hermine is now officially a hurricane. and it's barreling across the gulf taking aim at the panhandle. >> it will be the first hurricane to make land fall in florida in 11 years. and so far, we have seen flash evacuations. tonight, we have team coverage to make sure you are prepared. good afternoon. i'm josh benson. >> and i am stacie schaible. this is first at 4:00. >> storm team 8 has been tracking hurricane hermine for us. julie phillips has the latest on the storm. >> thank you,guys. that's really the big story today. hermine was upgraded to a hurricane this afternoon. maximum winds now at 75 miles per hour, making its way north,

panhandle, big bend region of florida, expected to make land fall later tonight as a category one hurricane. you can see hurricane warnings posted for areas north of the tampa bay area. and then as we head into friday, it will continue to move away from us and then up the east coast as we head throughout labor day weekend. so at this point, it's looking like this could be the first hurricane to hit florida in over 10 years. hurricane hunters were out investigating this storm the today. and that's why they were able to upgrade it hurricane. they found wind gusts up to 86 miles per hour. so it has strengthened in the gulf over the course of the last 24 hours. and now it's moving more quickly as it heads towards the panhandle of florida. the other big story is, with this tropical system, we have to be mindful that we could see quick spin-ups or isolated tornadoes. we have parts of the tampa bay area under a tornado watch. polk county, citrus county, hillsborough county, up through

county, that's where the watch is in effect through 11:00 p.m. tonight. and tropical storm warnings were extended farther south. and now with this system, we are seeing the tropical storm- force winds extending farther east from the center than originally expected. so you can see tropical storm warnings from citrus county down through the coastal portions of sarasota county. here's a look at the satellite and radar imagery. you can see a much better looking system at this point. tropical cyclone. you can see the rain bands and the bulk of the moisture on the eastern side like we would otherwise expect but a lot of the stronger winds as well. mainly just rain near the coast at this point. although we saw some heavier, stronger bands earlier this afternoon, so moderate rainfall coming down around citrus county and also as you head towards st. pete. but there's a lot of rain still out there. so we are expecting more rain bands to move through throughout the evening and overnight hours.

concerned, it's expected to be late tonight in the big bend region of florida. rainfall, while the rain bonds will continue to bring heavy downpours through g, and the strong winds will continue through tomorrow morning as well. so just expect that. in terms of severe weather, well, the strong winds and isolated tornadoes will be possible as we head throughout the morning hours so. the worst of it probably going to occur within the next 12 hours and then conditions expected to improve as we head into we will have more coming up in the full forecast. guys-- >> all right, thank you, julie. and we begin with a live look over indian shores in pinellas county. you can see the waves crashing there. hurricane hermine causing the rough waves to slam against the shore and that is causing concerns about erosion along the coastline. and of course the bigger concern right now across the state is flooding. so water is covering many roadways in pinellas county due to high tide and heavy rains.

rescued from a home in south st. petersburg. candace mccowan is now live with us. she is along mlk drive where many people are stuck in hair homes thanks to the high water, candace. >> reporter: yeah, stacie, good afternoon. look at this water. the it's deeper than where i'm standing farther out there. and if you were to drive your car through this, it would absolutely be stalled. all the house, there's people inside of them and they are stranded and there was a mother and daughter inside a house and she decided they wanted out. take a look at this video. it's of a storm water truck that the city brought in to help get the two women from their home, a mother and a daughter. they called fire-rescue because they wanted out. the water was rising from a nearby lake. there was fear that the truck was stall so they brought in the storm water vehicle which was higher profile. and they were able to get the mother and daughter and two

