City beach. They predicted this storm was going to be one for the books, and it already is. The strongest hurricane to hit the Florida Panhandle in reported history, and the strongest storm to hit the continental United States since hurricane andrew more than a quarter century ago. Marked by its devastating winds, the storm ripping off the roof of this hotel, honest lely, lik its a toy. But the fwragreatest danger to and the storm surge. Its always the water, huge walls of ocean water topping 14 feet in some areas and as bad as this is that were seeing here, the danger is far from over. Our reporters are spread out across the panhandle tonight to give you some perspective. I want to begin, though, with scott mclean in albany, georgia, where the hurricane is headed right now. Scott, what are you seeing there . Reporter hey, kate. Well, you can see the wind and the rain really starting to come down. Within the next hour, maybe hour and a half is with when were going to start to see really the peak of this, the worst conditions to come and perhaps an even more telling sign is actually right over there behind me that dark building in the distance, thats a waffle house and it is closed. It closed about an hour ago. If youve been through hurricanes before, you know that one of the most reliable places to stay open is the waffle house restaurant, so perhaps that is a sign of just how severe this storm is and how seriously they are taking it. Were talking about wind gusts 70, perhaps even 75 Miles Per Hour and sustained winds of 40, maybe 50 Miles Per Hour. That is important to note because i spoke to the fire chief earlier today and he says, look, First Responders, they will not be going out responding to calls once winds reach 35 Miles Per Hour sustained. That could be potentially a twohour window where if you call 911, nobody is going to come and respond. Of course we knew that this hurricane was going to hit and hit hard along the coastline but perhaps not as many people expected it to reach this far inland. The schools in this area and albany, they are closed today. They are expected to be closed tomorrow as well. But this area is not evacuated. Theres another one of those gusts coming up, kate. When i asked officials why this area was not evacuated, they said, look, you have to drive a very long way in order to get out of, really, the affected area, and so youd have to go quite far to really get out of harms way so its simply not practical in this case. The more Vulnerable People were asked to leave. For everybody else, though, they want them to stay inside of their homes. In this area, if you live in a mobile home or less sturdy structure, they want you to be staying with friends or going to one of the shelters that theyve set up. Theres a couple hundred shelters in a couple hundred people, excuse me, in those shelters. Officials are expecting those numbers to rise as the worst of this weather really starts to rip through this area, kate. Scott, i mean, i can just see its looking brutal where you are, and its really amazing to think that this started early today, heading through the panhandle and now just beginning to hit you and ive been watching you throughout the evening and its these bands are really starting to come your way. Can you describe where you are . I just want to make sure youre safe. Reporter yeah, so, were actually just outside of a hotel right now, because we want to keep the power as long as there is power in this area. Were just on the outskirts of albany, but that center of that tornado or that hurricane, excuse me, it is coming straight for this area, so thats why were seeing, really, those really strong gusts of wind, these really strong bands of rain. They are concerned about flash flooding in this area. They think that river flooding, perhaps, because its such a fastmoving storm may not be as big of a concern, but flash flooding certainly is, and so for the past couple of days, they have been providing sand, providing sandbags for people, theyre trying to protect their homes for whatever may come their way. One more thing to point out is that it is not just people that are going to be affected by this. It is an entire industry. This area is very big for agriculture. Were talking about pecans and cotton, peanuts, things like that and they are expecting multimillion dollars in losses from this hurricane, kate. Scott, thank you so much. Looks like its just about beginning for you. Well stick close to you. Thank you. I want to go from georgia now back down to florida where john berman is out front in panama city where there is catastrophic damage. Oh, man, john, i can see it right behind you. Youve been in it all day and this is whats left afterwards. Reporter yeah, kate, i almost cant believe were hearing scott mclean from albany, georgia, right now, when it doesnt feel that long ago that i was standing outside in 100plus Miles Per Hour winds. The winds here did reach over 100 Miles Per Hour sustained winds and gusts of 120 Miles Per Hour and we have had a chance to assess some of the damage nearby. This was a gas station. You can see the corrugated metal awning that was above here simply torn off, twisted about, metal everywhere, and strewn about is some of these pieces of debris that were really projectiles all during the storm and what made it so dangerous to be walking about. We also have a different view, i think its still light enough to show you, of some of the other damage in and around Panama City Beach. Down this street here, as we pan around, you can see some of these pine trees snapped in half. The power lines now down, these roads very difficult to navigate. Even still, i have to say, there are many, many people about now. A lot of people driving around, trying