hurricane irma wreaking havoc in florida. this is a live look from naples, where the storm's impact is being felt right now with mounting worries all along the state's gulf coast about a life-threatening storm surge tonight. irma lashing florida's east coast as well, wind-whipped waves in ft. lauderdale not able to be contained. good evening, everyone. i'm ted greenberg. tonight florida's gulf coast is being assaulted by that massive storm. irma made landfall on marco island just before 4:00 p.m. with 130-mile-an-hour winds and torrential rain. the hurricane has been downgraded to a category 2, but

it's still packing a massive punch. more than 2 million homes and businesses are without power. jay gray live for us in naples tonight. >> reporter: good evening. we are in the heart of downtown naples right now, and every direction you look, there is water moving in. there are trees down, power lines down, and there is still more to come from irma. ravaging the keys early, irma is now unleashing its fury across the state. hurricane force winds tearing away roofs, tossing aside signs and testing the limits of most everything in their path, including two massive construction cranes seemingly hanging by a thread. driving rains mixing with a storm surge that continues to push water into places it's never been before, including brickell in downtown miami. water covers the only road in

and out of the keys and it's inching closer now to homes in ft. lauderdale. >> hoping for the best, thinking of one another. worried about our friends. you can't help but worry. >> reporter: this couple was pulled from their sailboat by sheriff's deputies in west palm beach as the storms and waves poured in. >> it's my home, it's everything i own, so i was doing everything i could to save it and it just got out of hand. >> reporter: fema continues to monitor the situation ready to deploy assets and coordinating their response from washington. >> our mission here at the federal level in support of local efforts is very simple. wherever hurricane irma goes, we'll be there first. >> reporter: where irma is going next is tampa. dogs played along the empty shoreline earlier. the winds that pulled away from the coast expecting to shift, creating a surf that could shift the bay water into the city.

and water from the surge is building here, will continue to build as the wind picks up. we're through the eye now, the back side of the storm moving through and will continue to terrorize the florida coast. that's the latest live here in downtown naples. back to you. >> so much concern about that storm surge. jay, thank you. our team coverage continues now with first alerted meteorologist erika martin. where is irma now and where is it headed next? >> irma made second landfall around irelaa couple miles sout marco island. its current contained wind speed, 110 miles per hour, and

it's moving northerly at approximately 14 miles per hour. i do want to show you that there is at least some good news. it is going to weaken, eventually being downgraded to a category 1 by the time it makes it to tampa, florida approximately at 2:00 a.m. monday morning where sustained wind speeds will be at about 85 miles per hour. as we zoom on out and look beyond florida into, it looks like, the tennessee valley, eventually it will be downgraded to a tropical storm, tropical depression. locally we have gorgeous weather, so of course i have to talk about that. ted, back to you. >> hurricane irma's ferocious winds toppled a crane in downtown miami. the crane now dangling from a high rise tower with the winds whipping around. tim is live in pembroke pines. tim furlong, what are you seeing

right now? >> reporter: yeah, ted, it's bad. we left our hotel where we were all day, we lost power, we were having difficulty getting cell service. we came to this shopping center where we were the other day. we cannot really take you out to show you everything that's going on, because some signs are coming half out of the ground. if i can show you over here under this tree, there is a sign that is now down, tree limbs down, winds gusting everywhere. sam having a little trouble standing up, and back at the hotel, it's not much better. at least you're safe inside, but the conditions are pretty bad today. outside our hotel west of miami, exactly what the rest of south florida is getting, heavy wind and endless, horizontal rain. inside our hotel, no power. this means no lights, no elevators, and even worse, no air-conditioning. >> when you live on ac all the time, it's a bummer. having no power sucks, but you

can just wait it out. >> reporter: people are having ice cream before it melts. it's tough for the dogs and for their owners getting them outside to do their business. do you feel safe right now? do you feel scared? >> no, i don't feel scared. i feel safe in my room. >> reporter: it is certainly not an ideal situation. but you can see these folks certainly found their own bright side. now they pray for those in western florida who are likely going to take the brunt of this storm. folks down here thought we would be in the bull's eye and can now empathize for those who are really going to get hit. >> we have friends and family up north praying for us, and even our niece on vacation is praying for us, and hopefully we won't get hit. we won't get a direct hit and now we're praying for those who will get hit, basically helping each other out. >> reporter: come back live. take a look at that sign right there. you see the base of the sign is

