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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Hurricane Florence Continues to Pour Heavy Rains; Few Residents Rescued by Emergency Teams. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 14, 2018 - 03:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[03:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: I'm John Berman in Wilmington, North Carolina. Chris Cuomo down in north Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Christine Romans in New York. And this is hurricane Florence.

It is bearing down on the Carolina coast, about 25 miles the center of the storm off of Wilmington from where I am right now. But don't pay attention to the center of the storm because it is so big. A huge storm with tropical storm force winds and hurricane force winds spanning 70 miles away from the center.

The big fear of the storm is the storm surge which is already putting hundreds if not thousands of people's lives at risk. We'll tell you a lot of rescue is going on at this very moment.

This storm is a triple threat. It's the rain you're seeing right now which could top 24 or 36 inches over the next two days. It's the winds. This is still a powerful storm, 90 miles an hour -- 90-mile- per-hour winds with gusts up to 120-mile-an-hour and then again that record storm surge.

We're just past high tide storm insurgents some places that could top 11 feet. That is enough. It has been enough. We've already seen to flood significant communities. People are trying to get through this night but that's just the beginning, there could be two more days of this where I am in Wilmington, North Carolina.

I want to check in with Chris down the coast in north Myrtle Beach. Chris?

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: 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 was blowing around all night.

But we're still in tropical depression zone of what's happening here. We haven't gotten wet at all. So 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 we, 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 on the shallow beaches?

BERMAN: Right.

CUOMO: We're going to know soon enough. The water comes a few hours from now. John.

BERMAN: This storm is moving so slowly, as Chris pointed out, six miles per hour. For runners that's a like a 10-minute mile. And even Cuomo can run at that speed. It is not fast, though. It is a crawl and it's going to dump the rains and bring these winds for a long, long time.

Some areas have already seen major problems, emergency proportions. I want to go up the coast about 80 miles from where I am to New Bern, North Carolina. There have been water rescues already. Some 200 water rescues and there are more ongoing at this moment.

I want to bring in the Mayor Dana Outlaw of New Bern. Mayor, first, give me a sense of how many people you are hearing are in need.

MAYOR DANA OUTLAW, NEW BERG, NORTH CAROLINA: Well, I don't have an exact number, but it's quite a few. We -- for the last two or three days have been preparing for this. We wanted everybody out, evacuated some 24 hours ago. We met with the county and our two emergency operation centers really have worked.

(Inaudible) good jobs of providing information through Facebook, our PEG channel through our TV stations through door-to-door knocking on doors and saying please, leave. Evacuate.

We had shelters. If you -- if you had the transportation don't stop until you get west of Raleigh. So we've done did everything we can to prepare for this but at the same time, you know, it's been a long time since we had this type of hurricane.

And I just think it's something that was kind of difficult to be able to make some believe that they need to evacuate. Now we had as high as 10 and a half feet of water. It's back down to about 9.8 and so it's just a matter now of the winds deciding as to where to get our power crews in to restore power.

Our first responders are doing everything they can. We had three or four fires during this past 12 hours. So we're working hard for the safety and security of our citizens.

[03:05:03] BERMAN: You know, I've seen the pictures of your preparations. I've heard you giving these warnings over the last few days telling people that they need to get out and now you are seeing why. You are seeing why they needed to evacuate in advance. Because now in most cases it's too late. Water that was as high as 10 feet now down to nine feet.

This is from the storm surge primarily, correct, up the Neuse River? OUTLAW: Yes. And now in the next couple of days we'll be dealing with

all of the water from, you know, the western areas that have been affected. That water will be coming down our way through the Trent, Neuse Rivers the tributaries and so we've got to deal with that. So we'll have saturated ground, sub fill soil conditions that you know, just a little bit of rain in these trees are going - a little bit of wind and these trees are going to fall over.

BERMAN: Now you told people -- you told people to evacuate beforehand. Obviously some didn't. Can you get help to them at this moment? What needs to happen before you reach them?

