the hurricane force winds around category 1, maybe category 2, if it goes significantly over 100 miles an hour, those we can expect to start feeling in about an hour, anderson. >> all right, we want to check in with tom sater soon because we want to get a sense, the last time we talked to him that eye, the eye wall had started to break up, which obviously starting to dissipate a little bit. obviously though, that is, does not mean people in any way are out of the woods. it just means the storm is sort of spreading out a little bit. tom wasn't sure exactly the direction this was going to go. could go back over the water, try to reform a little bit. ryan young is in clearwater again, just west of us here in the bay area. ryan, you've been getting a lot of winds and a lot of that sideways rain. >> reporter: yes, definitely a lot of wind and sideways rain. we're trying to kind of stand under an awning at this point to give us some cover but you can

feel the wind and the power this that it has. when it first started we were below 20 miles per hour and now the gusts have been pretty strong. we've seen some signs get ripped off of the billboards, we've actually seen some loose trash cans going down the street. this sideways wind is very powerful, and in fact, depending on where i stand, you can see how it increases based upon whether or not i have anything blocking me as the wind comes this direction. so this is the real concern at this point, because you have above land power lines and those can snap at any moment. we've heard transformers exploding just like you guys have at your site. so many people were trying to make that critical decision whether or not they were going to leave their homes, and i could understand this. look, even in my own family, people did not want to leave their homes in south florida. this is the place where they have either grown up or they've spent their entire lives so they wanted to hunker down. since our last live shot i got a call from my parents who i haven't been able to reach in miami, they were able to get

through the storm on the miami side so that's a sigh of relief, that's what people are dealing with in terms of not wanting to leave these areas that they've spent a lifetime in. when we went to some of the neighborhoods trailer park home, people were talking about the idea no matter what, they did not want to leave their homes. >> and i think for so many people, where you are in clearwater here in tampa, st. petersburg all along the west coast there was such a shock yesterday when they woke up to find that the storm had moved west, a lot of people here in the west coast thinking this was going to be mostly an eastern storm, an east coast phenomenon that they were going to get the hardest hit. when that storm moved the game changed for them, and a lot of people who had planned to just stick it out, ride out the storm yesterday started trying to get to shelters and even today starting to try to get to shelters. there's an awful lot of people who thought they were going to ride it out. they either are now in shelters thankfully or they have driven

out of this area and authorities said look you don't have to go to another state, you just need to get to a place that has a higher elevation as we've been talking about and clearwater and tampa and st. petersburg, 700 miles of coastline around tampa bay, just the exposure, the number of houses that are built so close to the water, along those 700 miles of tampa bay, that is the huge concern with storm surge tonight. do you have a sense of what the shelter situation is in clearwater? how many they were able to set up? did a lot of people end up going to shelters? >> reporter: well you know what? that is a great question. as we bounced around today we dealt with more of the homes so we didn't get into the shelters. we talked to some of the emergency managers and they were dealing with downed trees, hadn't had any major calls. we didn't make it to the shelters on this side. we is it experience some in tampa and saw some of them filling up with people actually from miami. if you can imagine people coming up from the south from the keys

coming to this area and all of a sudden back within this wall of the storm they thought they were escaping but put themselves back in it. people were questioning whether or not they should have moved from the south. the only reason why i am standing in this direction i'm trying to keep the wind out of my face but the gusts keep getting stronger and stronger and that conversation about whether people should shelter or stay at home has been a big ongoing conversation. so far we haven't heard of any major incidents in this area, not only st. pete but in the clearwater area as well. >> ryan, just hang on a minute. cause i want to stay with you but i do want to give you a heads up. i'm going to tom sater soon to get a sense of where the storm is. also i'm going to be asking tom and i want to give him preparation if he's able to do is to zero in on the clearwater area and tampa area and this whole area to give a sense of where things are right now just to kind of give the bird's-eye view of what ryan is experience.

