alert, you are looking at live pictures out of key west where you can see the conditions have already started to deteriorate. we heard from governor rick scott just about two hours ago, and he said the storm is here, and he is right. the storm now a category three, if i'm not mistaken, they expect the storm to strengthen before it makes landfall in the united states which could happen between now and tomorrow. we heard from the mayor of miami beach who said just because you're on the east coast does not mean you need to be complacent at this time. leland: live pictures of miami beach where the wind is picking up, the hurricane gaining strength in those warm waters between key west and cuba. the 1400 eastern update from the national hurricane center in miami. >> mike brennan with your 2 p.m. eastern time update on hurricane irma. irma right now is emerging off the north coast of cuba, it's currently centered about 145 miles to the southeast of key west moving just north of due

west at about 9 miles per hour. we can see the eye of irma on the radar from key west emerging off the coast, rain bands are beginning to -- are still moving across the florida keys and over much of south florida bringing tropical storm force gusts to the region. during the next 24 hours, we expect irma to turn north/northwestward and move right along the coast of the florida peninsula, reaching the fort myers area around sunday evening, passing by the tampa bay area and moving up to north florida by monday morning and then weakening as it moves inland across southeastern georgia to a tropical storm and, finally, a tropical depression over the tennessee valley and southern appalachians by the middle of the week. florida, much of the state of florida is under a hurricane warning, both coastses from the east coast all the way from the georgia border southward including the florida keys, we're especially concerned about the west coast and southwest florida seeing the direct

impacts of a major hurricane, the core moving across those regions as we go from sunday into monday. we're also very concerned about storm surge. there's a storm surge warning in effect for much of the florida coast. in particular, we're worried about life-threatening, catastrophic storm surge of 10-15 feet of storm surge in this region. this area in southwest florida is particularly vulnerable to storm surge. if you live in an evacuation zone in lee or collier county or even up through cape coral and into the tampa/st. petersburg area and you've been asked by your local emergency officials to evacuate, please, follow that advice. you still have some time in those areas as tropical storm force winds will not begin until later tonight in the fort myers area and northward. in terms of storm surge elsewhere, we're expecting 5-10 feet of storm surge in the florida keys and the extreme southeastern florida including the west side of biscayne bay. we're also expecting storm surge

all the way up the east coast of florida as well, life-threatening surge. so, please, heed any evacuation orders you've been given. in terms of rainfall, we're expecting widespread, heavy rain across much of florida. we could see 8-15 inches across much of the peninsula with isolated totals as high as 20 inches and even higher totals in the keys, 10-20 inches, isolated amounts as high as 25. and some of this rainfall will linger into the early portions of next week, and we'll also expect to see heavy rains up into georgia and the southern appalachians. this is mike brennan at the national hurricane center with your 2 p.m. update on hurricane irma. elizabeth: all right. as you heard there, mike brennan from the national hurricane service, giving us an update where we know the storm is moving around 9 miles per hour heading in a north/northwesterly direction. the eye is emerging off the coast and they expect a direct impact at the florida keys, if i'm not mistaken, into tomorrow morning. he said there are

life-threatening conditions along much of southwest florida. i want to bring in adam houseley. he is one of our correspondents, and he is down in key largo. adam, what can you tell us? are the conditions getting worse? >> reporter: yeah, elizabeth, they've gotten significantly worse the last three hours. power went out locally around 10:30 in the morning. i've got my wind meter out, we're on the ocean side of key largo towards the south about 55 miles south and west of miami if you were to go that direction. right now sustained winds here 30-35 miles an hour, gusts higher than that. we're, again, on the ocean side. over on the bay side, this area very narrow, maybe a mile wide at the most. on the bay side, we found a couple of local hotels where people decided to ride out the storm here. some people said they had really no choice. they tried to find flights, tried to drive north, didn't work, and they found the best place they could and high enough, they believe, to avoid any storm surge. take a listen. >> well, we couldn't get out. our flights were canceled, we

