>> i love the visual of the fact that we're in it together. cape fear, north carolina as florence moves in. thank you for watching. >> this is a fox news alert. new models coming in projecting higher rainfall totals as the outer bands of hurricane florence start hitting the carolina coast. hello, everyone. i'm dana perino. this is "the daily briefing." florence now a category two storm and authorities warning millions of americans, this is a very dangerous storm. north carolina's governor driving that point home earlier today. >> my message today, don't relax. don't get complacent. stay on guard. this is a powerful storm that

can kill. today the threat becomes a reality. >> we have live fox team coverage. leland vittert and jonathan hunt are in the hurricane path, first, we go to rick reichmuth. >> the storm is slowing down in its progression. that's why we think the rainfall totals are so extreme. you get the idea that it's a large storm. ly tell you, even though it's weakened, it still looks organized and has moisture all around the storm on all quadrants. that means it's well-organized and a lot of moisture moving on shore. we always have tornado concerns. you can see the red box there. that's a tornado watch. i expect to see them going through sunday because of the rotation from the storm causes a little spin-up of smaller tornadoes. not the oklahoma city kind of tornadoes, smaller ones. we'll see a lot of power outage.

this takes us through saturday afternoon. as far north as parts of virginia, areas of georgia. here along the coast because of this prolonged period of time where we add winds and hurricane force, that's why we see the pouter outages pile up. this is a storm surge model. i put what the wind will be like. the problem is, we're talking about 9-13 feet at the worst of it in storm surge. there's all of the rivers here. that water will push up in across the areas of the rivers and won't be able to go back out. the wind direction won't turn around any time soon. so we're going to talk about new bern, jackson, all of these areas that water goes up there and doesn't come out. that's why the flooding will be so bad. while we think about coastal effects from the hurricane, inland effects will be extreme from the storm surge and then the rainfall that piles up along with this that can't get out

because the storm surge has pushed the water in across the inlets. take a look at this, dana. the latest model that came in. when you get closer to this having impact and the numbers are more high, we have the confidence in the numbers. we've been saying up to 40 inches. now models 38, 45 inches of rain. so the rainfall totals will be extreme and that's going to cause incredible amounts of damage. dana? >> thanks, rick. duke energy officials shutting down the brunswick nuclear power plant as florence comes ashore. the plant is one of several in the path of the hurricane. let's check in now with leland vittert who is in atlantic beach, north carolina. the conditions have gotten significantly worse in the last few hours. >> oh, yeah, definitely, dana. we're getting every thing that you expect. the blowing sand, the driving rain, the pounding surf.

there's concerns -- crashing down into the ocean. what makes this hurricane so unique is what makes it so dangerous. note -- a little bit -- on -- [ audio difficulties ] the water behind the barrier islands. the barrier islands -- >> dana: we're having trouble with the technology there. meantime in south carolina, most of the coastal areas are under storm surge watch. some communities could get nine feet of water. jonathan hunt, you're live in myrtle beach. the conditions are not what they are north of you. >> yeah. tough technical conditions for everybody here along this whole coast of the carolinas, dana. it's coming down from where leland is towards us. so we're in a lull. we've had some wind gusts.

as rick said, the won't won't be the major issue despite its dangers. the storm surge and the rainfall are going to be the major issues. take a look at the length of north myrtle beach here where you can see the tall buildings. an inlet comes in behind those and then it runs all the way up to where i'm standing right now. as you look at the homes to my right, that inlet is just about 100 yards behind them. it's densely packed with residential homes. there's smaller inlets that come off of those. so you can imagine, you get a nine foot storm surge here and this ocean joins up with that inlet and every one of the hundreds, possibly thousands of homes along this mile-long stretch here across the inlet are facing severe danger. despite that, we've seen a fair number of people down here today, dana, saying that they don't want to get out of town. they have various reasons for

that. listen here. >> yeah, i'm concerned. i know where to put my faith. >> we live on the fifth floor. we're above sea water in a building that is hurricane rated. so that was our precaution. >> you have to wait and see where the storm is going and i also think sometimes the news hype it up too much. >> we're trying to keep you safe. >> obvious, that's what we're trying to do, pass on information directly from officials to keep everybody safe. one more point here on north myrtle beach. just want to show you, dana, this is the cherry grove pier. it was completely destroyed by hurricane hugo in 1989. it was rebuilt. the end of it, the observation deck, badly damaged by floyd in 1999. they rebuilt it again. everybody hoping that the cherry grove pier, this iconic pier on north myrtle beach can survive hurricane florence.

