sarasota county strip mall. >> the bucs have a new man in charge, dirk koetter. >> and why hundreds of truckers are on the road when they never should have been given a license. >> thank you for joining us tonight. strong thunderstorms causing a big scare in venice today. this is a live look from eagle 8 hd. the metal portion peeled back like a soda can lid. straight line winds just before noon. amazingly no one was hurt. amazingly no one was hurt. >> and steve andrews has been on the scene there all afternoon. he joins us live. and they're already starting repairs. >> reporter: they are. this strip mall is closed for business. but there is a lot of activity up on the roof and over to my left where the aluminum sheered off by a burst of wind this morning landed. >> reporter: it was a close brush with disaster.

11:00 am a microburst of wind up to 45 miles an hour blew a large section of this aluminum roof off the ark plaza strip mile in venice. >> we heard a slight rumble. then it felt like the tile lifted. and is we could hear the roof peeling back. and i heard a crash out back. i opened the door and sought roof covering all the vehicles. >> reporter: don't out shop employee nicole heard nothing. >> i heard absolutely nothing. chatting with customers, getting their orders together. >> reporter: the roof landed on power lines and employees' vehicles in the back. that had fire rescue worried when they arrived. >> we wanted to make sure there was no one trapped inside those vehicles. >> reporter: the grooming salon had about 20 dogs inside. according to owner bobby gable, fire rescue personnel helped leash and remove the pets. >> we're all very blessed. all the dogs got out.

>> my heart is still racing 100 miles an hour. >> reporter: emergency preparedness told me that they along with the national weather service watched our cutins earlier today and is could tell from the video and debris field that this was not a siclonic event -- cyclonic event. >> but it is a mess. are they telling you whether the building is compromised? >> reporter: an inspector told me that obviously this place is going to need a new roof. some damage. but most importantly, no one was injured. part. thank you very much. steve jerve joining us

this wasn't a tornado. >> it was convenient for the folks in the weather service to do this site survey from eagle 8 hd. a good vantage point from the sky. probably straight line winds. not a woornd, the official report. and these reports did also turn up some tornados farther down to the south around the cape coral area. outside you can see how things have changed since earlier today. some nice clear skies with high clouds across the area. 68 degrees with a north wind of 3 miles per hour. and winds aren't that strong. gusty at times today. but definitely coming down. so much so as a matter of fact we will likely see fog form overnight. there's the reports of a local storm farther south. south of forth myers. north of naples. and is on the east coast as well. reported toward cape coral. especially in an el nio year, we can get fast moving storms

that's why we're very aware about that this time of year. most of the rain activity is cleared well to the east. a few clouds on the camera image. but look at that line passing through midday. actually before midday, late morning. and that's what kicked up the winds and dropped a couple of inch was rain in some areas. fort myers had a record 2.5 inch was rain today. estimates of doppler just a quick glance. pasco, hillsboro, maybe up to an inch of rain or so. very good day for rain not so much for severe weather. but you have to remain severe weather aware this weekend. you can track severe weather anytime on your smart phone by using our weather max app. it is free to download. the bucs have a new coach at the helm. dirk koetter officially introduced as the new head coach.

>> also announcing they've hired defensive coordinator. that was big breaking news twice today. we had team coverage on the top of the hirings. >> reporter: the sun setting here at 1 buckplace. and the first day of a new era for the buccaneers. all the fans out there filled with trepidation once lovey smith was fired. but they can rest easy knowing that dirk koetter is at the helm. dirk koetter was very emotional during his first press conference as head coach. he was quick to thank his family and is every player and coach he's worked with over the course of a 34-year journey that's led him to the apex of his career. >> this franchise is headed in the right direction. easy to say, harder to do. competition in this league is

the best of the best every week. i'm fully aware of that. the challenge. journey. we got some great guys with us along the way. can't wait to get started. for >> reporter: one of those great guys that he was alluding to, defensive coordinator mike smith. a guy that he worked with in jacksonville and atlanta. a huge hire for the bucs as they start to assemble a defensive staff. >> paul ryan reporting live. thank you. bucs fans are not surprised about the hiring of dirk koetter. for many his hiring is overshadowed by the firing of

>> reporter: thigh have been down this road time and time again. that is the problem. one former player says this team needs consistency. out with the old and in with the new. fans will start seeing a lot more of dirk koetter. billboards already in the air, ushering in a new era of buccaneer football. >> it wasn't a surprise at all. >> reporter: some fans like superfan kareem franco mcgill who dresses the part at every single game as a member of the group "what the buc" is is still wondering what happened! and wondering what no mow love for love -- no more love for lovie will do. >> i feel like a lot of the players have started to adapt to lovie and his ways, and i think they had a good bond. >> reporter: i talked to a former player as he was headed out of town. he's still in shock with lovie smith. >> a big proponent of trying

to get stability in our coaches, and it has not been the case over the last decade or so. >> reporter: ahanotu told me he thinks fans are to blame for every constant coaching change, having desires for immediate success with every coach. >> i think our fans have an unrealistic expectation. i believe our ownership pretty much takes its cue from the fans, you know? that's another thing that's upset me. i wish our fans would stop doing that, be patient, and let us really build something. >> reporter: he wishes nothing but the best for dirk koetter. >> i hope he has a boatload of successful i know he's a great give coordinator. but i don't know how good of a head coach he'll be. that's yet to be seen. >> reporter: which i di says he wishes nothing but the best for dirk koetter. their kids both in the same school.

