to stotop ugh pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. aleve. all day strong. this is cnn breaking news. i'm anderson cooper in tampa. >> this is crist cuomo in naples, florida. >> i'm john berman in miami. >> i'm victor blackual reporting from orlando. >> in miami beach, i'm kyung lah. >> i'm bryan todd in west palm beach. >> and i'm anderson cooper here in tampa. our coverage continues as it has been literally for the last all

week long. the situation in tampa is watching and waiting. some of the outer bands of the storm have brought some light rains compared to what is to come. and people here know that. the story, the pictures we have been watching out of miami on brickell boulevard, water just pouring down the street. that's where we find our john berman right now. john, i mean -- you know, again, the people in tampa who luckily still have electricity are able to watch some of those images you've been bringing coming out of miami. it's extraordinary what they have seen. and they know that is coming here, and likely even worse. >> yeah, i hope they're watching and getting the warning that they should be inside, that they should heed the warnings, the calls to evacuate from the officials there in tampa. anderson, i'm holding in my hand parts of a plastic light that just snapped off a little bit down the way there and flew at me. i thought it was glass, and

thankfully it's not. it's just plastic. but you can see the debris is a real concern here. not to mention the storm surge. you saw the pictures from brickell boulevard. feet of water now down that main drag in downtown miami. behind me you can see the water lapping up over that dock, covering several docks here. the water has gone up several feet here right by the bay where i am standing at this point. we've also had serious issues not just with flooding downtown but also a crane, a partial collapse of a crane on biscayne boulevard. rosa flores has been watching it all in downtown miami. rosa. >> hey, john. here the headlines are cracking cranes, flooding, ponding, surge, and wind tunnels. that's what we're seeing. now, take a look around me. this is a street now turned a pond. for people who are aware of where this area is, this is the

publix grocery store. i'm about three to four blocks from the ocean. and what we're seeing at this hour is the storm surge. storm surge coming onto land, and then additional ponding because of the raining that's coming down and the streets not draining. now, the other issue that we're seeing in this area, of course, are the cracked cranes. those cranes we were told were supposed to stain winds of up to 145 miles an hour. city officials said there was no time to remove because they needed at least two weeks to move them. now we've seen the danger wheres, the failure of those cranes that are very close to high rises where people live. huge concern, of course, because city officials asked those people to evacuate for that very reason. one of the other things we're seeing here, people trying to walk through these streets, drive through these streets at this hour while irma is here. that's what we're seeing and that's what we're experiencing.

i'm going to walk over here to see if we can take a look. this is closer to the ocean. and what we've seen is this water that keeps on ponding. again, the storm surge coming onto brickell. this is the financial district in miami. water on streets that are not supposed to be on this street of course. ponding that is happening. and as more rain comes down, as debris comes down, these drains are being plugged and the water does not drain off. now, miami, it needs to be drained on a normal day. so john, when we are seeing surge, when we are seeing rain and debris clog drains, a very serious issue, a very serious concern of course here in miami as we continue to get pounded by rain and as the surge continues to come onto land. john. >> yeah, and the bad news there, rosa, is chad myers told us not long ago we can expect five more

hours of it here in miami. that's even before it comes up the west coast where it could be even worse. every time i feel i'm suffering here in miami as the wind comes down where i'm standing right now, i just think of kyung lah who is out there in miami beach, which is an island just off where i'm standing right here who's getting it even worse than we are. let's go to her if she can hear me. kyung. >> it's pelting rain and conditions as conditions deteriorate out here at miami beach. it looks very bad. it feels very bad. but one thing we want to tell you is we just spoke with the mayor of miami beach. and he says his city is in remarkably good shape especially considering how much rain and the beating of winds that they're getting here. what they've seen is downed power lines, debris, some over night rescues.

