through the tuition assistance program, every day mcdonald's helps more people go to college. it's part of our commitment to being america's best first job. ♪ shep: it's 11:00 in south florida we got a brand-new update from the national hurricane center. now irma is headed due north. it's east northeast of key west. call your county, naples, cape coral and beyond. >> the latest on hurricane irma as of 11:00 this morning is the maximum rains remain at 130

miles per hour making it a dangerous category 4 hurricane. it's located south-southeast of naples. it passed over cudjoe key around 9:00 a.m. and it impacted a large area of the keys and middle keys and upper keys. it continues it upward approach to the naples area as well as captiva and the upper coast. many reports of hurricane-force gusts in brevard and lee county at this time. this will be updated at 11:00. but it's essentially unchanged from the previous forecast. we are expecting the system to

move up the west coast of florida with significant impact. we have hurricane warnings for essentially all of florida except the western panhandle. the timing. south florida will continue to be under the gun for the rest of today and tonight, and we'll see the impact spreading into the tampa area tonight and continuing up the coast into the georgia and south carolina area. the storm surge, we are expecting values of 10-15 feet from the captiva area down to cape sable. at this point these conditions will be coming on that area in the next couple of hours. the high tide is expected around

noon today and with the high winds on the front of hurricane irma we are seeing values up to 3 to 4 feet, and that may continue. so the east coast of florida is a storm surge threat and further up the coast as the storm progresses north. irma is a significant hurricane. rainfall as well as tornado threat. we have a tornado watch for orlando southward. shep: i want to show you the area we are talking about. this change in direction. the storm is moving west-northwest for a long time. now it meade that promise turn to the north. one they thought would happen 12 hours ago. it didn't, now it has.

the storm is northeast of key west. so here is the situation. if the storm is here and it's headed due forth. that brings it right over marco island. here is where we are. this is marco island. everglades city, which is evacuated i'm told. then the city of naples and golden gate. if the storm continues on its path it will make landfall at march code island and continue up, naples, cape coral, fort myers. it would be potentially devastating. a lot of high-rise buildings. you will be able to see the

bays. this is and bel sanibel island,a island. cape coral and fort myers. that's the area it's now head. could it wobble and change to another area? it could. this is a cape coral, naples, fort myers storm. reporter: the first hurricane-force winds measured here was 12 1/2 hours ago. so it's been nonstop battering. it's a cool phenomenon the way mother nature works. it's blowing counter clockwise,

sucks the water out of the bayside of key largo. that what per will eventually come back when the water starts coming from the other direction. we could get a pretty good storm surge on the bayside of key largo. hurricane irvin was a category 4. it hit pensacola as a 3. we were in the eye of that one. this has as much power or more and we are not in the eye. we'll be 25 miles or 30 miles to the east. that's what will hit so much of the west coast of florida. if you are watching on the west coast of florida it temperatures

coming slope and it's relentless. shep: adam housley live for us in key largo. we have an opportunity to go to elaine duke. big picture, how are we? >> good morning. we are as expected, a slight move to the west. the storm path has not changed anything we predicted. the storm has hit as a shirk category 4. the winds and storm surge are starting as predicted. shep: this is beginning to look like from the latest update like a marco island call your county naples event with what appears to be unless it makes a turn, direct hit, and heavily tropical hated. is fema ready in that region? >> governor scott is leading the

response for fema. and we are providing any requests they make. shep: the -- is it the expectation that this will weaken? >> we expect this to be a strong storm through the entire peninsula. so unless it takes a different path we expect throughout the movement of the peninsula for it to continue to be a very, very strong storm. surge from the ocean and high, extensive winds. shep: ways your advice for --

what is your advice for people who remained in collier and she counties on the west coast? >> you have to follow the directions of the local officials. in certain counties there is the ability to evacuate still. if it's too late listen to your local officials and shelter in place. response will not be immediate. a person should not expect an immediate response if they have chosen to stay back contrary to an evacuation order. shep: elaine duke, the acting director of fema. i want to show you the bigger picture what this means. the original track of this storm was taking it along the coast. this storm's eye stayed over the coast. often the warm watters of the gulf of mexico.

