Transcripts For CNNW New Day 20161007

With that eyewall just to our northwest. Were starting to get on the south end. Hopefully in the next hour or so, well finally start to feel conditions taper off and start to be on that back side. Because, as you know, you have that uphill slope. You have the very strong winds and then you is it ilhave the back side of that eyewall and thats where just as intense winds are as on the front end. This storm is just off shore. I couldnt imagine if the eyewall was a little bit closer to where we are. Our winds would be expunenshally worse. It is going to be a huge problem for storm surge for areas to our north, especially concerned where you are, chris, as well, in jacksonville. The storm surge the wind and the rain. These hurricanes that makes them so dangerous and so deadly, chris. All right, jennifer. My shots coming in and out and were just getting a taste of Hurricane Matthew. Were going to have to move somewhere else because the shot is not going to stay stable in any way. Were just at 35 Miles Per Hour with gusts here and supposed to get much, much worse here in jacksonville and down to Daytona Beach where boris is. How are you doing . Hey, chris. We actually had to move ourselves because things got too intense just on the corner where we were of our hotel. The wind coming in tremendous gusts. Upwards of 60 miles an hour. Now a bit of calm. You can see behind me the trees are more or less standing still. Earlier they were bending pretty far. A ton of debris all over the street mostly from palm trees. Ive seen a couple trash cans down there. Power lines. The lights have stayed on here in daytona but they have flickered on and off and our own signal has gone on and off and our Cell Phone Service is starting to get spotty, too. One minor note, we were talking to the chief of police here. He came to visit us. He was driving around with a group of journalists and at one point when we were standing on the corner some guy in the pickup truck started doing doughnuts in the intersection. Just swerving all over the road and almost losing control and going into a building at one point. The chief of police cut our conversation short got in the car and chased that guy down. Apparently he kept doing the same thing for blocks and blocks until they got to him. The message they have put through to message, this is not a good time to be outside. Curiosity gets the best of people. This is not a good idea. This is a storm that has caused more than 200 fatalities in the caribbean. The warning has been put out. Stay away from this storm. It could be devastating for these communities, especially wind along the coast like where we are now. We saw the waves creeping closer and closer yesterday. They are coming closer to the back of the hotel where we are now. It is no question that when we get closer to seeing Hurricane Matthew come to daytona, that will likely come into these neighborhoods. We will likely see some flooding here. A very, very dangerous situation. Hopefully there are fewer incidents like the one we saw this morning and people are staying safe, chris. All right, boris, thank you. Alisyn, stand by. My shot probably wont last very long. The mayor of Daytona Beach on the phone. The pictures look fairly dramatic. One guy was outside playing around. No cure for stupid. Hopefully most people took the advisory seriously and are safe right now. Certainly, we think that most people are wiser to stay in and using good judgment. But at this time, the situation is what it is. The winds are picking up, as your reporter just reported. But the roads are pretty much clear. And were monitoring people that when they see what appears to be good weather that theyre not overreacting and assume that the storm is subsiding in any way because, certainly, the worst is yet to come. And how are you doing in terms of what youre hearing from people, in terms of distress, Power Outages. People who are in need that you cant get to until the conditions subside a little bit . Not hearing so much distress, but right now, you know, i think weve got about 15,000 Power Outages in this area. And we expect that number to continue to increase. And is there anything that you need right now or did the preparations put you in a good, stable situation for now . We think the preparations have put us where we expected to be. And we hope that the storm will continue to take a bend, of course, westward and away from us. But we do feel that we are where we expected to be. But we need our residents to exercise prudence. Not to play with the storm in any way. As to threaten or to put our First Responders in danger, compelling them to have to make lifesaving measures or decisions. Go out and try to save them. Whats your ability to respond right now, mr. Mayor . Are you able to dispatch any Emergency Services . Right now as far as i know were not doing that because were at a point to where thats not what we should be doing. Okay. And in terms of the window of impact. Right now were looking at a live picture of whats going on in your locality. It looks pretty dramatic on camera. How long are the intense effects expected where you are . We expect maximum intensity in about three hours. And then, you know, about six hours after that to continue. So, we are expecting about eight