An assault under way and preparations for whats still to come. Good friday morning, everyone. Im kendis gibson. And im Mara Schiavocampo in for diane macedo. We begin with breaking news. Hurricane matthew continues to pound the coast and the effects of the storm being felt throughout the state. Some scenes for you. Heres what it looked like from behind the wheel of a police cruiser. This is near port st. Lucie in the heart of the hurricane zone. Officers trying to keep the area safe, but theyre barely able to see whats outside their window there. The powerful storm forced millions to evacuate along the southeast coast. Florida, georgia, South Carolina are all under states of emergency. And we have Team Coverage with abcs ginger zee standing by in melbourne, florida, but first we head to New Smyrna Beach and abcs Lauren Lyster. Lauren, good morning. Reporter good morning, mara and kendis. The impact of Hurricane Matthew intensifying where i am. That category 3 hurricane packing 120mileperhour winds bringing major gusts to coastal cities like this one, in some places clocking in at more than 70 miles per hour. Hurricane matthew barreling towards florida. The brutal conditions intensifying as the eye of the storm taunts coastal cities. Overnight violent winds along the beaches. Gusts in some places clocking in above 70 miles per hour. The storm bringing the look and sound of fireworks in the form of downed power lines. Thousands facing outages. Officials fearing up to 3 million may end up in the dark. The National Weather service saying matthew will be devastating. Floridas governor making this dire warning. Unfortunately, this is going to kill people. Reporter already it has. Matthew taking the lives of more than 100 people as it swept through haiti. The death toll there skyrocketing as the floodwaters recede, and matthew battering the bahamas before heading for florida. Residents thursday preparing filling up those final sandbags. Stores were boarded up. Their shelves bare. More than 3 Million People urged to evacuate here and in the carolinas. Some refusing to go. Everyone left town. Everything is boarded up, and im just waiting. Reporter but many getting out clogging the highways for miles while nearly 4,000 flights have been canceled. And a major concern here now the storm surge. Where i am along the coast, its expected to be six to ten feet or more. Residents here fearing this waterway behind me could continue to rise flooding their homes. You can see the dock is completely submerged. Kendis and mara. Yeah, and thats noted especially with high tide just a few hours away from now, and, lauren, you there in volusia county, how have things changed . Reporter i can tell you that the winds have really picked up. They have become very gusty. When i was walking out by the water, it became a lot more uncertain than it was earlier where it felt very safe. Now it definitely feels like the wind has picked up a lot of power and the rain is pelting you with that sideways rain which is a change from earlier and, of course, the power is out where we are. All right. Wow, Lauren Lyster in New Smyrna Beach. Lauren, thanks so much for that. Okay, so 77 miles south of where lauren is, abcs chief meteorologist ginger zee is hunkered down and she spent the night in melbourne, florida. Ginger, what are conditions like there . Reporter conditions here are sounding a lot more like a Tropical Storm hurricane. Weve had hurricaneforce winds just north of us to 74 and now 79 miles per hour. Right here in melbourne, the airport reporting 63mileperhour gusts. That outer wall, because there really are kind of outer wall and inner walls, the outer wall is about 20 miles from us, the inner about 30 and thats going to make all the difference as weve been saying this whole storm, running parallel to the shore is one thing, once that outer wall gets closer to some of these communities and beaches like Cape Canaveral as it nears there, thats where youre going to see that type of devastating potential damage. Obviously the wind, the surge, all of that still happening, the waves will be climbing in intensity. Right now i can hear the rain, i can hear all of it, but i dont know how, its a miracle we still have power at this hour. I know a lot of people around us do not, i think its in the hundreds of thousands that do not have power yet, so this is not over, and weve got a couple of more hours of it here, but as it moves up along the coast, what i am most concerned about is not only it getting closer to land but as it gets closer to jacksonville and savannah, thats not going to help anybody by that piling of water, so i think storm surge will become even more of an issue along with the wind and the rain. Ginger, in terms of the timing, how long can we expect until this storm has moved off of coastal areas and areas where people live and communities that will be affected . Reporter so, everyone by the end of the weekend will be just watching matthew as it kind of meanders back towards florida. It will be a lot weaker by then but i would say after sunday, folks in south and North Carolina will be finally over with the storm, but, again, its tonight, id say all through the day today in florida then tonight through tomorrow, its coastal georgia into South Carolina and then saturday