south florida is more like the north east, central florida is that the midwest, and north florida is likely south. pensacola has been a tough area for democrats, where the caller lives. she will not do well in the panhandle. there it is about margins. just like south florida is about margins in the exactly reversed situation. south florida has to make up for the democratic perspective, some of the vote tallies in the panhandle. host: it has been noted by our florida hashat become less white. that tends to advantage democrats. when you see that in florida? you will certainly not see it in the panhandle. to some extent in self-worth, the mostly central florida, with people that are puerto rican and hispanic in general. a lot of people in the hospitality business -- a lot of people flock there for work with disney world, universal, and all of that. he will see that in two or three or four key counties in the middle of the state with orlando as the new kilis. nucleas. host: what about cuban-americans reliablyre no longer republican. -- the relations with cuba and in florida? guest: i thi

in the air, florida for gore. boom. ladies and gentlemen, let's pause here because this could be decisive in the election. >> 25 decisive electoral votes that could deliver the presidency for al gore. at the governor's mansion in austin, there was pure anguish. >> there was this pall. it was quiet. when i asked president bush 41 how he was doing, he said, "not so good right now." >> what were you thinking about the network projections? >> the feeling from our people crunching the numbers was that the networks were wrong. >> karen hughes wasn't the only one unconvinced. >> i don't believe that some of these states that they've called like florida -- i don't believe -- i don't believe we've got enough evidence to call the state. >> that state's going to flip. i really feel that way. >> i do remember saying to myself, well, i hope they're right with this. basically it was, listen, don't question the decision of the decision desk. florida belongs to gore. >> i think, bill, and you're the maven on this one, that generally ne

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. florida's governor making this dire warning. >> unfortunately, this is going to kill people. >> reporter: already it has. 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 i'm just waiting. >> reporter: but many g

more than 200,000 florida residents have ady states of emergency have been declared in florida, georgia, and south carolina. the wind and rain picked up near port st. lucie overnight but the potential storm surge is the main concern. dangerous storm surge could raise water levels by 11 feet in some coastal areas and producing devastating flooding. greg angel, of our west palm beach station, wpec is in vero beach where flooding is a major morning, greg? >> reporter: good morning, anne-marie. as you see just from our shot, a little bit of moving around. we are, right now, in the midst of hurricane force wind. we are now here in vero beach. in indian river county along the east coast. i want to show you behind me here. you see boats tied up here. this is part of the intracoastal. the boats are doing a little bit of bobbing. this is actually good because looking at the position of the storm out in the atlantic, we more targeted hit from this storm and the damage could have been far worse. however, the concern is far from over. let me walk over here and kind of show you. this is the intracoa

florida governor rick scott says the storm is a monster. there are no reports of deaths, though, or injuries in the bahamas, but there was extensive flooding. dozens of people trapped in their homes had to be rescued. >>> matthew has created a travel nightmare for millions. and others forced to change their planes because of cancelled flights. brian webb is here in new york with that part of the story. brian, good morning. >> reporter: this may be an east coast storm, but it's affecting travel plans across the country. for some, rebooking vacation plans. for others, a mad dash to get out of the way. >> we were the last flight out. but we were the last flight out. >> reporter: airports from miami to orlando on shut down as the storm moved north. more than 3,700 flights through tomorrow have already been cancelled. desperate travelers tried to book a flight. terry and curtis knapp were among the lucky. they made it home to texas. >> yo could just hear the people around you and behind you saying i barely made this flight and those that haven't

sing of the side of florida. it could skirt the shoreline before it heads into georgia and south carolina. abc's lauren lyster is live right now in new smyrna beach. lauren: the wind is up to 130 miles per hour with this category 4 hurricane worried you can see some of the vegetation starting to get whipped up by the gusts as the people here hunker down trying to weather the florida. the brutal win and pounding rain growing as the hurricane charges towards the coast. the national weather service saying matthew will be devastating, potentially unlike any hurricane in the modern era. florida's governor, calling it a monster. >> unfortunately this is going to kill people. lauren: already, it has matthew taking the lives of more than skyrocketing as the floodwaters recede. in the bahamas, the shore battered by damaging waves. the rain and wind ripping through the vegetation and the vacations of 3,000 tourists unable to escape and with the hurricane then heading for florida residents thursday filling up those final sa

