we're here in jacksonville. this is the new focus of maximum impact of hurricane matthew but that's not for several hoirs from now. but we are getting these intermittent bands with winds about 40 miles an hour. that takes you into tropical storm status. the only reason that's relevant is it triggers certain things. that is when emergency services stop getting out and organizing to make calls because it becomes too dangerous. it is just the beginning of what they're going to see in jacksonville. we'll put up on the screen what's going on right now in daytona beach. that is really the ghost of christmas present for people who are trying to figure out what hurricane matthew might mean to them. expert after expert keeps saying the same thing. everybody hopes that they are wrong about what can happen with a bad storm. but this storm is doing what they expected. this is just the beginning. they keep saying that matthew is big, it is slow, and has a long way to go. daytona beach has been getting pounded. let's bring in

let's head to jacksonville. the storm has not arrived there yet but they are very worried about storm surge and flooding there. hi, chris. >> hey, carol. look, certain things are going to be unavoidable because of the circumstances and that's why you just want to take every available precaution. something like that, you never know when somebody's going to have a health issue that can't be dealt with because of the exigencies of the moment. that's why the hope is if everybody does what they have to, stories like that will be held to a minimum. that's a good thing in a sds r disaster situation. the st. john's river behind us, one of the few eastern cuts on this coast of florida, with jacksonville, about 15 miles to the east here so that creates an opportunity for a volume of water that's coming with storm surge to come from the ocean and literally funnel right into here and create flooding problems which of course will complicate everything for the people here. that's several hours from now. that's why the governo

i'm chris cuomo in jacksonville, florida. latest advisory from hurricane matthew has this area getting the most concentrated impact of the storm but not until hours from now. alisyn camerota is in new york keeping the ship steady for us. our shots are going in and out because of the winds. they're coming in the succession of rings as the storm comes closer. you see a band coming in right now. the big concern in areas like jacksonville, this is the st. john river. it's one of the view waterways that are a cut from the eastern coast of florida here in central florida. that means a concentration of surge. we're almost at the top of the promenade level right now. we still have three feet of normal tide to come, and as much as six or ten feet of storm surge. on your screen right now, you're looking at the current problems with matthew. daytona beach getting pounded. we have one view from above you're seeing the pier and the waves. there was a 17 foot wave measured 20 feet offshore. that an indication of the water volume that will

i want to get to jacksonville. when you look at the radar, we have jacob soboroff in jacksonville. that is the next stop for hurricane matthew. it looks like it is some what dry where we are. not raining at least? >> reporter: it is coming down, hallie, the outer bands, right? they go, they stop. welcome to downtown jacksonville as the sign says. this is the john t bridge. it is one of the main ways in and outside of jacksonville. there have been a trickle of cars coming through the last two or three hours and there is not a soul out here in the streets. the main danger is, and the wind is actually picking upright now and the rain is coming down. the main danger is storm surge coming in off of the saint john's river under the alsot bridge. all of the streets could be, and i know they're empty right now, they could be submerged in water. dangerous for anyone out here, cars driving through the cars, the remaining cars driving through the streets and right now, like you said, relatively calm. it is strange to call this calm with the wind blowing, gusting intermittently, the rain comin

and here in jacksonville the advisory changed. we set up here because we thought it would be the steady hand for the duration. but now, it's supposed to see the most concentrated impact of hurricane matthew. and what that means is maximum storm surge. we're still several hours away. they believe that will happen in the later afternoon hours. you look over my shoulder, you see the scenario. this is the st. john's river. you see the bridge there. 40-mile-per-hour gusts, which is what we're getting right now, that's about tropical storm level, that's when those bridges start being impassable. if you made a wrong move and didn't evacuate you now can't self-correct. this river, the st. john's river, one of the few cuts that you have off the east coast of florida. that means as the volume of water comes, it's going to raise the level here in st. john's and you'll have storm surge here. you already have a couple more feet to go for high tide. you're just about cresting in many areas, and that's the concern. once the surge comes there's n

