, north myrtle beach, orey county, there is no flooding to report. they do predict flooding inland in the days to come, but there is not much damage here on the beach at all. that's because for the most part, the offshore winds have kept the waves away from the beach. you can see this is all pushed back. we're not getting that strong surge, and as this storm weakens, even though it is a strong tropical storm, it doesn't appear like that huge storm surge will hit myrtle beach. that's not to say there is plenty of danger coming. they expect a long, long saturated night before this storm gets through, but as of right now, wolf, myrtle beach, north myrtle beach, orey county, in fact, south carolina holding up pretty well as florence makes its slow move. >> the next few hours will be critical, indeed. drew, thank you very much. the rising floodwaters raising deep concerns about the dams across the carolinas. polo sandoval is in north myrtle beach. what's the scene there, wolf? >> the river overflowed its banks in the last hurricane and made its way all the

and he's in north myrtle beach here with me. now, ben, if you can hear me, it seems that things have just changed. i was looking at the radar before we went on and i wasn't expecting it to pick up like this. what is hitting us right now? >> well, chris, as you mentioned, we had the wind shift and the winds were blowing the ocean out to sea and then it switches and pushed the water inland so you are dealing with the surge at the height of florence, flying debris was a huge concern and you could see this huge tree fell on top of a steakhouse. tha thankfully it was closed but numerous hazards here in the north myrtle beach area. >> ben, let me ask you o-- one more thing, while ben is talking, give us the shot from above with jake and i'm fairly familiar with the ocean and dealing with the tides, it seems like it moved five or six feet toward us in the last 25, 30 minutes. is that what they're expecting now? do you have the combination of high tide and energy being released and the picking up of the winds working in concert? >> chri

. >>> the top of the hour, i'm anderson cooper in wilmington, north carolina, along with don lemon in myrtle beach, south carolina, chris cuomo in north myrtle beach. this is our special coverage of hurricane florence. today it begins. after days of warnings, the carolina coast are feeling the first band, just the first inkling of what could be the worst storm to hit this area in 30 years. this is a huge, huge storm. moments ago a new paper out on where the winds are. the area is predicted to pummel, it's now gotten bigger. it's doubled in size from fish forecast. listen to what winds sounds like at just 55 miles an hour. winds are just one of the storm's triple threat. this area could see catastrophic storm surge. the downpour is expected to be relentless, estimated 10 trillion gallons of main. in wilmington, they're talking about getting eight month's worth of rain over three days and they've already had a lot of rain this year. we're covering hurricane florence up and down the coast with crews all over. >> the storm has winds of over 105 miles an hour. moving to the northwest at 10. it's expect

chris cuomo is in north myrtle beach. y important news where you are as well. >> true. you are going from a political storm to a real storm headed where we are. this is north myrtle beach, south carolina. i will give you the equation of the moment. you take the information that florence say category two. people look up at the sky and start to see what they believe are the storm bands and it equates to a sense of false confidence that create this is scene on the beach that jay will show you right now. humans of people hanging out on what is a beautiful breezy beach day here on some 10 miles of north myrtle beach coast. the waves are amazing and it's all going to change. that's why we have chief spain with us here doing the preparations. thank you and thank you for your efforts in staying here to keep everybody safe. this worried me. there are too many people out here. this is a mandatory evacuation zone. what do you know to be the situation some. >> when people hear the storm has slowed down in intensity, they try to move m

north myrtle beach. n tells you that north myrtle beach and myrtle beach will see florence later and with more energy than you'll see in other areas. so we've been showing you early impact from morehead city and other places around north carolina so you can get a sense of what low-power impact can do. 50 and 60 miles an hour winds can be more than enough if sustained with surge and precipitation. we're worried that when we come here, people sleeping on the strength of this storm, oh, it's a category two or three or four, what about matthew? what about hugo? it's a mistake. that number doesn't tell the whole story. the size of the storm matters. the speed matters. 30 inches of water will change what this community looks like. this is a beautiful day for people but they're not supposed to be here. this is a mandatory evacuation. so what happens if all of these other aspects of florence are made manifest? that is the concern. that's the concern for first responders who once you get out over 30 miles per hour

nick watt, north myrtle beach, south carolina. >> nick watt, thank you. h myrtle beach important tourist area, so this is certainly an inconvenience for sure. but a lot of people watching to see what happens as this storm pushes through that area. you can see right behind me here, i'm sure you can see it, this storm chasing truck. i want to bring in mike tice. this is mike's truck. mike is a storm chaser and also a photographer with national geographic. mike, what is it like for you to drive around in a situation like this and get important readings, understanding of the storm? >> i feel like it's my passion in life and my purpose and that is to collect scientific data in hurricanes. i've always been passionate about them since a little kid so i developed the herb, which stands for hurricane eye watch vehicle. windows can't get smashed out. i have calibrated anomometers. i recorded it earlier today. adds the eye wall comes in, which is very close, we'll see if i get a higher wind gust than that. might be 90 mile, 100 range. the big thing is the surge and i

