were spared. >> the tampa bay area, i think things are good. leon county is doing well. we're still assessing what is all going on on the ground in the places that had the initial impact. >> as i mentioned, the storm is now into georgia bearing down on savannah, which is under both a hurricane warning and a tornado watch. after that, it's expected to push into south carolina, slamming the area between columbia and charleston. this is what idalia looks like when it came ashore along keaton beach. that's one of several coastal florida towns that got the worst of it. areas that have never seen a hurricane like this. the town of perry is another, and that is where this unbelievable video was shot. 100 miles per hour winds flipping a gas station awning right onto its side. right now roughly 275,000 people are without power across florida, more than 90,000 already in georgia, and that's where we begin in georgia. nbc's lindsey reiser joins me now from savannah, lindsey, what's the biggest concern where you are right now? >> reporter: chris, we have seen on and off heavy rain, some stronger winds. you can see some white caps here on the savannah river. we are actually expected to see the worst of the winds later this evening. the governor of georgia declared a state of emergency, and he gave us a briefing here on what some areas of georgia have already seen when it entered the state as a category 1 hurricane this morning. let's go ahead and listen to what he said. >> we had multiple counties in the affected area that are seeing winds in the 70 to 80 miles per hour and some gusts up to 90. we know by radar it looks like we may potentially have in some areas 9 to 10 inches of rain. the good thing is this is a narrow storm and is very fast-moving, so it's not sitting on us and dumping even more rain than that at one time. >> reporter: another positive factor, in addition to it being fast-moving, it's happening during the daytime hours, not nighttime, which is obviously safer for folks. so here in savannah, the city has stopped operations. schools have gone virtual. there was talk of a curfew overnight. it doesn't look like that's happening at this point. things could change throughout the day. and also, we're expected to see, even though it will weaken by the time it gets to us to a tropical storm, we could still see wind gusts 50 to 60 miles an hour. so still not in the clear yet in this area, chris. >> lindsey reiser, thank you for that. msnbc's josé diaz-balart is about two hours south in crystal river where water levels could stay dangerously high for hours to come. high tide hits at 4:30. jose, i've watched you move from place to place to place. we've seen those waters rise. tell me what the situation is on the ground right now. >> reporter: chris, it's so good to see you. this has been an evolving situation. i can tell you that from about a little before 5:00 this morning when we were out already in the areas waiting for the arrival of this hurricane, things had changed very quickly, and so now, for example, you can still see, i mean, this is the parking lot of the hotel where we have been staying at where we have set up our center of operations. unfortunately, the entire hotel has been flooded. the whole first row of the hotel is flooded, and just a little while ago, chris, i was speaking with phil and brenda his wife who live about three miles from here on a little island, they did evacuate. this is a zone a evacuation area, and most people did evacuate. they evacuated, but they've been able to get back thanks to their brother's airboat that they had to get to go in, but they describe what was -- it's really just an unbelievable experience of what people there dealt with. take a listen to that. >> some water on the hood of my jeep, people swimming out of their windows down on the islands right now. >> phil, are you talking about people swimming out of their windows? >> swimming out of their windows. >> literally. from their homes. >> literally from their homes. >> reporter: and brenda says that she fears that they may have lost their home because of the enormous amount of water that it has experienced, but they all got out alive, and there have been some rescues that we've been hearing about, some folks are coming out and we saw a few in the house about 100 yards from where we are that came out early this morning, and you can see maybe down there some of the folks that are coming out as well. the water, chris, which is kind of been good news in all this devastation that we've been seeing all day, the water here has begun to subside. chris, as you're talking about, now we have to see what's going to happen with the high tide. you know, there's the king tide, and there's the special moons and the high tide coming back. but as of right now, this is the best we've seen it in a couple of hours. >> but for exactly that reason, jose, i know the sheriff's office has been warning people to keep shelter and don't come out. don't drive your cars. they say those surges are still possible. has that advice changed, to your knowledge? >> reporter: absolutely they're possible, and things -- look, just about an hour ago we were still getting pelted with rain by these bands of rain that came by. it's still cloudy out, but chris, one of the things that, you know, people have to remember is that many times the majority of the accidents and incidents that occur occur after the storm passes, and it's because people just, you know, will have accidents. you know, we're in the water here. now we've got all this -- you know, the team here has been extraordinary, they've checked everything. we have low amperage lights that are under water, but they've been disconnected. think about this, one doesn't know what one is stepping on. if you go outside in your yard, and that yard has downed power lines that have been covered by debris, branches, by leaves and you don't know it and those power lines are hot, you know, these are the kinds of things that can happen, especially in the hours after the passing of a storm of this magnitude. one has to be really, really careful. >> josé diaz-balart, i know that you and your crew will