that's the highest you're going to get there in jacksonville or st. augustine or amelia island and then it kind of makes -- it looks to me like because the land turns quickly, more quickly than the storm is going to turn, that charleston is really in the middle of where we think the landfall will likely be and that's where the biggest pileup of water will be later on this afternoon. do we have a lot of wind damage coming in? no. do we have an f-1 tornado coming in? probably not likely. the damage will come in with the water, victor. >> chad, let me jump in here. you mentioned charleston there, thank you so much for that update, from that 2:00 update. i want to go to charleston where officials are giving us an update on the situation there. let's listen in. >> time t time to leave the city is quickly coming to an end and we expect weather conditions to deteriorate this evening and worsen throughout the night. this will be a dangerous storm. if you have made the decision to stay, please prepare and take appropriate precautions. please make sure someone

hurricane matthew slamming ashore right here in jacksonville. the monster storm battering florida right now. the dangerous winds, blinding rain, downed power lines. the storm sparking fires. this home completely destroyed. more than a million people plunged into darkness. >>> the hurricane blasting florida. a possible hit on georgia and south carolina next. the life threatening storm surge. waves smashing right into homes. >> so please evacuate even if it's to a shelter. >>> tonight, we fly you right into the eye of the storm with the hurricane hunters. inside the cockpit. their new warning tonight for millions in florida, georgia, and the carolinas. >>> and the other breaking story tonight. explosive new audio discovered of donald trump. what he says about women. >> when you're a star, they let you do it. >> you will hear it for yourself. trump already responding. a special edition of "world news tonight" starts now. >> announcer: from abc news, this is a special edition of "world news tonight" with david muir. reporting tonight from the hurric

jacksonville, the eye 50 miles jacksonville beach bringing the atlantic ocean into the streets there and in saeupbtd/ augustine, below us, they have turned the streets into streams of water, reaching to the doorway. we are not quite out of the woods, yet. fierce winds, gushing water. and flying debris. hurricane matthew whips coast, battering areas like daytona beach and saint augustine with more than one hundred mile-per-hour winds. as northeastern florida braces for impact -- -- >> folks in jacksonville, there is the potential for significant flooding. >> coastal communities in florida, north carolina and georgia on notice as hurricane matthew continues olg/ on its path. told i for the next 24-hours. >> it is getting worst. we are looking at mange storm surges. looking at major winds. >> the greatest impact in north carolina, saturday through sunday morning. >>>reporter: president obama urging residents in the areas to be on guard. >> those of you that lead that live in georgia should be paying taepbg/. there has been a lot of emphasis but it will keep moving north. there are large

jacksonville, downtown jacksonville is so low lying, all of this area that we're in right now is highly susceptible not only to human casualties but lots of flooding and damage to building, structures, and other things like that. as we walk around the corner here today, we basically have seen very few cars, very few people. here is one coming right now but it is one of the few people, andrea, the exception to the rule, that have been out here in the streets. we have seen several homeless people still out in the streets but also patrols by the sheriff's department out here. we'll pick up people. this is nothing, andrea, once the storm actually does reach jacksonville it is going to be very dangerous to be out in the streets just like we are right now. any people that are out here right now are putting themselves in major harms way. throughout the course of the day, this has been a pretty steady rain that has come. occasion large gusts of wind, what i've learned are the outer bands of this hurricane and here is one coming through right now. as we stay here, as we monitor this situation, w

jacksonville beach. about 23 miles from where we are along the atlantic ocean coast. the story in downtown jacksonville, all that way in land is equally but in a different way, very, very dangerous. the st. john river runs through the middle of the jacksonville. if that river comes up and over its banks, all of this low lying area, the streets i am standing on right now, the evacuated streets called flood as well. it will be a horrible thing for business and see the people and working downtown area all day long, we have been hearing warnings from the governor and the mayor of the city and the president of the united states of what it will mean if jacksonville was hit. we are starting to pick up the wind and the rain of this area of 50 miles per hour gusts and winds. it affects 200,000 people at this moment, 53 schools and four different hospitals. as i look around, people are heathen the warning and staying off the road. the big question and the question here in downtown jacksonville, three blocks that w