OUTLAW: I talked to our crews from Houston, Texas that we're about an hour out and they should be in New Bern now. We have our emergency operations center is trying to get some local staff members to meet with these volunteers and to get out there and to join our first responders that -- again, we're doing everything we can but we have to make sure our staff are safe when we are providing emergency services to our citizens.

BERMAN: That's such a good point, Mayor Outlaw, because it's not just yourself you're putting at risk when you choose to stay, it is these first responders. These rescue crews who are now being deployed in incredibly life-threatening conditions. The nature of the need in these rescues are people trapped by the rising water in their houses?

OUTLAW: Well, yes. And we've been out today. Basically, the board of aldermen have been out. Just all types of volunteer groups have been out. We have been transporting folks to help. We transported a lady this afternoon and on the porch next to her were folks that just sitting on the front porch that you know, nobody believes this water was going to get this high.

Now we had our fire -- our fire truck over there, you could kind of get your attention. And on top of that we had -- we had a National Guard truck and we had two recreation buses to take these folks to shelters.

BERMAN: There's just no question that people were warned that this could happen. This storm surge was exactly as bad as the forecasters predicted. The wind is kicking up where I am, mayor. Forgive me, I'm shaking a little bit here back and forth.

And we did just lose power in Wilmington down the coast from where you are. What's the power situation in New Bern?

OUTLAW: Fourteen thousand customers out with the city of New Bern. A portion of our city has spared with Duke Energy. In my area of the city, the power has been off for five or six hours. So this is going to be -- that's going to be the conditions until we can get these winds down. We can't put people in bucket trucks with 50-mile-an-hour winds.

BERMAN: No. You really can't. And our sense is that those winds will continue perhaps for another day. I think people were seduced by hearing that this storm was downgraded to a category one. But that's not the real threat of this storm, is it? It's the

duration, it's the fact that the winds will be coming for a day or maybe more. It's the fact that the rain will be falling for as much as two days.

And it's the size of the storm so broad that it will keep pushing that storm surge up for -- you know, two or three high tide cycles. This thing is going on for some time, mayor, isn't it?

OUTLAW: Yes. And if you look at history of hurricane Hugo which was a large hurricane, that hurricane Hugo was about half of the size of this hurricane. So, I mean, it is massively affecting so many folks in North and South Carolina.

BERMAN: Look, Mayor Dana Outlaw of New Bern, North Carolina, again, about 80 miles of where I am, thank you for being with us. The fact you are up is testament to the work you're doing to keep your community safe. It's just the beginning of this. There will be another day of need. So thank you for being with us and good luck in the hours ahead.

OUTLAW: Thank you. We have a curfew from nine to seven and right now, with lines down, please don't be going out until we get these lines back up. They could be energized and we don't want anybody to get hurt.

[03:09:59] BERMAN: Thank you. Thank you for sending that message, mayor. That message, Mayor Outlaw. Because that is so important. If you are in your home at this point, you have to stay there. You have to stay there because going out could be an even bigger threat with the power lines down and the standing water. You just don't know what's underneath that water. Mayor Outlaw, thanks very much.

Again, in Wilmington right now, you can see the rain around me. You can see me getting swayed by the wind, the wind gusts. I think probably feel like about 60 miles per hour. Let's see if we can get an exact reading.

Let's go to Chad Myers in the weather center for a sense of just where the storm is.

CHAD MYERS, CNN SEVERE WEATHER EXPERT: It is still about the center, still about 20 miles from you. But what you're in, John, right now is an outer eye wall. There are two eye walls in the storm, an inner eye wall where all the wind is and the outer eye wall where all the rain is. And you are in the outer, so yes, I would say 60 miles per hour absolutely for sure.

So let's get right to it. What happened to New Bern? New Bern is right there. Right there. Up the Neuse River. There is not a drop of water all the way on the east side of Pamlico Sound. It has blown into the river. You can see the ground and the Pamlico Sound if you are on the Outer Banks. There's not a drop right there. It is dry.

All the water getting pushed and the water is not coming in fast enough from the ocean through those passes to fill that water in. So the area around New Bern has already picked up six inches of rain. It's trying to come down into that Pamlico Sound. But the wind is pushing the water the other way. So that's why that 10 and a half feet storm surge is already there and it's not stopping.