that was wilma in florida. there are millions more that have been born, millions that have moved into florida that have not been there for the previous storms. after moving through nassau, home to 245,000, now on its way to freeport. we're starting to see now that the strong winds at 140 miles per hour with gusts of 165 are producing some significant waves. imagine if you will later on today when we look at the population from miami to jacksonville waves 20 to 40 feet high. the engine and force behind that shoving storm surge into every inlet, canal, waterway is going to not only throw wasalt water into the treatment centers, it will buckle roads, the population area is going to get hit with hurricane-force winds. this is where every mile counts jake. take a look at this. in fact, we're going to be talking about maybe 5 to 10 miles making a big difference. in yellow the tropical storm force winds that head all way to tampa. hurricane-force iwinds will xnd past 95. look at high tide in muill burn around midnight

florida's governor calling it a >> reporter: already, it has. matthew taking the lives of more than 100 people as it swept through haiti. the death toll there skyrock skyrocketing as flood waters recede. in the bahamas, the shore battered by damaging waves, rain and wind ripping vegetation, and the vacations of 3,000 tourists unable to escape. with the hurricane then headed for florida, residents thursday filling up the final stores are boarded up, and their shelves bare. a fight to get fuel. >> i saw two guys fighting at a gas station yesterday. yeah, it looked -- actually throwing punches. >> reporter: 1.5 million people ordered to evacuate, jamming roads, but not flying. time lapsed radar showing the normally busy florida skies clearing out as nearly 4,000 flights cancelled over the next two days. storm surge. where i am, it's expected to be 6-10 feet or more, meaning waterways like that behind me could rise and flooding is a concern for residents here. you can see the water is already rising. that is a dock behind me, just an hour or so ago,

florida, they are bracing format few. walt disney world, they are taking action in the wake of the storment they are going to close by the end today and they are not opened until friday. disney world have only closed four times since it has been opened. we are seeing power outages in florida. we heard there are more than 7,000 power outages in miami-dade county. 4,150 in broward county and palm beach county 1,000 of power outage. the governor is warning folks that what people staying home could face. >> you are going to lose power, there is no question, you will lose power. you are going to lose power, we jou just don't know how long. >> joining me now is dave m mcdermott, what preps have your company put out there getting folks backup running. >> there is no surprise. hurricane matthew is going to be a monster storm. with that said, you know based on our current forecast and intensity and our historical model, we anticipate major damage to our system and as many as two and a half million customers will experience power o

first, we start with breaking news in florida. florida is in the bull's eye right now of hurricane matthew. it is barrelling in, threatening to trigger catastrophic flooding. >> that killer storm whipping up winds of 130 miles per hour, its powerful outer bands pounding the southeastern coast overnight and millions under evacuation orders bracing for up to 15 inches of rain and a storm surge as high as 11 feet. power lines exploding, and 100,000 people have already lost electricity. >> and that situation, no doubt, will get worse in the overnight hours. i want to show you what the radar is looking like right now with matthew spinning off the coast, accepting powerful rain bands all the way across the state. this storm is huge. 300 miles width. we'll get the latest now from abc's byron pitts. >> reporter: hurricane matthew, a demon in the dark, barrelling into florida's atlantic coast. winds up to 130 miles per hour. >> unfortunately, this is going to kill people. >> reporter: 3 million people urged to evacuate, clogging major high

eva pilgrim, abc news, jacksonville, florida. >> yeah. so between wednesday and saturday, some 3,700 flights canceled so far. and more to come, no doubt. obviously, it's impacting the race for the white house, as well. it's actually forcing both candidates to cancel events and close offices in the critical swing state of florida. >> both candidates are pulling their punches on tv ads until support to those in the storm zone while they buckle down for their next debate. here is abc each tom llamas. >> reporter: in battleground florida hillary clinton and donald trump shutting down their campaign offices for once both on the same page. clinton tweeting, i urge everyone to follow emergency instructions and evacuate if you're told to. trump warning, if your home is in the path of the hurricane and you're advised to leave, you need to do so right now. the storm comes with both candidates deep in debate prep. trump screening video of the first showdown. aides wanted to point out his reaction easy under fire >> perpetuated a false claim. . >> it

