It closes in on the carolina coast. From late tomorrow through early sunday, florence is expected to travel slower than you could walk, about two to three miles an hour. So heres why thats really bad news for some 20 Million People in the storms path. Its bad news because florence will effectively stall, and then its going to absolutely pound the storm zone for days and days. So forecasters are warning of lifethreatening flooding as rising water moves inward. The storm surge basically a wall of water. It could be 13 feet high. Were going to have a brandnew forecast coming up for you during this show, so make sure you stay tuned, okay . Its very important. But i want you to listen to the president , President Trump tonight, talking about preparations for Hurricane Florence. Here he is. Tremendous people working on the hurricane. First responders, Law Enforcement, and fema. And theyre all ready, and were getting tremendous accolades from politicians and the people. We are ready. But this is going to be one of the biggest ones to ever hit our country. Residents in the path of these devastating storms should comply with all Evacuation Orders and other emergency instructions. Protection of life is the absolute highest priority, and thats what were doing. Its called protection of life. So god bless everybody and be careful. Accolades. Just couldnt resist giving himself a pat on the back in advance, okay . Only one day after he praises the administrations response to Hurricane Maria in puerto rico, where an estimated 2,975 american citizens died. I think that puerto rico was an incredible unsung success. Texas, we have been given apluses for. Florida, weve been give apluses for. I think in a certain way, the best job we did was puerto rico, but nobody would understand that. Heres what is very clear. It is clear that this white house knows that less than one year after Hurricane Maria, they have to be ready for this storm, a storm that fema describes like this. This is going to be, you know, a mike tyson punch to the carolina coast. That gives it to you right there. That describes it. Fema keeping a close eye on six Nuclear Power plants in the path of this storm, while the army corps of engineers is watching five federally owned dams in the storm zone. 1 to 3 Million People are expected to lose power in the carolinas, and the Power Company says they may not even be able to assess the damage until next week. Curfews are in effect tonight all across this area, and more than a Million People have been ordered to evacuate. Most people are heeding those warnings. Yeah, were leaving. Were going further off from the beach. Most but not all. I filled my bathtubs. I have containers filled with water. Just hunkering down and bring it on. I mean theres nothing more i can do. Yeah. Good luck. The governor of North Carolina, though, saying this. My message is clear. Disaster is at the doorstep, and its coming in. No possession is worth your life. So lets get to it now. I want to bring in now cnns Miguel Marquez live for us in North Carolina. Miguel, good to have you. Lets see what you look like and whats going on there. There we are. There are the conditions. Miguel is on a beach there. Residents, are they heeding the Evacuation Orders . Reporter well, as you said, yes and no. This is a town of 6,200 people, Carolina Beach, and most have left. The Sheriffs Department and Police Department here in Carolina Beach are going to take stock of who is staying here tonight. A couple of hours ago, the mandatory Evacuation Order went into effect. The town is now closed. The bridge the one bridge into town is now closed to get in. If you are leaving, you can get out, but you cant get into town if you are out and about. You could be arrested and moved out of the town. So they arent playing any games there. They expect much of this town to be underwater in the next couple of hours. So this is the regular beach. The tide is coming in now at about four or five, maybe six feet tonight. Pack on top of that 12, 13 feet of storm surge. Pack on top of that another 20 or 30 inches of rain that falls, and they are expecting widespread flooding through much of Carolina Beach. Thats why they are being very serious about these Evacuation Orders. Go home. They think somewhere in the hundreds are in their homes tonight and are going to try to ride this storm out. Theyre going to go through the area tonight and see whose lights are on, knock on doors, democracy sure theyre fine, make sure they know what theyre facing if theyre going to stay. Don . Theres a lot going on here. Did you talk about the Emergency Responders, miguel . Are they getting out of there too . No. Youre going to have Emergency Responders here in Carolina Beach. There is one area about 13, maybe 15 feet above sea level where they are going to hunker down. Theres going to be several people with the city there and Emergency Responders who will be there. But once, for instance, those winds hit 45 miles per hour, which is expected tomorrow afternoon, the bridge even out of town will be closed, completely closed once conditions become so bad that they can no longer respond to emergencies. You may be able to get through to them on 911, but they will not be able to respond, and they will not risk their Police Officers and deputies lives to come out ask try to help people. So as i understand, miguel, and as i said in the open, theyre keeping around some sensitive spots there, some Nuclear Power plants, dams as well. Can you talk to us about that . What are they