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our breaking news coverage of hurricane idalia continues. moments ago, a new forecast just dropped. the now category 1 storm continues to lash florida with dangerous 90-mile-per-hour winds. and it sets its sights on georgia and the carolinas. >> we have new images of the widespread just utter devastation as the storm surge keeps rising. people carrying their belongings through waist deep water, cars submerged as the threat from the rising tide remains life-threatening according to officials. right now, boats and canoes are the only means of transportation to get some people to safety as the water swamps roads. and brand-new video from keaton beach is coming in. take a look at this. the roof completely ripped off of this home. this is where idalia made landfall three ours ago. the wall of this home laying in splinters. in florida, the hurricane hit as a powerful category 3 with winds

topping 120 miles per hour. this woman catching the moment the moment a tree fell on her home. listen. >> oh, my gosh. no! it's okay, it's okay. >> you can hear the scream of terror there. >> it sounded like a child in the home, and her trying to console them. john berman and sara sidner are leading our live coverage. sara is in crystal river as the water has crept up closer and closer to where she is. please stand by. the damaging winds are right now tearing through georgia as the water keeps rising in florida. in all, idalia hitting 250 miles of the southeast, a stretch of 250 miles all at once.

we have crews staged up and down florida's west coast ready to show you what is happening like only cnn can. let's get to cnn's allison chinchar. she's in the weather for us tracking the track of the storm. now it is a category one. >> yes, and it's in georgia and we've got some breaking news information to give you. the center of the storm has crossed over into the state of georgia. while we're seeing impacts in florida, now the bulk o of the concern begins to shift to the peach state. we're going continue to see it make its way across that state and into south carolina, but the bigger concern is the rain. you've got winds around 67 miles per hour but the biggest concern is the rain. we have a brand-new flash flood emergency for the city because they're dealing with incredibly torrential rainfall in valdosta. it's not the only area.

you've got heavier raining sliding into augusta, also charleston, south carolina, for some of these areas, you've already picked up 2 inches of rain. you're going to add an additional 2 to 4 inches on top of that. that's where the flooding concern comes from. it's the wind. we talked about wind gusts up around 60 to 70 miles per hour. we're starting to see the power outage numbers begin to spread from florida now into georgia. combine between the two states. we're looking at over 300,000 people without power. that number is expected to grow likely up around at least half a million. and could potentially get higher as the day goes on. the heaviest rain going forward is going to be from tallahassee up through the outer banks. 4 inches of rain in a lot of these places. but 6, 8, 10 inches is not out of the question in some of these areas. please, take this seriously. if you get these flash flood emergencies on your phone, take them seriously, get indoors, get to higher ground. they're not there just to be

out. they're trying to inform you to get to higher ground. here's a look at the flash flood threat as well. you can see we've got this moderate risk for excessive rainfall. not just in florida, not just in georgia, but this spreads into the carolinas because that's where the storm is going to go. if you live in any one of these states, keep in mind the storm may not be to you yet. but it is on the way and we'll continue to spread as you go through the rest of the day. back to you. >> expanding beyond florida as allison said. we want to bring in john berman and sarah sidner. john, you've been in tallahassee, you've been speaking with folks. your interview with the motel owner who described seeing picnic tables floating. what are things like right now at this moment? >> to hear those stories along the gulf coast, the big bend areas, to hear a woman describe what he's building told, everything is floating, she says. everything is floating. the gulf has just moved in

ove oversee cedar key and steinhatchee. hurricane idalia is now over georgia. it's a storm that georgia has to deal with the winds, category 1 winds and devastating rain, 4 to 10 inches in some places. the concern there will be trees, tree damage, you can see some of the trees here in tallahassee. we are getting reports of trees down in freshwater flooding the roads. just going to be a mess. all around northern florida and into georgia and in the carolinas as well. even as the storm moves bringing the wind and if rain, the concern in florida is still very much the storm surge along the gulf coast. yes, the storm has passed, but the surge continues. as the winds are still pushing the water inland towards shore and high tide in some areas is not for several hours. let's go to derek van dam who is