>> all right, we apologize, we are having technical difficulties with candace right now. and the flooding is rough near the beach. we will have much more on that coming up. thank you, candace. this afternoon, sarasota county declared a local state of emergency. and since yesterday, sarasota county has been pounded by rain and flooding from hermine. it's led to traffic headaches and worries about sewage back- ups. john rogers is live from the beach which has been hit by and looks like the wind is picking up again. >> reporter: yeah, in the past few minute, it's really picked up. the rain has stopped but the winds are incredibly strong. as with the double flags, it's a no swim days. and the surf has swamped the beach. the water is not supposed to be hitting the lifeguard stand. and we have seen the surf making to it the parking lot which is quite a ways away. the afterschool programs here

canceled. no swim advisories at the beaches throughout the county. and waste water treatment plants over the past 24 hours have been inundated. i am told that the number of -- the amount of water that typically goes through has doubled and they are encouraging people to avoid using washing machines and using too much water. we are monitoring the conditions and we will have more in the latest newscast. >> all right, thank you. right now, the governor is giving an update to hurricane hermine. let's take a listen getting higher. we're seeing -- we're going -- we're going to see a lot of flooding down there. they're seeing a lot of rain already. i've reached out to every sheriff in all 51 counties and all of the affected areas. -- of the effects areas. i have spoken with multiple mayors today. yesterday i was in jacksonville, panama city and gainesville with mayors and

bob buckhorn. we have been preparing for this for quite a while. we have been watching this for quite a while. nerve the state has got to get prepared. remember, this is life- threatening. this hurricane is strengthening. we're going to see land fall about 2:00 a.m. first off, think about your cellphone. kit be a life safe -- cellphone. -- cellphone, it can be a storm surge, up to 12 feet of storm surge potentially in taylor and dixie county. 12feet of storm surge. that is life-threatening. we're going to see storm surge in citrus, franklin counties also. wind, upwards of 75 miles per hour and you can see gusts more than that. rain, 5 to 10 inches of rain but potential of 20 inches of

which means significant flooding. we have significant risk for tornadoes. that's where your cellphone will come in handy because the national weather service hopefully will be able to send you an update. we have mandatory evacuations in a portion of some counties. franklin, taylor, dixie, levy, follow evacuation orders. it can safe your life. remember, we cannot rescue during a stor voluntary evacuations in a portion of the counties, in gulf and jefferson counties. if you have any question about an evacuation, any concern, call your sheriff's office, your emergency management local teams, call your mayors. they are there to take care of you and want to help you. but again, you have to prepare. go to floridadisaster.o rg/publicmappin g to get information, whether it's about

evacuation, get a lot of information there. floridadisaster.org/publicmappi g. the telephone number forker the florida emergency -- number for the florida emergency center, 850-921-0217. let me remind you, your cellphone can save your life. keep it charged. there's going to be continued update state are doing a great job of keeping people informed. it's your job to prepare. remember, we cannot save your life during the storm. we cannot save your life during the storm. three days of water. three days of food. if you need medicine, make sure you have it. if you think you're going to need to go to a shelter, go now. if you think a family member or

need to go to a shelter for somebody that's disabled, go now. if you need a pet shelter, do it now. talk to your friends and neighbors and make sure everybody you know is safe. talk to each other. we have a great state. we love each other. keep everybody safe. now once this happens, we're going to see a lot of standing water. don't drive into it. do not drive into standing water. we're going to see a lot of trees down. we have a lot of winds. we're going the see a lot of don't touch a power line. they're going to knock down a lot of power lines. the utilities are going to be hard at work getting our power back on. if you see a line down, call your utility, call your emergency management team, call your sheriff. do not touch it. our national guard is pre- positioned assets just like the utilities have. we have 6,000 members of the national guard ready to be mobilized.

we have special ops teams. they have search and rescue teams. i hope we don't need to use one of them. if everybody evacuates that should, if everybody prepares that should, then we will not have to use the search and rescue team. when we do, we put their lives at risk. don't put their life at risk. don't put your life at risk. let's think ouho st and we're g for the worst. on top of that, as you know, we are dealing wi our state. we are trying to do everything we can to make sure we don't have anymore cases. we have been doing every day, getting rid of standing water. as soon as this happen, we will do very aggressive mosquito abatement around the state but you need to get rid of all the standing water around your house and around your business, get rid of standing water any place you see. so this is your opportunity, still get prepared.

