Top Story with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Episode Date: August 31, 2023

Tonight's Top Story has the latest breaking news, political headlines, news from overseas and the best NBC News reporting from across the country and around the world.

Tonight, as we come on the air, Tropical Storm Edalia charging across Georgia and South Carolina after leaving a deadly path of destruction in Florida as a Category 3 hurricane. Entire coastal communities in Florida's Big Ben area underwater after the storm roared onto shore near Keaton Beach, the strongest hurricane to make landfall in that area in 127 years. A devastating storm surge leaving houses along the coast completely submerged. multi-level homes gutted. Idalia also packing 125 mile-per-hour winds, ripping roofs to shreds and causing not one, but two trees to crash onto this family's home. The dad using his body to protect his baby.

Now rescuers desperate to reach those trapped by floodwaters, the message to those residents from Governor Ron DeSantis, and what he told me about his conversation with President Biden and if they can put politics aside to help affected residents. Dahlia now barreling east, new video shows the moment strong winds flipped a car over on a highway in South Carolina. States of emergency issued for the areas around Savannah and Charleston, schools closed, and flights canceled. A full moon, creating an unusually high tide that could create another storm surge disaster. We have teams in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, and Bill Cairns in the house with the latest track.

We're also following another natural disaster event, this time in Louisiana. Shocking video shows the moment flames and gulf a home as wildfires ravaged the state. At least two people killed so far, and the situation could get worse in the next several days. Plus, Senator McConnell freezing again. The Senate Minority Leader asked if he would run for re-election when he struggled to speak for more than 30 seconds. It comes just one month after a very similar incident, what his team is saying tonight about his health. And Rudy Giuliani, once known as America's mayor, for being tough on crime, found legally liable of defaming two Georgia election workers.

So will he have to pay up? Top Story starts right now. And good evening. We are joining you live with a very special edition of Top Story from hard hit Perry, Florida, where we are surrounded tonight by destruction after riding out that storm, Hurricane Idalia. As we come on the air tonight, Idalia, but still a dangerous storm on the move, taking aim at Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, which we are tracking minute by minute. But first, I want to show you what we're

seeing right here tonight in Perry. This is a live look at the devastation left here just behind me, a massive pine tree falling onto that home, this small town affected by so much because of that massive hurricane. Now, so many people have been left homeless or their homes broken completely apart now looking for a place to say shelters that hopefully are open and this was the scene just hours ago gas pumps ripped out of the ground at this perry gas station as idalia pack wind gusts of up to 125 miles per hour the strongest hurricane to hit florida's big bend in more than a century making landfall this morning in the coastal town of keaton beach bringing with it that massive storm surge that forecasters had been warning about new time lapse video take a look at this it shows that water quickly

submerging nearby Steinhatchie. Water reaching the roofs of homes there, roads in and out of the town, inundated with water. There's a curfew there right now. And a tree also falling onto the home of Governor DeSantis, I should say, just outside the home of Governor DeSantis in Tallahassee. The governor speaking with President Biden today. We'll have much more on that conversation later in the broadcast, what I had a chance to ask Governor DeSantis about. But now, Eidalia's wrath felt on the East Coast, new video Justin shows high winds picking up. and flipping a car. Look at this in Goose Creek, South Carolina. Wow. This is just outside of Charleston. The storm's set to bring another dangerous storm surge to the Savannah and Charleston areas later tomorrow and tonight. Savannah's mayor urging people to please stay inside. Stay home. This is nothing to play with. And we already see this has had in Florida.

And tonight that damage on full display here in Perry and cities nearby. Tonight, our first look at the incredible fury of Hurricane Idalia. Powerful bursts of wind, relentless sheets of rain, and devastating storm surge combining into a destructive force of historic proportions. I don't think anybody expected it to be this bad. Oh, my God. The Category 3 hurricane is the strongest to hit the Big Bend area in more than a century. Fall came this morning at Keaton Beach with maximum sustained gust of 125 miles per hour.

Homes here didn't stand a chance. In nearby Perry, this gas station toppled by fierce winds, and across the region, Roots ripped off buildings. Oh, my gosh! Are you ever seen anything like this in Perry? Absolutely not. Nobody's going to get power for weeks. How bad was it? It's absolutely every tree is down.

downtown took a direct hit it's just the force of the wind and you know just blowing stuff over and tearing a structure up yeah is Perry forever changed by the storm or are you guys going to rebuild no we're going to rebuild we're going to stay strong we're going to support one another and with the help from our governor that's been gracious to send us all this hit we're going to make it we're going to be here the governor touring hard hit Perry today what's your message to floridians who are trapped or stranded right now. Well, if you are in distress, you can call 911 and there will be rescue efforts that will commence. The storm has passed. The first responders are active. In Steen Hatchee, water is everywhere. The town under curfew and neighborhoods completely inundated by the rising tide.

