♪ i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia. we welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. another monster storm bearing down on the u.s. after hitting cuba overnight, leaving entire towns under water. hurricane irma predicted to slam florida as a category 4, with gusts up to 155 miles an hour. we've got the latest. and with jose and katia also already on their way, we're now dealing with a triple threat of

hurricanes, with 5.5 million flo floridians ordered to evacuate, even the old-timers who swore they'd stick around are fleeing. plus, we're now relying on storm mapping, why do they differ? and with thousands charged with price gouging officials warn they will prosecute. i'll talk to one economist who says price gouging during emergencies, well, that's a good thing. we're waiting on a press conference from florida governor rick scott. the latest trajectory of irma. we've got team coverage lined up, patrick oppmann in cuba. bill weir in key west and meteorologist chad myers in the cnn weather center. chad, we'll begin with you, where and when, those are the two questions? >> where -- key west. when, tomorrow, 8:00 a.m., that's first landfall. where, naples, cape coral, fort

myers -- when? tomorrow afternoon. it could get more intense after it passes key west. here's the storm coming off the cuban coast. patrick oppmann has done yeoman's duty. he has the southeastern eye wall all night long. it's pushing into southern florida. every time a band goes by you will get increased winds homestead down to cutler bay, you're seeing wind come in. anytime later this afternoon, a storm comes in, there's even a potential for a small tornado or two. keep that in mind. the watches have gone all the way up into georgia. hurricane warnings for the southern half of florida. but overnight, michael, what happened is the model, and we're going to talk about these models in a half hour or so. the models shifted 20 miles farther to the west. so, now, not a landfall near marathon, florida. likely a landfall in the lower

keys, somewhere cudjoe key, big pine key all the way down maybe to key west. and that's a big difference because now that puts for the myers in play of a landfalling hurricane and also makes tampa a much more dangerous place to be with gusts there possibly to 120. >> has the destruction that it has wreaked thus far in any way diminished its capabilities when it gets to the united states? >> if the storm does not regain strength over the florida strait. it's 12 miles an hour. 90 miles to go. that's eight hours. if in eight hours it can't get back in a group, yes, that has diminished the potential for what the damage will be. but it doesn't diminish the damage caused by storm surge. remember, even katrina didn't come on shore as a 5. but because it was a 5 in the golf it had that bubble of water

that it carried with it. it's going to carry that storm surge into the everglades into the southern keys into cape coral, naples, all of those homes on canals, their homes only four feet above sea level, you need to get out of there, that water is higher than your house. >> pardon my naivety, i keep hearing you use the words and others "storm surge" define it. and how long does it last? >> it's a flood, how's that? >> perfect. >> you don't understand storm surge. it's a term, that's how it is. how water comes on shore one wave after another. it is a flood that will kill you. water kills more people than wind. so, call it whatever you want. call it something that you shouldn't be in. because when the storm surge comes in, it's impossible to get out of because the roads are already flooded. so, once you're in it, you're in

it to lose it. i hate to use that term, but you get it. >> hey, chad, one more naive question and pardon me for these, but i'm curious, i see all of the color on the map. as a matter of fact, right behind me, right now, open cuba, what exactly am i looking at with all of those different colorations. i notice there had been purple. now there's not purple. explain it to me. >> what you see behind me here is a forecast, again, a model. think about when we were kids, we would buy a 1967 camaro and we put the model together with model glue and our fingers would be stuck together. this is a model trying to model a car. but we're trying to model the atmosphere. significantly more complicated. what you're seeing here is a model of what we believe the radar will look like if i push the button it goes right over tampa. push the button again, you see what the winds are going to be, 50, 60, 100. and then the high cloud tops that we've been watching over