it will continue to regenerate itself. if in fact it does what they now believe it's about to do, that is go ashore farther south in the marco island, naples area. if it comes ashore here, once it hits the land it immediately starts to weaken. as it moves north from collier county, lee county and up to charlotte county. it will lose steam. not to say it will fall apart. but it will continuously become weaker because it will need the fuel it gets from the gulf of mexico. it will be a horrible set of circumstances for people in naples, cape coral and fort

myers. if you are looking for good news there is that. i want to show you a waterspout. what was the location? fort lauderdale. a waterspout. we are playing this out on the deck here. these have been dropping out of the sky quite often. it's not that uncommon to see in south florida on a normal day. but when you watch them in the middle of the storm, it's quite something to see. they don't do any damage. they are funnel clouds until they touch the ground and then they are tornadoes. we have had reports of tornadoes touching down, but no reports of any damage. john there was one item you wanted me to show. the crane collapse. we have video of a crane

collapse not far from the federal prison there. here are pictures we have gotten in from south florida from that. we know people who live in that area have been told to move to the center of buildings. the chief meteorologist in south florida was talking about power outages. more than 1.2 million people out including the entire keys chain. there is no power that comes from power companies in all of south florida. there are your outages. more than half of miami date county. the number in broward county has gone up significantly. palm beach county, 177,000 people without power there. the storm is headed due north now. maximum sustained winds 130

miles per hour. it's moving due north at 9 miles an hour. so it's varied in forward speed from 6 miles per hour to 8, 9 miles per hour. as it continues north it will run likely right into marco island and at naples area where it will continue that forward speed at 9 miles an hour. they can have hurricane-force winds in southwest florida for as much as 12 hours. a sore back. but he's got work to do. so he took aleve this morning. if he'd taken tylenol, he'd be stopping for more pills right now. only aleve has the strength to stop tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. tylenol can't do that. aleve. all day strong. all day long.

check this sunday's newspaper and save over $20 on products from aleve.

shep: this just south of downtown miami right along the water. >> we are looking at the storm surge. this is going to last for quite

a while. this is the body of water being pushed in from the atlantic by strong winds. the high tides. miami beach 12:26. 1:28 in key west. shep: rick reichmuth is live on the big wall. rick: the pressure has come up a little bit. fit kept that northward movement it would put it in toward the everglades. but as you look at the wobbles and the official forecast it will keep it toward that west northwest motion. you can see the center due south

of naples and moving toward that direction. the water vapor is interesting. because you see that orange in the map, that's that area of low pressure. also we'll see drier air in the last few images you can see. this maybe will get wrapped up in that a little bit. that's the shear that will break this storm down a little bit. storm surge is our big concern. the water levels off naples are 6 feet below where they would normally be because we have offshore winds pushing the water away. but it's later on when the water moves into naples after the storm passes and that's when we expect to see the waters rise

10-15 for potential storm surge. shep: the water has been pushed out of its banks in downtown miami. >> tell me about the intensity. it look like the water is just rushing in. it's almost like a big current right there. >> it is. the wind picks up when you are in between the buildings. there is white caps out here. it looks like the ocean on prickle. on on brickle. between here and the way it's under water. these roads are totally subject merged. we are not talking angle deep. if we went out in the middle of this it's waist deep. >> this is empressive indeed.

we are glad people got out of harm's way. this is going to stick around at least for. >> the hour or so, if i can take a look at the time. it's 11:19. the high tides will continue to stay with us. the latest one we have is 1:28 across cudjoe bay. the wind gusts are 45-60 miles per hour. i'm sure that will continue to push the water far far inland. can you see how far it goes? reporter: it goes for as far as i can see. when i was look down that block, it's 12th street. it looks like the water was this

high two blocks away. this is not just an isolated area on this block. this entire area is under water right now. reporter: this is the storm surge coming in that we have been talking about. where are you, what are the buildings around you, where is all this water coming from? reporter: we are at brickle and southeast terrace. this is the main section where the steakhouse is, the cvs on the corner and the marriott. this area is higher than waist deep in the middle of the intersection. i -- you can tell me, this can't be rain water. i don't think it rained this much for this much water to flow in this quickly.