the city has been responding very, very well. he's very pleased. they have not had a massive amount of flooding here. the storm surge has been remarkably forgiving. we are seeing some water come in on the beach. but generally, there hasn't been any major flooding here. the mayor says the curfew will go back into effect tonight for anyone who remains here in miami. beach. and something else we do want to point out, even though clearly you can't get around in this weather, the mayor says that the bridge between miami and miami beach, those connectors, those roads are being cut off. people are not being allowed in or out out of abupdanndance of safety. john, anderson. >> kyung, thank you very much. i just want to give you a sense of tampa. we're on the river walk here, and we have been watching -- and i want chad myers to see this, because chad has been talking about this phenomenon.

we have been watching the water being sucked out on hillsborough river. the water has lowered while we have been standing here over the last several hours. and of course that water, once the storm surge starts to come in, all that water is going to come back. and it's going to come back hard. and the potential flooding here in tampa is major concern. i just talked to the mayor a short time ago. a year ago he had warned of the effects of a cat 3 storm hitting tampa, something they hadn't seen since 1921. he had warned of a potential 15 feet of water by tampa around city hall. chad myers, the weather center, that storm surge we can expect here in tampa, that people here in naples can expect and here in fort myers, it's going to be

happening most likely in the darkness. and often correct me if i'm wrong here, after the hours of the biggest hurricane force winds have come through. >> no question about it. the storm surge will happen when you think the storm is over. because we're on the wrong side of what we always think about hurricane landfall. we're on the west side of an island or peninsula, whatever, we're typically talk about an east coast landfall and the surge comes in with the eye. the eye is going to go by, suck out all the water, and then the wind is going to get calm. and then had wind is going to blow back here at 120 miles an hour. and when it blows back, it's going to blow back all that water that's now piling up offshore. it's called a very shallow area, kind of a shoal out there. but it's a lot of sand. you could go on a boat for 40 miles before you actually find any depth out here. all kind of sand. that shallowness will push that

water quickly back up into tampa as the storm goes by. and yes, you're thinking oh, this is finally over. but if you are by the water in tampa, it is not over. now, let's go back to what the mayor said. a direct hit by a cat 3, what does that look like? a direct hit by a cat 3 comes in off the gulf of mexico and slams into punels county or something like that so the spin of the storm pushes all the water into tampa. that is plot what we're seeing here. this is not a direct hit. our storm is coming in this direction. so we're going to push all the water out, then we're going to push it back in. but only 5 to 8 feet. and i think that's a very good number. and the mayor was correct, if the storm was slightly off sheer, then all of a sudden we could get a bigger push back. now, down here in naples and fort myers, 5 to 8 is not the

right number. you guys especially from cape coral, punta gourda southward, you're 10. and even more you're 10. i know there are people hanging out on that island. i don't know get it. at some point in time that window is going to stop. you're not going to be able to get off the island at all. the entire island is going to be covered in water. there's not going to be any roadway that's not wet with saltwater. and if you're in a high rise, all your equipment down stairs is going to wet. everything electrical, everything hvac, everything you need to be comfortable is going to be wrecked. and you're still going to be on island and not going foobe able to get off. that's the west coast. rights now the east coast is getting pounded. and we're seeing the surge all the way up it the coast, all the

way along the intercoastal waterway, that's where it's getting water now. some spots will get 6 feet, then all of a sudden there's water in everything. >> chad, we want to start checking in with those reportersen the east coast of florida. bryan todd is standing by in west palm beach. how are things there? >> anderson, we're getting pounded with some of the early stages of hurricane force winds here. we're now in the window in the next several hours where we're going to get the most intense storm surge this area is going to see. the storm surge is just allowing the water of the intercoastal waterway to pound up against that walkway there. and the mayor of west palm beach, i justed to her on the phone, she told me she's really concerned about flooding. it's going to probably inundate this area where area. she's worried about this drive, flagler drive getting flooded.

and the wind intensity has really picked up in the last 145 minutes. these palm trees are really starting to get compromised. palm fronds and coconuts are starting to become projectiles. they're flying all over the place here. and just below it you see street signs wobbling. and even these sturdy expansions behind me with the streetlights on them, are starting to wobble. so that's a real concern. we're basically in the window now where people call 911 and they're not going to be able to come out and get them. he said there's a big concern about the construction cranes like the one in miami that snapped or at least cracked, there's one over here. the chief assured me these are secured, that the tops of them are pulling with the wind. so they're supposed to do that. they're supposed to go around like a weather vane. they are pulling with the wind.