the next couple of days. what's happening here, the colors you see behind me, wind field, 100-mile-per-hour gusts or greater. in key west, going to be gusts 130 or 150. 150 or greater. up to fort myers, there's your white. i know it's confusing. you have to look up here and we're pushing the button so fast and you have to see where the key is. the key so this is winds over 100 in many places in south florida. >> chad myers, we will revisit with you in a couple minutes. thank you so much for that. hurricane irma slammed cuba overnight continuing it's 155--mile-per-hour path devastation. it struck cuba's northern provinces so hard that towns are completely underwater. and gusts have destroyed the meteorological instruments. for the latest, we go to patrick on mappmann on the ground in cu. patrick, what are the current

conditions? >> reporter: i can hardly hear you, because once again even as the storm is moving away from cuba towards florida. it has just picked up in an incredible way, 14showing you t immense power of irma. we could hardly stand. we're seeing roofs torn off. and you look at it this way, this is the storm going out to sea. it really is incredible here. because it's just waves and waves of wind and rain blowing incorrectly hard. and just to give you some sense of what people here have been suffering from for the last eight to ten hours. this storm came in here as a category 5. they don't get any stronger than that. it is still a major hurricane. it's a very deadly storm. it's flooded the entire town i'm in. everything was understa eight t ten feet of water. the water receding out, the winds are still not, in cuba, a

very powerful storm. and continuing direct damage on the islands. >> patrick, in the united states, the golf and the media have been sounding the alarm for days. what was it like in the buildup in cuba, how prepared were they? >> reporter: a lot of experience as an island in the caribbean, they have to know about hurricanes, and, you know, it's almost slowing down our camera position is really amazing. we're still getting wind gusts. but we saw them preposition supplies days ahead of time. building materials, things that people would need to begin to recover. and to repair the immense damage that we've seen here. the cuban government was doing that. they say they have a generation to prepare for storms. i don't think you can be prepared for what we experienced here. it has devastated the area. people that i know rode out the storm now regret it.

many of the people we've seen this morning have tears in their eyes when they look around the town, you can see some of the devastation. and i know for the people who live single story homes -- most of the people live in single-story homes. the water was conferri incoveris overnight. i don't know how they were able to get out. still it's a couple feet of water where we are. irma's leaving but it's not quite done with us yet. >> patrick oppmann. thank you stay safe. now, let's look north to the florida keys since the highest point there is only 18 feet above sea level. a storm surge could flood the entire keys there could not be a more dire message than this one tweeted by the national weather service to key west, 5:00 a.m. friday, quote, this is as real as it gets. nowhere in the florida keys will be safe. you still have time to evacuate. in recent days we've seen

interviews with die-hards who swore they wouldn't leave. joining me now from key largo, bill weir, host of cnn's "the wonder list" has there be any change in the conch list? >> reporter: absolutely. in a way you have not seen. this is a fiercely independent part of america. you come to the lower keys because it's low keys. stress is not in the vo couldca. it's about boat drinks and that's the spirit that we saw. i was here for wilma and hung outside with the die-hards who wouldn't leave and watched the water come up knee high across 75% of that island. visited a lot of those folks even yet, they were say riding it out. it's just another storm. then last night, they had a m t meeting of emergency managers

down there, and everyone's tune changed drastically. apparently, the size of irma, eve here in south florida uses andrew as sort of their metric for the intensity of the storm. you can fit two andrews into one irma. as they saw that path coming to the keys was it going to hit marathon, was it going to hit key west? everything started to change. they decided to move 500 prisoners overnight. which you can imagine, no easy task. they needed a convoy of sheriffs and deputies for a safe place for them. a lot of people were going to ride it out on their boats. a gentleman on "ac360" a guy named rich cunningham from new jersey was going to ride it out on this 50-foot boat "the salt shaker" we're happy to report now he's in a motel in

okeechob okeechobee. that courage, some of that liquid courage, agency ts the be open yesterday has turned out to be what the deadly storm is about to be, michael. >> so, you yourself, could be in the path of the storm? what's your plan? >> reporter: we're monitoring things, we're watching the track. as long as we have i couple hours head start, we're going to start moving north from here as the storm adjusts. but to you, to mom, to all of the viewers showing concern, safety is our number one concern. we plantharfoolhardy. >> bill, stay safe. we appreciate your reporting. we're still waiting on the press conference from florida governor rick scott. plus, when irma is gone, will law enforcement be ready to deal with anybody looking to take advantage of florida's ghost towns? i'll ask the state's attorney

