we will be here, you know, we will be here until it's over. >> shepard: if steve harrigan can survivehe kyber spas in afghanistan he can survive north top sail. i'm glad there aren't a lot of other people around there steve, thanks so much. it's a case study in the front and back side of these storms. that counterclockwise flow, if you are 50, 60 miles from the center of the storm, which i think steve is about now, the wind and the waves coming off the ocean, constant pounding wind, in a normal storm that moves at a normal pace, it would have been long gone by now. and it's quite possible that it would have been a sunny day by now. when andrew came through in south florida, it was a sunny day within just a few hours. because that storm was moving at 28, 30 miles per hour. so, the storm went away and after a hurricane, you know, you have the bluest skies and the least humidity because that low pressure center sucks everything. in all the moisture. and it just takes it on its way as it moves out of the region. and in this case, none of that. live looking here in new bern. we have been t

and you have to go far to get away from this flooding. >> sean: steve harrigan, hurricane steve harrigann the ground, thank you, joining us now in morehead, city north carolina, leland vittert has had a hard time standing up, the wind has picked up considerably. >> yes, exactly, to the point where we are starting to hang onto things as we are out here. at some point we will have to move back up to the balcony of her shelter, but since we last talked to you can see the doc continuing to rise and rise with the rising tide, to steve's point about people heeding the warnings, one of the things that the police and fire department said is that once it gets bad, they are not coming to get you if you are in trouble, and it is getting to that point where the police and fire department say that they cannot come help people. so people who thought, i can ride this one out, if they saw it go down from a category 4 to category 2, they do not have any other options than to hunker down, but many people that steve met and i meant, there were making those decisions out here. and now having the shingles ri

let's go to steve harrigan who we have been watching along topsail beach where they're still getting blown around. steve? >> there's no let up in the wind the past several hours. i'll give you a visual. you can't fall backwards into this wind. the destruction that is taking place is pretty clear all along the main street here. covered with sand now. you can see bits and pieces of people's houses. that's the stairway there, doors, windows. when you look down the road, it's covered and sand and debris. the overall structures are still standing. parts of the roof, parts of the porches and doors. they're all here in the middle of the road where it's still gusting and the rain 20 inches is still coming in pretty much sideways. it's clear there's no in or out of the island because of the debris and the water that is covering the debris. and also because of downed power lines. there's no electricity here. there's no electricity for 600,000 people in north carolina. the cleanup here is going to be huge. but too early to talk about cleanup now. this is still very much a wind event on this part

steve harrigan live. steve? >> [windswept] coming back today and tied down. i can't say that yet. no blasting of the strength of the winds coming off the ocean. after 20 inches of rain, that's been causing the flooding here. lock down caroline's not down power lines you see the weather there. things like that. parts you see -- paints the picture of this. there is really no way to drive around here. the water, the debris, the downed power lines, no way to gain in or out. we have done remarkably well. they got a fair warning, got out early. really, i've never seen better preparation. seems we have to go back for a very tough cleanup ever. >> a lot of damage assessment yet to be done. steve harrigan, that entire area of the coastline has been battered for the past ten hours. let's go down the coast south of there into south carolina. jonathan hunt is in north myrtle beach. jonathan? >> shep, far better situation here in south carolina than it is for steve harrigan and the rest of the residents of north carolina. southern carolina may indeed have dodged a bullet. the storm surge that

steve harrigan is not one for drama. they have a very serious situation in the beach area at this time it is easy to understand why they do because of the exact positioning of the storm. anytime you look at hurricane, if you put it in the center of your vision, if you were to make four quadrants, that upper right quadrant, the northeastern quadrant of the hurricane is where the worst of it always is. that's where the worst of the wind is, that's where the worst of the rain is, the energy has taken that to the north and every hurricane, the northeast quadrant is the worst part. that's where you add the forward wind speed to the winds of the hurricane all of the water coming in that direction and that's what's happening right now. imagine the coast of north carolina kind of curved there, the storm is just below that beach. as of the eye of the hurricane, the outer eye walls of the hurricane, the one closest to him is about 20 miles, maybe 25 miles, not even that, to the south of him. 25 or 30 miles to the south of him so t

steve harrigan is there.ood evening, steve. >> shannon, hats off to this team here for keeping this shot up as we've seen conditions get worse and worse. we lost the satellite feed first then electric power and now cell phone service but the shots are still going outcome i believe. the wind has come in steadily, throwing the rain sideways right now. it's been strong enough now, certainly tropical force winds, knocking out bits of the buildings, snapping small branches. no major distraction yet. that could come in the hours ahead. we are likely to see in the wee hours of the morning, hurricane force winds, sustained 100 miles per hour. we have seen the beach gradually disappear as the water comes up and up. if we do get that 11-foot storm surge, that water will come over this dune and probably cover the first floor of most of these houses. all along the islands, pitch black, more than 100,000 people are without power along the coast of north carolina. that number could raise to one to 3 million. the houses are

