thank you for joining us tonight. surprising moments for workers at a number of businesses in sarasota county today. >> a strong storm moved into the area earlier today causing extensive damage to the roof at a plaza where people were working and shopping. josh thomas joins us live from that area in venice. >> reporter: this twisted aluminum being loaded up here, piled up here, is all that's

covered several businesses in venice. >> reporter: from eagle 8 hd you can seat destruction of the roof at the ark plaza in venice. stacy was working at her insurance agency. >> we heard a slight rumble, then it felt like the tiles lifted and is we could hear the roof peeling back. i opened the door and saw the roof covering all the vehicles in the back. >> reporter: straight line winds caused this expensive damage to the roof of several -- extensive damage to the roof of several businesses. >> some people were streaming tornado. and we looked out the backdoor, and it was nothing but aluminum roofing everywhere. >> reporter: 20 dogs and six employees were inside the pet salon when the storm hit. owner bobby gable is praising the quick work of the firefighters. >> they ran in, they helped us leash the dogs and get them all to safety. and we were just blessed.

also checked the building and surrounding areas. >> most of the roof came off of the building. part of the upper portion of the roof. and it landed on some vehicles that were parked in the back. and we wanted to make sure right away that there was no one trapped inside those vehicles and no one was hurt. >> reporter: for the people who work in this strip plaza, there were some scary moments they won't soon forget. >> we hultsdzed together and is made -- huddled together, made sure everybody was all right, and everybody's fine. >> reporter: while much of the roof has been removed, it is gonna take some time to replace it. there is a subroof up there so there's no damage to the inside of the businesses that will be closed probably at least through the weekend. >> i think a lot of people were thinking this might have been caused by a tornado.

45 mile an hour straight line wind that caused this damage. there is no other damage in the immediate area. >> all right, josh thomas reporting live. thank you. and steve jerve joins us now. it wasn't a tornado. but i do want to mention that you were predicting this last night! that we could see weather just like this, and sure enough, mother nature delivered. >> we try to give people a heads up that they could see strong thunderstorms, high wind gusts like we saw in venice today. and also the possibility of tornadoes. there were some tornados farther south. what happened was a squall line came off the gulf of mexico, which is always dangerous to us this time of year. particularly during el nio phases. there briefly was a tornado watch in place too.

estimates from doppler, southern areas getting the most from north port to sebring, southeastern parts of polk. and is other spots around hillsboro, pasco, picking up an amounts. tornado reports around the cape coral area, west of west palm beach. the tornado reported again, meaning we had one just last area. another el nio event. saturday. but especially the early morning hours of sunday. there is a possibility of another round of thunderstorms moving through the area. a slight risk. higher risk, manatee county. similar high winds, potentially tornadoes as well. another area of low pressure could create

early hours of sunday. >> and you can track the weather anytime by usingure weather max app. it is free. have you heard the news? dirk koetter will be at the helm as head coach of the tampa bay buccaneers. fans not surprised by the news. we've been talking about it for days. but at least one former player blames some fans for the assistant shift in -- constant shift in the leadership. >> reporter: last week you and i had this conversation after smith was fired about the one thing the fan his in common. they all just really want the team to win, no matter who the head coach is. one former player i talked to says that win at no cost attitude, no matter who is at the helm is precisely the problem.

fans will start seeing a lot more of dirk koetter, billboards already in the air, ushering in a new ear af buccaneer football. >> it wasn't a surprise at all. >> reporter: some fans like kareem franco mcgill who dresses the part at every single game as part of the group "what the buck"is still wondering what happened! and wondering what mow more love for lovy will do. >> i'm worried about the chemistry of the team and how they're gonna respond to it. i feel like a lot of the players started to adapt to him and his ways. >> reporter: i talked to former player ahanotu by phone. he's still in shock about lovey smith. >> a big proponent of trying to get stability. to get stability in our coaches. and that has not been the case. >> reporter: he played for the bucs from 200 and 2004, told me he thinks fans are to blame for every constant coaching change,

