents safety in staying inside because with the saturated ground conditions trees are still falling down and a lot of folks get killed or hurt after the storm not journal storm so the big thing that's happened here is i think everybody got a little bit more of a closet confort level when it went with a

it certainly is the strongest they felt since 1954 with hurricane hazel. let's show what you they fear may happen. the storm surge. you know about that. the water pushed ahead of the storm that comes ashore. the berms run along the beach here and go for as long as the eye can see. the water is expected to go over the berms. they haare 12-feet high. in the marina, the water level is expected to be 9-feet above the ground. that's why the mandatory evacuation order is going into effect. they hope everyone on the island is getting off the island by 8:00 p.m. wednesday because that is when the tropical storm-force winds are expected. they are worried. dave and christine. >> martin, thank you. >>> president trump pushing back on claims made in bob woodward's new book. the white house repeating the president's call for the justice department to investigate the identity of the unidentified opinion writer citing national security concerns. >> if that individual is in meetings that were national security is being scdiscussed o other important topics and undermining

is also shared tonight and things will completely change and have to change on that front barbara hazel reporting for us from stockholm many thanks indeed. well here in germany some five hundred protesters follow the call of far right groups and march through a town in the east of the country following the death of a twenty two year old german man marchers walked silently through the town of coton which is about one hundred fifty kilometers southwest of berlin police say the german national died after an altercation with afghan migrants but the circumstances of his death remain unclear an autopsy showed the man died of cardiac arrest which was not directly connected to the dispute two afghan men has been have been taken into police custody on suspicion of homicide. or reports from syria say russian and syrian aircraft have resumed intensive air strikes in the province of it live i witnesses in a monitoring group told news agencies there were several fatalities in the area is the last larger region in the country held by rebel forces observers say the army of president bashar al assad is

steve: jay, we were just looking at hazel. now we are looking at floyd.many people have talked about hazel back in the 1950s. how bad was that? >> oh, my. hazel is the only category 4 ever to hit the north carolina coast. and that was in october of 1954. very different storm and particularly the track coming up out of the caribbean racing inland, too. hazel was a storm that was a record storm surge, 17, 18 feet on the north carolina coast. but then as it raced inland, it attained a forward speed of almost 50 miles per hour as it passed through central virginia. went on to break all kinds of records, 100 mile-per-hour gusts in seven states. and as i recall, the highest wind ever recorded at the top of the empire state building 113 mile-per-hour gusts. hazel wasn't even done then, because by the time it got into toronto and in to canada. it went ton cause the greatest flood in canadian history. we certainly have a lot of people here in north carolina that remember hazel and still hold it as a benchmark storm. lisa: jay barnes, thank you so much hurricane hi

. >> you don't need to tell fifth grader hazel to clean her plate at lunchtime. this slice of pizza is the last hot meal she gets until her mother picks her up from her community school at 6:00 p.m. >> you wish you had more? >> yeah. >> sad for the kids asking for something that's going to fill them up. >> severe budget cuts forced the oakland unified school district to ax an after-school meal program that fed 3,000 kids, including hazel. more than 70% of the district students receive free or reduced cost lunch. last year, kids would get a fresh plate of meatloaf or spaghetti. >> they get a juice box and chips or cheez-its. >> they scrapped the summer program and let go of one full-time staffer. spokesperson admits hungry students are paying the ultimate price. >> all kinds of research sews w order to learn. when you don't have food in your stomach, it's easy to be distract distracted. >> something this programorcran. sometimes you can't get kids to do anything when they're hungry. >> she's hoping, no she's pleading someone steps up for oakland's hungry kids. >>

hazel newry was unimpressed with the corporation's defence.nd david james advised: no—one from the bbc was available to speak to us about this before. i'm pleased to say we're now joined by david jordan, the corporation's director of editorial policy and standards. thank you for coming on newswatch. do you accept as many viewers say that the bbc has fallen below the standard expected of it? well, we're very clear we regret some aspects of the way in which we covered the cliff richard story at the beginning. we made clear that we think that the use of a helicopter was inappropriate in the circumstances, and that there were some other things about the way in which we covered it, the proportionality of it and so on, which we, with the benefit of hindsight, now regret. so yes, there are certain things about the way in which we did the story which we regret. but we have never conceded the principle, and that's why we got involved in the court case when sir cliff took a case against us. we've never conceded the principal, never wished to concede the