be careful. good to see you, i'm sure we'll go back to you. let's go back to nbc meteorologist angie lassman who continues to track this storm. what's the very latest there? >> the very latest is that we're starting to see this system weaken, but the impacts haven't changed that we expect for the rest of the day today for folks in georgia, south carolina, north carolina. the folks in florida, they're still getting some of these kind of feeder, you know, outer bands working through parts of tampa and south, but overall, places like where jose is, much quieter conditions when it comes to the rain, when it comes to the winds of course. some of that heavier rain lifting into parts of georgia, and we're seeing the implications from that with flash flood warnings up. just a quick note, we're talking category 1 hurricane right now, 80 miles per hour winds and moving at a fast pace of 20 miles per hour. so that quick pace is going to continue to kind of move this system right along. that helps when it comes to those highest rainfall totals, but you can't escape them in situations like what douglas is dealing with right now, really heavy torrential rain working through that area of georgia right now, you heard the governor reference they've seen 6 to 9 inches of rain reports coming out of some of the portions of southern georgia, and that's likely. we've already seen those water rescues coming out of parts of that area as well, places like valdosta, and you can see the flood warnings and watches that are up right now. the green is the flood watch. it's kind of expired for parts of florida. we're still seeing some conditions potentially that could lead to some flooding. watch for that in flooding. but really take note of this darker red area, douglas to valdosta, that is where we're seeing flash flood conditions and those flash flood warnings are in effect. this is one of the most dangerous parts of these systems. we always say water is the number one killer. we want you to be aware of that. moving through the rest of the day, maintains category 1 strength as it goes over savannah. this is 8:00 p.m. tonight, it will slowly but surely move across georgia, over the carolinas. the rain is really front loaded with this system, so it will continue pushing that through with it, and those strong winds as well, especially right near the center of the storm. we've also got the tornado concern. we've got tornado watches up for parts of georgia right now until 3:00 p.m. as the system moves farther to the north and east, we're going to see places like charleston and wilmington with that watch in place until 10:00 p.m. that goes after sunset. that means that, you know, when the sun goes down, it's even more dangerous when it comes to tornados, so we want you to be aware of that. with the circulation around that system, it's possible that you could see that on the right side of that storm so that's what we're watching there. this is the area that we'll watch for those brief tornados, so just be aware, again, this goes into the evening hours tonight. when it comes to storm surge, we've talked a lot about places like where jose was. we've talked about cedar key. now we look towards the southeast where this is going to be something to note especially as we get closer to high tide time. savannah, 7:37 p.m. for your high tide. charleston just before 8:30 this evening, as those strong winds are working onshore pushing water, and by the way, we also have a super blue moon that means that we're talking about higher tides than a normal high tide. so along with the high tides, we could see places like charleston reaching potentially record -- in the top ten of records for water levels as we get through the rest of this storm. so something to definitely note if you're going to be -- if you live in this area, we are not done with the system just yet, and of course on top of that, we'll see that really heavy rain work through, and right along the center of it, we still have the potential to see, you know, tropical storm force winds, of course, for the widespread area of georgia and the carolinas. but savannah could see wind gusts up to 76 miles per hour here as we get through the rest of the day. that of course means power outages, downed trees and all of those concerns that jose and the rest of our correspondents had been laying out here through the better part of our day, chris. this is going to be something that we won't be able to get rid of until we're into the day tomorrow and we'll finally see the system working offshore. >> angie lassman, thank you. we want to go live to the white house, at the briefing is deanne criswell, the fema administrator. >> we have over a thousand personnel currently deployed, prepared to support not just florida but all of our states that are in the path as needed. while i was in there, the governor also -- or the president also directed me to travel immediately into the area, and i will be traveling later this afternoon to join governor desantis tomorrow to do assessments and see firsthand what the impacts from this storm are and i can report back to the president what i see, what we think the needs might be and where the federal family might continue to assist. i want to address the second reason that i am here at the white house today. today i will also join president biden alongside his cabinet and agency officials who are supporting the response and the recovery efforts on the ground in hawaii. as we continue to help the people of maui rebuild and recover over the long-term. this whole of government approach is what is needed to get the right resources to the people of maui, the resources and the assistance that they need and that they deserve. now, back a little bit to what we know so far on hurricane idalia, while it is still too soon to assess the total damages, we know that the storm made landfall as a category 3, which means over 120 miles per hour winds and up to 10 inches of rain in some areas. peak storm surge in some places along the coast, it has peaked right now but it could surpass once they measure over 15 feet of storm surge. we'll get exact numbers as they're able to go in