florida right now. shelley: coming up on news 9 tonight, a look at conditions tonight in melbourne, florida. tom: new details in the deadly train crash in new jersey. how fast investigators say the train was going just moments before crashing. shelley: hurricane matthew could make landfall by the morning. millions are under evacuation orders tonight along the atlantic coast in florida, georgia and south carolina. terri parker with our sister station wbpf is in west palm beach, florida tonight. terri: really high wind, about 55 miles from our, driving rain, horizontal. we are still feeling the effects of it. you the palm trees are lashing back and forth in the wind. we're getting some more rain. as hurricane matthew churns its way north. luckily not hitting an impact in this part of palm beach county as much as originally forecasted because matthew took that turned to the north and stayed a little off our coast. but he was just off our coast about 70 miles away. we are still feeling the rain, the wind, t

those are the concerns overnight innup jupiter, florida. this reporter her feet overnight the storm weakened to a cat 3. the winds up to 120 miles per hour were reported just off the shores and sal, just because it is a cat 3, it is not less dangerous? is>> absolutely not. we are talking about significant wind an rain. we still are talking winds sustained winds over a hundred continuing for florida. hurricane watches up to the carolina coast. the eye wall is running par really to the coast at this point. the hurricane force winds along the space coast. the storm is continuing in the forward speed at 12 miles per hour or so. that is at least how it is moving for now. the up date to the north with there is a gradual decrease in the strength. but a very big rain taker. >> tim, you have updates on the emergency shelters for the families in florida? >> yes. >> overnight county leaders tweeted that two locations are full or at capacity but another five are still open for families trying to escape the high winds and water. right now, a mandatory c

east coast of florida. there you see the heaviest rain. the heavy rain bands extending now as far as the west coast of florida. some of them are heading towards the tampa area. almost the entire state of florida is feeling the effects of hurricane matthew. look at the buoy data. wave heights are around eight feet closer to the orlando area and near the beaches. wave height about seven feet with wind gusts 35 miles an hour. there you see the center about 100 miles away from land and the heavy rain bands moving in with a hurricane warning for much of the eastern half of florida. the winds are quickly increasing. west palm beach 35 mile an hour wind gusts. melbourne at 32. we can expect the winds to be increasing as we watch matthew get closer to florida over the next few hours. >> sheena, unfortunately the track is going right the way it looked over the last couple of days which is just a terrible solution for florida because of the way that the state is oriented. you can see that the center of the storm righ

florida has a good shelter program. those shelters are retrofitted over the years to provide shelter. so again, what we need people to do is move away from the water risk of the storm surge, and those evacuations zones, go tens of miles, go inland and hunker down because the wind can reach far inland. what we're most concerned about, the life threat, is the storm surge. >> all right, craig, you have your work cut out for you. thank you for joining me. >> thank you. >> up next, we're going to take you there, to florida's coast where they're bracing for the worst. west palm beach is in the storm's cross hairs. some say it will be where the eye of the storm hits. the mayor of west palm joins me next. i wanted to know where my family me f i did my ancesydna. the most shocking result was that i'm6% native american. i had no idea. it's opened up a whole new world for me. ♪ to folks out there whose diabetic nerve pain... shoots and burns its way into your day, i hear you. everyone with this pain that makes ordinary tasks ext

the periphery of florida. a major hurricane, category 3 right now, 55 miles east-southeast of melbourne florida and 120-mile-per-hour winds. it will maintain that intensity through friday evening and weaken by saturday, according to the most recent track. but still a hurricane by saturday night. hopefully this turn will move it away from the u.s., but we're going to see dangerous storm surge. so even though we're at a category 3, this is still a dangerous surge. 7 to 11 feet, that has not changed with the water piling in. high water poses a major threat. whether or not the storm comes on shore, of course, we're watching hurricane matthew. we're watching for that storm surge threat to continue. ari? >> i think i can speak for many when i say i learned a lot from you tonight. there have been some good notes with what you've been showing us. that does it for me this hour. but don't go anywhere. my colleague will continue our special live overnight coverage here. a lot more to track as we figure out how close this

