jonathan serrie is at the banks of the lumber river in north carolina. the first time lumberton where you are they have had flooding like this in the past but not like this. >> yeah, well, just two years ago, when hurricane matthew came through, they experienced epic flooding, many residents assumed that it was a 500 year flood, something they would only have to contend with once in a lifetime and now this is happenihappen ing all over again. take a listen. >> i lost my home twice, but you know it is not about me. i represent thousands of citizens here in this city that are in the same boat. >> lumberton city officials say more than 800 residents are staying in shelters. they say supplies are running low and they are in need of everything from drinking water to sheetrock. meanwhile the floods are also threatening two former coal plants. north carolina environmental officials are monitoring a dam breach near a coal fired power plant near the cape fear river in wilmington. their concern is a hazardous byproduct of burning coal. duke energy says ground and

in wrightsville beach, north carolina, jonathan serrie, fox news. >> we want to get the very latest now on hurricane florence from wrightsville beach, north carolina. >> rick leventhal is there with more on the preparations and evacuations. it's always so odd. we know this storm is on the way but yet, when we see the picture with you, everything looks like a beautiful night. >> and very quiet here tonight. right after i got off the air last hour with you guys, a gentleman came up to me and said, you are not planning on staying on the island, are you? we said we were considering it and he said, don't do it. don't stay here. this is a resident who has been here his whole life. the people who work or live on the island are getting off unless they have a super secure place to stay. and folks who are in low-lying areas seem to be boarding up, and packing up, and getting out. the transition has been pretty smooth on the highway. we were told about some jam ups along the interstate, and some gas stations running out of fuel. a lot of stores selling out of water, batteries, food and other suppl

jonathan serrie is live in lumberton, north carolina, now. jonathan? >> good evening, jon, lumberton is about 60 miles from the coast, but it's all that inland rains that has been causing this flooding. ordinarily this is a small creek that runs by a residential area. you can see that creek is so swollen that these raging floodwaters are surrounding many of the homes here. lumberton city officials say more than 800 people are in shelters and supplies are running low. >> citizens are devastated. they are hurting. we need supplies. we need water, cleaning supplies, sheetrock, mud, osb board, we just need everything. >> city officials say many residents rr still recovering -- were still recovering from hurricane matthew which flooded much of lumberton back in 2016. at the time, many described it as a 500 year flood, once in a lifetime event, but two years later, heavy inland rainfall from florence is bringing huge amounts of flooding to the region all over again. driving is difficult in the southeast section of the state. flooding continues to affect hund

stuart: jonathan serrie, thank you very much indeed. jonathan just said what a headache.illion of our fellow americans are in for a dreadful headache this morning. can you imagine? you're not in your own home. you might not have power. you probably can't get to a hot meal. you don't know when you can get back or what kind of damage is your house. >> what matters is family. groups like samaritan's purse on the ground as well. in carolinas, you are living in one of the beautiful places in the world and generally prepared but you -- ashley: getting reports of the pamlico river is over its banks, flooding entire neighborhoods. highway 264 is cut off. as water comes down, rivers are rising. this is a slow motion catastrophe. stuart: yes it is. we'll have more on the storm and little bit from wall street after this. - why are drivers 50 and over switching to the aarp auto insurance program from the hartford? let's hear what actual customers are saying. - the hartford's integrity is something that's very important to us folks over 50. we like talking to real people and getting t

jonathan serrie is live in lumberton, north carolina, where rivers remain at flood stage this week. nathan? >> arthel, an example of that right behind me, this used to be a public park, now under water. what happened is the lumber river rose to such high levels, the water over topped this protective flood control berm and now the waters are beginning to recede, the berm is keeping floodwaters on the other side. the city of lumberton brought in the industrial grade pumps which are now pumping the floodwaters back into the lumber river. many roads remain closed here in lumberton and throughout this part of north carolina, as part of last week's damage assessment, the north carolina d.o.t.'s division of aviation sent up a drone to survey conditions on interstate 40 about 30 miles north of wilmington. three days after the storm made landfall, this is what i-40 looked like near mile marker 387 in pender county. it looked more like a river. a week later, 547 roads remain closed statewide including sections of i-95 and i-40. state highway officials are asking people to avoid travel in the s