or nine more hours of really intense winds. All right. All right, mr. Mayor. Were looking at these pictures right now. It looks pretty bad. Obviously, one of the components of concern is that you havent seen anything like this in some time. Give some context to us in terms of what the experience is in the area in the last decade or so for people to have that kind of memory of the urgency and the need to take it seriously. Well, thats one of your chief concerns because as has been reported, we havent had a major storm or any storm since 2004. So, there was a great deal of reluctance on the part of residents to heed our advice and flee the storm. However, we feel we did a good job with that. And the reality of the storm is bearing down. I think the governor did an excellent job of communicating the gravity of the situation and we tried to to piggy back on his intensity and we think that the residents have responded fairly well. We just want them to continue to stay on high alert and continue to be vigilant and just make good decisions about their safety. Where are you hunkered down, mr. Mayor . I am at the command center at the police headquarters. You know, we always talk about the need for infrastructure, but in situations like this you understand why government makes the commitments it does to have infrastructure in place for Something Like this. We are looking at the picture doesnt look good and you have that xfactor of lightning there striking the ground. That could, also, cause unintended consequences. As we have been saying to all the local authorities, sir, as you get information that you want to get out, come to us. Well keep people informed, okay. Be well. Thank you. All right. Alisyn back to you in new york. On the right side of our screen were looking at where the storm is hitting with real verosi verosi v, you can see intense winds there and occasionally you can see these bursts of what looked like explosions and those are the transformers that are exploding. When youre covering a hurricane, those are very scary and dramatic, but to be expected and thats whats happening in daytona right now. Very close to there, we find our meteorologist jennifer grey. She is in palm bay and shes also experiencing now this acceleration of winds and, in fact, she was asking for chad myers for some information from chad myers just about how intense those wind gusts are and how long shell be experiencing them. Well get that for you. Well pull up chad for you, jennifer. But at the moment, what are you seeing . Thank you, alisyn. Yeah, we have definitely felt the winds pick up here. It is very intense. I wanted to ask chad about the proximity of the eyewall to us because when i looked at the radar before, it looked like it was heading basically just north or northwest. So, we were basically on the southwest side of it. Have we gotten closer because of the track of the storm or whats going on . Have you looked at the wind gusts where i am because it feels like theyre at least 75, 80 Miles Per Hour. There is the inner eye wall where the winds are in excess of 120, maybe 140. An outer eye wall and you are in the third one right now. You are having the wind come at you from the north and the northwest and just had a wind gust from the National Weather service in melbourne to the north of you at a usair force tower of 102 Miles Per Hour. Thats not the same gust that was on Cape Canaveral about an hour ago. You at least saw 80 Miles Per Hour where you were as this area of intense rain comes in. And, alisyn, this is what is going to happen. It is going to happen to chris and all all our reporters. When the rain hits them, that brings down the wind. When youre in the lull of rain, you lose the wind and then all of a sudden another band hits you. Jennifer, yes, you just felt 80 Miles Per Hour and the storm is at least 30 miles from you. Could you imagine if you were closer . Chad, you know what jennifer is asking. How long will this last and is it going taget any worse because everybody in a hurricane. You think, my gosh, it cant get any worse. It cant get any windier but then it does. And, in fact, we were just seeing there Daytona Beach which is really get the thrust of all of this right now and the wind looks incredible. So, where were seeing all the palm trees being battered around. How long is this going to last in these areas, chad . A snails pace of 10 to 12 Miles Per Hour keeps these winds on all of our reporters for the next 10 to 12 hours. Now, jennifer will get better, i would say, in the next three hours. Winds will start to die off. We were on the air an hour and a half ago and this center of this low doesnt look like it moved at all. This is a live radar. Even an hour ago, the winds were right on shore here at Cape Canaveral and they havent moved. Thats how long and the sustained wind damage. You lose one shingle and then 15 minutes later you lose two more and 15 minutes later you lose five more and thats that long term. Unlike a tornado that just takes everything and leaves. This thing just batters your house and batters the beach and batters our reporters. Chad, very quickly. What are the wind gusts that jennifer is experiencing right now . Ten miles north of her was 102. She probably saw the lighter side of that, somewhere around 80 or 85. Jennifer, we want