[Don Lemon, Cnn Anchor:] Midnight here on the East Coast. I'm Don Lemon. You are watching CNN TONIGHT. This is our continuing coverage of Hurricane Florence live here on CNN. I've moved down to the beach because this thing is starting to get closer, starting to make landfall and I just want to bring you closer to the action. We still have a little bit of time before that happens. We can see that the wind has started to pick up. I'm behind the building here. As we're walking out between the buildings, we got more gusts. The outer bands are starting to come through. No rain here in Myrtle Beach where I am. But you can see my colleagues who've been out there and there's some waves lapping at the shores here. One person who's been in rain all night and that is my colleague, Anderson Cooper. Anderson, I can't see you. I could see you from my location before but what's going on now?
[Anderson Cooper, Cnn:] The story of rain continues. Earlier we were talking in the last hour, we were talking about how Dianne Gallagher had seen some transformers exploding, lighting up the sky. I just saw that here in Wilmington for the first time. I almost thought it was a lightning strike at first but I believe it was some sort of a transformer because it had that kind of bluish glow to it. A number of the buildings, the lights went out for about a second or so, then they seemed to pop back on. So it seems like there's still electricity, still streetlights here. Our lights are still on at a hotel nearby and the buildings nearby. But, again, that's just a sign of perhaps things to come as it gets later and later and this rain continues and the wind continues to pick up. But it's really you know, it's a story of water, of rain, of storm surge that we've been covering for the last really, you know, 18 hours or so. And that's going to be the story for the next 24 to 36 hours, Don. But there's a long way to go. You know, it's miserable out but thankfully people are not out on the streets. It seems most people are inside or already asleep or watching television as long as the electricity lasts and hopefully they'll stay there until this thing is gone.
[Lemon:] If you still have electricity and you're watching this storm, you're one of the lucky ones, Anderson, because over 150,000 people, we're told, without power now and about 12,000 people in shelters I misspoke earlier. It's 126 shelters in North Carolina. I believe you said where you are in Wilmington, there are five shelters where people are sheltering in place there. And those are the lucky folks who could actually get into those shelters. This is nothing to play around with.
[Cooper:] Yes, it's really not. You're right; five shelters to expand the capacity. After last night they started to fill up so they're expanding capacity on that. But at this point people are either in the shelters or at their homes and they should stay where they are at this point, according to all the officials we have talked to. They do not want people obviously out on the streets, driving around. There's still not a water, at least in the areas I'm in on the ground. But we're watching very closely the river, which we're not expecting to crest until Tuesday. So there's a long couple of days still to come. It's going to be miserable for a number of days for people and, you know, they've got to buckle down and stay where they are and try to get through this as best they can.
[Lemon:] Listen, I was speaking, Anderson, to Ed Rappaport at the National Hurricane Center a short time ago. And he basically reiterated and confirmed everything we were saying, everybody reads a lot into those numbers, what category it is. Of course that's important. It tells you the wind speed or what have you. But he says there's a 5-mile difference between the 1 and 2 and once it was downgraded to a 1, even if it's downgraded right now, I think right now 90 mile an hour winds are the strongest winds we've been getting in some places. I think 100 in Davis County somewhere, that's still nothing to mess around.
[Cooper:] Yes. You're breaking up so I couldn't hear just the end part of what you said. But, yes, those winds are nothing to scoff at when you're standing outside, particularly given the size of this storm and the amount of time that those winds are going to be hitting the coast and hitting even inland areas. Look, we've both been in storms that have higher, sustained winds. Going back to 2004, 2005, we saw storms that were higher category. I think the untold story and the thing I'm frankly am not sure about and the thing we're going to have to wait and see is just the story of the water and what happens in terms of the storm surge and this pounding rain that continues hour after hour after hour.
[Lemon:] Yes, and if you get 30 inches of rain in that short amount of time, then that is problematic. Anderson, thank you very much. I want you to stand by. We'll get back to Anderson in just moments. He is riding the storm out there, watching it for you so that you don't have to be out in it. Also in Wilmington, North Carolina, I want to get to my colleague, Martin Savidge. He joins us now. Martin, what are you experiencing now?