in tampa who that be walking along the river all morning long. derek, what are you seeing now? >> reporter: john, it is so important to point out that a year ago when hurricane ian came through this general area, it actually sucked the water out of tampa bay that's over my left shoulder where people could walk out into the bay several hundred yards. that's what some of the locals here have been telling me about, they remember that. this is a completely different storm. we never want to compare one hurricane to the other because they bring their own stories, their own threats, but it's all about the position of where that hurricane eye wall goes. so with ian, they were on the backside of the storm here in tampa. with idalia, we were on the forward, surging, pushing side of the major hurricane. just kind of puts it into perspective, what the wind

direction does and how that impacts the storm surge. this was the strongest storm, strongest hurricane to impact the big bend area in over 125 years. we have had three landfalling hurricanes in the state in the past three years. we have high tide approaching at 2:00 p.m. and what the mayor of tampa is concerned about is that the water you see behind me that has, yes, receded within the past few hours will come right back up again because the eastern gulf of mexico is still very much surging and that's being made worse by the fact that we have a full moon as well. sara? >> derek, you don't have to tell me twice that there is a major storm surge. we are seeing it in spades now here in crystal river, florida. i am standing in the middle of what looks like a lake, right?

no, this is u.s. 19, the highway that goes through crystal river, or i should say, it was u.s. 19. right now it looks like there is a lake and a river coming together here. it is flowing so quickly across all of this area. all that you're seeing there before you -- get to the structure and is the best western there. those were all parking lots that were completely dry as a duck's back, and now they're inundated with water and it is going to get worse. while you heard derek van dam there saying they're going to see their major high tide around 2:00 or so, we're supposed to get high tide, we're supposed to see the worst of this at 4:30 p.m. eastern standard time. so what you're seeing now, this is what the forecasters promised. they said, look, you are not going to see a lot at first. and then all of a sudden, you're going to start seeing water just

being pushed onto shore. that is exactly what is happening here. just give you a little look around and i kind of want you to hear the sound of the water. this is northwest sixth avenue in crystal river. anyone that is familiar with this place knows where there is. the best western is here. it's easy to find. this is where you go, one of the many places you go, to see manatees. this is the place where a lot of tourists come to see florida's treasure. those beautiful what they call sea cows. and i've done it. i've done this as a kid and as an adult, swimming with the manatees and seeing the beautiful water as it comes out of the earth, the spring here is just stunning. but listen to this, let me just let you listen to the sound of rushing water. this is u.s. 19 right at northwest sixth avenue. listen just for a second.

running water in the middle of a highway. let's go to michael brennen. he's the head of the national hurricane center. an important gentleman to be talking to at this hour. what can you tell us about the status of this storm at this hour, michael? >> idalia is still a hurricane. the center is moving into southeast georgia. quickly moving north-northeast ward at 20 miles per hour. winds are around 90 miles per hour. we're seeing significant impacts in terms of wind, heavy rainfall in georgia. that's going to continue to spread northward. we can see it moving into south carolina, coastal north carolina. we're going to see storm surge, hurricane-force winds continue and it's going to continue all the way up to the coast of north carolina into tomorrow. >> michael, can you just give us some sense historically of just how significant, how different this is for parts of the west coast of florida. this ain't normal, is it?

this is a hurricane landfall that we haven't seen in portions of this -- this sort of big bend coast of florida where we've seen idalia come on coast this morning. we are expected to see 10 to 15 maybe 16 feet of inundation in the region. it's bringing hurricane-force winds far inland into georgia and now into -- expected to reach coastal south carolina and georgia overnight -- or late tonight -- late this evening and into tonight. >> okay you give me a sense of when this event will be over. as you said, once this hurricane hits land, it starts to significantly decrease in speed and intensity, but this is still a category 1, i think you said, storm at this point which is incredible. it's been on land for quite some time. when will we see the end of this storm and the cleanup start to be able to begin.