big events in florida this weekend. on saturday, big college football. florida and fsu. up the coast, north carolina and south carolina both in action at home. the schools st s say they are monitoring the games and will move the games as necessary. dolphins will host the titans on sunday. nascar officials hoping the hurricane doesn't affect the race in charlotte. >>> and if you have rob gronkowski on your fantasy league, you are not doing well. he said he knows his fantasy owners are not happy with him right now. >> man, i know. i can't even go to the grocery store without getting yelled at. why did you draft me then? >> guys, i'm guessing gronk's production picks up because tom brady returns. >> a wee bit better. andy scholes, thanks. >>> florida is bracing for hurricane matthew. this storm is just gained strength. we are getting a new forecast and new reports. our breaking coverage continues next. after brushing, listerine® total care strengthens teeth, helps prevent cavities and restores tooth enamel. it's an easy way to give listerine® total care to the total famil

we just moved to florida. that is one of the real dangers and the real concerns that the police chief especially here in daytona beach has, saying it's not a matter of if people die but when they die. they have a concern about folks just like that who have never been in a hurricane before. they have never experienced the power of these storms. while the ocean looks sort of rough right now, the storm surge is what they are so worried about. this storm will whip up water 12, 14 feet high, sending it up the beach here over this little dune here and then into all of these businesses that have been boarded up. it's not just one or two blocks they are worried about but the wall of water that can come up here will be well over this green banister you are seeing right now. i will send it a couple of blocks then inland. 2 million people have moved to florida since the last major hurricane here. those are the people that governor scott, the police chief here and others are most worried about. it's just about 5:00 easter

on the right, florida, much of central florida now in the dark tonight. gio benitez is also here in florida, surveying the damage, and he's got the pictures. >> reporter: tonight, home after home across the state powerless. here, the power lines strewn across the street, the transformers exploding. >> there go our transformers. florida, this house burned to the ground. officials blaming downed power lines for causing the fire. these two sisters surviving because they evacuated. >> we haven't been able to go in yet, but from the looks of it, it's all gone. >> reporter: for more than 1 million other homes, the problem is no power. in palm beach, ali gonzalez said the storm knocked out her power. she's six months pregnant. >> it would have been worse if we weren't together. >> right after we got done cooking dinner, bam, there goes the power. >> reporter: restoring the from kentucky. just one of many states moving in to help florida. 15,000 crews from across the country. >> 15,000 restoration workers. >> reporter: right here. >> right here in florida. >> rep

it is running parallel to the coast of florida. for a landfall, half of the eye wall needs to be over the land. it is continuing to the north

it's not just florida. we've seen this storm blow through haiti and new information, the haitian embassy saying online 108 deaths have been confirmed. that's new information we're getting. in the bahamas we saw the storm blow through nassau, where nbc's tammy leitner is on the phone. what, if anything, has changed in the last half hour where you are? >> reporter: i can tell you it's not the 120-plus-mile-an-hour winds. he h they are still just tearing through here. i'm looking at this and i'm in shock, really, that it's been nine hours. nine hours straight of rain and just horrible winds. the destruction we've been able to see in the four-block radius significant enough. i just had a chance to walk downstairs at the hotel we're staying at. i'm in awe here. there are holes in the roof of our hotel. there's water coming in. the lobby is closed off. all of the people staying here. keep in mind, some of these people are lows, some are visitors from the united states, canada, all around. they've taken refuge her

we are tracking hurricane matthew along the florida east coast. howling winds and rain and storm surge, it has weakened slightly to a category 3 now from a 4 with maximum sustained winds of 120 miles per hour. according to florida power abdomen light at least 200,000 customers with no electricity. millions of people have been told to evacuate their homes. lauren: we have been talking to adam shapiro all morning. it seemed decent the conditions for the past hour. that suggest situation has changed. adam, how are you doing right now? adam: well, the weather deteriorated as you can expect because the eye of the storm is moving north. again, it has not passed daytona but the winds have been picking up. it's blowing almost sideways. the wind gusts right now a little bit softer or weaker than they had been earlier this morning, but again a category 3 storm with sustained winds near the eye of 120 miles per hour, we still have electricity in this part of florida but, of course, they're expecting that's going to get knocked out. although during 2004-2005,