The rain is continuing and the wind is continuing to push that rain back up the river. So it could go up another couple of feet and that would verify the 13-foot storm surge without a doubt.

John, you are right here. Here's the outer eye wall. I'll draw them -- I'll draw them for you. Here's the inner eye wall. Down to about 75 miles per hour. Don't let that fool you because the pressure is still the same as it was yesterday. We've lost the wall, we've lost some wind speed but we haven't lost the power. The power is still now just spreading its arms out.

So here is that second eye wall that's just right to you. Watch it come through Wilmington. Every time one of those bands or eye walls comes over your area or any area, the winds are going to pick up, the rains are going to be howling from the sideways and all of a sudden you're going to see an increase of rainfall to two to three inches per hour.

So if it's raining now in New Bern, and it is, and will continue to rain for many more hours, I would be concerned that that water could rise another four to six feet. And then all of a sudden we're not talking about 150 people that need rescuing, it may be in the thousands because they never expected that 15 to 16-foot surge on up into that Neuse River.

There's the storm right now. The eye wall right here. Wilmington, you're in it. Now for Chris in Myrtle Beach still not here yet because the storm hasn't turned for that left yet, just meandering, just kind of wobbling around here.

But we have lost a little bit power, that's some good news. But the size of the storm is still very big, and the color. The color indicates how cold the cloud tops off, if the storm is getting colder or brighter red then it's not dying. So this storm is in no way, no way, shape, and form dying yet. The eye is not on shore.

It turns to the left. It will eventually get to Myrtle, that maybe still another 12 hours before it actually Chris gets on-shore flow and any threat of storm surge there. But the wind is going to blow and it has been blowing Carolina beach all the way up the coast Topsail Beach all the way.

And these are the areas even like Emerald Isle you have seen winds now at about 80 miles per hour for the better part of 12 hours. So if you lose a shingle in the first hour and then you lose two then you lose four and this is a duration type of damage storm as we move ahead into the rest of the day.

And we have already seen wind gusts to 108 miles per hour. That will take shingles off anyone. Cape Lookout, although no one actually lives in Cape Lookout, already 105. The strongest winds are to the right of the eye. This is always the

case, this is where the most damage will occur, where the most surge will occur. Offshore where we're seeing the Myrtle Beach, there's no surge at all.

Even Chris said the water is far away. It's like way down the coast because they're getting inverse surge here. The continental shelf is pushing all of that water up into the Pamlico Sound and up to those rivers, that's why it is dangerous.

Still, a seven to 11-foot surge all along the Barrier Island and much more as you get toward Bell Haven and up to New Bern, clearly this is a dangerous situation for those rivers in the Pamlico Sound area as all of that water gets shoved up there. And the rain that's coming down already six inches can't come back down the river. It will not be allowed to come down to the river because the wind is just blowing it straight up.

Now this number, Atlantic Beach occurred at about seven o'clock last night when I was actually going to bed. It was 12 inches. It rained all night long. I have no idea what this number is right now. It could be 24. There may be already some spots there. And that's not far from Ed Lavandera. That could be two feet of water rained out of the sky and then the wind to try push all that water back up toward Ed, too. Chris?

BERMAN: Yes, it's like a vice, Chad.

MYERS: Yes.

BERMAN: Behind me I have the northeast Cape Fear River.

MYERS: Yes, that's exactly right.

[03:15:00] BERMAN: And this flows down. It flows down past Wilmington into the Atlantic basically, but what's happening is that the surge will push it up at the same time that the flooding rain brings it down.

And there's concern in the Cape Fear River that it could top its, you know, a 10 feet floods. It could reach 22 if not 24 feet, and of course all along this river here, there are hog lagoons all kinds of livestock that can wash right into this river right down. The river master told us he just simply doesn't know some of the things that could end up in this river over the next few days. That's a concern.

Chad, I know you say that in this storm is not exactly the eye wall and the eye of the storm you need to think about because it's so huge. But just for reference, boy, because I do think people want to know, when will the center of the storm make landfall?