dana, back to you. >> dana: thanks, jonathan. let's bring in michael cramer. he's the town manager for carolina beach in north carolina. good to have you on the phone. how do you feel preparations have gone down there? >> honestly, i feel very prepared. we've spent quite a bit of time on drills and preparation for this type of an event. we've spent the last week or so trying to get the community prepared for this storm coming. we're feeling very good, although we're naturally very cautiously optimistic about the future. >> dana: absolutely. tell me how many people you estimate in your town have evacuated? >> about 90%. we have 6,000 residents here and we expect that there's probably about 10% that are still remaining on the island at this point. >> dana: i know we've had meteorologists here explaining the wind won't be the problem.

is the rain and storm surge your concern as well? >> yes. the storm surge is first and foremost. we're feeling the effects of it now. we don't have a lot of wind at this point but we do have some waves overtopping our dunes. coming in to town. we also have tidal surging from our sound that is starting to build up. >> dana: as i understand it, you've had a wet summer anyway. >> very much so. over a 20-day stretch, we had 15 to 18 inches of rain. >> dana: that's a lot. >> this is just another one of those huge rain makers for us. >> dana: i know this is premature and people want to know. you don't want people to come back too soon or prematurely. what is your best guess as to when you think they might be able to return? >> right now we have an emergency evacuation underway.

we have curfew and several other accommodations trying to keep people away from the island. we expect it will probably be a good 5 to 7 days before we're able to go and start getting people back on the beach. >> dana: where will you be seeing out the storm? >> here in town hall. myself and a handful of our police, fire and operations center folks. we'll be hunkering down in our eoc for 12 hour shifts. >> dana: for those other town managers and mayors across the region, is there any piece of advice you have for them from experiences that you've had in the past? >> you know, this particular storm is a little bit different with all of the surge and the rain coming with it. the key does seem to be trying to get people to take it seriously and get out of town first. >> dana: that's good advice.

michael cramer, thanks very much. we'll be back in touch. >> thank you. >> dana: bye bye. the outer bands of florence are now hitting the carolina coast. i'll talk to south carolina senator tim scott about final preparations there. stay tuned to fox news channel for continuing coverage of hurricane florence. i'm dana perino in new york. we'll be bark in just a few minutes here on the fox news channel. art at the new carfax.cm show me minivans with no reported accidents. boom. love it. [struggles] show me the carfax. start your used car search at the all-new carfax.com. ...to give you the protein you need with less of the sugar you don't. i'll take that. [cheers] 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar. new ensure max protein. in two great flavors.

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north myrtle beach. we think everything is working. >> we think so. it's important to note that the weather is so bad, the wind, the sand, the debris in the air is so bad that it's interfering with our signals and the communications that fire and police and ems use. what is interesting about this storm, the wind is blowing back at us from the northeast here, which is taking the barrier islands normally protective for the north carolina coast and turning them into a funnel of sorts to shove off of this storm surge into the rivers and estuaries here. we took a drive earlier to the other side of this community to show you the effects. from the back side of those barrier islands, you get a sense of the power of the water and the wind combined. the storm has come with the surge around the top of these barrier islands into this channel here. and now the wind is whipping this water and pushing it all the way up here.

still the very beginning parts of the storm, the water is coming over the break waters. most of these houses are boarded up. they're raised up here. this house, for example, three or four feet off the storm. that is no protection from what this bay will be. >> this is the conditions that the police department is dealing with. keith harvey here from atlantic beach police. we've talked a long time for days now about the evacuations. most people have heeded them. some haven't and now you're having to rescue them. >> yeah. we had a water rescue of a sail boat on the sound side. we're having some issues. >> think about the people on the boat. a couple people decided to ride the storm out and now you have 10 or 20 men whose lives are in danger in these conditions. >> that's what we asked for at the beginning, to leave or stay inside, hunker down to don't put