got stuck, we'd be stuck in fort lauderdale. it wasn't with worth it. and where can you drive? you can't drive anywhere. so we're here. >> reporter: all right. back here live, again, we're on the ocean side of key largo. you can see this area storm surge is already coming in. the water's lapped over several of the docks here already underwater. you can see some of the boats just being smashed together and the water coming over, some of the jetties if you go out further. the water was up higher a moment ago, it goes and comes which is normal for a storm surge. and when you have this kind of hurricane coming ashore, again, we're still hours away from the eye to cross the keys. as i come over this direction, this restaurant here to my left is already under about two and a half to three feet of water. it's in a low area, but it's also underwater. almost all the a way to the top over here. once it goes over top, it'll come into the parking lot, and to my right, you can see the wind, again, about 30 miles an hour sustained according to my

wind meter. you can see the boats getting tossed around. if this things get significant and the eye wall does stay as close to our area of key largo, some of these boats are going to break loose, and when they do, they come ashore, and it can cause even more damage. so, guys, as you can tell, the conditions here are worsing ping. about the last three or four hours here in key largo it got significantly worse. power is out throughout key lahr lahr -- key largo. there is still cell service as of this hour, but this thing's coming ashore, and people have hunkered down. as we reported yesterday, not nearly as many people stayed for the storm as did for hurricane andrew 25 years ago. they saw the video and the pictures coming out of the caribbean, and they said, you know what? this storm is flattening some of those islands. we don't want to take a risk, and we've met a bunch of people that drove north a couple of days ago, decided not to stay. a couple of them had to evacuate a second time as this hurricane

continues to trend a little bit to the west. but when we got here, guys, on wednesday, we were going to be on the back side which was the better side. we're now going to be on the actual east side which is the worst side, the dirty side, they call it. and that stuff is already coming our way, as you can tell. elizabeth: adam, we'll check in with you later in the show and, of course, be safe. >> reporter: will do, guys. elizabeth: thank you. leland: and let's travel up the west coast of florida to where we find matt finn near tampa. as we heard from the national hurricane center, tampa right in the bull's eye. matt, you covered hurricane harvey, and it is a drastic difference in what we are hearing from governor -- what we heard from governor abbott before harvey and what we are hearing from rick scott before hurricane irma. are people in tampa heeding these warnings and taking this storm in a different way, shall

we say, than they did harvey? >> reporter: well, leland, of course there are people that are heeding the warnings, and there are large portions of tampa that look like a ghost town. we are in ybor city, the bourbon street of tampa, if you will, and there are diehards who say they are staying. if you look up and down the street, some people are boarding up their businesses, but otherwise there are entire storefronts loaded with glass that are not boarded up. we just spoke to tampa's fire chief. he says that irma could be the hardest hurricane to hit tampa in a generation. here's more of what he had to say. >> in my 35 years of disaster preparedness and emergency response, i have never seen a storm or a system that is of this magnitude and is operating under this velocity. never in my 35 years. all of our special needs folk and our vulnerability population, they need to have evacuated already because they are looking at a very horrific

condition. >> reporter: leland, we're in one of the watering holes here. here are some diehards who say a they're staying. why are you deciding to stay? >> i'm on standby for work for bridge inspection, so i'm hanging out and waiting for it. >> reporter: tell us why you're staying. >> we actually thought it was coming across the other side, yesterday we found out it was going to come on this side, and we're florida fierce. we're not leaving. >> reporter: ma'am, tell us why you decided to stay. >> we have a good place to stay, and we're not afraid of the hurricane. honestly. >> reporter: we wish you guys well. leland, straight from the horse's mouth, people in florida who are deciding to hunker down and try to survive irma. back to you. leland: we understand the fellow who says he's got to work and, obviously, bridge inspection is an important thing, but for people who don't have a reason like that, if you have a second, ask them what do they say to the first responders who are going to have to risk their lives if something bad happens to these people and they didn't heed the

warnings? are they saying them staying and being florida fierce is more important than the fire chief saying i don't want to risk my firefighters' lives? >> reporter: guys, what do you say to being florida fierce versus firefighters who may have to risk their lives to rescue people who stay here? >> you know, the leadership of the state has done a real good job. governor scott, fema, all that has really done a really good job. for those -- and this is for me personally. for those of you that have decided to stay like me, be safe. don't do anything stupid, stay home and just take care of your family, and that's it. >> reporter: so you don't plan on calling anybody to rescue you. >> if i have to, i will. that's going to be the last resort. i'm ex-military, so i can take care of myself. >> reporter: we western you the best. >> thank you. leland: if only people heeded that warning to stay safe and be smart in storms, the firefighters would have a lot less dangerous work. matt finn, we appreciate your