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we're expecting to hear from the governor sometime this hour. we'll bring that to you live. and residents have been fleeing their state leaving behind deserted town. will law enforcement be ready to take care of anyone taking advantage of that situation. joining me now, pam bondi. speak to you about the challenges of law enforcement in a storm of this magnitude? >> well, michael, let me start off by staying we have a lot of good people helping. we need nurses at facilities to come volunteer. if you're a nurse in florida, come help. agency a attorney general, however, i have to deal with a lot of the bad. i have to deal with the price gouging. since the state of emergency was declared i can activate the price gouging hotlines. we have over 150,000 complaints. people keep them coming in to me. itolerance, if you're

going after citizens works going after you, 1-866-9-no-scam. or myfloridalegal.com. take a picture. send it to us. if fuel stations are doing that still, take a picture and send it to us. overall, michael, people have been incredible. you know, i've had a really bad problem with a lot of 7-eleven stores in my state who were inflating the prices of water. now is not the time to take advantage of our citizens. you know what 7-eleven corporate did. i've been on the phone all morning. this started last evening. they donated $150,000 to the red cross. they've transported in free water. and working with nestle to get more bottles. thank you, nestle. they're bringing those into the state to make up for a bad few actors. keep the calls coming because i will work with 7-eleven and we

will pull your franchise. as long as we're going there. i'm happy to get into it. there's a libertarian argument that says as offensive as it all seems and sounds when you're literally in the eye of the storm, that allowing fluctuations of prices, even gouging, is a better way to allocate scarce resources. obviously, you don't believe that. >> you know what, michael, when i -- when i see babies, when i see women, when i see children, when i see elderly people who cannot afford a $30 bottle of waters, that's illegal. that's wrong. that's immoral. there's plenty of water throughout this country. this is about a person trying to make a buck, a quick buck. when we are at our lowest. and our most vulnerable state in florida. i agree with supply and demand. that's why price gousing only kicks in states of emergency. because you cannot come steal from our citizens. and that's what basically they're trying to do.

who would want to make a profit of water, when people are dying? who would inflate hotel rooms? an example i thought last year, $40 hotel rooms at a grumy days inn on fletcher. people had booked the rooms. i went there myself. they were bringing their families in. it was incredible. they were checking them in. they got there, you know what the manager said, sorry, the rooms are now $250 a night. so, you've got families in say hurricane sleeping in their cars because they couldn't afford that. it should be criminal. it's not. but i will go after you. we will fine you $1,000 every violation. up to $25,000 every single day. and i will be saying your name all over this country. not to do business with you again. >> a final question, what level of concern do you have as attorney general you that now have properties unprotected? so many pretty rliteral ghost t because people have paid heed to

evacuation orders? >> michael, thank you for asking that. governor scott has been incredible to me. and hasn't slept in a week. he's been all over the state, doing everything he can. people are listening. home depot sold over 350,000 pieces of plywood now. people are listening. they're getting out. we're worried about that. we have our full national guardo employed, ready to go. we have fema resources, white house is sending its resources. so we will be ready to go in the aftermath. right now, people should not care about their property. they need to care about their families, their pets. bring their medication. never forget your prescription, especially the senior population. get the heck out of there. you can still get out of florida. it's not too late. we've made it very clear. user friendly. the governor has been great. hopefully, the keys, miami, lauderdale, they should be ghost town thousands, michael.

