it's 7:00 and the station that's on your side is on your schedule, 8@seven begins now. good evening. for a while this afternoon it looked like a 3-year-old may have taken away in a stolen vehicle but he was never in any danger after all. mary mcguire joins us in clearwater. this was all kind of a bizarre drug deal. what kind of charges does the mom face in this case? >> reporter: 25-year-old angelica marrero and her boyfriend, the father of that child, 27-year-old gerardo ba dillo will be charged with

is a felony and also with filing a false report to police. clearwater's police chief had some harsh words for that mother after this entire charade went down. >> unfortunately there's a ridiculous turn of events with some really irresponsible behavior today that really caused a lot of disappointing things to happen. >> reporter: this white ford fusion was reported stolen from the 1300 block of boylen avenue and clearwater this afternoon, but police believe it was never stolen at all. >> there is some indications that there may have been some type of drug involvement in this incident and whether the vehicle had been traded for drugs or the people that the car had been given to were related to some type of drug transaction, so that's what we are looking at now. >> reporter: after the car was involved in some sort of a legal -- illegal activity and that false report was made to police, the driver of the car began fleeing and police spent hours searching for this little boy, 4-year-old ismael badillo

a day care in pinellas park. >> i hide my frustration with utter joy that the 4-year-old is found safely but in the end it is a good example of a lot of irresponsible behavior costing a lot of people to put themselves at risk to stop this fleeing car and, of course, significant amount of resources being spend to deal with this -- expended to deal with this problem. >> reporter: the driver of that car, 19-year-old stevie gamble junior will be charged with grand theft auto, reckless driving and evading arrest. live in clearwater, i'm mary mcguire, news channel 8. we dealt with very rough of tornados. our team coverage begins with charlotte county where the damage to numerous homes is easy to see. afternoon heavy rains and strong winds pounded the area. the storm began ripping off portions of the roof at the sun

>> we heard stuff hitting the window and then my ear started popping really bad, so we knew something was going on. >> reporter: one man was driving nearby trying to get away from the storm but he was stopped dead in his tracks. >> right by target there was some -- looked black and all of a sudden spray looked like it was spinning around in the area and all of a sudden stuff started falling from the sky probably about 100 feet in the air. >> reporter: the sun trust building was soon evacuated and first responders rushed to the area. outside mother nature left quite a mess, pieces of roof and debris were strewn across the parking lot, cars were damaged, like this one that was parked in two spaces. emergency crews quickly began cleaning up, taking down tree branches and tearing up large tree limbs. the damage was extensive across numerous areas in charlotte county. the roofs of many homes were ripped up in a neighborhood off of rampart road. power was out for many residents in this area after power poles were pushed aside, left leaning toward the road.

up but officials are thankful there are no reported injuries. reporting in charlotte county, john rogers, news channel 8. today's weather caused a lot of problems for homeowners north of the piece river and tonight they have a lot of debris to clean up and repairs to make on their homes. earlier this evening news channel 8 photo journalist journalist paul lamison surveyed the damage. >> reporter: good evening, we are over charlotte county and let me show you, this is neuroemburg road, there are one, two, three houses and patching the roof. they have laid tarp but you can see behind them the screens are gone off of the screen porch and if i move back over here, the power crews are out and if i pan up here and look over, you can see more damage, here's a house with part of the roof and the screen porch gone and up here, here's another one that's gone all the way through

insulation is out and about and the cars are damaged as well. so there's quite a bit of damage in this neighborhood in charlotte county and we will have more for you as the night progresses. in eagle 8 hd, paul lamison, news channel 8, back to you. some people near vero beach spotted a funnel cloud today. tweeted out video of this cloud this afternoon. fortunately witnesses say the funnel cloud never touched down. the storms that rocked the bay area today passed through yesterday. there more than 70 homes and an apartment complex were damaged last night. meteorologist john oldshoe from southeastern sky.com shot this video from a drone flying over some of the damage, pretty impressive stuff there. today governor rick scott toured the area, promising everything that can be done will be done. >> the most important thing that the sheriff will say, emergency management teams will say, the mayor will say is we

