We have correspondents throughout the area. We go to Diane Gallagher in new bern, North Carolina. What are you seeing . Reporter its continuing to rise here. Im in downtown new bern right now, in the middle of a street here. Just for frame of reference, im a little more than 510. Its some up over my knees now, this water. Were again in the middle of a road here. Im going to see if my photographer can pan out. We still do have power in new bern. You can see the lights reflecting off of the water. A lot of people here in Craven County do not, though. In fact, its one of the top counties at this point in North Carolina to lose power. Weve been experiencing some of these larger gusts of wind in the past half hour or so. In fact, we got into our vehicle to move it to a safer location, and it was a little difficult for my producer, jay, to drive. We started seeing debris in the air. For the most part, its been things in the water. This isnt necessarily the ocean that im wading around thats come threw new bern. This is the noose river. In Craven County, they have this perfect storm, if you will, of a flooding scenario. They have the pemlico sound, the intercoastal waterways, the noose river and the atlantic ocean. So as florence was coming closer to the coastline and those outer bands were reaching here in North Carolina, we could see the water rising. We had to leave our initial spot this morning at a public park, anderson, because it just wasnt safe for us. We were going to be trapped there. But i watched the water rise from right at my ankles to coming up to over my hips to where we had to leave. There were white caps around a current. I cant go there anymore because it isnt safe. But just down the corner here, this street, you can see the current of the river coming through this city. Now, look, were watching businesses. Im going to be stepping up on a curb right here, but they have their boarded up windows, new bern strong here. Were see thing across the entire city. Unfortunately, weve been able to see some of that flooding go inside of these businesses in downtown right now. Theres an old structure here, a bar, its been here since 1810. Some people, because unfortunately weve seen a lot of them, even though officials asked people not to be here and there is a curfew, people were out here taking pictures. Theyre like look, we get a lot of flooding, but this is a little extreme, especially for new bern, especially since Hurricane Florence hasnt hit the area yet. Now, as far as Emergency Services are concerned, their emergency manager tells me that we have 700 people stationed around Craven County, making sure that after the storm comes, we can do rescues. Theres a dive team from indiana here, weve spoken with the national guard. They know what theyre doing in new bern, but they need the people who live here to cooperate with them. Yeah. Diane gallagher, and, again, that water would be on the ground for a long time. And more to come. I want to go to brian todd in h hamste hamstead, North Carolina. What are you seeing there . Reporter getting pounded with wind and rain here, and its getting more dangerous as we progress into the evening. Im on old landing road, but behind me, this is the intercoastal waterway. Look how the water is pushing on this road. This road does end just a little bit over that way, but this is not even high tide yet. High tide is not for a couple more hours, maybe a few more hours. And look at the water just pushing in from the intercoastal waterway, right onto this roadway. Its going to get a lot worse in the hours ahead. Im going to walk over here and show you another crucial part of this whole thing in the inland flooding that we have to watch out for. This is the marshland that protects these areas. It can absorb storm surge and rain. But this isnt the kind of rain and storm surge this area can absorb, and these marshlands are getting inundated. And with high tide not even approaching yet, once high tide gets here and inundates this area, pushes inland, the water is not going to have anywhere to go after that. As our meteorologists have been saying, once the high tide comes in, with all the rain theyre getting in, and the storm surge, even when high tide recedes, it cant go anywhere. These areas are getting inundated, on the way in to this point, we passed an assisted living facility with a lot of cars in it. I called and asked about that place, because we all have memories oh of what happened in florida last year after Hurricane Irma and the elderly people that died in that facility. I asked are these people in danger . One of the officials said that facility is built to withstand a category 4 and theyre confident theyre far enough inland that they will be safe. But well be keeping an eye on it, anderson. With the amount of time this storm is probably going to sit in this state, its going to go through several tide cycles, so with youll be seeing all of the effects s of that over several case. We just got a new update from the National Hurricane center. Jennifer gray joins us now with the latest. Jennifer, what does this storm look