used. we have a dual status commander. in north carolina we have a commander that works directly for the state governor within the national guard. but we are also able to have active duty members working directly for him so that we re completely in sync with the governor s intent. we ve done inthat with trucks fm ft. bragg. can you describe to us what you re encountering in your rescue operations? i sure can. the storm hasn t moved on much, as your team has been reporting very well. it s made rescue operations very difficult. the coast guard are the primary responders and as they ve continued to do their operations, we re trying to add capability and capacity to that. the weather has really been hampering the flight operations at this time. and so as we are prepared, as the storm continues to clear out, we think there s going to
going to experience with the storm barrelling toward them. over the course of the night, it wasn t a different night than any other night for the family. the difference for the home, you cannot see out the windows because they are boarded up in fear of what could come. when i say we wake up surprised not to see something worse and this family recognizes this storm is not over. you made the point with the help of several people up and down the coast the story of the storm is far from over. we recognize that storm surge could come higher than it has. i went down to the water not long ago. it doesn t look different than it did yesterday when we were out there at this time. we will wait and see what florence brings. john. kaylee hartung for us in a different part of wilmington. the message is it really has just begun. the most powerful winds won t hit in wilmington for some time. the storm surge some time after
of rain through here. if people are looking at the satellite image from the radar, you see it will come through in bands. chad myers will check in with us in a second to tell us that you are about to get the heaviest part of the stink coming your way, john. you are a look at our future. this is the first band of significant rain i have seen. gusting winds in the storm range of 40-to-45 miles an hour. it is not significant taken once. taken over the course of ten hours, it softens things up. it creates vulnerabilities. that is the concern. for now, i m on a porch overhang. to just stand in the rain for no reason, i ll leave that up to you, john berman. i ll stay out of the rain as long as possible. if i had the same hair concerns that you had, chris, i,
all right. john berman in wilmington, north carolina. this is cnn special live coverage of hurricane florence. behind me is the northeast cape fear river. one of the rivers that flows into the atlantic from here. this is a river that is concerned about flooding. there are a number of boats here. i think you can see a jib on a sailboat that has come loose. it was tied around the mast. it has come loose and shaking violently and very loud here. i think someone was trying to tie it down. that would be a hard job. that is what could come loose and become flying debris and be dangerous as the winds pick up in a storm like this. powerful outer bands have passed through. sustained winds of 50 to 60 miles an hour and gusts more powerful than that. it is just the beginning. it will be like that for some time here in wilmington, north
there. quite a storm we re in the middle of. let s go back to christine romans in new york for news. john, this is the beginning. a lot to go for florence. thanks. we will check the headlines. gas explosions killing a man and sparking fires in dozens of homes across three massachusetts towns. at this hour, first responders are in andover and lawrence. look at that. a total of 8,000 homes affected. an 18-year-old killed in lawrence when a chimney from the homelanded on the car he was home landed on the car he was driving. former trump campaign chairman paul manafort is looking for a plea deal to avoid a second trial. it is not clear if it includes the russia investigation. manafort was convicted on eight counts of bank and tax fraud last month. he has a pre trial hearing