MYERS: Wow. Depends on what model you look at. And it depends if you're believing the NHC's kind of fudging back and forth, this is on the left, this is on the right, let's go in the middle.

Maybe -- maybe outer eye wall touches Topsail Beach, somewhere around of the 10 o'clock hour. That would be outer eye wall. Now the reason why our numbers have gone down wind speed is because we don't have an inner eye wall that is spinning around like that ice skater that I always talk about.

You know, you go to the Olympics you see the Olympic skaters they spin around, they hold their arms and they go out fast, they take their arms out and they go slowly. But right now we have our arms out. There's no inner eye wall, there's no skater in the middle spinning fast.

That's the only reason we don't have 110-mile-per-hour wind right now because we don't have an inner eye wall. But we still have the same power of the storm. So we still have the same surge as a cat three. We still have all of this stuff. So I'm not even really worried about the eye wall at this point in time because it's down to about 75 or 80 miles per hour.

Sure that will do damage but not like -- never -- just thinking back in my head. let's go think back to Andrew. When Andrew was running at Miami it made a slight left and got Homestead. That was wind damage 150-mile-per-hour event. That was a wind storm. This is a flood storm because we don't have that inner eye wall and we don't have forward motion.

When you really want to get surge and we don't, right. If you get surge you have to keep the storm moving quickly. Fifteen miles per hour and it slams into the shore. That's when all of that bubble of water just comes right on shore. No stopping it.

Well, now we're kind of releasing some of that water a little bit. And it's not coming on shore as fast because we don't have an onshore flow. That's the good news. The slow nature of this, this map behind me from now until the storm stops, that's still 20. Everywhere that you see white, now that's calm. All the way back up here toward Columbia, six to eight, six to 12. And the white spots, that's a big -- that's a big area. That's 20 inches of rain still to come, John.

BERMAN: All right. Chad Myers, that's the forecast. Basically Chad telling us we're in for it and we're in for a long time to come.

CNN's special live coverage of hurricane Florence continues after a quick break.

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: In Luzon, they are bracing for a super typhoon Mangkhut. It is within 10 to 12 hours on making landfall. It is a powerful system.

Several days ago it was the most powerful of the 2018 season. Right now it has supporting winds of 280-kilometer-per-hour winds. It is moving rather rapidly. But this is such a huge system that it's going to be impacting the area all the way from Luzon down towards Manila.

At least four million people are affected. People have been evacuated from coastal areas, mudslides, slides are certainly possible. There is the potential for widespread destruction. But it will move across northern Luzon into the South China Sea and within the next 72 hours between Hong Kong and the Hainan Island, we're looking at heavy rainfall and high winds.

We'll keep you updated.

[03:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right. John Berman in Wilmington, North Carolina in the middle of hurricane Florence. Right now the center of the storm in so far there is a center because it's broken up a little bit about 20 miles from where I am right now.

We just got an update on the power situation in North Carolina, a 185,000 customers without power so far. That number is going to go up because this storm will linger. It's only moving at about six miles an hour. That is a glacial pace. You could run faster than that.

So the storm and the pounding winds which range from 60 to 90 miles an hour, gusts up to 120 it will knock down more power lines and that wind will stick around at least for a day. You can see it now gusting here in Wilmington which is a little bit inland, a little bit up the Cape Fear River.

You can see behind me that this is a river. This is not the ocean here. You can see I think the white caps on this river and kicking up around the boats here. I was out here when it was still daylight and it was significantly lower. I would say five to six feet lower. Now it is closer to high tide now. That could have something to do with it.

But also perhaps some surge as the storm moves ever closer to where we are.

Again, I'm in Wilmington, about 13 miles down this river from where I am right now, is Carolina Beach. That's where we find CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam. Derek, give us a sense of what you're seeing.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, no doubt, John, that the full story of hurricane Florence is still yet to be written because this is the long duration storm, the long duration event.

This is incredible, what we're expecting here because we may not see winds, sustained winds drop below tropical storm force until Saturday afternoon. Where I'm standing right now along the Carolina coast, this is Carolina Beach specifically. We have concerns of the storm surge that still has forecast of seven to 11 feet.

