Page 654 - Flash Flooding News Today

Getting out of the logistical staging area at fort bragg. we couldnt get out for a day because of all the flooding. the other thing is is prepare for power outages not in hours and in many cases not even for days, but for weeks. youve got a little time left to get ready. thats what youre going to face. >> reporter: that time is running short now. if it hasnt happened, one has to be careful about it. craig, thanks very much. craig fugate is the former head of fema. i want to send it back to steph...

Hes the former administrator of fema, and craig, i want to talk to you about something. we were just talking to the mayor of morehead city. weve got this county around us, we actually have a bigger problem here in that there are highly populated areas in this region in southern virginia, in north carolina, in south carolina and in some cases going into georgia where major population centers are in danger from these heavy rains and these floods. we have to sort of think about it that way, too. >>...

Warnings up the coast. look at these values. 9 to 13 feet, 4 to 9 feet. these are staggering amounts. i do want to show you this graphic because it is important for people to realize that it is not just a coasting thing even with the storm surge because it is not just these barrier islands. these rivers, they normally flow out. but guess what? with a storm surge, that water reverses and flows inward. where it piles up is where you can get some of those values 9 to 13 feet. look at how far inland...

Folks to get back home after this storm passes. he can recall storms in the past where it took two or three weeks for people to get home and he believes that is a greater challenge to him than the risk of riding out this storm. but you said it, despite these projections of this storm turning a little bit south, this spot is well in the bulls eye of this ferocious storm that could easily topple these sand berms behind me. flash flooding. so much fresh water inland thats a cause for concern when y...

South, that doesnt change the fact this area is in the storms bulls eye. were talking about life threatening storm surges. life threatening and catastrophic flash flooding, especially inland areas. farther inland that you would typically imagine. and of course the hurricane force winds. wilmington in particular worried about those winds. as you can with every storm, you find these folks who want to try to ride it out. officials hoping and praying that people heed these warnings. if you do stay, ...

Where you are could soon be cut off. what are you seeing there now? >> reporter: north carolinas governor saying disaster is at our door step and it is coming in. these beach front shops are starting that process. if you look behind me the owners will be among the last to board up their doors. we have sand bags to my right. how prepared can you be when you are expecting life threatening storm surge here? the sand berms at the beach are 12 foot high. those are expected to be toppled. you are talk...

"outfront" tonight, hurricane florence on track right now to deliver a devastating blow to the east coast. we are just hours away from the first tropical storm winds to hit the u.s. states of emergency are now in effect in georgia, south carolina, north carolina, virginia, and d.c. some 20 million people are in the storms path, which as we speak, is kicking up 83-foot waves out in the atlantic. sustained winds are topping out at 120 miles per hour. its also some 600 miles wide to give you an ide...

Priority for us. >> so theres, of course, no shortage of really frightening ways that officials are describing this storm. meaning, catastrophic, disaster at the doorstep, life-threatening. fema describing it as a mike tyson punch or the storm of a lifetime. and heres the governor of north carolina, what he told me last night. >> north carolina, were used to storms, noreasters, weve had hurricanes before. but this is historic. this storm is big, and its vicious. were telling the people of north ...

The water is hard to get out of the way and it will kill you more than the wind will. a lot of these areas have had very saturated ground, trees are going to fall down, power lines will be down. people will be without power for weeks. >> chad, can you pick up on the rain thing? thats the first i heard about it. there was concern up until last night we were going to see two or three feet maybe in interior north carolina up into virginia right now. is that rainfall less and where will it be fallin...

Outer islands because its going to be absolutely deadly out here when this storm approaches. >> reed, youve talked about the stall. if this stalls, what will days of that kind of rain mean for any of these areas? >> well, theres three different types of flooding that are going to hammer this area, potentially all at once. theres going to be the storm surge inundation, a wall of water with waves on top of it that will come over the barrier islands and into those inlet, potentially 10 to 15 feet, ...