it wasn't like this hours ago. now all of a sudden you have got brickle under water. reporter: there is a fire hydrant across from you. 10 minutes ago i was looking at the fire hydrant. the water was halfway to the fire hydrant. it looks like it's halfway. that's good news. maybe it water won't go any higher. i will use that as my reference. but that looks deep. that's at least a good foot, foot and a half. and you are mentioning it's deeper. >> we have the weather channel suburban. i hope they know what they are getting into. we saw the other vehicle get through. it gets really deep ahead. i guess they know what they are

doing. but i don't think they should be driving through here. i he doesn't even see me. he's buy himself on his phone and he's driving through this. >> this is what not to do. to see the weather channel doing this kind of stuff is surprising. if he gets stuck right there it will be hard to get him out. i wish i could have a meter to measure the power of that current getting pushed along by the strong gusty winds. >> the winds are intense. the winds seem even stronger in this area because you have the buildings that create the wind tunnels. when we got here, the other issue is you have construction sites and debris falling from

the construction sites. we are being careful because i don't want to go out in the water with luis with the camera. there are a lot of hazards in this area. the water is murky. this is not an area you want to be exploring right now. reporter: one of the things you were mentioning about the water being murky, there is debris and things that are sharp and dangerous. and it's going to stick around for a while. let me review the tides again. lauderdale-by-the-sea. 11:39. miami beach, 12:26. as the storm surge continues to

come in, we are look at these high tides that will make the warm of water continue to rise. we were talking about it since yesterday. this wasn't going to be an incredible thing moving in like a freight train. it's going to slowly build up since last night, and this is where we stand across the brickle area. i'm keeping my eyes on that fire hydrant to see if it goes up any further. if i could guess i am sure the water is moving at 3-5 miles an hour. a mere 6 inches of water can lift an automobile and float it away. those folks driving their vehicles through there were taking their lives in their hands. it looks like you are in a safer place right now, brian?

reporter: i am going to check to make sure there is no water creeping up towards our car about a block away. we are in a safe place. some of these office buildings have really highlanding. we are dry -- high landings. the roads, totally impassable. shep: that's brickle south of downtown miami. over at the bay, phil keating is there. it's kicking up, right? reporter: the watters are without a doubt rising. branches broken, palm fronds broken all over the place. a tree fell over. i want to show you the water situation in the marina. when we got here this morning

there were 18 inches and 2 feet of water level down below this. now it's all at way up to the sidewalk. this has risen at least 18 inches, 2 feet. high tide will be at 12:30 in about an hour. everything will be compound once that happens. it looks like at this rate that's easily going to happen. the winds and rain are still coming in from the northeast. meaning we are getting the northeast quadrant of the storm. we are not getting the southern half of the rain bands. as that happens the winds will shift and change bringing in

more storm surge in from the bay. power is out for half the county. 3 million so far is the latest estimate. and it's likely to rise as the storm system swaddles the entire state. the west coast really getting pummeled in the next couple of hours. the east coast, the residents yesterday when they saw the track of the storm shift over towards the west coast, they thought wow we are going to get some wind or rain. this has been going on for 15 hours and there is still 12-15 hours to go. this is miserable weather. the curfew has been in effect all night long. it's in effect now. there is no desire to get outside. the pelican marina is starting to puddle up.

we wonder if we'll have to drive over to the mainland before our next live shot. shep: let's go back to brickle? downtown miami which is just down the street. >> it's main highway to the mercy hospital. i understand they have to leave the power grid on. we have had electricity and wi-fi. i have been pretty comfortable. >> let's talk about the water. >> i know it will be intense. but it was crazy. i hope everyone is safe out there and careful. my car is parked on the tenth floor. the only thing is the wind is very intense. but thank god i'm okay, i hope

other people are fortunate. reporter: sir, can we talk to you. do you live here? >> yes. in brickle. reporter: what do you make of this situation? >> it's a lot of water. it's a new experience for me. i have been here for 10 years. it's crazy. reporter: i have never seen it this high. >> i have been here for 10 years and this is a first. reporter: you decided to ride the storm out in a condo? >> i did. i thought it was better than dealing with crowds in the airport man the street. the power is still on. a minor adventure. if it had couple the east coast i probably would have gotten out