they're in good shape. and i think one of the experts said that people hadn't evacuated these buildings next to the cranes. well, some people did evacuate. there were under a voluntary evacuation notice. some of them got out, some did not. but the people who did not those living in these apartment buildings have told us they're concerned it's going to hit their apartment buildings. but right now the chief has told me right now they're going to stay in place. >> appreciate that. and places like tampa and all the cities of florida have seen such a real estate boom over the last couple of years. right in tampa right over by the hillsborough river, we have two cranes over here. and they weren't expecting as big a storm that was going to hit tampa. assuming those have been secured as best they can, obviously people that live around here, have stayed around here are

going to continue to watch. they're off, above 15 feet or so, above 20 feet. they feel pretty confident. we talked to a lot of people. a lot of people walking around right now as one of the outer band of the storm has passed by, the rain has really stopped, it's pretty calm. people are trying to walk their dogs, stretch their legs because they've been hunkered down in their homes. chris cuomo down in naple, we were talking about the potential storm surge, and naples really is facing that potential of 10 to 15 feet of storm surge. >> and that freaky phenomenon of the water getting sucked out by that counterclockwise force where on the east coast, the east part of the storm, the water's getting dumped back in. and the energy's coming from the west side, the left side of the storm. we saw that here. the water level has gone out. and while i have you, that project phoenix, about what

could happen in tampa bay, that is some really startling stuff about the vulnerabilities of where you are and development of water level and how the infrastructure is sold. a lot of those principles apply here. everything has changed here, my friend. the difference in those 200 miles between the two of us right now, this is headed your way, of course, but it's really different right now. we're in that snap, crackle and pop phase where the trees are starting to come down, the transformers are starting to do their thing. and you're in that eerie sequence of noises where you're trying to get a feel of where it's softened up so you can calculate what's happening. i just saw a couple trees go down away from us, and then you get hit on whts goiat's going o side. >> yeah, the project phoenix

report can which crist referenced just for our viewers not familiar with it, that was a report done kind of to predict the effects i believe it was of a cat 5 storm hitting tampa. but, again, even a cat 3 storm is not something anybody woo lives here in tampa, who grew up here in tampa, has ever seen before. 1921 was a last time a major storm like that hit directly in tampa. chris, as you know, hurricane charlie back in 2004 was expected to come here. it turned in the last minute and really decimated punta gourda. there are a lot of concerns here, and the mayor has voiced them time and time again of the effects of flooding and the storm surge. even with the areas around here in florida, tampa bay, they have problems with flooding. and over the years the level of tampa bay has just naturally increased.

so as those higher winds come in, there's more water in tampa bay now than in previous decades, to come inland in part of that storm surge. so there's certainly a lot of concern, and it's justifiable concern. we don't want to make things sound worse than they're going to be, but this is not a storm than anyone here in tampa has seen and what it might do to this city, to clear water, to hillsborough. you've got to keep in mind there's some 700 miles of coastline around tampa bay. it's an extraordinarily beautiful area, and a lot of homes are built-up very, very close to the water. not very raised up, not very high elevation cross the water. so there's a lot of concern. and the mayor's house on davis island, just south of hereby hillsborough bay, he said his

home might be destroyed. if there's a significant storm surge, his home might be swamped. we're going to take a short break, and our coverage continues. (woman) when you have type 2 diabetes, there's a moment of truth.

