>> steve osunsami with us tonight. steve, thank you. >>> i traveled here to north carolina with chief meteorologist ginger zee, she's not far from our location here in wilmington, north carolina, and ginger, you and i were talking all afternoon, it's not necessarily just the landfall with this hurricane, because we were talking about the sheer number of hours the hurricane is going to be thrashing the coast and sending water inland. >> reporter: right, and we're talking about tropical storm force winds, david, that are nearly 200 miles outside the center, that's why we're going to start feeling them tomorrow. let's go ahead and get straight to the maps. that storm, more than 350 miles still south and east, but it is cooking to the northwest at 16. it will slow down on its approach, but it's also going to enter the gulf stream, which is warm water. it can feed off that tomorrow morning before it starts to slow down and deteriorate while it's hugging the coast. we're talking about like a buzz saw coming through, that's ho

>> steve osunsami tonight. steve, thank you. >>> when we come back here tonight, we are tracking severe thunderstorms on the move at this hour, from d.c. up through philly, new york to boston. travel worries tomorrow. rob is standing by with the track. [stomach gurgles] ♪when you have nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea... girl, pepto ultra coating will treat your stomach right. nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea.♪ try new pepto with ultra coating. that last place was pretty nice. i don't like this whole thing. i think we can do better. change is hard. try to keep an open mind. come on, dad. this is for me, son? principal. we can help you plan for that. i'm missing out on our family outings because i can't find a bladder leakage product that fits. everything was too loose. but depend® fit-flex feels tailored to me. introducing more sizes for better comfort. new depend® fit-flex underwear is guaranteed to be your best fit. new depend® fit-flex underwear 98% of us don't ge

abc's steve osunsami with that new interview.ber driver who ends up shooting and killing the driver of this pickup truck explains tonight even though he's been cleared by police he still feels terrible. >> everyone says what you did is right but you feel like did i have to after the fact. when someone comes after you. >> reporter: robert westlake was driving a young woman home early tuesday morning from this bar in dundee, florida, when this young man tries to run him offer the road. 34-year-old jason boek had left the bar after a fight with his girlfriend. he thinks she is in the backseat of the uber but he's wrong. in the video you see him threaten the uber driver with a cell phone that he claims is a gun. >> i say something? >> you know i got a pistol. >> reporter: the uber driver who is a recent police academy graduate is carrying a real gun and shoots. >> when i popped up, he took two more steps and sealed it in my mind, i got it. i'm not getting shot. for a second you kind of hope you missed. and obviously that's not what h

abc's steve osunsami has more. >> reporter: the mother of this missing 6-year-old with special needs is coming forward begging any eyewitness to call police. >> maddox is my whole world and my reason for living. he's momma's boy. >> reporter: maddox ritch is autistic and nonverbal. police say he was with his father and an unidentified adult at this park east of charlotte saturday when the father says the boy ran off and couldn't be found. >> i could see him until a certain point. he got out of my view, and that's whenever i never seen him again. that's the last time i seen him. >> reporter: police say the dad is with the fbi retracing his steps. his son was wearing this orange t-shirt. >> i just want my baby home, please. >> reporter: the search led authorities to this landfill more than nine miles from the park where the child went missing. pictures like this one of police looking through dumpsters have been breaking the hearts of well-wishers across the world. >> i want him to be alive. just be alive. please be alive. >> reporter: searchers on foot have been using loudspeakers and

steve osunsami has the new details. >> reporter: the search for this missing 6-year-old with specialng through sewers. maddox ritch was diagnosed with autism. his father joined investigators at a police briefing and explained that his son is nonverbal to strangers. >> it's been torture. i'm not eating, not sleeping. i'm just worried about getting my little boy back. >> reporter: ian ritch says he lost the boy saturday at this park west of charlotte when he was there with a woman police are refusing to identify. he says his son went chasing after a jogger, and he couldn't catch him because of the medical condition that makes it difficult for him to run. >> i feel guilt for letting him get so far ahead of me before i started running after him. >> reporter: police are releasing the calls for help. >> it's been almost an hour now. we searched everywhere. >> reporter: the park employee who made that call says that when the boy's mother arrived, she was hysterical. >> she got out of the car and, you know, of course, one of the sheriffs had to come and calm her. >> reporter: he says the fat