to come back to you. I doeb know if its any consulation. It will be parked around there for three hours and youre experiencing Something Like 80 to 85 Miles Per Hour. Yeah, yeah. I mean, when he says three hours when youre out here in conditions like this, it makes you feel like you can see the light. I just confirmed what we were thinking. Earlier when we first got out here we thought it was incredibly bad at 60 Miles Per Hour gusts. When you feel 80 compared to 65, definitely a difference. Like chad was saying, i couldnt imagine if that eyewall was any closer to us and we were experiencing those 1 100mileperhour winds like they are in Cape Canaveral. That is intense. If the storm is slowing or just continuing to batter that coast, we could see widespread destruction right along cape canaver canaveral. It is a long road ahead as the storm batthers coast of florida. A long morning there certainly for people who are waking up in shelters and, god forbid, in their homes. Jennif jennifer, we will check back with you. We want to go to another place in the thick of it, coke co beach. Mayor, where do we find you this morning . Im in cocoa beach just south of Cape Canaveral. We are experiencing very heavy rain and heavy winds. Gusting up to well over 110 Miles Per Hour. Were losing transformers left and right. Theyre popping. You can see the blue green glow as they snap, pop. Wind seems to have shifted from due north to now coming from the north to coming from the northwest now. And even more west our easterly flow of wind from west to east. Its strong. Weve lost power throughout the city and various regions throughout the city. Im currently in the fire station here in cocoa beach. We built this building a year and a half ago to withstand this type of an event and it is doing what we built it to do. We have a command center here of approximately 50 Emergency Personnel, combination of police, fire and medical personnel. As well as i. T. To keep us up and running so we can speak to the mainland and outside world, of course. Incredible. Mayor, youre coming in and out. Youre all on stand by. Youre hunkered down and as you say the Emergency Responders, the police, the firefighters. Have you been getting distress calls from people who maybe did not heed the evacuation warning . We are not receiving any distress calls as of yet. We are watching basically through the windows and we cannot respond until the winds die down below 39 Miles Per Hour. At that point, we can go out. If we tried to go out now, it would be disastrous for everyone. Not a good situation. Yeah, why is 39 Miles Per Hour the Tipping Point for when you could go out . Basically it keeps our vehicle steady. If we try to go out there, as well as flying debris. The vehicles we have are very big and heavy. A large profile and the wind can actually knock them over. 39 miles an hour is reasonable for that. But more importantly its actually flying debris, you know, to keep our Emergency Personnel safe when they are out. And basically were right now setting up here in a command center at the fire station waiting for the storm to end so that we are basically at ground zero to go out directly from here and assess the situation to allow folks to come back to the city. Yeah. Well, according to chad myers, you have a few more hours of this, mayor. Stay safe, hunker down there and well check back with you. Thanks so much for taking the call. Thank you. Well take a quick break here on new day. Well be right back. 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We will be showing you Daytona Beach. The focus of impact right now. The big, gusting winds and heavy rain and even lightning which is an xfactor. That is where we have Boris Sanchez trying to wait it out for us. You had to move. How are you doing now, my friend. Chris, we just had to move, again, because the wind keeps getting stronger. We just got another band of harsh, harsh rain. You can see right over my shoulder over there, the amount of debris that is in the street right now. The stuff is just flying all around. The palm trees swaying in the wind and bending pretty far. We had lights flickering on and off all morning. They were out for a short while and came back on just a few moments ago. Were dealing with just the starts of Hurricane Matthew. Wind gusts upward of 60 Miles Per Hour. It will continue taget worse. I mentioned earlier we were speaking with the chief of police and so far things were going well. So far we have have to feel the strong winds that are being felt to the south of. People decided to stay in their homes and to hunker down and try to wait this thing out. The beach is right behind our hotel. Fortunately were protected from that right now. I saw the waves touching the very edge of our hotel and its likely as the storm gets closer and the rain starts coming down heavier and heavier we will see some flooding here. For folks that have decided to stay home, theyre really putting their lives on the line when you consider not just the storm surge but the amount of flooding that will likely happen because of this storm and aside from that, again, just these winds and the amount of debris that, you know, ends up on the street and in neighborhoods. Anything can become a projectile. We were watching a fence earlier that looked like it was