a little precarious, so i'm going to pull this out of here. we made promises to our families and coworkers that we'll take good care of ourselves. we had we had been. we thought it slowed down a little bit. florida is very flat, very open. so as soon as a band gets us all open, we have this infiniti and we parked under these trees. we're here under an awning at a cheesecake factory. all this corridor down here, you see the tree branches down. we saw street signs that they literally took the crossed metal street signs and they flipped them over and they're on the ground, too. we're very worried about flying debris, which is why we're off the street trying to protect ourselves as best we can. as soon as we sign off here, we're going back in that motel.

>> it sounds like a good idea. you guys be safd. thank you so much. new jersey's pg&e are heading to flor plida tonight. they are helping to restore power left in the dark by the hurricane. they are expected to start tomorrow and will stay two or three weeks. del marva power crews left new york this morning, and peco crews also answering the call. more than 200 contractors left del marva this afternoon. they have no idea what they'll face but will go wherever florida utility crews need them. >> they may send our crews one way, maybe split them up, but they're relying on the host utility to direct them wherever they're needed. irma's impact is being felt

right here in our area. nbc 10 lawyuren mapes. >> i spoke to one woman who said her family just moved to florida. they are used to snowstorms, but not this. as hurricane irma makes its way along florida's coast, jen morton has her eye on the state that became her family's new home less than a month ago. >> there was one time they were asking, what if they get ready for it what would happen? we would get wet. this is so much more than just getting wet. >> reporter: she's taking shelter with her grandfather. she's watching and worrying from south philadelphia. >> yesterday i saw video of damage, and it was just

immediate anxiety. i can't see that anymore because my family is about to face this now. >> reporter: in astin, the march te -- martellas just escaped. she thought about staying. her husband insisted. >> i said, we got to get out of here. >> reporter: they left behind a car and friends and neighbors they're thinking about. >> i kind of feel guilty because there was a neighbor down there, and she was on the verge of tears. she wanted to get out. >> reporter: while they're not right on the water, devin's school is. >> i feel like they'll be flooded. my whole city, my apartment complex is right near the water. >> reporter: with classes canceled, the university of miami student is at home watching the weather there. the watching and the waiting can be agonizing. >> there is nothing i can do

from here to help them. and that in itself is another frustrating feeling, where i feel like all i can do is watch and hope they're okay. >> everyone i've fwhen contact are captured family and friends, to see if they're okay. it is an area where water is a big part of life, the hillsboro river right near tampa. of course, there are the beaches. tonight all of that under close watch. ted? >> lauren, thank you. nbc 10 is with you every step of the way as we track irma's destructive path. you can always get instant updates and alerts with the nbc 10 app. nbc's lester holt is live in atlanta with a special edition of "nbc nightly news" coming up at 6:30. the birds are back. the eagles opened the season in washington against the rival

redskins and left with a wind. >> i know it's just one thing, but the birds have to feel good after winning this one. >> reporter: yeah, the birds said they really wanted this one. they had lost five straight games to the redskins and they wanted to end on a good note, and they did just that. carson wentz with over 300 yards passing and just an unbelievable play. michael vick scrambling away, and nelson aguilar with a career day already in the first quarter. pretty amazing. how about four? fletcher is a beast. the eagles beat the redskins 30-17. and after the game, the eagles

gave their head coach, doug peterson, a gatorade bath. it was very symbolic. coming up in sports, we're going to tell you why they wanted to win this one for doug. i'm john clark, live at fedex field. back to you. we've got much more on irishman. tropical storms in florida. residents are bracing for more. we'll be right back. i'm danny.

you're danny? i'm steve. joseph, i'm steve. how are you? nice to meet you sir. no different from everyone else. they just want a job. they want respect and they want dignity. steve called fairly frantic. you know, he had a premature baby and i think he had just been given the diagnosis that she had down syndrome. lauren brought out the best in me. she made me a different person. lauren's the spark that started the fire. the goal is keep places like this open so all people, regardless of disability, have an opportunity for employment.

