vaughn hilliard is in tallahassee, florida, because kids are going back to school now. and day four of that annual motorcycle rally is under way. there is roughly 700,000 people, and wes want to bring in dr. natalie azar. good to have you. morgan, let me start with you in texas. at last check a few hours ago you mentioned that just half a dozen icu beds were left in austin. what are officials there saying about how dire things have gotten in austin texas and beyond? >> they're saying things are reaching a crisis level. we have seen hospitals revert back to staffing levels, to operation modes, when texas was seening a real summer surge. social media, phone calls, any way they can to say please stay indoors, don't so go to mask gatherings, and please mask up. for another big part of the surge is the fact they are unable to issue a mask mandate. it has been prohibited with an executive order. six icu beds in the greater austin area. we have about eight million people there. at last check they're about 75 icu beds available there. so no matter where you look you're running

>> vaughn hilliard, thank you. now to the historic wildfires burning out of control in northern california where the destruction is staggering. matched only by the heartache of those who lost their home. more from the state's largest fire burning outside greenville, california. >> reporter: overnight the dixie fire exploding to almost half a million acres. over twice the size of new york city. driving more than 30,000 people out of their homes, the inferno has destroyed nearly 600 structures threatening another 13,000. four firefighters injured during a desperate firefight to cut flames. >> people are displaced and many will never return and that's a tragedy. you're seeing here not just a loss of homes and housing. you're seeing entire communities wiped off the map. >> the myers family opened their doors to many fleeing the flames. >> he comes and hangs out. >> sheltering displaced neighbors and offering food and water. >> we're lucky so far because we're still here. >> reporter: bob johns one of the many now homel

joining me now is vaughn hilliard. and we have monica alba in the epicenter of this crisis. where do they stand on that issue right now? right now students don't have to show up no to school here with a mask because of the governor's order to bar a requirement that their students wear masks. florida is one of seven states that put up. now dallas is opener defying governor abbott's order saying when kids show up they have to wear a mask. we also saw that in the phoenix union school district. there has not been a single school district that is openly challenged for this extent. that is leaving parents concerned, how will they continue their classrooms here. and it is outside of the classrooms. i want to let you hear from one woman who is the grandma of two school students here in florida and dallas. we had that conversation about her grand kids going to school here and what she thought of the school district's approach here. >> the governor signed an executive order, what do you want the school districts to know? >> i want them to stand up against the governor and make a stand

vaughn hilliard is outside of a hospital in jacksonville florida. they now account for around one fifth of all cases in the country. we have the chief of health in jackson, mississippi. and we will begin with you, vaughn. where you are just a 160 spike in hospital admissions over it's previous record, what are you hearing from people there about the crisis? >> we talked to a doctor here who has been in this e.r. room for the fourth wave. 96% of the folks in florida hospitals right now are unvaccinated. again the number of those hospitalized in florida for covid is surpassing any other peak over the course of the last year and a half of this pandemic. right now the number surpassed 220. 14 in june, 220 in the make up of the people in these hospitals. it is not just older folks now. you have an average age of 42. take a listen to part of our conversation with dr. devos who has been there for every single wave. >> referee: we're seeing more that are sick with covid if is mostly younger patients in their 40s and 50s. patients that never thought they wou

nbc political correspondent vaughn hilliard has more.th wave. >> the seven-day average went up substantially. >> the virus surging in states from the west to the east. cases doubling in more than 40 of them over the last two weeks. >> more florida residents tested positive for covid this weekend than at any other point during the pandemic. hospitals in jacksonville and orlando are breaking previous hospitalization records. in alabama more than 1200 people are currently hospitalized. and some doctors say las vegas be even worse. >> the number of cases by labor day will be more than twice the number of cases we saw at the worst time in january. that's what we're about to face. and the public isn't ready for that. >> in overwhelmed hospitals -- >> it's about finding the uptake and increasing the pay they pay. >> 40% of the country is not fully vaccinated and those individuals are making up more than 90% of covid hospitalizations. forcing hospitals today to build out new covid units. >> in the last 24 hours we opened up our fourth covid icu

vaughn hilliard is in tallahassee, florida, because kids are going back to

. >> let's bring in vaughn hilliard. vaughn is in florida which is now unquestionably the epicenter of the 4th wave of the virus. ho is the hospital that you're at comparing right now? >> compared to the previous record here they are 60% over what their previous record here is. who are these people? they're the unvaccinated. 96% of the florida hospitals, the patients with covid inside of them, they're unvaccinated individuals. these are also younger individuals. i was just inside of this jacksonville hospital. uf health, and they went from 14 individuals in their covid units back in june to now more than 220. and we're going to turn that video as fast as we can for those folks. deb b debbi and sabrina that said they don't have as much to tell individuals. essentially we hope that they get better. listen to the conversation with sabrina. >> in june, i think were were down to one covid patient. that one nurse a day had a covid patient. for the rest of us it was business as usual and now we don't even ask if they're covid p