Because of that storm surge, many communities were cut off. People were stranded or trapped in their homes. Units like this one from the National Guard have been deployed because of their high water vehicles and those rescue boats up top. The Kime family is safe, but their Yankee town home is underwater. Why did you decide to evacuate? This surge right here, man. If we had been in our property, we would have got flooded in, we wouldn't have been able to leave. The tree just went down.

With trees down and roads submerged all over the area, moving can be as treacherous as staying put. Already two separate car crash fatalities reported by Florida Highway Patrol, blamed on the weather, a total that would have grown, if not for daring swift water rescues that save dozens outside of Tampa. Didn't know what I was going to do until these guys showed up. I was going to actually stay and swim in my house. Florida's first responders pushed to the limit, the president offering help. Anything the states need right now, I'm ready to mobilize that support of what they need.

There goes power lines right there. As officials feared, Idalia overpowered the Big Bend area's election. infrastructure. Hundreds of thousands of homes affected even the governor was left in the dark this morning. That's going to be legitimate surge. It's going to be a big, big deal, and it's going to be very, very dangerous. And there we go with our power here. Rest and peace far away in. Other local landmarks weren't so lucky. This bed and breakfast in Cedar Key and Gulf by storm surge, some of Idaalia's worst impacts happen in this small town of less than a thousand. In Pasco County, several homes burned in electrical fires.

My heart just dropped out of my chest when they called and said the house was on fire because we prepared for a flood, not a fire. And back in Perry, one family lucky to be alive. Idalia knocked down these massive trees crushing their home. Huddled inside of this car, we met two of the survivors, Mom Summer and baby Amelia. It was kind of terrifying, honestly. Summer told me how her husband Brandon heard the tree snap and jumped on top of them. He came and he jumped over top of us and you could hear it crack and, you know, collide on top of the house. Brandon telling me he did what anyone would do who loves their family. Yeah, I thought it was going to crush us for sure.

At that moment, oh yeah. Has it hit you kind of what you did? No, not really, no. I figured it would be what anybody would do. Oh, yeah, my little girl. and that family lived in this home just behind us here and behind me you can see just how big this pine tree was that came crashing down into the roof to think that that family early in the morning woke up to that tree trunk snapping and then that father just jumping into action

jumping on his family it's it's incredible they made it out of it alive as we mentioned idalia made landfall in florida near keaton beach with that catastrophic storm surge and those powerful winds NBC's Gabe Gutierrez is there live for us tonight and giving us a first look at some of the destruction there. Gabe? Hi there, Tom. Now, this, as you mentioned, is where Idalia first officially made landfall. A lot of the structures here are vacation homes, and thankfully, many people evacuated inland. But as you can see, these were among the most powerful winds that this part of Florida's coast had ever seen.

This was Idalia roaring on shore. The violent water mixing with howling winds just before dawn as the hurricane officially made landfall in Keaton Beach. Its eye wall brushing past Perry 20 miles inland. This is the power of Hurricane Idalia, and we're right in the thick of it. The winds here have really picked up in the last hour or so. After sunrise, the damage becoming clearer. Remarkably, the storm surge wasn't as brutal as expected here, but the wind was. Idalia is the strongest hurricane to make landfall on the Big Bend in 127 years, tying the unnamed hurricane of 1896, 1,25 mile-per-hour winds.

You can see right now how many first responders are lining up here. The National Guard is on the move. Richard, Indiana Carr, returning to Keaton Beach late today. How terrifying was it to feel his winds this morning? It was pretty bad. Pretty bad. We also met Tammy Perry. as she came back for the first time to see how her beach home fared nervous because

several houses around hers had been ravaged but after an agonizingly long walk relief her home intact the eye had missed incredible that home is still standing there Gabe joins us tonight from Keaton Beach once again live for us Gabe, we can see some of the destruction, obviously, there just behind you. What more do we know about the area where Idalia made landfall? You know, Tom, what it was really incredible is we mentioned that there was a catastrophic storm surge expected here. And while the water did rise, it was actually the wind here that made the most difference. This roof was ripped off of this home.

You can see the insulation behind me. But I want to show you a little bit more. This is aluminum siding that just wrapped around this power pole. And what was incredible time is the reason some of these homes didn't actually flood is because many of them were built in these really high stilts. I've reported from hurricane zones before, and these in particular were built in such a way where they did not flood. However, you can see this home right over here, just ravaged by the wind, ripped off the roof. We saw the homeowners here earlier trying to salvage what they could. Thankfully, many of these were vacation homes, so it wasn't heavily populated at the time.

Still, as I said, this was an area. that has never seen wins this high before. Tom. Gabe, I don't know if I've ever seen a home built that high. That looks to be like almost three stories there. Incredible, but it survived Idalia, so I guess that works. Gabe, appreciate all your great reporting over the last two days. Residents here in Florida only just beginning to assess the damage left in Idalia's wake.

