now. >> the biggest concern of those that did not evacuate now is not the time to evacuate. for those that did not leave, unfortunately, we're going to have some some bad outcomes. >> hurricane milton is going to be a deadly and catastrophic storm right over, say, bradenton, sarasota and tampa bay. >> those are the heart of where we'll see that landfall making

impacts. >> tonight we are tracking hurricane milton as it gets ready to make landfall in florida. any minute now. good evening. i'm ama daetz, and i'm dan ashley. >> hurricane milton is a category three storm, and has already spawned at least nine confirmed tornadoes in and around miami. >> let's take a live look at that wind that is just gusting right now. you can see that camera bouncing around. we have abc seven news team coverage. >> suzanne phan is live at sfo, where evacuees from florida have now arrived. >> but let's begin with abc seven news meteorologist sandhya patel, who is tracking hurricane milton. sandhya. yeah. >> ama and dan. this is a potentially catastrophic situation. just look at how ferocious the winds are. the rain is pounding florida as we look at live doppler seven, the very latest from the national hurricane center. it is close to making landfall near the tampa area. now, as you will notice, they are already seeing heavy rain, wind damage. they've seen tornadoes. looking at a closer view, the eyewall moved on shore

right between tampa and saint petersburg. looking at the wider perspective here, we do have tornado watch boxes. they're not out of the woods. clearly, 120 mile an hour winds. category three storm. it is starting to pick up speed about 15 miles an hour. now on this track. expected to make landfall as a cat three. weakening to a one later on tonight and then moving out over the atlantic and rapidly weakening thursday into friday. rainfall anywhere from about a half a foot to a foot. isolated up to 18in. that is going to lead to flooding, life threatening flooding. storm surge is expected to be historic up to 13ft, and that is going to be very dangerous of course, we are also talking about watches and warnings that are up once again the center of milton, per the national hurricane center, expected to make landfall just south of the tampa bay region in the next hour or two. maximum sustained winds 120 miles an hour. this one is going to be for the record books. dan.

>> it is for sure. sandhya, thank you so much. as the storm closes in on the florida coastline, it's raw power has been on display throughout the day. cameras in the tampa area are bouncing in the wind and the water is just angry with waves being churned up. milton is also packing a lot of rain and that could cause extensive flooding. the outer bands of milton produced a tornado outbreak this afternoon. the national weather service issued more than 150 tornado warnings across the state. that's a single day record for florida home surveillance cameras captured an apparent tornado in fort myers. now, if people have not heeded evacuation warnings by now, it is simply too late. stay put. at this point, people are being told to ride out the storm in a safe place. >> i would prefer to be at the house and to be stranded in the middle of the street somewhere where that's just as dangerous when you make that call for help. >> i can't imagine what you would feel when you ask for help, and it's too dangerous and helps not coming. don't be that

person. >> really. dire warnings from officials in florida. flooding remains a major concern. officials have warned this could be the most destructive storm to hit west central florida ever. >> some families evacuating florida flew here to the bay area. abc seven news reporter suzanne fawn spoke to them and joins us live now from san francisco international airport. suzanne ama, here at sfo, a number of flights arrived today from miami and fort lauderdale. >> we talked to people who evacuated their homes in florida. they're all just trying to get away from hurricane danger. marcus vargas of redwood city is relieved to be back in california. he's a chef who was in the florida keys helping with the sea scouts program when things started getting pretty hairy because of hurricane milton. >> the people i was working for, they're on high alert. so it's a really it's scary out there right now. everything is getting pretty serious out there. >> vargas decided to drive to

miami and fly back to the golden state. >> it's very stressful. i'm a california boy. i'm used to being out here and hurricanes are new to me. >> but vargas continues to worry about his family and friends. >> my cousin in cocoa beach, my other cousin in west palm, my friends in sarasota and tampa, cape coral and it's just a little bit south of sarasota. >> gigi allen and her family evacuated from cape coral near fort myers. >> we're in cape coral, right there. so they're saying it's hitting or about to hit somewhere right in here because all the local airports were closed. >> they headed to miami to catch a flight to sfo. the allen family used to live in the bay area. after what happened during hurricane helene, they didn't want to take any chances. a coconut tree came down on their home a few weeks ago. so before heading to the bay area, they took some extra measures to protect their home. >> so it's a back sliding glass door with hurricane shutters on it. >> the allen's also reduced the water level of their pool by about six inches to make room for extra rain water. meanwhile,

