muggy conditions tuesday. a big cooldown by thursday. rob, looks good. i'll be back in a half hour with another local news update for you. >> announcer: this is an nbc news special report. hurricane irma, here's kate snow. hello, everyone. glad you can join us. we're continuing our special coverage now of hurricane irma as it comes ashore in florida. this historic category 4 monster storm which began almost two weeks ago now. thousands of miles away in the eastern atlantic. well, now, it is upon us. every bit as powerful and dangerous as predicted. the latest as rains and high winds lash much of southern florida. irma's eye has torn across the florida keys with winds as high there as 130 miles an hour. the storm is bearing down on florida's west coast. threatening a devastating storm sturge event, potentially

unprecedented in its districtive power. nearly 2 million homes at this hour and businesses are already without power across south florida. and unfortunately, the worst is yet to come. let's get to sam champion. he's in miami. our our nbc news weather contributor. sam, you've been there now for days. what are we seeing in miami? because that's sort of the eastern side of the storm? >> reporter: hi, kate. yeah, well, since is this storm made landfall at about 7:30 this morning in the keys, we've been in a constant area of tropical storm force winds with hurricane-force gusts. and it is going to continue. as we've been saying for the last few hours, these are the moments, these are the next few hours that south florida residents are truly on their own. there are no first responders to get to them. and there are no repair crews to correct the damage. we do have power outages. huge power outages, more than 1 million across florida at this point. we've got live power lines down because no one can get to them

to take care of them. we've had trees down. we've had -- actually, ultimate,ly 90-mile-per-hour wind gusts in downtown miami that took that crane down. so, all of the real concerns about what could have happened with this storm have definitely come true in this storm. we've had a lot of watchover from business biscayne bay into downtown miami where we've seen water almost calf high, moving through some of the streets right down through downtown miami, here biscayne boulevard, around americanairlines arena, in those areas. also a lot of debris and damage there. as you pointed out, not the of the storm. these are just the tropical storm force winds with the hurricane gusts that have come through. and we have been here for a few hours. one of the areas that took the worst pounding was the area from cudjoe key to key largo.

many of the areas stayed in the storm for four hours, kate, that eye wall at 140-mile-per-hour winds for about hour hours. that was a brutal hit for those areas in the keys. now, we watch the center of the storm start to work north, with its eye, its strongest winds, and those storm sturges focused on naples and fort myers. and the path that the hurricane center has laid out for the storm would drive the system and it's holding true to the forecast path, by the way. sorry, kate. i've got -- as that eye starts to work north and get a little bit beyond naples and fort myers, the big concern becomes, of course, tampa. tampa bay, open to the gulf. and in many cases, first responders in tampa have drilled for hurricanes like this one, like irma, in a worst case scenario where the hurricane would be offshore. and push the worst part of the storm, the strongest part and

waters and storm sturge into tampa bay. that's been a real concern. and really, truly, could come true in the next 24 hours for us. this storm is slowly working its way up. all. force winds, that's nice, you get a break and you can actually stand up and have a conversation. so, kate, everything that we were concerned about the storm is really. happening. so, i just want to tell people, stay inside, ride this out. it's going to be the rest of the day for south florida. >> absolutely. and, sam, i just want to do a little weather 101, if we can. >> reporter: okay, sure. >> obviously, the rain and wind, but when you talk about the storm sturge and what could hit the tampa area, explain that to our viewers. why are we so concerned about water being swept in? >> reporter: okay. sorry, kate, let me put that down for a second so we get through, because i've got to talk with my hands. the winds constantly coming out of a flood of a hurricane. if you were to put a bathtub of

water and have a fan on one side of the tub and turn that fan on high, you would see that water lift and kind of push to the other side of the tub. and that's exactly what happens with the winds of a hurricane like this. in front of that hurricane, it is pushing a wall of water. and the longer that storm has been in the water, and the stronger that storm is the taller that wall of water is. now, sometimes, it isn't -- of the storm -- in this case, we think that's going to be true, but the strongest winds of the hurricane might get there just before the storm sturge does. but that storm sturge they're expecting could be up to 15 feet of water. now, i'm 6 feet tall, kate. keep going up there. that much water ahead of the storm. will sweep into those areas. now, one of the things about the west coast of florida is, it's low. and as -- it's got lowland. it's got lowland, and that lowland extends in isn't cases 10, 15 miles inland. to get out of what we're concerned about the storm surge,