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coast of florida. that should come as no surprise that is what the models have been saying and what the forecast has been showing, so that should not make any change. this is let's say it goes more to the west than the bay area. that is not the forecast i don't believe it will be the forecast but it is better safe than story in case matthew decides to misbehave and go now we have got a lot to talk about. this is a look at what is going on with the storm, clearly it is trained to get better organized backup to winds of 120 miles per hour, this is what you want to see, this is the forecast track. winds of 130 through the bahamas, this is a close-up version this track goes over the cape which is exactly what the models have this track is going to bring significant damage to the east coast of florida, probably damage on like they have seen in a long time and maybe ever from jacksonville to saint augustine. this is the real deal. if you have anyone in the path of this storm from melbourne to jacksonville, n

all warnings have been lifted for south florida. we're expecting very minimal damage when people wake up. about 11,000 people are without power right now in broward county. the winds are light enough where crews are able to be right now restoring that power. so we expect them to be back up and running very soon. the good news is that with that storm passing now, businesses will start to reopen here in south florida. really good news for travel is that we are set to resume this morning at the ft. lauderdale airport and the miami airport, two big international airports. we're expecting flights to resume this morning. things are back normal here in south florida as the attention turns further up the coast. >> nbc's blake mccoy, thank you for that update. >>> much more on hurricane matthew. stay with us. see me. see me. don't stare at me. see me. see me. see me to know that psoriasis is just something that i have. i'm not contagious. see me to know that... ...i won't stop until i find what works. discover cosentyx, a different kind of m

powerful winds and rain have been lashing parts of florida. emergency officials in one county say it's too dangerous to rescue anyone who may need help. today florida's governor was urging millions to evacuate. >> we are starting to see the impacts, and it's a monster. again, our number one priority is protecting every life in this state. so, again, if you need to evacuate and you haven't, evacuate. this storm will kill you. time is running out we don't have that much time left. >> that was earlier in the day n. many parts it is now too late to leave. so far close to 200,000 people have lost electricity. matthew has already devastated parts of caribbean, killing hundreds of people in haiti alone. here's a closer look at the area under direct threat. more than 26 million people are currently under weather advisories. more than 11 million are under hurricane warnings, the most severe category. 177 million are under hurricane watch. 6 million a tropical storm warning. 7 million more are under a tropical storm watch. cnn is covering this story fro

warning is in effect for parts of florida, georgia and south carolina as hurricane matthew hits florida's coast at storm. the eye of the storm is just a few miles off shore right now. matthew is expected to make landfall in the coming hours. the national hurricane center predicts a destructive storm surge, with waves larger than 7- feet-tall in all three states. more than 300- thousand homes in florida have lost power so far. a hurricane warning remains in effect in the northwest bahamas, but will likely be dropped soon. disney world will be closed again today because of hurricane matthew. the orlando- based theme park closed thursday night as the category 4 storm approached the sunshine state. seaworld and universal studios in orlando are also closed today. great weather in store for us friday with temperatures expected to warm between 4 to 8 degrees across southern nevada. over the weekend some clouds will drift into our area series of weak upper level lows. one of those lows will trigger some showers in arizona sunday. temperatures will stay above seasonal through most of next week wit

it's about 54 miles off florida's coast, directly west -- or east of florida's coast, but it is traveling to the northwest. so at this point, it seems to be moving just parallel to the florida coastline. if we take a wider view out, some of the moisture from this on the northern side -- and this is pretty far north -- extends up into virginia. but of course all the moisture is basically in florida at this point. now we look a little bit farther to the west with our local weather. that line of rain, that's our rain for this weekend. so i'll show you more on that coming up in just a second. closer look at matthew now, category 4, winds sustained at 130 miles an hour right near the center. it's moving to the northwest at 13 miles an hour. so, again, it's just off florida's coast at this point, and we expect it to get closer as we go into tomorrow morning. so that northwest track could at this point leave it just offshore. if the center stays just offshore, expect it to still be a major hurricane with the warm waters. there is cape canaveral. so by tomorrow morning, it could be a major hurric

jay gray is in florida with the latest... (nats)moving along the florida coast..matthew is .. in many areas .. overwhelming.. "we are already starting to see the impacts and its a monster."violent winds..sheets of rain..and a growing surf.. with the potential in some areas of a storm surge up to 11-feet.."i am begging you to understand. .... these kind of storm es want to get caught up in." (nats)electricity has become a luxury in the strike zone .. tens-of-thousands have lost power and that number is expected to grow..more than 11- million along the east coast are currently under a hurricane warning..airports across the region are closed.. businesses boarded up..and shelters are filling-up..(sot) "i've been in florida all my life so i know how bad it can get."and it will likely get.. officials say.. the storm is an extreme threat to life and property..and warn its' impact will be devastating to catastrophic in some areas.. with as many as 10-million possibly losing power for weeks..(nats)the extreme conditions in florida .. a warning now for those in georgia.. north.. and sou