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number one, there was a crane collapse in downtown miami on biscayne boulevard 300. a crane collapsed, a boon fell down there. there's been pictures of that. we do not know how safe that area is. authorities have warned people not it go anywhere near it. and then,the storm surge. brickell avenue, a lot of people know brickell avenue right now covered in water. they had predicted 3 to 6 feet of storm surge. our chad myers says the number is at 5 1/2. that number has been enough to flood part of the downtown area right now. that part was part of the mandatory evacuation zone. so this is exactly what they feared might happen, exactly what they predicted might happen. all right, right now what i want to do is go down to the florida keys. our bill wier has been down in

the keys for days now. we have not heard from you in a couple of hours. i asked my producer to check on you. give me a sense of what's happening there, bill? >> i appreciate the concern. we were finding a safer spot 3467 we were getting a little worried about where we were. we found a little better bunker on i guess the west side of key largo. this is the top of the keys, the upper keys. what we're really worried about -- meanwhile, the winds here have sustained 60, 70 miles an hour. we're seeing 80 mile an hour gusts. what we're really worried about are the lower keys. >> all right, bill wier in key

largo. i confess, bill, i was having a hard time making out exactly what you're saying. but i take it as good news you're saying anything at all right now. the eye wall did pass the florida keys about 70 miles from where bill is right now, key largo, one of the northern most keys. the eye wall passed much further south from that. now to rosa flores in downtown miami seeing this storm surge fir first-hand. what are you seeing? >> both the storm surge is ponding is what we're seeing here in brickell, which is the financial district. just to give you a lay of the land, i'm right feks next to th publix grocery store. and we're seeing a double punch. first of all, the ocean coming onto land probably about three to four streets from inocean.

the ocean is to my left. we're seeing that come onto land, and then of course the ponding. ponding on these streets because a lot of the debris that's been flying around is now blocking those drains. now, i'm going to pan the camera over here so you can see what it looks like closer to the ocean. this is in the direction of the ocean. we're seeing a lot of that water come in. before we moved to this location, there was a building whose first floor was already taking in that water, the surge. that lower floor where usually it's usually a dock where they park the vehicles taking on water. why because the ocean comes onto land in these types of conditions. we're also seeing wind gusts. we're seeing wind tunnels because this is the downtown area, because there are high rises here. now, we've also seen people who

did not evacuate, even though people were told to evacuate in this area. some of them walking around, others driving around. one of them speeding down the water that was right next to our live position. not recommended according to first responders. now, john, there is a drainage system that is designed to drain water out here. at this hour being tested both by surge and ponding water. john. >> that's right, not to mention all the debris that is clogging those drains right now. rosa, great advice. don't try to drive through the flooded streets. it is the worst thing you can do. you simply cannot tell how deep the water is. if you haven't evacuated and chosen to stay at home, stay inside. especially in the miami area right now, ride out this storm. and if you haven't evacuated, don't try to get home. still too dangerous. the first responders won't even go outright now because the

winds are too strong at this point. hurricane irma battering south florida right now. miami getting the worse of it as we stand here. this storm moving up the west coast. very soon naples next in the target. stay with cnn's special live coverage of hurricane irma. we'll be right back. we were in a german dance group. i wore lederhosen. so i just started poking around on ancestry. then, i decided to have my dna tested through ancestry dna. it turns out i'm scottish. so, i traded in my lederhosen for a kilt. what's going on? oh hey! ♪ that's it? yeah. ♪ everybody two seconds! ♪ "dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance..." through the tuition assistance program, every day mcdonald's helps more people go to college. it's part of our commitment to being america's best first job.

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well, we're dealing with an unfortunate reality here in naples, florida. that's the west coast, the particularly vulnerable coast. places like this already very

low to the water, already spongy, can't take much flood waters, storm surge. and that's exactly what we're going to get. the water's been sucking out. as those winds move counter clockwise, it gives on one side, takes away on the other. so all this water is going to come back and then some. that's the concern here. it has picked up remarkably in the last hour. we're getting gusts here reported 70 miles an hour and in excess. and we're in what we call the snap, crackle and pop phase here in naple. branches, trees, transformers. and you start looking around to figure out where they're coming from so you know where the danger is. there's a lot of trees down here. there's a lot of debris, but we're worried about a higher level of damage. so let's get to chad myers right now. chad, the simple question is what happened? we were expecting this some hours from now. and all of a sudden it's pretty

close to what we're seeing in miami in the maine. i mean it has gotten much worse here, much snottier in a very quick time. >> and expected to almost double from there. i mean that's what this major hurricane means to you, chris. you just had a wind gust of 71. wind gusts may be there at 120. now, the force of 120 is maybe double the force of 70. it is a force that is multiplied by itself. it is wind speed squared. so you really have to expect what's going on there. the water near chris now 4 1/2 feet below where it should be, and it's going to come rushing back as soon as that eye gets by. there goes the eye right through sarasota and tampa, and maybe even up through st. marks, which i was there for ivan.