[Martin Savidge, Cnn Correspondent:] Don, we're on the outskirts of Wilmington, very close to what's called Wrights Field Beach. And where you are in relation to this storm can give you a very different experience. Here, it's a combination of both the battering winds the winds are quite strong at times. You can hear them howling in the wires above you, you can hear the trees being torn apart above you as well. And at the same time, it's the wind driven rain. There are times you can look behind you at the streetlights and it's like a fog, it's almost like a wall of water you're staring into. So that is the combination of wind driven water and also the rain is falling in tremendous amounts here. So even though this storm has been downgraded, it's not a major hurricane anymore, it is going to be a major problem and potentially a major disaster, especially the interface when you have an urban environment. You're going to have water that begins to pool, rivers going to be flooding. We've already seen that in Dianne's reporting. But this is going to be something that will expand beyond the coastal neighborhoods here, which is why the Coast Guard is standing by, both with helicopters for air rescue. But then on top of that, they know they have to get into urban streets. For that, they have to use different vehicles, high-water rescue vehicles by the National Guard but also small, flat bottom boats like we saw being used in New Orleans. It's a combination of what you need in the open areas as well as what you need even in city parking lots like this. The next day, the next hours, maybe even the next few days are going to be the stories that's revealed, as Anderson just said. But right now we're still dealing with high winds, dangerous winds, power outages, power lines that can come down, trees that can topple over. It is not a time for people to let down their guard and certainly not a time for anyone to go out and say, hey, let's see what's going on right now Don.
[Lemon:] Absolutely. Well said from Martin Savidge in Wilmington. Martin, thank you very much. Just getting an update from the top of the hour coming from the National Weather Service. They're saying they are getting life threatening wind gusts in Eastern North Carolina right now already. So this is just the beginning. The storm is still stirring. It hasn't made landfall yet but already life threatening wind gusts, Eastern North Carolina. I want to get to my colleague, Brian Todd. Brian Todd is at Hampstead, North Carolina. We've been watching Brian Todd. We've seen him with some flooding, with some trees and some branches down and also traveling along the roads there in Hampstead. Brian, what are you seeing now?
[Brian Todd, Cnn Correspondent:] We've seen a worsening of conditions along these roads. And we're going to show you another reason why the downgrading of this storm to a category 1 should not make people underestimate this. The winds, as I've heard you and Martin talk about just a second ago, are still extremely strong, especially where we are in the northern band of this storm. You can see the front tree ahead of us could be on the verge of snapping and collapsing. We're going to cruise past it and show you the debris on the road. A lot of these roads are very bad off now and they're getting worse by the minute. The wind and rain are really whipping around here. These rural areas, especially near the Intercoastal Waterway, are vulnerable. We're going to take you to the edge of this road. This is Watts Landing Road. It goes right up to the Intercoastal Waterway. We're going to be
[Todd:] at the edge of it in a second, where the road is washed out. And we have to point out the road is washed out, it was washed out before the storm hit. But the fact it's washed out means that this could make it even more vulnerable, this area, this street and the homes on it could be much more vulnerable to the storm surge. We know it's nothing, we know it's going to get worse. We're right about at the time when high tide is going to hit. We're at the edge of this road right now. I'm going to get out of the vehicle and go to the edge of the road. We talked about people on the barrier islands and on the Outer Banks, who could be trapped on the Outer Banks, on those islands because they're only acceptable by boats because the roads to them can get washed out. Well, this is a washed out road. And it illustrates that, even that people on the mainland can get trapped. Over here, you don't see them but there are houses just a few feet away from me. And look at the storm surge here with the marshland area is overwhelming this area. It's about to push the water all the way up here. I'm really just a few feet from several homes and we're getting a really bad gust right now and kind of the wind and rain is hitting us from side to side. That's another thing about a hurricane; you just never know what direction the wind is going to come from. But, Don, there are houses to my right just a few feet away in serious danger now from this storm surge, which I've seen rise up a couple of feet just in the last couple of hours here.