i want to check in with our nick watt, who i think is in north myrtle beach. e if i'm wrong if you're not in north myrtle beach and how are things there? what's it looking like? >> anderson, i am in north myrtle beach. you're right. and the conditions seem to be similar to what you're getting up there. the wind is picking up. i would say gusts right now of about 60 miles per hour. they are forecast to rise to about 90 miles per hour this afternoon. now, we are staying in a house on stilts on the beach. i tried to grab a few hours sleep. it was hard because you could feel the house moving in the winds. it was blowing in the wind. now, the issue here is going to be the water. that storm is going to turn south-southwest, so at some point later today, we're basically -- we here in north myrtle beach are going to be between the eye of the storm, the intercoastal waterway, which is big body of water, and the ocean. now, that tide is supposed to be out right now, and i can tell you, it is not. we're going to get high tide at about 2:00 this afternoon, so storm surge i

north myrtle beach in south carolina was on the southern edge of the storm. watts says the beach town appears to have come through in good shape. >> reporter: 9:00 a.m. sunday morning, the evacuation order that covered north myrtle beach will be lifted, which suggests local officials, state officials are confident that north myrtle beach has already seen the worst of this storm. there is one more high tide in the early hours of the morning. and north myrtle beach survives that, then it has survived hurricane florence relatively unscathed. there were power lines down, some trees down. some localized flooding, but not what people feared this storm might bring. people will start coming back, they have already started coming back on saturday. and one woman who saw her house standing said you up don't understand the feeling and joy it is to see my home standing, particularly when i have been through devastation before. her house was completely destroyed in 1989 by hurricane hugo, hurricane florence and then tropical storm florence did not bring the devastation her

let's head to that state to check in with nick watt in north myrtle beach, south carolina. ck, we know that's where florence moved. what's the situation now? >> reporter: martin, we're under flash flood warning, storm surge warning, and still under evacuation order, but so far north myrtle beach has dodged a bullet. the real concern is that surge, this ocean. a couple of hours ago, the water was right where i am here. you can see this debris on the sand. another two feet and that would have inundated this town. so far so good. the water is retreating. you can see a little bit of beach erosion. that's also going to be a problem, up and down this 60 beautiful stretch of coastline and further north. you can see a couple of people there, about 2,000 souls deciding to stick it out at north myrtle beach. there's talk of wild horses there on the outer banks, apparently they have instinct, they know how to survive. i think a few people around here feel they have similar instinct. who knows, maybe they do. the grocery store is now open, serving those people. it is not yet over here.

nick, you're in north myrtle beach. what are the conditions like there?> reporter: well, wolf, all day we have had heavy rain and driving gusts of wind. it has actually made it too dangerous for first responders to venture out for much of the day, and here in north myrtle beach, wolf, we're actually still waiting for the worst of the storm to reach us. tonight hurricane florence beating down on the carolina coast. the storm making landfall in north carolina early friday morning, bringing sustained winds of over 90 miles per hour -- ripping through structures -- washing out roads. soaking the north carolina coastline as it slowly crawls to shore. the center of the storm is expected to linger over the coast of north and south carolina for another day, bringing life-threatening storm surge, dangerous winds and torrential rains, endangering the many residents who stayed behind. >> hurricane florence is powerful, slow and relentless. it is an uninvited brute who doesn't want to leave. >> trestle is almost under water. >> reporter: in new bern, north carolina 1

north myrtle beach 49.t is hitting between myrtle beach and south of florence it drifts southward. this is south of wilmington. but the slow moving nature of this and the feed are bands. you get the feared bands coming off right there. you can see it right there. that is going to give the torrential rain. the atlantic beach is right there by moorehead city. as it moves inland still category 1 and then a tropical storm. but it will take the whole weekend. and then it will move to greenville and bristol, tennessee sunday night. 40s and 50s. we had low clouds and higher clouds. so if you took the dog out, a little chill in here there, is. the low clouds were in place. they were not there yesterday. and the low clouds will come back. so we have some partly cloudies in there. and tomorrow, a little system going to swing through. i think it brings additional cooling. 50s, 60s and 70s on the temperatures today and tomorrow. >>> 7:49. sal is here and tells us this. >>> the commute is moderate. it has been very good

want to check in with chris now down the coast in north myrtle beach. chris? >> all right, john, looking at your situation that is our future. right now we're just getting measuring blows from florence. the wind has been picking up. the home we're staying in is on stilts. it's like it has chicken legs. it's been blowing all night. the story down along this stretch of 10 to 15 miles of coast is going to be what happens when the real weather gets here? and just as you're dealing with duration so will be, j. b. we're going to have 18 hours to 24 hours of increasing bands of wetness, and that's going to drive the storm surge from here right now. the wind is strong enough already to keep high tide off the beach. it's probably back 50, 75 feet from where it should be. what's going to happen when that reverses from these shallow beaches, we're going to know soon enough. >> this storm is moving so slowly as chris pointed out. 6 miles per hour. for runners that's like a ten minute mile. it's not that fast, though. it is a crawl and dump these winds and rain for a long,