to check out the damage, maybe returning home, which is why on our phones, just a short time ago, kate, we got one of these alerts where your phone beeps like crazy and it said that a mandatory curfew is in place as of now in this county until 8 00 a. M. Tomorrow. Violators will be arrested. They dont want people out on the streets now and there simply are too many people going around looking at all this damage. Well, all you have to do is look behind you. With that coming down behind you, you know theres power lines down, you know theres i mean, there could be gas leaks. Theres i mean, it all theres the initial hit and then the aftermath. John, thank you so much. Well get back to you. Appreciate it. So some of the worst damage we are seeing so far is coming out of mexico beach, florida. Joining me now on the phone is Mexico Beach Council woman linda albrecht. Can you hear me . Yes, i can. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. You evacuated. You are safe. You followed the evacuation orders, but when you look at some of these pictures that were seeing of some of the worst destruction, really, that weve seen yet from Hurricane Michael, being in mexico beach, your hometown, what are you thinking . I am drained. The tears have been flowing all afternoon. It is its something that ive never been i couldnt even imagine how frustrating and debilitating it is. It feels like a nightmare. Somebody needs to come and shake you up and wake you up. And looking at the pictures, im thinking, theres not a house left in that town. Were only, like, three miles by two miles. I cant even imagine. I know somebody whos six blocks away from the gulf of mexico. Their house is under water. And i dont know about my house. Ive had people say im sorry about your house, but i havent had any specifics. I dont know if its under water. I dont know if its just torn to shreds or if a miracle happened and its half there. I dont know. Look, theres always the chance that theres a miracle but youre right across from the beach and what weve seen and heard from folks is it seems theres a good chance youre going to be looking at something pretty bad to return home to. Yeah. Im expecting the worst. I know you shouldnt be. I know you should be optimistic, but at this point, i am expecting the worst and i will be thrilled if i see any glimmer of hope. Have you had a chance and i know getting in touch with folks has been tough. Weve been trying to get in touch with our correspondents, its been hard sometimes because of Cell Phone Service has been down. Have you had a chance to check in with any friends or neighbors who stayed behind and see how theyre doing . I actually dont know. I dont know, personally, anybody who stayed behind. I do know some that were staying behind and left yesterday. About ten of them left this morning. So, i do not know of anybody. There is a couple that were trying to get ahold of and nobody has been able to locate them. Im hoping that they left. So, i dont know. Im just hoping and praying that when the police go around for search and rescue, that they will be able to rescue some of those people that have chosen not to follow their recommendation. Look, the scenes that are being described to us and some of the video that were seeing, were talking about roads that are completely impassable. Even as the initial danger has gone away. Do you have any sense, councilwoman, when youre going to be able to get back in to check on your home . Well, the police im hoping to go back tomorrow, because the police, once they finish search and rescue, they were going to notify the city administrator, and she was going to notify all the essential employees to come back to work. And since im on the council, i would be able to return with them. And so, my goal now, im six hours away, so my goal is to go tomorrow. My concern is i have to make sure that the roads between here and there are open so i can get there. And if i find that theyre not, then i wont be able to leave until friday. So, im hoping by friday afternoon, i will be there. Councilwoman, were you able to take important things with you when you had to leave . Probably pretty quickly to get out of harms way. Well, it was interesting, because michael just developed. You know, usually, you watch it coming across the atlantic from africa. This just developed south of the yucatan. It just developed. And friday, it was a storm. Saturday i thought, okay, its going to be a major storm. But nothing like a hurricane. But the boat captains shared, and they said, theres something going on here. There are a couple of boat captains i know what were very concerned about michael. And they said, i dont know what it is, but dont let it go. This is going to be major. And so, with that information, then i did start to go around the house and id say, okay, my husband passed away last november, and so id go into a room and id say, what here is a memory that i want to keep of him . Or of me or my parents or my children. And so i really just went room to room. Now, i left a whole lot of stuff i wish i would have taken, but i do have a lot of special memories, and i just didnt grab i really thought about each room, what do i want to take for a memory. What do i want to have in two months in my new home. You have those memories and im so sorry. Im so hoping for the best. I will check back in with you and see how things are when you get back in, but councilwoman, thank you so much for calling in. Truly, truly sorry for it all. Thank you, kate. Thank you. Thanks so much. Really shows the human toll on this whole thing. Lets go to alison in the cnn weather center. Alison, this storm, the video just says it all. It has been a beast already. What is it doing right now . Right now, the real