about to wind up on the street and as im looking behind me, im seeing some sparks over there. What looks like a power line is starting to show sparks. I wouldnt be surprised if the light suddenly went off. Again, chris, things are really just getting under way as we feel the winds pick up and it looks like the band is starting to pass and at any minute it is going to continue to get worse, chris. Yeah, same situation here in terms of being between bands. People then can get a false sense of security. When it changes, it gets ugly, quickly. The control room is telling me the power went out at the Daytona Beach live shot. The problem is, it will take a long time to restore power because Emergency Services just cant get out there until conditions calm down. Boris, stay safe. Let me know when we need to come back to you when the situation changes. Lets go to jason foster broadcasting from his vehicle. Tell us where you are and what the situation is. Im in cape caw negatinavera my way along the route trying to keep up with the eye. Just parallel with it at the coast. Right now im seeing some of the worst conditions so far. Just like boris was talking about. Winds were really kicking up and getting real strong. Just off to my left im getting a lot of power flashes and the Traffic Signals are swaying really good. Its really kicking up good now. Jason, do me a favor. If you can, use your camera, if you can, and show us what youre seeing. So, this is just one of the intersections. So, and from time to time youll see a power flash. But the signal there on the left of the screen are really moving around a lot. Little calm at the moment. But sometimes when the gusts come through that really powerful, those signals can become sideways and an intersection down the street, one had already come off the mountings and is just laying in the middle of the street, almost hard to see, especially when the lights do go out. Which they often will go out with some of the power flashes. And then sometimes they come back on slowly. But, yeah, you really have to watch whats in the road and the debris thats flying at you and all kinds of things. Its around. What are you dealing with in terms of flooding on the street and any storm surge. I havent seen any storm surge as of yet. I have mostly been thinking to u. S. 1 through a lot of my travels and also through a1a further south. Im just getting into Cape Canaveral. I havent explored this area. The main roads okay. How long that lasts, i dont know. What are you seeing in terms of people who decided the reckless route of waiting it out or worst of all the people who are playing to their own curiosity . You know, earlier on in the day when i was further south, i was surprised how many parents, for instance, had their kids out and those kind of things. I just, you know, it was like, okay. You know i get the curiosity and such and there was probably still some time to evacuate, especially if you were only going inland a little distance. But now, now i would say i have not seen probably since mid to late afternoon. Ive hardly seen anyone on the street. Theres nobody moving around. Those who stayed behind while they probably got lucky for some, especially, again, further south where the eye did not come onshore. You know, thats just a lucky call. I dont know if that was necessarily the best decision. Just luck this time and then, of course, further up the coast, we still dont know yet. And you dont get a lot of time to adjust in a hurricane and it takes a long time for someone to come and get you. Jason foster, stay safe and stay in touch. Well be back to you in a little bit. Alisyn, were in between bands and its starting to pick up. Why dont we do this together and get to chad myers and get the latest on whats going on with the path. Chad, are you with us . I am. Im just looking at jasons location. Hes right there on the cape on route 1, not that far from a1a. Heres whatti were talking, i just heard the cocoa beach mayor talk about, the winds are shifting. Going that way up here, going that way over here. Going this way across here down here. And going to the north over here. So, as the eye moves to the north, you will feel the wind shift direction. Thats a real problem for our live trucks. Because we will put the live truck behind a building protecting it from a wind here and then all of a sudden the wind shifts and the satellite dish is blowing in the wind. Thats why well lose live shots every once in a while. The eye of the outer band is definitely on Cape Canaveral at this hour without a doubt. The winds there are over 100 Miles Per Hour. Melbourne proper, 62 Miles Per Hour. But the closer you get to that eye, the higher the winds are. Like chris was talking about, every time a band comes through, the winds pick up. The rain actually transports the wind from aloft and pushes it to the ground. And if its not raining, you get a nice break. And, chris, youre going to get a decent break for a while. There will probably still be another band 45 minutes from now, but, for now, your live shot is in good shape. Good, safe shape. Daytona beach, not so much. Many, many bands coming at daytona. New smyrna all the way up the palm coach, cinnamon beach. You are in the middle of it right now. I think the best thing i can say, guys, is that this