then there's a little bit of a basin effect here in north myrtle beach. so that water is going to have an assistance from gravity, and it can pool. and then the question is when will it get reabsorbed with such saturated earth, you know? >> yeah. all right, chris. i'm going to let you go because i know you've been working hard all day. you've been up in the morning, reporting in the afternoon, and now you're out here. stay safe, my friend. nice reporting all day. i appreciate you helping me out at the top of my show here. >> all right. you too. i'll be watching. be well. >> absolutely, buddy. i'll see you soon. thank you very much. >>> we have reporters stationed all over the region. one of them who has been bombarded all day, and that's miguel marquez at carolina beach. miguel, you were getting blown around, i saw, from the afternoon well into the evening. what's going on now? >> reporter: yeah, we really kind of thought we had seen the worst of this storm this afternoon. then late tonight, sort of in the last four hours or so, we've just seen this blast

north carolina, thank you. be safe, please. cnbc's contessa brewer is south of me. she is in myrtle beach, south carolina. north myrtle beach fire and rescue saying they have halted emergency responses until storm conditions improve. what more can you tell us about that, contessa? >> reporter: well, for one thing, that right now, craig, the wind has really picked up and the rain coming down fast and furious and we are starting to get some of that fierce outer band weather that you were seeing just north of us in north carolina. the other thing is some 55,000 people are without power in this area, including a shelter in north myrtle beach where the red cross says 450 people are taking refuge and there is no generators so they're telling people, if you decide now's the time to get to a shelter, they're open with capacity and might be uncomfortable. out here on the beach, they have just done some dune replenishment. they're really hoping that this helps protect the grand strand from the worst of the damage with the storm surge and we are under warning right now and the hurricane warning and the flash flooding

one more point here on north myrtle beach. just want to show you, dana, this is the cherry grove pier. it was completely destroyed by hurricane hugo in 1989. it was rebuilt. the end of it, the observation deck, badly damaged by floyd in 1999. they rebuilt it again. everybody hoping that the cherry grove pier, this iconic pier on north myrtle beach can survive hurricane florence. dana, back to you. >> dana: thanks, jonathan. let's bring in michael cramer. he's the town manager for carolina beach in north carolina. good to have you on the phone. how do you feel preparations have gone down there? >> honestly, i feel very prepared. we've spent quite a bit of time on drills and preparation for this type of an event. we've spent the last week or so trying to get the community prepared for this storm coming. we're feeling very good, although we're naturally very cautiously optimistic about the future. >> dana: absolutely. tell me how many people you estimate in your town have evacuated? >> about 90%. we have 6,000 residents here and

north myrtle survives that high tide, it will have survived this storm and hurricane in pretty good shape. as scott just mentioned, the evacuation order for the county, which includes north myrtle beach at 9:00 tomorrow morning, which would suggest to me that local officials share my optimism that north myrtle beach is going to be okay. as scott said, the story is really in south carolina, will it move inland, maybe 60, 70 miles, where the pee dee river might rise by about 40 feet over the next few days. that is actually as a result mainly of the water that's been falling in record amounts over north carolina. the pee dee river rises up in north carolina. some of those trillions of gallons that have been falling over north carolina and south carolina will go into those rivers and start flowing. right now, the actual storm is moving west, so away from us. so that's part of the reason that we've been more optimistic here, even though we've got wind and rain and the heavy onshore wind right now. i think north myrtle beach, i hope, will be okay tonight. then the story moves inland, martin. >> reporter: we'll hope right along with you, nick, thanks very much. and you're right, the inland

so your areas like myrtle beach and north myrtle beach as well.to point out too, don, mike talked about part of the reason they do this is because they want to go to places where they don't have those weather stations, that they can get data. one of the other things we noticed is even the places where the weather stations exist, they've gone off line because they've lost power. so it is also very important for what he is doing because it gives us that data to know where this storm is going and get that fresh information as well. >> yeah. our meteorologist said because of the power outages some of the information they need has gone off line. they actually get the information from people like you and from your truck, and the national weather service, they use you in their reports, right? >> yes, they've used my data in the past including hurricane charlie when we recorded a barometric pressure of 942 millibars. we were the only ones that recorded that low rate in charlotte harbor. the national hurricane center will occasionally use our data. it is c

i'm in myrtle beach, not north myrtle beach and it has improved substantially.efore but overall people seem a little bit relieved that we didn't get this flash flooding. it's still possible though within the next 24-48 hours reason being is that this rain right now is light but we're expected to get a little heavier rain and the concern is that the storm surge which would probably only climb about two feet higher , two to four feet at maximum in this area, would wave into these sand dunes and then you've got to think the inland flooding and that's the big concern, because it takes a while for the rivers to swell up and then starting to move into people's properties and so officials here have warned people, don't rush back. don't immediately come back to your home to see if everything the damage has been improved or anything like that because they are still trying to fix all of the power outages and that's a major issue still thousands of homes that don't have power and officials need to be on the road s when there's traffic they won't be able to get to all of th

in georgetown, north myrtle beach, light? then you begin the rest of the coast. this is ground radar, this is showing precipitation. you can see north myrtle beach is about the cut off. and then all the way up the coast to kill devil hills inland, to keensville and kinston and the rest. all of this will experience rain now the next 8, 10, 12 hours. and then they believe the storm will meander its way to south carolina for some low country food. for now though, hardly moving. the last official update from the hurricane center was at 2:00 eastern time. the next is at 5:00 eastern. it was then moving 10 miles an hour. it's not anymore. rick reichmuth says it's fallen to a crawl about the speed that you and i walk. coming up at the top of the hours, we'll be on facebook watch, facebook.com/foxnewswatch for an update from the national hurricane center. "your world" with neil cavuto is coming up here in three minutes. this is fox news channel. keep those shrimp comin'! endless shrimp is back at red lobster. with all the shrimp you want, any way you want them. try delici

