so the authorities still are watching to see if the at the time toll is going to count. if there s any good news, it s that hurricane irene has not produced as much damage as was initially feared. when the hurricane first came ashore before the eye wall passed right over us, the pier, which you see right here, well, the far end of it had already been washed away by the tremendous power of the wave action. well, that was, obviously, kerry sanders several hours ago. and since then, in fact, the death toll in north carolina has gone up. and it was someone outside, driving. and the stoplights were out and there was an accident and a child was killed. that was the fourth fatality as a result of this hurricane in north carolina. and officials up and down the east coast have been telling residents to evacuate, but those who are home need to stay indoors for safety reasons. not everyone is heeding those warnings. former miami police chief john timoney joins us live from
landfall. kerry sanders is in atlantic beach, north carolina, for us. what s the latest for us there? reporter: the news is not good for north carolina because three people s deaths are attribu attributed to the storm. one died in an accident prior to the arrival of irene, one died with aheart attack and another killed when a tree limb fell on top of them. authorities are watching to see if the death toll is going to count. if there is good news, it s that hurricane irene has not produced as much damage as initially feared. when the hurricane first came ashore before the eyewall passed over us, the pier you see here, the far end of it had already been washed away by the tremendous power of the wave action that was coming. they were definitely rolling
the weather affects all things. kerry sanders has been reporting from atlantic beach. he filed this their report. reporter: the news is not good for north carolina because three people s deaths are attributed [ inaudible ] one died in an accident prior to the arrival prior to hurricane irene. one died of a heart attack and another was killed when a tree limb fell on top of them. the authorities are still watching to see if the death toll is going to count. if there s any good news, it s that hurricane irene has not produced as much damage as was initially feared. with the hurricane first came ashore before the eyewall passed over us, the pier which you see here, the far end of it had already been washed away by the trim douse power of the wave action that was coming [ inaudible ] they were rolling in consistently, eight and ten feet. i m going to take you here, a
windows blown out. trees down everywhere. and we can t even keep driving. the water keeps rising. take a look that truck is under water. and right next to us, we have the massive river, there s so much water here, that that river just can t drain it. so it s a recipe for disaster. david? gio benitez with us tonight. gio, thank you. here in wilmington, the discovery as we drove through neighborhoods today. so much destruction, the trees down. and in one case, a heartbreaking discovery. the frantic effort under way tonight to rescue those in the path of florence. first responders out at daybreak after the hurricane first began battering the coast. here in wilmington, neighbors holding one another after a massive tree came crashing down on a young family s home. firefighters race to rescue the three trapped inside. the mother and infant did not get out. they struggled to get the father out, managing to free him. he s rushed to the hospital.