the second landfall. the first one was just to the east of key west. there is the spin of the storm right there pushing the water away from naples, pushing the water away from tampa. but that will end as soon as the eye goes by. tampa, you still have eight hours or so before the eye goes by. significant rain and stormy weather. that's still going to happen for the next few hours. move you ahead three hours, the storm spins and the naples is in the eye. so chris cuomo will see wind at 120 going from east to west. we'll wait a while and go to zero. and then it'll come from the other direction at about 180 miles an hour. so what's blowing one way will get picked up and knocked around and blow the other way. for sarasota, tampa, same story.

so the wind goes and does its damage, stops and comes back around. even though there's not much wind here, there's still going to be damaging wind speeds at least 90 miles per hour on the backside of that. chris, you have a question. >> yeah, the storm surge, chad, thank you for explaining that exchange of energy and that phenomenon of pulling the water out. but do me a favor, try to quantify what that return will look like in terms of how far it could go from where it usually is in shore. we talking 100 feet in, couple of blocks in? like how far in will people have to look at standing water, and how long can it be around? >> it's all about the topography of where you live. if you're on a very sharp angle to water, it may only come back one or two blocks. but there's no real mountains there, nothing elevated there.

it is going to spread inhand for city blocks and maybe miles before it finally stops. as the storm goes by, the wind changes direction. and this is what the weather service, the national hurricane center has been so concerned about. in fact, they gave us a perjury phone call and said we want you to stress this. yes, this is it. yes, things will get knocked down by the wind, but the surge will kill people. and they want everybody to know that. this is the real deal. 10 to 15 feet on top of what should be mean sea level. which, for chris, it's already 4 feet down because winds blowing the wrong way. this is major event for marco, santa bell, punta gorda, where we were years ago, all the way through fort myers and the like. big time places that are never seen water before. >> there's storm surge, but

depending on the force of the winds there can be waves on top of that, correct the. >> the waves will come in from the ocean off the gulf of mexico at about 100 miles per hour. the backside of the eye never recovered from hitting cuba. and i guess we're going to thank some stars for america, but we're going to have to help cuba, because they got hit by a 160 mile per hour cat 5 that took the stuffing out of this storm. that's why we're not talking 160, we're talking 125. big difference in power, big difference in damage. the northern part of the cuban keys were really destroyed from this storm. taking the energy from irma putting it onto cuba proper and taking that energy damage away from america. it finally moves up to albany and makin' and the like. and we'll have hurricane wind gusts even here in atlanta. i know that seems ridiculous because everybody left and went

to atlanta or charlotte or williamsburg or someplace like that to the north. >> chad, appreciate that. really nice to get that level of detail because that is what people all throughout this region are looking for now, trying to absorb every detail, every data point they can to help make decisions. i want to go to marquez who was there in punta gorda. he was there yesterday as well. it's so interesting to be in tampa and talk about punta gorda. back when hurricane charlie was coming up and supposed to hit tampa, and ended upturning and hitting punta gorda and really decimating that town. what are the concerns there? >> what we're seeing right now, you'll be seeing very shortly. the winds here are about 40 miles per hour. they are sustained. they are gutting up into the 50s. we're seeing some of the worst

weather we've seen so far. it is shelter in place for charlotte county. and they were just talking about the wind effect on the bays and water here. i want to show you this. two boats. you think they're floating. they're not. move in there and these are actually in mud now. you come over to the right here, you can see how much of the bay is actually exposed. and all of that is just low lying water on mud, essentially. and that is flowing across the mud. and all that water is going out. so what goes out, must come back in eventually. and they are expecting things a little bit better here. they're expecting the winds to top out at about 110 miles an hour in punta gorda with gusts up to 135. so a little better than we were yesterday. they're also expecting the storm surge to be a little bit lower. 5 to 8 feet, but they're saying