bay area rescue teams are heading east. a 26 person ground crew just left with trucks filled with supplies. they're heading to florida to help in the aftermath of the storm. california task force three is an urban search and rescue team based in menlo park that will be helping out san francisco fire department also sent several members, along with four search dogs. >> what these dogs do is they search for people and if they get a hit, they're able to locate a person and then the usar teams will go in and breach concrete or lift heavy wooden objects off of someone that may be trapped. >> and the american red cross tells me that they have already sent 70 volunteers from northern california to the east coast to help with hurricane relief, and more volunteers are expected to head out in the next couple of days. we're live at sfo suzanne phan abc seven news. >> it's always great to see so many people willing to help out. suzanne. thank you. do stay with

abc seven and abc seven news.com as we continue to track hurricane milton. you'll also find live updates on our website as well as here during our newscast. >> we're tracking the hurricane very closely, but let's move on for the moment. tonight we're learning more details about san francisco unified school district's plan to close or merge schools, as it faces a $400 million budget deficit. abc seven news reporter louis pena has been following this story closely. she's in the newsroom with the very latest. louis. >> yes, dan. today we got more clarity from the superintendent. as the school district gears up for the upcoming changes. and just 24 hours after the news broke, we're now seeing parents, teachers and students protesting, hoping their voices keep their schools open. save our schools. this is how students, parents and teachers from harvey milk elementary school in san francisco are fighting back. can't hear you. their school is one that meets the criteria for closing or merging with another school next year. sfusd is planning to send

all the students here to sanchez elementary. >> we feel like our kids are being asked to pay the price for administrative mismanagement for the past several years, and it's not fair. >> we looked into sfusd report to understand why these schools are being threatened. the district based it off several factors, including having 260 students or fewer, and in the case of elementary schools, a low composite score, meaning a calculation of students achievements and facility conditions, among others. based on this, three schools would potentially close. two would become welcoming schools and eight schools are set to merge. we asked the superintendent to clarify when we talk about mergers, we're talking about when students from one school, the whole student body is able to go to another school. >> so those two schools are merging together. whereas when we have students who are going to multiple schools, we're saying that that school is closing and that's not a merger

we pushed. >> but if the schools are empty, i mean, wouldn't that be considered more schools closing? >> all the schools on the list are criteria for closing a merger. and if they merge with another school, they're building, you know, won't be used as a as a k-5 school. but we are looking to still use it to support the district's sfusd superintendent matt wayne said they're not planning to sell the properties, but are looking to make money to help the budget. we do own the land. we are not interested in selling the land that when we do that sell our property, we can only use the money for facilities upgrades. we are interested in generating revenue from the property. >> in the case of harvey milk elementary, the school district is planning to potentially turn it into an early education center. lee anne francis has taught here for 30 years and is still processing the news. sick to my stomach. >> really? we all do because we feel like it's a gut punch. >> harvey. superintendent matt

wayne said they're focused on preventing a state takeover. the district is set to submit a budget report to the state in december to show they are taking action to tackle the $400 million budget deficit the district is facing over a three year period. in the newsroom. luz pena, abc seven news. >> okay, luis. thank you. coming up, much more on hurricane milton as it makes landfall in florida as a category three hurricane. this is another look at the conditions. you can see those waves crashing ashore. stay with us. we'll be right back. >> coming up tonight, we have breaking news. hurricane milton is set to make landfall right here in florida just a short time from now. the major category three hurricane winds, 125mph. the now warning of a life threateni