jonathan serrie is live in lumberton, north carolina, with the latest from the region.ter: hi, jon, despite the apparent discharges from the retired coal plant, duke energy conducted water quality tests upstream and downstream on the cape fear river and says it has no significant impact on the water quality, that the water quality still falls well within state and environmental standards. meanwhile, what you see takes place behind me is going on all over the state. utility crews working hard to restore electricity to 26,000 customers down from 1.8 million power outages according to duke energy. flooding a reality from many residents and business owners. the city installed giant pumps along the riverwalk trail which flooded during hurricane florence, when the lumber river crested it spilled over a flood control berm. the pumps are bringing the water back over the berm and discharging it back into the river. though floodwaters are beginning to recede. there are plenty of neighborhoods and hundreds of roads throughout south carolina that are impacted by flooding, jon. jon:

jonathan serrie on the ground, lumberton, north carolina. hi, jonathan. >> hi, leland. a culvert. as you can see, there's water and debris and trash swirling around the drain across mlk. as far as mlk, the thoroughfare going through downtown lumberton, the waters receded enough so that the traffic is allowed to move through slowly in both directions. the other side of the culvert, water is bubbling through here and threatening homes downstream and a very swift current. local officials say that these conditions are expected to remain through the weekend. now, this flooding comes just two years after hurricane matthew left much of this town and surrounding robeson county jumped water what many thought was a flood so big it would only happen once in 500 years. well, just two years later, residents are looking at something even bigger. we sent our drone up to give you an aerial perspective of this flooding that lumberton is about 60 miles from the coast, but prolonged rains from hurricane florence have created flood companies not only in this town, but throughout many parts

correspondent jonathan serrie is live in gulfport, mississippi two nights. >> strengthening over thewaters of the gulf of mexico, tropical storm gordon is expected to hit the mississippi coast as a category 1 hurricane sometime after nightfall. governor phil bryant tweeted a copy of his emergency declaration mobilizing state resources including the national guard to respond where needed. tropical storm tropical storm wd from the florida panhandle to the louisiana coastal residents are filling sandbags by the mayor of new orleans has called for a voluntary evacuation of residents living outside the city's protected levee system. >> i am confident we have got the pumps and the power we need to get through this. never overconfident, however, always focused. and prepared. barricades are prestaged and in flood prone areas and we have emergency personnel again ready to respond. >> this time lapse video shows the storm clouds from gordon's outer bands moving over florida's pensacola bay. residents and visitors along the northern growth gulf coast areg these conditions carefully. it's becaus

in wrightsville north carolina, jonathan serrie, fox news. >>> bill martin is tracking hurricane florence tonight. right now this is a monster storm capable of catastrophic damage. >> category 4 right now. you can see its motion, west-northwest heading toward the carolinas. this storm has the potential to be the biggest storm in decades to hit this part of the coast north of florida. category 4 right now. it looks as though it wants to maintain that status. all this water out here is very warm water. there's no islands in between. the hurricane has the ability to maintain strength and that's one of the big concerns. with that strength will come strong winds. obviously hurricane force winds. heavy rain and i think the biggest thing is going to be this storm surge. in this case we're talking up to 8 to 13 feet above mean level. that's going to cause aay night into thursday morning. and it lingers. there's a blocking high pressure center in this area that's goint leave it there. lots of rain. lots of storm surge. lots of wind. weekend night into thursday. >>> tonight a group of firefighters

steve: indeevmentd jonathan serrie live. janice dean the weather machine joins us now. tegory 1 off the coast but as jonathan and griff have been talking about it's stalling out and moving so slowly and that's where all this rain and all the flooding and all out problems. janice: that's been the message for the last several days. it's not about the category it's the fact that this storm is going to stall and bring incredible amounts of rain. already getting reports of over 20 inches in atlantic beach. the storm is just about to make landfall in the next, i would say hour we are going to see the calmest point of the storm, the eye coming ashore. and that is the lowest pressure point as it moves on shower. shore. there is top sail beach. we think the landfill point is going to be top sail beach up toward surf city. north of the wilmington area. that's where the eye, the calmest part of the storm is going to come to shore probably in the next hour. the worst part of the storm is the eye wall that's on shore right now where they are getting the worse of the hurricane force w