of here. but you guys did a good job letting us know what was going to happen. reporter: i don't think we expected this kind of flooding. it's waist deep in the intersection. >> i didn't expect brickle avenue to be waist deep in water. the traffic is backed up. reporter: did you notice it rising? tell me the timeline. when did you notice it rising and tell me how long it took. >> i looked out the window 45 minute to an hour. you could see a little bit coming down in the garage. i walked down here and took a look. it wasn't at that stair, it was lower. the stop sign, the telephone booth, i see it coming up. reporter: all of this happened

in the last 45 minute? >> i came down here a half-hour ago and i would say it raised inches. i'm renting out with a buddy who lives here. shep: adam housley in key largo. reporter: we are getting gusts in excess of 120 miles an hour. the wind is blowing sideways blowing this direction from my right to my left. the swirl will come from another direction. the hurricane, wore starting to get a stronger situation of wind and rain. it's hard to explain. it's been going on for so long.

we heard crackling a moment ago. we are protected right here. i look over to my right. i see a part of a roof. to my left as i look out on key largo. i see stuff blowing in all directions. they can still get swirling depending on where the buildings are. the rain is coming down heavy, shepard. you can see the water coming from the other side. we know there is storm surge coming from the ocean side. in the last few minutes it picked up, shepard. reporter: it just continues to blow and has not let up. then we are going to get from

the other direction. i don't know how much they can take, shepard. shep: we just got word storm surge is a significant threat for the keys still as the west wind continue. the store surge could increase to 5-10 feet above ground level. look at north bay village. let's listen live. this is the center of biscayne bay. >> it's unbelievable. in the matter of a half-hour the water made it over the storm wall, three feet, and we are starting to see flooding in our own parking lot. our studio is surrounded by water. and we can hear the wind howling. so i thought at one point we were in the worst of it. store surge a big issue, now we are seeing what that looks like.

and why our meteorologists, our local officials have warned us about how dangerous this is. we learned that high tide at this point is at 11:00. we are at high tide. these wind gusts are stronger than i have ever felt, practically knock us over before you threw over to us live. this massive gusts comes through. take a look at that. it's unbelievable. reporter: i know yesterday you and i were talking about the storm and what your plans were. on a personal level. i want you to share with viewers what you thought about leading into this storm and what it's like for you. this is the first hurricane you have covered. what are your impressions now that you are in the thick of it

outside north bay village. >> i was really concerned. i am from emergency and never experienced a hurricane before. hearing about how strong and massive irma is and what we believe she would be as she makes landfall. it became a reality it's very serious. everyone was taking it seriously, and know that we are only getting the outer bands. it made sense why we should be concerned and we should be vigilant and safe. i'm glad we are in a safer area right now. but to see how amazing and tremendous and strong this storm is. i'm speechless and at a loss for words. where we are in south florida we have been vigilant and we are very safe. but i'm concerned for our

friends and the people in the keys. i can only imagine what they are facing. take a look to my left where a tree snapped and it's blowing closer and closer to the bay. we are seeing what wind gusts can do to trees. it will end up in the water. just another reminder it's important to stay hunkered down. debris can scatter and hit you. we are glad to see a lot of these condos shuttered up as well. reporter: north bay village is an evacuation zone at channel 7. we are right on the water here. we are surrounded on all three side. as you have seen these conditions deteriorate, this began as early as the overnight

hours and this morning. we are talking normally this is like glass. we have a few feet if i had to estimate, never in all my years have i seen a a -- never seen a churned up ocean in our backyard. >> paradise back here, usually completely clear and smooth. right now i haver in seen it like this before. shep: our thanks to our friend at wsvn in south florida. their station is surrounded by water, but the problem is the storm surge is coming up and we wonder if it's going to flood

out our friends. reuters news has been driving around in all of this. as this water began to rise in brickle in downtown miami. griff jenkins is on the roads down about naples. unless the storm veers one way or another which it may, it's headed to this area. >> it's come here 75-mile-an-hour gusts. we have been driving around. we stopped for one second because we heard three loud booms. we saw a fireball in our live shot, and if you put the window down, this tree has caught on fire. it hit one of the power lines. i want to show you, it smells like smoke. this will turn into a larger fire. the embers going.

the mayor bill barnett, i asked him 30 minute ago, anything you want to tell them? he said tell them the first responders are off the road. this tree hit the power lines and this is a larger part of the problem with more than 5,000 people here obviously, over a million in the miami area. the power grid as you all know is above grounds. that's causing the outages. now this tree just split into i don't know, half. about 100 yards back that way. it's starting to smoke and it's going to become a fire in the not too distant future. we'll hop in and take you off the road so you can see the hazards we are getting coming down the road. this is vanderbilt peach road.