so again sebastian, florida here. the storm heads up north, this is the kinds of damage we are seeing right now. bill: let's go up the coast to daytona. feeling the effects of matthew now. on the phone from that area. the director of community information and emergency management, what's happening where you are? >> good morning. right now in the last hour we have had some of the strongest weather in volusia county. we are receiving numerous calls for transforms and power lines down. as the conditions continue to deteriorate, we are urging people to -- this is not the time to leave your homes. because we are in the thick of it right now. bill: can you see outside? and if so, what do the winds look like? is there any standing water in your area? >> i'm at the emergency operations center in daytona beach. so, yes, the wind's blowing and the trees are swaying but we are obviously in a center secure facility. so no i'm not seeing standing water. but we have had some pictures of our coastline area, and the water is coming u

outer bands are affecting florida. any one of these bands can develop a thunderstorm that could spawn a tornado or have destructive wind gusts. now, 29 million americans in a watch or warning, including over to tampa where tropical storm winds will buffet that region. the storm surge is higher in the bahamas because of the continental shelf. it's more shall he. -- shallow. if you break the system down, this is what is more important. this is not a storm that's just going to affect the homes right along the beach. here is a look at the population. from miami to jacksonville, there could be 20 to 40-foot high waves. the power behind those waves will shove water into every inlet, every can aal several blocks inward. water takes more lives than these hurricanes. we have some models that show landfall around cape canaveral, another in melbourne. this system, if it hugs the coast, wolf, is probably than just go ahead and make a landfall, because when it interacts with land, it can lose its strength. but because it's going to

both campaigns focusing today on florida. and for democrats, time for an election blast from the past. al gore campaigning there with hillary clinton, the former political rivals all n. >>> plus, hear that dripping sound, it's yet another like of clinton campaign e-mails, more than 1,000 of them. so what do they show? >>> also, it's national pet peeve week. what's yours? loud gum chewing, people who don't pick up after their pets? maybe you get annoyed by drivers who don't use their turn signals or friends who constantly check their phones. tweet us your peeves and kennedy will tell us hers. let's get to it. >>> good tuesday afternoon. never from the history in american politics has the what happened today happened. the republican candidate for president just ditched the republican party's leadership. we'll have comprehensive coverage shortly. >>> first happening now, hillary clinton and the former vice president al gore set to take the stage today. at any moment, as a matter of fact, at a campaign rally in miami. we'll bring

florida. that start friday. our impact begins tomorrow with heavier rain and it will continue for us overnight friday night and saturday with the windy conditions but we are not likely to have damage in the viewing area here. we'll talk more about that coming up. expect mainly cloudy skies, upper 50s to low 60s, and 68 at noon and a high of 72, and patchy light rain that picks up bryan mims' here. >>> in the last hour and 15 minutes, hour and a half, it's been busy and ugly especially i- 40 westbound through south raleigh but things are beginning to improve. there was a stalled vehicle before the gorman street exit but it has cleared up. what was red 20 minutes ago is turning green meaning traffic is beginning to flow through this area. i-40 and lake wheeler road, it's slow but it's moving. a while ago it was at a virtual stand still. so that's a good development. this is an alternate route to take around the serious slow downs on 40 westbound through garner. it might buy you time taking garne

florida has been part of the path. even if that center starts to move onland, that's where the strongest winds are, hurricane warnings are up for much of the eastern half of florida as they brace for a major hurricane, to get at least very close, if not start to move on land. >> here's the host most updeteriorated tack of the hurricane. >> it's going to be a category 4 storm. there's friday afternoon. so an compare 24 hours. to take a look at what this does afterwards, it's going to stay pretty far south of the area now. so a lot of computer models are agreeing on this, for us locally, it's good news, it's not expected to impact your weather for the weekend. but for north carolina, they're finally getting out of the cone a little more. but the may have been thre-- ma threat is going to be on the coast of florida. >>> nbc nightly news has crews in the caribbean and the southeast as they brace for hurricane matthew. see "nightly news" at 6:30 on nbc 10. >>> governor chris christie threatened to destroy a local legislatur