no, we'll see. >> we need to look at the news. >> steve osunsami live with us tonight in charleston, south carolina, and steve, i know those hurricane alerts coming through on so many phones, theirs included, urging folks to take this seriously, because once it hits, it's the rain afterward expected to be potentially life-threatening, as well. >> reporter: that's right, david. and we can show you what people are so afraid of. look at where we're standing right now. we're at the corner of east bay and water street. and a year ago this time, when hurricane irma hit, this is what it looked like. streets were flooded. cars were under water. and this wasn't even a direct hit. they don't call this the low country, david, for nothing. >> that's right. that was several hours after irma made landfall in florida. steve, thank you. a powerful reminder of what this will do. and as steve reported, there is a massive effort tonight to get ready for this hurricane. families, businesses and communities are boarding up buildings and racing to get supplies. hundreds of national guard troops have been

steve osunsami, abc news, charleston. >> our thanks to steve. is north of there along the coast in kitty hawk, north carolina. >> r way from virginia to maryland to the carolinas, communities along the coast bracing their towns for florence. fema trucks on the ground in north carolina delivering supplies. at low country food bank, workers help pack disaster relief boxes. teams from local fire departments and the red cross are already coming in from louisiana, indiana, even north dakota. the salvation army disaster recovery team on the ground. so many local businesses and families boarding up. >> our shutters are always where they're accessible. when a storm starts coming in, we get them out and put them up to protect the windows. >> reporter: and people here in the outer banks are taking the storm very seriously. mandatory evacuations are under way right now for both residents and visitors and officials want people to get off these islands right now. they don't want people to get stuck here as that storm approaches. gio benitez, abc news, kitty

gio benitez, abc news, kitty hawk, north carolina. >> reporter: i'm steve osunsami.orities say they need to watch this nuclear power plant in north carolina and 15 other reactors in three states worried they could flood. >> this hurricane is bringing some rain and water that we have not seen before in hurricanes. >> reporter: at ft. bragg, they're filling sandbags and moving helicopters out of the water's way. >> leave as soon as possible. emergency services may not be able to respond in your time of need. >> reporter: fire trucks with loud speakers are rolling through neighborhoods in charleston that they worry could be flooded for days. duke energy says 3 million customers could be out of power for weeks. the cavalry of power line workers is already on the way. this is the historic district of charleston, the night life and entertainment district. as you can see, it is boarded up and sandbagged. there isn't going to be much night life here tonight. authorities are hoping that residents who are still here will leave now. steve osunsami, abc news, charleston. >> fasc

steve osunsami is in south carolina tonight. >> reporter: across the carolinas, the lines to get gas tonight are long. >> you can see people lined up at the gas station there, filling up before the storm. >> reporter: authorities say if you live on the coast, tonight is the time to start packing. this is highway 17 in north carolina, already backed up for miles. under the mandatory evacuation, more than 1 million people in the region will need to leave their homes. >> we do know that we're in the bullseye. north carolina is taking hurricane florence seriously. and you should, too. >> reporter: at the stores, there's a run on flashlights, gas cans, and water. even the life vests are gone. >> this one looks a little uglier than the other ones, rather to be safe than sorry. >> reporter: at a fire station they were running out of sandbags. so tell me, how rough is this? >> well, first hurricane. >> reporter: this is your first? >> first. >> reporter: this is what they're running from, as seen from the international space station. from maryland to the carolinas, a state of emergency. >> i