steve: jonathan serrie is live in one of the barrier islands wrightsville beach, north carolina wheree somebody in the water over your shoulder. >> thearkts steve. the calm before the storm. many people are making emergency preparations. right now i'm standing in front of johnny mercer's fishing pier originally built in the 1930s made out of wood but in 19965 series of two storms, bertha and fran completely destroyed it and so now they rebuilt it in 2002 out of concrete. and take a look at this home video showing how well it held up during hurricane matthew. i'm told hypotheticalsly this pier under new construction could with stand winds of up to 200 miles per hour. of course, that's not the case for all of the structures on the carolina coast. so the president has approved emergency declarations in north and south carolina. earlier the president tweeting my people just informed me this is one of the worst storms to hit the coast in many years. also south carolina, north carolina and virginia. please be prepared be careful and be safe. we have seen long lines at stores and gas station

jonathan serrie in north carolina. first to meteorologist janice dean for the latest on the track and numbers and what you're seeing. >> a lot different than yesterday. we definitely know what will happen in the next 48 hours and past that all eyes will be on the storm and getting into a now casting situation. here is what we know. a very strong storm category 4. the last few frames of the satellite presentation are impressive. we'll get a new advisory at 11:00 a.m. complete with a new track. you can see the eye very well defined here. we have a window of opportunity to see a category 5, the highest on the scale. this is a monster to be sure. but what happens after 48 hours? right now it is moving northwest at 17 miles per hour but our area of high pressure in the atlantic will break down. it will move eastward and nothing to steer the storm for the next several days. this is our model. i don't want you to take it as gospel but give you an idea of what we're dealing with in terms of forecasting. this is saturday. it st

and that is exactly where we find fox news's jonathan serrie. he is standing by. boy, jonathan, walk us through what is happening right where you are. reporter: absolutely, trish. right now i'm at writesville beach. you can see behind me, looks like a typical day at the beach, hidden behind the beachgoers are activities going on as local officials are trying to secure the beach. that wooden structure used to house a lifeguard shack on top. they came in with heavy equipment couple hours ago. removed the shack from the top so it wouldn't get blown over and become debris in the heavy winds. nearby construction sites, we see them securing lumber, lose lumber in the area. so it too doesn't turn into projectiles. all this done in preparation for the storm. while driving throughout the carolinas we've seen many people topping off their tanks and some of them already heading out of town. today, south carolina officials reversed lanes on four major highways leading to charleston and myrtle beach so that all lanes are currently carrying traffic away from the coast, facilitat

neil: thank you, jonathan serrie.eport out of politico that congress is looking at providing 1 1/2 billion, specifically 1 billion for north carolina, half a billion dollars to south carolina and they hope to act on that promptly. this is a coal for getting 11 1/2 billion out-- 1 1/2 billion out to the carolinas as quickly as possible. back after this. he's gonna slap some clips in your hair, give you a bob and then he's gonna move to boca raton. but you're gonna look amazing. ok. there are multiples on the table: one is cash, three are fha, one is va. so what can you do? she's saying a whole lotta people want to buy this house. but you got this! rocket mortgage by quicken loans makes the complex simple. understand the details and get approved in as few as eight minutes by america's largest mortgage lender. that skills like teamwork, attention to detail, and customer service are critical to business success. like the ones we teach here, every day. and customer service are critical to business success. so why not bundl

jonathan serrie has been monitoring pretty much all over the state.ake a look at what he's got now. >> i'm in the town of wrightsville beach. today the winds died down just enough that the mayor, police, other city officials were able to really get a preliminary assessment of the damage and they say that they were relieved that the damage was not nearly as severe as people were anticipating. here is an example of what folks are seeing around the island. these wooden panels they used to surround the bottom level of this condominium. no dwellings here. the condominium is up on stilts. the living quarters are up on stilts, but this is sort of a utility area. some of the wooden panels were knocked down during hurricane force winds that came through here yesterday, but as far as structural damage, very little, if any, structural damage has been seen around the island. we're mostly talking minor damage, gutters, wooden shingles scattered around the roadway. but because there are shingles on the road, there will also nails and before they allow residents to

ainsley: jonathan serrie and griff jenkins on the north carolina border.janice dean is in the weather center. we start with griff just out of the outer bank in