would you really have to get well, well inland to get away from it, kate. that's the big concern. we want people to get up and get away. in tampa bay, the force of that wind will hold the water in the bay until the storm is well cleared. and that water won't have anywhere to go but to flood the areas around it. >> sam champion, stay safe. let's check in in florida city. that's where we find miguel almaguer. he's been in in for a milwhile. miguel, you're in the closest part to the florida keys that we can safely be in, right? >> reporter: yeah, this is basically the door mat of the florida keys. we're about ten miles from the coast. the concern here in the city is not necessarily that tidal surge. it's more the rain and steady winds. the rain is certainly blinding at times. and the wind has been incredibly powerful. it's knocked out power to the entire region. we know some facilities like the

police department are running on generators. kate, i want to show you just how deserted this is. this is florida city. stay right there, we're going to pan the camera down, completely deserted. you can see the distance, the palms flowing in the wind, as well as trash cans flying down the street. it certainly could be a precarious situation which is why first responders say they're not coming out here anymore today. we know the power is out in the ree region. we know that first responders are say it's too dangerous to respond to calls. they're not necessarily going to answer until they have the ability to go out on the street. they tell us -- we're actually hunkered down at the police department. we're physically at the police department with first responders. they tell us they're going to hunker down here. remain here until the brunt of this storm passes through. this is the overhang. we're using protection here. but they tell us anyone who is out in the city needs to hunker

down. the vast majority of the city did not evacuate. so they're going to have to ride out this storm, kate. >> miguel almaguer, thanks. stay safe as well. i want to check in with gadi schwartz who is near where miguel is but he's driving. gadi, you were in a church last time i saw you in the keys. you're driving north, i'm hoping? yeah, we're driving north. we're actually going to hook up with miguel's crew and resupply at that city hall. it's a very fortified area as you can see. i kind of want to show you what's going on on the outskirts here. these are trees that are down right in front of us. that, over there is the northbound lanes. you can see it, they are completely covered in trees. then on the southbound lanes, southbound lanes all the way into key largo, they are open right now. which is going to be very important for first responders that are going to and from the full florida keys, at least into key largo. we're not sure what the situation is south of that.

we have been talking to people in the florida keys that are hunkered down. we were with a family in a church. they feel safe and secure right now. they feel in the next couple of hours, the worst of the storm is going to pass over them. in fact, we've already seen winds start to die down just a little bit. and we've seen the storm surge. the storm sturge in the keys where we were were, key largo, wasn't as high as in the evergraeve everglades where we are now. just a quick message, i was speaking with a man by the name of david wood. he lives in key largo. he's there checking on his home. he's conserving his battery. one of the last messages he sent out, please tell my wife that i am okay. i'm just trying to conserve bat eye ares. so if she is watching, the wife of david woods, your husband is okay, and shehe's going to textu in a while. he's just got to conserve battery. kate, back to you.

>> they did want to clear out the keys completely but there are a few souls that stayed back. gadi, thank you. let's check in with jeff rossen north in tampa. jeff, you're seeinging in very odd up there in tampa bay, where the water is actually going out to sea and being pulled into the hurricane? >> reporter: yes. yeah, we're seeing this prestorm surge. though, a couple hours ago when we first got here, you can see it's a little discolored here. we had several feet of water right here. same all the way down there. several feet of water. this is tampa bay. this is what we keep talking about, about it flooding. look -- can you see right now, the current of water, kate? it's going the opposite way. it's going back out into the bay. it should be coming this way. what we're told is happening, the free storm sturge going out that way. the worry is when the storm blows in it's still 12 hours away, it's going to come back hard, kate. >> jeff rossen, thank you. i want to go to the governor of

the state of florida, rick scott. let's listen in. >> -- today and tonight. this is a life-threatening situation. remember, in southwest florida, the storm sturge comes after the strongest winds. do not think the storm is over when the wind slows down. local officials will let you know when it's safe to go out. the storm sturge will rush in and could kill you. we have thousands of national guard members and official wildlife officers on standby to help with search and rescue as soon as it's safe. but they cannot help you until the storm has passed. you need to stay in a safe place. with the storm's latest track, families in the panhandle need to be on high alert for severe weather, including tropical storm and hurricane-force winds. here in tallahassee, it's likely we'll experience hurricane-force winds and families must prepare. we are doing all we can to be

prepared to respond to the storm. today, i requested a major disaster declaration of president trump to help bring important federal resources and aid to florida. i've spoken with the president nearly every day, as well as today, and as well as other our federal partners. we are working very closely with the federal government to make sure floridians have the resources they need for the storm. this has been a challenging week for our state. all week i traveled florida to spread the message. take this deadly storm seriously. stay safe. be prepared. listen to local evacuation advisories. my first duty as governor is protect the people of florida. in a storm that's here now. everyone's family matters. every life matters. please know that we will do anything and everything to protect and rescue every person.