focus now becomes a lot of these inland cities, as the storm continues to push in. We do know we just got a report in out of tallahassee. Weve got some 61mileperhour gusts and alabama, that southeastern portion, 60 Miles Per Hour and the storm is really passing through those locations heading further up into georgia and then further on from there. We have tornado watches in effect, in fact, about an hour ago, we had a Tornado Warning in the city of atlanta. Thats how far some of these outer bands are starting to stretch. So, keep in mind the center of the storm may still be far enough south, but a lot of these other cities now need to start paying very close attention. Macon, augusta, and atlanta as those outer bands begin to push in. Thats the direction its going to start to go. Its going to shift toward the north and east and eventually even toward charlotte and raleigh, north carolina, as well. Thats why you have those Tropical Storm warnings that extend up through to the carolinas as well. Alison, when is everyone going to be in the clear of this thing . Right, so, for a city, say, like panama city, really in about the next two to three hours, youre going to see the end of the storm as it moves further inland. But the storm as a whole, youre going to have to wait a couple more days. We really dont see this exit back out over open water until friday morning, so again, for a lot of these other locations, like georgia, north and south carolina, youre going to have to wait a little bit longer. Because of that, you still have the threat for tornados. You still have the threat for flooding because look at this map. Youve got widespread totals of four to six inches that could still fall and kate, even some isolated locations that could pick up even more rain than that, especially embedded within those stronger thunderstorms. All right, alison, thank you so much. Really appreciate the update. Outfront for us next, were going to go to Panama City Beach, one of the hardest hit towns on the panhandle. Plus, storm chaser goes inside the hurricanes eye wall, his dramatic images of this lifethreatening storm. Thats ahead. Plus, the deadliest force in a hurricane . The storm surge. Well show you why. The meeting of the executive finance committee is now in session. And. Adjourned. Business loans for eligible card members up to fifty thousand dollars, decided in as little as 60 seconds. The powerful backing of american express. Dont do business without it. burke seen it, covered it. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum dont you get the one of those travel sites . They tell you that, but when you book at hilton. Com, you get the price match guarantee. So if you find your room at a lower rate, hilton is like. Were gonna match that rate and give you an extra 25 off. 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Now up to 30 grams of protein for strength and energy what do you look for i want free access to research. Yep, td ameritrades got that. Free access to every platform. Yeah, that too. I want to know what im paying upfront. Yes, absolutely. Everything you want. One low price. Td ameritrade. Ok look, if youre not the lead dog, the scenery never changes. Thats why this is the view for every other fullsize pickup. And this year, its deja vu all over again cuz only the ford f150 with its high strength, militarygrade Aluminum Alloy body gives you bestinclass torque, bestinclass payload. And you got it, baby. Bestinclass towing. Still leading the pack. This is the big dog this is the ford f150. It doesnt just raise the bar, pal. It is the bar. Continue with our breaking news right now, Hurricane Michael still ripping through the gulf coast, the strongest hurricane to hit the Florida Panhandle in recorded history. Outfront with me now is republican congressman neil dunn in panama city that was part of his district. Congressman, can you hear me . Yes, i can, kate. Go ahead. Thank you so much for getting on the line. This storm was is so powerful. Have you heard of any injuries or fatalities from the storm so far . Certainly we have injuries. A large number of injuries, were concerned about rescue fatalities because of the nature of some of these injuries, frankly, there are some buildings that are collapsed so we havent had a chance to get into those buildings because the roads are still being cleared. Do you know if people are inside those buildings . Do you have information that folks are stuck inside . We assume. I assume there are some people trapped in buildings, but we dont know how bad that is yet. Weve still got to locate that and i will say, the worst bits of news is that insult to injury, we found out just a few minutes ago there was some early looting and the sheriff has said hes absolutely not going to tolerate any looting. This is a nice southern town. We dont do that staort of thin. So he put our entire county under curfew, beginning at 5 00 p. M. And were going to go until dawn, dusk to dawn until he says otherwise. Curfew in place now, thats an important thing that we get out to everybody in the county. So, can you tell me a little bit more that youre hearing about if folks are it broke up a little bit. If folks are caught in buildings right now. Well, we know the buildings are collapsed. We think they were Holding People because of the history and so were getting the crews down there but the roads are impassable at this point. Theres trees across every line and power lines across roads, so theres a huge amount of work to be done to get the kind of support and resources in the city to really start up and running a good search and rescue, which we will be doing tomorrow. Absolutely. And it did seem because the roads are so impassable that some of this information on injuries