now, there is a bit of good news for the jacksonville area. they're kind of tamping down their forecast. they expect 7 to 12 feet of storm surge. now they look at more 7 to 9. still very significant though and authorities here are now warning people, the ones that have not evacuated, they're telling them to really hunker down and to not move at this point, that it is not safe to do so. now, what they're saying is that the height of the storm for the jacksonville area, i think it's in the afternoon or evening hours. but things ramp up and last until midnight. it's a lot of hours of heavy rain and also, strong winds. they're now expecting about 60 to 80-mile-an-hour winds with gusts of up to 90 miles an hour. that's according to local authorities here. as we've been saying, the mayor here in jacksonville ordered the evacuation of 450,000 people from this metro area. very significant storm and even though the storm now is a little bit more offshore, it's been tracking to the east, and do feel it could be potentially serious. but the conditions, y

this morning here in the jacksonville area. the wind is what's picked up the most, and kevin, i will give you a shot of what we've been paying attention to, and probably what best illustrates how downtown jacksonville has been on edge here. this is the st. john's river and this is what had the governor sort of on edge, this is what had officials worried, this is why they thought the jacksonville could be where they saw the most inner damage and you see how high it is, you see the white caps on the river at this point, the wind has been pushing that this way, with the storm surge, they're worried that if this goes over the banks, it goes into the city, this will create quite a bit of inner flooding here in the inland part. i can tell you that roughly 15 miles to the east of us, is jacksonville beach. they are experiencing that now with the storm surge. the atlantic ocean is simply running down first street in jacksonville beach, and to the the streets look like streams. there is literally water going up to the front door of some

how long are we going to see what we're seeing in jacksonville? talk more about the storm surge if you would because those seem to be the key words for officials in florida. >> you bet. st. mary's is next, that's in georgia, in brunswick and even up toward tybee island. right now it's st. augustine and into the jacksonville beach area with significant erosion, seeing a lot of erosion and even some road gone on flagler beach. this storm is still very close, almost parallel to st. augustine and it will be moving to the north to jacksonville parallel with that in about three hours or so. the good news with this storm, victor, is that it's stayed 10 miles far enough offshore that only the western eye wall touched land today. and we said that. if it was in the ocean, we would lose less. there would be so much less damage than if it was just on shore. billions of dollars less damage with only a ten-mile deviation with this storm. great news there. now, there was some damage, i get it, but not like it would have occurred. this could have been a devastati

a major concern of low-lying areas of jacksonville and historic cities of savannah and jacksonville. utility crews in florida are working to restore electricity to almost 827,000 customers who are without power right now. millions of people involved. many of the people have heeded warnings to simply evacuate, to get out. cnn's alison kosik in central florida in orlando for us now where many on the eastern coast have fled to. alison, are people still arriving where you are? >> reporter: they are. orlando is 70 miles west of the coast. so what a lot of floridians do who live along the coast's areas, those barrier islands, they head west, and many times come to orlando, because it offers so many hotels. this is the land of disney world. yes, a lot of people we found did evacuate, and they're still hanging around, because a lot of the roads that lead to their homes are not open yet. they're stuck here a while riding out the tides with all their friends and family at the hotels in and around the disney properties. speaking of disney, the most magical place on earth, behind me is one of th

which would not be a good thing for the city of jacksonville. ki see from my van tage point the river looks quite high. don't forget, there are 800,000 people in the city of jacksonville. hopefully, they heeded the advice of the mayor. winds are ete and be quite strong once the storm reaches here later on today, especially, hopefully, people have heeded these warnings out by the coast, where there are many people, particularly military members of the u.s. military at naval station may port the third largest navy base in the country right here on the coast of the atlantic ocean here in jacksonville. so pharrelltively quiet. >> you can see from your windshield, the wind doesn't look to bad. the trees don't appear tore whipping around too much as well. >> that's right, frances. yeah, i think and like i said, you know, we have seen how of the course of the last 24, 48 hours, conditions change with what seems like a moments notice here and we expect within probably 12 hours here in jacksonville conditions to something nobody here wants to see. >> jac