and we will spare no expense in doing it. this week has demonstrated that everyone around the world, to everyone around the world, that floridians care about each other. we have each other's backs. we're proud to call florida home, and nothing will change that. while i know we have done everything we could to prepare for the storm, we can never do enough. i've heard from other governors and from people all over the world about the way they can help our state make it through this destruction. in fact, we have received direct support from 16 states. we've received national guard, from texas, we're seeing fish and wide life members from ohio incident management team, from colorado emergency operations support team. we've taken all help and all resources that have been offered. i know florida's known for our beaches, our theme parks and our college teams. but our most important asset is our people. many people of all over this great country and world have asked me what they can do.

if you'd like to give, text "disaster" to 20222 to make a one-time $10 donation. to volunteer, volunteerflorida.org. pray. i don't think prayer is last resort. it should always be first resort. we will don't update you throughout the storm, but let me make it very clear, we'll make it through this together. [ speaking in foreign language ] [ speaking in foreign language ]

>> okay, we are listening to governor rick scott of florida, obviously switching into spanish to let you now how to contact help and what 800 number to call. the governor is saying a few things there, do not think the storm is over when the winds go down. warning of what we were just talking about with sam champion about storm sturge ideas. that can be a threat to florida. also talking evacuation saying the storm is here now, but to the north, there are still parts of florida under evacuation orders. far to the north areas that should be moving back. let's go back to governor scott. back in english again. >> thank you, governor. the florida national guard has

been activated with 500 shelters. more than 700 more guardsmen are preparing to set up food and distribution sites as soon as the storm passes. we're working alongside fwc as soon as it's safe. we're working with our counterparts with national guard and other active duties. more than 10,000 national guard troops are on their way into the state of florida from 14 different states for deployment after the storm. help is coming by air, land and sea. we're grateful for the outpo outpouring of support and assistance from our brothers and sisters in the army, air force, navy, marines. coast guard and the entire guard nation. and we're ready to do all we can to help our fellow floridians. and we'll be here as long as needed. thank you, sir. >> now, we're going to hear from fish and wildlife. nick wylie has done a great job. >> thank you, governor.

we have approximately 200 fwc officers -- >> all right. we'll continue to keep an eye on that news conference ongoing with the governor in florida, telling everyone to listen to evacuation orders. saying every life matters. take care of your family. i want to bring in dave price here with us all morning, wnbc weather arnchor in new york. dave, we're checking with people far to the south, miami and near the keys. but what we're seeing is movement to the north? >> absolutely, to the north and to the west. let's talk about what we know, the facts, let's get our kwo coordinates and then kate, we'll discuss what's happening, irma, category 4 storm. remarkable strength. after all of these days still retaining winds of 130 miles per hour. and located 65 miles

south-southeast of naples, florida. let's go from the top of the show from when we saw sam, those winds continuing to roll through sections of miami, and ft. lauderdale, the eastern seaboard of florida, if you will. those are bands, those are on the sloppy side, if you will, on the dirty side, is what it's called, of this storm. now, let's begin to track irma as it takes its ride along the west coast of florida. by 8:00 tonight, it's still restaining strength of 125-mile-per-hour winds. it is going to rip through sarasota and fort myers and naples, on its way to tampa. one of the biggest areas of concern, tampa bay. it's two-fold. number one, we have those winds which we've already noted. and number two, that surge which we've been talking about. this storm continues up. look, now, we're at monday morning at 8:00 a.m. still holding on to winds at 90 miles per hour sustained gusts

even higher than that. then we continue to advance this storm. it is going to retain hurricane strength, potentially, as it crosses into the georgia border. finally, by monday night, we have its wind speeds to about 45 miles per hour. but take a look at this. it continues through. tuesday morning, 35 miles per hour. 30, wednesday morning. and then begins its turn eventually winding up with remnants in sections of the northeast. but our big concern over the next several hours, the wind speeds, we understand. the issue of surge is uncharted territory in like tampa bay. in modern history, we have not seen potentially catastrophic storm sturge like we're going to experience the next several of hours. that's what we're. watching and waiting for. but we know its path now, kate. >> and so many people in that

path. dave. we're talking 20 million people as you go all the way up to tropical storm warnings. georgia, atlanta, i don't think has ever had a tropical storm warning. >> right, that metropolis has it. you hit on an interesting point. often when we talk about hurricanes, we talk about them affecting one city, ripping through and then ripping out of the way. what we're seeing here, because of the storm with the cloud shield of 400 miles is devastating damage potentially, in areas from miami, to ft. lauderdale. and all the way up to some of the big west coast cities. we're going to watch this for you for the rest of the afternoon. >> dave, we'll check back with you in a few minutes, thank you very much. i want to bring on the mayor of cape coral, florida. that's a town of -- as we were saying, another one of the cities that could be impacted by the storm. south of fort myers. mayor marny zawicky is with us.