and fatalities, i hope not, might be slow to come out as you say. Folks might be caught in buildings right now. Have you been able to get out and survey any of the damage and to see how bad it is . So, only video. Ive stayed in the Emergency Operations in the county and its just the last few hours of seeing the counties north and east. We have, probably, 17, 18 counties to the east of us here that were on the wrong side of the storm, the hard side, and theres devastation over there that just cant be believed. So, its to characterize that is going to be a real i think theres going to be some sad stories over there. I sure hope stay away. Thats the message, though. Thats what i was going to ask you. The message. I wouldnt be coming into any of the counties to the east of us. Thats not helpful to have more people who are stranded and unable to care for themselves. Congressman, youre absolutely right on that. Thank you so much. I really appreciate your time. I know youve got to get off. We appreciate you helping us out. Our tv stations are down, our radio stations are down, so youre a huge asset to us and we are grateful. Thank you so much, congressman, and any more help, please let us know and well get the word out. I really appreciate you coming on. Well be talking tomorrow, im sure. Thank you, sir. With better news, i hope. I hope so as well. Were going to go from panama city with the congressman right there but i want to go to Miguel Marquez in southport, florida. Miguel, look at that devastation behind you. Reporter and it is everywhere, kate. This is this was an apartment 12 hours ago on top of this house here. Not only was it completely ripped off the top of this house, the roof of this house is gone. This gentleman right here, bill duke, actually stayed in this house with his very sick wife during this storm and shes actually still in the house because she is so ill, but this entire area this is a bayou. This should be four or five feet less right now but all of that water rushed up into the bayou from the storm surge and is now getting out. Look at the trees across the bayou there. Just snapped in half, and we have seen that throughout this area. Everywhere north of panama city, essentially, we were actually trying to get to mexico beach, impossible. There are so many trees town, there are so many lines down. Weve got the power lines here along the road. Those are about to come down. There are also power lines that have been crossing the roads, the power line here to mr. Dukes house is also down. Just devastation everywhere. People coming out of their homes now because, like mr. Duke, his wife is too sick to travel. We talked to other people who they at any tididnt have the m get out. Other people thought it wasnt going to be so bad. The temperature is starting to drop a little bit tonight. There is no electricity in that area. It is going to be a cold and long, wet night in this part of the Florida Panhandle, just a real devastation here, trying to get to mexico beach now, just an impossibility. And i dont know if youve had a chance to speak with mr. Duke about it, but his wife being in there, i mean, is she it sha is it safe for them to be in that house right now . It is not ideal, certainly. He can get her out. He can get her she has a truck that hes able to get her out to. Mr. Duke, is the plan to get your wife out tonight . No, we got a bathroom and a bedroom thats real still intact. The temperatures meant to come down to about 60something degrees tonight, going to be a little cool. Well, we may ill have to talk to her and see how she feels, but weve got a motor home that we can stay in and stay dry, stay warm. Well, thank god the motor homemade it but the home didnt. He also says he has insurance, homeowners. He doesnt know whether its going to cover the hurricane, the wind, the flood, and this bayou that should be, you know, four, five, six feet less than it is right now. It just rushed up and made life even worse. I am just so sorry for him and his wife but we have to say so thankful when you see what devastation was done to their house and theyre at least okay. Miguel, thank you so much. Please bring their story to us again. Outfront for us next, incredible images coming in again and again inside the eye wall of the storm here. Storm chaser reed timmer, who took this video, has been with us throughout this busy hurricane season. Hes my next guest. And defying orders to evacuate, my next guest tells me why he is now regretting that decision. 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The storm, still a very powerful and dangerous category 2 storm at the moment, winds of 100 Miles Per Hour at this moment. Outfront with me now, though, a. J. Smith, the sheriff of franklin county, florida, which includes the city of apalachicola. Sheriff, can you hear me . Hello. Sheriff, can you hear me . Yeah, i got you. Go ahead. Thank you so much. Just give me an assessment from your perspective, sheriff. How bad is the damage in your county right now . Its catastrophic. There are roads washed out, trees down, its bad. Were pretty much isolated right now. What do you mean by isolated . You yourself, even emergency crews cant get out and about if you need to. You cant get out. We have an east, west, and a north road that come into the county. Theyre all impassable right now. And in terms of the damage, is it trees down, its washed out . Describe catastrophic for our viewers from your perspective. Many, many trees down, roads washed out. Its bad. And you know, were a coastal community, our county is coastal, and we, you know, we have one main road, highway 98, which goes the length of the county on the coast and many places, its, you know, washed out, covered up with trees. Sheriff, if folks