in wrightsville beach, north carolina, jonathan serrie, fox news. >> a lot of preparations underway mark as they keep a close eye on what is being called a monster storm. >> this could get a bit stronger over the next couple of days. this will be a very serious situation. we are very concerned about that developing hurricane. this is the time of year for a lot of tropic action. this is olivia, this will be a significant rain producer out toward the hawaiian islands over the next 24 to 48 hours. look at all of these storms out here on the atlantic side. here we go with hurricane florence, a category 4 system with winds of 140 miles an hour. look at that well-defined eye moving to the west-northwest at 17 miles an hour. we expect more strengthening over the next day. that is a very dramatic satellite image, that very well- defined eye, showing strengthening and this is a major hurricane. here is the forecast track as we come in closer and take a look. you can see the redline. that is what the hurricane center has gone with. you don't have to focus on that line because it could wobble on it

in lumberton north carolina, jonathan serrie, fox news. >>> congress will vote on the number of things that will effect airline passengers. the plan is to require the faa tooth set minimum dimensions for passenger seats on airplanes including legroom. the move is part of a bipartisan 1200 page faa reauthorization bill that was unveiled over the weekend. the distance between seat rows was one about 35 inches. it is now measuring less than a 30. the bill also perhaps airlines from involuntarily removing passengers a from flights after they have cleared of the boarding gates. >>> san jose police chief holds a town hall. why the teeth is talking to the san jose state double team and what are the issues they are concerned about? >>> in vacaville couple credited with saving three kids what appeared to be an attempted kidnapping. this happened next to sierra vista school. the kids were playing when police say a man in a truck pulled up and offered money to the kids to get inside. the kids ran down the street screaming, that is when a man and his wife jumped in to help. like i told him to get

correspondent jonathan serrie takes a look at the day after from mississippi. >> gordon never reachedtropical storm did claim the life of a child when heavy winds toppled a large oak tree onto this mobile home near pensacola. the storm made landfall just west of the alabama-mississippi state line, around 10:15 p.m. central time with driving rains and sustained winds reaching 70 miles an hour, causing isolated street flooding and knocking out power to thousands of customers overnight. >> tropical storm gordon, which at one point, looked as if it will be a category 1, did not come ashore with the strength and intensity that we had thought. or that we had planned for. but that is what we do in this business. >> by daybreak, things were quickly returning to normal in this popular tourist destination. >> the good thing is, no big damages were here, from the small hotels, big hotels, restaurants, facilities, they are back into the day-to-day operations and we are going to restore the flow of visitors as soon as possible. >> according to the national hurricane center, florence, a popular hur

first jonathan serrie is live in north carolina. what have you seen so far today, jonathan? picking up. by and large it has been very calm. a clear day drawing many people out to the beach to grab one last look before this storm arrives. local officials are saying now is the time during this calm to prepare for the storm and indeed many residents and visitors are doing just that. throughout the carolinas many people are topping off their tanks heading out of town. at noon down south carolina officials will reverse lanes on four major highways leading in and out of charleston and myrtle beach to carry traffic away from the coast. >> we know that this evacuation order that i'm issuing is going to be inconvenient for some people. it will be inconvenient. but we do not want to risk one south carolina life in this hurricane. >> that evacuation order in south carolina alone is expected to impact one million people, bill. >> bill: some people will stay behind. it always happens that way. what about people who decide to stay behind on the coast? >> authorities advise against it. the

steve: jonathan serrie is live in writesville beach, north carolina this morning where the coast guardd out its plan for the hurricane. jonathan, tell us. >> yeah, good morning to you. right now the rain is still just offshore but as you can see the winds are certainly beginning to pick up as the storm approaches. the u.s. coast guard has been staging helicopters and boats so that it can respond as quickly as possible after florence passes. they are urging swimmers and boaters to stay out of the water during the storm. hurricane conditions will limit what the coast guard can do for people stranded at sea. >> you find yourself in a bad place, i can't guarantee you based on what i told you earlier that we're going to be able to respond. we do have highly trained crews and i'm very proud of them response capability. based on what we're doing trying to make sure we are ready to respond after the storm we might have diminished ability to respond. >> camp lejeune has set up shelters for anyone with the department of defense i.d. and their families. officials warn the accommodations may be ho