gets back to living a normal life as quickly as we can. >> pensicola wasn't the only area hard hit. three people died in louisiana and mississippi and powerful storms caused two deaths all the way up in virginia. all of the storm meteorologists were on the job today during the severe weather outbreak. chief meteorologist steve jerve joins us now. you were busy, you predicted it yesterday and sort of came to fruition yesterday. >> we talked about the possibility of strong thunderstorms, high wind gusts and the potential for tornados. enough wind shear in the environment. these are some of the storm reports getting some high wind gusts out of pinellas county here, this tornado around duet area and of course the port charlotte area. the national weather service in ruskin has done a survey and determined what they are calling the murdoch tornado had .2, 210th of a mile path. the second one an ef1 tornado with 97-mile-per-hour winds was

travel for florida tornado. but this is the time of year when we have these type of tornados and, of course, enhanced by this el nio phase that we have been in so that one officially an ef1 tornado with 100 yards wide path. there were several others reported up around desoto county, crossing over areas that were uninhabited, marsh, forests, et cetera so not a lot of population areas except for obviously the reports that we did in these areas. the weather is changing. we are talking about cooler and breezier weather. we will have your forecast coming up for you very shortly. >> thank you very much, sir. and a day like today is an especially good time to have the storm team 8 weather map. steve jerve's voice will alert you to severe weather in your area. national oceanic and atmospheric administration hurricane -- national oceanic and noaa's hurricane -- the air force is making way for

are relocating to the base. congressman david jolly believes the noah unit can relocate to the st. pete clearwater airport. >> i think we could have a win- win in the bay area. when the one thrives come in -- 135s that will add additional air assets to macdill and now we find where to put noaa assets. >> jolie says -- jolly says -- the airport has hangar space and office space for noaa's aircraft and employees. some very brave members of the coast guard received a big honor today. last october members of air station clearwater were the first to respond to the devastating effects of hurricane joaquin which swept over the bahamas. they saved the lives of 12 mariners who had abandoned a sinking 212-foot cargo ship. today in clearwater four of those coastguards men received

>> launched into extreme poor visibility and 50 knot winds from hurricane joaquin. >> the air medal was established in 1942 and is one of the most prestigious aerial awards an air crew member can congrats to them. still ahead on 8@seven -- >> more than 90,000 babies later and a brandon region retire. i will show you some of the 35 years. pharmacies across the state of florida busy giving out flu shots. i'll show you why there's been an increase in the number of flu cases, especially here in hillsborough county. we will have that and more coming up, you're watching news channel 8, the station that's

it is almost time to retire for a bay area woman who played

of life for tens of thousands of people in the bay area. tonight anthony allred shows us why it's going to be tough for her to say goodbye after 35 years at brandon regional hospital. >> reporter: baby is crying. >> oh, no. >> reporter: it's just another day in the life of bonnie guardio. >> what she is doing now is rubbing ointment on it so it will clean off easier. >> reporter: bonnie has worked for brandon regional hospital for more than 35 years and in that time she has provided care to more than 90,000 newborns. >> i love being a nurse. i wanted to be a nurse from the time i was a young girl and i love taking care of these families. >> reporter: and over the last 35 years, bobby tells me she has helped hundreds of doctors. the hospital has only seen one set of triplets and in 35 years

she has been a great friend, coworker and director, and once bonnie guardio is gone, she would like to be remembered >> that i made a difference. >> reporter: in brandon, anthony allred, news channel 8. accomplished. well, do you want to buy a really reliable car? we will reveal which brands are best for avoiding breakdowns. that story is coming up. plus, do you hate to like things you don't really like? well, you need to check out the new feature that just hit facebook today.