[Lemon:] Thank you very much for that, Brian Todd. We appreciate your reporting. Brian Todd is in Hampstead. I just have a little bit more information for you. When we're talking about the intensity of this storm and you heard Martin Savidge saying, depending on where you are in the Carolinas, you get a different perspective of this storm. This now from NOAA; they're telling us there's almost 10 foot storm surges, 10 foot flood stages in New Bern. That's where Delia Gallagher [sic] was just a short time Dianne Gallagher, excuse me Dianne Gallagher was a short time ago. And she's standing by there. But again, they're seeing some flooding there. Almost 10 feet; 9.6 is the exact count they told us. But that's nearly 10 feet there. And they're also saying 70 mile an hour sustained winds right now in that area. So the winds are starting to pick up. Let's check in with my colleague now, Ed Lavandera, Jacksonville, North Carolina. Take us to the scene now, Ed. What are you seeing?
[Ed Lavandera, Cnn Correspondent:] Don, it's the eeriness of these storms, when they start making landfall in the darkness of night. You hear the eeriness of the wind howling through the areas we're in. It's hard to really make out exactly what's happening around you. That's what lends itself to these rather tumultuous and nerve-wracking storms as they come ashore here in the darkness of the night. We've been speaking with emergency officials here in the Jacksonville, North Carolina, area. They say there are reports of homes starting to take on water near rivers here in this area. These are rivers that obviously make their way and flow their way into the Atlantic Ocean. With all that storm surge pushing in, that water really has nowhere else to go. It's really hard to assess just how significant the damage is at this point because first responders aren't really able to get out in full force and assess the situation. We are told here in the Jacksonville area, though, Don, there are no rescues taking place. That is bit of good news considering, here on the top side, the north side of this hurricane, where we have been throughout the day, we've really seen some of the strongest and heaviest rains lashing out against the coastline here for much of the day. It taken quite a while. I'm surprised at how long in the areas that we've been that the power has seemed to hold on. And just as I was just thinking that, the power transformer about 50 yards away from us started exploding. I've never seen that in storms in all my years of covering hurricanes. It was like a fireworks display right next to you. So in that instant all the power went out here in Jacksonville. So that is what we're dealing with here tonight, Don.
[Lemon:] All right, thank you. Ed Lavandera, stay safe and we'll get back to you. Listen, I want to bring you now to the conditions on the ground here where we are in Myrtle Beach. This is John Rhodes, former mayor, right? Steve Taylor, you're a resident.
[Steve Taylor, Myrtle Beach Resident:] Yes, sir.
[Lemon:] I'll get to you in a moment. I understand why you're here, Mayor. You're the former mayor.
[John Rhodes, Former Mayor, Myrtle Beach:] For 12 years.
[Lemon:] For 12 years. So tell me, what's going through your mind right now?
[Rhodes:] Well, it's a waiting game right now. We know she's coming in, we just don't know what time. It lasts two days this very five different directions and so but it's pretty well set we're going to get some effects from it. Hopefully it'll be down to a low category 1 where we'll maybe get winds up around 70 to 80 miles an hour. But the big problem is going to be the rain. When Matthew was here two years ago, it dropped a little over 15 inches of rain in the area. And that's around an area which is a lot of low country where the mall was flooded. This is going to be historical with 20-25 inches of rain sitting in that area. So we're going to have a lot of problems with ingress and egress from veins coming in like 501 and places like this to get back into the beach.
[Lemon:] You've gone through this before. You've seen it and you know how unpredictable this can be. Generally you know where it's going, you know, the wind speed. You know what happens. It can move fast, do a lot of damage with winds or it can go slow and bring a lot of water. This appears to be a water event and you've gone through that.
[Rhodes:] It is. And something's that's difficult, it's going to be moving at 4 mph. We've never had a storm come through Myrtle Beach moving at 4 mph. We're looking at anywhere from 36 to 48 hours of constant wind and rain. And we just have to be prepared for it. And that's one thing about our city is our guys have been through this before, our guys and girls that had on in the streets, they're ready, they're prepared and they'll take care of this beach.