ryan what area of clearwater are you in right now? >> reporter: we're clearwater on one of the main roads here, we moved before and i want to make sure i say the right name here. one of the things, hold on, sir, tell me once again, where are we exactly? i want to make sure. say that again? come forward for me. this is actually the owner where we are right now. so i know this is an evacuation zone. tell us where we are now? >> armitage road. >> have you experienced a storm like this? >> no, first time. first time. >> a little nerve us? >> yes, a lot nervous. >> reporter: you let most of your employees go home but this is a concrete building so you felt pretty safe. >> that's true. >> reporter: what is the next step, did you do anything to your home? >> i live in a condominium, daytona beach so i'm pretty much safe there. >> reporter: you're safe there. give me an idea of what it's like. you have some emergency

services, people here. what worries you about this storm in i know you talked to a lot of people in the area. >> the way it looks is a lot better than what we thought can would be from cat 5 to cat 2. i'm keeping fingers crossed hopeful he will we'll be in better shape. >> reporter: thank you for walking over, thank you. there you go, anderson. right on the spot right there. we've been moving around all day long so we've been between tampa, st. pete and now clearwater to experience this one and there you heard the owner of the hotel that we're at, who is kind of explaining the idea that they didn't think this was coming and now that it's here, they're definitely sort of waiting to see what happens. some people thought it was going to be flooding. they have the sand bags ready to go. luckily so far, even though we are in an evacuation zone we haven't had the need for sandbags, haven't dealt with any water but the winds, that is something that has a one-two punch that you can't get ready for because it comes with a left and a right. >> i want to bring in tom sater. tom, if if you could, just give us overview of where the storm

is and also if you could kind of what people in clearwater and tampa are experiencing now and what is going to, how it compares to what they should expect in the hours ahead. >> well, obviously if you look at the infrared satellite imagery the bright red colors are the colder higher cloud tops. on the northwestern flank, tampa, st. pete you're looking at the riged, the band of thunderstorms. people am the emergency services said we're going to hunker down, not going out right now. little surge in the northwestern quadrant. last time i was with you, some things have changed. maybe we demand more are ourselves but the last hit with you, i was like where is this thing going? it's starting to play some games with us. now we've been following this since the 31st of august, and the model's handled it pretty well getting it down to cuba. we said once it moves north then we'll know where landfall is. that's why we're playing the game of east coast/west coast. first of all, new numbers have

come in, the systems dropped a little bit more to 105 sustained winds, gusts are still 130 and those hurricane force winds still extend outward a good 80 miles so there is still some force to be reckoned with here. but again, when you look at the radar, and here is the problem, i talked about the eye is closing up, we're seeing more of a rain shaft now, and now there is still a center that you can mark and track, but we're now seeing, in fact this is what was confusing in the last hit i was with you because we're still watching the national hurricane force forecast track which wants to take it toward tampa. we've been watching that northern northwesterly track. the center, however, anderson, is deviating now to the east. that's a little bit of a concern now. it takes maybe more of the threshold of high winds away from tampa, but slides it toward orlando, lake county, orange county, so again we're a little stumped with this. it is moving due north and at 14, so we've got a good speed

here. now where brian todd was talking about earlier and i want to show you the east coast. this is what's interesting. you've seen the video, transformers blowing. south of sebastian, north of west palm, the st. lucie nuclear power plant had a wind gust of 99 miles an hour. that's quite some distance from the center. that is that onshore flow that continues to be quite strong in the feeder bands as we watched them come in from the atlantic and sweep around so again, they're the same bands that plowed into the south, and were feeding of course all that rainfall up in biscayne bay and parts of miami and making their way northward. it's been raining some time up in jacksonville and we talked about that, it's been raining there from yesterday. we have a few inches on the ground, not the heavier amounts to the south. with the eye now starting to deviate to the east it's going to be one of those games again that we've been playing with for the last couple of days so we have to wait for the new track that will be issued a little bit later. we're still going to watch the heavy bands of rain moving into

melbourne, up toward orlando. there will still be tornado watches and warnings. this is the problem though anderson, where does it go and how can we effectively let everyone know what kind of wind gusts they're going to have? still a category 2, moving northward, deviating east on the back edge, still getting that of course that surge coming in, wraparounding the system. the computer models have not handled this movement to the east. these modeled still want to carry it north-northwestward. that's what's confuse being this entire idea. >> the new numbers will be coming out later. what does a little bit later mean? >> sorry, anderson, say that again? >> you said these new numbers the new track is going to come out a little bit later. do you have a sense of when exactly that will come? a lot of people would like to know when? >> probably around 11:00 p.m. eastern time. we'd like to get more before that but until then we have to watch the updated numbers and see how the system is moving,