doing . Reporter well, specific to Carolina Beach, there is a Nuclear Power plant, the brunswick Nuclear Power plant about 20 miles from here, between here and wilmington. That is of great concern here. Its a power plant that is similar to the model of the japanese power plant, fukushima, that got inundated by water during the tsunami there after the earthquake. And so they put up barriers so that they can keep water from hitting that plant. It will be tested during this storm. They expect it to be tested. Theres also a Water Treatment plant here on Carolina Beach. They are concerned about that. If that overflows. The water table is very high because theyve had lots of rain in the last couple of weeks here and months, and they are trying to pump out all of the systems as quickly as they can so they can absorb as much water as it starts to come in. Theres also a munitions plant near here, an Army Munitions plant, or a Storage Facility where that is a concern as well. Perhaps not as great as a Nuclear Power plant, but they are certainly concerned. You can see the water here and the tide starting to come in here. It does come about halfway up the beach just normally. Tomorrow they expect this water to be moving right into town. Don . Hey, miguel, just quickly, its pretty dark there, but have you seen anything going on . Anything else you can show us . Is it just a dark beach behind you . Reporter i mean it is very dark. This is the calm before the storm. It is an absolutely beautiful night here in North Carolina. The wind is blowing. Its a nice breeze. It sounds lovely out with the water crashing. But this is the calm before the storm, and it is certainly coming. From what it looks like, it is going to be massive, and its just going to hang right where we are standing for what will feel like forever. Don . Miguel marquez, youre right. Calm before the storm. Miguel marquez in Carolina Beach, North Carolina. Well get back to him. Thank you, miguel. Now i want to bring in cnns tom sater. Hes in the cnn weather center. Good evening to you. You heard what the fema administrators, what they say about Hurricane Florence, not going to be a glancing blow. Its going to be a mike tyson bunch to the carolina coast. Give us the latest. With, even mike tyson got a little tired from time to time. It may not have been until 8 00 or 9 00, but he looked a little ragged at times and thats whats florence looks like. When florence gets into the gulf stream, those warm waters, dont be surprised if florence gets a little power back and throws her own flurry of punches here because what were watching looks like the eye is trying to collapse. I mean winds are at 115, don. If it gets down to 110, this is category 2. Do not be fooled by this. This has got a lot shes got tricks up her sleeve. But the eye wall replacement, when you spin a top on a table, it can only sustain that strength and that centrifugal force for so long. Its got to go through these cycles. But what happens is that tight eye starts to wobble, and it throws the winds out, and it creates an outer eye band. Once that outer eye band forms, it tightens back up, and it gains its strength. But this is interesting. Each time it goes through one of those cycles, which could be eight, nine, ten, 11 hours to take the process and take it through, it pushes the winds out from the center. So every time we have an eye wall replacement cycle, the strong winds go out farther. They go out farther. So our winds, our hurricane winds now, are from the center out 140 miles. The Tropical Storm force winds that have been extending out from the center are now 320. Thats what happens when it goes through these cycles. So you can see with the angle of the coastline, that increasing surge thats going to take place, that winddriven wave action, the heavy amounts of rainfall. And of course if this thing stays over water, its not going to cut off its fuel supply line, and its just going to siphon all of this ocean water up onto land. So that is a big, big concern. The latest with this model here puts it where we expect, pretty close off the coast of wilmington, the european model. Then does make landfall. This is friday at 2 30 in the afternoon. This model, though, as you mentioned in the opening part of your broadcast, you could outwalk it. 150 miles from thursday night to sunday morning. And till brings it pretty close to charleston. So theres still a lot of here or there. Will it be on land . Will it be off of land . But we know its coming, and its still going to be a massive storm. Theres no doubt about it. Dont look at the ragged satellite picture and think, oh, were in the clear here. Tom sater, checking back with you as well in the cnn weather center. We appreciate that. Lets go to the mayor now of North Myrtle Beach, marilyn hatly. Mayor, thank you so much for joining us. The advisory from your city to residents is please leave. Its good to see you. There are mandatory evacuations. Are folks listening . Have you been going door to door . Whats going on . Well, as we all know, this is one of the largest devastating storms that may possibly be in the history of the east coast of the United States. It is so important that people listen to the mandatory evacuation, and that has been my message that we have been sending out through facebook, twitter, websites, and begging people to please leave. Now, many people have left. But i still have 35 of my citizens in the city of North Myrtle Beach that are staying. And those 35 need to take this storm serious and