time and reporting. we'll check in with you, my friend. liz? elizabeth: well, federal first responders say they are staged and ready to assist their local and state partners. our own garrett tenney is at the federal emergency management agency headquarters, fema headquarters, with much more on the preparations taking place there. garrett, what is taking place right now hours ahead of landfall? >> reporter: well, liz, what we're hearing from officials from top to bottom over and over is for folks to get out now before it's too late because this storm is not one to mess with. and their top priority right now is protecting and preserving life. one glaring example is that the u.s. coast guard tasked with protecting our nation's coastline has evacuated its teams from southern florida. in just a little -- and just a little while ago, i spoke to the commandant who told me for those folks who don't evacuate, they might be on their own for a while until help can come. >> when i look at the storm surge about ready to hit key

west in the florida keys, there's nothing heroic about sticking around. we'll do the heroic rescues, but bear in mind it is going to take us hours and hours to arrive on scene because we don't have an air base that we can operate from with hurricane irma. we had one in katrina. we had one in harvey. but our only area to operate from with helicopters is going to be by sea. >> reporter: and the commandant told me they already have 40 ships there in the gulf coast that are prepared to come in behind the storm to begin to deploy those teams to do aerial surveillance to see where search and rescue teams need to be. it's been a busy last week, couple weeks for the coast guard. earlier this week they took all of their resources, which have been in texas working on search and rescue efforts after harvey, and redeployed them to other areas across the southeast to be able to prepare to respond to this storm. and you can see here fema's headquarters there are more than 200 individuals part of a

massive response effort by the federal government from nearly every department and agency that are helping to coordinate what's expected to be a massive response after irma. liz. liz: garrett tenney with the latest and those hard working folks behind him. garrett, thank you so much. leland: let's bring in florida senator bill nelson who is traveling around the state meeting with local emergency officials. he is currently in orlando. senator, appreciate you being with us, sir. give us the lay of the land. as you've been driving around florida, we're looking at live pictures of miami beach where the storm has just sort of begun to set in. do you have freedom of movement? is there gasoline for people who still need to get out, or is everything deserted and locked down? >> there's still gasoline, but now that the west coast of florida, the gulf coast has awakenedded to the fact that -- awakened to the fact that this is going to be a west coast storm, not an east coast storm,

you're starting to see the evacuations coming from the west coast getting away. and, thus, i just came from the tampa emergency operations center. i-4, the interstate, is getting heavy moving out of tampa. leland: well, you know, it's fascinating, we talked to a number of people and our crews on the ground did who had left miami and left sort of southeast florida and the keys and headed northwest to naples, to fort myers, up to the tampa. and now all of a sudden rather than being a place of refuge, they're in a place that nay need to evacuate -- that they need to evacuate from, and hotels are saying you've got to get out. live pictures from key west, and it is ominous there. no power, dark, black clouds. what are you hearing from the national guard and from the governor? are they ready for this? have they had enough time to

shift the assets from the east coast to the west coast? >> the short answer is, yes. there's a seamless cooperation between all levels of government, and and i think you're going to see that continue. but if it is a storm that gets back close to category five hitting near key west, there's going to be really some destruction there. now, the good thing is that there are only about 10,000 people left in monroe county. that is the florida keys. leland: right. >> what is happening now that the west coast realizes it's going to be hitting there and the possibility of the big disaster would be is if the eye of the hurricane moves off the coast in the gulf of mexico and

parallels the coast -- leland: right. >> -- all of those counterclockwise winds will drive the water up into the bays such as charlotte harbor, such as tampa bay. that's where you could have not only the destructiveness of the wind, but the wind pushing the water up so that we'd have considerable flooding. leland: well, as you point out, landfall there in key west expected sometime overnight into early sunday morning. the national weather service saying this is as real as it gets. nowhere in the florida keys will be safe. and as you point out, if that eye wall moves off the coast a little bit and is able to keep getting fuel from those warm gulf waters, this could go from horrible to something we can't even imagine. senator nelson, safe travels as you head throughout the state, and we know you've got a safe place to hunker down from. we'll get in touch with you again tomorrow, sir. >> okay.