north at 14 is a good clip. for a long time it was 6, 7 miles per hour but it's been sustaining pretty good speed. >> right. >> this is day 19 of hurricane forecasting. we've had two hurricanes now, anderson, that have made landfall in the u.s., as a category 4, it's the first time in our history to have two category 4s make landfall in one year. first time, and that's not june and november. these two landfalls have been within 16 days. so there's a lot going on, there's a lot of people suffering but the goodwill of people has been coming out and we can't stop now. we're going to need it in florida because with the power outages and the damage is still to come it will unfold. >> tom, in a minute i'm going to go to drew griffin in ft. myers. i don't know if you have access to that location, but can you give me a sense of just from your vantage point from the radar what it's looking like in ft. myers and the hours ahead? has the worst passed for ft.

myers? >> we're about 20, 25 miles now northeast, so that's some good news as it continues to kick up they're still on the back edge and we are looking at surge coming in from around the west. if it continues to deviate eastward those winds will lighten up somewhat. i think the forecast from the national hurricane center on their storm surge prediction and the inundation is still spot-on but again the winds on the south side, anderson, are going to blow maybe 75 to 85, possibly a gust at 90, but they're not going to be what we're still seeing on that north and northeastern front where we're seeing some brighter colors here. again, that is our concern, and always has been, that front right quadrant, significantly less back behind it on the southern end and toward the southeast. >> and just so i'm clear, tom, because i can't see the image that you're showing our viewers that northeast quadrant that front right quadrant which is always the most of concern, you're saying that's moving eastward a little bit, possibly more toward orlando than it is

toward tampa, is that correct? >> that's correct, anderson. the entire center of the storm even though we've lost the eye the center instead of making its way north-northwestward toward tament pa we believe it's deviating to the east, lake county closer toward orlando. it doesn't mean tampa is out of the dangerous wind gusts because the system is so broad and they extend outward but it is going to throw a wrench in the wheel for the next several hours, maybe into tomorrow morning. so that's our concern and that's what we're trying to grapple with right now. >> and that also means there's still of course the issue of storm surge for tampa no matter which way this storm goes, correct? all this water has been going out for the last ten hours or so. it's got to come back in. >> absolutely. but if you get the center farther away from tampa, even though it's a broad storm with that eye closer to the coast, you would have a much stronger force of winds wrapping around that eye, shoving that water up into the bay, if we can slide it to the east and break down its

strength somewhat that force wrapping around the eye of the storm isn't as great but you're still going to have a surge no matter what and it's still completely dangerous. it's almost splitting hairs at this point. it's just trying to get a handle on where this thing is going and how much longer it will contain this strength. anderson? >> all right, tom, thank you. i appreciate that detail. i want to go to drew griffin in ft. myers. drew, i don't know if you were able to hear tom giving a sense of where you're at in relation to the rest of the storm, what lies ahead. how are things, what are you seeing? >> reporter: it matches perfectly, we're getting the strong gusts and this storm is playing games with us. we are wrapping ourselves around the building to different vantage points as the storm comes through. now the wind is kind of coming almost from the south-southwest, anderson. it is less in volume but we're getting darned strong gusts. i would say at times they are still nearing hurricane strength, but significantly less

than they were. the other thing that has happened here is lee county, which is the county i'm in, they just issued a downgraded storm surge alert, anderson. there's still going to be a storm surge but they have downfwrdow downgraded the areas, the zones where they believe that storm surge will be greatest so all of this is good news, matches what tom is saying about the collapse or the disappearance of this strong eye and the movement towards the east. some bad news, well, some sort of bad news, that big shelter that we had been reporting on for two days now apparently experienced some roof damage. it's been hard to get information out of there, but there are leaks in the germane center arena. the sheriff's office had a facebook post that said look, the roof has some leaks. it's structurally sound, there is nothing to worry about but they are having to deal with not only being crammed in an arena but there is water coming through the roof.