leland vittert is in morehead city, but we start with steve harrigan who is in north topsail beach. evening, steve. >> bret, good evening. the backside of the storm refuses to break. very strong winds coming in off the side of the ocean. the rain coming in sideways. the wind is still strong enough to break off parts of houses along the beach. there is a staircase that used to be on that house across the street. losing tiles from its roof, and it's lost -- when you look down, you can see pieces of houses that were along the beach all the way down. structurally for the most part better, but we are seeing -- it's very tough to move around on the streets because of the debris, because of the water, we've had 20 inches of rain here. that's because of down power lines. it's very dangerous. people here, they've done an excellent job getting the warnings out because most of these houses have been boarded up. people have been going away sometime before, but it's going to be difficult to clean up. serious damage from the wind and the rain when the storm finally does move on from the carolina

to steve harrigan live in fayetteville, north carolina with what the scene is like. >> reporter: you the police roadblock behind me, a common sight in the southeastern part of the state, extremely difficult to get from one place to another in north carolina. the floodwaters continue to rise and we are seeing a number of highways washed over. bridges, structurally unsound, a lot of debris down, power lines down, trees down so for one reason or another it is difficult to get from one place to another. the real fear is the rising river. it could peek at historical levels from tuesday to wednesday. that could mean catastrophic flooding, 3000 houses nearby that river. we can see this afternoon the water start developing a number of backyards. more than 30 inches of rain from this storm in parts of the coast and that rain is moving inland in fayetteville, there are real concerns what could happen in the next couple days. people who live along the river, not a great deal of alarm from what we could see. a number of houses were sandbagging and moving their more valuable possessions up to hig

steve harrigan is in north topsail beach in north carolina. one of the areas in the bulls eye. . how is it going, steve? >> shepard, starting to feel it now. the rain is coming down. good wide caps behind me. a beautiful slate gray sky. the beach begins to disappear little by little. we've seen people get out as late as this morning. getting out is not easy with airlines cancelling, airports closing, lines for gas. a lot of shortages. we spoke to one person that has been keeping their gas station open as a sign of aid to the community. here's that person. >> i'm so personally involved in this community and they are with us that we're doing what we can do because they would do it for us if the shoe was on the other foot. >> there's one person staying behind for a noble reason. they have more than 108 shelters opened up, more than 7,000 feel in the shelters. it's going to get worse the next couple days. more than 3,000 national guard have been called up. shepard? >> shepard: you're just about here. that puts a lot of water where you are, steve. how are folks prepare somethipr. >>

back to you. >> steve harrigan, north topsail beach and north carolina. the headline, brand-new 5:00 eastern time update from the national hurricane center is the hurricane has weekend ever so slightly. the central pressure has gone up only 1 millibar. it is continuing to hit northwest towards the coast where they believe it will strike out glancing blow somewhere along the north carolina coast and then begin to drift down. as you look at the map, you will see it's a category 3 storm moving towards the coast. let's take the big map. you can see is headed right up. they believe that by thursday afternoon, tomorrow afternoon at 2:00, 125-mile-an-hour maximum sustained winds, strong categor. coming ashore, don't know exactly where but somewhere around wilmington, then drifting down the coast into south carolina, potentially into georgia and lingering for multiple days. the chance for an enormous storm surge is very good and chance for up to 40 inches of rain in isolated spots. florence is one not to be taken lightly. "the five" is next on fox news channel. i

senior correspondent steve harrigan, who whizzed on these storms time and again. eve, what are you experiencing tonight, and would you say you are deteriorating significantly where you are? >> we are seeing some tough conditions. we've been here about an hour or so, and it's actually a little bit scary what i'm seeing behind me. there were 50 or 60 yards of beachwood we started, doing the live shots down on that beach. that beach is now gone, and i'm just seeing these huge whitecaps come all the way up to this dock that i am standing on, and sometimes laugh over this dune. the beach is gone and the ocean is just -- it just looks ferocious out there. to see that power. as far as the wind goes, it's been gusting at times strong enough to knock off bits of roofs of buildings and bridges, not strong enough to snap trees or destroy buildings where we are. but i think the big story we have heard over and over again as the rain. it's just been impressive, it's been nonstop, just blowing in your face, blowing sideways, and just coming down over and over again. we've heard