us in jeopardy. >> the past couple days we heard about how the storm has been weakening from a category four to a category two. does that make a difference? >> no. just like everybody is broadcasting, it's a number. it's a hurricane and still dangerous. we have dangerous storm surge coming our way. >> the storm surge appears to be unprecedented in these parts in terms of the funnel being created by the islands. >> that's what it looks like now, yes. >> and already flooding up and down the island. >> the marinas are unupdated with water. the water is up to the roadway and will only get worse with high tide. >> what is the plan the next 24, 36 hour? >> we'll stay out as long as we can. hunker down and prepare for recovery and aftermath. >> thanks, chief. all the best. thanks very much. dana? >> dana: thank you. u.s. officials confirming to fox

news a lull in the syrian regime to capture the last rebel strong hold in the country. even by air strikes continue backed by russia and iran and nikki haley warning damascus against using chemical weapons. >> what we told the syrians, the russians and the iranians was look twice. we have warned you not to use chemical we pops. twice you've used it and twice president trump has acted. don't test us again. i think the odds are very much against them. >> retired four-star general jack keane is chairman of the institute for the study of war and a fox news strategic analyst. before i talk about the lull, i want to have you comment about thissish yaw of chemical weapons and the possible use. listen to what john kerry said yesterday. >> we said we got 100% of the declared weapons, which is what the organizations of the prevention of chemical weapons were able to track.

we knew that assad had kept some and we tried to go to the u.n. security council and russia played games and we didn't get there. >> dana: now sir, we have the situation where assad said they're willing to use them again. the united states pushing back very strongly with a warning. >> yeah, certainly. i hope this time if they use them again, we conduct a more comprehensive strike. we should have shut down their air power entirely, which is their delivery means and artillery. think about it, conventional bombs kill about 95% of the civilians and the rebels on the ground. >> dana: a good reminder. tell us about the lull in the campaign. something is going on. >> yeah, it's significant. they shut the air campaign down as well. what is taking place as best we can assess, two things primarily. one, this is supposed to be a

deescalation zone. russia has always violated this. the turks have troop on the circumference of the provence. they have moved more troops in there. that is a deterrent for the russians. they're also getting prepared to move additional opposition forces in the province from the northern part of syria. turks will do that. the other thing is, what the united states has been organizing with our allies is economic sanctions on russia if they actually conduct a ground offensive. have nothing to do with check call weapons. if they conduct this ground offensive, the humanitarian crisis, we'll increase sanctions. those two things for the time being have shut down this offensive. >> dana: do you still have a concern about possible -- it's a de-confliction zone for a reason. we don't want an accident. >> no, we've been doing that for five, six years now. we can stay out of -- we can de-conflict.

it's a de-escalation zone. that means we weren't supposed to fight there. that's the same thing that we arranged with the russians in the south. that's where the last offensive took place, another russian violation. >> dana: meantime, russia is planning on doing war games with china? >> it's significant. what the really is, they haven't conducted an exercise of this magnitude since the 80s during the height of the cold war. it's manifest station of something that is really taking place in terms of strategic shift. we're in a great power competition with russia and china. both of them are considerably more aggressive, considerably more confident in what they've done in the past and they're rapidly expanding their military capabilities. so much so that the security of the united states is at greater risk than it's been in decades. the reason for that is our military superiority, which has always been the hard power backbone of our global influence

is at a dangerous degree. it's challenging our ability to actually defend u.s. security interests in those of our allies. it puts it in doubt. don't take my word for it. all the four service chiefs said as much last year in testimony before the senate arms services committee when they said we're at high risk to win a conventional war against a competitor. just two weeks ago, the new pacific commander said there's no confirmation that we can win against china. and what trump team is doing is essential and has to continue. >> dana: thanks, general. here's a look at myrtle beach as florence batters the carolina coast. more fox team coverage ahead. president trump facing criticism from all sides over his tweets about the death toll in puerto rico from hurricane maria. (vo) when bandits stole the lockbox from the wells fargo stagecoach,

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>> for the folks that have decided to stay, we're telling them you need to be self-sustaining for two weeks. there's power outages, high winds, a point that we won't be able to reach you. be prepared for that reality. >> dana: that's the warning for anybody looking to ride out the storm in myrtle beach, south carolina as hurricane florence moves in, the opening act of three-day coastal disaster where storm surges and flooding are expected. joining me now is south carolina senator, tim scott. he's in charleston.

