this hour, and on the ground frenzy in the state. millions under mandatory evacuation orders. the entire state faces flash flooding. and then record-shattering storm surge, water officials say as high as 18 feet. enough to swallow two suvs stacked one on the other. one official warning if you are caught in that surge, you simply will not survive. let s get straight to our correspondents on the ground binning with beginning with bill weir. what are you seeing and what are you told to expect? reporter: this whole community is really bracing for the worse. the new numbers this morning sunk the pit of the stomach everyone here, trying to think about a 17 foot storm surge. and we re on the back side of the storm and this is sort of the reverse storm surge. locals never see this exposed seabed here. we re looking at crab traps and oyster beds blowing around in the wind with the rest of us here. but of course the water as the storm comes ashore will fill in fast. and we re next
This is a department of transportation camera. but that is the very back end of this 55 car pile up. obviously, the initial wreck is much further down the line. look at how slow these cars are going. because when you re on ice, if you ve ever tried to drive in something like this, you know it is indeed treacherous. it doesn t matter what you do with your car, you don t feel like you have any control. shouldn t be out there at all. we know conditions can change quickly and you find yourself sometimes having to navigate those roads. if you don t have to go out, do not go out. do take good care out there. thank you we appreciate it. we want to move on here to some of the growing tensions we re hearing about this morning in the south china sea. china seizing a u.s. navy drone and the pentagon saying we want it back. moments ago, china s defense ministry released this statement, china and the united states have been communicating about this process. it is inappropriate and unhelpful