chris: steve harrigan reporting from north carolina. steve, thank you. now, let's bring in leland vittert up the coast in atlantic beach. leland? >> chris, florence roared ashore here thursday morning and the heavy rain has not stopped since. many of the hardest hit areas we can't even get to. behind me is the crow's nest marina, so many of the charter fishermen and shrimpers who work these waters race to pull their boats out of the water to protect them, only to have them destroyed on land. not only are so many homes here flooded or levelled, but florence took people's ability to make a living, and the channels and estuaries farther east, locals tell me there are still a lot of residents who chose to ride out the storm and are now cut off. the rescue business right after this storm is a dangerous one. we're right now just in the channels, and you can see all of the boats that were trashed here, believe it or not, people actually tried to ride the storm out on a couple of these boats. now, we are out looking for them. the coast guard has been overwhelmed

steve harrigan, great work again. we'll talk to later.eanwhile, morehead city, north carolina, getting well over a foot of rain and the national weather service ensuring a flash flood warning there and in surrounding areas, that is also where leland vittert is standing by live where this thing keeps on coming and coming. >> unbelievable really, trace. that is a story of hurricane florence. we have been getting rain. this is the lightest rain that we have been getting. for about the past 30 hours or so. they say it is 2 feet of rain here in morehead city. that has two effects. obviously, the flooding here in the city, but also you have the immovable force, the storm surge coming end, and the rain coming down. the only thing for the water to do is to go up, and much like what you heard from steve, it's been dairy difficult for us to move much more than a couple of miles to see the damage. we stop with the wind damage, water damage, especially about two or 3 miles from us, just over there, you see some flashing lights behind us, that is atla

but we begin with steve harrigan and a look at the damage further inland. eve. >> chris, 50 miles inland from where this storm made landfall there are arty parts some north carolina towns which are . families stagger to safety. this woman is asked why she is shaking. >> don't want to leave my house, that's my big thing. >> despite round-the-clock efforts, hundreds of thousands are without electricity. homes and businesses cut off, flooded or torn apart by the wind. >> will make it. it will start over. >> the only way to reach some neighborhoods is by 7-ton trucks he asked mike last used in the war in iraq. >> was never seen anything like this. we didn't anticipate it like this. we've just never seen it -- we've been here 11 years, we've never seen nothing like this. >> as the rain continues, more residents of north carolina soon be saying the same thing. an evacuation order has artie been issued for the city of fayetteville. chris. >> chris: steve harrigan reporting from sneads ferry north carolina. steve, thank you. now let's bring in leland vittert off the

let's take it down to special team coverage, senior correspondent rick leventhal and steve harrigan are live in looming live at the fox news extreme weather center with the latest and what comes next. >> the storm continues to slowly weaken but that is not going to be enough to stop the rain. wins currently at 65 miles per hour, it's a tropical storm. you can see a lot of rain across north carolina, that's going to continue. it's been such a slow mover. just over myrtle beach, everything back behind it -- remember we came on land that 715 this morning. what a short distances has traveled. 60 miles throughout the course of the entire day. you spend that much time in one location you're bound to see rounds and rounds of showers. here's what it looks like out there right now. you see a couple of areas, those darker colors indicate heavier rain and there have been spots where that heavy rain has went over and over again. impressive rainfall totals already, some damaging rainfall totals and of those probably going to continue. right in that area i was just pointing out, radar indicated spots

but we begin with steve harrigan and a look at the damage further inland. e. >> reporter: chris, 50 miles inland from where this storm made landfall there are already parts of some north carolina towns which are 7 feet underwater. asked why she is shaking. >> just i'm going to lose my house. so that's my big thing. >> reporter: despite round the clock efforts by power crews, hundreds of thousands are without electricity. homes and businesses cut off, flooded or torn apart by the wind. this. [laughter] >> we sure have. >> yeah. so we'll, we'll make it. we'll start over. >> reporter: the only way to reach some neighborhoods is by seven-ton trucks last used in the war in iraq. >> ain't never seen nothing like this. we didn't anticipate it like this. we just, we never seen -- we've been here 11 years, we've never seen nothing like this. >> reporter: as the rain continues, more residents of north carolina may soon be saying the same thing. anb5k fayetteville. chris? chris: steve harrigan reporting from snead be's ferry, north carolina, thank you. now let's bring

steve harrigan is live not far from this location in north topsail beach. e, what are you hearing from people there? >> shepard, three getting the word out that this is going to be a dangerous storm. all morning we've been watching people pack up their belongings, get into cars and head inland and head north. here's one family from pennsylvania that is doing that a few hours ago. >> once you find out, this is a bad thing. i might lose my hose. what are the affects going to be. so it's thought-provoking. >> a real mixture of fear and emotions for people leaving and boring up that family will have a ten-hour drive to pennsylvania. they're some of the one million people under mandatory evacuation orders, shepard. >> shepard: not a lot of people left in topsail, i understand. >> it's stunning to look to the left and the right on a pretty beach day and not see anything, just boarded up houses. we have drone video to show you from the team. they are showing you what it looks like from above. it's an eerie feeling here. the clouds are coming in. the wind picking up