entire coast right here all the way to Cape Canaveral is an uninhabited coast. It is where Cape Canaveral is. No one lives there. That is entirely unused beach. We dont really get people. We dont get buildings until right about there. So, right now, the worst wind is where nobody is. Chad. What are we looking at in terms of the concern of duration. Where we are here in jacksonville now that the advisory shifted and im with your man van dillon here who is showing me all the special meteor logical data you get in. With that shift in the advisory, not real full impact here in jacksonville until like late afternoon, early evening. But all this tenderizing thats going on of these bands before it, how does that increase v vulnerabili vulnerability . The more you rip a building apart and the longer duration the wind happens, the more damage occurs because of that one shingle thats gone, now two are gone. Or that one board, that one f e facia board falls off and the longer the wind goes, the more damage. Unlike a tornado that takes it and blows it all away at the same time. Here is your duration, there is the bottom of the eye six hours ago. Its only moved this much. Its moved less than 60 miles in six hours. If youre talking about another 120 miles to jacksonville, my 11yearold can do that math. That is another 12 hours before the eye gets to you. Thats how long youll be in it to win it. Okay, chad. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Chris, you stay put, hunker down. Well be back with you momentarily. We want to bring in mayor william capoti which is south and that is where you have been watching Jennifer Grays live shots from. Mayor, where are you hunkered down . Im hunkered down with my family in our home. The chief of the Fire Department is at the eoc. They lost power there and thats the southeast section, but theyre running on generators. They have radio, 800 radio power for cell phone and communication and were hunkering, hunkering down. Im listening to the winds. As youre stating, i can tell because ive been up the whole time. Ive been listening at 2 00 in the morning it got really intense and right now as youre mentioning about Cape Canaveral. Those wind hitting them, now it is coming to the northwest. I live on the Northwest Side of the city and i can hear it in the back of my house. And i can hear the wind pounding and pounding away. But im in communication with my staff and theyre letting me know whats going on. And were ready to move at any time for any emergency thats needed. When you say i mean for any emergency. Are you going fabe sending out Emergency Responders or are they also hunkered down . No, well let it settle in first. Well let it settle in first. For those people that decided to stay and they needed extra help in regards to oxygen and things like that, at this time were not able to send the responders. We have to wait until we could. Because the wind have intensified. Mayor, when you say youre hunkered down with your family. Do you have children . I have my son. Hes older now, but were here together as a family. My other son had got 24 hours, he has twoday duty because he works for a Satellite Company in melbourne and they needed to keep your feed going because the feed that they do is for cnn and all the other stations. Oh, my gosh. Thank your son for us that he was called into duty so we could be broadcasting out to the country and to the world, quite frankly, thats watching whats happening to you there. Wow, lots on his shoulders. So, when you say that the wind was intensifying at your house, can you describe it to us . What has it been like . As a matter of fact, let me walk and if i lose signal, let me kind of give you im going to the back, so you can hear. Try to describe what youre seeing for us, as well. Okay. I boarded up the back of my house which is the florida room and you can hear the pounding. I can hear the pounding in the back from the wind hitting it. From the boards over your windows, youre saying. Can you hear it . Well, not as well as you can, but i take your word for it. But its intense. You can hear the wind pushing, pushing on the plywood. Yeah. Are you all in how are you you boarded up your windows, obviously. Correction. What else do you do to take cover . Ive been through this before in 2004. I felt like an experienced soldier. And i still have power, electrical power. The Northwest Side of palm bay has power. We still have electrical power. It seems that southeast lost power and im still getting reports in on whats going on with the other. Well, mayor, we know you have your work cut out for you once you do make it through the worst of the storm that is hitting you right now. Then, obviously, youll have days and days of cleanup there. So, thank you for taking the time. Hope your family stays safe. And send our regards to your son there who is helping out there. Thanks so much for being with us on new day. Okay. Thank you. Well take a very quick break here and then we will get more updates from chad myers and check back in with chris who is in jacksonville. New day will be right back. When you think of saving money, what comes to mind . Your next getaway . Connecting with family and friends . A big night out . Or maybe your everyday shopping. Whatever it is, aarp member advantages can help save you