and assess what the storm surge was. idalia was the strongest storm to hit this part of florida, to make landfall in this part of florida in over 100 years. but fema and the entire biden/harris administration, we were prepared and we were ready to support the needs of this storm. as i mentioned, we have actually over 1,500 federal responders that are on the ground in the affected area. this includes over 300 personnel from fema as well as over 500 urban search and rescue personnel ready to support any of the state's requests. as of 7:30 this morning -- and i know these numbers are dynamic and fluid. as of 7:30 this morning, there are nearly 3,000 customer outages for power in florida, and we do expect those numbers to continue to rise as the storm passes through and goes into georgia and we'll see power outage numbers for georgia, south carolina, and perhaps north carolina. our partners at the u.s. army corps of engineers are prepositioned to support power restoration and they have over 30 generators that are prestaged. additionally the utilities are preparing for storm impacts including prestaging crews and equipment outside of the projected storm track, and the state anticipates a total of about 30,000 to 40,000 linemen in florida to begin to assist in the power restoration efforts. people that are still in the storm's path, however, as you heard, they should not venture out into the storm and remain sheltering in place if your local officials are telling you to do so. however, if you are in trouble, and you need immediate assistance, please call 911. as you do go out, do not wade in the water. do not drive through flooded roads and streets. just remember, turn around. don't drown. unfortunately, we see so many fatalities after the storm passes. we want to make sure that everybody is taking the right precautions to keep themselves safe. and as always, please continue to listen to your local officials as this storm continues to pass oaf georgia currently and into south carolina. please check on your friends and your family and your loved ones, especially older adults and people living with disabilities to see if they have any needs. in closing, i just want to remind people that this is still very much an active situation. remnants of the storm are still affecting florida. as we speak the storm is over georgia and moving into south carolina. people there and in the carolinas will continue to experience impacts throughout the day today and possibly into the weekend. again, fema is well postured with our federal partners to support floridians during this time of need and stands ready to support other affected states as needed. with that, i can take any questions. >> thank you. administrator, what are you most concerned about over the next day or two since you just said it's too early right now to assess the extent of damage in florida? >> yeah, my biggest concern is those people who chose not to evacuate and i know that our local first responders, the heroes that are out there in those local communities are doing amazing job already of going into the areas where people did not evacuate in helping to get them to safety. i think that is our priority through the day today is to make sure that everybody is safe after the storm has passed. as we go into the next few days, we're going to want to assess what the total amount of damage is and see what immediate needs need to be put forth to help support the recovery process. >> administrator criswell, thank you so much. can you take us into the briefing you had with the president today. what was he most concerned about? what was he most focused on and any other direction he gave you. and secondly, you said that governor desantis is satisfied with the federal response, doesn't need anything additional. was there anything else discussed on that call? >> yeah, the president's main concern is making sure that we are bringing everything that we have in to support these states as they're having immediate response and life saving needs or beginning to start their assessment and their recovery process. i think it's incredibly important that our governors know that we are ready and postured to bring in all federal resources to support any of their life saving and their life sustaining needs in the very near future. the conversation with governor desantis is reiterating the fact that we have 1,500 personnel there in the area to be able to support and the governor currently has no unmet needs, but as we begin to assess, right, as the governor assesses and as i get on the ground tomorrow to assess, we'll see what additional needs might be there, and if any of those resources need to be employed or we need to move more into the area. >> has the president spoken yet with the governors of georgia or south carolina as well or any plans for that to happen? >> i believe he was preparing to contact them after i left so i could come to this briefing. >> thank you. administrator, to what extent do you attribute climate change as a cause of this storm and the other weather events that we're seeing over the last weeks and months? >> i'm not going to attribute the cause of the storm but what i can say is that we are seeing an increase in the number of severe weather events, and what we saw with this storm as we have seen with several of our hurricanes over the last few years is they are intensifying more rapidly due to the elevated heat of the water temperature in the gulf or in the pacific or whether it's in the atlantic. these storms are intensifying so fast that our local emergency management officials have less time to warn and evacuate and get people to safety. this is something that we have to take into consideration as we build our preparedness plans, as our local communities build their preparedness plans on how they're going to communicate and prepare their communities for the types of storms they're going to face in the future. >> secondly, more specifically on this storm, do you have any sense or is it too early now to say what the cost of recovery will require or will be? >> yeah, it's far too early to estimate what the cost is. it's still unsafe in many parts to