thanks. leland: thanks. godspeed. liz? elizabeth: in other headlines this saturday, twin emergencies in mexico. hurricane katia is now a tropical storm as it moves over the central part of the nation killing at least two people. forecasters expect it to dissipate over the weekend but not before dumping 10-15 inches of rain in some areas. this as rescue efforts continue from a powerful earthquake that has killed at least 64 people with massive damage reported. the 8.1 earthquake off the southern pacific coast has left thousands of people homeless. and in more international news, north korea celebrates its 69th anniversary of the communist country's founding. leaders there have recently used such holidays to conduct high-profile testing of their nuclear and ballistic missile program, but no such show of the north's military capability has been reported thus far. leland: keep an eye there where it's already sunday in north

korea. a meteorology monostore with a global -- monster with a global footprint. how social media is bringing communities together as irma bears down. the effects of twitter on all this. live look right now at miami beach, the latest on irma's path as it shifts a little bit west. what that means for who gets the worst wind and also this. it happens every hurricane and every storm. our four-legged friends in need of a lot of help. obviously, these images from houston after harvey, we're going to tell you how you can help to give these dogs and cats a forever home and a little bit of help as hay endure the wrath of mother nature. ♪ ♪ what was the worst thing you saw?

don't you get lonely? have you ever killed anybody? ♪ what did you think when i asked you these questions? i had never met anybody from the navy that's why i was, like, asking you all kinds of questions. yeah. i honestly didn't know what the marines did.

everybody's experience is unique. you got musicians, you have cooks, you have admin people. ♪ i just think people should be more open minded. just get to know the person. ♪ moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis was intense. my mom's pain from i wondered if she could do the stuff she does for us which is kinda, a lot. and if that pain could mean something worse. joint pain could mean joint damage. enbrel helps relieve joint pain, and helps stop further damage enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders and allergic reactions have occurred. tell your doctor if you've been someplace where fungal infections are common. or if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure or if you have persistent fever, bruising, bleeding or paleness. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu.

since enbrel, my mom's back to being my mom. visit enbrel.com... and use the joint damage simulator to see how joint damage could progress. ask about enbrel. enbrel. fda approved for over 18 years.

leland: hurricane irma is arriving withr outages starting across south florida, and the winds are picking up. it is making it harder and harder for those who stayed to communicate with the outside world, thus, folks are turning to social media, what else? here with what is being posted and what is happening, laura ingle in new york. hi, laura. >> reporter: hi, leland. as we know, social media continues to give us the front row seat to how people who live in the path of hurricane irma are dealing with preps and what

it looked like and sounded like as it tore through their part of the world. so let's take a look at what we found on a post from cuba where irma made landfall last night. we are seeing posts like this one showing wild wind blasting residents there ask causing -- and causing untold amounts of damage. irma was a category five when it hit cuba before slowing down as it moved on. just a mess there. the u.s. virgin islands saw massive amounts of devastation, in this post on st. thomas. the virgin islands delegate to congress posted on facebook that hurricane irma toppled buildings and leveled many homes adding that the cleanup will require a massive and coordinated effort for months and possibly years to come. and as residents of florida continue to evacuate and they prep, they're posting these pictures of how they're getting ready online as well. floridians like ed who lives in north bay valley miami beach, he lives up in a 15th florida

condominium. he wrapped his belongings in plastic before getting to higher ground just in case his windows are blown out. smart move there. fema also has been active launching an app that shows weather alerts, how you should prepare, where the shelters are and where you can share your disaster photos. they want to see all this from you. fema also launched a rumor control page on its web site to help people navigate some of the misinformation and scams that are out there. unfortunately, there's a lot of them. the governor of florida tweeting out emergency messages as well, and comcast also using social media to announce free wi-fi hot spots. of course, we saw social media play such a big role in texas after harvey hit as people tweeted out messages for help when the 911 system was overwhelmed. we also would like to see your photos, send them to us through twitter, and you can go to my handle as well,@lauraingle. leland: we will be watching for those, see how folks are hunkering down for the storm.