In Cedar Key on the Gulf Coast of Florida, massive storm surge battering homes all along the water. And this is new drone footage into our newsroom. first time I'm seeing it. I'm seeing it with you, the viewers. We got it in just moments ago. It captures the scope of the destruction left behind there. Look at that. That is terrible. The storm ripping homes to pieces, as you can see, reducing them to piles of debris. Joining us now live by phone is Sue Colson. She's a city commissioner of Cedar Key. Commissioner Colson, thanks so much for speaking us tonight. First, I am so sorry for what's happened to your community there. I'm looking at these drone images for the first time, and it is

truly upsetting. What can you tell us about your community right now? We know parts of it at times we're cut off. What's the situation right now? Well, the situation is, again, I'm very proud of our community. We are very versed in how to handle storms. We're very versed in our history, going through many bad storms in the past. So we have a very strong ethic here of holding each other up and getting through these issues. Today, we went out. and assess the reason you're not hearing from my fire chief or my police chief or my EOC director or my mayor is because they're out on equipment because we're such a small community they're actually physically driving this stuff themselves

clearing streets clearing debris the mother of the mayor was out picking up stuff today that it's just a wonderful community that's used to rolling up their sleeves and working hard to get things back to normal We did lose a lot. Our businesses lost a lot, and we hope that everyone will come back to us as soon as we get back on our feet. One of the things that we pride ourselves in is trying to get back to normal as soon as possible. One of the things that we did lose today, too, besides businesses, we lost. Oh, here's an electric truck.

That's exciting. That would be wonderful to get electric. One of the things that we lost was our food pantry, which serves as 100 families in our area, and that was totally gutted. And so now compounding poor people who have lost their homes, they're now going to lose their sight of where we give away foods on a weekly basis. So it trickles down to many, many lives. But we appreciate everyone's support of us, and hopefully the governor and everyone else will know

that we do our work and we try hard and they will come and work shoulder to shoulder with us to put our city back. Commissioner, before I let you go, I do want to ask you, there were so many news crews that were inside Cedar Key that were reporting live with live pictures, live cameras from about 6 o'clock this morning up until now. I don't know if you had a chance to watch that in real time or if you were there, but what was that like to see your community like that and see that storm search come in? marker there. It looked like it was nine feet at some point. Oh, yeah. We expected that. We didn't

expect the onslaught of all the news outlets. That's why I'm talking to you because we had to choose one person to talk because there's too many of us that have to work out in it. And, you know, there's so many news people wanting to get the good picture. And sometimes some of the people that they interview give out misinformation. So we are trying to make sure we're getting out our technically correct information. And if people return tonight across the bridges, they've been tested, and they are safe to come across, you have to have a path to get across. And when you come here, you have no electric, no sewer, and no water. So you're only essentially coming to see your property clean up, but you're not going to have life as usual, at least not today.

Commissioner Colson, we appreciate all your time. We hope Cedar Key can rebuild. We hope the people there that lost their homes and their businesses get some relief. We appreciate your time. We'll be thinking about you tonight and in the weeks and months to come. As Idalia is now a tropical storm, it is on the move. It's barreling across the southeast, as we mentioned. This is a live look right now from Charleston, South Carolina.

I want to look down here, our monitors, because this is the first time that I'm seeing some of these images, too. And you can see what's happening. There are waves already crashing over the seawall. A firm tornado also touching down in that area as Idalia brings heavy rains and intense winds to a portion of the Carolinas and Georgia. Our Lindsay riser is on the riverfront over in Savannah on the Georgia side. Lindsay, walk us through what you're seeing so far. Well, Tom, right now it's calm and hopefully it stays that way, but we have seen rough and rising rivers here on the Savannah River. And we are going to continue to watch these water levels because we haven't reached high tide yet.

But we've definitely seen periods of heavy rain and heavy wind in this area. All schools in the Savannah District, in the county, rather, when virtual today, all flights at the Savannah Hilton Head Airport were canceled. And more than 100,000 people have been without power in the state. I mean, there are some areas in Georgia that have seen severe flash flooding like Valdosta, which is closer to the Florida, Georgia line. You have to remember when Idalia came into the state of Georgia, it was a cat one hurricane. So now it's been downgraded, which is great news, but the fast-moving storms still cause flash flooding, cause those power outages. And we should also note that we're hoping that the radar looks like we will have, we will have experienced the worst here already of Idalia. But again, Tom, we continue to watch these water levels just in case.

All right, Lindsay, talk to me about if you think, and I know you've probably covered a few storms, if you think Georgia right now is prepared for this? Yeah, so again, hopefully we won't see what areas you just saw in Cedar Key, Florida are seeing. People are already walking around right now, and I even had one person come by and say, that's it. And so I think people were expecting it to be a little bit worse. We don't want to speak too soon because we don't know what the rest of the night brings. Hopefully it stays this way.

