Al Roquer News Today

>> you know, i didnt quite hear everything you said, brian. but i can tell you -- i can tell you that al and i were in the fort myer area yesterday. we finished the broadcast with a beautiful sunset and looked at each other it doesnt look like a hurricane is coming. we sat here on the river starting at about 5:30 this morning. and light sprinkles and barely a breeze for much of the day. and suddenly its here. all day on the radar. so you know its coming. but everything around you. it is here. an...

Think they got the word out and were trying to get people into their respective shelters, or to try to get them to move out and head to higher ground. >> al, ill let you go after this. a little bit of a concern tonight to your northeast is that orlando and given the valuable real estate there in just how much of the tourism business that florida needs and wants flows through that city. orlando is going to get more storm that they had banked on. >> well, look, we kept telling -- not to say -- to ...

When we thought it would break and go straight up the coast whom. would have thought that the winds in orlando would be worse than the winds in tampa? >> thats right. look, the best we can do is give you the probabilities. and we show you the cone of uncertainty and that line. but i think we keep trying to tell people dont focus on the exact path. dont focus on those spinning symbols with the numbers in them. look at this cone of uncertainty. and youre always best served with that and its borne ...

Here. and in that aspect, i think its lived up to it. the idea that maybe we werent going to see the 15 feet of storm surge in naples. thats good news. i would rather be overprepared and have people make their way to shelters than to say not prepare people and then the worst happens. i think this has played out, i think pretty well. and when you look at it, there has been a tremendous amount of damage, especially down in the keys in southeastern florida, miami, broward counties. i think its live...

>> chris hayes in naples. nights in a hurricane are no fun, whether the hurricane has kind of passed through there hours earlier or not. nights are no fun. and the people with battery operated headlamps usually rule the roost, as do batteries and generators. i want to read just this about power. florida power and light says 3.2 million of its 5 million customers are without power. thats about 65%. this is a state of about 20 million people. and remember, when we say customers, the number of peop...

Were still looking at passage here some time around midnight to maybe 1:00 a.m. so we still have some ways to go before we end up seeing irma make its way past us. and that will be good news. and we wouldnt see that storm surge until it gets either parallel to us or to our north, brian. >> al, as one of the best known faces in the weather business across the country, im curious to get your -- i guess there is no better word for it, your review of the storm so far. its performance versus predicti...

And the water is running through. thats probably one of the things thats going to help them, if and when that storm surge comes. >> this is a vulnerable city and possibly one of those most vulnerable in the country with its 700 miles of shoreline. i noticed everything sloped down. so were higher ground here. this street goes up. this street goes up. looks to be in somewhat less risky area. but there are many parts of this town that there are real concerns about with storm surge. even if it ends ...

Well be thinking all good thoughts for you as we go on through the night. we hope you can get some rest. were hoping the best for your city where we have spotted two individuals standing in the middle of an intersection. we have identified them as lester holt and al roker. and we thank them very much for joining us. al, was this squall line part of your forecast earlier tonight? >> oh, yes, yeah. and were just getting into this. the irma is still a ways away, probably it shouldnt get -- it proba...