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making landfall. this is a live picture of the conditions there right now. >> it does look intense as you can see. and in the past hour, cnn reporter boris sanchez spoke live to wolf blitzer from tampa, florida. take a look. >> conditions here have steadil, steadily intensified. we are seeing harsher winds than we have all day. the wind is very, very powerful coming off of tampa bay right now. it is pushing the water in the bay closer and closer to the seawall here. earlier in the day, we saw that water recede and now it is

coming back with intense force. we are anticipating an 8 to 12 foot storm surge here. aside from that, you've got a massive amount of rain just in the last 12 hours or so. tampa has seen an immense amount of rain. at 2 p.m, we started seeing maximum rainfall. they're going to get roughly a six months worth of rain in just about a day or so, and there's nowhere for that water to go. so we are anticipating widespread flooding on top of the storm surge and the rain and the wind. you're looking at a lot of tornadoes. the state of florida has seen more tornado warnings today, wolf, in a single day than ever in its history. some as far as broward county. and so for folks that live in this area, we're anticipating not only property damage, but potentially loss of life as well. and as i look behind me, some of the problems have been exacerbated by hurricane helene coming fewer or just about two weeks ago. there are planks of wood on a pier

that got busted up from hurricane helene. there's scrap metal there as well. clearly, this is an extremely dangerous situation as we've seen branches come down. we started to see stuff just flying sort of past us. and beyond that, wolf, conditions are getting bad enough that i think in a few moments our crew is actually going to move locations because this is simply unsustainable. again, the message from officials, if you are in this area, shelter in place immediately, you do not want to be caught out in these conditions, wolf. >> yeah. we want you to be safe. you and all of our photojournalists are courageous team on the scene for us right now. and just to remind me of boris, authorities, local authorities have already told everyone who had decided not to evacuate, to remain to shelter in place, as they say, stay inside their homes, go up to a second level of the highest level in the house at least for now, because it's a very, very dangerous situation. >> absolutely. well, if you have officials put out the word from the national hurricane center earlier today, we are past the

point of no return when it comes to an evacuation. you need to get inside. you need to shelter in place. as you said, if you're concerned about flooding, find an elevated location in your home far from windows. wolf. it is getting more intense, literally as we speak. >> and that was cnn reporter boris sanchez in tampa. this is another live look at the conditions right now in tampa. look at that water flowing, intensifying. >> by the moment we're continuing to monitor hurricane milton. we'll check back in with

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is making landfall. look at all the rain coming down right now. this is a live picture of the conditions right now. it's going to be a very long next few hours. >> for the very latest, let's go to abc seven news meteorologist sandhya patel. sandhya. yeah. >> dan and ama, it is definitely going to be a long several hours ahead. let's take a look at this live picture right now. and conditions in the key west area deteriorating just like you're showing from other parts of tampa. let's take a look at another live picture right now, and you will see that it is very windy in the region. they are seeing heavy rain falling across the area. they're also seeing tornadoes breaking out. here's another live view that you just saw. it is really going to be a treacherous situation nearing landfall. hurricane milton is moving on shore as far as the northern eyewall goes between

tampa and the saint petersburg area. at this hour, it's about 20 miles west southwest of sarasota, florida. but look at the band of heavy rain. moving in across 275 is a very dangerous situation unfolding. as you know, life threatening storm surge is expected. they've had multiple reports of flooding, tornadoes. taking a look at that, 91 reports, to be precise, of not just flooding, but also wind gusts and heavy rain falling in the region. taking a look at the current stats 120 mile an hour winds. it is a category three hurricane, the very latest from the national hurricane center saying that landfall is going to happen in a short time. here we look here expected to be a major category three, a one at 11 p.m. tonight as it moves across land there and then continuing to weaken into a tropical storm thursday morning. eventually, a depression as it moves offshore, taking a look at live pictures,