take a look at this. an unusual sight has emerged in parts of florida as a result of hurricane irma. exposed land that is normally covered by a body of water. this situation is sometimes called hurricane bulge. however, experts warn it is only temporary and the water will return with that storm surge.

also this evening, philadelphia police are looking for a gunman after a woman was shot to death in the city's mansua section. police were reported gunfire. nearby they found a 62-year-old woman with a gun shoshot wound her chest. medics rushed her to the hospital but she died on the way. witnesses heard her arguing on the phone with a man before the gunshots erupted. sexual assault of a five-year-old. police are releasing few details. we know it happened on warrenton avenue in southeast philadelphia. the victim went to a hospital in south philadelphia for treatment. crated, plenty of sunshine your monday. i'm also tracking temperatures

in the 80s. we'll have more on the other side. see you then.

i'm first alert meteorologist erika martin, and i'm tracking a gorgeous sunday across the entire delaware valley. we were treated to really nice conditions all weekend long. today's high temperature in philadelphia, 75 degrees, five degrees below the average of 80. currently in philadelphia, 72 degrees. a little chillier in coatsville at 68. wilmington, dover currently at 70 degrees and atlantic city, current temperature for you, 69 degrees. we do have this area of high pressure keeping everything high and dry. still, we will get some moisture moving in from the southwest, but that's not going to be until wednesday into thursday. so locally right now, we're seeing not much going on, just a few fair weather clouds. that's just about it.

so temperatures for today mainly in the 70s. a couple upper 60s. the great news is by tomorrow we're trending warmer and that's going to be the story for this entire work week. expect a high tomorrow for tacoma, 77 degrees, dover seeing mid-70s for your expected high. the extended 10-day forecast bringing you see temperatures climbing into the upper 70s on tuesday and lower 80s on wednesday into thursday. so conditions are going to be very pleasant, at least for the next couple days, then tracking some showers wednesday into thursday. we do have some more nbc 10 news coming up on the other side of the break. we'll see you then.

hey, hey, i'm danny pommels from cnn. carson wentz in here trying to get his team fired up before today's game at fedex field. and how is this, the first eagles touchdown of the season? scrambles one down. nelson aguilar looking good. second quarter, birds knocking on the door once again. a voids a tackle and in for the score after a missed p.a.t. it's 13-zip. new acquisition. arnold darby opens his ankle,

carted off the field. reports are he has a dislocated ankle. then later in the second, wentz pays for his own. . teams traded field goals much of the second half. the third quarter is where the birds rise to the occasion. eagles win the opener 30-17. here's john clark live in d.c. >> reporter: yeah, danny, after the game, the eagles players gave doug peterson a gatorade bath. there was lots of heat over the coach the last couple weeks. one article saying doug was not fit to be an nfl coach. the players heard the noise and they wanted to quiet it. >> we had to get this win for doug, and we embarked on it and

came through. good feeling getting a win for him. >> there was a lot of hoopla with the article that came out the day before the game, which was very unfortunate that it came out the day before the game. it is what it is. we love playing for dog. . >> so they have their coach's back. i'm john clark at fedex field. we're right back.

at longhorn, tonight's special, the great american steak dinner for $12.99. a center-cut sirloin with a side, plus a starter, or dessert. and for lunch, try one of our new burgers. like the bbq bacon burger. you can't fake steak. lots of sunshine and temperatures into the upper 70s and low 80s for much of the week. thank you so much for being with us. we'll see you back here later tonight. have a good evening.

tonight, irma's fury. florida under assault at this hour by a monster hurricane pounding almost the entire state. the ferocious winds, the driving rains, the floods expected to get much worse. widespread damage and destruction, including giant cranes toppled, shelters at their limits. tonight, more than 2 million homes and businesses without power. the big fear now, a storm surge along the gulf coast that could reach 15 feet or higher, and the strange effect that sucks the water out. tonight, our teams are in the thick of it, as the storm churns north in a state of high anxiety. "nightly news" begins right now. >> announcer: hurricane irma, this is "nbc nightly news