laura, thank you. liz? elizabeth: as the hurricane gets ready to make landfall in south florida, wildfires are gripping parts of the weaver united states. of the western united states. we're going to speak live with colorado's fully-engaged governor for an update on the very dire situation. and president trump promising a robust federal response to hurricanes past and present. kristin fisher is live at the white house with the very latest. hi, kristin. >> reporter: hey, liz. this hour president trump is meeting with his full cabinet. he's also receiving a briefing from fema officials and the department of homeland security. more on all of that right after this break. ♪ ♪ boost. it's about moving forward, not back.

it's looking up, not down. it's being in motion. boost® high protein it's intelligent nutrition with 15 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. boost® the number one high protein complete nutritional drink.

elizabeth: you heard from the national hurricane center at the top of the hour, irma is expected to tear up the west coast of florida. janice dean is watching everything from the fox extreme weather center and has the very latest. what did you think of that update? was there anything new there? >> reporter: no. i mean, this time yesterday we

were thinking the storm was going to go right up the peninsula of florida and perhaps affect the east coast, but now we're dealing with the potential for a west coast threat, and, i mean, we could potentially see devastating storm surge across areas that are so low-lying. they are using words like catastrophic, devastating, life-threatening, that kind of thing. so if you live along the west coast of florida, you need to be paying close attention to your local officials. and if they ask you to evacuate, you need to do so. this is a strengthening storm, by the way. it did interact with cuba, but you can see the eye right here. this is visible satellite imagery, so when the sun comes out, we can see it. look how big this storm is. this storm is going to cover the state of florida, and i read 17 million people in the state of florida right now are under a hurricane warning. 17 million people. tornado threats as this storm continues to move northward, the right-hand side of the storm is

going to bring the threat for tornadoes. weak ones, but we still could see potential for damage. so no tornado-warned storms yet, but we have a watch in effect, and we'll start to see those throughout the day, the overnight and into tomorrow as well as the storm continues to move northward. look at the wind gusts already. tropical storm force winds in marathon and key west, and we do expect a landfall around the key west area tomorrow morning around 8 a.m. and potentially another landfall around the naples area later on during the dinner time hour. but look at this track. category four hurricane, 140 mile-per-hour sustained winds making landfall somewhere along the keys, and then another impact sunday around the dinner time hour as a category four hurricane. they have not seen a cat four major hurricane on parts of the west coast of florida in some cases a century, and we are dealing with very low-lying areas, places where a 15-foot storm surge would put houses

underwater. so that's why people are urged to, you know, listen to your local authorities. if they tell you to evacuate, you need to do so now because your time is running out. this is on your doorstep. so here's your future radar. again, we're expecting a landfall somewhere around the keys around 8 or 9 a.m. on sunday eastern time and then potentially another landfall around 6, 7 p.m. there's naples, there's fort myers. the worst side of the storm, remember, is on the right-hand side. so the worst of the storm surge, the worst of the core of those winds of 140 miles per hour sustained, still dealing with this storm on monday, still potentially as a major hurricane. liz, this is no joke. these folks have not seen a hurricane like this in some cases in their whole lifetime. back to you. elizabeth: and you have to think of all the structures that were built before wilma and even before that andrew, i mean, not up to protocol. i mean, it's unbelievable -- >> reporter: it could be just devastating for this area. yep. elizabeth: we'll check in with you later, janice dean.

thank you so much, appreciate it. >> reporter: okay. leland: we have certainly heard president trump warn everybody about irma and tell those in the path to be ready for it. he's at camp david this weekend with his entire cabinet. right now we are told he is getting a briefing on the federal response to irma. our kristin fisher, north lawn of the white house with more. hi, kristin. >> reporter: hey, leland. all weekend long president trump is going to be closely monitoring hurricane irma from camp david along with his entire cabinet. and, you know, before he left he promised everyone in the storm's path that the federal government is ready, that it is prepared at the highest levels. but, you know, he also warned that the federal government can only do so much and that people need to take precautions because he believes that this storm is of truly epic proportions. >> this is a storm of absolutely historic destructive potential. i ask everyone in the storm's path to be vigilant and to heed all recommendations from