the eye of it, east of jacksonville by about 40 miles. next up, coastal south carolina and coastal georgia. the heaviest rain, storm surge, and a tornado watch, it's always a possibility until midnight tonight. extends from daytona beach up through wilmington, and it's still hugging along the coast, very close to charleston overnight. downgrading to a 1, but still could be a powerful surge. and tropical storm nicole may nudge it closer to the bahamas later this week. >> ginger, thank you. >>> and we want to take you up into the air, where the work of the hurricane hunters. in a mome moments ago, i spoke with jack parish. jack, thanks so much for joining us. first off, tell us where you are tonight. and you've flown through so many hurricanes. how big is this thing from the air? >> david, we are just east of the side of the storm, we are on our way in to the center for the third time. >> this has been a monster of a storm, historic in proportions. meteorologists say this coastal part of florida has never seen before. and you're right off t

jacksonville under the gun at this hour. ben: matthew has weakened, as harvey told us of the top of the hour. and there is the storm surge? harvey: these are always triple threats. there's the flooding, the storm surge. this is west of jacksonville, 40 miles west and east and about 20 miles west and south of savannah. it will make a close pass or touch savannah. that is the idea with this of moisture rotating in from the ocean. it has incredible bands of tropical moisture. and the storm surge, a lot of that coincides with high tide or low tide. if it coincides with high tide, it diminishes severities some. if it coincides with low tide, it enhances it. gusting at 45. those winds will only get stronger. hurricane force winds brushing the coast of florida. just about the border of north carolina. and then it continues the weakening process. i got el minimal. i would not be surprised if there are some spots the in-depth with 15 inches of rain. it's an amazing amount of water. ben: thank you, harvey. nicole estaphan has more on

we know now the surge has arrived in jacksonville beach. let meggett you to the 2:00 update on the hurricane. the path will be updated again as we get towards the 5:00 hour. this is the new update here. we are still at a category three. we have a major hurricane off the coast of jacksonville, florida. it is dropped down from 120 to 115. it is moving quickly. we are waiting for that north ward turn. that'll take us to georgia and savannah and we'll wait over night that's predicted. we kind of lost the eye a little bit. it shows some sign of weakening. we'll be down to a category two as we go through the evening. here is the path. from this point on, it should be moving north ward and northeast component. it is a nervous time in the savannah area. you are wa unfortunately, for our friends in the south carolina coast, it looks to be too close for cover. i would be surprise if you don't get in the eye of this point. we are plotting every hour. we plot them on the map then we draw it and show you. that could be the side that we stopped moving th

jacksonvil jacksonville's mayor has ordered the evacuation of 450,000 people. here in this area, even though florida has seen many hurricanes before, this area has not been impacted by this type of storm since 1898. there's a lot of concern behind me, the st. john's river. we're expecting to see the storm surge kick up by the early afternoon. >>ierrez in jacksonville, thank you. >> i want to bring in bonnie schneider. the storm is tracking away, but the storm surge is a huge issue. >> it is a category 3 storm, and that storm surge, 4 to 6 feet from west palm to ft. pierce. once you head further north, we're looking at a much more dangerous situation for melbourne to savannah, the sorm surge could go up to 11 feet, particularly along coastal georgia, parts of coastal south carolina, and northwards toward the carolina coast, even to the outer banks area, still looking at storm surge. lighter amounts, but this area right through here, myrtle beach, through charleston, looking at substantial rain. keep in mind, some of the rainfall amounts we're anticipating could

and you're right off the coast of jacksonville right now? >> looks like the center of it is just due east of jacksonville. maybe 40 miles offshore. and we have seen an extensive area of hurricane force winds, especially north of the center, so the impacts along the georgia coast are going to be significant. >> jack, we know you have flown on these flights many times, but we saw some of those initial pictures of the cockpit, and i want to show viewers at home what that looks like, what that sounds like. that, it looks extremely nerve racking. how do you stay calm up there? >> david, i've been doing this since 1980. the hurricane hunters, we do this a lot. the aircraft is extremely hardy. it doesn't seem to mind. we just barge through. burst through the eye, clear conditions in there, mark the center and go right back through the other side. >> so you say you just sort of barge right through, right through the eye of the hurricane? >> that's right. that's our instructions, are to highest winds. >> jack, we want to thank you and the crew up in