into sunday South Carolina into North Carolina. And, ginger, weve heard so much about how devastating this storm is going to be. You know, youre so good at what you do. You always are so measured. You dont get caught up in the hype. You really focus on the science. Does this storm look right now based on projections as devastating as it has been predicted to be . Again, its all about how close it can get. At this point i feel so fortunate that it did not get closer to the West Palm Beach area or to very highly Populated Areas south of there. That was on point and prediction. It is right along the National Hurricane centers track exactly like they had it as of last night. So its riding up along the coast. We will see damage but, again, when youre talking, because im measured and im often really concerned about the accuracy, i definitely still have like genuine heart and stomach concerns for folks along the coast of florida and in coastal georgia. So, this is far from over. The next 24 hours are crucial and, again, a mere ten miles is going to make the difference of life and death. Wow. Its been a very long night for ginger there in melbourne, florida, and a long night for people all up and down the coast there in florida and georgia, and as ginger is pointing out, its not over yet. Ginger, thank you. Shes going to have the latest there from florida on good morning america. And matthew, of course, is impacting as well air travel across the country with nearly 4,000 Flights Canceled through tomorrow. Ft. Lauderdale International Airport completely shut down for the First Time Since hurricane katrina. It will reopen at 11 00 a. M. This morning. Miami and Palm Beach International remain open but temporarily halted commercial flights. In orlando, Walt Disney World is shut down and will stay closed throughout the day. That includes theme parks, golf courses and the espn complex. This is only the fourth ever shutdown of the 24 7 mainstay. Each time its been closed, its been because of a hurricane. We should mention that disney is, of course, the Parent Company of abc news. Well, still ahead, much more to cover on matthew. We are just getting started. We have hurricane experts standing by with whats expected next. Dramatic video from the bahamas. Hurricane matthew ripping a roof right off a home. Plus, a familys clever way to keep their car safe in the storm. Youre 9 hours and 45 minutes into your quest. And the silver sword of garmuz is finally within reach. But now the one who needs an energyorb is you. Well good news. Because jack in the box now delivers through doordash. So you can get all your favorites delivered right to your door. Like my sriracha curly fry burger, with two tacos, halvsies and a drink. All in a munchie meal. Saving the universe is hard. Which is why i make ordering late night easy. Delivery through the doordash app. New from jack in the box. Were looking at satellite images, of course, keeping an eye on Hurricane Matthew as the storm roars off the southeast coast. It is the most powerful u. S. Hurricane in more than a decade and it could wreak havoc on florida and the carolinas for the next few days. Millions have already moved inland to escape the path heeding those calls for evacuations. Central Florida Utility Companies have extra crews in place to deal with numerous power line explosions going off throughout the state. Widespread outages are expected as matthew barrels through. Already more than 140,000 customers are without power. And we need to remember that matthew left a mess behind in the bahamas. Take a look at this video that shows the roof of a home being torn off by the 100 plusmileanhour winds. Last night officials there in the bahamas issuing an allclear for the islands in the southeast part of that chain but the bigger question for many right now is what could matthew have in store for today as well as the rest of the weekend. Well, earlier we spoke by phone to John Cangialosi at the National Hurricane center and he gave us some answers. It has weakened a little bit, but only a little bit and thats the true message. Maximum winds are still very impressive 120 miles an hour and the system now is getting vest close to the coastline of east central florida. More important than its size is its actual track. I mean, many systems and thats the tricky part of matthew, many systems just move into a coastline then start to weaken. Matthew is not doing that and riding the coastline so its moving and affecting a lot of real estate along floridas east coast and then points north from there during the next few days and then for the northeast portion of the state, the conditions will be at their worst late this afternoon and through the evening hours, so they will gradually improve from south to north, and some of the severe conditions are going to last several hours and when we talk about these, it comes with just a package of hazards. Not just about the wind but critical to see if the eye comes ashore, but what we have more confidence in is the heavy rains, widespread areas of 6 to 12 inches right along floridas east coast and then the storm surge which is usually the deadliest hazard. He talks about that package package of hazards there, the storm surge, flying debris, Power Outages creating a dangerous situation. And