steve harrigan is live there hey, steve. >> shepard, the backyards are beginning to flood here alongd river. we have been watching it this afternoon as large trees and other pieces of debris are moving down there pretty swift pace. there are real concerns this could reach record flood levels cresting tomorrow or wednesday. concerns that that could produce catastrophic flooding. now, there is a mandatory evacuation in effect. people were told on sunday they have to get out, but, as you can see up here, not everyone is getting out. some families like this instead are sandbagging their houses. they v. have been told they won't be rescued at the peek of the flood. moving valuable items up. police and rescuers have been going door to door to warn people to leave. so many floods are flooded get out of here one place to another you almost need a neighbor or someone who knows the route to guide you so many down trees and flooded roads, shepard? >> shepard: steve harrigan. leland vittert is north and west of jacksonville. hey there. >> hi, shep, waters rose here so quickly people left with wh

correspondent steve harrigan is in top sail beach, north carolina tonight. >> this storm is a monster's big, and it's vicious. >> a dire warning from north carolina's governor as hurricane florence approaches the coast. >> waves and the wind, this storage may bring is nothing like you've ever seen. >> mandatory evacuations are now in place for portions of three states. >> we are in a very deadly and important game of chess with hurricane florence and what we are doing people of south carolina is doing is staying one stead ahead. >> officials today reversed lanes on four major highways leading to charleston and myrtle beach so that all lanes can carry traffic away from the coast. john boyd arrived at trailer park in north carolina yesterday with his wife and dog. they are leaving today. >> better be prepared and, you know, make sure you are safe. it's not worth saving money if, you know, if you are going to risk your life. >> line up by your number. >> those riding it out stocked up on supplies. >> we have water, flashlights, we are all set. a lot of nort north carolina lynnians are pr

lee land vittert and steve harrigan live on the ground with the breaking news from there tonight nextour kids out into the world, full of hope. and we don't want something like meningitis b getting in their way. meningococcal group b disease, or meningitis b, is real. bexsero is a vaccine to help prevent meningitis b in 10-25 year olds. even if meningitis b is uncommon, that's not a chance we're willing to take. meningitis b is different from the meningitis most teens were probably vaccinated against when younger. we're getting the word out against meningitis b. our teens are getting bexsero. bexsero should not be given if you had a severe allergic reaction after a previous dose. most common side effects are pain, redness or hardness at the injection site; muscle pain; fatigue; headache; nausea; and joint pain. bexsero may not protect all individuals. tell your healthcare professional if you're pregnant or if you have received any other meningitis b vaccines. ask your healthcare professional about the risks and benefits of bexsero and if vaccination with bexsero is right for your teen

steve harrigan joins us now, he has live in one of those barrier towns in north topsail beach tonight. how is it looking there? >> it's so deceptive because conditions right here where i am now just gorgeous. the sun is about to set, light waves come again on this wet beach. as you can see behind me, something is definitely wrong. all of the houses are boarded up with plywood and there is not a living soul on the beach. this town is almost completely empty, it feels like a ghost town. all day we saw people packing up their bags, filling up their cars getting ready to leave heading inland or heading to the north. for some of the people we spoke to it was scary and emotional process because at some of them told us there aren't sure what they will come back to after the storm is over. >> we won't be surprised if our house is not even here when we get back. it's that bad, it's the worst hurricane that people my age have ever remembered. were just afraid there won't be anything here in the last hurricane of this magnitude was probably hazel. >> you can sense the stress that people are unde

look, i want to call him hurricane steve harrigan. they really do a great job, put their lives on the line to give us the great coverage. >> laura: fantastic. great show as always. >> sean: have a great show. >> laura: thanks so much. good evening from washington. i'm laura ingraham. welcome to "the ingraham angle." at this hour, hurricane florence is lashing the carolinas. hurricane force winds already being felt and are expected to worsen through the night. we have fox news coverage all along the coast. but we begin tonight in north carolina where fox news correspondent steve harrigan is really feeling the storm. steve? >> laura come i've seen this bridge over the past few hours behind me just gradually disappear as the water comes up. if we do get an 11-foot storm surge, that would go over and go up the first floor. it is dark all along this island. people really heeded the call to get out. they have boarded up their houses with plywood and most of them left, either going far inland or north or south, trying to get away from this g