vaughn hilliard is in birmingham that is in the path of the storm today. what are people there expecting to see as the storm continues to have effects really out through the middle eastern part of the country. >> exactly, garrett. the storm is not over. it was in the last 15 minutes where they caught the storm here. you're looking at the likes of huntsville, chattanooga, it is more rain expected here, and there is of course a flooding concern here. we spoke with the fire chief that said they were using high powered tanks to push leave, trash, and sticks out of the system here to make sure the drainage is able to withstand. and they said you're looking at johnson county, the most torrent prone area here in alabama. he said we should expect to see tornado sirens again to go off. just earlier this year there was a tornado that landed within seven minutes of the sirens going off and it took out hundreds of structures. and yes, we're not expecting to see the flooding you saw along the coast, but at the same time it is still a significant storm here and that one

allison barber is in new orleans, vaughn hilliard is in fair hope, alabama and also michelle grossman if i have to cut you off for the president. obviously power seems to be the biggest need down there. what are we hearing about when folks might get some electricity back? >> yeah, we got a pretty promising update. this is a charging station for many people. this is kind of the only option they have is hoping to find something like this. you think of the ripple effects if you don't have power, if if you don't have any battery on your phone. it's hard to find any sort of age shelter and food resources and we did just get this update. they say that power company say there is potentially two ways to get some power back on in parts of new orleans within 48 hours. one option, by creating their own grid in new orleans with power lines that they say still seem to be in decent shape. or hooking back up to the main grid that runs through the entire country. the company is saying it will take weeks to get power back in the hardest hit area. this could be a really positive potential way out for s

vaughn hilliard is following the overnight developments for us. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. this was not a part of any of these tropical storms or hurricanes we have been tracking but if you look at that radar from yesterday this was a massive isolated storm that caught residents unexpectedly. when you're looking at 15 inches of rain and a massive flood that swept away homes and vehicles, this is a storm now left a community still reckoning with the damage here this morning a tennessee community is reeling this morning as dozens remain unaccounted for. after massive flooding ravaged the heart of the state on saturday. >> this was all under water not too long ago. >> homes and cars swept away in humphries county 70 miles west of nashville neighbors were clinging to their homes. >> a house here and had a camper beside it. the women and children were on top of the roof waiting for someone to help them. >> reporter: officials tell nbc affiliate wsmv among those killed were two toddlers swept away from their father, more than a foot of rai

nbc's vaughn hilliard is outside a hospital in alabama where the federal government has sent a team in to help out. vaughn, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, vicky. recent polling shows the number of americans very worried about covid infections nearly doubled since the start of the summer. over that time, hospitalizations have soared. now medical professionals are hopeful that an anticipated announcement by the fda could lead to more vaccinations. this morning, news that the fda is on the verge of formally rni is on the verge of formally approving the pfizer vaccine, a step that medical professionals hope will encourage unvaccinated americans to get a shot. "new york times" reporting that the fda could make that decision as soon as monday. this as covid deaths continue to rise, doubling in the last few weeks, now averaging more than 900 a day, especially hard hit, gulf coast. >> you're not getting vaccinated? >> no. >> not going to wear a mask? >> no. i am going to live as a free american. >> hospitals are on the brink. >> hospitals are under water now, it is an urgent situatio

vaughn hilliard has that part of the story for us. >> thousands of students are preparing to go backwill not have to contact trace or inform families of positive cases in the child's classrooms. and governor ron desantis banning schools from letting them force masks. >> he has multiple surgeries. he currently has a pacemaker. >> i want the school districts to stand up against the governor and make a stand based on the health and well-being of our children. >> several parents filing a lawsuit. >> are you saying they have a responsibility to stop a disease from spreading? >> to let them ensure that. >> at least two areworking around the governor's order. teachers elsewhere are preparing. >> i think we have to have conversation and rely on the science. . >> the teachers would have to, too. >> you like your mask, don't you? >> yeah. >> former president trump spoke at a new york state republican party where according to the new york post he encouraged guests to get vaccinated telling the audience saying "i don't want to see anything ball happen to my people." we don't see him saying this

we have reports now from nbc news correspondents ron allen characters think park, and vaughn hilliard. >> a lot stronger. >> reporter: across the region henri downpours caused flash flooding. in new jersey 100 motorists ignored the warnings rescued from vehicles. a huge concert in central park evacuated because of lightning. >> proceed to your vehicles and protected areas. >> reporter: the park drenched by four inches of rain. now warnings of more high water possible in already soaked inland areas. >> now is not the time to say we're out of harm's way. we're not out of harm's way. >> reporter: from the type of new york's furthest point out to the the atlantic ocean the keeper of this lighthouse watching it all unfold. >> sound like long island dodged a bullet. >> we did. it could have been worse. it wasn't all that good but could have been all worse. >> reporter: with henri moving into massachusetts and reaching new hampshire and maine in the coming days many here in its wake breathing a sigh of relief. >> reporter: tropical storm henri tore through new england downgraded from a categ