chris cuomo in north myrtle beach, south carolina. chris. >> you are our future, j.b. 5,500 people without power in south carolina and nothing has happened. the winds have picked up. it is in the tropical storm or tropical depression range now. 35 or 40-mile-an-hour gusts. enough, however, to push the tide out. what should be high tide is 150 feet back from where it is. that leads back to the vice effect that you were talking about and what were you seeing there. it will be duration that is the concern. how much wetness over how much time and once the wind chwhips , how much damage. what we are seeing in new bern is a reflection of those who decided to stay behind. putting stress on the system of first responders. how many more communities will be like new bern we'll be seeing? according to the radar, we should start seeing some kind of wetness here within the hour. i'll keep you apprised of the situation, j.b. back to you. >> chris cuomo in south carolina. chris, we are starting to get the wind gusts. 90mil miles an hour and 100 mil

cnn's nick watt is live in north myrtle beach, south carolina. eing the same degree level of flooding. what are you seeing where you? >> reporter: here in north myrtle beach, there's a feeling that this town dodged a bullet. the big fear here was the storm surge. there was minor damage with power outages and injuries, but there are now three deaths in south carolina. one woman was killed when her vehicle hit a fallen tree on the road. and two people who died of carbon monoxide poisoning reportedly after using a generator inside their home. obviously, officials are warning people do not do that. the north coast has dodged a bullet of the story, the storm and the weather today moving inland. the next 23 to 24 hours, the water is expected to rise above 40 fate and eventually peak sometime this weekend at about 48 feet, which is just below an all-time record. the reason for that, the trillions of gallons of rain that have fallen over. the issue today will be roads, flash flooding, people being told to stay off the roads. that is the danger. rivers, fl

beach. north carolina. we have our nick watt in northern myrtle beach. south carolina. and our meteorologist at the cnn weather center. starting with you, there in carolina beach the wind is hitting you there. the rain hitting you. tell us about the situation as it is now. >> good morning to the viewers. the full story of hurrican florence still yet to be written. one thing is for sure. we know that where we are here at carolina beach on the coastal region of north carolina, we will be feeling the full brunt in the full fury of florence. as a projected land fall will move across the region in the over night and early morning hours of friday. something as a meteorologist i am looking forward to. this is an incredible event. we have seen the storm slow down tremendously. at snails pace. that's why the storm is so different to any other storm that people have lived out here along the coast. it is moving so slow, this is going to be a long duration event. it's just starting to show its nasty face to us now. wind gusts get this, over 60 kilometers per hour. gusting close to

myrtle beach. then when you have north myrtle beach, they've got a long stretch of beach as well. but now this is -- in the northeast, you have -- usually the season is from memorial to labor, and then people go back to work and they leave the beach towels. not here. i was talking to the former mayor last night and he said their season can go all wait th up to november. so the people are losing money. everything is closed. when we were just out front on ocean boulevard here, not a store open, not a soul to be seen. they're dealing with it physically and fiscally as well, jake. >> don lemon, stay safe, my friend. >>> florence is now battling the coastal city of beaufort, north carolina where 100-mile-an-hour winds and powerful rain. how is your city holding up? >> we just had some uprooted trees. for those who did not evacuate and stayed in place, stay in place. i also want to mention -- >> mr. mayor, i'm sorry for interrupting. you're breaking up a little bit. i don't know if there's a better part of wherever you are. obviously we want to you stay safe, but if there is a better pl

cnn's nick watt is on the sands in north myrtle beach, south carolina. some people are returning and relieved by what they found. >> reporter: yeah, since we last spoke, martin, the wind has picked up. the rain is a lot heavier. i've spoken to somebody else who has just returned, he lives on the next block beyond where we are. he said, listen, this place will flood at the drop of a hat. the problem here, it's actually from both sides. we can get the storm surge and the surf from this way. there's also the intracoastal water way which runs a couple of blocks back in town. if that inland fresh water flooding, if some of that water makes its way down here, these people could get hit from both sides. these houses on the beach, a lot of them are built on stilts so the surge can't go underneath. further back there, there are a lot of homes, a lot of condos right on the ground that are ripe for flooding. listen, we've been predicting another ten inches of rain for this weekend. those predictions may be right. but hopefully, hopefully, we will not see the storm

we're in north myrtle beach. we are a day away from seeing the worst. these are 45-mile-an-hour gusts. they are softening the situation. the singles are flying off, john. we are seeing trees bend. what will happen a day from now? we will see. the worst is north of you. new bern. over 6 feet of surge. some places are 10 depending on the elevation of the buildings there. we have a family sheltering if place. the situation is getting -- sheltering in place. the situation is getting worse. we have phave peggy perry on the with us. peggy, can you hear me? peggy? can't hear, peggy. all right. john, we will get peggy back on. they are in a rough situation. the house is flooding. she is in with teenagers and grandchildren. you know, they are running short on cell power. this is a common scenario. people stayed. they took a risk and the risk is turning the wrong way. how long will it take to get rescued? they already called 911. we will try to get peggy on the phone to tell her story about what is going on. we will hear a lot about this situation. 5,500 here wit

