Now. This is nbc nightly news with lester holt, reporting tonight from melbourne, florida. Good evening from it to our viewers in the west from the Central Florida coast, where we are just hours away from a direct hit by what officials are calling an unprecedented, even historic hurricane. Matthew, which has already killed over a hundred people in haiti, regained strength, as expected, earlier today, and is forecast to come ashore here overnight as a category 4 storm, the second highest strength, with sustained winds of 140 Miles Per Hour near its core. Some 2 Million People in the southeast have heeded the dire warnings to evacuate. All told 19 Million People will be impacted by this storm. Its slow march means the southeast coast could take a punishing hit that will last for 60 hours or more. Our team is in place up and down the storm zone, plus al roker with the latest miguel . Reporter lester, good evening. Just moments ago the sky here turned green, transformers are exploding. This area is now running on backup power. The weather here has turned for the worst. Its a precursor of whats to come. Tonight matthew is lashing the florida coast, the first catastrophic knockout blow for the region. This is tough now, god help us. Reporter the category 4 storm is baring in, up to 15 inches of rain and a life threatening storm surge up to 11 feet in some places. The storm will kill you. Time is running out. Reporter with fema deploying 500 disaster and food are on the way. Mandatory Evacuations Ordered in parts of the carolinas, georgia, and florida, where the president s already declared an emergency. Still, some like megan faircloth, with her daughter, refuse to leave. Im from florida, why would i evacuate . Its exciting. Reporter but tonights hurricane warning is dire. Extreme threat to life and property, impact, devastating to catastrophic. Certain areas could be unhabitable for weeks or months. 10 million could lose power. Utility teams are on stand by. Some hospitals are bracing for a wave of patients. Were 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 well 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 mass casualties . Because if people do 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 storms path, and theme parks are closed. Disney world shut down for only the fourth time ever. Thousands of families are also scrambling to shelters. Wanted to come here. Why here . Just for extra protec, reporter tonight with conditions rapidly getting worse, matthew is taking aim at the u. S. , where millions are now bracing for impact. Forecasters say the weather conditions are coming together for a worst Case Scenario. Windows could explain in the area and debris could be flying through the area. Tonight the roads are deserted. This is major few hours, even the media needs to leave the area. Lester . All right, miguel, we are all going to be monitoring the conditions here. Lets go to al roker, hes been monitoring every moment of the storm as it barrels towards us. Lay it out for us. This unusual forecast track up the coast. Thats right. Including a loop the storm may take. You can see it on radar right now, theres the eye making its way through the bahamas. And you can see the feeder bands coming in up and down the florida coast. Its still a category 4 storm with mi picking up, northwest at 14 Miles Per Hour. This storm may not make landfall. It may parallel the coast. The eye is only 15 or 20 miles wide. And as you can see by friday afternoon its around jacksonville, and then saturday, it continues off the coast of South Carolina and off the coast of north carolina. By sunday, it starts to make a uturn and head south. And by tuesday, its headed back towards florida. Here are the effects. Lets break it down for you. Storm surge is what kills the most people over high tide, one to three feet in miami, ft. Lauderdale. West palm beach, four to six feet. We move up to melbourne and savannah, where its most severe, seven to 11 feet above high tide. Continuing up the carolina coast, four to six feet. And winds, you can see the areas in white, those are hurricaneforce winds pounding the shoreline from west palm beach, melbourne, on up into Daytona Beach and into the georgia shoreline. And rainfall, were talking anywhere from six to ten inches, to up to a foot of rain or more. Lester, were talking about this going on as youve mentioned for hours. We need people to heed the warnings and get out now. Because at a certain point, they wont be able to. You paint a vivid and disturbing picture, al. Thank you. As we mentioned, some 2 Million People have been urged to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Matthews the comfort of home for the safety of shelters or hotels. Nbcs ron mott is further up the coastline in Daytona Beach, with more on the mad dash to get out of harms way. Reporter moving out, heading in. For denise and thousands of her neighbors, finding shelter from the storm was priority one today. Ive never been through a hurricane. So this is all new. Reporter schools like this one, turned into safe havens for more than a million displaced floridians. v son, so im really trying to get settled somewhere, so he knows that im safe. Reporter the mass exodus, perhaps the biggest evacuation in the states history. City buses scrapped normal routes to transport people from the danger zones. Long gas lines for those rolling out on their own. This storm has everybody riled up. People afraid to lose their