>> conditions will gradually start to improve in florida later today. but the water levels are going to remain elevated, especially along the big bend coast through much of the day today. but we expect the center to reach the carolinas tomorrow morning and move offshore into friday. in the meantime, we're going to see the potential for hurricane-force winds, tropical storm-force winds flooding and heavy rainfall through the next 24 to 36 hours. >> michael, we can't thank you enough. the national hurricane center keeps us all informed and because we are informed, it has kept a lot of people safe. thousands upon thousands of people safe. we appreciate your time. we know you have plenty of watch to do as you watch the storm continue to make its way north of georgia. appreciate your time, sir? >> appreciate it. >> thank you, sir. just to give you one quick look here at what we're -- we

are starting to see this really surge. would you mind just kind of giving a shot of -- there are tiny rapids that are happening here in the middle of u.s. 19 here in crystal river. you see all of these cars here? why did we need to bring our cars here? we were parked in the parking lot, the water came up past the tires and so at that point, we realized, we need to get to higher ground. this is not going to be much better in the coming hours. you see that there are emergency vehicles. what they doing? they're bringing in a boat. they know the only point to get and help people if they have stayed in this area and to survey the area is going to be by boat. that's what's happening at this hour. and, by the way, i have now seen fish swimming on the other side of u.s. 19. there's not supposed to be any water over there and there's

enough for fish to be swimming around in it. but this is still a water event happening here. the surge is coming and the next few hours, the highest tide is going to happen here and that's when you're going to see a heck of a lot more water and it's going to become much more dangerous to traverse. >> i love the way you described the fact that there are fish in the water. they are not supposed to be there where you just showed us. thank you so much for your work out there. it has just been incredible to see. we know tens of thousands of floridians are without power at this moment and so even as the category has weakened, that does not mean the danger has subsided. there's a lot more to come here. >> no question about that. >> while the hurricane is sitting coastal areas where historic storm surge, it's also lashing inland cities with heavy rain and powerful wind. we're going to speak with the mayor of lake city florida where the hurricane is passing as we speak. you've changed. so have we. that's why dodove body wash now w has 24 hour renewing micro moisture

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♪ ya, can i get a drumroll, can i get a drum- ♪ ♪ that's nice ♪ this video coming into cnn from florida. you can see the powerful wind gusts hitting the big bend area of the sunshine state, taking down this gas station, the roof of this area where you pump gas. incredibly powerful winds. the airport in perry recorded wind gusts of 85-plus miles per hour earlier. this is, begin, a part of

florida that often does not see hurricanes of this magnitude and the process of intensification is something we need to highlight because it was just yesterday morning that this was a tropical storm. it became a hurricane, category 2, category 3, even category 4, before weakening a bit as it made landfall in florida. now it remains a category 1. even as it leaves florida, the danger still lurks. just to put a button on it. the last time that big bend area saw hurricane-force winds like this, this type of strength was 125 years ago. that really just gives you a sense of just how historic the storm has been. let's stay in the big bend area. two residents who evacuated from horseshoe beach describing the situation at their home. they spoke with cnn affiliate wjxt. take a listen. >> when did you come here to evacuate? >> yesterday, when they gave us orders. the cops came door to door.