We go up the coast into the New Bern region and we know that there have been reports of flooding there and the surge and inundation already surpassing 10 feet.

So some of these forecast storm surge totals are coming to reality and the full force of Florence is also becoming a reality. Where I'm standing now, the wind will periodically gust well in excess of hurricane force. So 74-mile-per-hour plus winds easily. It seems as if we're kind of entering into that outer eye wall that

Chad Myers was referencing a little while ago. Because the wind is not as sustained and not as consistent as it was even 20 minutes ago. But that means we're nearing the center of the storm.

Still have to brace ourselves for these periodic gusts and we're in it for the long haul, John, no doubt. Because what we're calling for and what meteorologists and experts say, we know is the potential for eight months of rain in 48 hours. John?

[03:25:06] BERMAN: Yes, that's really incredible. And that's important to emphasize for people. Derek Van Dam in Carolina Beach.

Wilmington where I am it got its average annual -- average annual rainfall at the beginning of August. So, a month and a half ago they already reached the normal amount of rain they get. And now they're getting eight months worth of rain in three or four days and the ground around here just cannot handle it which is why rivers like this behind me, they will flood but they're going to flood from inland coming down. Tonight and tomorrow, the concern is the storm surge pushing up.

On the phone with me now is Zak Whicker with the New Hanover County Emergency Management in Wilmington is in that country right now. Zak, if you can hear me give me a sense of what you're hearing. How are people doing in New Hannover County?

ZAK WHICKER, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NEW HANOVER COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Hey, good morning. We have positive reports from our shelter locations, we've also -- do not currently have any rescues going on. So we're very fortunate in that right now.

But we will start seeing -- with the more rainfall we're going to see inland flooding with the projected numbers. Surge is also a major concern and we want to make sure people are staying safe and staying inside.

BERMAN: Do you have any reports yet of flooding or standing water in any of the streets or thoroughfares?

WHICKER: No confirmed reports.

BERMAN: In the power situation where we are and we're near the convention center, the power has been going in and out for the last several hours. But occasionally coming out, do you have a sense of the power situation?

WHICKER: That's correct. It is going in and out, we do have some power outages that are scattered around the county, just a little over 4,000 outages.

BERMAN: Four thousand. I think we know that number is likely, is likely to go up. The wind I can tell you from being out it is picking up. We're getting close to that outer eye wall. We're getting gusts, 60 to 75 miles an hour here and that will rise and then that will sustain for several hours. You've been lucky, you say you had no rescues yet in this county.

What's your concern and what's your message to people over the next really day?

WHICKER: So our messaging to the public is stay inside until the tropical storm force winds are cleared and you get communication through us, social media, through our media partners that it is safe to go back out on the road.

We need that time right after winds leave for our public safety agencies and public utilities to restore infrastructure.

BERMAN: I'd seen forecast and Chad, our meteorologist giving us forecast. So, there's a big gust right there. That the storm surge in New Hanover County, and the Wilmington could be seven to 11 feet. What would that do, how much would that mean for the people who live here?

WHICKER: Anytime you see storm surge, it's extremely dangerous situation. You don't want to be in it. So that is why the municipalities have a mandatory evacuation. We want to keep people safe. It's -- it's with inland flooding, I think that's going to be another major concern with the rainfall projection.

BERMAN: Right.

WHICKER: So even though -- even though with it being a category one right now, that is not the focus. The focus is water, the height, statistically the highest killer in hurricanes.

BERMAN: No question about that. And this water and this rain that we're seeing is around four days. Zak Whicker if New Hanover County Emergency Management, thank you for the work you're doing. Thank you for joining us tonight to tell us where things stand.

This all around me again is hurricane Florence. You can feel the wind. I can feel the wind bearing down on Wilmington, North Carolina. The storm, the eye wall, the outer eye wall a few miles away but approaching ever faster.

CNN's special live coverage continues after this.