he says he really is a good guy. >> all right, thank you. and we'll continuing coverage of the bucs promoting dirk koetter to head coach through 11:00 tonight. and coming up in sports, dan lucas sits down one-on-one with the new head coach. semitruck drivers on the road who never should have been on the road potentially putting other drivers at risk. >> why these licenses were granted, and why many truckers were lose theirs. >> and the killer of a popular

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the killer of a popular softball coach is now in custody. deputies arrested alfred renard jenkins for gunning down the coach in his driveway. he had a grudge against the coach because he turned him in for stealing union dues six years ago. >> this is a man who seethed for five years who was gonna

only doing the right thing. looking out for the union's money. and bringing a criminal to justice. >> his widow says she wants jenkins to pay for what he did to her husband. thousands of semitruck licenses being revoked all due to safety concerns. >> how hundreds of truckers were grant the licenses they

licenses for thousands of truckers revoked. some of these truckers never should have been driving a big rig at all. a state certified examiner tested and passed thousands of trucking students. >> the examiner also took bribes from an orlando school passing 600 students who were not even qualified. and now we found some legitimate truckers in tampa bay who are at risk of losing their licenses. >> these truckers are caught up in a mess they had nothing to do with. now if they don't fork over hundreds of dollars and pass a test, their licenses will be useless. >> reporter: jose perez paid thousands of dollars to go to trucking school. now three years later, if he doesn't fork off hundreds more to retake the driving test, the

state is taking back his license. >> at the time everything was okay. three years later is a long time to get a letter like this. >> reporter: perez and thousands of other florida drivers are getting this letter warning the state "has good cause to confirm your ability to safely operate a motor vehicle." >> all the time and effort involved and the money. >> reporter: he turned to 8 on your side for answers. this is tied to a fake driving school in orlando that perez had nothing to do with. school officials were indicted for selling big rig licenses to 600 russians. even though they weren't qualified. >> that's very alarming because you have people out there driving 18-wheeler vehicles that weigh 80,000 pounds that are not qualified to be behind the wheel. >> reporter: perez got his training at first class cdl truck training in tampa. one of the school's state certified testers was the same

one officials say was bribed by the russian school. >> i really have no idea why he got caught up in the graft he was inform >> reporter: we want to know why the state is penalizing the innocent truckers. >> why won't the state step in and help them out? >> reporter: perez is stuck with a tough choice. >> do you think this is right to make you retake it? >> reporter: no, it's not at all. it's nothing on my end. i did my part. >> state officials tell me this is all about safety. they say this is the only way they can determine everyone who tested with this tester is qualified. but it's unfortunately the state is not willing to help with the payment because most of these focus did nothing wrong. >> this seems ridiculous. we're going down the road with big trucks and some of these people don't even have the qualifications to drive? and what about these russians? why were they willing to pay

>> i have been asking, calling everywhere, the fbi, the u.s. attorney's office. and no one wants to tell me exactly why. but it certainly piqued our curiosity. homeland security was involved in this investigation. so it is very strange. and i asked how much, how much were they willing to pay? and it was $75 on top of the normal cost. >> that's it? >> wow. >> man. checking out our rainfall totals..58. .6of an inch here in ritchie. look how clear the skies were. that's not the beach. but it is the plantation on crystal river. [ laughter ] >> half inch of rain too here at frenchy's. a few clouds on the horizon, that's about it. our weekend weather overall, nice saturday, 75 degrees.

changes overnight into sunday morning, including the possibility of more thunderstorms. some potentially could be severe the first half of the day. 68 degrees for a high, then another cold front comes through, and is we start our cooler trend. that starts sunday. through monday, tuesday, wednesday, in the 60s for highs. that means overnight low temperatures in the 40s. good time to download the storm team 8 weather max app. i was checking it out today. and tracked tropical weather which we have had here in january. 61 degrees at 7:00 am. 75 degrees in the afternoon, increasing clouds late. 69 degrees right now, tampa international airport. st. petersburg downtown, same number. dewpoints in the 50s, and the temps are mostly in the 60s. 63 in crystal river. st. pete 69. area of low pressure farther to the north. 24 hours ago this was here. now it's here.

pulling in pacific air. there's the front causing pressures across southeastern florida. things are quiet around. posttropical storm alex still out there with 70 mile per hour winds, south of greene land. no effect on us in the u.s. or in florida. that's a broad look at the system. still spinning away in its clockwise familiarity. perhaps some higher seas in the maritimes there. marginal risk of severe thunderstorms for the area tomorrow. higher risk. slight is more than marginal. that would include manatee county, inland areas, farther south of better chance. mentioned the fog possible with the moisture not gone away yet. then just a few clouds, 10%

rain chance on saturday. here comes the area of low pressure, 6:00 am. possible strong thunderstorms, everything races through, and we work in cooler temps on sunday. 62 degrees for monday. 60 degrees on tuesday. 64 degrees on wednesday. 71 on thursday. plenty of sunshine, cooler temperatures overnight. lows dropping into the 40s. and that's a fairly chilly time. the rain chances on sunday the first half of the day, including overnight, morning hours. by noon it should be out of here. >> thank you, steve. dan lucas live again from

after the press conference i had a chance to sit down with the new head coach. and i asked him about a difficult period in his career. it was exactly a decade ago. he was let go at arizona state after a winning season. >> what did you learn from your previous head coaching experience? i know arizona state didn't end