even go out. that's what's going to happen over the next several days is to really get a good understanding and an initial estimate of what we think the costs will be and what the amount of impact to these communities has been. >> just to follow on that, with what you've seen so far, how long do you think it will take to get that full settlement, and how long will it take to understand the costs of recovery efforts? >> we have rapid assessment teams that have been prepositioned ready to go out as soon as it's safe to do so. those are personnel that will integrate in with the state personnel to see what the damages are. we also use technology. we use aerial imagery and satellite technology and our geospatial information to get a better idea so we don't have to put people out there. it allows us to make these decisions much quicker than we've been able to in the past. it will take several days to get a full understanding but it will take longer to get a full picture of the total amount of impact to these communities. >> and yesterday you had said that fema's disaster relief fund was running low, with what we've seen from this storm so far, there's also the maui fires, do you think there's enough funding? are you confident there's enough if there's another extreme weather event in the next month? >> yesterday as i announced i directed my personnel to implement immediate needs funding and that prioritizes the remaining funding within the disaster relief fund to support those life saving efforts. i believe through this effort we have plenty of funding to be able to support our ongoing efforts in maui to include this event, to include florida, georgia, and south carolina as needed. every day we are looking at what the cost of these storms are as we approach the end of this fiscal year, and if we have another storm, we're going to have to closely monitor what impact that's going to have and any other actions we might have to take. >> thank you for being here. as we do approach the end of the fiscal year as you noted, these takes weeks, months to recover. fema's involvement will go on for quite a long time. in 2013 when there was a government shutdown, fema had to furlough its nonessential staff right now. what potential impact would a government shutdown, as lawmakers have considerations about whether to fund the government, have on fema's ability to care for those in both maui and in fell? florida. >> we always want to take account to what our personnel are doing and how we're using our personnel to support these events. our government shut down, they're able to continue operating and supporting the immediate efforts and life saving efforts that continue to go on, and we also for our other staff, can designate our emergency essential personnel to support any life saving efforts, and so we have plans in place as we have gone through this before on how we would staff our agency to continue to support those efforts. >> and if i can follow up about the critical needs assistance that was provided to those in maui, $700 in payments to individuals. given the cost of living, is anything being done, are considerations or efforts being made to try to raise that cap, that $700 figure for those who are there? >> yeah, the $700 figure of critical needs assistance is really just that amount of funding for some of the very immediate needs that individuals have. every year the main part of our assistance, which is our individual and household program adjusts annually based on inflation. this year it's $41,000 of a cap that individuals can get that will get raised after the fiscal year. i don't know what that number is yet. we do adjust that main portion of the funding that goes to individuals annually based on inflation. >> so 700 is it for now, and then they can pursue those other moneys going forward. >> we already have i think it was 12,000 individuals that registered for assistance in maui, and somewhere over $15 million that's out on the street. that number could be higher right now from that other program. >> thank you. >> i know that you and the governor and local officials, state officials have all told people they need to get out of the way of this storm. my first question is are you satisfied that people heeded those calls, both from you and local and state officials? and then secondly, you mentioned the search and recovery teams that are deployed and ready to go. what's your assessment so far on what those needs look like if people are sort of stranded right now? >> yeah, so on the first question, i think many people did heed the warning, but unfortunately many did not. right? we're already getting reports of people that chose to stay and they're getting calls into the local first responders to come in and assist them. and if anybody needs assistance, they should. they should call 911 and those local fist responders will come in and help. as far as the entire footprint of those resources that are available, it's a combined effort recognizing the capability that the state already has with all of their resources, and we have additional resources that are integrated in with that operation. so if we need to immediately augment, we have resources that are ready to deploy as soon as requested without hesitation and without interruption. >> is it clear yet how many people may be stranded? >> i don't have a number on how many, no. >> from the initial assessment, what would you say are the most damaged areas, and what was the response from the population in those areas to the government? >> i would say that initial reports are in that big bend area that have had the greatest impact. they have experienced the greatest amount of storm surge. they experienced the greatest wind speeds, when we do get out to start assessments, that would be my anticipation of where we would experience the greatest amount of damage and impact across florida. >> and how did people respond in those areas? >> again, i think many people did heed the warnings. there was a lot of public messaging that went out there to let people understand the danger is not just the cone of the hurricane, but it's the storm surge and the water, which is