are in need, if theres an emergency right now and theyre calling for help, can you get to them . Yeah, if theyre in the county, we can get to them because i have deputies that are positioned in each community. Apalachicola, st. George island, we have deputies there. They weathered the storm, they rode it out there. We just cant go in between. Got it. You have been through a lot of hurricanes in your life. Yes, i have. Can you put this in perspective of how this one compares . This was my worst. What makes it the worst in your mind . The damage. If you have any of your crews here, they can start videoing some of the damage. Probably part of the problem is the same exact thing youve been talking about, sheriff. Its hard for our crews to get around because of all the roads being so impassable, just like you and your deputies are up against right now. Yeah, thats exactly right. I mean, weve been through hurricanes but never where we were completely cut off like this. Whats your message to folks tonight if they can hear this in the county . Well, weve we have a mandatory curfew, sunset to sunrise. I hope people stay in. And tomorrow, while were trying to get, you know, we start clearing, weve got to get crews in here from the state and just stay out of the way, stay home, you know, businesses cant operate until we can get traffic flowing again, so just stay out of our way, help us get cleaned up quickly, and by staying out of our way, we can do it much quicker. Have you heard of any fatalities or injuries yet in the county . No. The only thing we had, a lady was during the storm, a limb went through a window and struck her in the head. She had a laceration on her head. I guess were going to call that good news right now. Yeah, exactly. Thank you so much, sheriff. Appreciate it. Thank you. Have a good evening. Outfront with me now, accuweather storm chaser reed timmer, and he rode this one out. You were riding out the storm in Panama City Beach, reed. Im going to show our viewers some of the video that i just couldnt believe, that you shot at the height of the storm. Some of the most remarkable images. Well show our viewers whenever we can pull it up, this gas station that youre watching and it looks as if this whole thing is just going to give away at some point. What was it like being there in the height of the storm like this . Well, initially, we were in the heart of Panama City Beach and we had to head to the east because the eye wobbled a little bit to the east so we wanted to get into the heart of that eye wall. We knew that if we were on the western side of the eye, the storm surge wasnt as much of a concern, but still with those extreme wind speeds gusting over 150 Miles Per Hour, we had to watch out for flying debris, the absolute power. You cant put it into words. The winds were gusting much higher than that. You can see debris flying through the air in the distance. It reminded me of my old tornado intercept days except it lasted a lot longer. You can almost see the curvature to the flow and you can hear those miniature mesos speed by and the vehicle was bouncing up and down. You definitely felt for the people that were losing their homes and you also hope that everybody had evacuated that storm and we knew that just off to the east, the east side of the eye, that was the most dangerous part of the storm. Thats where the strongest winds were, the worst of the storm surge, areas like mexico beach up there, but water with debris littered on top of it. Roofs sticking out of those flood waters and just absolute devastation as far as i can see in the Florida Panhandle. I was going to say, a couple points, it looked as if you were caught up in a tornado. Thats almost exactly what i would envision it looked like. Talk to me about the damage that youre now seeing. Its like chasing a tornado but there arent any escape routes when youre in an eye wall like that. The damage that we saw once that eye wall moved on to the east and we lost the whiteout, you couldnt see anything at the peak of the eye wall with winds gusting up to 150 miles an hour. But then as the eye wall moved to the east, we saw damage everywhere. There were power poles that were snapped in half, damage that you see in a tornado damage path except it was far more widespread, and then we went north of Panama City Beach to panama city and that was even worse. Thats a little bit further east. They were a little bit closer, the core of that western eye wall and then just to the east of there, the air force base and down to mexico beach, down to st. Joe, the storm surge caused so much devastation. I really hope that nobody stayed behind, especially at Panama City Beach east. Yeah. When we talked yesterday, you said that you had said that you think this hurricane could intensify, even though it was a cat 3, you knew it could approach a cat 4, it became a cat 4 and then almost hit the point of becoming a cat 5 it was so powerful today. What can you say about this storm now having gone through it . Well, every storm is unique and this one was unique as well. Florence was very different with the river flooding lasting almost weeks in advance of that, a slowmoving storm, weaker when it came in. But this one came in fast, its a compact storm. In terms of the pressure, there are only a few other hurricanes in history that have come in this intense, hurricane andrew, katrina, the 1935 hurricane are on par with the intensity of this storm and when a storm comes in that small and compact, like a buzz saw, you know with a compact eye like that, its likely going to be winds up near 200 Miles Per Hour in gusts. The damage surveys are come out and will determine the final categorization but i easily could see this being a borderline category 4, even a weak category 5 storm. Yeah. I mean, and for folks who have lived there a long time, they keep telling us they have never seen anything like it. Outfront for us next, storm surge, the deadliest and most Destructive Force in a hurricane. Were going to show you why. And also go to Panama City Beach, one of the hardest hit towns to talk with one man who stayed behind and rode out the storm. Why he now wishes he would have evacuated. Were drowning in information. 