nick watt, cnn, north myrtle beach, south carolina. >> nick watt, thank you so much. now thousands of people evacuated ahead of the storm, though many were forced to leave their pets behind. some shelters wouldn't allow pets. earlier, i spoke to crystal webb in myrtle beach, south carolina. crystal chose to ride the storm out from her home and is now on a mission to help those animals that were left behind. take a listen. >> one of the main reasons i stayed behind, when i stayed behind with matthew, i became aware of just how many people when they evacuate, they just leave their animals to fend for themselves. and these animals needed rescue. so, you know, i took that chance just to put my faith in and i'm going to be okay, i'm going to be here, and before the storm, i was out looking. you know, i was getting messages from people all around saying hey, we've heard there is a dog at this address or there is a couple of dogs at this address, or, you know. and people have left their dogs in pens or chained up. these dogs don't have a chance, especially when the water sta

we want to check in with in this case -- with nick watt, in north myrtle beach, south carolina.k, where are you now? >> reporter: martin, these bands of wind and rain were coming through about ten minutes ago. a blank of wood was ripped off our house. the real issue is going to be the storm surge, that is the problem. the big waves of the tlaatlanti we had a high tide at lunchtime which reached us here, if you pan down, jake, down, down, down. it would only have to rise another couple of feet over what's called a dune but it's not really a dune, and that water is into the town and inundating north myrtle beach. this storm is not over yet, we're still under flash flood warnings and storm surge warnings. there's still an evacuation order for this county. but a sliver of good news, about ten minutes ago a lady walked over to us with a huge smile on her face. she lives in that pink and greenhouse ovgreen house over there. she saw us broadcasting, she came back today to make sure it's okay. she said to me, you don't know the feeling of coming back and seeing your house is still stand

this is the potential for this water to wash into north myrtle beach., now, back in 1989, hurricane hugo swept through here and pretty much wiped out all of these beachfront homes. since then, they've rebuilt and rebuilt them on stilts. so the idea is that when this, if this washes through during the night tonight, it will wash under these homes. but the problem is, further back, those homes on the next lot are not on stilts and also since '89, a lot more people have moved here. this is now a town of about 16,000 people. only about 2,000 people left hunkering down here at the memt. we're going to be watching this, done, to see if these on shore winds continue, if this high tide comes in at the same time perhaps as the surge. then we might see a few feet of water coming in through myrtle beach. obviously, we hope that does not happen but that is the possibility overnight tonight. don, back to you. >> nick, i'm glad you can hear me this time. we had a bit of technical difficulties last time which is understandable. let me talk to you for a little bit. i'v

nick watt, cnn, north myrtle beach, south carolina. >> nick watt, thank you for that report. again, florence is making its way through the state of south carolina this hour. and now on the line with me to talk more about that tim harper, tim the county administrator for marion county, south carolina. thank you for being with us. your state certainly in the middle of this thing right now. what are you seeing, what are you experiencing? >> we're experiencing some of the rain right now, and a lot of wind. we still got a little bit of wind to go but we're expecting probably another 10 to 20 inches of additional rain on us in the coming days. >> tim, are you concerned about the need for the work of these rescue crews that are in position? are you concerned that there are people who will certainly need that help and assistance? >> we are concerned. we experienced a lot of flooding in 2016 with hurricane matthew. but we're seeing more people are taking heed and are responding to the mercy notifications that we're putting out to seek higher ground and to find shelter. so we have thre

here we are in north myrtle beach, south carolina, we already have close to 6,000 people without power and we just started to see a taste of it. let's bring in meteorologist, chad meyers. we are getting gusts of 40, 45 miles per hour they tell us, but for hours it has been going on and it will go on all day, and shingles are coming loose and roots are getting soft. we are not used to predicting what time will do to impact, and we are going to learn it this time, my friend. >> what you should have noticed, too, and i know you talked about it earlier, the wind is offshore. the winds getting pulled out of your rivers and pulled away from your beach, it's moving away from you. that's the opposite thing that is happening up here in surf city, in top sul, up towards emerald isle. some of the islands up there don't have anything above 11 feet. so just about everybody is seeing something wet. now we just looked offshore, and it's 22-foot waves. you called the dunes yesterday, and i thought it was very appropriate, you called it landscaping, because they are not dunes like we know in the northe

the eye of the storm is now headed south toward north myrtle beach and that is where our nick watt isbeen off and on, kind of coming and going, picking up even just compared to the few minutes ago. what are you seeing right now? >> well, the wind has just gone a whole lot worst, and it's also coming from a different, more dangerous direction. as this storm is turning, as it's moving slowly through the carolinas, we are now getting winds coming on shore. now, if we get on shore winds, coupled with a high tide in the middle of the night, that could cause some problems in terms of storm surge here in north myrtle beach. we have not seen the worst of this yet. all day, we have had winds, we've had gusts in the 70s, gusts so high that first responders couldn't go out to respond to 911 calls. that has died down. we thought the worst may even have passed and that this started about a half hour or an hour ago. i was just texting with local officials who say so far, they've only had some trees falling down, knocking down some power lines and let's hope it stays that way. their words, and mine.