creating and causing the most fatalities in these events. again, many people did not as we are hearing about our first responders going in to support rescuing people from their homes that are now stranded. >> on the immediate needs funding, i'm curious if you have recognized the potential long-term ongoing recovery efforts that could be at risk here. >> so if i understand the long-term recovery efforts based on right now or what it looks like going into the next fiscal year? >> going into the next fiscal year. which ones are at risk here if you do not get the funding you need? >> so immediate needs funding does, the work does not stop, right? the projects continue to go underway are longer term recovery projects for the variety of disasters we've experienced over the years. the obligation or the reimbursement of the funding for those is delayed into the next fiscal year. if it gets delayed into the next fiscal year, then that just starts us out at a smaller balance of what we had anticipated our needs would be for fiscal year '24. >> are there any ongoing efforts, though, that you've identified that would be at risk if it comes to that. >> again, the funding or the work itself does not stop. it's the funding that just gets delayed into the next fiscal year. >> there's still a lot of questions among officials in maui and lahaina and across hawaii about who is in charge in the hours as the fires burned and in the hours after. you're a veteran local emergency management official, state emergency management official, now at the federal level, how do you assess how officials there responded? are there lessons to be learned perhaps for other communities? and is your agency prepared to work with congressional republicans if they launch investigations as they say they will? >> again, i was no thereto -- not there during the response. i would have out of line it assess how they responded during the time. i did not experience what they were experiencing. what the federal government does is we come in and we support their efforts, and that's exactly what we did, and we will continue to support their recovery and rebuilding efforts moving forward. >> will you be properly briefed by fema authorities in hawaii that would have been working with those officials? >> what i was briefed on throughout the time was my regional administrator bob fenton happened to be in oahu for another meeting and he was engaging with the team and giving us updates as to the spread of the fire and what the population was impacted and what the potential federal resources would be needed to come help support the initial response in an ongoing recovery efforts. >> if congressional republicans want you or other officials to testify about what went on in hawaii. >> i'm happy to testify on what the federal role was in this process. >> thank you, everybody. >> thank you. from the white house, danne criswell, confirming what we had anticipated from idalia. it is the strongest storm to hit that region in more than 100 years. 300,000 people right now are without power. there's been extensive staging in recent days, both of personnel and whatever might be needed from food to water, but the question is how quickly can they do the assessment? how quickly can they get the resources that are needed to the people who are in need. joining me here at the table is dr. irwin redlener, founding director of the national center for disaster preparedness at columbia university. thank you so much for being here. let me start with the whole idea that you have people right now who think the worst is over. deanne criswell talked about this, warned about this, the rescues that they're prepared to make. they have 500 urban rescue teams that are out there, but it's dangerous. it's heroic work. don't wade or drive is what she said. talk about the fact that the biggest danger, the most number of fatalities in situations like this is always about the water. >> yeah, it's quite incredible, too, chris because we see this over and over again in major disasters and especially in hurricane situations where people don't leave in a timely way. and they're left when the storm hits, and it really hits hard, it sometimes is impossible for the first responders to even get to them without endangering their own lives. so a lot of reason why people resist evacuating, for example. one is they may not be anticipating how severe the storm is going to be. the second thing is that some people are not able to leave. older people, which we have a lot of of course in florida in general, it may be very difficult to leave. some people are nervous about leaving their possessions behind, and of course there's the bravado that some people like to play out in a big storm that they've ridden out storms before. they're going to do it again. it's just you cannot emphasize enough, though, how much risk they're putting themselves at. and you know, it's not just the able-bodied adults. we're talking about elderly people and children, and people living in severe economic strain that have the most difficulty getting away. and i think that's something we're paying attention to. the good news side if i might say -- >> please. >> florida has one of the most sophisticated and experienced disaster response team systems in the country, and now we have the biden administration with an extraordinarily able fema administrator who we just heard from. they are cooperating significantly with each other, exactly what we need right now is no politics, we have straightforward, let's work together, the federal government and florida and make sure we're saving lives and protecting critical infrastructure damage. >> the need is going to be huge. we know that. she talked about technical assessments that can be done and also those rapid assessment teams that can go out. what are they looking for? what are the most immediate concerns they have that they want to be able to assess and address? >> first of all, are there survivors stuck places that they can't exit. we've got to find these people and make sure they're brought to safety as quickly as possible. the second thing, there's going to be some immediate dangers from