yes, we're being proactive, all of the national guard, we'll be prepared for the aftermath. what we've seen for the most part, it's good and people working together to try to help each other. >> general, thanks so much for being here. pam bondi, the attorney general for florida. as the general mentioned the governor's name, we're awaiting a live update from governor rick scott. we'll bring that to you when it happens. now, you also heard from the attorney general that they also have already about 8,000 complaints about price gouging during this category 4 hurricane. but knew next guest says government officials are mistaken, threatening to prosecute those who rise prices due to demands created by emergencies. here's what governor rick scott said on this issue yesterday. >> one thing it's discoverithat if anybody price gous iging, we have an attorney general that will prosecute people for price

gousing. is this a time to help our neighbors. not a time to take advantage of neighbors. >> disgusting, the word the governor used. some economists say artificially thwarting it makes things worse. joining me now steve horowitz, a professor of economist at ball state university. i think you've got a tough argument in this context but go ahead and make it. >> sure. yes, it's always a tougher argument. i agree in the sense that we should be looking out for one another, and the best ways to look out for one another in an emergency like this is to solve two problems. how do we make sure that the existing small supply of goods get used in the most important ways. one of the advantages of letting prices rise, it forces people to make the tough decisions if i'm going to buy bottled water i'm going to use it too drink or help my elderly parent, i'm not going to use it to bathe my dog. in the short run, we need to make sure that those are going

to be used for the right reasons and letting prices rise forces a tough decision. >> and professor -- >> go ahead, michael. >> i was going to say we've seen the images in the buildup to irma landing in florida. people with full shopping carts of bottled water. >> right, exactly. >> this is certainly not the case now. so, what i think you're saying is, hey, nobody is going to load the cart if they're paying an awfully high price for it so it's a way to better allocate scarce resources. that's the argument. >> exactly. >> but does it apply to, say, gasoline or hotel rooms where you've got a finite set of product? >> right. >> i mean, how can you increase the supply of gasoline? how can you build more hotels? you can't. >> right. you can't. but what can happen, people who have homes who wish to rent them out will make them available. there are other ways to find for hotel rooms if you allow people to charge those prices for.

over time, what we want the high prices to do to send a message to outside florida to bring their supplies into florida because there's an opportunity to brow them there. and people need them. without that price going up. that process doesn't work nearly as well. we've seen it happen in other emergencies. it's interesting, too, by the way, the attorney general talks about price gouging and has said nothing about whether or not she intends to prosecute plumbers or electricians or roofers for getting twice their wages during the rebuilding. they will. we saw that happen during katrina. is she going to prosecute those folks, too? interesting question. you need that labor to rebuild and letting those wages rise to drop people into florida and texas to rebuild. that's the key here. what we get are gas stations with no gas. homes that don't get rebuilt. that's the shame. that's people not helping each other. >> general said something to the effect, you know, can you imagine the person who wants to profit in the midst of this tragedy. can you, from a moral

standpoint, defend the individual selling a case of bottled water for a hundred bucks? >> well, i think there's a couple things to think about here, first ever all for a lot of people taking the time and effort kay coming into florida bringing water from elsewhere and the country, they do have expenses that go with that. they have to take the risk of bringing it down there. rick of being prosecuted by the attorney general as well. paying for transporting. charger a higher price than normal shouldn't surprise us. you have to remember, nobody is forcing the people to buy any of those goods. yeah, it's true we need water, these other things but letting prices rise forces us to make a tough decision about whether or not we want to buy that goods or not. the question is do we have a good and short supply? nothing that the governor or attorney general can change that. putting price controls on it doesn't help poor consumers, right? once you got those price controls in place you're gelling

the powers to sellers to determine which buyers they want to sell to? >> yeah, i hear you. i debated this on my sirius xm radio show this week, one of the callers said something to the effect this all seems great in academia, in a classroom when you're discussing models but when it all hits the fan, the bo poor get screwed? >> the poor are going to be in a worse situation. it's not between cheap plentiful gas and expensive plentiful gas. the minute is between expensive gas in the pump and cheap gas that's gone. we've all seen pictures of gas stations in florida with no gas. how does that help poor folks when there's no gas left to buy? the same with water if we don't allow the price to rise. we've seen in previous disasters and previous emergencies that while prices have been allowed to rise, those supplies do come in and poor folks have access.