jacksonville beach it has reached, the storm surge causin intense floodingng jacksonville beach and at saint augustine the most dramatic pictures i have seen thus far i the united states from hurrican matthew. this entire area is underwater, the water is up to doorways of some historic hotels. the problem is there are some people who do not leave, and i in these hotels and historic homes. there now stuck. storm surge is the biggest threat to life right a hurricane, how are you first responders preparing to address this aftermath? the key word is aftermath because currently are not storm, they made very clear th they willy not be operating during the storm but afterwards they will be rescuing people to get them out to those places at some timew and after that they have to work to get people back to areas once deemed safe, some that are underwater they will not be able to go home for a while.meha ms storm surge, asas long as the wind is kicking up, the storm to the jacksonville area until matthew completely passeses and takes away the wind, that continues the storm surge and keeps peo

this is jacksonville beach. on a normal spring day, spring break, my son and i right there, fishing off that pier you can hardly see. this should be a beach. the beach is completely gone. can't see it, but i assume there's even water in the parking lot here. there right along the jacksonville beach. here's where it's going from here. and this is what the problem is. it hasn't lost any intensity. i know it's not 140, but 120. pressure hasn't done much. the storm is still very, very strong, waiting to hit land, waiting to do something. so as the storm continues to move to the north it will move into land at some point. whether it's brunswick, whether it's savannah, or whether it's charleston, this storm will run into the coast, because the coast turns before it will. and that's the problem. it's still very strong with all of that bubble of water, a 9 to 11-foot storm surge somewhere. whether schem creek in charleston or whether it's tybee island or somewhere there across the northern sections, as the arm changes,

the mayor here in jacksonville ordered 450,000 people to evacuate. here's the thing, in florida you would think many communities have dealt with strong hurricanes before, but here in the jacksonville area, this area has not been impacted by a storm this strong since 1898. definitely concern here. not so much the winds, with the eye staying offshore, the northeast quadrant will stay offshore, but the devastating storage surge, so we expect to see it throughout the day. the winds are expected to pick up here, bringing this water on to the shore and the question will be, how far east will it track off the coast and how devastating will the storm surge be, so, again, right now we're seeing winds about 15, 20 mile an hour and starting to see some of that rain. in the next coming hours there's a lot of concern from local officials about how matthew could impact jacksonville. back to you. >> let me ask you very quickly, how long until you think you're at the worst of it? if i look at a map right here of the coastline and with it right now bearing down on th

close to jacksonville, early tomorrow through the early morning hours. it weakens as it turns back into the atlantic. and look at this timing. i need to show you from the radar image that is happening now, over freeport, bahamas, it goes toward florida with that northwesternly track. you could see gusts upward of 140 miles per hour with this thing. cape canaveral and then watch the timing there. by friday evening, we go jacksonville to brunswick, savannah starts to feel it. charleston friday night through early saturday. so much more to come as far as what the impacts are. i'll show you storm surge, i'll show you wind. but in general, so many folks from charleston, down here through florida, on a hurricane warning. david? >> ginger zee beginning our coverage tonight. ginger, our thanks to you. as you heard ginger say, cape k canaveral first, and then right here in jacksonville. a stark image tonight, showing you just how serious this storm is. take a look at the mandatory evacuations at this hour. 3 million americans have been told to flee the storm zone

what are you feeling in jacksonville? >> i'm feeling urgency every time you see our shot is up, come to us right away. the shot will start going in and out a lot. we're getting hit by one of these outer feeder bands of rain, so this is not the real deal that we're dealing with here in jacksonville at all. yes, the advisory has shifted. this is supposed to be a concentrated impact area. but that's hours from now. you will see this is just a taste. we're still several hours away from high tide. there's going to be another four feet of tidal action here on top of six to ten feet of tide surge and the st. john river hint behind us, 50 miles from the ocean, is already just about at its bank capacity. you combine that with the wind which motivates the watered ewa the rain which could be six to ten inches and that's why you get that combination effect people are so worried about. as you were saying, alison, we're just starting to see what hurricane matthew will be capable of. some of these sections down south, west palm beach, a