house. Afraid to lose their cars. Reporter people from as far north as South Carolina, chronicling the journey ahead on social media. Bare necessities bagged and boxed up to leave her flagler boetsch home tonight. Im packing like im not coming back. I have my jewelry. We have cash. We are taking as much food as we can. Reporter usually bustling areas resembling ghost towns tonight. Today the mayor of Daytona Beach going door to door. Im here to encourage and implore you to evacuate. Reporter warning residents who have yet to leave their homes, and those planning to stay, to brace for the worst. The most important thing is making sure the people who are going to be affected by they know what to do, before the storm comes. And what were saying they should do is leave. Reporter matthew is forecast to last upwards of two days. The uncertainty of it all, only adding to the nervousness. Ill be anxious to get home to see whats happened to my trailer, if its still there. Or where i go from here. Reporter as you can see some of the outer bands makinging their way overhead over Daytona Beach. We know its going to overnight hours. But perhaps a silver lining, not a lot of vehicular traffic, people listened and got out of dodge yesterday. As millions heed the calls and get out of dodge, some residents are refusinging to leave despite the warnings about the catastrophe to come. Theres growing who dont evacuate are putting themselves and First Responders at risk. Nbcs Kerry Sanders reports from one of those Barrier Islands ft. Pierce, florida. Reporter nettles island is in the mandatory evacuation zone, but 73yearold bill meade is staying put. Some say thats a death wish . No, its just a decision i made. Reporter he left in 2004 when hurricanes francis and jean destroyed his neighborhood. This time he plans to watch news reports from his barcolounger until he loses perfectly safe right here. Evacuate, evacuate, evacuate. Reporter 1. 5 Million People along floridas east coast are under mandatory evacuation orders. Businesses are boarded up, many families headed out. Yet not everyone leaves. Curious onlookers, thrill seekers, surfers stay behind, ignoring orders and pleas. And i am not kidding. I cannot overstate the danger of this storm. Reporter les protect his prize harley that he will wheel into his home a block from the beach. Police have been going door to door taking names of those who still refuse to leave. And im asking you, im begging you, you probably need to evacuate, and you need to do it now. Reporter dave howler lives a threeminute bike ride from the beach. His family evacuated. He wants to stay behind to protect his home. Worst Case Scenario youll retreat to the pantry with concrete walls, but do you bit selfish, but i need to protect my things. Reporter police say some people just dont understand how real the danger is. Officers tonight who have evacuated inland say those who decided to stay put on the coast in those mandatory evacuations have misguided egos of invincibility. Lester . Thank you. And this killer hurricane has shown us what florida could be in for after blasting the bahamas. Causing significant damage and massive flooding on the island. Now some american tourists are stranded on what was supposed to be a dream vacation. Nbcs Tammy Leitner is there and has more. Reporter Hurricane Matthew slamming into the bahamas early this morning, gaining strength from a category 3, to a catastrophic category 4. Hour, sheering roofs off houses. An enclosed balcony offering little protection. Look at this wind. These are more than a hundred miles an hour. Theres an enormous tree that has come down on six, seven cars over there. Docks ripped apart. Boats in nassau harbor lifted straight out of the water. The driving rain flooding streets. Island to protect the grid. All flights canceled. Vacationers forced to ride out the storm in their hotels. Its been a really bad storm. Reporter at the atlantis resort on paradise island, guests took refuge in a conference room, sleeping on mats. Hi reporter this california couple, here on their honeymoon. Well make do. Reporter tonight, the bahamas still being battered. There are people still trapped in their homes we drove through neighborhood after neighborhood exactly like this. Trees down on houses, roads completely washed away. Lester . Tammy leitner, and as we prepare to go to a break you can probably tell the situation beginning to deteriorate. The winds and rains picking up. Still ahead as we continue our coverage, what its like inside a hurricane. Feeling the force of those extremely powerful winds. 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This is now a category 1 storm, 80 Miles Per Hour. Were looking at some damage to unanchored mobile homes. This is now a category 2 storm, 100mileperhour winds. Theres no way you could stand in this. This is now a category 3, 115 miles the wind is pulling my cheeks and my skin back. Anything impacted right now would be uprooted and torn from his foundation. Reporter after only a few minutes at 115 Miles Per Hour, the Maryland Team says enough. Its just absolutely exhausting to stand in those kinds of winds. But its a combination tonight. Of all the things that is the greatest risk of life is storm surge. Why im really concerned isnt as much tonight as we go into tomorrow. Reporter a lethal mixture now bearing down on the florida coast. Tom costello, nbc news, college park, maryland. Were back in a moment with some of the days other