[Lemon:] I got some comfort from him. Did it help you? You must be very comfortable, Steve, because you're staying.
[Taylor:] Anytime I'm with John, I'm comfortable.
[Rhodes:] Steve also happens to be the chairman of the beach committee, which looks after this beach.
[Lemon:] And that's one of the reasons you're here. But why are you riding it out?
[Taylor:] I've lived here my whole life and I've never left for a storm. And, you know, you've got to decide what's best for your family and whether you're prepared. And I believe the vast majority of people that stay around these storms, at least locally here in Myrtle Beach, are prepared. They've been through these storms before. You've got your generator, your batteries, your food. If you've got elderly, those are the people that need to consider moving and get out of town. But in my case I've got businesses here and I want to stay close to home.
[Lemon:] I've been speaking to people and they say, listen, I know there are physical issues and that means physically safe with your body and your person. But there's also fiscal issues. We have businesses here. This is our livelihood. We don't want, you know, people looting. We want to keep an eye on that because that's really how, that's what sustains us.
[Taylor:] Right, that's one issue. The other is, in Myrtle Beach, we're a tourist economy and this has been a week now that we'll be without any business down here. So business owners
[Lemon:] What does that do to you?
[Taylor:] Well, it hurts my pocket like everybody and my employees, too. They can't work. So it's important for the beach and our community to get back up and running and get the message out that we're open and get cleaned up and get back in business really quick.
[Lemon:] I was trying to tell people earlier, when I was here on the beach, this season, when you're in the Northeast, when you're up where we were in the New York area, it's usually Memorial to Labor. Yours is extended because of the weather, because it's so warm here and you can continue to make money and a livelihood really Florida a month or so, maybe even more past what is a traditional season.
[Rhodes:] gone through Thanksgiving.
[Lemon:] You have?
[Rhodes:] The shorter months have really increased in the last five or six years.
[Lemon:] And you need that.
[Rhodes:] And we were able to get the funds to promote Myrtle Beach and advertise. A lot of people think that we're just a small beach. But Myrtle Beach is the third largest resort in America,
[Lemon:] This guy is really still the mayor. He's still the mayor. Give us some words of wisdom and comfort. I would prefer to not be here but this is my job. I would prefer you to not be here but, listen, I'm not going to shame you. If you want to ride it out, that's your business. You're a grown man. Give us some words of comfort as we leave here.
[Taylor:] Again, I think that most reasonable people know how, that have been down here and lived through these storms, know to stay inside. They're not out this isn't like we're at the end of the pier, having a party and throwing caution to wind. Everyone is prepared; you stay inside and wait until the storm has passed and then you try to take care of business. But this has been a long three days already and we've still got three more days. So we're ready for it to move on. So we're ready.
[Rhodes:] Like I said, we're going to get the beach back into shape as quickly as possible and welcome our tourists back to Myrtle Beach this fall. We're still going to have a great fall. But it'll take us two or three days to get the beach shaped back up. And hopefully we don't lose any more structures like the piers and all, which does take us more time to get rid of the debris on the beach. But right now I'm looking pretty positive. Once the rain goes, then I'd say we'll finish up. Well, right now, it's like it's probably going to be around Sunday before we get out of this.
[Lemon:] You're good. Fingers crossed. Thank you, Steve. Thank you, mayor. You guys stay safe. Thank you so much. We hope your business gets back open really soon, because we understand, every day I will. And I love seafood. I'm from Louisiana, so I'm going to take you up on that. I appreciate it. Listen, there are life threatening storm surges already occurring. We just got the update from the National Weather Center, so from NOAA, so you guys stick around. Again, this is just beginning. You heard them. They've been dealing with it for three days. They expect to deal with it for three more days. They're experts, they're pros. They've been here forever. They mayor, obviously he's been the mayor, so they have some skin in the game here. But if you don't have to be here, the window is almost closed but you need to get out. We're going to continue our coverage here in the Carolinas. I'm Don Lemon. I'm in Myrtle Beach. Our special covering continues right after the break.