But we should mention the mayor, who's really worried about Savannah because it's low-lying, were surrounded by water. 80,000 trees are in this beautiful city. He did not order evacuations because that would have sent people west and that was also in the path of the storm, Tom. Okay, Lindsay Reiser for us reporting from Savannah, Georgia tonight. Lindsay, we appreciate all your reporting. As Lindsay mentioned, this storm is not slowing down. So let's get right over to NBC meteorologist Bill Cairns. Bill, as we heading to the second night of Idalia's wrath, what are you watching for right now? All eyes are on Charleston and the South Carolina coast. We saw the difference between Charleston, which has the onshore winds right now. About 45 mile per hour

winds are coming straight from the water. You can throw that shot up any time you want of the waves crashing over the seawall there. We know we just entered what we call major flood stage in the Charleston area. So that means that we're having significant water problems. We're not in the historic range yet. A high tide is about an hour from right now. If that water level goes up another half a foot, it'll be in the top 10 all time for the highest in the city of Charleston's history. You can see right there, at least from this angle on this battery, you know, there's overwashing going on, but it doesn't look like it's creating a river just flowing through that section of the downtown. What we can't show you is what that seawall looks like, you know, going down around the

bend and back behind the city, too. So, you know, water's obviously getting over the top there. And another hour to go, and we'll see just how bad the coastal flooding will be there. And again, this is just one point. This is only showing you, Charleston. You know, up the road in Georgetown, we've got a similar scene. Murdo Beach isn't quite as bad, but those are the areas of concern. Since the storm is over Savannah and the winds of weekend, not as concern there with the storm surge. They're at their high tide right now, and the water shouldn't get any higher than it is. So that two to five feet, the surge you just saw in Charleston, by the way, is about two feet higher than it should be. It's already supposed to be extremely high because of our super moon, super blue moon,

second full moon in the month. But two feet is a lot better than five feet. Three feet higher than it is right now. If it was at the high end of this, we would see that water already going over the seawall. We'd be talking about water going into businesses and into homes. Hopefully we'll only go up another half foot or so and not make this worse than Ian last year, by the way, in the Charleston and Burl Beach areas. Also, tornadoes. We talked about that earlier in the show. We've had a couple confirmed. We have the video of the one flip in the car. There's two active tornado warnings, and both of these likely have tornadoes with them. One of them is right over the Cape Fear River here on the border of North Carolina,

South Carolina, and the other one just to the southeast, southwest, excuse me, of the Wilmington area. So until 10 o'clock tonight, we'll continue to track the possibility of tornadoes. Here's a closer view of some of those, the ones up in the North Carolina, South Carolina border. The Hurricane Center thinks this will remain just about as strong as it is for about the next 12 hours and slowly weaken as it heads off the coast. have a concern that a lot of heavy rain and some ongoing flash flooding interior sections of South Carolina. When most people wake up, this storm will be off the coast and it'll be gone.

By the time the sun comes up, we are done. It's a recovery day tomorrow, trying to get power back on to about the half million people that don't have it. Here's the flash flood warnings, and you can notice Orangeburg Southwards, numerous flash flood warnings there in South Carolina, Tom. So yes, we still have issues, even though it's only a tropical storm. All eyes on Charleston the next hour. Bill, before you go, explain to our viewers all that storm surge water that we saw here in Florida all along the Big Bend area. What happens to all that water? Gravity. It puts it back where it's supposed to. So what the storm surge is is it's just the powerful winds pushing the water in areas where it shouldn't be, almost like if you were in a swimming pool and you

pushed your arm really fast. That's what the wind does. It's just a force on the surface of the water that piles it up. And the highest storm surge we have officially was nine feet in Cedar Key. All of that water has returned back to the Gulf as it should now that the low tide and with gravity. So all that water is gone, Tom, so all that recovery can happen. The reason the actually the water stayed up so long today was because high tide wasn't until the afternoon when the storm made landfall. It actually made landfill at low tide. Tom, we could have seen the water two to three feet higher on the west coast of Florida if that storm had made landfall at high tide. Bill Cairns putting it all into perspective for us, Bill. We appreciate you. I know we're going to see you later in the broadcast. Back here in Florida, some of the flooding begins to subside. As Bill pointed out, their rescue missions are wrapping up for the day. In Pascoe County, just south of where we are, emergency workers carried out 85 rescue missions, saving at least 150 people. That's incredible. That ranged from the ages of nine days old to 90 years old. And we're joined tonight by Emergency Management Director for Pascoe County, Andy Fossa. Andy, thanks for

for joining us. I know you've been busy. Talk to us about what your teams were experiencing out there as this hurricane was hitting. So our biggest issue that we always have during storms is when we issue evacuation orders, the citizens are complacent and they don't want to react to them. Unfortunately, this time, we were lucky once again, like as with Ian, and we just got winged by it. But still, we ended up, like you said, with 85 rescues. 150 people ranging from 9 to 90, and we try to preach, there's going to be a point in time that we cannot facilitate these rescues. It does a lot of stress on the team, not only the first responders that are on the front

line, but the emergency management team and the others that are here in the EOC, trying to figure out a plan, number one, how are we going to get them out? And number two, once we get them out, where are we going to put them? So fortunately, we're very proactive. We opened shelters in Pascoe County way early. We were very proactive with it. So we ended up having places to put these citizens until our human services and FEMA could reach out to them and see what we need to do to get them back in a temporary home. So, Andy, I do want to ask you, and congratulations on all those rescue.