florida officials were noting that throughout while they were warning people to get away, they were saying you can always hide from the wind but you need to run from the storm surge because that is really the thing that ends up killing a lot of people in these sort of situations. Well, when we come back, the new video just in showing Hurricane Hunters flying right into matthew. And the waffle house index. Yes, the waffle house index, its a real thing. Why fema looks at the restaurant chain to see how serious the storm is. Thats why i bought six of you. For when you stretch out. I want you to stay this bright blue forever. Thats why you will stay in this drawer. Forever. I cant live without you. And thats why i will never, ever wash you. Protect your clothes from the damage of the wash with downy fabric conditioner. It not only softens and freshens. It helps protect clothes. From stretching, fading and fuzz. So your favorite clothes stay your favorite clothes. Downy fabric conditioner wash in the wow. Why does your tummy go grumbily, grumbily, grumbily . No more questions for you ooph, that milk in your cereal was messing with you, wasnt it . Try lactaid, its real milk, without that annoying lactose. Good, right . Mmm, yeah. Lactaid. The milk that doesnt mess with you. Youre taking a look there at the latest satellite view of Hurricane Matthew. We see this massive storm moving just off the florida coast, and officials are saying that over the next 24 hours, well be seeing how powerful and potentially devastating this storm, in fact, is. From end to end the storm is 300 miles wide, and thousands of homes have been left without power as a result of this. Some people did get lucky, if you can say that. The strongest part of the storm missed miami as well as ft. Lauderdale. Lets give you this Vantage Point here. This is one of those Hurricane Hunters from inside the cockpit of the plane that is piloted by noaas Hurricane Hunters through the eyewall and into the eye of that storm. The crew safely landed a short time ago saying it was a very turbulent flight. I can only imagine. Absolutely, and they continue those flights 24 hours as long as the storm stays off the coast. Now, price gouging is among the many concerns for millions of people in the storm zone. Some defenses are in place to protect against it, and here with the details is abcs kenneth moton. Kenneth, good morning. Reporter mara, kendis, this morning, reports of price gouging are already coming in, of course, we know that florida, georgia, South Carolina and even parts of North Carolina are under states of emergency. And that means price gouging laws in those states are in effect. The essentials are key for those trying to evacuate or ride out the storm. Food, water, ice, gas, hotel rooms. Attorneys general in those southeastern states have promised investigations into any complaints of businesses overcharging people during this emergency. In florida, there are hundreds of reports pouring in like gas stations raising the prices for a gallon of gas by as much as 6. For bottled water, complaints about a pack costing more than 10. Hot lines have been open across those states, and Business Owners have been warned they could be hit with a thousand dollar fine or even 30 days in jail for hiking up the prices, and, kendis and mara, those price gouging laws will be in effect for at least the next 15 days. Important laws to protect people there. Kenneth moton, thank you so much for that. Its not just the strong winds and rains from hurricanes that can be the most damaging, one of the things that officials are most concerned about is the storm surge. Its responsible for so many deaths. Yes, it is, and ginger zee is back with an explanation about what a storm surge is and why its so dangerous. Reporter storm surge is basically water piling up along the shore ahead of and inside the hurricane. In the center of the hurricane as pressure falls, water levels rise, all the water piling up while its still over the open ocean water. As the hurricane closes in on land, the strong winds push that water toward the coast. It has nowhere left to go but up and inland. Sometimes as high as 20 feet. Now, say youre inside a home at the coast. This is what it may look like, the water approaching quickly and viciously, entering your home and climbing up the walls. In sandy homes quickly filled with water reaching eight to nine feet inside the house. And when storm surge combines with high tide, the rapid rise in water can be devastating. Some may think its the high winds, but storm surge is actually the greatest threat to life and property from a hurricane. So fascinating. It answers a lot of questions ive always had about how dangerous these storms are. Heres one sign of how concerned officials are about the catastrophic destruction that lies ahead. People refusing to evacuate Pawleys Island asking to fill out their next of kin and it also includes a waiver they must sign accepting the risk of staying in the area during the storm. It may sound look a joke but this is serious. You know it is bad when waffle houses shut their doors. The 24hour restaurant chain is known for staying open during the khat of storms. In in fact, its so rare for a waffle house to close during storms, fema uses its restaurant closures as