like . Because some people come up to me already and said, you know, whats going on with this . We saw some bands of rain and wind here in wilmington, and then now weve taken off our raincoats because its not raining, its not that windy. What are you seeing . Thats normal with hurricanes. You have the rain bands come, and then you wont have anything for a while, and then the next one will come. And once the center of the storm gets closer and closer to you, then it will be a little more sustained. But i assure you, you will get another round before its said and done and a lot more of it, because the storm is going to sit and basically camp out for the next 24 to 36 hours. The latest advisory at 8 00, winds of 100 Miles Per Hour, still a category 2, gusts of 120. We have a gust near 100 Miles Per Hour near cape lookout. So were already getting very, very strong winds, strong gusts, around its only moving at 5 Miles Per Hour. And i just want to tack onto what brian todd was saying about the high tide cycles. With this rain and wind and everything pushing west, hes right. Were going to have another high tide cycle along this coastline around midnight, give or take a little bit of where you are. And once the tide starts to come back down, its not going to come down, because the water and the wind continues to push in. So basically each high tide psych that will cycle that we g water will build on itself, because this water is constantly being pushed in. So well continue to have the rain and the flooding, the storm surge, all of that will last for the next 24 to 36 hours, anderson. And just i mean, the size of this storm, you know, it went to a category 2 when folks woke up this morning. But it really doubled in size. Its been just its been fascinating, kind of terrifying to watch how big this storm was and is. Youre right. It is. It doubled in size. This storm is massive. I know we focus so much on the number, the category 2 and category 3. People woke up this morning and said oh, its just a category 2. Not the case at all with this storm, because 75 of people die in hurricanes because of the surge and the flooding. And with this storm, yes, its category 2, but the storm surge and the flooding is going to be that of a category 4. The storm has incredible momentum, and its been carrying that with it for days now. And it doesnt just go away because the winds decrease a couple Miles Per Hour. Thats staying within the storm. Thats going to push all of that water inland. Were still going to get the storm surge of a category 4. If you say your home can withstand the winds of a category 2, thats not the takeaway. The takeaway is that your home could have 11 feet of water inside of it. So its not going to stay on the foundation in a lot of cases. And well inland, even if youve evacuated, we are still going to see the water overfill the banks because its going to get clogged up into those River Systems with that constant push of water for a day and a half. I think what you said is just so important. I want to reemphasize, because there are people who are watching right now who see, you know, the storm looks like its defused or breaking up from what it was, the eye is not as well organized as it once was. But as you say, it is water that kills the majority of people in hurricanes. It is not the wind as much as people focus on the wind. No, 8 of people die from the wind, 75 of people die from the water, the surge, the flooding. Let me show you what were talking about when we talk about storm surge. People focus so much on the wind and the wind is not whats important here with this storm. This storm is very unique. The storm surge is going to come on in, two feet, its going to get close to your friend, by the time the storm surge gets to four feet, it will maybe gets inside your home. By the time its 11 feet, that first floor is flooded and you may not have anywhere to go. And were not just talking about coastal communities, were talking about inland locations, as well. That surge is going to go up into those rivers well inland. And it could inundate those communities. We talked about this for several tide cycles, this is going to last. This is not a typical storm. This storm is going to stay here for a very, very long time. Its very unusual for a storm to just sit here like this, anderson. Of course, as soon as i said it stopped raining, it started raining again. Im an idiot. In the next few hours, what can we expect this in the next couple of hours, well continue to see the rain and wind. The storm is going to continue to push that water. So the next couple of hours, just skont to see that water push inland, push to the west. The rain is going to continue to come down and its going to come and sometimes it wont be there. But the closer that storm gets to shore, thats when well see the relentless rain along with the wind. So i think by mid morning tomorrow, tomorrow afternoon, that eye is going to be very, very close with it only moving 5 Miles Per Hour. Its going to be well into tomorrow before it gets close enough. With winds already at 100mileperhour gusts at cape