>> and how do you feel about that decision to evacuate? >> 100%. you were going to do it anyway. >> we called and had the reservations here because we weren't going to stay with 9 foot storm surge. >> reporter: smart move right there. i know that -- i've seen you and some of the other residents in these coastal towns looking at their phones, trying to find some feeds. what do you know about horseshoe beach right now? >> right now, it's under water. and we've -- there's a -- gave us a little bit of a shock because there's another person with a house very similar to ours, ten feet off the ground, and they're a little further inland. ours is further out. we're hoping that our house isn't a houseboat when we get back. >> let's go back to john berman. he's been in tallahassee, florida. we've been listening to you speak to people all over the impacted area. some people who say that they

have seen picnic tables floating, everything is floating according to one woman you spoke with a little bit earlier, that motel owner. >> yeah, and i keep listening as you play more and more sound from different places. these are some of the first reports we're getting in from those hard-hit areas. horseshoe beach which is up the coast some from cedar key where you're talking about the picnic benches floating by. we're also understanding that the water flowing underneath some homes that are up on stilts, so so many different areas experiencing this devastating storm surge. i'm up here in tallahassee. the capital where the disaster response is being coordinated most of the storm, i think, has now finally moved through here. we still get some rain and some wind gusts. but the worst of it has passed through. but brian todd who is on the other end of town, brian, you've been digging around, speaking to officials to try to get an assessment of the situation. what are you hearing?

>> right, john, we spoke to an emergency management official here in leon county who told us there are some roads blocked in the county. there are some people who have had their homes damaged. they're starting to fan out and assess that as we will be shortly. just now as -- we're to the point you mentioned that maybe, maybe we're kind of getting over the hump in leon county. we're to the monitor where we may be able to venture out. and you know from being here over the past 24 hours, here's a unique feature. this branch flew off a tree right near us. a branch like this can be dangerous, but it's got spanish moss on it. it makes it heavy. it can be very, very dangerous. it also -- you've got -- look, all these trees -- this large live oak tree behind me, still in some peril because the ground is saturated behind it. and, again, we're getting reports of roads blocked here in

leon county. there's the proximity, look at the power lines. that's going to be an issue as these emergency crews start to fan out and assess the damage. but we have some good news to report from a county not far away. i spoke spoke to a person in st. mary's. las it's low to the water. they expected it to be flooded. this official told me they think they've come out of it with minimal flooding and right now they're just kind of starting to assess it. maybe some good news for the town of st. marks, john. >> yeah, that is good news. so much depends on the topography, so much depends on where the storm makes landfall. in steinhatchee, in cedar key, the situation is quite dire and not necessarily improving very quickly. on the other end of tallahassee,

thank you for the update on the roads. i'm sure we're going to be in touch in the coming hours as we assess where we can and can be the get to in this state. we talk about the storm surge in the areas, in the big bend area. there's an issue in tampa and the tampa bay area as well. a and, carlos, you've been speaking to the police there. what are they telling you? >> yeah, that's right, john. right now, tampa police in this one neighborhood are going essentially street by street just making sure that anyone that might be in their homes and can't get out, if they need anything, if they need any help, if nay need any supplies, what they're doing right now, they're driving around this part of tampa, making sure that folks are okay. part of the reason why is you're taking a look at it right here. there is a good amount of flooding in a lot of these neighborhoods. just to the west of where derek van dam has been live, along the river there, you really get a sense of just the situation, just by driving around about two

blocks to the south of here, we saw a number of other homes that have also been flooded out. this house to my right, you can see, they put up a dozen sandbags and you can see the water line, just how high things got. that home was flooded. now, a few minutes ago, i was able to talk to the mayor of gulf port. that is a city across the bay. he tells me that right now they're still dealing with significant flooding, they're dealing with what's left of low tide and that at some point this afternoon, they're hoping to be able to get out around town to see exactly how much damage there is. but, again, right now the storf shore boulevard, again, to the west of where derek is, is the flooding because on the other side of that block over there is the bay itself. to my right over here is a pond which you can see has flooded and a lot of this water is still

being pushed out as a result of all of this rain. john? >> carlos suarez in tampa describing the situation. people are going to see the skies brightening a little bit -- as soon as i say that, it starts to rain harder here. you have to wait. you have to wait for authorities to assess the conditions on the road and make sure i get to that other place you may want to get to, and then along the coast itself where the storm surge is still very much a problem, you need to stay hunkered down. we still don't even really know some of the damage in those areas. it really will be a fascinating, perilous few more hours here. >> john berman in tallahassee, thank you. hurricane idalia weak tong a category 1, but it had been as strong as a category 4. but this is early into the storm's path as it moves now into georgia. and we continue to watch, of course, hurricane idalia as it