government officials and law enforcement. nothing is more important than the safety and security of our people. we are doing everything we can to help with disaster preparations, and when the time comes, we will restore, recover and rebuild together as americans. >> reporter: now, while at camp david president trump signed the bill for hurricane harvey relief, $15 billion in aid for both texas and louisiana. it's part of the deal he cut with democrats that angered so many republicans on capitol hill, but it's also getting some desperately needed federal funds to the areas hit by harvey and fast, and that should provide at least a small amount of comfort to the people who are now bracing for irma. over the weekend president trump will be receiving frequent updates from fee a ma, the florida governor -- fema, the florida governor and emergency responders on the ground. he'll also be meeting with his entire cabinet about the future of his administration's agenda. it's the fourth full cabinet meeting of his presidency. tax reform, infrastructure,

immigration and north korea all issues that will certainly come up. but hurricane irma, of course, will be front and center. and, you know, leland, anytime that you're a president, any major storm is very personal for a president, but this storm especially personal for this president. you know, he's often called florida his second home and, of course, the winter white house, mar-a-lago, right in the storm's path. leland: up in palm beach, doral down near miami. quickly, kristin, the president may not be there right now, but there is a lot of sound coming from what i'm guessing is lafayette park. are those protesters or supporters out there? [laughter] >> reporter: you can hear them. leland: yeah, we definitely could. >> reporter: yeah. the president may not be here, but that hasn't stopped protesters. they're out here a lot. sometimes supporters, sometimes protesters. these today are daca protesters it sounds like, so dreamers -- leland: ah. we wanted to make sure everyone knew we weren't adding applause

tracks to the back of your live shot. appreciate it, kristin, thanks so much. >> reporter: my pleasure. leland: a reminder that business for the government continues. elizabeth: more political news, the senate committee over health care had some high profile visitors this week. five governors testified on ways to improve health care, offering frank assessments of what is working and not working at the state level when it comes to obamacare. one of those governors was colorado's john hickenlooper. he's been working closely with republican governor john kasich on a state-driven approach to reforming the law, and he joins me from denver. sir, thank you so much for joining us. >> you bet. elizabeth: i was listening to some of the news and reading over the blueprint that you had proposed, and there was three major takeaways, correct me if i'm wrong. first and foremost, immediate support to stabilize the marketplace. you also said responsive reforms for preserving coverage gains. and, obviously, that would go along with controlling some of the costs of health care. and if i'm not mistaken, the

third thing you requested was really a really strong federal and state partnership. can those three things be accomplished, do you think? >> oh, absolutely. and i thought the tone that senator alexander who's the chair of that committee we presented to and senator murray, the ranking democrat, everyone on that committee and especially those two leaders were very optimistic and kind of upbeat about, already, let's get this -- all right, let's get this partnership together, try to stabilize these private markets and get the federal government and the states working together. give flexibility to the states but recognize both have to work together. elizabeth: what needs to take place for that flexibility to happen? and the reason i ask that is it's so important for these state lawmakers to listen to the executives, the governors, because you're the ones who are there day in and day out listening to the consumers. so i'm curious how do you get there, how do you get to these three goals? >> well, and you're right. the governors are the ones who implement these things, and governors generally are a little less partisan, right?

we don't have the luxury of being bitterly partisan because we've got to get stuff done pretty much every day. our biggest advice was let's all work together on this and, again, what i saw in washington we also met with the problem solvers caucus in the house, 20 democrats, 20 republicans that have come together and said, all right, we're going to vote as a bloc for, you know, bipartisan solutions to issues. not just health care, but other issues going forward. i think those are steps in the right direction. in this sense, all the questions we got on that committee were from republicans and democrats, but they weren't with attacks and kind of, you know, snide comments. everyone sounded like they were sincere in trying to make the adjustments so that our health care system is going to be better and stronger. elizabeth: governor, we only have about 30 seconds, but i just want to get an update on the wildfire situation. we've been watching it out west. what is the latest? >> well, so we have a couple of large fire-fighting planes that we have that have been mostly up in oregon or washington and one's been up in montana.