time and money along the way. So when you get there, you can enjoy it all the more. For less. Surround yourself with savings at aarpadvantages. Com upgrade your phone system and learn how you could save at vonage. Com business all right. Youre watching new day. Im chris cuomo in jacksonville, florida. This is the area that is supposed to get the most concentrated impact, but thats not for many hours from now. Yet, phones were just going off with emergency alerts. Local authorities saying a hurricane is coming. Please, take shelter. Hurricane matthew is making its presence felt along the east coast of central florida. We have winds measured in excess of 100 Miles Per Hour. The eye of the storm, the western edge, several miles off the coast of florida and holding. Moving very slowly. Literally, less than ten miles an hour as it moves up north and northwest along the eastern coast of florida. The latest advisory over 320,000 people without power. And as we go to Jennifer Gray, meteorologist who is in central florida, palm bay which is getting hit harder, that power will be out for a while, jennifer. Emergency services cannot get out in these conditions. Oh, absolutely not. We have gusts of 80 miles an hour here and there is no way they can get to you. So important for people to get out. Take this as a warning, if you live up the coast, were seeing 1 100mileperhour winds on Cape Canaveral. If that continues to head to the north, youre not going to be able to stay in your home, especially if its a mobile home or a structure thats not very sturdy. Get to one of those shelters whilia cae iyou can. A lot of the shelters in Brevard County are filled. That is good news. It shows some people heeded those warnings, chris. Yes, the winds have been incredibly gusty. Whats eerie about it almost is that right now absolutely nothing. Not even a breeze and then all of a sudden it will come out of no where and almost knock you off of your feet. Thats the nature of these hurricanes. Theyre ferocious and this one is continuing to push up the coast. Were going a be in this for another couple of hours. Very intense wind and then it should start to slack off by later on in the morning, which is good news. And then you can get out and the emergency crews will be able to get out and kind of assess the damage. But that eyewall is just to our north and east. We feel the winds are starting to shift a little bit. So, honestly, im a little curious how much longer our satellite will stay up when were no longer protected by this hotel. We had to move quite a bit inland from yesterday because the surge was making us very nervous. The storm surge 7 to 11 feet possible. Especially areas to our north that includes where you are, chris. The storm surge is going to be a huge concern as we go forward with this storm and that goes without saying, of course, the wind. But as well as the rain. Like weve been saying, a lot of times it was the water. The water that takes lives in these storms, not necessarily the very strong winds, chris. You know, jennifer, its just the question of time and how it changes in this situation. Yesterday my biggest concern about the st. John river was the mullet run and now today its almost at its cresting point right now. We still have four feet of tide to go before noon and maybe six or ten feet of surge. So, were going to have to keep an eye on the situation here in jacksonville and also where you are. Well check back in a little bit, my friend. Boris is in Daytona Beach. Theyve been getting hit much harder there. A struck of lightning that could cause unexpected damage. Boris has had to move his shot several times. What are you seeing, boris . Yeah, chris, right now were in a lull. The winds have slowed down since the last time we got a chance to talk to you. Still very, very nasty out. Weve seen several power flashes, as you mentioned. The lights have been on but flickering on and off down the street. When i had a chance to look down there a few moments ago. The palm trees swinging in the wind. Bending pretty far at one point and a ton of debris all over the street and one of the most interesting things is banging all over the place and really difficult to make out what it is. You dont want to risk yourself by going out and seeing what is on the street. As i mention, a ton of trash and debris out there and surprising that people have decided to stay here and hunker down considering that storm surge we have been talking about higher than six to seven feet. Were right here on the beach at Daytona Beach. There is a boardwalk right down the street from us. We were talking with a gentleman who had a direct hit from a hurricane many years ago that boardwalk was totally inundated and he is expecting the same thing to happen during this hurricane. Waev already seen the water creep up to the edge of our hotel and this is just the beginning of this storm. The surge, as i said, six to seven feet here. Wind gusts of up to 60 Miles Per Hour have already hit this area and the hurricane is still a couple hundred miles south of us. As it creeps closer, well see these conditions worsen. As i said right now it looks like things are calming down. One last thing, chris. I saw a guy walking down the street. A terrible, terrible idea. If you decided to ignore the mandatory evacuation