it certainly is the strongest they felt since 1954 and hurricane hazel. let me show you what they fear may happen. it is the storm surge. everyone knows about that. water that is pushed ahead of the storm that comes ashore. see these berms? they run along the beach here. they go, well, for as far as the eye can see. the water is expected to go over the berms which are 12-feet high. the storm surge is expected to be 13 feet or more. in the marina, the water level is expected to be nine feet above the ground. that is why the manndatory evacuation order is in effect. they hope everyone is getting off the island by 8:00 p.m. wednesday because that is when the tropical-force winds are expected here. they are worried. dave and christine. >> 8:00 p.m. wednesday. martin, thank you. >>> president trump pushing back on claims made in bob woodward's new book. echoed in "the new york times" op-ed. the white house repeating the president's call for the justice department to investigate the identity of the unidentified opinion writer citing national security concerns.

have green by leaps and bounds, we have five times as many people living here as did in hurricane hazel in 1954. meteorologists have told me this is a once in a lifetime game changing event? >> so tell me about your newsroom. how you are covering it. where you all are hunkering down. >> reporter: we have some reporters staked at centers in counties and several hunkering down in our building at the star news, which is a brick fortress that has no windows. >> wow. >> so we will ride it out through the storm and make sure we are constantly ploying updates at star news.com. we know we are the source of information for people, not only here but for people who have left and are looking for news for how their home is affected. >> including your own family, who you sent out of town, is that right, tim in. >> which wife kate an kids zoe and max went to charlotte about two days ago. but i'm staying here. >> and you rode out hurricane mathew. right in. >> correct. but hurricane matthew, people are assuming that hurricane florence is going to be anything like hurricane matthew was, they're mistaken

we are concerned about power lines. >> your parents talked about hazel and he will talk to your kids about this storm. thanks for being with us this morning. steve: new bern is a beautiful town. mike: one of those hurricanes, the water rose so fast they went into their attic's, they -- nobody came. they had a hatchet. moving into survival mode. steve: the u.s. army is out in full force as hurricane florence lashes the carolina coast. the commanding general of the us army corps of engineers tells us how they are responding during these life-threatening conditions. stay with us. nothing says fall like a homecoming football game, so let's promote our fall travel deal on choicehotels.com like this. touchdown. earn a free night when you stay just twice this fall. or, badda book. badda boom. book now at choicehotels.com if you're waiting patiently for a liver transplant, it could cost you your life. it's time to get out of line with upmc. at upmc, living-donor transplants put you first. so you don't die waiting. upmc does more living-donor liver transplants than any other center in the nat

hurricane hazel. kpix5, wrightsville beach, north carolina. >>> and drivers passing through the delta fire are urged to use caution. one lane of i-5 reopened in each direction yesterday. moertdists are -- motorists are asked to obey traffic control operations and be patient with the delays. the fire scorched more than 53,000 acres. >>> and as a symbolic gesture, a strike team held an american flag near mount shas at that today. they -- shasta today. they took time to do that. >>> today marks 17 years since the september 11th attacks. >> how the nation is remembers 9/11. >> reporter: the nation paused in a moment of silence to mark the 17th anniversary of september 11th, the worst terrorist attack on the united states. in new york, victims' family members placed flowers at the me toirl plaza -- memorial plaza in manhattan. many fought back tears remembering loved ones killed when the plans struck the twin towers how aryou ecting o it's very sad. . >> reporter: out of the first responders who raced to g

other thing we can take away from this going down to a 2 right now, the only other factor is okay, hazel still will be the strongest storm to ever hit carolina. record books remain the same. hugo will always be the strongest in the last 29 years. we don't want to break those records anyway. we're only 1-mile-per-hour off from category 3. this is the latest track. the national hurricane center wants to bring it in a little early, 8:00 in the morning as a category 2. this could still get to 3. hurricane katrina hit new orleans as a category 3. we're just about there. when it came out of the gulf, it was a 5. the water underneath katrina created even though it made landfall as a 3 a record 2-foot storm surge. early this morning, a wave height reported in that northeastern quadrant was 83 feet staggering the imagination. so the wall of water is still underneath this storm. the surge is going to be the same. the threat for loss of life and loss of property does not change. so do not pay attention to these numbers. it never was about that. it was about where the storm has come from, how strong