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Brian, what are you seeing there . Reporter well, kate, just a short time ago, we talked to a gentleman whose motherinlaw owns this house. He came back here with his wife, the ladys daughter, so assess the damage and his wife was crying when she saw her mothers house here. What he told us was that this area back here that got torn off in that video that you saw, that used to be the kitchen and the living room on that second floor right there. That just got completely sheered off. Part of the wall got torn off there, a car on the other side was damaged when a lawn mower flew out of a driveway area and smash smashed into it. The part of the roof here that was torn off, you may not be able to see it because its 75 yards down the street, but its that light piece of twisted metal in the distance over there, that got tossed all the way down there. Weve had First Responders venturing into this neighborhood to see if they can clear some of these houses, to see if anybody needs help. I talked to a person from the beach patrol not long ago who said they have had to pull three or four people out of these houses in the neighborhoods, not necessarily because they were trapped but because they simply had no shelter. The roofs were torn off their houses or they were otherwise so severely damaged they were uninhabitable. Now what we can show you here is another roof torn off this house, the whole side of it over there where the cinder blocks are was also ripped away and you can see some of the debris just inside that sliding glass window there, you know, again, these houses are just in shambles, and there are also dangers here tonight that you can not see. We smelled gas on the side of this house a short time ago. These gas leaks are going to be a huge problem as people try to get back into these neighborhoods. That is why the governor and others are telling people, do not come back into these neighborhoods tonight. Its too soon to do it. We talked to a sheriffs deputy who came here and hes very frustrated. He said, look, there are tons of people out here now trying to get pictures, rubber necking, they want to shoot their own video that they want to go viral. Bad idea. Because of these power lines that are still down and still were still getting some pretty heavy wind gusts, flapping around in the wind, so thats a danger here, kate. They are warning people, it is way too early to try to come back to these neighborhoods. We just hope that people are listening and heeding these warnings but clearly the message is not getting through completely quite yet. Brian, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Officials are warning tonight, also, of a deadly storm surge. It is very much still a risk at this hour. Tom foreman is out front with us with that. Tom, were seeing roofs ripped off of houses from the winds. Weve seen that throughout the day. But talk us through one of the deadliest dangers in a hurricane, the storm surge. Yeah, the wind is a very real danger, but the water is what causes the most destruction, because of the storm surge. Theres several reasons why its particularly pronounced in this area. On the east coast, you often have a sharp coastal shelf that will help hold back the storm surge a little bit. On the gulf coast, it tends to be much flatter, and that allows the water to just come in unimpeded and just race across the land, doing all sorts of damage there. Look at this map from the National Hurricane center and you get an idea of how many places are at risk. Theres apalachicola right over there near mexico beach right here. And you can see all the red there, thats where its really the worst, but lets put those colors into a real world perspective. The blue is the smallest amount. Thats only about a foot. On a normal house, thats probably not going to come inside. Its not going to do that much damage. But by the time you get to the yellow color, now youre talking about three feet. Thats enough to affect many vehicles outside if your house isnt elevated a little bit, it could start coming in the front door. By the time you hit orange, its as tall as me. Thats enough in many homes to go in and wipe out the bottom floor. Flooring and wallboard and furniture and electronics and all sorts of things people would have there, and by the time you hit that red color, now youre talking about nine feet or more. That could easily get on to the second floor of some homes out there and before all is said and done, you may actually have some degree of structural damage and failure to some of the houses out there, kate. And tom, is this mainly a coastal threat . I mean, how far inland can this go . Thats the big misconception. People think its all about the beach. The beach matters, yeah, people get hit there very hard, but look at what were talking about here. Storm surge can easily follow creek beds and marshes and swamps and rivers and rush dozens and dozens of miles inland, still causing damage. So much so that there is a company out there that did a breakdown on all of this and what they found was that more than 84,000 homes, according to core logic, could be affected by the storm surge from this storm alone. Wow. Tom, thanks so much. Important perspective tonight. Threat not over. Outfront for us next, im going to speak with one man who chose to stay behind and ride out the storm with his wife, his son, their two dogs, why he now regrets that decision. I think i made the wrong choice, but we honestly if i would have known how bad it was going to be, we would have left. Im going to show you some live pictures now from georgia where michael is moving through the state as a category 2 hurricane. Were going to do back to the ground as the heavy rain and the fierce winds arrive. 