realize that with the storm surge, with all the rain, with the high winds, this is going to be an enormous storm, and it is going to be devastating to our community. Mmhmm. If residents dont listen and decide to ride it out, what do they need to know, mayor . Well, the first thing were going to do in the morning at 8 00, 8 00 a. M. , we are going to start knocking on doors and were going to be encouraging and asking everyone to leave. The only thing that we can tell them is this. Once those winds get over 40 miles per hour, we cant send our emergency officers out to help you. We cant send our fire trucks. Our ems will not go out if its 60mileperhour winds. And we know we are going to have at least that high of winds and higher. And this thing this hurricane is going to battle our coastline for 24 to 36 hours. It is so important for people to understand that this is not just a little hurricane 1 that is going to come in and skirt over us and go by within a few hours. This storm is here to stay for a long time. How do you make them understand that, mayor . Well, as i keep saying, we are putting all the information that we possibly can on all of the media. Our newspapers, our tv stations, our websites, our facebook, our twitters. Im personally on my facebook telling the story and letting everyone know just how devastating this storm can be and more than likely will be. God forbid that anybody loses their life. There is not one personal piece of property that is worth losing your life over. As i say, be smart. Be safe and take care of your family and listen, and evacuate from our city. Mayor marilyn hatley, thank you so much. We appreciate it. I will be seeing you probably once i get on the ground tomorrow. But thank you. Be safe. We appreciate you joining us here on cnn. Thank you, don. When we come back, up to 3 Million People could lose power in Hurricane Florence. But how long will it take to turn that power back on . If youre waiting patiently for a liver transplant, it could cost you your life. Its time to get out of line with upmc. At upmc, livingdonor transplants put you first. So you dont die waiting. Upmc does more livingdonor liver transplants than any other center in the nation. Find out more and get out of line today. Youll earn unlimited double camiles on every purchase,. Every day. Not just airline purchases. Think about all the double miles you could be earning. loud holy moley thats a lot of miles shhhhh whats in your wallet . Shhhhh to speak with dozens of actually customers of the aarp Auto Insurance program from the hartford. My cars do make me proud, so when the accident did happen, time stopped. But i was able to use my choice of body shop. They couldnt have really done anything any better. [announcer] join the millions of customers 50 and over who trust the hartford. [woman] call the hartford at to get a nonobligation quote or go to itll be a hell of a ride. Moon. Its a job so difficult, were gonna have to start from scratch. We need to fail down here so we dont fail up there. This isnt just another trip, neil. We have serious problems. Do you think youre coming back . Five. Four. Three. Two. First man. Rated pg13. Were back now with our breaking news, and its Hurricane Florence slowing as it approaches the east coast. That means the region could get pummeled by devastating hurricaneforce winds and heavy rains for days. Add to that dangerous storm surges and potentially catastrophic flooding. Lets bring in now captain john reid. Captain reid is the commander of u. S. Coast guard sector charleston. Good evening to you. I know its very busy. We thank you in advance for joining us, captain reid. How is the u. S. Coast guard preparing for this lifethreatening storm . Good evening, don. Thank you very much for having me. In preparations for the coast guard, weve been preparing for the last five days as we watched and tracked this storm. First weve taken preparations with our families, evacuated them, got them out of the lowlying areas following the orders of the governor to evacuate. Next weve kind of moved our stations to a protective posture along the lowlying areas of South Carolina, actually closing a couple of the stations and moving those assets upriver, which has severely degraded our ability to currently respond to search and rescue inland and offshore. Still able to conduct those rescues, but it is hampered, and those responses now will be delayed up until the storm and then after until we assess the ability to get back out has been achieved. Another question for you, captain reed. Whats the plan for Emergency Response poststorm . I mean youre deploying helicopter crews to savannah, georgia, poststorm response, right . What are you doing . Yes, thats right, don. We have crews, not just our Aviation Assets from air station savannah, but we have Environmental Response teams coming from the Gulf Strike Team in mobile, alabama. We have flood pump teams, which are Shallow Water rescue capabilities that are staged for both North Carolina and South Carolina. The coast guard is bringing operations and Mission Support teams and personnel from miami, cleveland, really all around the country, to be able to move in as soon as we understand what the impact of this everchanging catastrophic storm will be. Captain, can you talk to us about the port conditions now . Absolutely. Thanks, don. The port is actually servicing its last its last cargo vessel as we speak. After that vessel departs, we are not anticipating and we will close the port of charleston. That vessel wa