in reality, if you don't let prices do their job an you let these thing unfold politically, and they access, that's not poor people. >> right. i hear you. but i feel like if i'm the guy who doesn't have the money i'm damned if i do or don't on the price gouging issue. you can have the final word. it's a provocative argument you're making. >> sure. and i think so the final word here is we're in an emergency. there's no market solution. there will be people who suffer from it. the argument is that's the best alternative we have to minimize that. >> professor steve horowitz, thanks for being here to make that case. if nothing else, makes us think. let's see what some of you are saying via my twitter and facebook pages. put them up. there is no market in a disaster zone. price gouging is criminal.

no different than theft. i guess he didn't find the good professor's argument compelling. one more. smerconish, i'm confused why price gouging is any different than supply and demand. demand goes up, how is that gouging? that's the arch he's make argum making. to provide a profit incentive for others to deliver those goods, user got to allow the price to go high. if right now you have water and you're in mississippi you're thinking, hey, i've got to go to florida and take advantage of this maybe that's in the best interest of floridians. but if you're sitting on the stockpile of water, you're not making that drive now. that's his argument. still to come, we're waiting on governor rick scott's press conference on the very latest on the category 4 storm irma heading his way. and why are there often two

separate prediction lines? why don't they agree? we're going to try and shed light on that. ♪ ♪ hi! leaving a career to follow a calling takes courage. a personalized financial strategy can give you confidence to take the next step. hi guys! aw yeah! see how access to j.p. morgan investment expertise can help you. chase. make more of what's yours.

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we're waiting a live presentation from florida governor rick scott. when it begins we will bring it to you. with irma bearing down on coastal florida, you may wonder as i have how accurate is hurricane prediction and more confoundingly why are there are two predicting -- we've got the governor now. -- here in sarasota county, the storm's here, hurricane irma is now impacting our state. southeast florida is already experiencing tropical storm force winds 20,000 people have already lost power. hurricane irma is beginning to batter the florida keys with dangerous winds and continues to

remain a catastrophic and li life-threatening category 4 storm with winds 130 miles per hour. this is a deadly storm. our state has never seen anything like it. major floridians will see major impacts with deadly storm surge and life-threatening winds. the threat of significant storm surge flooding along the east and west coast of florida has increased. and 6 to 12 feet, think about that, 6 to 12 feet impacts aboveground level is now probable. 6 to 12 feet, this will cover your house. if you've ever watched how storm surge works. it flows in fast. very fast. then it flows out. you will not survive all of the storm surge. this is a life-threatening situation. if you've been ordered to evacuate, you need to leave now. do not wait. evacuate. not tonight. not in an hour.

you need to go right now. if you're in an evacuation zone, leave. evacuations are in place across the state, more than 5.6 million floridians have been ordered to evacuate. you need to listen to local evacuation orders. if you live in an evacuation zone in southwest florida, you need to be on the road by noon or find the nearest shelter to avoid life-threatening weather. it's going to go faster than you are. these winds are coming. if you're in this area, and you're planning to leave and have not done so by noon, do not get on the road. if you're on the west coast trying to go north, i mean, you're going to have a hard time getting out. just remember this, once the storm starts, law enforcement cannot save you. i'm a dad and i'm a grandfather. i love my family more than anything. i cannot imagine life without them. do not put your life or your family's life at risk.

right now is the time to do the right thing for you, yourself, and your family. school buses are aiding in evacuations. please take advantage of this service. if you need to leave and for whatever reason, you're unable to leave, and you need help, whether it's fuel, whichever the issue is call 1-800-342-3557. we will do everything to get you out. protecting life is our absolute top priority. there will be no resource or expense spared to protect life. our goal is to put every person in this state's life. i urge everyone to check on your neighbors, your family and your friends. if you know somebody who is not evacuating and should, contact them and make sure they have a plan to get out. we are very aggressive in our

preparation for the storm. and my hope is ever floridian should take this seriously and be aggressive to protect their family. your house can be replaced. your possessions can be replaced. your life cannot be replaced. and your family cannot be replaced. shelters. we have been working with counties to ensure there are enough shelters. currently, there are 260 shelters open across the state in every county in the state. at least 70 more shelters are opening today. more than 50,000 floridians have taken shelter and there's still room for more. if you have a building, emergency individuals ask you to open a shelter, please comply. it's going to save people's lives. this is so important to families seeking safety. everyone in florida needs to find a safe place to go. traffic. we still see some traffic, but overall evacuation routes are moving.