news, including some answers to a troubling mystery in a deadly train man dear mr. Danoff, my wife and i are now participating in your mutual fund. We invested in your fund weve enclosed a picture of our son so that you can get a sense there are real people out here trusting you with their hardearned money. . At fidelity, we dont just manage money, we manage peoples money. Were back from the florida coast and thankfully under a concrete vie yeah duct as matthew begins to edge ashore. Millions have been scrambling to find safety and supplies for their families. But nbc News National investigative correspondent jeff rossen has uncovered allegations of price gouging in the middle of this emergency. Reporter sharday and her young kids forced to leave their Florida Hotel tonight because they cant afford it. With the storm about triple. Theyre just taking advantage of us. Theyre taking advantage of making money extra money because theres a hurricane coming. Reporter now with the storm on floridas doorstep, shes scared for her family. You dont know where youre going to ride the storm out . No, sir. Youre just going to get into the car with all your stuff and do what . I got to look for somewhere else to stay for the night. That you can afford . Yes. Reporter officials call it price gouging at its worst. So i went to see the hotel. I dont set the prices. Corporate sets the prices. Reporter its happening all over florida, at not just hotels. Horrified people taking to social media posed extreme cases using the price gouging. Nearly 6 a gallon at this gas station. Another charging 9. 99, knowing people need it to evacuate. And this post, a case of bottled water costing a whopping 30. Absolutely. During a state of emergency, you cannot substantially raise prices, whether its hotel rooms, fuel, commodities, and thats what these bad people are doing, and its hurting our good citizens in a time of need when theyre the most vulnerable. Reporter days inn corporate telling nbc news tonight they are deeply troubled by these allegations and they do not reflect the values of the they say its a franchised hotel, so they dont manage the rates and they are investigating further. By the way, we are happy to report, we have found sharday a nice hotel room in tampa for her and her family tonight and tomorrow night to ride out the storm safely. Lester . Good to hear, jeff rossen, thank you very much. Turning now to the days other news, police have released chilling video of a terror suspects stabbing rampage inside a minnesota mall. The shocking tape appears to show dahir adan in a store, and brutally attacking a clerk who gets up and runs away. Also caught on camera, adans fatal encounter with an offduty police officer. Ten people were injured, but only the attacker was killed. Isis has claimed responsibility for the attack. An update tonight on the deadly commuter train crash in hoboken, new jersey, that occurred a week ago today. Engineer at the controls accelerated from 8 miles an hour to 21 miles an hour, twice the speed limit, in the minute before impact at the station, that killed a woman Officials Say just prior to the collision the engineer moved the throttle back to the idle position and hit the emergency brake today crews began. Removing the train from the station as the investigation continues. When we come back, well have more on the path of Hurricane Matthew with a look at the latest forecast. Just get any one. Oralbs rounded brush head cups your teeth to break up plaque and rotates to sweep it away. And oralb crossaction delivers a clinically proven superior clean vs. Sonicare diamondclean. My mouth feels super clean oralb. Know youre getting a superior clean. Im never going back to a manual brush. [burke] at farmers, weve seen almost everything, so we know how to cover almost anything. 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Thats a lot of potential power loss. It will take 24 hours to clear the florida coast. Im not just talking about a little wind here. Hurricane force gusts of category 3 or stronger. 115 miles an hour. That is what will buzz saw the coast. Tomorrow its jacksonville, savannah, charleston late in the day. Addition to the wind were talking about tremendous amounts of storm surge and rainfall. Over a foot in some right now on 12 23450u news at 6 00, Hurricane Matthew now hitting the coast of florida. This is a live look from miami beach. Thousands of people are without power as the storm brings heavy rain and winds. Floridas governor activating the National Guard troops, more than the state has, and evacuation orders for a Million People. And with gusts even higher. Team 12s jay gray is going to show us the scene from Daytona Beach. I want to give you an idea of what is going on. It gives you a good idea. If you can show him. We have the camera under a tunnel here to protect the gear. But you can see it is an empty quite some time. We watches aswatched as a huge wave came up other this sand. This wave came up probably 10 feet in the air, i kid you not. Were hoping that everybody there stays safe. Team 12 has crews all along the florida coast. We will be bringing you the media channels. Really scary to be told that you need to be prepared to wake your children up out of bed in the middle of the night because of a fire. And now our big story on 12 news at 6 00. That man right there, we interviewed him after a fire at his neighbors home. Well, now, he is in custody for arson. Chandler police announced