give us an idea? >> basically, the winds are starting to pick up. from this point on, even though the shelters are accepting evacuees. at about 2:00 today, when we expect hurricane force winds. and our biggest thing is what you just said, storm sturge. making sure how do we get to our residents and information out so they know who to contact. >> and is there information in terms of shelters, you just mentioned they're still open. but you're not supposed to be out on the roads at this point. so, are you at the point where you're telling residents just hunker down and don't go anywhere? >> yeah, actually, we've been saying for the last few days, a storm this magnitude, stay in, please. we have 150,000 people under the evacuation order because

two-thirds of our city is under the surge zone. so, we know we're going to be impacted 400 miles around. so trying to evacuate 122 square miles is very difficult. there's a lot of them that thought they were here for charlie and thought they would ride it out. >> well, we wish you all the very best, obviously, mayor. thanks for checking in with us. we'll check back with you later. i want to the go back to that news conference is that we've been following, the governor of florida, rick scott, who has been briefing reporters. let's listen in on that. >> they'll get that same storm sturge as the storm moves north. >> i think the storm has taken to tallahassee, and now it's kind of in the center of the cone. what preparations are being done, as of right now, especially with gas? i know there's a bit of a shortage? >> we've been working on getting

gas into the state for this entire week. unfortunately now, our ports are closed which were -- you know, our primary ports for gas are tampa and port everglades. we are, of course, here, working with them to make sure as soon as the storm passes we can get those ports open to get fuel here. we'll provide escorts, again. law enforcement escorts to the carriers to get to the gas stations as much as possible. i waived the fuel tax to see if we can get more gas into the state. we've done everything we can to get as much fuel here as possible. i know there's been lines. outages, but we're going to work every day to keep doing it. it will be really important to get the ports back open. and i know it's something that the ports have already talked to the army corps to make sure they know a process to get that done as quickly as they can. >> reporter: governor, in the immediate aftermath after the storm is cleared out, people that went to shelters, how long

do they expect to either sit isn't place to wait to hear that their neighborhood is okay to at least check out and go back into? >> clearly, every county is going to be a little different, what happened in their counties. in the inner counties in the state it's going to be different, wind and rain, and you won't have the storm sturge. so what will happen in every county, they'll try to let people know what happened. but there are issues that every family is going to deal with, one. if you don't have power, if you want to stay in a shelter, that's one. two, we got to make sure we have fuel for everybody. we got to make sure we water and food for everybody. we have prepositioned assets. we've got to get those things as fast as we can to the southern part of the state. but all of the assets for this, it's slowed down the fact that this has covered the whole state. so, as you try to move the assets down to the southern part of the state, we got to look at the storm path. so, it's safe to drive on our

roads and things like that. so, everybody's going to have -- everybody's going to have to be very patient. >> reporter: in montgomery county, governor, a person was killed. what kind of guidance is given to first responders, should they be on the roads right now? >> so, in every county, if you talk to the sheriff's department, and the police department, they've put out orders when people are supposed to be on the roads. you can't ride certain vehicles because of the wind. whether it's the wind or the rain. but in every county, they make those decisions. >> reporter: governor -- >> all right. we've been listen to governor rick scott in florida, briefing reporters on the state of the emergency there. something about how he has asked the president to declare a state of emergency for the entire state. we're going to take a quick commercial break but come back with more special coverage of hurricane irma. stay with us.

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returns in a moment - as hurricane irma slams florida good morning. it's 9:29. i'm kira klapper. this special edition of "today" returns in a moment as hurricane irma sam irma slams florida. the california air national guard's rescue wing is there. they specialize in chopper search and rescue. california task force three based in menlo park is also there to help. pg&e is helping staff to help with power outages currently at 1.5 million. locally meteorologist rob mayeda has a look at the micro climate forecast. the forecast returns to summerlike temperatures with 80s across the bay, 90s in san jose, close to 100 degrees in the east bay valleys. tomorrow a cooldown with increasing clouds. a chance of showers and isolated

thunder into tuesday. trending cooler the second half of the week. >> rob, thanks. i'll have another local news update in about 30 minutes. again, kate snow with you in new york with our continuing coverage of hurricane irma on this nbc station. we are watching the effects of irma now all battering all of the coast. the western coast and the southeastern coast of the state of florida. i want to start with jo ling kent. she's in ft. lauderdale now. jo ling kent, what are you seeing there? >> reporter: hey, hey, we are seeing the winds really pick up. and we are completely soaked, kate. what we have here is a pretty serious band from hurricane irma. this is a community that's been prepared for being in the eye of the storm. they no longer are, but as a result, they are very well prepared. so, as these tree lines come do