evacuations are not meant to be convenient. they're meant to be safe. i'm glad so many are taking this seriously and driving to a safe place. ful you don't need to be on the road, don't be on the road. we increased the number of troopers on florida roadways to continue moving traffic along. you can check realtime track and information at fl511.com. you don't have to evacuate out of the state or even out of your county. you don't have to go hundreds of miles. we have shelters in every county other than monroe and those have been evacuated to miami-dade. so shelters have been available in any county. 800-342-3557. we will do everything in we can. but we can't do it once the storm start. fuel. we're working aggressively to keep our gas stations open and filled. but this won't last much longer because it's going to be unsafe

on the road. we're doing as much as we can to get as much fuel as we can, while all the fuel ports are closed for safety. our ports are closed so no more tankers. and directly to gas stations in your community, after the storm, as soon as we can get fuel trucks moving, we'll do it again. i waived florida's motor import tax for five days to bring more fuel to the state for storm response and recovery. we all know fuel is important and we're going to absolutely devote every resource you we can 0 to get fuel here. law enforcement, we have great first responders and law enforcement. every single guardsmen has been deployed. we have so many members of law enforcement putting their lives at risk helping floridians to get to a safe place.

and they will is not stop until it's no longer safe for them. i can't thank them up in. utilities. our providers are actively preconditipr prepositioned throughout the states. and we know how important power is and we're going to be aggressive in getting power back on. i want to be clear -- we are understand a state of emergency. employees who provide vital services including vital staff we need you to be there to help the community. we need 1,000 volunteer nurses to help at our special needs shelters. bprchdpreparedness @flhealth.gov . again, we need more nurses, all available nurses, if you'll please respond to

bprchdpreparedness@flhealth.gov. this is great news and we have individuals to support this need. so many people around this country have called to offer the prayers and support. and i want to thank the governors of other states to provide every resource we've asked for. i know the entire country is behind this. i've been talking to the white house almost every day. i've talked to president trump, he's promised all federal resources. i've talked to brock long who runs fema this morning and he's guaranteed all federal resources. we have the country's best first responders here in florida. but if you're in an evacuation zone i hope you'll go right this minute. get to a safe place. it's a catastrophic storm. it's bigger than our state. florida's tough, florida's resilient, florida's unbreakable. but we'll stay together and help each other. we are an amazing melting pot of wonderful people. this is a great state and we're going to cuome out of this very

strong. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> florida governor rick scott sounding pretty dire. it's here. it's deadly. we've never seen anything like it. and as making a call, a one alarm being sounded for nurses to assist at those evacuation shelters. meteorologist chad myers is standing by, chad, what did you take away from the governor's briefing? >> i think that the governor believes the state of florida is prepared. i think he believes the stragglers are going to be on their own. and that -- >> clad, my apologies, i'm going to ask you to hold that thought. because the governor is now taking questions. so, let's dip into that. >> -- i talked to the white house.

between the president and congress, they've all committed. all of the resources we need. i talked to brock long this morning. i talked to a variety of cabinet members. they're calling to make sure we have all of the resources that we need. this is a great country. we're going to stand up for each other. >> as the storm continues to shift west a little bit, do you ship the resources around the state? >> yeah, we move resources as fast as we can. one thing that's difficult in this storm, is that it's typically a storm that comes from the east to the west. so, you can position your assets on the other side of the state. this is a little bit harder because it's encompassing the whole state. but we are doing everything we can. we've already had a lot of resources positioned around the state. we've had national guard positioned around the state. we have food and water positioned in the orlando area. and we'll be moving that as fast