our situation is much calmer, clearly in comparison to what is happening in florida. we do have some high clouds out there and some fog as well. temperature change down 15 degrees in fairfield right now compared to 24 hours ago. six degrees cooler in santa rosa, san jose, down seven, oakland down five in san francisco. certainly feeling like fall out there. those temperatures 59 in the city, 86 in brentwood. we have one system coming in that is dropping our temperatures, picking up in terms of the winds and bringing us some high clouds. another system will follow on saturday, which could bring some showers. a beautiful view from santa cruz tomorrow. combo of fog and high clouds. friday. the fall feel near average and saturday we do have a chance of showers in the north bay for fleet week festivities. should be nice weather for the air show friday. a mix of sun and clouds, low 70s saturday morning drizzle followed by sunshine and sunday looks good as well. so tonight those high clouds coming through

here fog down below. and that's how we'll start the day tomorrow. and then tomorrow afternoon evening the clouds will move out of the picture. your morning numbers, 50s and 60s. your afternoon highs will remain about average to below 60s to 80s. and looking ahead to saturday, we're really looking at a system that is going to push into northern california, bringing them some showers moving down towards the north bay at 8 a.m. that's the best possibility of showers. the rest of you, maybe a little drizzle along the coast and in the city. we're just looking at cloud cover for the bay area, but the north bay will still have a chance of showers into the afternoon hours. now, when you look at the rainfall totals, you will see that most areas will not measure except in the north bay. we're looking at anywhere from about 1800s in santa rosa, 100 in napa, third of an inch in ukiah. so just be aware of the fact that there might be some damp pavement saturday morning from either drizzle or showers in the north bay. the accuweather seven day forecast, a mix of sun and clouds for your

thursday. it's a breezy afternoon on friday, a chance of showers coming, your way again on saturday. once again in the north bay, and really mild patterns 60s to 80s for the much of next week. so it's looking good once again. the latest on hurricane milton. it is closing in on florida right now and is expected to make landfall any moment now. so ama and dan a very potentially catastrophic situation unfolding. >> all right. you're keeping close watch on it. thanks, sandhya. >> and on the subject, up next, we're continuing to follow the latest from florida as we brace for the impact of milton. here's a live look again after the break. we're talking about the rising ocean temperatures that are contributing to the intensity of

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with our abc seven bay area streaming tv app. now is a great time to get this app. perhaps you know people in florida and want to keep tabs on exactly what's happening there as hurricane milton crashes ashore. the app will keep you updated just search abc seven bay area and download it. >> tonight is the night. abbott elementary is back in class. the new season will premiere tonight here on abc seven. one of the stars, sheryl lee ralph, spoke to good morning america about what fans of the popular sitcom can expect. >> audience was just begging for more, more, more. and it's so funny that we take some very interesting subjects and people laugh at them. i mean, who knew that ringworm could be funny? but it's quite hilarious. and

boogers and snot even more. you know, but they're the things that come with a classroom younger than you all. and it just continues to work. >> it should be good. you can catch season four, the premiere of abbott elementary right here on abc seven. the new episode airs tonight at 930, and that will be followed by the secret life of diddy. a special edition of 2020 at 10:00. then stay with us for abc seven news at 11. >> all right. we are continuing to track hurricane milton. that monster storm making landfall any minute now in florida. >> researchers believe rising ocean temperatures are combining with a marine heat wave in the gulf of mexico to give the hurricane an extra punch. ocean warming is a trend that has accelerated over the past decad. >> we'll have to go through a period of learning what the new hurricane seasons look like, what frequencies look like, how to modify our predictions, and

what makes a busy season and what makes a quiet season. and also how rapidly the conditions of the storms can change. now, as we have changing ocean conditions here in the bay area, marine heat events are already being linked to changes including the migration of marine species from the bay area to baja california. >> all right, more news on the stream next at 530. >> i'm ama daetz and i'm dan

>> david: tonight as we come on the air in the west, a special edition of "world news tonight." hurricane milton making landfall at this hour. the dangerous hurricane, category 3, winds up to 120 miles per hour, historic storm surge. tonight, the first images now coming in. conditions worsening. the outer bands of the storm slamming florida's gulf coast with heavy rain and strong winds. a record storm surge, up to 13 feet possible.