downed power lines, from debris, from people trying to kind of get their cars through flooded areas and then they're going to get stuck. it's a tremendous amount of issues that have to be dealt with. the infrastructure, as you can imagine, is vulnerable, which is why the power is out. it gets knocked out. trees fall on power lines, flooding does a tremendous amount of damage. and then the other thing is over the immediate period of time here, a lot of people who are going to be evacuated, who haven't been evacuated, will still need to get the medicines for their chronic illnesses. people will have access, they will need really rapid emergency response in a hospital. all of those systems have to be in place if we're going to maximize the survival after a big storm like this. the other thing on the good news side is that the bulk of the storm is hitting relatively under populated rural areas in northern florida. there's going to be some impact, obviously, in places like tampa, but the reality is that these rural areas, which have a lot of migrant workers and a lot of farming and agriculture are going to get hit hard, so there's going to be assessments about how much damage, how do we recover those systems that produce food and how do we make sure that the people are safe in those areas? it's very complicated, but we couldn't have more experienced people working on this than we currently do. >> dr. irwin redlener, you're going to be with us for the next 90 minutes. thank you so much for that. >> i want to bring in the chairman of the wacha la county district, the st. mark's light house for people who know florida, ralph, i know you've been living and working there for years. you've seen storms hit before. tell me what you're seeing and hearing right now. >> well, it's pretty much passed by us now. probably maybe 5:00 a.m. this morning, it started getting the outer bands, and it started increasing in intensity for the wind speed and the rain. for about three hours we had to ground our first responders. we couldn't send out anyone for any kind of aid because the wind speed was a little too bad. now that it's passed over, we're starting to evaluate. we see that we've got some damaged homes. we have a lot of trees that are down, roads that are blocked. so that's our mission now is to get the roads open back up so people can come back home and get back to daily routines. >> are there rescues going on, people who stayed who are making the calls to 911 to your knowledge? >> we have not experienced a lot of that. i think a lot of people did stay. we only evacuated the coastal area. we didn't evacuate the entire county, and we sent crews out yesterday to physically knock on about 1,700 doors to encourage people to leave and give them assistance if needed. so that seems to have worked. i haven't heard of any kind of life-threatening injuries that we're dealing with at this point. >> that is good news indeed. about 15 minutes ago, we got an update in your county of power outages. you have about 17,748 customers. the number out is over 11,000, so the outage percentage is just over 63%. is that in line with what you're hearing, and do you feel confident that the resources are available to deal with that as well as the other problems you're going to be having? >> that does seem consistent, but it seems to me that maybe they're coming back on fairly quickly. i'm hearing from a lot of people that their power is being restored. i'm in the far east part of the county, and i was fortunate that i never lost power at all, even through the worst of it. i do think that our linemen are doing a great job getting this back online quickly. >> ralph thomas, good luck to you all. i know you have some long days and maybe weeks ahead of you. i'm glad it wasn't worse. thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us. our breaking news coverage continues in a moment. first we want to show you this video from cedar key, florida, where a bed and breakfast cottage simply collapsed and washed away during a storm surge that surpassed six feet, and that was during low tide. we're back in 60 seconds. we're back in 60 seconds my frequent heartburn had me taking antacid after antacid all day long but with prilosec otc just one pill a day blocks heartburn for a full 24 hours. for one and done heartburn relief, prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. ♪i've got home internet from t-mobile.♪ ♪it only costs $50 bucks at t-mobile.♪ ♪just one cord to set up.♪ ♪say goodbye to that truck.♪ ♪oh, what a beautiful mornin'...♪ ♪oh, what a beautiful day...♪ ♪they won't raise your rates at t-mobile...♪ ♪you'll get a great deal every day!♪ home internet from t-mobile... just $50 bucks a month. 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>> reporter: hi there, chris. well, yes, this is keaton beach. we rode out the storm in perry. several hours ago we were being hit by those incredibly powerful winds. that was 20 miles inland. imagine how strong the winds were here in keaton beach. we've just been seeing fish and wildlife boats trying to do some rescues being launched right here. if you walk over here, you can see how many first responders are now here. the florida national guard is on the move. they just arrived and let us into this area, which had been previously blocked off. they're just trying to get a handle right now on just how significant this damage was. and chris, this is the gulf of mexico right here. you can see all this water just came in here, this massive symptom surge just not sure exactly how many feet ended up here in keaton beach, all these roads were blocked off. they just finished clearing off this main one. we were driving in from perry. we saw a collapsed gas station here on the way. we saw downed power lines. it was extremely difficult to get here, but that process now is underway, the process of clearing off these roads, getting here in order to search for any survivors and to assess really the damage. i think it's a testament, chris, to exactly how incredible some of these buildings are built that there's only cosmetic damage here to the siding on this building. so many of these are built on