i think the worst of the rain is over here, so that will help, and as soon as we can get over to that arena, it might not be 'til tomorrow morning, we'll check it out, but structurally sound. people need to know there was some roof damage and there is a leak apparently in the germane center arena. anderson, as the wind howls again, i will toss it back to you. >> all right, drew, thanks very much. uncertainty, that is really i guess the buzzword right now, you heard from tom sater in his words the storm is playing tricks right now, possibly moving more in the area northeastern area in direction toward orlando, less to tampa. nobody is out of the woods. we're going to talk to reporters who are on the east coast of course. we'll take a short break and be right back. can i get some help. watch his head. ♪

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welcome back to continuing coverage of hurricane irma. we have reporters throughout florida as the storm is, well in the word of tom sater playing tricks. new update at the 11:00 hour and we want to get that information as quickly as possible because it's not clear exactly what this storm is doing or exactly where it's going to go. it is going a little bit more to the east according to tom sater which would make it more toward orlando, direction of orlando than in the direction of tampa. no place though certainly out of the woods, a storm surge still

obviously the big concern here in tampa, in clearwater, where ryan young has been reporting, but i want to go to brian todd in west palm beach where i think a lot of people felt like the east coast given this was predominantly a west coast storm would at this point be seen a lot reduced winds and rain but you're still getting hit. >> reporter: we're getting very hard. moments ago we saw another transformer blow to my left, to your right, a large kind of blue concussive blast that reflected on the sky, strange thing to watch and you hear kind of an explosion, so these are things that we have to keep our eye on because we're in the middle of a neighborhood where three of these transformers have now blown up. so again, now that the night sky has descended upon us and we're in darkness with the power out, this is our own light that we set up, reflecting on me but the power is out, and it's getting to be pitch black around here,

with the debris still flying and i don't know if you saw that, but there was another blue kind of concussive blast just over my left shoulder. you might have been able to see that briefly so again, looks like more transformers are exploding here in balm beach. you know, you talked about the strange nature of the storm and not being able to predict where it's going, that's been the case here for more than eight hours because we've been in intense hurricane force winds for eight hours as we've been in kind what have they call the dirty side of the storm, with the regrouping of the energy pushing it in a circular way and pushing it straight into palm beach, the actual wind gusts here have turned circular in recent hours so that's been another kind of dangerous aspect here with debris flying and some of it is not, these are not light objects that are flying around. so anderson, they are certainly not out of danger here in palm beach and they might have expected to be by now but they are certainly not. we are told that again, tornadic activity is a threat here. it's been a threat all day and actually been a threat here

since last night. we've had water spouts in the intercoastal waterway just feet away from where i'm standing and tornadoes kind of developing and then fizzling out to the north, to the west and to the south of us, so this area i think they're just taking a hit here that they may not have expected, at least they didn't expect it to be sustained for this long, anderson. >> we're going to check back. we have a contact with rosa floor necessary downtown miami, where some of the imams from miami earlier today seeing the water on the streets on brickell just amazing. what is it like now compared to what you were seeing earlier? >> reporter: anner itson, a few hours ago we couldn't come and be live at this position because the wind tunnels were so strong. there was so much debris flying in the air that we couldn't be here. we actually had to be live a few

blocks down, but take a look. there is still flooding. there is still ponding here. i'm probably about one or two streets from the ocean. there was a three and a half foot surge that came in, that brushed into brickellwhich is the heart of the financial district. more international banks in a few blocks than you can count. look behind me, you can see there is still flooding, there's been a few brave souls attempting to get through this water but walking and in their vehicles and it is not recommended by first responders and city officials. now, there is some power, if you take a look around me, there is some power, some buildings with power but we have seen fp&l personnel coming into some of these buildings to try to restore power because we do knkw that hundreds of thousands of people in miami without power tonight. miami didn't get the brunt of

irma, but it's still created a lot of chaos. we saw wind tunnels here in downtown, a broken crane, flooding, surge, and you can still see some of that flooding now. anderson? >> and just on the streets, how easy or difficult is it for you for crews and for most importantly for first responders to get around, just how much debris is there in the streets? >> reporter: you know there's a lot of debris. there are big trees that cross several streets. the one that's actually behind us is completely blocked to my left. there are also drains that are completely clogged because of all of the debris that has been flying around and that these wind tunnels have been creating, and now as i mentioned before, one of the other big concerns are those cranes. there are more than 20 cranes that dot the skyline of miami, at least two of them have already snapped.