on wall street today the dow gained 53 points, the nasdaq climbed 39 points. if you added one of everything on amazon to your shopping cart how much would you spend? business car question, i -- bizarre question i know. but your bill would be nearly $12.86 billion. he believes in 2015 there were 479 million different items on amazon's website with an average price of $26.86. one thing you cannot buy on amazon right now is a hoverboard. amazon has quietly removed hoverboards from its site. a few days ago safety officials

to the risk of fire. target and toys "r" us have also pulled hoverboards from their websites. it looks like amazon is branching out into the clothing business. amazon has always sold clothes but now an analyst with key bank reports amazon has introduced several private label clothing lines. items include men's suits, averaging around $300 and women's dresses averaging $60 each. well, it's official, you're no locker limited to like -- longer limited to liking. facebook rolled out its new reactions icons to the u.s. today. now you will have the option to love a post, give it a ha ha, say wow, express sadness or anger. if you're using facebook on a web browser, just hover over the "like" button. if you're on a mobile device, press and hold the "like" button until the other options appear. you may need to close and feature. we are getting closer to finding out when microsoft's hololens technology will arrive in the real world. mashable.com found some

developers should find out when they can get a hololens. it's on february 29th that they are going to find out, though. the first augmented reality headsets from microsoft will cost $3000 and be sold to developers. the goggles will allow you to view the real world with added you. isn't that called drinking? >> reporter: as cars get more j.d. power looked at 2013 model year cars and found a 3% decline in problems per 100 vehicles after j.d. power rates lexus as the most dependable car followed by porsche, buick, toyota and gmc. the most common problems involved entertainment systems, navigation and phone connectivity. volvo wants to get rid of car keys and even those key

it's working on a way to use bluetooth to -- one app can control multiple vehicles. volvo plans to test the technology in sweden this spring and if all goes well, a few cars could have digital keys as an option beginning next year. maybe you've noticed people coughing more, sneezing more, perhaps someone in your office or in your home is sick. that. 8 on your side's rob carter is looking into the rise in flu cases. >> reporter: it's not something most people want to do, get a shot. but health officials say this is necessary. >> last year i got it and i didn't get the flu. >> reporter: march rae stopped by -- maria stopped by walls greens to pick up a -- walgreen's to pick up a prescription and while she was there she got a flu shot. >> i'm not worried that much because i never got the flu before. i just did it because i don't want to get the flu. >> reporter: folks with the florida department of health

lead especially now. we are experiencing a flu outbreak here in the bay area. it's affected an elementary in polk county, a day care facility in hillsborough county in pinellas county. >> it's pretty much the time of year for florida. >> reporter: steve huard with the department of health told precautions. the elderly, pregnant women, children under 5, people with a compromised immune system and those with chronic medical conditions definitely at risk. >> there's a lot of other things that we can do to help ourselves, you know, gets a good night -- get a good night sleep, eat well, get exercise. when you're feeling bad, when you have a cold or possibly the flu, stay at home, keep fluid home. >> reporter: as for maria, she has never had the flu and she does not want it but this new increase does concern her. >> yeah, yeah, it makes me worry, yeah. >> reporter: by the way, if you decide to get a flu shot today, walgreen's has a pretty good deal that you can help pay it forward. if you get a flu shot today, then they will donate a flu

country. in tampa, rod carter, news channel 8. this powerful storm system moved across the country. we talked yesterday about the tornados that broke out in places like louisiana and mississippi and as we watch the path of this area of low pressure the last 24 hours you can see it did quite a bit of damage along its path and of course on the mid-atlantic coast tornado watches there this afternoon. overall so far, 76 tornado warnings for this storm and 17 tornado warnings in the state of florida just in the last 24 hours. as we look at our temperature forecast, one thing we know for sure, this cold front is going to have an impact on us in dropping those high temperatures into the 60s as we go through thursday, friday, saturday, sunday, but by tuesday, wednesday, thursday, the end of next week, temperatures jump right back up in the mid and upper 70s. days. today. it will warn you if there's a