because I know that's incredible work, especially during a Category 3 hurricane. I do want to ask you about reports from the Florida Highway Patrol that at least one person died in Pascoe County after losing control of their car and crashing into a tree. Apparently, they were driving through the inclement weather. What more can you tell us about that? So it's not going to be classified as a storm fatality. It was the weather was not that bad when the gentleman was driving. He was driving on an extremely curvy road.

The roads were slick. Unfortunately, he hit a tree and lost his life. First responders were able to get to him immediately. So we're not going to classify it as a storm fatality, but just as a traffic fatality. Okay, still very sad, and we're thinking about that driver's family. You know, it's just so tough during these hurricanes when things like that happen. Is there any more concern that you have for the people tonight in your county? So our biggest concern now is the people that are displaced is, number one, finding them places for temporary housing.

And number two, our debris. So we do have debris, and we're going to have a lot more debris when the citizens start mucking out their houses. So we're formulating a plan with our solid waste department. We're formulating a plan with our debris contractor and our debris monitor. So that way, we can get this stuff picked up as soon as possible. As we saw with Ian, when I was down there, I was deployed down there for three weeks that debris piled up and piled up and piled up and piled up. And not only was a debris being put out there, but also our garbage, human waste was being put out there. And that's the number one cause of disease and sickness in the citizens after a storm.

So we are trying to be very proactive with that. We have our solid waste teams patrol on the streets during the day so we could start doing that pickup early. And then with the citizens, we're going to give them direction on how to be able to muck out their houses and separate their piles of debris. Okay, Andy Faso, we appreciate your time, and we know you're going to be busy over the next couple weeks and months. Coming up on Top Story tonight, we turn to another major headline. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, freezing again in front of cameras, will show the 30 seconds where he was unable to answer a reporter's question. What his office is saying tonight about that scary moment. And tracking Adalia's every move, the hurricane that ravaged Florida,

now burying down on Savannah and taking aim at South Carolina, we have teams on the ground with more of the warnings for residents there. Stay with us. We're back now with another look at the track of Tropical Storm Idalia. If you take a close look at your screen there, you can see Savannah, Georgia, set to feel the storm's impact next. Presidents urged to stay inside and away from the coastline. We're going to get back to Hurricane Adelae in just a moment,

but first we want to turn to another major headline tonight in this block. Concerns for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell after he froze for more than 30 seconds during an event today. And it comes just one month after a similar incident at the Capitol. NBC correspondent Ryan Nobles has this story and a video. Tonight, another health scare for one of the most powerful men. members of Congress. Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell, freezing, and unresponsive for more than 30 seconds after being asked a question about his plans to run for re-election. Sorry, I had a hard time to hear you. That's okay. What are your thoughts on running for re-election

in 2026? What are my thoughts about what? Running for re-election in 2026. I'm sure. Did you hear the question, Senator, running for re-election in 2026? 2026? All right. I'm sorry, you all, we're going to need a minute. Okay. Somebody else.

Somebody else have a question. I'm pleased to speak up. The episode coming after the 81-year-old gave a 20-minute speech to a group in Covington, Kentucky, without issue. It's the second time in two months that McConnell has froze during a press conference. In July, he was led away after staring blankly for more than 20 seconds. When he was asked about it afterwards, he joked about President Biden stumbling during an event. Well, the president called him a check on me. I told him I got a sandbag.

McConnell missed more than a month of work after falling and suffering a concussion in March. Today, President Biden offered McConnell his support. We have disagreements politically, but he's a good friend, and so I'm going to try to get in touch with him. Senate Republicans have been supportive of McConnell staying in his leadership position. Tonight, a spokesperson telling us that he was feeling lightheaded during that press conference. He is expected to see a doctor before his next event. Tom?

Ryan Nobles, with that unfortunate moment for the senator tonight, Ryan, we appreciate Appreciate that. Thank you. When we come back the latest on Adalia, the tropical storm expected to hit Savannah at any moment and then make its way towards Charleston. We have teams on the ground and more on the warnings in effect at this hour. Next. in its wake across Florida's Big Ben. Those outer bands wreaking havoc in South Carolina tonight, a tornado touching down, and wind gusts. Take a look at this, launching a car airborne on the highway, tossing it across multiple lanes. That is an incredible moment there.