[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: All right, John Berman in Wilmington, North Carolina. Our special live coverage of hurricane Florence. Hurricane Florence is here in Wilmington. It has been raining for hours, torrential rain for hours. And the winds are now getting serious. We have gusts of hurricane force strengths easily, consistently blowing at 50 or 60 miles per hour. Across North Carolina 185,000 people are without power as we speak. Up in New Bern, which is 80 miles north of where I am, they've had a real issue with storm surge. 10 feet of flooding at times, 200 water rescues already, our understanding is some 150 people are in need of rescue, but it's hard to get to them now, because of the wind speed.

Rescue crews are low to go out when those wind are greater than 50 miles an hour. It is just not safe for them and they cannot reach you. That is why there's been so many mandatory evacuation orders up and down the coast here. And one more reminder though you will see that the wind speed has been reduced to a category one storm, that is not what's this storm is about.

[03:35:03] And that is not where the danger is. The danger here is in the duration, the days -- the dangerous in the size. Huge, because it's so big so many areas are affected and makes the storm surge all the greater. It's a big threat up in North Carolina, a huge looming threat down in South Carolina, north Myrtle Beach. That is where we find CNN's Chris Cuomo. Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: Now, look, this is wind event right now my little friend. And luckily one thing my size gives me is I'm built to stand in the wind. I heard what you said about me being built to run as far as this storm, because it is moving slowly, but not only it was a good joke, but it's the truth. I'm looking at the radar here while you are giving your description of Wilmington and I keep thinking that my app is broken, because the radar doesn't seem to shift, because the storm is moving so slowly. Right now here in north Myrtle Beach it's a wind event.

I mean, we have shingles here that have been popping off the roofs, but we are really in a tropical storm realm here. About somewhere 35 - 45 miles an hour gusting tops. But you are our present and our future, so we are still waiting for here. In fact, the wind is enough as Chad was telling you earlier, J.B., it's actually keeping the tide offshore. You know, the lighting is not great here for Jake to show you, but, you know, the high tide is about 75 to 100 feet from where it should be.

Now, there could very easily to what they call a ricochet effect here. When the weather keeps circling around in this storm and we start getting more wind coming the other direction, will it, quite of enhancing the storm surge is expected to be about two to five feet right now? These are some of the unknown. All right. So let us try and fill it in with the science.

We have Reed Hopkins (ph) from the National Weather Center. He is up by you in Wilmington, Reed, let's talk about what is coming our way in north Myrtle Beach. I'm looking on the radar again, it's showing, you know, those yellow bands which means precipitation light precipitation. It's just not here yet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes, we had the storm moving along what looks like the eye. It's got very, very large and we've had significant rain up in our area in southeast North Carolina. We've had flash flood issued for the last several hours. And we are expecting (inaudible) on the backside is the big swath of rain that is going to catch the rest of the area and then also move across your area throughout the day as it slowly, slowly moves to the south-southwest.

CUOMO: So Reed, if we have a lot of moisture coming on, I'm looking at the radar right now. It throws off the control room, I am always wondering why I am looking down, I'm not tweeting. I'm looking at the radar. So, if the moisture comes on the backside -- so inland from where we are right now, now you can do a couple of factors, one you get into there's a saturation point. You've had lots of rain here already. So how much it's going to take. And then you get into an economic problem as well as a practical one. Very few people have flood insurance inland, what do you see in terms of these capabilities of these event, once it moves through here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, what we are seeing, we have issue this evening, large river flood warnings? We're expecting those to go on for several days to weeks. We're probably going to be reaching major flood stage. So it's going to be very devastating to most of the area, which we've already had two major floods in 2015 and 2016 with Matthew.

CUOMO: And in terms of, you know, we talk about Harvey, because of duration of precipitation, but Houston is a basin. How do we set up here from a topographical standpoint in terms of its ability to collect moisture and to send it somewhere else?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we're very, very flat terrain. There's not much elevation. And when it gets onto the ground it takes a long time for it to actually flow out. And until the storm surge abates luckily in South Carolina right now we're not having that. That will trap the water back and slow its progress even more. So it takes -- it takes weeks for all that water to drain out just into the very flat terrain we have.