an unofficial barometer of how bad it is and they expect it to be the waffle house index. Interesting. Heres Something Else thats interesting. A woman in florida taking drastic measures to keep her car safe as the hurricane heads her way. She actually parked her toyota in her living room. She simply removed her sliding glass doors and drove the car in a makeshift ramp. Lets hope the car, the home, the homeowner survive matthew unscathed. You got to wonder why she didnt just drive it away. Drive it away, exactly. Next, how the hurricane is affecting the president ial race after the break. I have asthma. One of many pieces in my life. So when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my longterm control medicine. I talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment with breo. Oncedaily breo prevents asthma symptoms. Breo is for adults with asthma not well controlled on a longterm asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. Breo wont replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. Breo opens up airways to help improve breathing for a full 24 hours. Breo contains a type of medicine that increases the risk of death from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization in children and adolescents. 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Hurricane matthew has forced the evacuation of the president ial race from the sunshine state. Both campaigns have been scrambling to cancel events, close offices and move staff to safety in that critical swing state, and both have pulled certain tv ads and are tweeting out support for those still caught in the storm zone. On thursday night football it was the San Francisco 49ers hosting the arizona cardinals. And it was all arizona taking full advantage of San Franciscos many mistakes. Cardinals Larry Fitzgerald caught two touchdown passes then David Johnson rushed for two more. One of the touchdown passes there to larry. Final score, 3321. Cardinals victorious. In baseball the American LeagueDivision Series began last night. The Cleveland Indians hit three solo homers, and they held on. The Boston Red Sox losing 54. Andrew miller earned the win in relief with two scoreless inning. In the earlier American League game toronto also had a big third inning scoring five run, a triple by troy tulowitzki. Texas hardly looked like the team with the American Leagues best record as the blue jays easily beat the rangers, 101. Talking about the blue jays they had another victory. The fan who allegedly threw a beer can at a baltimore outfielder during tuesdays wild card game turned himself in charged with mischief. Police say they identified him from the video. More news next. When is your flu shot more than a flu shot . When it helps give a lifesaving vaccine to a child in need. Thanks to customers like you, walgreens get a shot. Give a shot. Program has helped provide 15 million vaccines through the un foundation. Its that easy to make a difference. Walgreens. At the corner of happy and healthy. Dannon whole milk yogurt, an unprecedented natural outburst seems to have taken over the country. Everythings all right in there . 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The eye has not made landfall but the outer bands are poundinged if. The Central Coast is bearing the print of the category 3 storm. We are in smyrna beach with the latest. Hurricane matthew is barreling toward florida. The brutal conditions intensifying as the eye of the storm taunts the coastal cities. Overnight, violent winds along the beaches and gusts in some places above 70 miles per hour. The storm bringing the look and sound of fireworks in the form of downed power lanes, thousands facing outages. Officials fear up to three million could end up in the dark. The National Weather service saying Hurricane Matthew will be devastating. The Florida Governor making this dire warning. Unfortunately this is going to kill people. Eight has. Hurricane matthew take the lives of more than 100 people as it swept through haiti. The death toll there skyrocketing as the floodwaters receive and battering bahamass before heading to florida. Residents on thursday preparing and filling up the final sandbags with stores boarded up and the shelves bear. Three Million People urged to evacuate here and in the carolinas, some refusing to go. Everyone left town. It is boarded up. I am waiting. But many getting out clogging the highways for miles while nearly 4,000 flights have been canceled. I will tell you that the wind and the rain are hitting us now and take a look at this behind me. This waterway was a calm river 24 hours ago and now it is violently churning around and the dock is completely submerged. The storm surge is expected to be 6 to 10 or more on the coastal areas and the waterway folk are concerned it will overflow and wreak havoc. It has been a long night. Thankthank you for the report. Our drew, what are you seeing . Still a major category three storm. This is a beach from florida with the wind pounding the trees, the waves are moving, and live doppler 7 hd is showing you we are tracking a very intense storm. We will zoom in closer. Cape canavaral reported gusts of 107 miles per hour. The forecast track keeping it category three through the evening downgraded to a one but next week it can