we monitored multiple during our coverage today, and you could see them swing, you could see them sway. that's another big concern as first responders start coming out and assessing some of the damage and trying to, and as they try to get to these streets into people's homes to try to restore power and also to try to figure out if everyone is safe. we've seen a few crews tonight, anderson, but we do know there is a curfew starting at 7:00 p.m. tonight through 7:00 a.m., but of course, first responders are waived from that curfew, as they try to assess some of the damage. anderson? >> yes, thanks so much for that, rosa. we'll continue to check in with you. i want to go to miguel marquez in punta gorda, showing us the water being sucked out by the counterclockwise movement of the storm, that phenomena which is so strange and extraordinary to see. you're in a different location. where are you and what's it like?

>> reporter: we moved to a different location because one it was dark and two we weren't sure when the storm surge would come. we are athey the worst in punta gorda. they are expecting 110-mile-per-hour winds at this time in punta gorda until we get to the eye and things change course. it is completely dark here. one building down the street that clearly has a generator on, but all the water you see standing in front of us is just the rain water, what we're expecting still is that surge. they're saying five to eight feet, they may have as much as three feet of standing water in some parts of town. it is not clear it's going to be that bad. for all of the concern about this storm and while it is terrible to be in it right now and people are taking great precaution, it does not appear at this point to be hitting to the degree they thought it might. the winds have pretty much leveled off, they filled maybe

60, 70 miles per hour. it is not clear they'll get to the 100, 110-mile-per-hour winds the emergency operations folks were expecting. anderson? >> which is certainly good news but still 110 miles, 100 miles an hour winds, 90, 80-mile-an-hour winds can do a lot of damage and that storm surge seems to be the biggest concern at this point. >> reporter: oh yeah. >> for to you move around, is there debris in the streets or are things pretty clear? >> reporter: there is not a lot of debris in the streets. the one thing about being in punta gorda is that it was hit so hard during charley and just mosque as i said we weren't getting a lot of big wind. we get one of the biggest gusts we have in some time, probably in the 70-mile-an-hour range. because charley swept through here and nearly wiped this place off the map, there are a lot of sort of empty lots and you can see where buildings used to stand in town. they have rebuilt quite a bit.

the building they have built are in better shape. so it's sort of a city reborn, but you don't have the large number of trees and other things. we were in a park in a newer park built in the last ten years and many of those trees have been uprooted and fallen over but you could see the younger root balls of the trees were not fully established and that seems to be the biggest problem. anderson? >> miguel marquez, thanks very much. be careful, again, we're going to continue to check in with you in the hours ahead. the headline right now is this storm is playing games, unclear exactly the status of it exactly the direction that it is moving. tom is saying it's moving north-northeast in a more easterly direction, which would certainly be some better news for areas like tampa, which had been expecting to be on the worst side of this storm. obviously storm surge like in

punta gorda here in tampa is a big issue but again the uncertainty is frankly frightening at this point. we'd like to have a better handle on exactly the formation of this storm and exactly the movement of this storm. as tom said it is moving at a good clip. i think he said it was in the 12 to 14-mile-an-hour range. yesterday it was about 8 miles an hour, 6 to 8 miles an hour, very slow moving. the fact that it's moving quicker is also certainly good news, but that uncertainty, that is the headline right now, and the concern. we're going to take another break. more ahead. w super stay matte ink lip color from maybelline new york. liquid matte formula. up to 16hr wear. ink with attitude maybelline's matte ink. make it happen ♪ maybelline new york make it happen stay with me, mr. parker. when a critical patient is far from the hospital, the hospital must come to the patient.