there could be 3 feet of water, about up to here in certain parts of charlotte county. this is the bay. you get a very good sense of just how powerful this storm is and where it's blowing. look how much of the floor of the river here has been exposed by the wind blowing this storm out. once that eye wall passes here and it starts blowing up the other way, then they'll have that storm surge here and things will get even worse. but right now very sustained winds here, and it's only going to get worse. we're about 40 miles an hour at the moment. it will get up to 90 to 110 miles an hour, gusting up to 135 in this area. so we are now hunkering down for the duration. anderson. >> miguel, we're going to check in with you. be careful out there.

and for people a little bit north of where miguel is in punta gorda and where chris cuomo is in tampa and elsewhere, a lot of that storm surge may be coming in the darkness, late at night, which makes it all the more scary. you don't get a sense of what's coming. it's hard to see what's coming and especially those hurricane force winds whipping at that time of night. we're going to take a short break. and our special coverage continues in a moment.

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our coverage of hurricane irma continues. i'm here in tampa. chris cuomo is in naples. chris, obviously the weather system that you are getting as you were saying it may be moving up here to tampa shortly. it's pretty slow moving at this point. but folks in tampa really have not seen the kind of weather that you're getting right now and obviously have not seen anything close to what people in miami have been experiencing so far, chris. >> well, and as chad explained,

things have changed. i mean we've just been getting so much rain for so long, and then it intensified about an hour ago. literally the weather equipment failed. the jacket i had on it was just -- all it was was extra weight. it it was no longer holding out any moisture. so looking for a little bit of an upgrade, trying to get one of the producers to be generous and make a swap. no takers yet. but what we're seeing here is the gusts are getting close door what they're seeing in miami. and the skern there's a lot more to come here with irma and what will happen with things becoming vulnerable. we've seen some trees and different parts of structures being tested and weakened. so what will happen when the storm surge comes back. and you heard him say, anderson, he believes the effect of the force of the winds in a few hours will be twice of what we're getting now. that's the big concern.

>> yeah, i want to go to miami where peter, a business owner. i'm wondering, a, how are things for you and what you've been see 'ing your area in miami. >> well, anderson, i can tell you rights now in the streets -- and i'm in downtown miami a good thousand feet or 2,000 feet from biscayne bay. on the actual street level it's probably about 2 feet deep or so. it's well past the grill of a traditional automobile. and in terms of the winds, you're getting bursts. and a lot of there trees are bending and have been bending for quite some time. >> the location you're in, is it a new construction? because one of the things we've been talking about is in the wake of andrew, building codes were really upgraded

particularly for any new construction in south florida. >> it is a brand new building. it was constructed in 2013, came online. a developer had the foresight to go forward and actually build it. so it's almost as if you're starting from the second floor. for the most part for visitors you're going to be on that second floor. so i think what you're going to see in the keys effectively that ground floor is dedicated towards parking. and they also put in place some pretty strong stringent glass panes. and so far they seem to be holding up, but i'm not sure if it'll continue. but i'm here. >> and people have been told to have three days' worth. i assume you've stocked up? >> fortunately, i went vegetarian and have a lot of

beans and rice. i tend to cook that up, throw spice in there. i'm worried about, probably, gaining weight. >> well, if that's your only concern you're in very good shape. obviously, here in tampa, which has not seen this level of storm in nearly 100 years. 1921, the storm which decimated this area. obviously the city back then wasn't klaus to the development we've seen now, but there's real concern about the buildings, their ability to deal with the level of flooding that may occur here. peter, appreciate talking to you in miami. certainly wish you the best in the days ahead. our coverage continues from points all across southern florida, from the west coast to the east coast. we're going to take a short break and we'll be right back. tech: when you schedule with safelite autoglass, you get time for more life. this family wanted to keep the game going. son: hey mom, one more game? tech: with safelite, you get a text when we're on our way.