lookout, people are already feeling the effects bigtime. Jennifer, i appreciate it. State and local officials very busy tonight. Were joined by woody white of the county commissioners here, and the mayor of wilmington. Thank you both for being with us. Mr. Mayor, what is your message to people here tonight that are watching this and thinking maybe this isnt so bad, it seems slow and we havent seen a lot of wind or rain . Its slowmoving storm. Its going to move 100 miles in 24 hours before we get to the eyewall. Its going to dump up to 24 to 40 inches of rainfall. Be vigilant. This is a very big storm, and its going to take a while to get through this area. But when it gets through, well assess the damages. But were definitely going to have damage from this storm. In terms of shelters, there were five shelters here in wilmington. How is that situation . Its great. Weve staffed over weve sheltered over 480 people here locally, 250 inland, and the staff there, the sheriffs deputies and the county personnel are just doing an incredible job. You know, it speaks to how we implement the best practices and the preparation we do over the years. But also the experiences that we have down here, anderson, and going through these events so often. Were prepared, were good at what we do. And its an incredible thing, because the Community Comes together before, during, and after the storm. You opened up, in fact, you increased capacity at some of the shelters because you were getting so many people last night. We did. Were fully staffed the capacity, we have capacity at four others. But its time to hunker down. Nobody needs to be out there. Wherever you are, stay safe. The First Responders are ready to deploy the moment the storm passes. Just in terms of what wilmington looks like with 20, 30, 40 inches of rain in some areas, i mean, this area here, do you expect it to be water we expect it to be over that board walk, and we also expect the Cape Fear River to crest sometime on tuesday. So well have an incredible amount of water. Thats what the anticipated cresttime is on tuesday for this river. So well have a lot of flooding and water coming down. Record for this river was in floyd in 1999. You expect it may go higher than that . Thats what theyre expecting. I think more than 23 feet, which is just incredible. Were looking at possibly 25. So its definitely going to be break that record. Hmm. In terms of other storms that youve experienced and that the city has experienced, how does this compare . Theyre all different, anderson. They all have unique personalities and Mother Nature seems to know how to throw different curveballs, whether its wind or storm surge or whatever. But this one is bad in all three. So while it looks like maybe its better than we thought, we still are prepared for the worst. Matthew was bad just a couple years ago, we havent fully recovered from it. But we always recover from these things. Thats what people need to realize. This storm comes and goes, and when it leaves, we unify and work to rebuild the community. Its such a slowmoving storm. A lot of people have been through hurricanes, but not through one so slow. You could outwalk this storm when it makes landfall. Just sitting in your home for two or three days, people get abo antsy. They want to get out. Exactly. I dont know anybody thats seen such a slowmoving storm and this will be on top of us for two full days. In terms of prepositioning, you talked about this. You feel like things are prepositioned for First Responders, other supplies afterwards. Duke power has a tremendous amount of resources coming to the area to get power back on. Thats one of the main things we have to have down here in the south. We have to have that power so people can repair their homes. I know youve been working hard. Any final message . We have prepositioned food and water for up to 60,000 people for four days to feed them. The second thing i8d li would lo say, emails and phone calls are pouring in to help after the storm. Folks in North Carolina can dial 211 to get connected with you nated way. Outside of North Carolina, your network has the phone number to call. We want your help, we need your help and we appreciate all of the americans coming together to help us after this is over. I appreciate both your efforts. Thank you very much. You got a lot of work ahead of you. Our coverage continues right after a short break. A lot more about whats going on here in North Carolina. Also ill speak with the town manager, carolina beach. Also ahead, President Trump talking about the death toll in puerto rico, denying that 3,000 puerto ricaning died in the wake of Hurricane Maria. Keeping them honest, next. Metastatic Breast Cancer is relentless, but im relentless too. Mbc doesnt take a day off, and neither will i. And i treat my mbc with new everyday verzenio the only one of its kind that can be taken every day. 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Hurricane florence is moving very, very slowly, carrying enough rain and storm surge to potentially cause catastrophic damage. I want to get the latest now from our ed l