one of the officials down in north myrtle beach texted me we are slowly becoming an island. president's message on his trip. >> washington is with you. trump is with you. we are all with you 100%. we will get through it. >> reporter: that was the message from the president. two messages. one for south carolina, the worst could still be to come. the second was whatever happens, the federal government will do whatever it can to help you. dave and christine. >> nick watt, thank you. >>> officials in california say six new people have been identified who may have been drugged and raped by a california surgeon. grant robicheaux and his girlfriend cherissa riley. the orange county d.a. office says woutwo of the cases appear outside of the state. one woman who appeared on an episode of the reality show, she wasn't raped or drugged, but he made unwanted advances. >> he took me to the jacuzzi and he tried to take my top off. he kept pulling off my clothing. >> she did not report the incident to police. the police received more than 30 calls with more coming in. robicheaux and riley a

and storm surge the big fears especially if this slow-moving storm stalls was the mayor of north myrtle beachpleading with people in her town to get out. >> my biggest concern is people are not listening to the mandatory evacuation. we have 35% still here on the coast in our city. if you take your family and move, prepare for the worst and hope for the best. >> the mayor going on to warn once winds reach 40 miles an hour or more first responders will not be able to come out and get you, something happens to you you are on your own. >> scary situation that you don't want to mess around with. deadly shooting spree as a man kills 5 people including his wife in just 10 minutes. this started in the bakersfield trucking business before going outside. >> obviously these are not random shootings. there will be a connection between all these players. >> after the shooting, the gunman stole a car with a woman and child inside. they were able to escape. when deputies found the shooter he shot and killed himself. it is not clear what happened. rob: new questions about a leaking operation for political ga

myrtle beach. chris cuomo is in north myrtle beach. and here's anderson cooper. anderson is in wilmington for us right now. let's talk about this. good evening, gentlemen. i've been watching your coverage all night. great job. anderson, i've been seeing you getting more rain than chris. i think of the three of us you're going to see it first. >> i'm like a wet dog is what i feel like right now. everybody who is out here is just sopping wet. it's just the steady rain. we've been seeing some rain bands, some wind coming in really throughout the day. there was a little bit this afternoon. but it's become kind of a steady -- it's not quite -- it's more than a drizzle. it's not really a downpour at this point. but it is deceptive. because as you know, as we all have been reporting and hearing from officials up and down this coastline, this is a multiday event. we're talking 24 to 36 hours. we're talking eight months of rain in three days here in wilmington. there is a lot to come. this is just the very early hours. by afternoon tomorrow when we're expecting this to ma

i would say north myrtle gets a surge before myrtle beach does and iltsz t's only about five f from where the ocean to where the beach begins. we could see water in north myrtle. but the forecast doesn't stop. this is into later this afternoon and this evening. things are still going to be in the same places. >> so this wind has picked up recently and it's stronger sustained winds. are we feel thing strongest of the winds we're going to feel in myrtle beach if not, when are we going to feel those winds? >> the storm isn't dying. let's go back to the live ray tar. we'll see them become more onshore and it's off the ocean. so far myrtle's been off shore and so you've had friction with buildings and trees and mountains by conway. other than that what we have here there's nothing to stop, no friction so i believe six hours from now is when you will see the heaviest winds and they will probably be around 50 miles per hour. >> all right, chad meyers there in the severe weather center and let's stay here in myrtle beach. this is a town right now that's under a curfew. there's another town nearby

get into it here and we're watching you as a window into the future. >> chris cuomo down in north myrtle beach. it is upsetting that you can see, but i can't see you. i appreciate your concern, and this is coming your way not too long from now. emergency management imploring people do not drive through this just yet because it is not over and it is not safe. let's go to the weather center now. chad myers is there for a sense of where this storm is. chad. >> it is right over to the south of you. this is where the storm is at this point. you are here, wilmington. you are getting the northern eye wall. as this system is sagging, you will get the southern eye wall. all right, we have a live shot down here in carolina beach. he will in fact get the calm in the storm, may see the sunshine through the clouds down there. notice the eye itself. you have to use your time lapse sense here. the eye is getting smaller, which means the winds are getting bigger and tighter. kind of like the ice skater analogy. if you bring your arms in a hurricane, you will get faster winds. that's exactly where we're going

one official in north myrtle beach said we are slowly becoming an island.hington is with you. trump is with you. we are all with you 100%. we'll get through it. >> reporter: so that was the message from the president's trip. there were two messages. one for south carolina, the worst could still come and the second is whatever happens, the federal government will do whatever it can to help you. christine and dave. >> nick, thank you. >>> officials in california say six people have been identified who may have been drugged and raped by california surgeon grant robicheaux and his girlfriend cherissa riley. robicheaux appeared on the bravo reality show now canceled. the orange county d.a.'s office says the two cases appeared to occur outside of the state. one victim may live outside of the u.s. one woman who went on a tinder date with robicheaux said she wasn't drugged or raped, but he made unwanted sexual advances to her. >> he took me to his jacuzzi where he kept trying to rip off my top. i kept putting it back on. i tried to escape. >> she did not report the