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Common side effects dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs, and feet. Dont drink alcohol while taking lyrica. Dont drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. Those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. Now i have less diabetic nerve pain. And i love helping the future generation step into our shoes. Ask your doctor about lyrica. Step into our shoes. Ok here we go guys, you ready . Hi cinturones por favor. Gracias. Opportunity is everywhere. Its gonna be fine. Its a door. Its doing a lot of kicking down there. Waiting to be opened. Whatever your ambition. Whatever your drive. Whatever youre chasing. Driver, are we almost there . Were gonna have a baby daddy daddy opportunity is everywhere. All you have to do to find it is get out. Here. Fiveyear cancer survivor. Being diagnosed with cancer made me rethink everything in my life. The things that became important to me were the relationships with people. We pulled together closer as a family. I had so many people at ctca helping me find a way to go through the treatments, to prepare me for anything i wouldve faced. Cancer showed me what true living is all about. So i started helping at a school for special needs children. I think they do more for me than i do for them. The reality of cancer is not everybody survives. Surviving for five years is a big deal. At ctca, they have a huge celebrate life event. That was amazing because the whole day was about all of the survivors. Im not exactly sure whats ahead of me, but im excited about my future. Visit cancercenter. Com to schedule an appointment now. Continuing now with our breaking News Coverage of Hurricane Michael which ravaged florida today, and is now making its way into southwest georgia with a bang. A category 2 storm with 100 mile per hour winds. Scott mcclain is in albany, georgia, for us. Scott, hows it looking now . Reporter not great, kate. We are really starting to see the worst of it and it is expected to stay this way for the next hour or two. Or even beyond that. The winds, the county, is measuring them at 41 Miles Per Hour. Sustained gusts into the 50s. Thats important because i just got off the phone with the fire chief. He said within the last hour, First Responders are no longer responding to 911 calls. And they have gotten some of them, so you can imagine how scary that is for the people whove actually called. They want people to stay off the roads and stay in their homes. Weve been watching this wednesdwind, rain come down. This tree right here, weve been watching this in particular because it seems like amazing to us that it has not snapped yet. Or at least branches of it have not snapped because it has just been getting absolutely pounded by this wind and this rain. It has all its leaves on it st catching all that wind and rain. The county is also reporting a lot of power outages. 7,200 in this county, expected. There are power crews from out of state that have come into this area to help with outages in this part of georgia. Theyre stationed and ready to get the power back on for those people as soon as this is over. Theyre hoping the worst passes in the next couple hours, kate. Scott, sorry if i missed you saying it. Are there evacuation orders if place where you are . Reporter you know, i asked the same question, kate, why were there not evacuation orders in the county . And the emergency officials here say, look, given where albany, georgia, is, its simply not realistic to send people elsewhere because youd have to go a heck of a long way in order to get out of the affected area and out of the danger zone. So instead, they said, look, if youre vulnerable, yes, you should be thinking about evacuating. You should be getting out. If not, its best to simply stay in your homes. If you dont have a stable home to stay in, you need to either be staying with a friend or staying in one of the five shelters that theyve set up. But given where this place is, its simply not realistic given the size of this storm. You can see it on the radar there. To have people evacuate all that way. Yeah. Absolutely. All right. Thank you so much. Really appreciate it, scott, stay safe. Check back in. I want to get back to the devastating destruction that has occurred across the Florida Panhandle tonight. Really getting our first images of what it looked like, what happened earlier today. Darius flanagan is joini ining now from panama city. Can you hear me . Yes, maam. Is your video that we saw from earlier today, it shows some of the damage at your house. What does it look like outside your window now . Lets see, if i went to look out my front window, there would be a fallen tree that landed over my cars. Look out the back, the roof is removed and the shed roof is also moved and its caved in. How is your family doing . What was it like riding out the storm, darius . Some of us are praying. Some of us were just not that nervous, but then again, there was one of us, sometimes a few of us, our first time. To be honest, it was some of us were panicking and some of us were calm. Treating it like if it was nothing, staying here. You told my producer that your grand moth who are is stl with you spent most of the time during the