we are going to steve harrigan in topsail beach. how is it? >> we had to pull back from the beach because the water was rising too high. for past 30 hours it's been raining steadily. more than 20 inches in the area and moving around on the roads and it has gotten too dicey. some police here are blocking the traffic. the wind today was strong enough to cause damage to houses on the beach. we saw roofs taken off and other problems as well. the one thing that is clear in the storm, the message has gotten out to the people of north carolina. almost all the homes we saw even the damaged ones, boarded up. no one inside. and help is coming from around the country. at least 19 different states sending swift boat rescue teams to help people with the flooding ahead. tucker, back to you. >> tucker: steve harrigan, north topsail beach. if there is a storm, he is there. go to florence, and we have a reporter there. >> we didn't feel the effect until a few hours ago. the winds and the rain are picking up. the strongest winds recorded an hour away from here

steve harrigan is in north carolina right in the path of the hurricane, what is it like?g sustained tropical storm force winds, and a couple of hours we will probably see hurricane force winds of over 100 miles an hour. the rain is coming down in sheets. it is actually blowing right into me, it has been like that for the last several hours, that is a real concern is that after the wind passes through we could see 30 or 40 inches of rain in some places. it was described as potential total inundation and parts of north carolina, so that is the real fear. most of the people are off of the island. we lost our electric power a short time ago. it is complete darkness all the way down. the people were well warned, and they took the warning seriously. most of them have boarded up the houses on the beach and left. so they are there for the large part gone, but for those that stayed and know the risk, there is going to be some brave first responders that are prepared. a swift vote rescue teams, and the national guard has been called up several thousand members, and also the army is

steve harrigan is in southwest alabama with a look at the damage gordon is causing. the rain is falling in alabama and along the gulf coast as gordon continues turning north through the mississippi valley. it made landfall as tropical storm late on tuesday, just west of the alabama and mississippi border. before it weakened to a tropical depression. residents and tourists and coastal areas are not taking any chances. >> we are staying on the west end of the island on the water. there is no protection or dunes. the reality comes. >>reporter: the storm bringing high wind and heavy rain through the region cutting power to tens of thousands of customers. travel is a mess as flash flooding continues with police asking folks to stay off of the road as much as possible. stock people are going to and from disasters in you respect the businesses in the area and stay clear. >>reporter: one person was killed during the storm. a child who died inside a mobile home crushed by a falling tree. the region was largely spared. any widespread damage or heavy flooding. anxious residents

steve harrigan in orange beach, alabama where it is hitting hardest.o be a cause too. >> reporter: that is the real threat, this rain, scenario getting eight inches and a few areas getting 12 inches, a couple of inches each hour. the threat from tropical storm gordon will be flash flooding moving in and across mississippi. the storm made landfall late last night on the border between alabama and mississippi as a tropical storm, just under hurricane strength, winds of 70 mph. it made landfall on the border and the threat is from rain. we have seen rough conditions along the alabama border, getting hit very hard. a lot of roads underwater, a number of closures, schools closed throughout much of the coastline area. 10,000 people along the alabama coast are without power, power grews trying to change the situation. there has been one fatality on the florida panhandle, a tree came down on a mobile home killing a child. emergency rescue crews are going out there, there is a state of emergency in several counties along the coast, people told not to drive. the

us now with a quick update on the ground in north top sail beach, north carolina, is hurricane steve harrigane? >> sean, this part of the coast has simply been pounded for the past 30 hours. we have seen more than 20 inches of rain and winds strong enough to shear off the roofs of houses close to that beach line. finally we are getting some break in the action. a light rain and light breeze. that's going to make it a lot easier for first responders to do their job and that job is growing he a the water keeps rising. the police chief here says they're going out at first light to try and see areas. they have been unable to get to the roads here still very treacherous. downed power lines. water and debris. it's going to be the start of a long clean up and rescue operation at first light. sean, back to you. >> sean: all right. steve, i don't think anyone is getting gas at that bp station any time soon. for everybody please stay safe. we have more coverage throughout the show. first, the left wing destroy trump media is so quick. remember, lavishing so much praise on bob woodward and his new anti-

steve harrigan live in north topsail beach, north carolina. eve, you look like you are getting pummeled. >> trees are beginning to bend as we are seeing the first tropical storm force winds. police just shut down the main bridge. if you are on this island as we are, you are pretty much stuck for the duration. there is no one on this island. the police and authorities have given a clear message to people to get out early. that's what footer large part they have done -- that's what for the large part they have done. the concern will be not only from the wind, we could see sustained gusts. but from the rain, we could see 20-30 in some areas. and perhaps 40 inches of rain that ask produce catastrophic flooding. 12,000 people in shelters. the national guard has been called up. swift boat rescue teams from 19 states are here and the army is ready with a large presence in north carolina. we just lost our power now, so conditions are continuing to worsen. the farmy will have high-water rescue vessels ready. kennedy: these people of course are well trai