como si dijÉramos su diario de cÓmo estÁ viviendo ella y su familia el huracÁn florence adelante, hazelnada ni han dicho nada y acÁ y los vecinos que estaban fuera en refugios, ya estÁn viniendo. los que se fueron para hoteles tambiÉn. agarro como para carolina del sur. >> has podido conversar con tus vecinos. quÉ te dicen ellos? es la primera vez que te enfrentas a unfenÓmeno natural como un huracÁn pero quÉ conversan entre ustedes? >> que no tenga miedo porque si hay gente que vive acÁ desde hace como 20 o 25 aÑos y me dicen que no tenga miedo que todo va a pasar. que esto es normal y que ha pasado antes algo asÍ pero con el tiempo. a esta la renovaron por dentro pero me da un poco de miedo porque miro los Árbolesy lo que da miedo es que caigan los Árboles. demasiado. todos los Árboles pasan pero aquÍ nos vamos a quedar de todas maneras. no hay hoteles en el Área para nada. los albergues estÁn llenos. pues tenemos fe en dios de que no va a pasar nada. >> estÁbamos escuchando y querÍamos saber una cosa. has visto seguridad o agentes que ya estÉn en la zona? ya les han dicho que pueden

and in hazel, there was three inches that came into this house.area was flooded and it flooded for days. [ indiscernible ] -- and it has to go through there -- >> yeah. well, mr. winner, i wish i could hear you better, but we'll try to check back in with you. please, please be safe. >> we're going to be safe. we've got everything prepared. >> all right. here's hoping. thank you so much, sir. >>> up next, breaking news. a very dangerous situation is unfolding tonight in massachusetts. multiple homes across one town are going up in flames. there are some new details coming in about what is believed now to be behind these explosions. we'll get the latest. i'm ray and i quit smoking with chantix. i tried to quit smoking for years on my own. i couldn't do it. i needed help. for me, chantix worked. it did. chantix, along with support, helps you quit smoking. chantix, without a doubt, reduced my urge to smoke. when you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. some people had changes in behavior or thinking,

higher from hurricane hazel in 1954. think of that. 64 years ago.orm such as hazel has been topped now by the cape fear river and the rain that continues to be pushed up the rivers here in north carolina as a result of florence. you go up and down the coast, that is the big concern. my sense is midday tomorrow, so many reporters have descended here throughout the state offare. but they can only get to so many places. with so many roads blocked and so many impediments on the way, i think it will be mid-day tomorrow when we start to get a better picture now about some of the rivers and the flooding. it could get much worse than we have seen so far once we get access to it. >> martha: i think you are right, bill. we are going to see the riding waters as all of this moves through and we see rescues that still need to be done. this is a very tough situation. you know people watch it go down to a category one but then when you listen to what you are reporting and to what we are seeing out there, this will be a story all the way through the weekend. i know

they talk about hurricane hazel all the time, and it's legendary in north carolina. >> diane, i think i heard you stop talking. just so the control room knows my situation right now, i think my audio equipment has gone down, too much water in my ears or in the pack. this is the worst of the storm that we felt yet. the outer eyewall passing over us. we are told the eye itself will make landfall in the next few minutes over wilmington. the wind gusts, 79 miles per hour they say, and probably a little higher than that over the last few minutes. chad meyers was telling me we are getting three inches of rain per hour, which i can believe because it's coming down so hard, frankly in every direction, no matter which way i turn my face, it gets pounded. we have seen the blue transformer explosions, power is going out, some 280,000 people without power. the eye moving ever closer here to wilmington and to this city. i think we are supposed to go to chad meyers next, and just so the control room knows i am having a hard time hearing, but chad meyers, tell us what we can expect. >> still the eye

that was hurricane hazel. that was just about 7 feet, 7 1/2.ere we are right now, this is radio island. it looks very dramatic. what you don't see is this huge building. this is the old yacht club. it's got several stories. we're going to be hunkered down when it really picks up. we're going to be much higher than the storm surge. down here you can already feel the force of of this hurricane. and 50 miles an hour, craig, i can tell you, it hurts, these winds picking up the rain and hitting your face. 60 miles an hour definitely hurts. the they're hold for us is probably going to be 70, 80 miles an hour. theen you'll see us fall back into the shelter where we'll have a considerable wind break, back to you. >> all right, gadi schwartz, you be careful there. a lot of folks don't realize this about gadi but he's not a big guy. he is a slight man. we want to make sure we don't lose you there. make sure you're taking necessary precautions. my friend dylan drier. nbc news meteorologist join meg wi joining me now with our new handy weather gadget. >> i