. >> i'm really concerned about jacksonville. we're focusing on jacksonville, there is potential for significant flooding there. you can run an errand. (music playing) ♪ push it real good... (announcer vo) or you can take a joyride. bye bye, errands, we sing out loud here. siriusxm. road happy. we ship everything you atcan imagine.n, and everything we ship has something in common. whether it's expedited overnight... ...or shipped around the globe, ...it's handled by od employees who know that delivering freight... ...means delivering promises. od. helping the world keep promises. get between you and life's dobeautiful moments.llergens by choosing flonase, you're choosing more complete allergy relief and all the enjoyment that comes along with it. when we breathe in allergens, our bodies react by overproducing 6 key inflammatory substances. most allergy pills only control 1. flonase controls 6. and six is greater than one. with flonase, more complete relief means enjoyment of every beautiful moment. flonase, six is greater than

folks in jacksonville, there's a potential for significant flooding there. damage assessments are just coming in from south florida. let's remember, the storm has only passed half the state. this is not over. >> we have several kor responsibili correspondents. i want to go to gadi schwartz in titusville, florida. what's the latest from the conditions behind you? >> reporter: tamron, everybody is talking about that storm surge and behind me, you've got this intercoastal waterway. this is one of the areas that is expected to rise a little bit and i want to show you some of the damage that happened last night. you see that sailboat is in a pretty bad way. it's got loose and slamming against the side. but if you take a look just over to the right, you see a mass sticking out of the water. this over here is actually a sailboat that sank during the storm. it was also a tide for moorings and what's believed to be a dock, and it's difficult to make out. but you still see a lot of wind in this area. you see a lot of these rain gusts that will start pelting you out of

where the nfl jacksonville jaguars play. you are right in the thick of that storm surge. set the scene for us. >> reporter: so steve, it's been an extraordinary day because the city of jacksonville is in the downtown proper is 23 miles from the coast where we saw that incredible foodage of the storm surge into the communities earlier today. that doesn't mean that area is out of hot water in any sense of the term. you can see number one, the amount of rain that came down created flooding in areas like the one i'm in right now. we are able to come out here safely and see how much rain has fallen down today. the big issue is not the rain or the wind that we are being hit with. it's the storm surge and how it affectless the river that runs through the center of jacksonville as you know well. it is strange to see the area as it has been here several times. it is jam packed with people, both business people and residents and people like us who come in from out of town. it is independent here and that's a good thing. record levels

augustine or jacksonville. we're extremely lucky that overnight the eye stayed off the shore of florida by 20-25 miles. the differents between catastrophic and mild to severe damage. but the model has been extremely spot on. it gave us land fall in haiti. put the exact land fall in eastern cuba and through the bahamas and stayed off shore last night. the worst though, when you look at the radar, this bright banding of orange in yellow was in the northeast all day. that is where the strongest winds and heaviest rain is. thank goodness it wasn't on the western quadrant. but a it is on the northern side. moving into the islands and a big concern could be around hilton head. there is a big concentration of pine. the pine trees. weak roots. tall broad trees. when they come down they cause a lot of damage on homes and power lines. still could see a six to nine surge. jacksonville reporting over five feet. katrina had 27 foot surge. with battery park in super storm sandy it was 14. but it depends on the topography and

the storm is pushing toward jacksonville. after speaking individually with governors from along the southern atlantic coast, president obama signed emergency declarations in florida, georgia and south carolina. the president also spoke with governor pat mccrory in north carolina who activated federal and local responders with a state of emergency in all 100 counties. the national hurricane center says that would be hurricane moving parallel to the coastline is difficult to specify where exactly the worst impacts will be felt. they say only a small deviation of the tracked forecast could bring the core of the hurricane onshore and that strong winds will occur well inland. >> bill karins has been following this storm minute by minute over the last couple of days. we were talking earlier that big population centers. miami, ft. lauderdale dodged a bullet. >> vero beach areas. those people are celebrating this morning. when they left their houses, they weren't sure what they would come back to. it's now pretty much assured those a