makes its way across florida and into south georgia. >> we have a live look in georgia. a lot of rain headed that way. a lot of wind activity. tornadic activity as well. the latest on this dangerous storm when we come back. hey little bear bear. ♪ ♪ ♪ i'm gonna love you forerever♪ ♪ ♪ c'mon, bear. ♪ ♪ ♪ you don't...you don't have to worry... ♪ ♪ be by your side... i'll be there... ♪ ♪ with my arms wrapped around... ♪ this is your summer to smile.

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any second now, it could get -- it could explode and kind of take your breath away. here we go. yep. you feel it too. even under here. sideways. here we go. i've been in this situation before. you got to laugh, right? wow. that's like -- >> yeah, sometimes all you can do is laugh and then duck for cover. that was from our affiliate in pinellas county earlier this morning. the winds so powerful, that

reporter was trying to stand up and you saw toward the end there, he was getting blown away. >> he gave it his best effort. he was trying to stand firm there. but ultimately gave way with the wind. it gives you a sense of how strong the winds are. let's get back to john berman in tallahassee. when we saw derek van dam earlier in tampa, he was saying that between the heavy rain and the wind, it sort of felt like it was stinging his face. i mean, tell us more about how it feels where you are and what conditions are like where you are in tallahassee. >> it feels wet. it feels very, very wet where i am. it's been raining steadily, you know, for five, six hours right now. heavily for much of that time. you can see little streams of water flowing down the roadways here. we haven't had a chance to get out and have a look around. brian todd has spoken to emergency management officials here who do say there's a lot of tree damage in the area. trees down. some roads impassable. there's a lot of freshwater flooding in this part of

florida. the rivers and streams flowing over their banks in some cases and flowing down into the gulf, even as there is a storm surge pushing up from there. so you could get situations where people are clear from the storm surge and then maybe a day later, you get freshwater flooding down. this is going to be a trying time for this part of the state for several days. the rain itself, 6, 10 inches in some areas. the hurricane, hurricane idalia, is now a category 1 storm. it's over georgia now. it's moving into georgia and moving to the atlantic there. right now the damage it will be causing is from the heavy rain and also tree damage. you drive through this part of florida and then into georgia, you just see the great big trees everywhere. and as the roofs get unupdated with water and the wind does below, that will be a series

threat. i was here for hurricane michael, further out into the panhandle, and after that storm hit, when you went up into the highways to try to get out of the region, there were just these great big trees across the highways there. so tree damage can be a real problem for the recovery teams to get where they need to go as they move about the state. they are beginning to try to assess some of the damage around here. that's a different situation than along the gulf coast. i'm about 20 miles from the water here. all right, i now understand we have sheriff -- the sheriff from citrus county. if you can hear me, give me the situation in citrus county. >> so, i can barely hear you because it's loud right now. we're getting some gale force winds passing through the

county. i'm standing near a historic hotel. we're at the intersection of southeast u.s. highway 19. unfortunately, there's water over this roadway and off to my left here, going down u.s. highway 19, which is the major north/south thoroughfare from down to south florida to the state line with georgia, and this road is shut down in major portions in my county right now due to the storm surge that we're seeing. and i was talking with my colonel here a little bit ago talking about what she saw back in 1993, no-name storm, we all saw it in 2016 with hurricane hermine. and you're seeing flood values increasing that will exceed both of those storms. where i'm standing right now could potentially be under six feet of water by the time we get to high tied in about five hours from now.