So I want to head right back to NBC News meteorologist Bill Karens to time this all out for us. And Bill, you watch that video, and that happened way before, you know, Hurricane Adalia was anywhere near that part of South Carolina, but it was just the outer bands, and that winds as it approaches. southern south carolina and that just shows you that even a weak tornado can just pick a car up

or rip a rupe off and it doesn't take much i mean these aren't the big tornadoes you get in the springtime in the plains but uh yeah that was serious business now let's go to our live pictures coming to you from charleston you can see the lights are going on and as the sun's starting to set and it's getting a little darker we just hit our about top 10 all-time water height so So this is a rare occasion for Charles. I know last year we did it something similar, if not a little bit worse, with Ian. The worst number one on the list at about 12.5 feet, that was Hurricane Hugo in 1989. We're about eight and a half feet.

So just to give you a comparison, this is nothing like 89 and Hugo or anything like that. They have to be four feet higher than the video we just showed you. But this is still already a top 10 event, and high tides not until 824. So we're probably going to add a little more onto this, maybe possibly half foot to a foot, higher than what you already saw. And just because that seawall is protecting that area we just showed you, it doesn't mean that seawall is protecting everyone and everything. We do expect some damage with this major flood of it. Yeah, go ahead, Tom. Bill, if I can just interrupt you and I don't mean to be rude here, but I do think this is important because you're talking about

this. Can you remind our viewers once more? I mean, Charleston, South Carolina, a beautiful gem of a city, right? A really special place, but it floods in a bad thunderstorm. Correct. It is extremely low elevation. I mean, you can just see it there. There's literally a seawall protecting the, you know, the street level and the sea is about the same height. I've walked up and down that street before. And it's easy to picture when you're there why they have so many stories of when there's thunderstorms that floods because the water is slow to drain out. And when they have just tropical storms or hurricanes, it is often that that water goes over the seawall or goes around it or even comes up from underneath sometimes. And that's why they have a lot of flooding issues in downtown

Charleston. So yeah, it doesn't take much. And we'll continue to watch these numbers. We don't want to just focus on Charles. I'm just because we have the live picture to show you there, but from areas around Georgetown and all the way back down towards Hilton Head and even Savannah. We are under that storm surge warning. The water height in Fort Plaskite, which is like the entrance there to the harbor there by the Savannah River, that's a lot lower. The higher tides are coming in now around the Charleston area. We're already getting past the high tide in Savannah. So the water's still going up further up the coast you go. And that wind in Savannah isn't much at all because the center of the storm's almost over the top of you. We have no gust being reported, but in Charleston,

the winds are still at 45 miles per hour. That's still pushing the water towards the coastal areas. So it looks like Savannah southwards, you've gotten away with this, not so concerned with your storm surge, but that two to five feet, if we're getting it, right now that surge is about two feet in Charleston. It's going to be from Charleston up to Georgetown, Tom. That's the area of greatest concern. So about an hour to go, and then the water will start retreating and heading out. Okay, speaking of Savannah, Bill, we do want to check in with our Lindsey Riser, who's there reporting for us live tonight. And from what I understand, I think the rain has just started, Lindsay, where you are. Tell us how the conditions have changed over the last 20, 30 minutes

as we've talked to you. Yeah, just since we've talked to you, we've got more rain, sideways rain coming in right now. And the wind has picked up quite a bit. The sky's have darkened but bill was just talking about that storm surge we're here at the savannah river and this is the highest we've seen it yet today this is high tide we're watching that it doesn't does not look like it's going to crest but we are of course watching it and we know that savannah was really preparing for the worst here today tom all the schools in the county went virtual today and tomorrow they're already going to be virtual on friday because of the labor day holiday we know that flights were canceled out of savannah hilton head airport

There were a lot of power outages throughout the state because you have to remember when Adalia entered Georgia this morning at 10 a.m., it was a cat one storm. So some areas saw gusts of 90 mile an hour winds. Some areas like Valdosta, which is closer to the Florida Georgia line, they saw flash flooding. They had water rescues there. And about 90 miles south of where I am in Camden County, they were asking people, they are asking people rather to conserve water because of the power outages affecting the utility there. So Georgia definitely did not get out of this unscathed. We will, as Bill was just talking about, wait to see if, you know, the eyes on top of us, if we do have that other side of the storm that comes and pounds us.