as we can. fema has resources here. but the resident -- what we say, three days of water and food. have your medicine. you got to take care of yourself in the beginning. because we don't know what the devastation is going to be. what the roads are going to be. we're going to try to get rid of the debris off the roads as fast as we can. all i know, everybody is going to show up to help us. we have thousands of volunteers that want to come down here to help us. but we all have to take care of ourselves in the beginning. and the most important thing you can think about right now, if you're in an evacuation zone, you got to evacuate. we will get the shelters open. the national guard will show. you first responders will show up. you've got to get out in you're in an evacuation zone. you've got to get for a safe place. >> if you're told to evacuate, but the first thing you want to do is get as far away as possible but that's not what you're asking?

>> you don't have to. we've got shelters close. i shut down all of the schools friday morning through at least monday. we'll put up as many shelters as you need. you can shelter in your county. the only one you can't is the keys. they've already evacuated. and the shelter for them is miami-dade nifu. we're going to continue to hope more shelters. we do need more nurses. we need more nurses and volunteers. we need volunteers in the short term to help staff the shelters and distribute food and water and help with the cleanup. >> can you speak to the -- [ inaudible ]. >> the shelters have been picked because of their location. and because of the safety, now, if -- if it ends up being in an e eevacuation zone, we'll move those shelters. as the storm has moved to the

west, we've had to move some shelters and we'll continue to do that if we need to pop we've offered buss to help move everybody. but we will do everything we can do keep everybody safe. but the shelters have been chosen county by county based on the safety of the citizens? >> what type of preparation would it require to be safe in your home? obviously, everyone -- >> right now, if you're in an evacuation zone, you need to evacuate. we will provide whatever shelterswe need to for that. we have projections on what the winds are going to be. so, you know, you know your house. and you know the risks. so, you should make decisions based on that. anybody else? okay. i hope everybody takes the warning that you neat to ged tot of these evacuation zones.

you neat to get to shelter. thanks everybody. and i wish everybody the best. florida governor rick scott completing a dire briefing. chad myers, i don't ever remember hearing a state executive speak in such direct language before. it's here, it's deadly and we've never seen anything like it. your thoughts? >> i talked to rick, the governor, earlier this week with wolf blitzer and he was tired. he has been around the state and around the state. and he has begged people to leave. and they won't do it. i think at that point in time, you just go, okay. you guys are on your own. i've done everything i can do. we have all of the people in place. we're giving you free rides. we're giving you free places. free food. what else can i do? he knows if you're not in those -- if you are in bocachica, if you're in key west

and cudjoe key, and there are people there, some of those people are not going to be with us on monday. he knows that. >> chad, we don't have time to do what i'd hoped we'd do because of the governor's press conference, would you mind, the cliffs note version of the two models and where they're now pointing. >> the two models, one the american model, one the european model, we talk about them all the time how they're different. the european model has done better on the storm. now, the american model did better on the snowstorm of 2015. they're about 15 or 20 miles apart. and, michael, if you put that same line, if you put these two same lines in the middle of the atlantic ocean. let me put it ahead for you. if you say, okay, the storm's going to be here. that's the american model. there's the european model. boy, they're really close, because you know what -- they're really close. but when you put the state of florida, the city of miami, naples, tampa in the way, all of a sudden, 20 miles makes a big

difference. >> chad myers, thank you. you are the john king of the weather maps. and for me, that's as high a praise as i can bestow upon you. you're doing a hell of a job. thank you. we'll come back with more of

all right, cnn is in continuing coverage of hurricane irma. we've been watching it batter the northern edge of cuba. people were forced to evacuate there. the storm is moving around and its locations and strength. it reintensified to a category 5, that's what they had to deal