success with every coach. >> i think the fans have an unrealistic expectation. and i believe our ownership pretty much takes its cue from the fans. upset me. i wish our fans would stop doing that, be patient, and let us really just build something. >> reporter: he tells me he wishes nothing but the best for dirk koetter. >> i hope he has a boatload of success. he's a great offensive coordinator. i don't know how good of a head coach he'll be. that's yet to be seen. >> reporter: and coming up tonight at 6:00, more from fans about their expectations. what they think will happen with the new leadership. and is we'll hear here from ahanotu about what he think. >> i think that reaction from fan is not just here! every city is if we don't win,

what about fan who is might be upset with this move? hoping for someone other than dirk koetter? >> reporter: not particularly! no. didn't hear anything from anybody who was upset that dirk koetter got the job. no one really shocked about it. the one thing i will say that cheney said to me, he was surprised that the buck nears chose a coach again who had no nfl head coaching experience! all of this is speculative until we actually see what dirk koetter can do at the helk of the -- helm of the organization. >> if he wins eight, nine, ten games next season, it's over with the speculation. >> reporter: none of this really matters! [ laughter ] >> we wish him all the best! clean slate, hoping for the best. a man trying break into a winter park apartment was stabbed to death in a fight with someone inside. officers were called to investigate a burglary in progress at 6:00 am. by the time they arrived, the suspect was dead.

is cooperating with police. investigators are now looking into whether the people inside the apartment knew the man who was trying to break in. a florida teen was found guilty today of first degree murder for lure her ex- boyfriend to his death. amber wright lured seth jackson to a house in marion county where he was beaten and shot multiple times. his body was then burned in a backyard fire pit. one other defendant has been sentenced to death and three others to life in prison for the murder. >> it's hard. it's very hard. i don't -- i can't testimony you how i've made it through all. this i just get up every morning knowing they had to fight for my son. >> amber wright will be sentenced on february 23rd. floridians with family members suffering from alzheimer's or autisming be getting -- autism could be getting some help to keep their loved ones safe.

pilot program that provides gps to floridians with a family member suffering from alzheimer's or autism. the hope is these devices will help better locate a person who goes missing. >> they have an opportunity as soon as they found out their loved one is missing to call the sheriff's department who immediately responds. because of the gps, can locate them. a health warning for the bay area. >> the impact of the zeko virus. >> and an actor who previously played a power ranger is now accused of murder. >> a pleasant evening for us. breezes are still up a little bit. and cooler temperatures are up the road. thunderstorm chances a couple of minutes ago. the forecast for the weekend is

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a tennessee couple says they are america's newest millionaires. >> they have one of the winning powerball tickets purchased in mumford, tennessee. instead of taking the ticket straight to the lottery office, they appeared on the today show this morning with their daughters and lawyer. during the interview, john admits he almost didn't stop to buy a ticket at all. >> actually i was on my way home from work. and she called me and she said are you gonna stop and get a couple lottery tickets? i said i really didn't feel like stopping! and i said yeah, i'll stop and get 'em. [ laughter ] >> i never feel like stopping. one day maybe i'll win.

jackpot will be split between the robinsons and two other ticket holders in florida and california. each winning ticket carries a prize of about $528 million. a former power range serface murder charges after investigators say he killed his roommate with a sword. investigators say ricardo medina stabbed his roommate to death in january of last year. they were apparently arguing medina a girlfriend. >> walsh missed a 27-yard field goal with less than a minute to go in a game, giving the seahawks the win on sunday. 1st graders wrote him letters to lift his spirits. he was so moved he decided to stop by their school. >> thank you from the bottom of my heart. that cheered me up a lot.

would do that for me, somebody you've never met and don't know, that's huge. it can help in certain times like these. >> good for him! the kids were learning about empathy in their class, and the teachers wanted to provide a real-life example. tonight a health warning that could affect people in the bay area. a mosquito-borne virus called the zika virus is spreading throughout south america, latin america and the caribbean. the fear is it could end up here. and as ryan hughes explains, the most at risk are pregnant women. >> reporter: the government is warning pregnant women to be careful especially if they plan to take trips to south america or the caribbean on cruises, for example. to florida. >> reporter: it began in africa and spread to far away parts of the world. in brazil babies have been born with microcephaly, which causes small heads and brain damage that can lead to death.