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welcome back to our continuing coverage of hurricane irma live in tampa, where the headline that we heard from tom sater a short time ago is just that this storm is in his words playing tricks with us, unclear it seems to be moving a little

bit more to the east than had been expected, not going to get an official update until about the 11:00 hour. we're going to bring that to you live. what's so disconcerting for people watching this from inside their homes is just in this darkness it's hard to tell what is happening outside. you can see even figuring out which way the wind is blowing or the rain is coming from it just keeps swirling around. you can see in the light there and thankfully there's still electricity in the area but you can see right now it seems to be falling down but as the wind pushes around oftentimes it's just swirling and ryan young who is standing by due west of me in clearwater you've been experiencing the same thing, i think you're over by near the airport and it seems like you've been getting hit in all directions. >> reporter: we're south of the airport. i can see the runway over there. i wish i could look back that way, i can't. when we were standing here before it was sideways, east to west,ed win was moving.

now it is swirling all around us and of course it is dark in most places so what you're really seeing here is the wind whipping us around. my photographer is standing next to a concrete post, why he's able to stand straight up to get this shot but sometimes you stand with a wide base and the wind whips through you and the other times it comes back and circulates around you. we've been talking to folks first responders who are here at the hotel where we're staying and they talked about the idea that this does not translate very well on television, when they walk outside and see the force of the wind, how quickly things are moving, the debris that's flying by us they get a different sense of how powerful things are. i don't know how that's translating across the television screen but i can tell you it is hard to turn your body in the direction of the wind at any point because not only are you getting hit with the needles of rain but it's that wind gust that sometimes will lift you off your feet, that's why you have the wide base. the good news is the power is

still on and we have seen transformers blowing but not, the power has not gone out. some street lights dangling. hear this wind giving me a run for my money but the whole idea is we haven't seen any major damage so far and making the phone calls around there have been no reports of major damage but with this wind consistently blowing like this, roof tiles, furniture that's in people's yards that is loose those can become projectiles. watch out during the hours because you don't know what could be coming at you if it's in the dark. anderson? >> yes, and as you said, the fact that you have power just as in tampa here, still power that is certainly a blessing for the people here, 3 million people without power right now in florida according to officials, and you talk about the transformers. we've just seen the third one here light up as well, that

eerie blue light which is surreal in the midst of this darkness. as you were going around, are you seeing anybody outside -- you were talking to somebody a little bit earlier, most people obviously though are still staying inside are still hunkered down. >> reporter: this is the good news here. when it was 20-mile-per-hour wind gust people driving around looking trying to see what we were up to. when the wind gusts got around 40, 45 45 milmiles per hour we everyone disappear. there's no reason to be out here. you could see how strong the wind gusts are in this area. in fact we've been watching a few signs in the distance over here, whether or not they'll be completely ripped off and there's a billboard above my head that's been popping. we've heard that noise of the billboard popping back and forth so it's got a little give in it, but you don't know when it's going to give in, as you can see how the wind gusts keep giving

enough of a push. it almost feels like you're on the motorcycle going as fast as you can with the jacket blowing but it doesn't stop and you add the rain it's just amazing with the power that it has at this point, anderson. >> and it's so interesting, how you know, the bands of this storm kind of push you back for a little bit and then they'll dissipate and you kind of feel like oh, it's going to be calm for a while and then another one just comes along and the wind keeps switching the droek itire it's coming from, at times horizontal, not as much in naples, florida, earlier when chris and ed lavandera were on the air, just the sheets of water. bring gingrass is in orlando. tom sater says the storm confusing as it is moving a little more to the east, perhaps more in the direction of orlando. certainly what might be good news for people in tampa, is bad news potentially for people in

orlando. bri brynn what are conditions there like and for anybody here in orlando about the movement of the storm there's the go to be more concern. >> reporter: absolutely anderson. we're in the middle of the state, not by a coast but that doesn't make us immune. we are getting smacked with wind gusts right now and tons of rain. officials tell me they don't expect the worst of this storm a or the worst to begin until midnight. we're several hours away but already seeing a lot happening in orlando. we have been hearing what ryan was saying as far as the transformers blowing, that blue light lighting up the sky further behind us, an emergency vehicle rushing that direction and sometimes we're actually hearing this sound like a car crash, if you can believe it and these guys are running, which is insane to me, but we hear the sound of a car crash and what that is, you can see these sort of globes, the glass globes that