order, at least stay inside your home because rescue officials will not be able to help you as this continues to get worse. You know, boris, youre making the right call. Were not in the business to tell people what to do ordinarily, but this is an extraordinary circumstance. The authorities have made it clear. Being out there is just reckless. Please, keep the word out. When you see people, say something. Well check back with you in a little bit. Right now, lets get to dr. Bob sheets. He was in charge of the National Hurricane center when we were dealing with andrew back in 1992, i believe it was. 92. You know, dr. Bob sheets, andrew was a word we kept hearing in the last few days about a potential analogy to what matthew could be. Can you explain that to us and in terms of any of that expectation coming to fruition yet . Well, they were totally two different storms. In this hurricane, its a very large hurricane. Its not nearly as powerful as hurricane andrew was because there the winds were 175 Miles Per Hour. You would not see those lights on that youre seeing in your live shots and the destruction was tremendous from the wind. In this storm, its going to be primarily the destruction from the storm surge. In the area south of the keep, the water is close to shore. A lot of wave action down there. From here on north right on up through the charleston, south carolina, area. The water is relatively shallow in near the shore. That means as the wind is pushing the water towards the shore, it cannot sink and recirculate but piled up. So, the major damage here is going to be from the storm surge itself. I saw reports that there was actually a wave recorded at over 17 feet, about 20 miles off shore. Now, thats just a dramatic aspect of this. But, youre right, the volume of water. The surge, especially in more shallow areas that creates the catastrophe. In terms of what were seeing so far as it moves up the coast, is this storm doing what you expected it to do . I think the forecasts have been very good in terms of there guidance from the models that have been developed and improved over the years. So, the forecast is very good from a point of view of the National Hurricane center, its the most difficult project because of the fact that just to the left makes a huge difference as compared to the wobble to the right. The fact that its staying along the coastline on an unusual track because with we had hurricane floyd in 99 that was stronger and it stayed a little farther off shore and then went directly in to the coast up in the carolinas. But this one here is going to loop and thats a very difficult forecast jump. In terms of experience, were talking about andrew that was back in 92. One of the concerns for authorities has been that the eastern coast has not had the recent Life Experience of living through a hurricane and understanding what the risk is and what the resilience is that is needed. Is that a concern . Thats always a concern about peoples Life Experiences. The people that were in mississippi and katrina, youre never going to have to worry about them responding to a hurricane, again. The people that were in south dade county and hurricane andrew, youre not going to have to worry about them. And the people up in the charleston area that were there in 89, youre not going to need about them responding to the hurricane. The ones that get the fringe area of the hurricane. For instance, this hurricane, people all along the coast so far have not experienced the eyewall of the hurricane. So, it would be an experience for them if you had a hurricane come directly into the shore. We want people to remember that because we have a lot of hours left of exposure to matthew. I want to bring in chad myers. He has a question for you. Chad, go ahead. Hey, doctor, i want to talk to you about the storm surge in the st. Johns river and also towards st. Simons island. There are a few cuts in the sandbars here all the way from daytona to jacksonville. The next true opening for the water to pour in will be the st. Johns river and then on up towards the island. What will that storm surge potential be here . Its going to be very large because you dont have the water flowing out of the rivers into the ocean. The wind is going to push it up the river and in those inlets is going to push it up there and the fact that this is such a large storm with the Long Duration of time pushing that water ashore means that it will pile up. And i think that ive seen the Hurricane Center storm surge model indicate somewhere around 10 to 11 feet of the surge. Now, again, youre going to have waves on top of that. Not just the surge itself, but the waves on top of that and then the inland factor by driving it up the st. Johns river and some of those. Chris . Well, those are good points, but tough to hear dr. Bob sheets. Thank you very much for being with us. Chad, thanks for keeping us aware of the status because thats what were aware of right now. What is behind us the st. Johns river and the growing concern, it is right up at the bank right now. Four more feet of tide to come before high tide at noon local time and the surge that is expected. And the wind thats coming with it. I dont think well be able to stay here and i think this whole area is going to be pretty significantly under water. Thank you. Well check back with you, if we need you. Alisyn, back to you in new york. Last we heard 300,000 people there in south florida were without power. We want to bring in rob gold, with Florida Power and light. Floridas largest power company. Mr. Gould, what are the latest numbers of how many people lost electricity . Yeah, alisyn. We think at this point were making a lot of progress. We have about 550,000 customers impacted thus far. We restored about 150,000 customers and that indicates how much effort we have already been putting into this storm. We have been out in this storm restoring power. As soon as the storm clears, of course, well hit it in earnest. We have a small army of about 15,000 folks. 