>> so it's going to get worse. sheriff, if you can hear me, that's incredible descriptive and helpful, i think, to a lot of people who may want to try to move around in the next few hours. where you are standing could be under even more water in the coming hours? >> absolutely. the national weather service forecasted anywhere between 8 and 11 feet of water where i am standing right now. and we've already seen quite a bit of water intrusion out here. some of the major roads along our coastal area are completely shut down now due to water coming over the roads and making them impassable. we've got some lights that have been knocked out due to water intrusion or a force due to lightning strikes that are moving across our community right now and we've had three tornado watches here in citrus county this morning. we have a long way ahead of us. many hours of frustration dealing with storm surge and the

aftereffects of this storm. we're going to be out here for a long time today, well into the darkness tonight and again tomorrow morning as we try to affect some recoveries. and, unfortunately, just about a mile and a half from here up the highway, i ran into a gentleman who was on duty at one of your local gas stations and he got a phone call from his friends that he had three foot of water in his house and we're going to get more reports like that throughout the rest of the day. >> i expect you will get more reports like that through the rest of the day. where you are, you're talking about this inundation of water. i imagine it's storm surge. the flooding that you're seeing is still the effects of the storm surge. what are you getting in terms of freshwater, rivers and streams? >> well, the irony of this is, we're along the gulf coast on the gulf of mexico. right up against the gulf. we have seven rivers in our county, a lot of them are beautiful. a lot of great things to do when

the normal tides come and go. these rivers are great. they're fun to swim in and enjoy all the activities here. this is very dirty water. this is water that has washed up for the gulf of mexico, taking the water from our rivers, our bays. it's pushed it all from our springs out here now. it's intermingled with other kind of debris from the highways and a lot of things that you just don't want to be walking around in right now. it's very dirty and dangerous water to be in. >> and what's your message to the people -- not just in sit kus county, but the other counties along the coast right now? what's your message to them if they're lucky enough to have power and be watching this. >> my message is, the worst of the storm is not over for us. while the hurricane made landfall several hours ago, its affects are going to continue to play out for a long time to

come. the storm surge is going to be a continuing event well into the hours of darkness tonight. please don't venture out into it. we have downed power lines. as i said earlier, we've had three tornado warnings and we've had a host of other challenges across our community. and the other thing i'll tell you is, if there's storm water out here that you see that has surged into our major roads and even our side streets in places like crystal river, down the road or near our county line, don't get out on that water. it is salt water mixed in with a lot of other things. it's going to destroy your vehicles and then it's going give you a costly repair bill when you get past the storm and try to figure out what's going to be the next move for you. >> these are such important warnings, sheriff, and i hope people are listening to them. you're going to have to deal with property damage and infrastructure issues for some time, not just for several hours. up until this point, have you

heard of any deaths or injuries or people who are stranded? i do just think i did lose the sheriff. but he gave such helpful information, such helpful information to people who are thinking about trying to get out and move around soon. he's on highway 19, which i was on overnight, which is such an important thoroughfare all the way up the coast into georgia itself. he says there are parts of that that are impassable. he also says some of the east/west roads that take you out to the towns along the gulf coast, they are in impassable, water up over them in some places. and the sheriff, it is his understanding, he's telling people it's going to get worse over the next several hours and it's dirty water, it is water from the gulf that's pushed into these beautiful rivers and streams and inundated them and it's a very dangerous situation. people really need to be careful over the next few hours, even as

the skies do brighten. and as the storm itself is now over georgia. hurricane idalia is a category 1 storm moving over georgia, a threat for tree damage, flooding and rain. but the storm surges along the gulf coast still a very big problem and could get even worse. >> there was so much information that that interview. notable that he said all of that water, not just dangerous, but could create property damage if, in fact, you drive through that. making the point, don't venture out. the worst is not over just yet. john, we'll check back with you in just a moment. thank you, john. still to dcome, we're monitoring the latest of hurricane idalia and how a supermoon will impact the storm. we're back in just moments. stay with us.