. >> steve harrigan reported to orange beach in alabama one of the places where the storm is hitting right here getting a little bit weaker. we are seeing wind gusts of 20 to 30 miles per hour. pretty big surf behind me. waves 8 feet high crashing in thpier behind me. 20812 inches of rain along the coast of alabama creating flash flood conditions. as far as the damage goes, at least one person killed from the storm. a tree fell on a mobile home in pensacola, killing a child. the big damage now is really to the electrical power infrastructure. more than 20,000 people in alabama right now without power. as far as the landfall goes, this storm hit as a very powerful tropical storm. it hit at 70 miles an hour sustained wind speeds right on the border with alabama and mississippi. so they dodged the hurricane just below category 1 storm. schools are closed here. casinos are closed. they are worried about tornadoes. they are worried about flash flooding. and this rain is picking up again, but it's a fast-moving storm it should be out of the coast here in another couple of hours. pretty tou

let go first to fox news correspondent steve harrigan who is in top sail beach, north carolina. steve, what do you see? >> laura, outside of the camera lights and police lights, much of this coast of the north carolina is in the dark. more than 500,000 north koreans without electric power, many in homes that have been damaged by the winds. damaged by flooding. that means they have no airconditioning, no tv, no cell phone service. and some of them are in life-threatening conditions. now, the rescues have begun already. people coming from arranged the country. swift boat rescue teams from at least 19 states here. that's one of the remarkable things about these storms it brings out the volunteers from all over. the police chief said they are going to set out at first light to see some areas they have not yet seen. we have gotten a break after 30 hours from pounding rain and wind. strong enough to dage damage along the coast. part of hoofs, balconies, things like that. making roads very treacherous for travel. they will try to help people as waters to continue to rides acrowfs the st

now to steve harrigan who was on the ground in north carolina. eve. >> juan, we are along the cape fear river. it is flooding backyards. you can see how swiftly is moving. big trees and pieces of debris flying down the river. the real concern is how high is going to get? tuesday or wednesday, it could reach peak historic levels here, that's a real concern. it could produce catastrophic flooding for 1 mile around the entire area. now there is mandatory evacuations that have been, police going door-to-door telling people they would not be rescued in the peak of the storm. if people are staying for the most part. this family has sandbagged their house and move the valuable stuff to higher floors. it's not easy to evacuate from here. going 50 miles in one direction or another can take a day, and night, and part of the next day. so many roads around here are flooded, downed power lines blocked by trees. you really almost need someone to guide you to try to get to where you are going. that's going to have a lot of detours. juan, back to you. >> juan: st

. >> jon: steve harrigan in north castle beach. steve, thank you.hose in atlantic beach north carolina also seen a significant amount of rainfall. that is where we find leland vittert as hurricane florence betters the coast. >> 's since the beginning, we are now in our 10 or 12. this is the most significant storm surge we have seen, the water, and to give you a sense of what is happening, this is a boardwalk out to those chains there, and then you have the intercoastal waterway here. this is the first time we see the water start to lap up over here. the wind has certainly picked up, the rain has picked up as well. the storm surge is going to keep moving in, even though the tide is moving out. we are also starting to see this dock lift off. eventually these dock sections will almost certainly break off and then they become floating barges of destruction to make their way into this town. power was gone a long time ago. also fire and internet, and the police say it is simply too dangerous to head out. if they did not evacuate, they are essentially on t

steve harrigan was in north topsail beach right along the coastline.u were to go a mile or so inland, you follow along the new river, slightly and lend along the new river is the town of jacksonville, north carolina, and it is absolutely inundated with water. they had that storm surge that came in along the coast and it pushed up the river. it rate in england. about ten or 12 miles, it looks like, to jacksonville and that entire area is underwater, at least large portions of it. we've got some pictures from our local station in charlotte, they are in the town of -- which town is it? this is in wilmington, this is a rescue that's been affected, a tree fell on a house and authorities came into unburied this house from this huge tree. you will see they took one guy away who had been injured, we are told none of the injuries are severe but a big tree fell on a home, authorities have been able to go in there and affect rescue. slowly but surely the situation will improve. it has not yet significantly at least, wrightsville beach is where the storm came to s