. >> so are the new iphones worth the hype let's bring in the tech product editor todd hazel ton whoas the phones you saw the reports. you have the phones. what douse. >> i say they are the best can you by right now best iphones no surprise but i agree with the headlines everybody shutdown wade on the xr in october launching in october for $749 these on the other hand are $1,000 and $1,099 when you pack in the storage that goes up to 1449 they are amazing they have the best -- the strongest glass apple ever put in more water resistant i threw it in the pond at headquarters it can go up to 6 feet of water for 30 minutes new signals. a gigabyte lte, faster data than the iphone x last year and also something business users will care about dual sim pmt you can pack a sim card and 11 them both in come back to the united states and use the american s m. >> everybody here have the iphone anybody order one of the new phones. >> no i have the x already. >> so if you have the x already i don't think you need to upgrade. which is the points i make but if you have the iphone 8 which came out las

amount of time passed between hazel and now. we'll continue to check in with you. mayor dana outlaw joining us from north carolina. we'll continue to update folks on the situation there. thank you. i want to check in with meteorologist a.llison chinchar. we are far from done. this storm is sitting on top of us as we know, and we have hours of rain to come. >> that's right. the latest update that came out at the top of the hour again still shows that consistent movement of only two miles per hour. that is important to understand. this is why we have the flooding problems. you have the rain that's going over the same locations over and over again, and until this storm can pick up speed with its forward movement, that's going to continue. winds are down to 45 miles per hour. that's still strong. they're gusting well into 60 miles per hour range. take a look at all of the heavy rain. talking the same locations seeing rain for well over 24 hours. here's the problem. that rain is starting to add up. we have now broken a record. the no

i don't think anybody remembers hurricane hazel around here.s is kind of what it reminds me of, not that i'm that old, but, you know, i am 64 years old. so, you know, my parents told me quite a bit about hazel, and the water portion of that event is very much what we're dealing with now. >> yeah. we're looking at the radar. there's just -- i wish i could tell you there's relief coming, but these waves of rain are just relentless. >> well, it is just going to sit right there and feed itself off of being on the water stalled. i just think it is going to be a while. we have been told 20 to 40 inches, three to four feet of storm surge. you know, we're just thankful that the category 4 and category 5 didn't happen. again, the water end of it, it is everything we were told it is going to be. we've been meeting for several days with the county, the emergency operations center with the county and the city, and our first responders -- i mean i'm so proud of the job they've all done, the whole city of new bern employees. they're now as we speak out in th

in 1954 hazel touched down on the north and south carolina borders as a category 4 hurricane.cording to the national oceanic and atmospheric administration, hazel caused 95 deaths in the u.s., 100 deaths in canada and between 400 and 1,000 deaths in haiti. in 1989 hurricane hugo slammed into south carolina as a category 4. 50 people died. in 1999, the category 2 hurricane floyd made landfall in cape fear, north carolina, and it is most remembered for its record rainfall. flooding caused dozens of deaths. floyd is also remembered for images like this, hundreds and thousands of hogs drowning in floodwaters. all of these storms made direct hits on the carolinas just like florence, and about a quarter of the costliest storms in the u.s. struck the carolinas. accuweather is now estimating florence will cause $30 billion to $60 billion in damage and economic impact. i want to bring in hans nichols in jacksonville, north carolina with the latest on the government's storm relief efforts going on there. >> reporter: yeah. good afternoon, frances. we are here at the emergency operation

they know what it was like during hazel in 1954. their home sits at the street level. they are concerned but staying put. that's one of the biggest concerns for authorities here, those families that decided to stay put and the storm surge comes in. we're waiting. we're watching as everybody else is to see how storm surge eventually impacts here and down into south carolina. >> kerry, anybody see you do hurricanes, think it's strange you having a wind measuring strength. kerry is that way. that's where north carolina is right now. myrtle beach is at a bit of an angle. that's where the storm is. hurricane is coming from the east. you can't see this all that well in the camera but in amongst the clouds there's some straight lines ever clouds. those are the outer bands of the hurricane, of hurricane florence. these particular bands now approaching us in myrtle beach don't have rain in them. wind, you're feeling the wind increase here. we may not get rain before the end of the day. i want to bring in the chief information officer here at myrtle beach. we have two stories. f