as we have been driving, the palm frond trees blowing off. that's why they are telling you to shelter in place, to not get on these roads. authorities don't want you there as we buckle back up, shep. shep: griff jenkins in naples. it's many hours away from that area. the general track has it staying offshore. there is no way to know for sure. we can tell you generally speaking the track has the storm headed to just offshore. but the northward track we are taking you into names and fort myers. there is no way to know where the eyewall will hit until it makes that strike.

the local report in miami. >> does it look too bad behind you? what does it feel like? >> it's getting worse by the moment. the storm surge so important to mention. look at the street blow us. we have a parking deck so we are a little bit protected from the elements. but this what's going on. this will be the major problem we are seeing. by the moment this water is coming in from the biscayne bay. we are not too far from where you are located on north bay village. we are down in midtown. you can see the water coming in from the bay. and it's going to be a major problem. you can see it happening before our eyes here. this tree was up just about 15 minutes ago, then all of a sudden it toppled.

these objects are becoming projectiles which is another major issue. but we want to show you how this storm surge is impacting this area. i know it's impacting you guys in the studio. then you have trees coming dunes well, so quite the mess. these cars will likely be under water sometime soon. this water is moving in very fast, lapping over the sea wall. the sea wall, you can't even see sit. the raves are crashing into the land. that's our story of in midtown for now. but we'll send it back to you, ladies. reporter: omar, we'll give your voice a break. as you look at those bands coming through and those outer edges, it's incredible the

amount of storm surge and conditions it's creating. shep: local radar coming to us from wsvn. you can see the eyewall moving in a north direction. let's listen to phil farrell. there is about two feet of water flowing swift think through the streets in virginia key also looking at a 3-foot storm surge. this is above grounds. all that water is pushing across bigell avenue. -- across brickell avenue and the water is make its way through the inlet in biscayne bay. if you look at our camera in the back, we can see the wind

pushing the white cap. we are looking from the rooftop of channel 7 studios. looking points north, i believe. it will come into the parking lot. it will continue to rights at least an hour or so. there is plenty of high tide left. there will be flooding across north bay village. the what hear has plenty of time to recede. help * that location, north bay village over the next hour. our bill hemmer is in orlando. hi, bill. bill: good morning.

i just talked to a gentleman who left naples with his wife and two dogs yesterday. he said he had just done new repairs to his house and didn't want to leave, but his wife insisted. so they are here in orlando waiting it out for the next three days. he says the wind doesn't bother him, it's the wind. note a lot of wind, frankly but the rain is starting to happen. there are tornado warnings further south and east of us. and we'll keep track of that as we were told earlier to the sheriff's department that that would be a concern into the evening hours here. with me by phone is pam bondi, the attorney general in florida. good morning to you.

we were speaking last night in tampa, you were in touch with the emergency center. what do you hear from the mayor's office and tallahassee right now? >> we are telling people to stay put. wherever you are, this is where you are going to ride the storm out. you know, you were with me yesterday and it's head towards tampa as we speak and as we talked about last night, the storm is highly unpredictable. if i can ask the viewers to pray for -- we lost a deputy and a corrections officer, they got in a car accident with each other. two separate cars. her name was julie bridges. she was a deputy for 13 years. she was headed moment from a shelter where she had been helping. then a corrections officer was

going in to start his 12-hour shift, and they were in a car accident. each car hit the other and they passed away in the middle of this. if all the fox viewers can pray for those families, please, bill. bill: what a a kr -- what a sace that is. they were working 12-hour shifts. >> let me tell you a lot of good that's happening right now. we have a huge va hospital in tampa. my cousin is a dentist. she says all the staff, all the doctors are coming in volunteering on their off time. they are bringing their pets and families to make sure our military veterans who are in the hospital are cared for during this hurricane. bill: so far tampa is still holding its breath. and you have been watching the

radar as have millions along with you. it appears at the moment that marco island in southwest florida could take a direct hit. after that naples perhaps then further north. what do you see -- you grew up in tampa. you have not had a direct hit in close to 100 years in that city. >> all we can do is trust our meteorologists. we need people to his towns, stay safe, stay indoors. do not go outside because anything can become a projectile. anything can become a deadly object. governor rick scott has been amazing. he's been all over the state. he's not sleeping. he's warning people. and thank god floridians are listening. one of my friends stayed in key west because his business was there, his family got out.