But I can tell you, Tom, people are walking around and people are acting like the threat is over. Of course, the mayor told people stay home, hunker down, and do not do what people are doing. But a lot of people think that the worst is over. Okay, Lindsay Reiser, we appreciate all your reporting there. stay safe as it gets worse and worse overnight. I do want to go back to Charleston. We finally have our live reporter there, Kathy Park, and we do want to be completely transparent with our viewers tonight. You know, the conditions are getting worse there. And sometimes with live television, you want to get people up for a live shot. It is hard. This is Kathy's shot right now because of the

conditions there. Kathy, you can take it away. Give us a sense of what's happening in Charleston. We see that flooding has already started. Hey, Tom, good evening to you. Yeah, just in the past few minutes, We had to change our live shot location because as you can see here, we are dealing with flash flooding. But this is really just a preview of what's to come. I would say in the past hour or so conditions have really deteriorated. Just want to set the scene here. We are standing right by the battery, which is a historic area here in Charleston. And right behind me is the seawall.

Right around 6.30 this evening, that's when we saw the waves crashing above the seawall. But then minute by minute, things really started to pick up. We just got an alert not too long ago saying that the Charleston Harbor, which is directly behind me, the tides would be above seven feet. As you can see, this is what we're seeing right now that water has lapped over and is now pushing inland. So we're dealing with flash flooding. And of course, in advance of the storm, a lot of the residents here in downtown Charleston were preparing throughout the day. Throughout the day today, we actually saw a lot of folks stacking those sandbags and covering their front of their property to ensure that the flood water stays out. But we still have another hour to go, Tom, before that high tide strikes. And of course, that could spell some even bigger issues later on throughout the evening because the high tide mixed with the tropical storm conditions that could worsen, exacerbate the flooding, especially in downtown Charleston, because even when there is a thunderstorm that passes through the area, they have to deal with flooding.

We've seen a lot of folks actually driving around here, taking in everything as a storm approaches his area. Officials are saying that is probably not a good idea. Right now, the storm is inching closer to Charleston. Okay. Kathy, we still got you? All right, looks like we lost Kathy Park. It speaks to the conditions getting worse there in Charleston. South Carolina. You can see that water already rising and they're still waiting for high tide.

All right, Kathy Park, if you can hear us, I hope you and your team can stay safe tonight. Coming up on Top Story, the legal setback for Rudy Giuliani, the former president's lawyer now heading to civil trial over election comments. And later, the devastating toll of Idalia will talk to a restaurant owner in one of the hardest hit towns what he's just returned to. Stay with us. We're back now with Top Story's news feed and a federal judge rule. ruling Rudy Giuliani is liable for defaming two Georgia election workers following the 2020 election. Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Shea Moss, are suing Giuliani, claiming their lives were upended when he spent weeks accusing them of manipulating ballots while he was former

President Trump's lawyer. Allegations that were completely unfounded. The judge's ruling now allows the case to go to trial and determine how much Giuliani will have to pay them. And prosecutors in Massachusetts naming the killer in an infamous 50-year-old cold case, The body of the Lady of the Dunes was found in 1974 in Cape Cod, but only identified through the help of DNA last year as Ruth Marie Terry. Her death sparking dozens of conspiracy theories, but the FBI just concluding that her husband was responsible for the brutal murder. He died in 2002. The 11 people were hospitalized after severe turbulence rocked an international Delta flight. The flight from Milan to Atlanta experienced severe turbulence about 40 miles out from landing.

It's unclear the nature of the injuries and if any crew members were impacted, but the FAA says it will investigate. And the Coast Guard rescuing four people and a dog after their boat took on water off the coast of New Jersey, a crew discovering the boat slowly sinking and transferring the passengers to a rescue boat. The commanding officer saying they saved those on board just minutes before the vessel you see here capsized. Thankfully, no one was hurt. Next tonight, deadly wildfires in Louisiana have a lot of. already killed two people as more than 600 fires have devastated the state this month alone.

State officials now bracing for more in the weeks to come. NBC's Ellison Barber has the latest including the heart-stopping video of a home being destroyed. Oh, that's so hot. This is my sister's house. See if it makes it or not. Dramatic moments captured by a Louisiana man, flames engulfing a home, him fearing for his life, as unprecedented wildfires. ravaged the state. Don't look like the trucks, don't make it. That voice is William McCarthy's, and that home was his sisters. I'm just glad that they made it out alive.

Lindsay Bustamante wasn't home at the time, but she saw her brother's videos. And in a phone call told us her entire family is still trying to process what happened. My daughter, Emery, she was crying the whole time, and she just kept saying over and over. Like, we're not going to have a house. If you and your family make it out, that's all that matters. and your homes can be replaced and everything else can be replaced. But they also know they're lucky. Others did not survive the inferno.

Louisiana state fire officials say at least two people have died so far. More than 1,200 first responders are working to contain the fires, but they have their work cut out for them. Right now, there are close to 100 active fires in Louisiana, and the state's dry summer and extreme heat are giving those flames. even more fuel. It's been the summer from hell, if you want to get right down to it. We're breaking records all across the state.