who says the door to cemetery in central berlin philosopher georg hazel and author and playwright virgil brecht are among those buried here. a few years ago terrelle transformed the chapel here with an installation that took full advantage of the twilight hours. a room without shadows filled with changing colors. the altar is a cube of acrylic less. outfitted with l.e.d.s. that make it a central source of light. very much in line with the traditional christian concept of god as creator and the source of divine light. here unlike into roles guns filled works the contours remain sharply defined so that viewers maintain proper orientation. the space in which one remembers the souls of the dead. christians are invited to reflect on their belief in eternal life. some may find comfort in the idea that life will not end in darkness but in light light is present at the beginning and at the end of life. at last i'd like to know if there's a life that you love and maybe a life that you hate. well. i mean i appreciate it all i don't have any either or. one of the things i like to do is to give. lig

the worst is hazel 1954 at 17 feet. tonight with the national hurricane center, measuring a wave in the atlantic at 80 feet understandably all eyes are on the storm surge with florence. lester? >> powerful evidence there. thank you very much, kerry. what do you take? when will you be back? what will you find when you come back? those are many questions faced as residents in the danger zone are questioning whether to evacuate or remain and hope for the best. i caught up with one family today for whom the risks of leaving outweigh the risks of staying. you've got a brick house that gives you comfort? >> yes, definitely. >> james and dawn twres hurricane with their two children. what was your point of conversation whether to stay or go? >> the main point of conversation really came down majorly to financial reasons. there are people offering free places to live but you have to have gas money to get there and food and our biggest concern is getting back. >> because you got to buy gas for the car. >> yeah. >> and the food on

hazel at 17 feet. the question now, how bad will it get with florence? carolina beach is aen must be oe island by 8:00 p.m. >> reporter: among the last to get out, kate balmam and her sister karen. their condo right on the beach. the atlantic is there. cape fear river is over there. when that storm surge comes in, what happens to this island in. >> the water levels. >> reporter: 50% of all deaths in a hurricane are drownings, often in that deadly powerful storm surge. >> we were going to stay, and then yesterday i said, yeah, no. it's just getting too dangerous. >> the storm surge? >> yeah. >> reporter: i've experienced it firsthand. this is what storm surge looks like. it's a fast-moving, fast-rising flash flood with the power of the atlantic ocean behind it. what causes that building wall of water known as storm surge? 100-plus mile an hour winds whipping across the surface of the water, piled higher and higher, the storm surge combined with high tide may cause the ocean to swell as high as 13 feet, overrunning beaches and potentially traveling miles i

the worst one that everybody always talks about is hurricane hazel in the 1950s.t one got as high as about 6.94 feet. this one is expected to bring a storm surge of about 7, 7 1/2 feet. it's not a question of whether we're going to see flooding or whether we're going to see a significant storm surge. it is a question of how bad it's going to be. they know that there are going to be flooded out areas in this town over here as well as morehead city as we were just hearing from the mayor. most people have evacuated these areas, but right now there are still some people that have stayed, some of them staying because of medical reasons as you heard. some of them staying because they think they can weather out this storm, but it's going to be mostly the storm surge that everyone's watching, and tonight is going to be the critical time, 7 1/2 feet is going to do a lot of damage out here. >> reporter: that's remarkable. looking at you, you are feeling those outer bands of the storm. you're experiencing it. that becomes really real. down here in myrtle beach, we're seeing

. >> reporter: hurricane hazel took a church revival by rprise, and forced them to find shelter.rch has since with stood the dozens of hurricanes that followed. so has auntarvella. >> are you worried about the church, is it going to hold up?>> 'm not worried about it. we had prayer last night. we have faith in god, he's going to take care of us. it> reporter: a comms time tested faith in the face of fear. matt bradley, nbc news, calabash, north carolina. >> that is nbc nightly newsn this saturday night. a medical alert. results of an important new study on the role of aspirin in preventing heart attacks. i'm kate snow on the cape fear river with th battleship north carolina behind us. we'll see you back here tomorrow wishing everyone in the region a safe night. i put criminals in prison during the day i'm jennifer wexton, and as a prosecutor, and changed diapers at night. later, when i had a law practice, i volunteered to help moms collect child support. then, as state senator, i worked across party lines to target sexual offenders and take guns away from domestic abusers. in con