stilts, but the storm surge here, again, was devastating, and extremely high winds. we were just speaking to a resident over here, he says while there is some damage, he expected it to be much worse here in keaton beach. still though, in perry where we just came from, you heard from governor ron desantis, that area saw some of the most extensive wind damage there. we're in the process and first responders are in the process of going to some of these communities that were hit hardest. but this is the region where 00 idalia first made landfall as one of the most powerful hurricanes this region has ever seen. chris. >> i'm very curious, gabe, as you were driving in that direction, could you almost sense where the higher winds were, where some of the water was? did you see a change in the kind of damage that there was? >> reporter: yeah, and chris, as you walk with me, i want to really show you and show our viewers exactly what we're seeing here as we walk by here. again, some boats are being sent into these neighborhoods here to, you know, check for survivors. the water thankfully seems to be receing here after all this storm surge. i just wanted to show you the national guard vehicles. with response to your question about where we can see the wind, we saw a lot of tree damage, a lot of tree damage. downed power lines. you really could see, you cover these a lot. i know you have, worked covering hurricanes with you for many years, chris. you can kind of tell where the worst of it was as it blows through, and it in some places looks like a tornado came through. it really is remarkable when you see the intensity of the storm, the power of a hurricane as it comes onshore. now, i just, a few moments before you came, we're seeing coast guard helicopter as well. this is a multiagency effort really to get to these affected areas and to rescue as many people as possible and really to assess the damage at this point. we're hearing that other areas here saw an extensive amount of storm surge as well, but it's really that perry area according to state officials that we're seeing where some of the most extensive damage was seen. and i was a bit surprised, chris, when we were driving from our hotel, we rode it out overnight, we lost power early this morning, when we were driving out, yes, we saw extensive wind damage to some bandages, and a lot of downed are trees. a lot of downed power lines and a collapsed gas station as well. wind speeds of more than 100, easily more than 100 miles an hour in perry, and that town was 20 miles inland. this, though, right on the beach, not only did this keaton beach, did it see huge storm surge, it also saw those massive wind speeds as well. >> gabe gutierrez working with one of the best videographers in the business. you guys have been doing stellar work. thank you so much. i want to go now to sam henderson who was the mayor of gulf port, florida, just southwest of st. petersburg. thanks so much for being with us. high tide, i think, was about an hour ago there, one more complication i presume for you guys. what's the situation? >> the biggest thing we're dealing with right now is that retained coastal flooding. we got a good bit of storm surge on top of a king tide last night so a full moon high tide in excess of two feet higher than our normal high tide and another few feet of water on top of that. so our evacuation zone was a level a evacuation here in pinellas county, and a lot of those areas are completely inundated, and because of those tidal surges, the water's being very slow to recede. >> what are you hearing from emergency crews, from fire, from police, mr. mayor? what do you know about what's happened to your town? >> we had about 700 customers with power outages, about half of those have been restored at this time. so from a wind and rain perspective, we did remarkably well. the city was very well-prepped for the hurricane. this is nothing new for us, but the biggest issue now is waiting for those waters to recede so we can truly get a survey of the level of damage. and one of the issues we're dealing with is what i call hurricane tourism. we have a lot of o'people interested in coming down and seeing what's happened. i think it's easy to forget that these are people's lives that have been affected by this storm, and also, it's not safe to enter those evacuation areas. so trying to keep people free of those zones is one of our biggest challenges today. >> have you had any reports for a need for rescue? >> a couple of minor rescues, no major injuries, no casualties at this point. we've been blessed in that respect. our emergency services have done a wonderful job. we are still in the midst of it. just because the storm has passed, as long as those waters are intruding onto dry land and inundating homes and businesses, the threat has not left at this point. we're still being vigilant for people in need. >> looking ahead to the next 24 hours or so, what is your biggest concern? >> biggest concern is trying to help these businesses get back on their feet, helping homeowners get back on their feet, assessing what the level of damage is when that happens, and again, trying to keep people away from these dangerous areas. you know, people tend to forget that it's not just rain water and it's not just bay water that they're getting in. there's also lots of runoffs. there's hydrocarbons from vehicles. there's bacteria in the water. displaced wildlife, and so just trying to keep people for their own health and safety concerns out of those areas is what we're really focused on at the moment. we won't be able to truly get a good idea of how extensive the damage is to roads and infrastructure, until these waters recede. it's going to be several hours before that happens. >> you're the mayor of a small town, you know these folks. i'm sure you have been putting the word out, telling them what you told me. most people, do they listen to that good advice? and frankly, mr. mayor, how concerned are you that if there is a need for a rescue, if there -- and even just going out and doing assessments, that the brave men and women who work emergency situations like this have to put