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returning to our coverage of hurricane irma. i'm chris christie in naples, florida, on the western coast. one of the areas of particular vulnerability that became a big concern when the storm path shifted. we also have anderson cooper, who's up closer to tampa bay. that area. it has never seen a storm of the magnitude that might come that way. john berman in miami. dave been getting hit consistently for hours and cnn people are everywhere the storm has been, is now and will go. one of the big concerns about the west coast here is about the energy exchange of irma. she is a huge storm, and the way that the storm works in basic fashion is the winds are moving

counterclockwise. i want to bring in randi kaye. because as the storm gives storm surge on one side it's sucking energy from the other side. we're seeing the water move away from places like naples and tampa bay, but that water's coming back and when it does it's going to multiply and have power behind it, that's where the fear of storm surge comes in. randi, what are you seeing up there? >> reporter: chris, hello to you. we are on bay shore boulevard here in tampa where the rain is coming down. let me pan off me and take a look. the situation, where a lot of folks have been playing in the mud, because the water has receded. you could probably hear police trying to keep people out of here all day as the storm starts to make its way in, but you're looking at 700 miles of beautiful shoreline here in tampa. and now with such a low tide and the water is being pulled out to sea before the storm actually hits, people have sort of been going out there in the mud and

taking selfies, lots of pictures of themselves, including these two folks i'm xroined by here. this is brian and felix. you were out there. what made you go out there today? >> well, i mean, this is kind of a once in a lifetime event. the last time a hurricane of this size came through tampa, i wasn't even born yet, not even a twinkle in somebody's eye at that point. >> reporter: what was it like out there? >> muddy. kind of smells like the bay, but otherwise, everything is really calm. >> reporter: were you nervous out there? >> no. i really wasn't. it's just the wind. some, picked up and then we kind of had to get out of there, because the rain was starting to sting a little bit. >> reporter: felix, how old are you? >> 10. >> reporter: are you concerned about the hurricane? you've certainly never lived through a hurricane this size? >> no. never a hurricane this size, but with my mom, i'm not too concerned about it. >> reporter: a good protector? >> yes. >> reporter: what about your dog? your dog simba. >> that's not my dog.

>> reporter: that's not your dog. he's your dog? >> yeah. >> reporter: riding it out with you. you're going to be okay where you are? >> we're at much higher ground. in between flood zone c and d and not under evacuation odor es but decided to come down and take a look. >> reporter: and anderson, back to you. >> randi, interesting that you're down by the bay. i want to show you the hillsborough river where we are along the riv per walk. watching the last couple hours. talk about the water in tampa bay sushged out. hillsborough river is draining into the bay connected obviously to tampa bay. the last several hours we've watched the water go down and pointing out that sandy bank across the river. you couldn't see that when we first got here. again, importantly, as chad myers has been talking about all of this water will come back in

here. coming back in fast. probably in the late-night hours. even after some of the worst winds may have gone through. i want to go to alex marquardt, 50 miles south in sarasota. alex, how are things there? >> reporter: anderson, the wind and rains have started up, you can see. this pales in comparison to what we'll see in the next few hours. winds around 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. told by officials. in about three hours go up to 75 to 95 miles an hour, gusts up to 115 miles an hour. the message from local officials is shelter in place. they have been heeding instructions. people here, residents of sarasota, have been heeding instructions of local officials to either stay in place, hunker down at their homes if they feel comfortable or get to shelters. there are ten shelters in sarasota county. some 16,000 people have gone to find shelter. we are here. one of them now. this is brookside middle school

and unlike some of the other shelters we've seen, we saw drew grichen in ft. myers. this is a school. people are sheltering in bla classrooms run by the red cross. classrooms for elderly and 350 dogs and cats are here at brookside who have gotten their own rooms. one of the main reasons a lot of the families come here. we just met the brady steve and lori with pups stella and monty. >> you got it. >> reporter: how are you doing? >> doing well right now. >> reporter: you live not far away and not in an evacuation but still decided to come to the shelter? >> honestly, we got here at 7:30 yesterday morning. we hadn't really heard of sarasota as a full evacuation area in sarasota or not. but we got here, because we just wanted to make sure we were going to be as safe as possible. >> reporter: the evacuation area in