CUOMO: Weeks. You know, we keep hearing these protracted time consideration. You know, they catch people off-guard. People are used to seeing the dramatic and spectacular with a hurricane that lasts several hours. This one they've been sleeping on it, because they say it's not that much. They're sleeping on duration here. What's your biggest concern about where the negative impact will be? Not in terms of the place, but the degree and the effect? What's your big fear about what this storm will wreak in this situation?

[03:40:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, this will be the third time that a lot of people in the last three years have gone through this, these events. It's actually since I've been here 26 years. This would be the fourth largest flooding event we've had. And some of these communities especially inland that are really struggling to survive, because of the economic impact it's made on their lives and you just wonder how long these cities and little towns will be able to prosper or if they will be able to continue.

CUOMO: You know, South Carolina state motto, while I breathe I hope. And there are a lot of people who put trust and hope down here because a lot of people decided to stay, and we're seeing rescues in and around North Carolina, and we'll see if that continues to be here. A lot of people made a decision that may really wind up taxing the system especially for the first responders.

And again, we've seen nothing yet. Our gusts down here around 30 miles per hour. Enough to shake these houses with the chicken legs that are up on stilts, but certainly nothing compared to what we'll see going forward. Reed Hawkins (ph), thank you very much. Always appreciate the NWS giving us the latest science. Thank you, sir. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

CUOMO: So that is the latest on this storm. A lot of other headlines as well. For that we've got Christine Romans in New York. Hello, my friend. It's been a while.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN HOST: Hi there, sure has. Good morning Chris, nice to see you. Stay safe out there. Let me get a chance to see what is going on outside of the storm this morning. A series of gas explosions killing a man and sparking fires in dozens of homes across three Massachusetts towns. At this hour technicians and first responders in and over, North Andover and Lawrence. Where a total of 8,000 homes affected here. An 18-year-old was killed in Lawrence when a chimney from a home landed on a car he was driving and the fire chief says it looked like Armageddon.

Sources say, former Trump campaign chairman, Paul Manafort close to a plea deal with federal prosecutors to avoid a second criminal trial. It's not clear if the deal would include Manafort's cooperation in the Special Counsel Russia investigation. Manafort was convicted last month on eight counts of bank and tax fraud. He has a pretrial hearing today and a separate trial related to his lobbying for pro- Russian Ukrainians. Jury selection in that trial is scheduled to begin Monday.

New York Governor Andre Cuomo has won the Democratic nomination for a third term. He easily beat actor and activist Cynthia Nixon who tried to position herself as a more progressive alternative. Cuomo's win sets up a November battle with Mark (inaudible) the Republican nominee for governor. That wraps it up for here in the studio. Back to John now in Wilmington, John?

BERMAN: Hi, Christine Romans, thanks very much, just as you were going back, we got a heck of a gust, and I almost couldn't hear you, which is hard to do. Christine Romans, thank you very, very much. This is hurricane Florence. Coming up we're going to get a forecast, a look at the storm tract. Here's a little tease, it's raining and very, very windy. Chad Myers after the break.

[03:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: John Berman in Wilmington, North Carolina. This is CNN special live coverage of hurricane Florence, which you can see all around me right now it is a huge storm. Let's get a sense of where it is going. The forecast, the storm tract CNN's Chad Myers in the Weather Center. Chad?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is moving very slowly, John. Maybe five or six miles per hour right now. We just got an update from Atlantic Beach, because the last update we had was almost 12 hours old. Now the new rainfall total for 24 hours is 22 inches. We expect all these numbers to go up now. Now that people are getting up looking at the rain gauges and sending that data in. So, here is what it is, this is what it looks like, the storm here still offshore from Wilmington. Moorhead City getting pounded here, the Northside of the eyewall pushing all that water in. I just want to baffle you here with something. This is dazzling shot

for me, and I hope it is for you. But an inner eyewall now beginning to redevelop. We talked about this earlier where there wasn't an inner eyewall so that the wind speeds were going down. We only had outer eyewall wind speed, now with this here that is what the eyewall looks like. John, you are right there. Wilmington getting one of the outer bands.