myrtle beach. it will pick up as this inches to the south and west. look at the rainfall totals. oriental, north carolina, more than 20 inches of rain. wrightsville beach has gotten more than 18. and like i said, rainfall totals could go up 6 inches or a foot in some locations, so we could have record breaking rainfall here easily. davis, north carolina had a 108 miles per hour wind gust. cape lookout, 106. rain accumulation still to come. we could pick up an additional ten inches of rain across some of these locations in north carolina and south carolina. don, it is going to determine where the bands set up, of course. the river gauges, major flood stage, moderate flood stage. we'll see records broken well inland, well away from the coast, don. >> reporter: jennifer, you said bands are coming toward us in myrtle beach. the forecast this morning at least earlier was the bulk of it may not hit us until 10:00, 11:00, midnight. what's in store for us here? we are starting to feel it more. >> all day you have been getting offshore winds. that's why the waves aren't that big, the surf hasn't been tha

most of the residents of north myrtle beach and myrtle beach itself a little to the south did get out. some are riding it out here. we're staying in touch with them and trying to give them all the information they need to keep as safe as possible. as you just heard from fema, the message from all officials was if you decided to ride this out and stay put, then do not try to go anywhere because the flooding is coming, the storm surge is coming. it is only going to get worse. we're likely to be in this situation, bill, as you've been saying for something like 24 to 36 hours. it is a very dangerous day or two ahead for everybody. here in north myrtle beach and up the coast towards you, bill. >> bill: thank you, jonathan. those conditions there are what we were getting four hours ago as the storm swirls around. it's about 80 miles south of that and 20 miles south it's myrtle beach and then 80 miles to morehead city. the storm came onshore last night. 200 miles of shoreline between north carolina and south carolina. that will feel the size of the storm. the numbers are staggering when you

north carolina. that storm is located about 30 miles northeast of myrtle beach.will continue to drift to the west at 5 miles an hour, and then it will turn a little to the west-southwest as it moves to south carolina. then by tomorrow evening, it should be in central south carolina. we have problems with heavy bands of rain, the yellow indicating the heaviest rain bands, high winds and torrential downpours. >> torrential downpours not just in the coastal areas, right? so decently inland and the incident with that rainfall, no matter where you are near the coast or the river? it will be spilling over the banks? >> it will be spilling over the banks and eventually the water will run to the coast. the soil is so saturated that it doesn't take much wind to knock these trees over which causes more power outages. we have tropical winds 170 miles from the center of the storm. there had been reports of tornadoes to the north and to the northeast of the storm. there are these spiral bands that come in, they encounter friction with the earth's surface. it produces low-leve

griff jenkins is live from atlantic beach, north carolina, where they are expecting 110 mile-per-hour winds. steve: todd piro is in myrtle beach, south carolina talking to people who will not leave. jedediah: janice dean is here passing florence's path but we begin with griff. >> good morning, guys. can you see the wind picking up here. in fact, the coast guard in moorehead conditions, no ships in, no ships out. the threat from that storm surge 9 to 13 feet is still what it was in the beginning. if you look from space, at florence, she is as big as both carolinas. this storm, while it's diminished in category has not diminished in size and the threat is significant and here in the eastern carolinas where two years ago hurricane matthew killed 28 people with excessive flooding, well, they are preparing for much worse here. in fact, here in the atlantic beach where we are in less than an hour, they will close the bridge. residents cannot get back on. you can get off still, but you can't get back on. i talked to a resident just minutes ago. his name is tim bowen, a lifelong resident here. that colonel of flooding prompted h

right here on north myrtle beach. now the good news for at least coastal south carolina is that the storm surge that we were expecting does not appear to be coming. that is largely as rick was talking about the offshore winds blowing from the land on to the ocean pushing the ocean back. i'm just going to walk a little bit off the beach. i can tell you this fine south carolina sand, when it's whipped by the 60-plus-mile-per-hour winds hurts a good bit. so i'll come up off the beach here. as i do that, we can look down the beach and show you a couple of homes that have suffered some wind damage through today. there has been nothing major that we have seen. there are trees down. we have seen some power lines down as well. and much of north myrtle beach and the entire myrtle beach region is actually without power right now. it's likely to stay that way for quite some time. simply because it is not safe. obviously for anybody to come out and start fixing the power lines in these conditions. most of the people who live here

here in north myrtle beach the problem was going to be the storm surge. mercifully, that never happened. i would say it probably had to rise another two feet and this town would have been inundated. that did not happen. north myrtle beach has dodged a bullet on the coast and the focus shifts inland and those rivers of the john? >> appreciate that, nick. stay safe as well. we'll bring you any major developments. shifting to politics and what could be a game-changing development in the special counsel development. paul manafort is now a cooperating witness, when he says the crimes that manafort admitted to predated the trump 2016 campaign but he could not be more wrong when he labels the mueller investigation as a witch hunt. the fourth aide to plead guilty. he had russian ties when he joined the campaign. if anyone on team trump was aware of the russian election interference, manafort would likely know. the platform language on russia was softened and at the infamous trump tower meeting arranged by donald trump jr. after promised by russians to deliver dir