we had to bring one of them back because we have a fire here in colorado, but it's not like what we're seeing with hurricane irma coming. 4,000 acres are burning. it's serious, we're taking it very serious, but we're still trying to help, you know, rebuild after harvey and want to be prepared to help florida after irma. elizabeth: sir, keep us posted on your developments with improving health care and, of course, we're thinking and praying for the folks with those wildfires, sir. thank you for joining us. >> yeah. thank you. leland: we are just starting to see the first of irma's winds lashing the united states including in key largo. we saw adam houseley, the wind really picking up there. not the wind they will tell you, but often the storm surge that causes the most deadly and horrific damage. we're going to speak to an expert from the national hurricane center who explains just what this storm surge is and how bad it could be especially on florida's delicate west coast. ♪ ♪ >> broward has determined that

it is necessary to start a 4 p.m. curfew effective today. ♪ ♪ ♪ ah, my poor mouth breather. allergies? stuffy nose? can't sleep? enough. take that. a breathe right nasal strip of course. imagine just put one on and pow! it instantly opens your nose up to 38% more than allergy medicine alone.

so you can breathe, and sleep. better than a catnap. shut your mouth and say goodnight, mouthbreathers. breathe right.

leland: quite literally tracking irma rt now as it leaves cuba and then heads north towards the florida keys. landfall in the next 18 or so hours. michael brennan at the national hurricane center in miami. every storm has its dangers, sir. obviously, with harvey it was the flooding, and we hear with this it may not so much be the wind, but the storm surge. so basic level here for our viewers not from florida, what is storm surge, why does it matter, what can it do? >> well, storm surge is just simply the water that's pushed up from the ocean onto normally dry land by the winds of the hurricane. so you can imagine here the winds around irma are blowing this way, and so they're pushing water from the atlantic ocean towards the east coast of

florida, they're pushing water from the florida straits onto the north coast of cuba, and over time those winds are strong enough, they can pile up feet of water. and actually, storm surge kills about half of the people that die in the united states from tropical storms and hurricanes, and it has the potential to cause huge loss of life like we saw in hurricane katrina and we've seen in other hurricanes historically like ike that storm surge can cause just tremendous devastation. leland: you think about the barrier islands outside on the western edge of florida, and people know about these as vacation spots, cap teva island -- captiva, sanibel island, is this sort of a worst case scenario? >> yeah. the west coast of florida's especially sensitive to storm surge if you've been to sanibel island, you know you can walk out into the gulf of mexico, and you just keep walking and walking. the water is not very deep. so all the wind energy that goes

into hitting the oceaning just piles that water up onshore, and you can see our storm surge warning goes inland along some of these creeks and bays. so the storm surge can reach far inland on the west coast of florida which is different than the east coast. it's confined right to the immediate coastline. leland: i'm not sure the next time you're going to get to sleep, sir, but we appreciate you keeping watch. thank you, and we'll talk to you soon, sir. >> sure. glad to help. leland: all the best. liz? elizabeth: well, they only know loyalty and love. how you can keep the forgotten furry victims of hurricanes both past and present in your hearts forever when we come back. ♪ ♪ let's dance grandma! you don't let anything keep you sidelined. come on! that's why you drink ensure. with 9 grams of protein, and 26 vitamins and minerals... for the strength and energy, to get back to doing what you love. ensure, always be you.

elizabeth: well, the rain has dissipated in houston. the number of pets without homes has not. the nonprofit pets alive has helped over 2,000 animals affected by harvey. while some have been reunited with their owners, others have been found new home, and they still need your help. some of them do still need your help. dr. ellen jefferson is the executive director of austin pets alive. thank you so much for joining me, doctor. how are you? >> great. thank you so much for having me. elizabeth: tell me, what is the update so far?

you rescued more than 2,000 pets. what is the status? are you still trying to find homes for a good number of these animals? >> we are. we've had amazing support in the austin community, and we're also working with communities across the country to transport animals that no longer have an owner, so they might have been animals that were in shelters before the hurricane hit or after the hurricane hit, but they had already finished their stray hold. so those animals are finding new homes a across country, and we're working with transport organizations to get them there. elizabeth: i was going to ask you, how do you do this logistically? do you outsource help from private airlines? folks are willing to drive these animals? are there volunteers? how do you work this all out? >> it's a lot of moving pieces. we have organizations that bring their own vehicles down, we have volunteers driving them all over the country. it's very grass roots in a lot of -- grass roots in a lot of ways, a lot of people helping animals move all over the country. elizabeth: obviously, you still have animals that need to be placed from harvey, but you