are around the street lamps, those are coming crashing down onto the street so that is just a big globe of glass, just crashing, and we've heard it several times tonight, especially when i left, where it's really wind tunnels through downtown orlando. i was going to say i haven't seen many people out but of course i just saw those people running, and it's terrifying because there are moments when we're getting this major wind gusts and right over here to my right is actually a construction site, and as someone described to me, just one loose nail in a major wind gust, that could be like a bullet. it's dangerous to be near any area at this point. we're also seeing emergency vehicles actually going toward the transformer, power and lights. we think we're responding to things. wind gusts are 65 miles per hour or over they're going to stop. right now seems like they're

pretty i up there. >> brandon appreciate that, be careful. we'll take a short break our coverage continues, not only here from the west but also from the east, and points in between as this storm seems to be moving somewhat eastward. we'll get more updates from our meteorologist from the weather center ahead. hello, discover card. hi. can you tell me about these new social security alerts i keep hearing about? sure, just sign up online. then we'll alert you if we find your social security number on any one of thousands of risky websites. wow. that's cool. how much is it? oh, it's free if you have a discover card.

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the worse is yet to come in clearwater which is just west of where we are in tampa and a lot ahead in the hours. i'm with the chief of police brian during an in tampa. in terms of what you're seeing obviously this is bad but getting worse. >> reporter: it's difficult to pull officers off the streets? >> i was out on the streets with my people and i made the decision to call them off the street and i can tell you, it's probably the hardest decision i made in 28 years of law enforcement. it's against the grain of the cops to cut and run and we're staging now and going to hope that the storm passes and

protect people. right now we're pulling people off the street. >> reporter: there are power outages here. >> i've seen firsthand out in our neighborhoods we're having some power outages and you know it's sporadic, occasionally a transformer blow. >> reporter: i've seen three. >> i've seen one so there's some issued and we're ready to go and we'll see how long this goes for. >> reporter: are you concerned most about storm surge? >> i'm worried about the storm surge with the wind, some structural damage. i'm also worried about the stup stupidity of people and what they'll do. >> reporter: criminality or people going to check out the storm? >> that we have people that want to go out there and see it which is stupid. you put yourselves in danger and the first responders' lives in danger and any criminal el eeme

out there. we're ready to respond to anybody who thinks they'll take advantage of another person. >> your message to people in tampa is what? >> stay inside, stay safe, be compassionate, look out for each other and if you need us when the storm passes we're going to be there for you. >> reporter: chief i wish you the best to you and all your officers. thank you very much. i want to go to sara sidnor on the east in daytona beach. confusing situation, sara, how is it where you are? there are stepped winds there are stronger. an derson i can't see you. >> yes, sorry, it was just one of those again probably the fourth transformer, this one was clearly closer because i don't know if we caught it on camera but really lit up the sky and kind of that eerie white blue

light which is so distincttive, anybody who covered hurricanes has seen repeatedly. you don't hear a sound of an explosion but it just is that light. >> reporter: you had me worried. i'm glad you're okay. when it comes to power lines trees fall, transformers blow. what is important to tell you though is that there are 16,000 and that's from one company alone, the most workmen they have ever sent out to do the work after the hurricane hits, after these winds die down. 16,000 people from florida power and light alone many staying in this hotel including those who trim those trees and get to the power lines which is dangerous for the population. a-1a in daytona beach, you're right at the beach you cannot see it, it has gotten quite dark but the surf is ferocious. there is a ton of wind and these

aren't just gusts. it is sustained at this point that we're seeing. it hasn't been this bad for much of the time. everyone else is getting hit. now daytona beach is feeling it. i want to mention to you how far away we are and have been from the eye, we're about 225 miles from any semblance of an eye that is left for this hurricane that is now at a category 2, and yet it is so powerful, and so big that all the way on the other coast here on the east coast way up on the coast we are still feeling these intense winds. i also want to mention there are 500 or so people in daytona beach that have been in shelters and they are safe right now in shelters. we have heard and a half injuries and no deaths here in this county so far. this is very a county a lot of people have moved into, it has become very popular here to move this area. it is inexpensive when it comes to living and a lot of folks like to hang out on the beach. we know of people who said they are staying put, the same gentleman we talked to you