here's abc's steve osunsami. >> reporter: the mother of this missing 6-year-old with special needs isoming forward tonight, begging any eyewitness to call police. >> maddox is my whole world and my reason for living. he's mama's boy. >> reporter: maddox ritch is autistic and nonverbal. police say he was with his father and an unidentified adult at this park east of charlotte saturday, when the father says the boy ran off and couldn't be found. police say the dad is with the fbi tonight retracing his steps. his son was wearing this orange t-shirt. >> i just want my baby home, please. >> reporter: the search today led authorities to this landfill, more than nine miles from the park where the child went missing. pictures like this one, of police looking through dumpsters, have been breaking the hearts of well-wishers across the world. >> i want him to be alive. just be alive. please be alive. >> reporter: searchers on foot have been using loudspeakers and the recorded voices of his parents to call for him. investigators here say they are now looking for a jogger and a photographer who we

here's abc's steve osunsami. >> reporter: the search for this missing 6-year-old with special needs had fbi agents today looking through sewers. maddox ritch was diagnosed with autistism. his father today joined investigators at a police briefing, and explained that his son is nonverbal to strangers. >> it's been torture. i'm not eating. not sleeping. i'm just worried about getting my little boy back. >> reporter: ian ritch says he lost the boy saturday at this park west of charlotte, when he was there with a woman police are refusing to identify. he says his son went chasing after a jogger and he couldn't catch him because of a medical condition that makes it difficult for him to run. >> i feel guilty for letting him get so far ahead of me before i started running after him. >> reporter: police are releasing the calls for help. >> it's almost an hour now. >> reporter: the fbi has now brought out a special dive team to now search the lake. david? >> steve, thank you. >>> when we come back here tonight, severe thunderstorms on the move at this hour from d.c. up through philly, new york t

abc's steve osunsami on the scene for us. >> reporter: at least one of the rivers causing this emergency won't crest until wednesday. >> this event is not over. the waters are continuing to rise. >> reporter: kent hendrick needs a kayak to get to his flooded home in conway, south carolina. >> what do these people do that have lived there their whole life? no flood insurance, they're on a fixed income because they're retired. >> reporter: just a week ago, you could walk through town. here's the president in front of a church after the rains from the hurricanes stopped. and here's the church now, surrounded by flood waters that feel biblical. take a look at these contraptions in georgetown county. the national guard tonight is building a floating bridge over flood waters. nearly 8,000 people here are being told to get packing tonight. they may need to run. in north carolina, where the water has receded, interstate 40 reopened today. but firefighters had to clear away the dead fish first. 350 people had to be rescued from flood waters like this over the weekend in the state of north carolin

steve osunsami, abc news, gastonia, north carolina. >> our thanks to steve, who has been covering itthe very beginning there. >>> we turn now to the bay area in california, where 17 people have been charged in a massive robbery scheme targeting apple stores. >> prosecutors say groups of suspects wearing hoodies would go into the stores, grab display items and take off. detectives say the men got off with more than $1 million in merchandise. eight of the suspects are under arrest, nine others are still on the loose. >> it is fall so it's apple picking season, but that's a different sort of apple picking, i think. >> completely different. not encouraged. >> no. >>> well, week four of the nfl season began in los angeles last night. the rams and vikings combined for 69 points. >> but the high-scoring game came down to defense. minnesota was down by seven points late in the game when former redskins and their quarterback kirk cousins had the ball knocked out of his hand. that seemed like forward motion. >> yeah. >> no? not so much. >> maybe not. the rams held on and recovered to win 38-31

steve osunsami, abc news, gastonia, north carolina. >>> health concerns surrounding boy scout clothingr children if it's ingested. if you have one of the slides, you're urged to return it to the boy scouts. interesting. >> good they caught that in time. >> took them decades, but yeah. >>> the president's news conference had another chief executive's name trending online, george washington. >> interesting times, referring to brett kavanaugh, the supreme court controversy, president trump said that not even the father of our country would be able to stand up to democrats' scrutiny. >> look, if we brought george washington here, and we said we have george washington, the democrats would vote against him. just so you understand. and he may have had a bad past. who knows, you know? >> one of many reactions came from "the daily show's" trevor noah. there he is. he said he wouldn't be shocked if washington was removed from mt. rushmore after the president's mention of his bad past. >> "the daily show" also released its version of the calender for a 17-year-old george washington. the activitie