themselves in danger? >> we stress that every time, so the vast majority of people do do the right thing. they're good neighbors. they're cooperative with city staff and emergency responders, but it only takes a few people to really put other people's lives in danger. so we stress that every storm, you know, do the right thing to keep yourself safe because we have to put our people in harm's way, that isideal, and it's more than we want to ask of them, so the biggest thing we can ask for people is to help us help them by keeping themselves safe and being smart during these times. it's not new to us anymore. we really hope that people heed these warnings. i know the curiosity gets the better of people and they want to go down and survey the scene. we really would like people to stay clear of those areas. >> that's advice for everybody, not just in gulf port, mr. mayor, thank you, sam henderson, and good luck to you guys, we appreciate it. >> i want to show you the scene that was in perry, florida, this morning. idalia roaring ashore, keeping an eye on the billboard there. do we have that video? keep an eye on the video because in the next couple of seconds, it's going to be gone due to the storm's ferocious winds. you can see it bending there. those winds so high and so destructive and down it goes. i want to bring in javon graham, the emergency manager for clear water, florida, the police department there showing video of flooding in the name sake 3 mile stretch of sand beach. you can't see sand beach because it's completely under water. thank you so much for being with us. the pinellas county sheriff warned this has made landfall the greatest impact is going to be storm surge. what are you seeing and what are your concerns? >> they're 100% correct with that. good afternoon, by the way. storm surge was our biggest threat with this. the wind was not a big issue. but beginning at 3:00 a.m. this morning, we started having with the tide a lot of water come in. it pushed the beach sand, it covered the roads. north beach and south beach was completely inundated with water. and the storm surge was the biggest issue we had to deal with. >> all access to clearwater beach was closed off. streets across the city closed. the police department there even sharing that the only way they're able to access some areas is with a high water vehicle right now. what is your concern? i'm guessing that you would echo what we just heard from the mayor of gulf port. >> definitely. high water vehicle is the only way we're getting to certain parts of the island, the barrier island, so saying the same thing, stay in your homes. give us a chance to do our jobs. let the water reside. so we can go out and do our damage assessment, clear the debris, and make sure it's safe to come out. >> let us know if you can, i mean, i know that the water is still there, you haven't had time to do assessments but knowing the city, as you know it, and i'm sure getting information from folks who are out there whether they're calling 911 or elsewhere, what do you think is going to be the biggest problem when all of this clears? >> again, with the storm surge brings a lot of sand, the environmental conditions. there's a lot of unknowns that actually just washed up. environmentally and cleaning the areas, getting it back to seminole is going to be very important. that's going to be one of our biggest concerns. separating the dirty sand from the debris and getting cleaned back up for the streets and making it safe again. >> javon graham, to you and the folks who work with you in emergency management, we really appreciate everything you do and we appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. good luck. >> thank you. nbc's marissa parra, meantime, is reporting live from tampa, which is seeing a king tide. that's some of the highest water levels of the year. about to go inside with this hurricane. so how are things there, marissa? >> reporter: i have good news to report. we have actually seen the water recede quite a bit. we have heard the king tide is supposed to roll in in the next hour or so. what i can tell you with my own two eyes, earlier today when i was walking and i could only get to the first step that's behind the camera that you can't see, the water was probably just below my knees, and the water has taken a significant decrease here, but you can still see how deep the water is. this is bay shore boulevard for those who don't know. this is one of the main thoroughfares throughout downtown tampa, and you can see bay water all throughout here. if you look further down. you'll see a couple of things. you'll see the street signs, you can tell just how deep the water still is. this has receded well over a foot, in not a foot and a half, and further down you'll see people enjoying the waters, people trying to get around in different ways. i will say this, no judgment, but authorities are cautioning against doing exactly that because they don't want to have to put resources into rescuing anyone. and also keep in mind, you don't know what's in this water. there's a whole lot that could be in this water. we saw actually the sheriff's office for this county released a photo of a rattlesnake that was seen swimming through the water, so i will just point that out, you never know what's in here, especially if there's a downed power line, that could get very dangerous. we're talking about signs of hope. tampa's airport, incoming flights will be welcomed once again this evening. expected to reopen early tomorrow morning. so things are looking good, at least, but we're cautiously optimistic here. back to you. >> we keep hearing it again and again. resist the urge, marissa parra, stay safe out there. thank you. we've got a lot more coming up in our next hour, including the latest on florida residents who resisted those mandatory evacuation orders and instead stayed behind. breaking coverage of hurricane idalia continues. you're watching "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc. you're watching "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc want a smarter way to mop? 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