during hurricane matthew, he said he is staying put. he has boarded up, so has everyone up and down the beach, but a lot of people did stay here but this were quite a few that left because it was very, very, very quiet until all of these folks, these contractors came in from to work for florida power and light. there is a sea of all different kinds of trucks to fix the power lines sitting outside the daytona speedway where they hope the daytona 500 is held. we're talking about what could be weeks, weeks until some people get power, if this storm hits especially tampa bay hard, and so they said look, sometimes it will be days but it could be weeks. anderson? >> sara, appreciate that. sara was saying no reports of fatalities in that area, that is certainly great news. we do have information now that the official death toll so far from the entirety of this storm, not just here in florida, but in the caribbean obviously and all

the points that it has hit all the islands, barbuda, the other places, st. martin, st. bart's, 26 is the official death toll. there was reporting earlier two officers lost their lives in some sort of traffic accident or trying to get more information. we're going to take a short break. our coverage continue here's as another gust of wind and band of the storm is hitting in the tampa area and hitting in the clearwater area. we'll be. right back. (cat 1) whoa, gravy! (cat 2) you mean extra gravy! (cat 1) what?! (cat 2) that's new friskies extra gravy-chunky! (cat 1) chunky gravy purr-adise! (cat 2) purr-adise? really? (vo) feed their fantasy. friskies. blue moon is a well-crafted belgian style wheat beer brewed with valencia orange peel for a refreshing taste that shines brighter.

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welcome back to tampa. we were talking about an increase in the last minute or so or so of that wind and the rain. how fast this wind is moving and the sheets of rain. which has been way lower. maybe ten feet lower than it was this morning when we started

broadcasting. i think it was around 10:00 a.m. we started. the water has gone down a lot. you just pushed that water over there. sheets of rain are skimming across the water. it's a surreal image in the midst of the darkness to see that. if you're getting knocked over by wind in an area like this. some of the buildings are blocking the wind. that rain is coming in sheets. you see it swirling all around you in the air. almost like a vortex in the wind made of rain. it's kind of a stunning sight. we said the death toll has

raised to 26. that's the death toll we know of for the island. so mf of those islands have been decima decimated. he is in clearwater just west of here. in this darkness it's so dangerous out there for people. it is a surreal feeling to be in the dark and not know what is coming at you. >> that's an kplept point. you talked about the idea of being in a vortex. we're under a large concrete overhang. they make sure that the camera is protected and safe because sometimes it acts like a sail

and picks them off the feet. but this is how it has been changing. the wind is pushing almost in a. different direction than the last time we have seen you. that's what happens when you think about projectiles. it's very dangerous. with how fast the rain is coming in. we started out in the location this morning. we didn't experience this kind of rain moving through the area. it was drawn out by the hurricane. we're seeing this push of water in our direction.

that could be a big issue. they do such a great job on the roads. >> it picks up like this and pushes up the good news as we looked at the roof toop chs to. across the street we have seen some tiles rip off the sheer. that's probably not going to do much. or shutters. it's just a straight pounding. as it gets later and later, just

the continuation and the constant rain all throughout the day whether it be a light rain and winds and it would die down and people would walk around. but now it is relentless. it's coming up for the latest on the storm as we await that 11:00 update. there's so much uncertainty about the direction of the storm. let's take another short brack and our coverage continues.

in each of these cities and towns that we have correspondents, the situation can change. we're really just trying to hopscotch around on the west coast and east coast and even now into orlando, which we have been hearing may be getting more of the storm than they anticipated. i want to go back to alex who is south of here. just looking around.

you hear something, a snap or gate shut and just look around. you want to be careful. >> we're entering the most dangerous person for sarasota right now. we're expecting the winds are going to peak around 10:00 p.m. eastern time. the 2:00 a.m. eastern time we are seeing a steady continuation of the conditions out here. wave after wave of wind and rain. it's gets worse by the minute. it's strange to think this is the best conditions that we are going to feel physical 2:00 a.m. in the morning. let me give you a sense of what we're seeing. it's an eerie scene. everyone is is