jacksonville expected to get hit hard today. expecting 70 to 80-mile-per-hour winds by the afternoon. the good news is, of course, as you have been reporting, now that the storm is tracking just a bit further to the east, a few more miles to the east, not expecting as much wind damage here in the jacksonville area, but still a very, very dangerous storm because of that potentially surge. double-digit storm surge is expected here in the jacksonville area. jacksonville's mayor has ordered the evacuation of 450,000 people. here in this area, even though florida has seen many hurricanes before, this area has not been impacted by this type of storm since 1898. there's a lot of concern behind me, the st. john's river. we're expecting to see the storm surge kick up by the early jacksonville, thank you. >> i want to bring in bonnie schneider. the storm is tracking away, but the storm surge is a huge issue. >> it is a category 3 storm, and that storm surge, 4 to 6 feet from west palm to ft. pierce. once you head further north, we're look

by friday evening, we go jacksonville to brunswick, savannah starts to feel it. charleston friday night through early saturday. so much more to come as far as what the impacts are. i'll show you storm surge, i'll show you wind. but in general, so many folks from charleston, down here through florida, on a hurricane warning. david? >> ginger zee beginning our coverage tonight. ginger, our thanks to you. and as you heard ginger say, cape canaveral first, and then they're really going to feel the affects of this storm here in jacksonville. and a stark image tonight, showing you just how serious this storm is. take a look at the mandatory evacuations at this hour. 3 million americans have been told to flee the storm zone up and down the coast. and abc's gio benitez is right here in florida tonight where the affects of this storm are already being felt. >> reporter: tonight, the outer hands of hurricane matthew swarming the florida coast. up by the minute. so, we just arrived in west palm beach, and just look. the wind is so strong, the rain is just starting, and thes

jacksonville in more than 100 years. is it fair to say this is a history-making storm. >> absolutely. matthew's going to write some want to be a part of it. i don't want to be writing a report from the national hurricane center that totals up the fatalities and air one of them. that's the part of history we can still control? we can see what's happening to florida right now. what can folks in north carolina, south carolina and georgia expect. >> bottom line, there is a little bit of time in georgia and south carolina to get out because storm surge and inland flooding, water is going to be the main conce t lives. >> all right, rick knabb, thank you so much for that very important information. >>> and in the caribbean a scene of destruction already. hundreds of people have been killed, emergency efforts are under way there at this hour and alex perez is in the bahamas where they are feeling the aftermath of the hurricane this morning. good morning, alex. >> reporter: good morning, amy. after a nearly 24-hour downpour, the

there's jacksonville, jacksonville beach in st. augustine. about 20 miles off shore. and the intense bands of rain coming through right now. gusty winds with them too. certainly strong winds. you've seen that in the show. with the winds were like around the eye of the storm. most intense winds always in the eye wall. especially where the bright reds are, embedded in the storm pattern. that's where you don't want that to come on shore. that's the worse part of the storm. it really cooperated nicely stayed off shore 25, 30 miles, just far aenough away. still all of the winds coming along the shore causing flooding category strongest sustained winds as measured by aircraft flown into the storm by the national hurricane center. 115 miles per hour. doesn't mean you're going to get those winds at the surface, especially on the west side of the storm. the coastline last happens to be on the weaker side. still lots of waves, lots of wind, power outages and more to come as it goes toward georgia and north carolina, that late update just ahead. >> you guys have phones, you can

they believe jacksonville may be the most concentrated hit. we're about 15 miles in from the shore behind us is the st. john river that feeds off of the int intercoastal and the ocean. the storm surge is expected to be anywhere from 6 to 12 feet. right now, we're at dead low tide. another 4 feet on top of that, that means that water where we are now will be well into the flood area here plus as much as a foot of rain and wind and why there could be so much disaster. so many told to evacuate, upw d upwards of 450,000 in the immediate danger zone. what will happen in jacksonville isn't going to happen several hours to come. right now, relatively light rain and light gusting. melbourne, in the central part of florida, it's literally miles away. this hurricane is moving at a quick enough pace we will start feeling big effects very soon. let's get to meteorologist, jennifer grey, jennifer, you are in palm bay, where you will start feeling take us through how it's going to change. >> yeah, chris, we're about 14 miles from that outer eyewall. you can