charleston is not a stranger to hurricanes, neither is the rest of south carolina or north carolina. do you think the air is more prepared now than in the past? >> i certainly think year after year we learn more every year about what to do to be prepared for hurricanes. it's a team effort. it's not just a government team effort. it takes every individual heeding the warning to leave the coast. so important for us to help our team play better, so to speak, by getting out of harm's way. if you have the ability to leave, please exit now. that's an important part of our overall success. there's been tremendous coordination from the white house. i heard from president trump yesterday. we spoke about 15 minutes. the governor the day before. i've heard from hud and about 30 minutes, the department of transportation, secretary chao and i spoke. nick mcmahon from fca making

sure that we all understand and appreciate the vast resources available in the aftermath of the storm. all of that is to help us replace your stuff. to save lives, you need to get out of harm's way and so important for us to continue to beat the drum to leave the coast if at all possible. >> dana: and coastal areas have really grown in population. so it's a wonderful place to be, people love to live there. but to your point, your asking them to heed the warnings so that you can hopefully come back to a safe environment and just stay away until they say it's safe to come back. >> absolutely, dana. this storm is massive. it's larger than harvey. when we had hurricane hugo 30 years ago, moved through about 26 miles an hour. the expectation for this storm larger than harvey is to stall and pour rain day in and day

out, hour after hour. that's devastating. >> dana: where will you be riding out the storm? >> either at my home here in charleston or the emergency operations center in charleston county. i am the chairman of the center. i enjoy hanging around with my friends who are still making sure that our citizens are as safe as possible. >> dana: it's all hands on deck. any other words of advice for your fellow government officials, either local, state or federal? >> i visited the south emergency management division this morning when i flew in to columbia. they're preparing hundreds of people at work. thousands of folks waiting to be a part of the rescue effort and the aftermath effort. let me just say to those workers, the first responders, thank you. your willingness to put your life on the line means so much.

sometimes those are the unsung heros. >> shepard: senator tim scott, be safe. thank you. >> thank you, dana. >> dana: new controversy about hurricane marie's impact with president trump taking controversy with the number of people killed. 3,000 people did not die in the two hurricanes. when i left the island after the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths. it didn't go up by much and then a long time later they started to record really large numbers like 3,000. republican lawmakers reacting. >> casualties don't make a person look bad. i have no reason to dispute the numbers. those are the facts of what happens when a horrible hurricane hits in isolated places like an island. >> dana: ron desantis echoing ryan's comments tweeting that he doesn't believe any loss of life has been inflated. up next, our coverage of hurricane florence continues.

we take you back to north carolina. plus they were there when hurricane harvey hit texas. now team rubicon is preparing to respond to florence and we'll tell you how you can help. in the u.s. it's america's most popular street name. but allstate agents know that's where the similarity stops. if you're on park street in reno, nevada, the high winds of the washoe zephyr could damage your siding. and that's very different than living on park ave in sheboygan, wisconsin, where ice dams could cause water damage. but no matter what park you live on, one of 10,000 local allstate agents knows yours. now that you know the truth, are you in good hands?

>> dana: fox news alert. the outer bands of hurricane florence are hitting the carolina coast. the monster storm moving in threatening catastrophic storm surge and historic flooding.

we have rick leventhal in wrightsville beach, north carolina. we begin with jeff flock in carolina beach. we just talked to town manager there, jeff, and he says they feel prepared. >> i think they are. there's still a lot of people here. you never know. we're 17 hours away as you look at a very angry atlantic ocean. this is low tide right now. so we're nowhere near what we're going to get later tonight and as the storm comes in. the national hurricane center says 8:00 a.m. tomorrow the eye or eye wall or part of the hurricane is on us here. we're a long way away and still getting the outer bands. i want to show you pictures of flooding already here. i think that's the story when this is said and done. harvey last year in houston. you know, that's one that was not so much about the hurricane. it was about the water. that may be the story when we're done here. for now, still weighting for the

onslaught. that's the building we'll be in, we hope so, before it's over. >> dana: thanks, jeff. first responders and rescue teams on the ground there making final preparations less than 24 hours from florence's landfall. rick leventhal is in wrightsville beach. how different is it today than yesterday? >> it's deserted. that's the most dramatic thing. this is my photographer. look down the main drag here towards the bay. you can see no traffic whatsoever. if you pan over this way and look at the sporking spots, everything is closed. no people out on the streets except for police officers since yesterday afternoon. you can look now at the fishing pier there. johnny mercer's fishing pier. it's the only concrete fishing pier in the state of north carolina.