can't help but think of the monstrosity that's about to hit florida. are you going to help in those efforts as well? are you stretched too thin for that? >> we are definitely focused on hurricane harvey recovery and relief, but we know that hurricane irma's about to hit, and there's not -- one of the big gaps nationally in animal welfare is a coordinated response to hurricanes and natural disasters. and so we have put out there to the world that we will help however we can pre-irma. so if people are evacuating and have no place to go with their pets, we will help them find a place or get them to austin for re-homing or try to figure out how to board them locally somewhere in florida or the surrounding states so they can pick up their pet after they're able to go back to their homes. elizabeth: okay. obviously, you're looking for forever homes. are there other ways people can help? is there a web site they can go to, perhaps they can help monetarily as opposed to adopting a pet? >> go to austinpetsalive.org,

but i would recommend they help their own community with the animals in their local shelter and also the ones potentially coming in from the hurricane-affected states. elizabeth: thank you so much for joining us, we wish you the best of luck in getting these guys new homes and safely to their new destination. thank you for joining us. >> thank you so much. elizabeth: leland? leland: well, live pictures as irma approaches. this is miami, florida. we're going to continue to monitor the situation in south florida and also in the keys where the winds are picking up. 2:53 eastern, still hours from landfall. ♪ ♪ a heart attack doesn't care what you eat

or how healthy you look. no matter who you are, a heart attack can happen without warning. a bayer aspirin regimen can help prevent another heart attack. be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. bayer aspirin.

elizabeth: the american navy has started deploying helicopters from the uss -- [inaudible] in effort to support relief operations. the warship is using its own helicopters to transport critically wounded people and bring in supplies to the u.s. virgin islands. this is the first navy ship to arrive in the u.s. territory to the support resupply and recovery efforts. the military is also conducting damage assessments in support of the local government there. leland: they got walloped down there in the caribbean. as we leave you today, floridians are hunkering down or evacuating from irma. in the words of governor rick scott, it's like something they have never seen before. these were the lines at home depot as the category three storm takes aim at florida.

it has left behind a path of destruction on the caribbean islands that are, of course, known for their beauty. it will take months, perhaps years to rebuild. right now parts of south florida already dealing with the outer bands of irma. live pictures from miami beach right there as so much more is on the way. elizabeth: and, of course, keep it right here. i mean, we'll have programming all throughout the weekend, live programming back to back, our continuing coverage of hurricane irma. forecasters tell us that it could be making landfall throughout the night, into the early morning hours. keep in mine, it's going to be making landfall twice, first the florida keys and then to the southwest part of florida. of course, we have reporters covering the state south all the way up to north, even into georgia. so we will have all of the angles covered for you. of course, if you want to help victims of hurricane irma or harvey, we have some of the web sites that we're going to list up on your screen now. we'll have the red cross,

obviously, the salvation army. there are many ways you can donate. we also heard of ways you can help rescue pets too, so there's many facets that you can help. leland: yeah. and right now as we have heard, especially for folks florida south and those in key west, bill nelson telling us there's about 10,000 people still in the florida keys. it's too late, and now people down there need our thoughts and our prayers as irma bears down. as irma leaves cuba and heads north, could very easily intensify in the straits of florida with that warm gulf water. and even as we heard from the national hurricane center, they don't know yet, does irma make those two landfalls, or does it stay a little bit off the shore and able to keep its strength up as it just sort of tears up the west coast of florida? it's just too early to tell. elizabeth: we had our own adam houseley, nice key largo, and it was less -- he's in key largo, and in less than an hour, winds were up to 5 -- 35 miles per hour. really he's on the ocean side,

and they were going to get that right-front quadrant which is the most powerful part of the storm, really just invading parts. leland: live pictures in key west. only 3 p.m. there. our coverage continues from new york. julie: fox news alert, millions of people in florida now bracing for hurricane irma. the storm now hugging the northern coast of cuba. forecasters expecting it could hit the florida keys at day break with 110 miles an hour in winds. state officials, meantime, asking another 700,000 people to evacuate before irma hits florida. never has the state of florida seen so many evacuations, bringing that number to almost seven million people right now. hello and welcome to a brand new hour of "america's news headquarters," i'm julie banderas. good to see you, mike. mike: i'm mike emanuel. hurricane irma leaving widespread damage in its wake. meanwhile, governors declaring states of emergencying in florida,