back to you. >> sandra: wrightsville beach, north carolina jonathan serrie.back out to bill in wilmington. >> bill: we have the coast guard on the line. scott buschman. can you hear me and where are you, sir? >> good morning, bill. i can hear you loud and clear and i am in virginia at the coast guard atlantic area headquarters. >> bill: we spoke to you a few days ago. this is your juris dick shun. what are you hearing off the carolina coast and what do you have for us now? >> we're closely monitoring the progress of florence. we're looking at all the reports and weather updates. seeing some of the reports of storm surge coming along with significant rainfall. we've repositioned our assets over the past week and looking forward to getting our assets out there. >> bill: looks to us on the radar right now that the north of wilmington, north carolina is getting hammered yet again and the southeastern corner of the state is feeling pretty big, strong push by florence as well. when can you make a move and when do you deem it safe to get on the water? >> we're const

back to you. >> sandra: jonathan serrie, we'll see you again soon. thank you. >> bill: again, sandra, the fema briefing expected in a few moments. we'll take it live. north carolina senator thom tillis is working with all officials state and local to make sure people in the storm's path are ready for this and joins me now. senator, good morning to you. a lot of anxiety and anticipation. you can imagine the mind and imagination reels when you think about the worst possible scenario. for some people it could be the worst case. what are you hearing about state preparation on your level? >> well, we have -- sadly, we have experience. we have fema in place still recovering from matthew. we've had a briefing from the governor's office from our emergency management experts down in raleigh and we're as prepared as we can be. the thing to help us be more prepared is to have any citizen asked to evacuate to do so for their own safety and for the safety of first responders. >> bill: we spoke with the city official 30 minutes ago in wilmington. you know what he

i don't know whether that's a good luck charm or getting the short straw for jonathan serrie but thatreporting right now. jonathan, how is it looking there? >> it was definitely interesting. when we went through the eyewall we were getting battered with heavy winds and heavy rains. suddenly the rain went away. things calmed down. we were in the middle of the eye, enjoyed it for 20 minutes. then things deteriorated, winds going hurricane force in the opposite direction, causing different types of props. before we hit the eye it seemed like flooding was not so much an issue but when the winds changed direction, blowing water in from the ocean we started seeing at least some minor flooding. here this intersection, several inches of water over the roadway. it was a little higher earlier. some vehicles, official vehicles coming, deciding not to navigate through it, turning around but now the water actually seems to be receding. but i don't want to saber in the clear yet because with the storm it is very fluid. still a very powerful storm, even after it weakens below hurricane force, below

katie: jonathan jonathan serrie in wrightsville beach, north carolina. jonathan?ays after the eye passed over. what is concerning north carolina officials are the heavy winds the storm is spreading across the state. rescuers are pulling hundreds of people from high waters in new bern and jacksonville. if the storm moves inland it will increase heavy rains causing flooding in communities far away from the coast. >> even when the evacuation orders are lifted on the coast, it isn't safe right now forç yu to get there. plus, you will be in the way of rescue and recovery efforts that are going on there. reporter: new hanover county includes wrightsville beach and wilmington has hundreds of roads closed with storm relate issues. public schools remain closed because of everything going on. the few stores open, have long lines of people waiting to restock food and supplies. some people taking matters into their own hands. there are reports of looting. police responding to the reports. investigating one incident caught on social media. back to you twice -- guys. pete: ric

ed: jonathan serrie in wrightsville beach where high tides were already breaking records. nathan. >> good morning to you. the national oceanic and atmospheric association has records and keep gadgets. gauge here on writesville beach before the storm before the 4.11 feet above what would typically breaks the record hurricane joaquin in 2015. the lights are still out. i'm illuminated by battery powered lights we brought on the island. if you look in either direction from me it's still very dark. that will change as the sun comes up allowing officials to continue assessing the damage. but, for now, they are keeping residents and visitors off the island, not allowing them to return just yet until they determine that it's safe to do. so back to you guys. ed: we appreciate it now go to meteorologist rick reichmuth who is tracking florence as it slowly crawls its ways across the carolinas. what are we seeing as people wake up across the coast this morning. rick: one thing you said once the sun comes up and people get out there. that's not going to be the case. the sun came up in t