and he made it through safely. so we have been praying for him. we have been seeing it, the keys are wiped out. we have been praying for our entire state and we'll continue to do so. but people, stay where you are, do not go outside. that's all we can say to anyone right now. bill: attorney general of florida, pam bondi. our thought and prayers for the officers who died in that head-on collision overnight. they were working 12-hour shifts. they have 7,000 national guard troops activated. there are 30,000 national guard troops outside of florida ready to come in when activated and as irma comes onshore there will be a lot of need. we are awaiting the arrival of irma. stay with us.

we're on to you, diabetes. time's up, insufficient prenatal care. and administrative paperwork... your days of drowning people are numbered. same goes for you, budget overruns. and rising costs, wipe that smile off your face. we're coming for you, too. for those who won't rest until the world is healthier, neither will we. optum. how well gets done.

shep: live coverage continues of hurricane irma. winds 130 miles an hour. maximum sustained it's heading north in the general direction of the northwest florida coast expected to make landfall at some point. live pictures from brickell. brickell avenue has become a river. >> three blocks away from the bay, that's the area near more on. if you are familiar with that area, i have never even seen flooding on that street during the rainy days. now we are seeing the driving rain. we are hearing a lot of thunder

and lightning so the rain is contributing this as well. reporter: phil joins us now. you were talking about the fire hydrant you were using as a gauge. reporter: i was just communitying, i can't see -- there you go, it's up at least -- i was just commenting. now it's up another 6, 7, 8 inches. it's going to continue to rise. this is extremely dangerous. no one should be out there. no one should be driving. high tide continues to come in on top of this surge. it will stick around for a while. shep: this is just across biscayne bay on the city side, the peninsula side of biscayne bay just south of downtown miami. if you were to go east from

there, that would be miami beach where the mayor is standing by. miami beach is taking quite a punch. >> there is debris everywhere, trees down and power outages in certain areas. the big issue for us is tiedal surge. we are just hoping for the best. shep require comes up out of the sewers with rising sea levels. my understanding is over the next couple hours it's a real danger zone for you. you can imagine tidal surge, hurricane, rain is no match. shep: what kind of damage are

you seeing? >> we are seeing a lot of trees and branches, and trees down across roads. we plan on shutting down entries to miami beach. we need to do that. it's not safe at this point. we want to make sure we have the opportunity for our deployment teams to come on and start clearing the roads. downed power lines. it makes it a dangerous area to be outside. we encourage everyone who is listening to stay in their homes and by no means drive to miami beach. shep: the power outages 1.2 million people in south florida. what's the situation upon miami beach? >> we have multiple areas that don't have power. atlantic broadband is a critical provider.

they are on the critical list for fpl to get to them. shep: i guess in many ways people of miami beach are lucky it moved to the west. it's not a good day but it's not what we feared a few days ago. there are tremendous winds out there, tremendous debris flying around. we have hours to go and the tidal flooding is something we are worried about. i reached out to the mayors of fort meyers and cape coral to let them know we'll be willing,

ready to assist them if they are experience the wrath of this hurricane. shep: hope to see sufficient on the beach soon on a sunny day. phillip levine. we just got the new tracking for the national hurricane center in miami. the newest update, the storm is still a powerful category 4 hurricane, maximum sustained winds 130 miles an hour. it's moving to the north. this is the second hour in a row the storm is headed due north at 9 miles an hour which will send it in the general direction of southwest florida. that means naples, march code island, everglades city, that's collier county, north of there, bonita springs. cape coral, lehigh acres and north into charlotte county.

all of this is headed in the general direction of southwest florida. exactly when and where landfall will be made, that we don't yet know. but soon enough we'll. it's noon on the east coast and noon in south florida where we are waiting for a live update from the national hurricane center. they just gave us the new coordinates and wind speed. but where does the national hurricane center believe this storm will be heading. we'll get a live update. mark is getting new information in at the national hurricane center now and we are expecting to hear from him with that update.