steve harrigan in north topsail beach where rough surf and high winds are still wreaking havoc. we begin with steve. hi, steve. >> yeah, the wind here has not let up for the past 24 hours. we've had about 20 inches of rain. the beach is gone. the water has overtopped the sand dunes and flowing into the ball. it's the wind here that's been the story. it's strong enough to snap branches and knock parts of the houses off. anything made of wood that is an attachment, the balcony, stairway, gate, we've been watched as they have been blown off into the road. when you look down the road, it's a stretch of debris. you can't really drive the roads right now because of the debris, because of the wind and a lot hoff it is covered by water. we've seen a number of power lines down. the island is without power. 600,000 people in north carolina are still without power. so really right now, there's no way off the island. an island with no power. the police have shut down the bridge that goes to the main island. most of the people have heeded the warning. neil, back to you. >> neil: thank you. be

and orange beach, alabama, steve harrigan, ktvu fox 2 news. >>> lesson bring in steve paulson to check in on the current conditions. >> i showed you gordon but what else? >> florence. us like that is the new key. we will talk about that in a second. we can say goodbye to gordon's. once it turns tropical, we went through fast. that was the good news to start the lift toward the ohio valley and towards the great lakes and eventually the northeast there is not much left. 30 miles per hour northwest starting to take the turn soon just leaving deafened, mississippi. however, all eyes on florence. a category 3 the strongest of the atlantic hurricane season which has been very quiet. things are picking up and temperatures are prime time. window 125 miles per hour five miles per hour of a category 4. some of the forecast model some taking it towards jenny and a little bit towards the northeast. maybe maryland by about a week or eight days. that is a lot of uncertainty and we will see what happens. we will hear a lot about that in the next week or 10 days. a stubborn fog equals a september for

let's check in now with correspondent steve harrigan live tonight in north carolina. steve. >> good evening, bret. hour after hour we are just watching this water rise and people's backyards. that he was the cape fear river behind me. and that's where the flood is going. it's all heading towards faithvillefayetteville huge chuf debris trees it's got to go somewhere. there are concerns this could cause catastrophic flooding when it winds up in fayetteville it could crest tuesday or wednesday. look over here there are mandatory evacuation orders. police are gone door to door to try to get people to leave. not everyone is leaving. this family has made sandbags and they have moved their valuables upstairs to higher floors. they are going to try to ride this out. evacuation here along the river is not easy. any direction you try and go in, there are flooded streets, downed power lines. downed trees. so getting anywhere often without gas, without g.p.s., without electricity certainly many detours. bret, back to you. >> bret: all right. steve. thanks for the update. on the ot

right now we're going to steve harrigan live at north topsail beach in north carolina. steve, it looks like it's gotten worse out there. >> dana, it has. we're getting the first taste of the outer band now. the rain picking up. you can see the surf kicking up good. white caps against the gray sky and the pier is taking a pounding. we've seen people continuing to pack up their cars and leave. for many of the people we spoke, to it's been a very difficult decision. >> we will not be surprised if our house is not even here when we get back. it's that bad. we're afraid there won't be anything here. the last hurricane of this magnitude was hurricane hazel. there was houses floating in the waterway. >> you can sense the stress in her voice. already the state has opened more than 100 shelters, more than 7,000 people in those shelters. the first signs of power loss. more than 12,000 people in the state have lost power before the storm has actually hit. dana? >> dana: certainly there will be more of that. thanks, steve. we'll be right back. as one of the nation's largest investor

in topsail beach, north carolina, steve harrigan, fox news. >>> this will be the weather for thery 4 storm right now. 140-mile-per-hour winds. moving at a pretty good clip. west northwest at 17. here's the thing. there's no islands. there's some barrier reefs out here but basically nothing between this storm in the mainland of the carolinas. that's the problem. this storm is coming onshore and it's going to be a big storm. if you had something out here that would break it up like an island, but there's nothing to slow this thing down. as it moves in, as potentially a category 4 on thursday late evening, it's going to cause some problems especially in the storm surge. we're looking at heavy rain, over a foot easy but probably a couple feet of rain possible in the inland areas. then storm surge of to 13 feet. think about 13 feet of storm surge above the high tide. the other problem we're going to have is the storms bumping into a dam. there's a high pressure center here. it's going to hit and stop right at the coast. it's going to spin and sort of stay stuck for a while. it's going to

steve harrigan is top sail beach, south carolina. down there. >> dana, just a beautiful beach day here. the odd thing is from one end of the beach to the other, as far as you can see, not a human being out here. the mood here among the people we have been able to find and talk to is really somber. people are taking this very seriously. they are packing up, leaving their vacations, sometimes leaving their homes behind. we spoke to one business owner here who said he doesn't know if his business is actually going to be around when he gets back. here's what he had to say. >> justice construction they buy their fuel here. about everybody in the local area that's in construction buy their diesel fuel here and their gas. and i depend on them. they depend on me. >> the widespread nature of this storm means as many as 800,000 homes could be affected, dana. >> dana: what's the rest of the scene look like? >> it's really a ghost town pretty much. you can look up here and see this home right on the beach. beautiful home up on stilts, but they bo