we've been watching heavy surf smashing against the pilings. the pier is rated to 200 plus miles an hour. it's hurricane proof. it replaced a wooden pier. it's the very early stages. we've had wind gusts in the 25 to 30 miles per hour range so far. it's clearly picking up. the waves in spells have been pretty dramatic against that pier, dana. right now it's a very quiet eerie sort of a wait-and-see situation here. it's not really raining yet and the wind is not blowing that hard but we know it's coming. >> dana: you've covered these before. does this feel any different? >> only in the sense -- look at the waves just smashing at the top of the pier. the difference honestly is that everyone has heeded the mandatory evacuation order in

wrightsville beach. we haven't seen any residents. it's unusual that people would get out when they're told to get out. police have been clearing anyone off the beaches and off the streets, mostly news crews, if they stray out. they don't want anybody risking themselves with this hurricane approaching. >> dana: take care of yourselves and we'll be back in touch. let's here from one of the volunteer rescue teams. jake wood is the co-founder of team rubicon and joins me now. team rubicon, you have deployed volunteers across the country in several different places. i can see you're in texas helping with that hurricane. there's been tornadoes, fire damage. tell me how team rubicon is preparing to help the folks in the path of hurricane florence. >> thanks for having me. honestly our prayers and well-wishes are in the path of the storm. team rubicon began a couple days ago. we've been moving trucks, gear trailers and boats and heavy

equipment. in atlanta, in charlotte, prestaging that equipment and supplies and volunteers if and when they're needed after the storm passes. we're prepared to assist. local authorities and residents with whatever the efforts are that are necessary for the communities to respond. >> dana: those of you that don't know what team rubicon is, they are amazing. they unite veterans with first responders. you help ahead of the storm and state afterwards as well. if people are watching right now, how can they help? >> it's important people to understand that this has all the makings of a storm on the scale of harvey. it may not be as sensational. you may not see boat rescues or people pulled off of roofs. make no mistake, tens of thousands of homes and businesses will be at stake. we should as citizens of this country do everything we can and for many people across the united states, that means

finding great organizations like team rubicon, the red cross, church groups going out and assisting the neighbors. we should do what we can to support them so that they can assist the communities. >> dana: what you learned from previous disasters, is there a pattern or something that people forget to think about either as they have evacuated or get back in too soon? is there something that you say you've learned that you can pass on? >> what is important to note, you'll have the initial flooding. because of the topography, as the storm moves in, a lot of the water dumped in the later days will be flooding and rushing back down towards the coast. there will be secondary flooding that could be just as if not more dangerous a week later. so it's important for people to heed the warnings and make sure they're not returning to their homes too quickly.

>> dana: this is the -- the size of this storm is bigger than hugo. you add to that, the fact that they have very saturated ground because they've had so much rain. so your point is a good one. even in the mountains, when the rain is dropped, it has to find a place to go, which is towards the coast. >> yeah, it has to go somewhere. gravity will win all day long. the gravity will rush towards the ocean, could be moving quickly and could be moving -- >> dana: we have to say good-bye. we'll be back in touch. south carolina governor mcmaster and other officials are holding a briefing on florence. let's listen in. >> this is very large hurricane. probably located 175 miles east of myrtle beach. it's slowing down, moving northwest at 10 miles an hour. we expect it to continue to slow down as it approaches the coast of north carolina today making landfall likely somewhere in the

cape fear-wilmington area tonight, early friday. slight changes in the track and intensity are possible. it should weaken to a tropical storm while it drifts into south carolina into saturday. after that, it should slowly shift westward weakening sunday night. outer rain bands and tropical storm winds arrive a gross the grant strand later this afternoon and evening. it will be a prolonged period of damaging winds with tropical storm force winds expected for nearly two days and hurricane winds expected friday and friday evening. elsewhere, damaging winds could spread inland across much of the state on friday and persist through the weekend resulted in downed trees and power outages. tropical storm wind gusts are expected in the midland and low country. significant rainfall of 15 to potentially over 20 inches is