researchers think they're spreading the zika virus, infecting pregnant mothers who pass it onto their babies in the womb. >> the gulf coast of the united states is an extremely vulnerable area because we have both species of mosquitos that can transmight these viruses. >> reporter: residents weren't overall concerned. >> when i was in mexico, that was when the swine flu came out. and i was there for three months working. i never caught it. >> i think they just have tendencies to overexaggerate everything. >> reporter: health officials are warning people traveling to the caribbean, south america, and central america to be cautious and protect themselves from bites. the centers for disease control and prevention plans to advise pregnant women to avoid the areas all together. >> we'll likely see more of people who travel to the region, get infected and come back home. >> reporter: at this point

a case of the virus was confirmed in harris county, texas. crafting to that line of thunderstorms that came off the gulf of mexico earlier today, crystal clear. 68 degrees. a west wind at 7. the rain total there.33. crystal river, 0.40 of an inch of rain. on the beach at frenchy's, a few more people out today with the sun reappearing but still breezy. 66 degrees. a half inch of rain falling at this location. slim rain chances. warmer temps through the day. early sunday, an area of low pressure will bring storms, 2:00 am to 9:00 am.

chilly though. highs will drop into the 60s in the 7-day. falling off, 75 degrees saturday, 68 on sunday with sun reappearing. by monday a high of 62. that'll mean some chilly overnight lows rain chances gone by monday. skies clear, 61 degrees at daybreak. fog around the area. not getting rid of the moisture in the atmosphere. 75 degrees in the afternoon. southwest wind at 5-10 miles per hour. 71 brooksville, clearwater, st. pe peterburg. a little chillier in pensacola. still some clouds and showers working their way through that area. winds coming in from the west, dpufts still at 20 miles per hour.

and tampa. 21 mile per hour wind gusts there. a westerly flow behind this broad area of low pressure that raced across the south in the last 24 hours. locatored in the carolinas now, mostly rain. this isn't cold, cold air. it's just moderate. combined with the sunshine tomorrow it should be fairly nice. winds will be lighter tomorrow too. alex did make history. winds 75 miles per hour, continuing to move to the north. no effect on the u.s. or florida. still talking about this january hurricane. haven't had one since 1938! fog forming overnight, very nice evening overall. dense fog possible to start the day. near 60, a few clouds, quiet saturday. 10% rain chance. things increase. the rain chances and clouds

morning. that's around 5:35, looking at the timing of this line of showers and thunderstorms. racing off to the east. breezier conditions. and that's where the cool stuff starts that you see showing up in the 7-day. 62 degrees monday, the high. rain chance for early sunday. concentrate first half of the day. even overnight while you're sleeping. 60% chance of showers and thunderstorms. and potentially could we some severe weather like today. isolated. we had a tornado watch in place for southern sections of the area briefly. a severe thunderstorm warning as well. a strange demand for the fbi. >> why armed protestors at an oregon wildlife refuge say the

the armed group that continues to occupy an oregon wildlife refuge wants the fbi to leave town. >> we would like to ask the fbi to go home. we can get on with the business and get out of here quicker if you go home. take your guns away from the

take your guns away from the county buildings. s. it's the berlin wall. >> the group took over the refuge to protest the sentencing of two ranchers who were convicted of arson on federal lands in oregon. law enforcement is monitoring the occupation but has not taken any action to remove the armed group. a grand jury formally indicted a maryland man who investigators say plotted with isis. they say he used social media to interact with terror operatives. investigators began tracking him after he started receiving thousands of dollars believed to be from the islamic state. a california man was trapped in a sewer line for more than 13 hours before being rescue the. he was working on the line when the trench collapsed on him trapping him in dirt up to his chest.

the rescue. strong storms this morning ripped through parts of the bay area. the winds blew a roof right off of a strip mall. witnesses describe the moment that it happened. >> the bucs introduce their new head coach. >> fans and a former player weigh in on the new buccaneer head coach. >> a scandal involving truckers who should have never received their big rig

sarasota county strip mall.