with very fox team coverage with steve harrigan on the costs that could pile up and up and away and adams clots showing florence showing no signs of letting up. we begin with steve in north topsail beach. hi, steve. >> scenes like this along the coast. beautiful beach houses boarded up with plywood. water, bread and gasoline are in short supplies. you can see the beach empty, a beautiful day. low waves here. light breeze. no one, not a single soul on the beach. people have been packing and leaving heading north, heading inland in their cars. a lot of business owners concerned their businesses might not be around when this storm is over. as far as potential property damage, keep in mind, katrina cost $80 billion in property damage alone. this storm could rival that. the overall cost for katrina, $150 billion. so we're talking potential astronomical losses here as many as 800,000 homes are in the path of this storm. back to you. >> neil: thanks, steve. be safe. adam klotz is keeping an eye on hurricane florence. >> you mentioned it fell to a cat three storm. that won't last. winds at 125 mi

striking fear for people living around it and near it steve harrigan with the latest. steve. >> neil, it's been a sunny day here. but despite that the water keeps rising. and real fear that this cape fear river could peak tomorrow at over 60 feet. if that happens the flooding is going to be catastrophic. at this strip mall here we have been watching small business owners pull out what they can salvage. michael is with me. what do you have it looks like hands full. >> right now bringing out office supplies. fortunate enough that we had a couple of larger desks in there they stayed dry we have 2 and a half, three feet of water inside now. i'm trying to rise everything up as high ascii in case it comes up anymore. >> about 3 feet of water inside and trying to put everything off up on tables. they have been blocking off roads. across north carolina, more than a thousand roads are blocked off. including about 250 very major roadways. parts of i-5 blocked off as well. they are still performing water rescues across the street. more than 2,000 water rescues. a lot of people do

steve harrigan riding out the storm joins us live. good evening to you. how is it going out there?tha, we are starting to feel tropical force winds coming in sideways kicking up the sand as well. the rain has been steady for the last 5-6 hours. that's the real concern here, along the coast that we could see a 30-40 inches of rain in some areas which would produce catastrophic flooding. we've heard clear message from authorities to people along the north carolina coast. they were being told to get out. that message has largely been heard. there will be help for what will be a very long night for first responders. the national guard with those rescue teams, army helicopters, army high water vehicles. they are all here and ready to help. it what could be in the extreme a difficult night. >> martha: thank you very much. thanks for being out there. with an update on the storm's progress, chief mineralogist rick reichmuth. what do you see? >> i hate to say steve, more than tonight. he said a long night, it's going to be a long 38 hours for him. i would say we are maybe 10-15% into this a

our reporter, steve harrigan, is in the middle of it right now. steve. >> shepard, we start out in topsail beach. that was serious wind. we moved inland and in downtown fayetteville. north cool springs street. you can see the flooding here severe. the cape fear river crested last nights at 61 1/2 feet. a 70-year high. the flooding is serious but not catastrophic. they have lifted the evacuation, lifted the curfew. little by little we're seeing some residents begin to return to their homes to see the damage. >> we've been in the house a year. so we just being positive. nothing you can do. nothing you can do. start over. >> that man like many here will be forced to start all over. pulling out flooded furniture in this 90-degree heat despite the fact that 20,000 federal workers have been mobilized to help. we've seen people do it on their own. 16 rivers across the state of north carolina still at major flood stage. shepard? >> shepard: fayetteville, north carolina for us this morning. florence dumped nearly three feet of rain in elizabethtown, north c

. >> steve harrigan live on topsail beach.yber experts say digital preparedness can save lives once florence makes landfall and it only takes a few minutes. first of all, charge all electronic devices, make sure they are charged. backup personal data on the cloud if you can. download key apps, go to sec.gov/florence for more information and more things that you can do to prepare in these hours. in other news, the head of the u.s. delegation met today with pope francis and said the american church in the vatican work together to determine the next steps in the reaction to the clergy's sex abuse scandal. today one bishop accused of rate resigned and one priest in massachusetts was charged with sexually assaulting a young girl. religion correspondent lauren green reports tonight from new york. >> for a little over two and a half hours, pope francis huddled with america's top bishops. cardinal daniel did not i will become head of the u.s. conference of cash catholic bishops over the priest sex abuse client crisis including the pen

let's take it down to special team coverage, senior correspondent rick leventhal and steve harrigan are