at 7:00 a.m. -- a bit sunnier than we saw today and windy conditions from the northwest. windy, much cooler tomorrow, going to feel different tomorrow so be aware of that. the strong northwesterly winds may drive a few of these lower clouds across the state and across the bay area. thursday morning, though, a few clouds early, cooler and breezy with high pressure building in from the west-northwest, breezy conditions throughout the day as we go throughout thursday. for friday morning a chilly start to the day in the 40s, jacket is needed. afternoon looks pretty good, though, still kind of windy, 10 to 15 degrees it looks like below normal. lighter winds lead to a cold morning near 40 degrees for saturday but both days saturday and sunday will be in the 60s and mixed in with sunshine and then we start the warming trend as we carry on for into monday. temperatures meanwhile long- term, upper 70s by the end of this period, possibly wednesday at a 10% rain chance but beyond that next thursday the possibility of thunderstorms,

were hinting at today. so we will see if that holds together. but for now, enjoy the cooler weather and the windy weather, might be a good idea to keep a jacket in your car no matter where you go because you'll probably wind up saying it's cooler than i thought it was going to be. >> cooler and some industrial strength hair spray. you can't go out in that wind without -- >> good idea. the aqua net, is that what you're thinking? >> exactly. >> that stuff doesn't move for nothing. >> that's right. >> yeah. we will be right back. stay with us. plus here's what you will see tomorrow at 6:00 a.m. >> maybe you feel out of place at work. you're certainly not alone. i'm adrienne pederson and i'll introduce you to one local company trying to change that. plus, weather and traffic

when they say you should

taiwan took the idea literally. this new three story house is entirely upside down. look at it. the builder spent $600,000 making sure every detail was correct in this 3500 square foot home. it has a living room and kitchen filled with furniture and fixtures, a garage with an upside down car and even a bathroom with a toilet on the ceiling. or is it the floor? and you're standing on the ceiling? i don't know. it's mind blown. the house will be open to the public through july. well, a man in india has spent three years building his own helicopter. he's a few days away from actually flying the thing. cigar sharma is the school dropout and comes from a poor family but somehow he managed to spend $14,000 piecing together his chopper out of sheet metal and car engines. he hopes to get clearance from local officials to fly it very soon so stay tuned for that story. everybody deserves a florida getaway, especially in the dead of winter including one tourist from wisconsin. come on.

but nadya a blue cat made her way down to naples. fortunately she was microchip. her owners say she slipped out of the house on christmas eve. they searched for days and had the worse christmas ever but now in addition i can't getting -- nadya getting ready for the 1500-mile trip home. >> a lot of people from the north come to enjoy a florida winter. >> you find a stray cat saying, oh, come to florida with us. >> in this case it was just a cat that did it. not a retired person. motorcycle down? >> '97 chevy. >> that's good. . kim and kanye, careening toward a $1 billion divorce. >> the headlines that their marriage is in serious crisis

kim and kanye, on the rocks and talking divorce? breaking new reports says crazy tantrums are driving kim over the edge as he publicly unloads again on taylor swift. >> she not cool no more. melania trump after the victory. what happens when they disagree. plus, he's back, tv president, frank underwood, the super return of "house of cards." celine dion bursts into tears inside her emotional return to the vegas stage after burying her husband. >> i think of him all the time. kim and fred goldman, their biggest beef with the ratings-busting o.j. simpson mini series. >> there was an incredible amount of creative license.

nicole really hop in bed with her best friend. and chris rock counting down to his oscar night roast. >> i'm only here because ellen didn't want to do the show. from universal studios in hollywood, the entertainment capital of l.a. [ cheers and applause ] hey, everyone, welcome to "extra," i'm mario lopez. coming up, melania trump on the attack. the interview, taking on critics of her husband, donald. and did o.j. simpson threaten suicide in khloe kardashian's bedroom. she sets the record straight. but first, khloe's sister, kim, at the end of her rope with kanye? all the headlines are about a kim and kanye break-up. here's jerry. >> $1 billion divorce. you need therapy. kim and kanye's nearly two-year marriage in crisis? the screaming headlines as the rapper starts a new war of words with taylor swift.