expected across the grand strand. 8-15 inches in the p.d. and 4-10 in the charleston, columbia areas and even into parts of the upstate. lesser amounts across -- to the south of there. the heavy rain potential will persist into monday and given the rainfall totals, flash flooding is likely. the rainfall amounts will also result in significant river flooding, especially in the p.d. basin through next week. landslides can also occur in the south carolina mountains. storm surge is another concern as values could reach as high as 4 to 6 feet above ground level in some locations. 2 to 4 feet from the south to edisto beach. isolated tornadoes exist as the storm goes across the state. much of the state will have

damaging winds and torrential rainfall for a couple days, followed by river flooding. thank you, governor. >> thank you. if you noted from those remarks and figures, that means the hurricane wind portion of the storm is almost 90 to 100 miles wide and altogether, the tropical winds and the hurricane winds are almost just under 400 miles wide. as he said, it's growing to be moving at great velocity as it comes here, but also be moving across the ground at a slow rate, which means all this rain is going to be here for about two days starting from one side of the state and going to the other. something else you may not have heard before, we may have landslides in the upstate as a result of this. that is because about seven inches of rain may be expected in the upstate. this is still a very dangerous

storm not only on the coast but in the interior of the state and the very unusual part is it's going to last about two days. so that means that we're going to have to be patient. as we leave our homes and we now have over 421 people that we counted, 421,000 that have actually evacuated and we expect more, but there will be still -- people will be on the roads. we would say when it comes time for those winds to get to myrtle beach, it will be the first place they'll arrive, sometime this evening, 39 or 40 miles an hour. as the storm moves in and charleston tonight, you should not be on the road. when it gets down to beaufort tomorrow, you shouldn't be on the road. if you're going to leave and you should leave, if you have not

left these evacuation zones, you should leave now. time is running out. remember this: once these winds start blowing at the tropical storm rate, it will be virtually impossible for the rescuers to get in to rescue you. so they will be leaving just like the others because it's highly dangerous to do that. if you had not left, if you are in a place of danger, if you're in these zones, now is the time to go because that window of opportunity is closing on you very quickly. if you stay in those zones when the bridges may be overrun, may be debris on bridges, electrical lines will be down, possibly all over the state, there will be roads closed because of trees across the roads. some of the roads will be washed out. it will be very difficult for people to get in to fix those things until the winds have gone, the rain is subsided and

even then it will take days to do it. and the first responders will be the first ones to go in. they'll have to be cutting trees and trying to put up the power lines. so for those people, whether you're in those areas or you're outside of those areas, you should plan to be patient because you may not be leaving wherever you are for several days. it may take a week. may take two or three days. we don't know. we know that things will not be normal for many days highway 501 is going in both directions as of noon today. i-26 will be going in both directions as of 6:00 p.m. today. we don't expect many people to be going into the area except first responders and those still setting up. as i mentioned, power will be out a long time. >> dana: think about what you need for power. if you have a cell phone, it's

not growing to last the length of time it's going to take to get through this storm without being repowered. have an extra battery or someplace to go that has plenty of power. i mentioned the trees will be down on the roads. the power lines will be down on the roads. don't drive your car into standing water. there may be no road beneath it or a power line down, this is enormously dangerous. could have flash floods. so if you see a barricade, don't go around the barricade. again, don't try to take your well known shortcut that usually works. follow the signs. follow the evacuation signs. again, it's getting late to evacuate. so if you are in one of these areas, you need to get out now. again, the power line crews, the law officers and others will be the first to go in. people will not be able to go

back in to their homes. we know everyone wants to get back to see what has happened and take care of things. that will not be possible until those areas have been cleared by the proper authorities. so as you please, obey the instructions because they are giving them for your safety. finally, i'll say this. we're well aware of the tendency of some people to want to get in early and loot. there's thieves all over the place. you can be assured that south carolina law enforcement authorities and all of the different aspects will be on high alert for such. we want to keep our people safe and keep their property secure. general livingston. >> thank you, governor. >> dana: all right. that was the governor of south carolina telling everybody what they need to know ahead of the storm as it comes ashore. right now we're going to steve harrigan live at north topsail beach in north carolina. steve, it looks like it's gotten