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welcome back. as we continue to follow hurricane idalia, we have just learned some really sad news. two people have been killed in weather-related car accidents. this has happened in the gainesville area. we have been following hurricane idalia all morning long. two people have been killed in weather-related car accidents. >> notably gainesville is not near the coast. it's central florida. so it gives you an idea of how far-reaching the impacts are. one that has a very broad impact across the southeast. we'll continue to follow that. but also some parts of the tampa area are seeing water recede, but officials are

warning that the water is going to rise again in the next hour. our affiliate bay news 9 is in gulf port. >> reporter: actually, we have been seeing things improve here along beach boulevard. this is the main area that takes you into gulf port. we we were walking in water last time we saw you. the water has receded back some. we have lost a good 6 inches. but that's not to say the worst isn't over with yet. we're still expecting the high tide to come in about 12:20 this afternoon. that's according to public information officers that i have talked here with the city of port. they are expecting this water to rise 3 feet before it's all said and done. which means this whole area i'm walking in now is expected to be covered by water. we talked to some of the residents. now we're talking to members of the community. with with me is linda craig, one of the people here in gulf port.

tell me bha you're seeing people doing right now. >> right now, we're just trying to get out the word to keep people out of the water. as you can see, there's snakes and ants and sewage that backs up in the water. it's just not safe. it's very dangerous for people. so if you don't have to come out and you don't have property, you need to take a look at or something, just try to stay home. not get out. we have first responders and people that are out there. they risk their lives to come out and do this. so we just want people to stay safe and stay at home right now. the majority of the water front on shore boulevard is under water. we're trying to keep people away. >> police ended up closing this area. are you hearing any power outages in the area? >> not anything that's been available to us at this point. >> reporter: okay. thank you. that's good to hear. thank you for doing your work. thank you very much. we're also keeping a monitor on the situation here as far as how far this water will go up.

i'm staying in touch with officials here in the city of gulf port. they are monitoring the situation. they have been blocking off roads around here all day long. like i said, although we're seeing the water recede here at this point, we have seen it go down about 5 inches or so, we're expecting the high tide to come in about 12:20. we're expecting to see a surge of at least three feet here. that's according to gulf port city officials. we're going to keep an eye on that. as soon as we get more information, we'll bring it to you. we're lye in gulf port. >> our thanks ss to trevor for t report. even though the storm has moved on to georgia, there are still a lot of dangers lurking whether it's power lines or storm surge or high tide that has yet to fully develop. it is a troubling position. >> we want to go back to this video. it sort of illustrates how brutal and powerful this storm was. this is in perry, exactly where

idalia made landfall a few hours ago at 7:45 this morning. you see the roof of this home just completely torn off. you can see inside of this home, you can see the mattress there against the door. you can see the bedroom there. we have seen flooding come up to the porch. you take a look at this video and see the trees there, just sort of whip ping in the wind. just really gives you a sense at how powerful and honestly vicious the storm was. >> absolutely. as we have heard from key officials all morning, including senator marco rubio, this is the kind of storm that will change the landscape, as we look at another impressive video of the powerful winds knocking over the overhang area of a gas station this. this wasn't even an area that saw the strongest winds. the wind gust there hovering around 85 miles per hour. remember idalia hit the big bend area of florida as a category 3,

nearly 125 miles per hour. very strong wind and powerful storm surge. clearly, the carolinas and georgia, those areas have to hunker down because we have seen the kind of damage this storm can create. >> thank you for joining us today. this is "cnn news central." "inside politics" is coming up next. today. that's why they choose t-mobile for business. mlb partners with t-mobile to not only enhanance the fan experience, but toto advance how the game is played. aaa relies on t-mobilele's network to stay connected nationonwide, so they can help get their members back on the road. and we're helping pano ai innovate, to stop the spread of wildfires. now's the time to see what america's largest 5g network can do for your business.

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an up close look at a disaster idalia destiv