. >> i'm from florida, why would i evacuate? it's exciting. >> reporter: but tonight's hurricane warning is dire. extreme threat to life and property, impact -- devastating to certain areas could be unhabitable for weeks or months. utility teams are on stand by. some hospitals are bracing for a wave of patients. >> we're doing the best we can. the great thing is, we have excellent staff that have all participated, pitching in, we have people staying the night and gearing up for any type of emergency that we'll have. >> reporter: first responders expect casualties. >> i talked to my detective captain earlier today and i asked him, do you have body bags? are you prepared for because if people do not leave and we get 140-mile-an-hour wind gusts in some of our mobile home places, we are going to have fatalities. >> reporter: with little time to prep and many stores bare, nearly 4,000 flights have been canceled. this map shows cruise ships diverted out of the storm's path, and theme parks are closed. disney world shut down for only t

. >> the airports are a mess in florida. amtrak a mess, we'll keep an eye on, that but around here, it is okay. >> if you are trying to travel out of the region it seems is where the problem comes up. when the sun comes up, sun glare will be an issue, but so let's turn the focus right away what's going on in the tropics. yes, you have not only got matthew, you have also got now hurricane nicole. thankfully not expected to be any kind of direct threat to even bermuda although just off the south of that, however, this tells you that the atmosphere is ripe for tropical development. two hurricanes out there right now, matthew obviously the one though that we turn our focus to when it comes to major impact, and storm surge out of this, not to mention heavy rainfall amounts, damaging winds speeds. this is a very big deal, the storm system, and a lot of times because we've gone about a decade without any kind of major hit like this in the southeast, specifically to florida, you can get complacent, so i'm really glad to see the offi

lauderdale, florida, 11,000 residents are without power. beheard bonnie say there was no storm surge. not like northern florida. let's talk to nbc's blake mccoy. what can you tell us about how power? >> reporter: ayman, there is a sense this morning that ft. lauderdale really dodged a bullet with this storm. conditions have improved dramatically over the past few hours. overnight, we did see wind. we did see rain. nowhere near as 3w5 as expected. that's because this hurricane ended up staying 100 miles offshore as it patzed ft. lauderdale, which was further out than expected. we saw the outer bands come through in waves in the i don't have night s. at this point. 11,000 people are without power. you can see the lights on right now in ft. lauderdale. what we expect to see later this morning is a return to normal now this system has moved further up the coast. we can tell you that ft. lauderdale's airport, which had been closed down on thursday, plans to reopen this morning. miami's airport, we expect flights to resume this morning as well. s

it is already raining here in florida. the big concern here, those 125-mile-per-hour winds they're expecting, just in jacksonville alone. but what is the biggest concern in the carolinas tonight? >> reporter: well, david, this is the low country, so, surge is always a huge concern. and we're going to have a consistent east wind with this piling up this water. not just water here in the city, but a surge that pushes for miles up the river system. hence all the evacuations. david? >> rob marciano, part of the rob, thank you. and of course, it's not just the millions of americans right here in the hurricane zone being affected by matthew. this new number as we're on the air tonight. nearly 4,000 flights across this country already being canceled because of this impending storm. abc's eva pilgrim tonight on the ripple effect. >> reporter: tonight, the hurricane grinding air travel to a halt in the southeast and causing a ripple effect through the country. >> we get complacent and this one's not turning. >> the one day that we

of florida. here is a forecast model, worse of of weather going down hill now in south florida. getting to evening and overnight hours, into tomorrow, watching this really carefully there is port st. lucy, dealing with a category 4 storm, maybe offshore that is the core of the strongest wind. those hurricane force winds stretch about 20 miles from the center, tropical force, 1 60 miles away from the storm, that is why there are tropical watches for west coast of florida. and north florida, and georgia, that could deal with may year hurricane, then in to -- major hurricane, then the carolinas, and some weird loop thing that might threaten coast again, but i just want to focus on forecast now. for the next couple of days, as we're expecting a category 4 storm, 145 mile per hour sustained winds. landfall is not important, the fact that we have a category 4 storm so close to land with those 1 40 mile per hour wins scraping the -- winds scrapings coastline that the story, the winds and storm surge 6 t