It's going to go down in history as one of the worst summers ever for this region. Louisiana has seen more than 500 wildfires in August alone, and state officials expect more in the weeks to come. Over 500,000 acres of land have been scorched. The Tiger Island fire is blamed for half of that, and tonight only 50% of it is contained. Secure your chains on vehicle so that you're not dragging those down the street and creating sparks. Louisiana's governor pleading with the public to respect the statewide burn ban, telling them lives are at stake.

Ellison Barber joins us now live tonight. Ellison, with the holiday weekend coming up, are officials asking people to celebrate differently because of these fires? Yeah, you know, Tom, interestingly, they are. At a press conference today, you had the governor and other fire officials saying, hey, we know the Labor Day holiday is coming up. We know typically you would be outside barbecueing, but please, this year, do not do that. They say do not do anything outside with any sort of open flame. That means no citronella candles for mosquitoes. Don't open up the grill.

They're encouraging people to just go to local restaurants to cook inside, get food to go, because they say any little spark can cause this situation to get much, much worse. Because right now there is a drought. Everything is just so dry. And in a lot of these areas, Tom, there are many trees that are left down. from previous hurricanes, and all of that is adding to this crisis. Tom? Alison Barber, glad we're covering that story out of Louisiana, and we will stay on top of it. Next, we head to Maui, where the island is under a fire weather watch, if you can believe it.

It comes as local and state authorities question. Who was in charge when the devastating fires broke out in Lahaina earlier this month? NBC Sam Brock explains. The search and rescue operations in Maui are almost over with a fraction of water left to search, but countless questions remain, like when emergency sirens might be activated in the future. We haven't used sirens in the past for wildfires. We are looking at changing systems to improve how we notify the public. This latest briefing contentious, as local and state agencies struggled to provide a timeline for alerts or even who was calling the shots. I'm not sure who was in

charge. I think Herman Undaya was still in charge. He just wasn't present. This week, West Maui bracing for a fire weather watch with conditions so dry in winter. they already produced a fire just days ago. Lahaina's burning. Oh, Lord. Help us. Kimo Clark recorded the flames from a rooftop as he responded twice to fires that day

with his personal water tanker and team. Describe the heroism from sort of every aspect of what was going on. I see neighbors grabbing their garden hoses and putting out their neighbor's houses. I've seen people in the fire grab an elderly person or a child. The president today, pledging $95 million to harden Hawaii's electric grid.

To make sure electricity can continue to reach homes, hospitals, water stations, even during intense storms. As Maui looks to strengthen its safety protocols, its spirit remains strong. The specialness of people that are born here, the generations, the families, the traditions, that's what makes Lahaina, Le Hina. Sam Brock, NBC News, West Maui. Okay, now to Top Story's Global Watch, we begin with the biggest coordinated drone attack inside Russia since the war with Ukraine began. Russian officials saying at least seven regions were targeted in the strikes, including an airfield near the border with Estonia, damaging four military aircrafts. The Kremlin warned the attacks would not go unpunished. The U.S. Embassy in Haiti now urging American citizens to leave as soon as possible via commercial or private transport.

The warning coming amid escalating gang violence in the country in recent months, The U.N. estimating more than 2,400 people have been killed so far this year, and gangs now control, get this, 80% of porta prints. And Chile's president, Gabriel Borich, launching a national search plan to finally get answers on thousands of people who disappeared nearly 50 years ago. The Ministry of Justice says nearly 1,500 people were victims of forced disappearances during Augusto Pinochet's regime that lasted from 1973 all the way to 1990. The new plan will consolidate case files and investigations in the hopes of finding and identifying their remains. Okay, coming up on top story, we continue our coverage of Hurricane Idalia's impacts the president and Governor DeSantis, political foes, putting that rivalry aside after Hurricane Idalia slammed into Florida. What the president said and what the governor told me, we'll explain. We are live tonight with a look at Kiwa Island.

in South Carolina, you can see this is a storm cam right there on the beach. It's a barrier island located about 25 miles southwest of Charleston. And you can see the major swells coming in, high winds hitting that coast as tropical storm Idalia closes in on that area. Eidalia moving southeast after devastating parts of Florida. And now America's leaders are putting their political differences aside and their trust in each other. President Biden, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, both speaking today in the face of this historic storm. Here's what they said about each other. I think he trusts my judgment and my desire to help,

and I trust him to be able to suggest that this is not about politics, it's about taking care of the people of the state. Governor, President Biden just spoke at the White House. He said he had a chance to speak with you that even though you guys don't agree politically during times like this, you can put politics aside. Is the feeling mutual? Yes, we have to deal with supporting the needs of the people who are in harm's way or have difficulties.

And that has got a triumph over any type of short-term political calculation or any type of positioning. A note of levity tonight from two leaders of opposite parties and frequently at odds with each other, showing America and the world that in a time of crisis, there are more important things than politics. Thanks so much for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yamas, reporting from Perry, Florida.

Stay right there. There's much more news on the way. Thank you.