12,000 of which are field workers. The key in any restoration like this is to have your field workers ready. Have them prepositioned and in place and we have been monitoring the storm for the better part of a week. We had our command center open and, again, had our people in place so we can get about the restoration as quickly as we can once the storm passes. Gosh, rob, what a herculean effort. Are they out in the elements right now trying to work on power . We are actually. I think whats important to understand. We invested 2 billion in our system since the past decade. Since the last tame we saw a major strike here in florida. And those, those investments are yielding benefits. I heard boris talking before about the fact that he was seeing some flickers and things of that nature. That may be a good thing. We have installed devices, for example, on poles. Instead of having a truck to have to roll to change a fuse, it actually automatically opens and closes and opens and closes and tries to clear the circuit so that the power stays on. And i think that as we continue to see the storm move up the coast, were making progress. We still have upwards of a million of our customers still in harms way. Were not out of this by a long stretch. Rob, just very quickly. When day breaks there and people and the wind passes or the rain passes and people want to come out and check out their neighborhood, i know that you have a big warning for them because just because they dont have power doesnt mean that the lines arent still hot. What do you waurnt pent people . Bottom line is, if you see a line down, do not go near it. It could be energized. If you see flooded waters, stay away from it. There could be a power line down. Again, weve invested 2 billion since the past decade, but this is a force of Mother Nature that candidly we have not seen in a very, very long time. And Mother Nature has not done a clearing effort, either, in that time. So, were seeing a lot of flying debris. A lot of trees down. Things of that nature. So, theres no way to hurricane proof a system. We think we have a very strong and resilient system. But were talking about a category 4 storm, category 3 now. We have a long way to go and safety is the most important part. Rob gould from Florida Power light, thanks so much for joining us. Well have much more of the track of Hurricane Matthew when new day continues. Tokyostyle ramen noodles. Fresh ingredients, stepbystep recipies, delivered to your door for less than 9 a meal. Get 30 off your first delivery blueapron. Com cook. Vo hey, evan. So, youre stuck at a work thing. With directv and at t you can stream all your favorite shows without using your data. That makes you more powerful than a table for 60. Businessman wednesdays are the new thursdays or the mandatory after party. Evan how early is too early to leave . Vo youre not going anywhere. Evan im not going anywhere. Its your tv, take it with you. Watch all your live channels, on your devices, data free. Stay at over 1000 americas and canadas best value inns stay at over 1000 americas and canadas best value inns room discounts instant rewards and a home town touch to our viewers in the u. S. And around the world. Youre watching new day. Im chris cuomo in jacksonville, florida. Getting the most concentrated hit from Hurricane Matthew but not for many hours for right now. Right now battering the eastern coast. Ali alisyn is live as the bands of system are coming through. You ha you lose your shot and we have somebody. Heres our latest information. Maintaining category 3 force. Sustained winds of 120 Miles Per Hour at its core. Here on shore, weve been feeling gusts of up to 110 miles an hour so far. But in areas of central florida, Daytona Beach, palm bay, they have been getting battered steadily. 300,000 are without power and its going to stay that way or get worse because Emergency Services cannot get out. In the conditions and area wheres power is out. Lets get to Jennifer Gray right now and duration you keep telling us people should know why the storm hasnt been as catastrophic yet, there is still a long way to go. Oh, yeah. Just the beginning phases, chris, as this continues to crawl up the coastline. We were mentioning those wind gusts reported. Just north of us of about 100 Miles Per Hour. We had wind gusts of at least 80 Miles Per Hour and its still going and we have been feeling these very strong gusts for more than an hour now. So, just the repetitive nature of these gusts just going and going and a Long Duration of them. Thats what could cause that devastation. You know, on top of the