steve osunsami, abc news, gastonia, north carolina. >> such a strange strange story. >>> we move on nowerent kind. a kangaroo is causing a stir in florida. >> the 45-pound marsupial is missing. his name is storm and he managed to bounce out of his owner's sanctuary near palm beach sometime on monday. along with a ground search, the florida highway patrol is using a drone in its hunt for storm and they plan to knock him out with a tranquilizer dart when they find him. >> maybe storm knows that and he's like, nah, i'm not coming by any time soon. >> he isn't considered a safety risk but wildlife officials say they should not approach him. he was one of seven kangaroos in the sanctuary so it's not like he was alone. >> he is cute. >> he is cute. >>> coming up in the next half hour, the very first couple is eliminated from the 27th season of "dancing with the stars." >> he's applauding that. >> we still have many more weeks to go. we're going to show you who got the boot as well as our first glimpse of the cast of "dancing with the stars: juniors". >>> but first, why so many americans are p

abc's steve osunsami has the latest. >> maddox is mwhole world and my reason for living. want my baby back in my arms. >> reporter: maddox ritch who has autism and is nonverbal was last wring this orange t-shirt at this park in st tonia, north caroli, ofnaeaceh h s rans the b unidentified adultih off into the woods and couldn't be found. the boy's fair, ian ritch, is speaking exclusively this morning to abc news. >> i wouldn't have let him got again. away from me.cod see hiih everybody looks mo 've but this child doesn't speak and searchers have been using loudspeeesd anf s his pathreren call for him. >> it's been hard to sleep. bed d -- i feel guilty because doa wn in an >> reporter: the missing boy's mother is begging for help.>>le please. i just want my baby home, please. >> reporter: the search has led fbi agents to this landfill more than nine miles north of the po dumpsters, chased more than 150 leads, and are even draining this lake. last night the fbi had the father out here at the park whic shortly behind me ish directly mind me retracing his steps, trying to see

now to abc's steve osunsami in biloxi, mississippi, where the storm could make landfall. morning to you, steve. >> reporter: good morning to you, michael. we are on the beach in front of the biloxy yacht club, and there are no boats here. they moved them out in advance of the storm. they've also closed schools and are offering sandbags to families who need them. for the eastern gulf coast the first major storm of the season is on the way, and his name is gordon. by the time the storm makes land fall, most likely along the mississippi coast line, it's expected to be a category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of up to 75 miles an hour. already the storm rained all over their holiday weekend in south florida. on labor day more than 4 inches of rain. all that water and the more than 50-mile-an-hour winds kept miami's gorgeous beaches empty. authorities posted rip current warnings along the beach and as always, there were risky souls ignoring them. police were urging drivers to stay off flooded roads. >> the roads are flooded. you have to drive super slow. >> you don'

nearly 200 miles and steve osunsami is in charleston this morning and, steve, charleston is a city that is no stranger to flooding. >> reporter: that's right, michael. they call it the low country for a reason. it's low, flat and next to the ocean and only takes a couple inches of rain all at once for this city to flood. i want to show you something. we are at the corner right now of east bay and water street and i want to you take a look at what this looked like a year ago during hurricane irma. the water was battering this city. water street was certainly underwater. cars were floating. and that and more is what they're afraid of with this storm. that's why there's such a desperate effort to evacuate people from this city starting at noon today. interstate 26 from here to columbia will be reversed in one direction. they are very, very, very urgently encouraging people to leave and not stay because of the threat of flooding here. michael? >> all right, thank you so much, steve. george? >> okay, michael, thank you. let's bring in the governor of south carolina, henry mcmaster. governor,