worse out there. >> dana, it has. we're getting the first taste of the outer band now. the rain picking up. you can see the surf kicking up good. white caps against the gray sky and the pier is taking a pounding. we've seen people continuing to pack up their cars and leave. for many of the people we spoke, to it's been a very difficult decision. >> we will not be surprised if our house is not even here when we get back. it's that bad. we're afraid there won't be anything here. the last hurricane of this magnitude was hurricane hazel. there was houses floating in the waterway. >> you can sense the stress in her voice. already the state has opened more than 100 shelters, more than 7,000 people in those

shelters. the first signs of power loss. more than 12,000 people in the state have lost power before the storm has actually hit. dana? >> dana: certainly there will be more of that. thanks, steve. we'll be right back. as one of the nation's largest investors in infrastructure, we don't just help power the american dream, we're part of it. this is our era. this is america's energy era. nextera energy. billions of problems. morning breath? garlic breath? stinky breath?

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and accessoriesphones for your mobile phone. like this device to increase volume on your cell phone. - ( phone ringing ) - get details on this state program call or visit >> dana: we're keeping an eye on the storm. let's talk politics for just a moment. i'm joined by josh kraushaur. harris faulkner will be in arizona for a town hall at 8:00 p.m. that's a big senate race out there. i want your take on it, josh. >> that's the race that will determine which party has the senate majority. which party has the momentum for the mid-terms. it's an open seat. two congress women running against each other. mcsally is neck and neck with

kirsten cinema. it's a race where immigration will play a big role. cinema is trying to run to the middle on border security. and you have mcsally, the republican, running in the john mccain mold. she has a stellar military record and she's running on her biography to overcome the democratic momentum in the country. >> dana: tell me about the demographics in arizona. how different is this state from where it was before? >> you have a lot of hispanic growth a lot of growth in the maricopa county, suburban phoenix. democrats are gaining in terms of voters. but you have a lot of seniors from the midwest that are more conservative. so arizona is a huge political battleground and may determine which party ends up with the senate majority in november. >> dana: two minutes with you. tell me what else you're looking

at across the country. i know you write every week on this. >> you came out with some great senate polls in some of the biggest battle grounds. they contain good news for the senate republicans. red state races that senators are defending. in every one of the races you polled, the democratic senators are polling 45% or lower. that's not a good place to be if you're a democrat and a lot of undecided republican voters that may put republicans over the top in states like indiana, north dakota and missouri. >> dana: steve stivers from ohio, he had words of returning for the house republican candidates. don't let your image get below 45. make sure you're out there spending money. what else did they tell them if they hope to keep the house? >> steve stivers is in a tough situation. the battle grounds in the house are in the suburban, affluent districts across the country where donald trump is not

particularly popular. as the president's job approval rating has ticked down the last couple weeks, you're seeing the fortunes of these candidates get tougher. the house is looking better for democrats. the senate is still good if you're republican. >> dana: 30 seconds left. how important is it for republicans to be talking about the economy? >> that's what they should be talking about. the economy as good as it's been. the message from republicans on this tv airwaves is about immigration, about the culture wars which shows that people are still happy about the economy. they're not voting on that issue. >> dana: you have to use something else to get your base out? >> you have to get the base turned out and a immigration is a big reason. >> dana: thanks,josh. see you next week. thank you. we'll be right back with you in a moment. - in a crossfit gym, we're really engaged

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no mathere are over 10,000 allstate agents riding sweep. call one today. are you in good hands? >> dana: you're looking at beaches in north carolina. live coverage on fox news. earlier we had jake wood from team rubicon.

a nonprofit that brings together veterans and first responders. you can go to their website. check them out. i'm dana perino. thanks for joining me today. up next, here's shep. >> shepard: it's noon on the west coast, 3:00 along the coast of north carolina where hurricane florence is already bashing the coast and the governor is giving a new warning. >> this is a powerful storm that can kill. >> shepard: the monster storm getting bigger now. forecasters say as a miles per hour down grade, it could still be life threatening. >> it's not the category. it is the epic amounts of flooding we're going to have. >> shepard: we'll hear from the head of the national hurricane center live and from somebody that is ignoring all the warnings, taking his chances to ride out the storm. let's get to it.