storm. Praying in the corner. Yes, she was. That sounds really scary. Were you scared . Im going to be real with you, i was in i was right next to her during the situation in the middle of the room, in the middle of the hallway, where she was praying with her daughter, which is my mom, and, well, she made me join hands with her and to be honest, it was i wasnt that nervous. I was just going through my phone the whole time. Just waiting for it to pass. And, yeah, we were all praying as my stepfather and brother were just watching out the window. Why what was the decision, why ride out the storm rather than leave . Well, during the time, we thought it was going to hit us with a category 3 or really a category 2. We were just going to let it happen because were in a brick house. So we were just going to ride it out. We didnt have much evacuation time. We didnt think about it that much. We were just like, okay, were going to have it here. And, yeah, that was about it for that. Do you do you regret, do your parents regret, not evacuating now . Not really. Nothing happened to the interior. I mean, the exterior was destined to happen, but nothing we could have done about it. Were all pretty calm now. Could be a long time before everything is is cleaned up. What are the next couple days going to be like for you and your family . I bet were going to be out of power. I hear were out of water. Things have changed. The Convenience Store isnt going to be like how it was next door. You can see neighbors across the street, which you could never see before. And just trees are half snapped and stuff. I mean, yes, its going to be hard to get back to how it was before. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for calling in. Thank goodness everyone is okay if your family. I really appreciate the time. Thank you, i appreciate the time. Thank you so much. Were going from florida now to pennsylvania where the president tonight is holding a rally stl. He briefly earlier today wai waivered about going to there during the storm. Jim acosta is outfront where the president is right now. Jim, what did the president say about this decision to make the trip, to go to a Campaign Rally in the midst of the hurricane . Reporter yeah, kate, thats right. When the president landed here in erie, pennsylvania, he talked to reporters briefly and said he didnt want to dissipate the thousands of people who were waiting outside this venue to get into this rally. So he continued to talk about that here at the rally. Just a short while ago. Saying he obviously wanted to continue with this event because so many people came out to see him. But, kate, at the same time, the president did extend his thoughts and prayers to the people down on the Florida Panhandle. He pledged the governments full support after the storm passes through. And the white house has been bending over backwards to try to show the president is on the job, not just delivering a political speech at a rally that hes also talking to people on the ground in the florida gulf coast, in the gulf coast region, sending out pictures of the president on the phone with the governors of georgia and alabama and of course the white house announced earlier this afternoon that he is going to be traveling down to florida early next week, kate. But, i mean, but still, in the middle of all this, i heard tonight from a congressman, he thinks people could be trapped in buildings is what they could be dealing with and the president is in erie, pennsylvania, right now, with a crowd. With that in mind, while folks are still dealing with this in a very real way, along the gulf, something that just happened at the rally, the president made did he make a joke about the me too movement . Reporter he did. And lets make no mistake, kate, while he offered his thoughts and prayers to the people in the Florida Panhandle in the storm region, this has been a thoroughly political speech from almost start to finish. At one point just a short while ago, he seemed to mock the me too movement when he said he wanted to Say Something at his rally here tonight, but that the rules of me too would not allow it. He said, quote, theres an expression, but under the rules of me too, im not allowed to use that expression anymore. I cant do it. Then one point, one person in the crowd said, go ahead, mr. President , do it. He seemed to smile at that and wanted to engage. But held back. So on a night when he was going after the democrats and calling their tactics a disgrace in opposing brett kavanaugh, he essentially made a me too joke in front of all of the people at this rally here tonight, kate. Jim, i hope you can still hear me. Did am i remembering correctly, didnt trump not then president , didnt he ridicule president obama for, i dont know, was it a campaigning or doing some kind of rally in the midst of a storm . Reporter thats right. Thats right. That was back in 2012 when president obama was running for reelection. Thencitizen trump, businessman trump, put out a tweet going after barack obama at that time saying he shouldnt go out and campaign when Superstorm Sandy is still causing problems in new york and new jersey. So once again, theres a tweet for everything and a stormrelated t ed tweet. Thank you so much. Our breaking News Coverage continues with a. C. 360. Normally id say good evening. Its hard to say that when its a difficult evening for so many people right now. Hurricane michael remains a very dangerous storm as it makes its way through georgia and alabama and it was far worse when it hit floridas panhandle. The strongest to hit the continental United States since hurricane andrew more than 25 years ago. Winds approaching category 5 intensity. Homes and buildings simply torn to pieces. The video