That is why it's raining so hard for you. Topsail beach all the way down here to Myrtle about the get this eyewall itself. I hope you find that as fascinating as I do, because I just think that is an amazing shot. This storm is not over. It still had the same pressure as it did 48 hours ago. We just haven't had the wind speeds, but now I think they are about to pick up. Airplanes going in to check on that, John.

BERMAN: All right, excited to hear what they tell you. I can tell you what it's like on the ground, Chad, and it's ever more windy as each minute that passes. As you said the rain here falling, I can't believe 22 inches already up the coast in one location. I don't think the rain is stopping for some time. Chad Myers, thanks very much for that. This is CNN's special live coverage of hurricane Florence. We're going to see some amazing pictures from one of the town's hardest hit when we come back.

[03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, John Berman in Wilmington, North Carolina. CNN's special live coverage of hurricane Florence. I want to go to Moorhead City, about 77 miles from where I am, a little bit north of where I am and bring in John Barrett, the storm chaser from weather nation. John, I understand you've got some impressive amazing video of some of the damage done there. Walk us through what you saw.

JOHN BARRETT, STORM CHASER, WEATHER NATION: Yes, John, although you're getting bigger wind effects down than we have been today, at least some of the bigger winds are coming your way. We've had gusts near 100, we had category one winds sustained for quite a bit of time today. And one of the biggest things we're worried about besides the wind which has done some big destruction it has knocked down a bunch of trees, which took the power out here probably seven hours ago or so, those trees keep coming down and we've seen building damage, too, with ceilings having caved in and outside the buildings being damaged, but our biggest concern as will be yours soon is the surge.

The surge has finally come over the docks here in Moorhead City. Not nearly as badly as we heard right now up the river in New Bern, North Carolina, but the surge is going down the streets, we can see the debris in that water, and being where we are 7 to 11 feet of surge still possible. And then as you're going to have to worry about flooding rain possibly of historic proportions in this part of North Carolina.

BERMAN: Yes, it is raining and raining hard here. Right now the winds here as you've said have really kicked up. The boats behind me in the northeast Cape Fear River, they are rocking, they're beginning to rock here, and this is river. This is not even the ocean. I can't even look that way because that is the way the wind is blowing right now.

[03:55:06] And John, you were talking about the duration of this storm, and that is what makes it so dangerous, and you talk about the trees. A tree maybe can sustain winds in tropical storm force, cat 1, cat 2 for an hour, but if it keeps on blowing for 8, 12, 20 hours which is what's happening here, that is a real problem.

BARRETT: Sure. You know, sometimes when the winds are sustained it's not that bigger deal for a while, but when the winds begin to abate and gust then that starts the trees rocking. And as anyone who lives in Imperial, North Carolina, knows after storms like hurricane Fran, those oak trees are not nearly as deeply-rooted as one would think. So I am really concern about trees, giant trees coming down all across North Carolina and South Carolina as this storm progresses inland.

BERMAN: John Barrett up in Moorhead City, on the lookout there. We are in Wilmington, North Carolina, which seems to be -- the storm moving ever closer based on the wind speeds that are certainly picking up and the rain that is falling. CNN special live coverage picks up after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: I'm John Berman in Wilmington, North Carolina. Chris Cuomo is standing by in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Christine Romans in New York. This is CNN's special live coverage of hurricane Florence. Here in Wilmington, a pretty serious band just passed through here. A wind gust, I would say 90 miles an hour at least. The outer eyewall is beginning to get ever closer to this North Carolina City.

This storm is a category one hurricane. But don't be fooled by the category. Wind speed -- sustained winds of 90 miles an hour. But the size of the storm is a huge storm affecting thousands of people up and down the coast. Which means storm surge -- huge storm surge up and down the coast. And the rainfall totals are staggering.

We just heard, Atlantic City, Atlantic Beach off the coast, 22 inches of rain already. Already. And the rains will continue to fall for some time. That is the gust right there. You can see the boats here behind me. This is the northeast Cape Fear River. This is one of those rivers that flows into the sea and the concern is that storm surge could actually push the river up and come upstream just as all this rain, is two feet plus of rain, dumps and pushing water downstream. Water will get caught in the vice. The water level here could rise ten more feet that is well over flood level.