with there. there's no question that the storm is going to hit the united states at the point of florida. the keys are vulnerable. cnn is everywhere that the storm is going to be. yes, there's variability. we are down in downtown miami. this was the major point of concern. there's a shift towards the west in this storm right now. so the western coast of florida is becoming a more acute concern. as you can see, we're more than 24 hours out at this miami local arena. it takes very little to make a difference. remember, 24 hours out. i'm not in storm here, no need to be. and yet, you see the docks already are getting all they can take. the shoreline here we're seeing already the storm surge is coming up over the rocks. everybody's tied down. they're trying to get their boats storm-ready. this is a very savvy culture. but you can only do so much and it takes very little to make a big difference. that's why the local authorities are saying yes we've seen a

shift in the track, do not come back here. that is the word from the fire chief, virgin hernandez. he said do not come back to the miami beach area. even though there's been a shift. they're expecting up to ten feet of storm surge. what are we hearing from the governor? he just gave a briefing. governor scott says 50,000 floridians are in shelters. there are 260 shelters open across the state and around the state of florida. 70 more are going to be opening. there was another point to the governor's recent message, which was, they have a need, a specific need, for nurses, for nurses for the infirm and the elderly, in shelters. and he's putting out a call for volunteers. what does that mean? if you are in a position to travel safely or if you are proximate, nearby a shelter that is for the elderly, so contact your local authorities, look at the websites for the state to see where they need nurses. if you are in a position to

help, please do so. that's the message from the governor. what do we know about the storm? let's go to chad myers in the weather center, the message from here is obvious. if you look at the sky, the boats, if you look around you, something is on its way. >> you are going to be in the eastern or the northeastern eye, not quite eyewall, but one of the more dangerous parts. so even though people are thinking we're clear, we're, the storm is going to cape coral and ft. myers, they're still will be a significant element of this very wide storm. we talked about this a couple of days ago. this storm from side to side is about as big as texas. is it as big as texas from ft. myers to miami? no. so the storm is still going to be over you. still into miami, maybe not 140, but 85 or the 0? i don't want to be on the beach, on land, or in a storm surge when that happens in miami. yes the storm is going to go

over key west, up the west coast, not the east coast as some of the models said earlier in the week. but it is irrelevant when it comes to storm surge. you're still going to push the water into miami. look at the way the storms are rolling on by. we have some areas where the water is up two feet. this storm is still 150 to 200 miles away. by the time it gets closer, that wind is going to increase into biscayne bay and we will flood miami. at least part of it. we may flood up to ft. lauderdale, because the intracoastal will push the water in that direction, too. but what's really more important, if you're in naples and ft. myers, in that area, this is what's happened overnight. chris, the model went from somewhere around making landfall in marathon, to very close to summerland key. let's call it key west. that makes a difference on key west on what happens on the southwest side of the state. this is the area that is going to see the significant surge. the models have been pretty

consistent, although clearly the european model has done better over the last couple of days. this is what the rainfall looks like right now. the winds are 130. when the storm gets in the middle of the channel between the florida keys and cuba, the water is warm enough that the storm may regenerate into a large cat 4 or to a cat 5. something different for you, tampa. the winds may very well be 115 and not 85, because the storm isn't here, the storm is now closer to you. it is in your zone. you may flood parts of tampa bay depending on how far north the storm gets, this is all different for the overnight hours. i haven't been able to use this graphic. this is downtown miami, with everywhere that's blue here, with a six-foot surge. there's water in downtown, there's water all along these buildings in downtown with a six-foot surge coming in over the seawall. and six is relatively

optimistic, we'll have to see it once it gets to 10 or not. but six is very good with the storm back out to the west if it gets to ten, we'll have to remake the graphic and push the water much farther west. >> chad, thank you very much. look, just as another piece of evidence that it takes very little to make a difference, i have no communications right now. with our bureaus, we have all of this equipment, all of this sophisticated stuff. i'm listening to the show like everybody else from just the use of my phone and the internet. so it just doesn't take a lot to make a disturbance. that's why the local authorities are worried about people coming back, about people being situated in areas where they can't be reached. so let's get to some more of the urgency in the area and the preparations. we've got kyung lah, out there monitoring the situation and we know kyung, you've been monitoring what they were telling people to do in advance. and now the message