jonathan hunt is live in north myrtle beach. hey, jonathan. >> shep, this is likely to be a tale in two parts for south carolina the next couple days. first, the good -- we hope the good part. that is the coastal south carolina, including north myrtle beach where we are right now, may have dodged a bull let. we're being told by rick reichmuth, our chief meteorologist, that we're let's likely now than we were before to see a storm surge from the ocean. that is very good news indeed. it was predicted at one point to be anywhere from 2 to 9 feet. but rick is telling us now that that is unlikely to happen. now, that's because we're -- if you look at the map of the hurricane, we're at the bottom of it. think of those anti-clock-wise winds. when they get down here, they're blowing offshore. they're coming from land out to the ocean. you can look at the palm trees. they're bending out towards the ocean as the winds gust. the winds have not been bad here, not nothing like what steve harrigan is experiencing in topsail beach in north car

here in south carolina, north myrtle beach, this is where florence is coming. throughout the day conditions will be deteriorating. what are we seeing here? by storm standards, reasonable fair. 30, 40 miles an hour sustained winds. gusts of 50 miles an hour or so. it makes for a dramatic looking ocean. it sounds dramatic if i put the microphone directly into the wind. but by hurricane standards, very light. however, here is what's going to change here. this is a tide just starting to come in. when the wind shifts as this storm rotates and moves southwest by west, by the time it gets here, you will have another high tide, and it will have the wind working with it that time. you will have surge, tidal action and wind coming together. they added five feet of sand to this beach not many weeks ago and it is already having a hard time dealing with high tide without any storm conditions, so we'll see. jacksonville has seen very dramatic activity throughout the morning. ed, tell us, what have the people there had to live through so far on this day? >> well, we have been

i appreciate it. >> and that's going to be the story of where we are here in north myrtle beach, south carolina. okay? it's about nine, ten miles of coast. and if you were to look at the map you'd see we're inset in kind of a cutout. they call it the just coast here. and once it comes it will be packing a lot of category 4 storm surge. so it won't have the wind speeds, but that is really an illusion for people. the number carries way too much significance for people. duration matters more. you already have a lo of water on the ground here. it's been a rainy season. storm surge, more rain sitting on top of you. the pressure of time. that's what creates trees falling, foundations collapsing, and people being stuck in conditions that can be tricky and tricky for first responders. now, just south of us in myrtle beach, south carolina you have don lemon. don, what's it looking like down there? what are they telling you is heading your way? >> well, it's a monster storm heading our way, chris. i think you're exactly right. people get caught up on that whole thing of what category it is. it's

beach. little river, south carolina, down to north myrtle, myrtle beach. georgetown, south carolina.a 200 mile stretch that now is in the cross hairs of a monster storm. here is the governor, roy cooper. he has been on the air about this time every day for the past three days. let's drop in and find out what he knows at the moment. live to roy cooper. >> today it becomes a reality. get yourself to a safe place and stay there if you haven't already. over the next few hours, many roads will become unsafe and impassable from debris and floodwaters. don't drive during the peak of the storm and don't attempt to drive through flooded roads. that puts your life in danger. i know many north carolinians see updated storm tracks, changing categories of the hurricane, and landfall predictions. i'm concerned because i've even heard some people say that north carolina is getting a break. please hear my message. we cannot underestimate this storm. wind speeds have dropped some from yesterday, but we've traded that for a larger wind field that expands 200 miles with tropical storm-force winds. and

what you are seeing now, but unfortunately that means that will all go down towards cuomo and north myrtle beach. >> reporter: i think you can see the rain. the rain is stinging it's beginning to fall so hard. i am separated from my camera by about 50 feet or so and i can't see the camera shooting me right now. it's raining so hard the wind blowing so fast i can't actually see the camera. i am only looking into the direction where i think the camera might be, and the rain is so thick that you can't see that far. you were telling me three inches per hours, and i can't tell if it's the rain i manyam feeling, if it's the rain blowing off. the wind is whipping here and the rain is falling. you are seeing three inches an hour. the forecast, chad, if you are still with me, we have been told we can expect 24 inches of rain here. at one point they were saying as many as 40 inches per rain, and is that still the forecast? >> it still is. i would say what is left of the storm still to come at 20. if we get 20 compared to the 40-inch mark. you are going to get the break. that break is the center of the eye

let's go to the mayor now of north myrtle beach, marilyn hatley. mayor, thank you so much for joining us. the advisory from your city to residents is please leave. it's good to see you. there are mandatory evacuations. are folks listening? have you been going door to door? what's going on? >> well, as we all know, this is one of the largest devastating storms that may possibly be in the history of the east coast of the united states. it is so important that people listen to the mandatory evacuation, and that has been my message that we have been sending out through facebook, twitter, websites, and begging people to please leave. now, many people have left. but i still have 35% of my citizens in the city of north myrtle beach that are staying. and those 35 need to take this storm serious and realize that with the storm surge, with all the rain, with the high winds, this is going to be an enormous storm, and it is going to be devastating to our community. >> if residents don't listen and decide to ride it out, what do they need to know, mayor? >> wel