it is here. it is here now and it's going to happen the next few hours. so let's think about what we're doing. we can rebuild a home. we can rebuild a business. we cannot rebuild your life. so we will be glad to take any questions anybody has. >> governor, have you heard from the white house or president barack obama about the storm? >> no, i haven't. i have reached out to the sheriffs and a lot of the mayors but i have not heard from the white house. >> fema? >> they have an individual that works right here. so fema is here. i've not talked to them personally but fema is here. >> and i guess might be waiting for aftermath, but applying for federal disaster relief and stuff like that. >> we will go through the process. the process, you do it after the fact. >> sure, i have spoke within the regional administrator and the administer today. the and the governor is

whether or not we will and presidential declaration for disaster. >> have you had conversations, governor, with the local emergency people or the team to have an indication as to whether or not there are people ignoring the mandatory evacuation requests and continuing to stay? do you have any insights as to how that is going. >> governor, you want to answer? i have not had specific folks. i know that we have done everything we can to help educate where the storm surge will be. level to let them know but i don't any indications that there are folks that are ignoring that. >> some of the counties, they did go -- did they go door to door? >> door to door or called individuals directly. >> all right. just prior to that, you were listening to governor rick scott talk about preparations for the land fall of hurricane hermine which will happen in less than 12 hours. about 2:00 a.m. that's in the big bend of florida. and the big difference here, they're going to see storm surge up to 12 feet.

of rain. we will not see that in the bay area but we will still see many effects. so we all need to be prepared the. >> governor giving stern warning, keep your phone charged, have three days of water and food. if you take medications, make sure they are stocked and ready to government but up in higher parts of florida, that's going to be the most effected. we can rebuild we haven't seen a hurricane hit florida in 11 years. >> he wants people to heed the warnings and heed evacuation orders if that affects did you. -- evacuation orders if that affects you. it's the real deal. >> and we have information coming in to the newsroom and we will have that at 4:00 and later as well. >> yes, we will be right back with more on hurricane hermine

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joining us now for another check of the weather. the situation, the hurricane that we're now dealing with, hermine is now a hurricane. >> and we have been watching the storm for a longtime. and suddenly over the last 24 hours, really begun to intensify. still watching it closely. we have seen a ton of rain. >> and the governor throwing out impressive numbers. up to 20 inches of rain in spots at the worst. 12-foot storm surges. talking serious stuff. >> not here as much. up north, but here effects. >> yeah, we will see impacts. we are seeing impacts up north, it's just going to be worse. we have video from the damage hurricane hermine has done. this is at the christ community church on north himes avenue. you can see giant limbs taken down by the storm. we want to see pictures and video. you can send them by using our news channel 8 app.

satellite and radar imagery because the storm much more impressive than it has been for a while. you can see the center now as it gets closer towards land. on the eastern side, that's where we are. this is where the bulk of the convection or the heavy rainfall is. and also the tropical storm- force winds extend quite far into the tampa bay area. that's why we're under tropical storm warnings with the hurricane. and you can see some very deep moisture sitting out over gulf, sitting across florida. to the north, we have drier air working a little bit against it but it's still doing quite well and looks healthy at this point. another closer look in at the tampa bay area. tracking heavy rain around the palm harbor, east lake area. the rain bands moving quickly. and we saw stronger ones this afternoon. and we did have a couple tornado warnings earlier as well. moderate rain south through new

and here's the view from the loews don cesar at st. pete beach. just over 1.5 inches of rain but this location picked up nearly 7 inches yesterday. you can see not much of a beach right now. right around high tide, a little after high tide at this point. and you can see the tide is definitely up. for the even, mostly cloudy skies, scattered downpours throughout this evening and, tonight and tomorrow evening. still expecting strong winds around, even after this makes land fall late tonight. and friday afternoon, we will start the see improving conditions. rain chances on saturday getting back closer to normal but still a chance to see isolated showers saturday morning and then heavy storms possible saturday afternoon. about a 60% rain chance. here's the latest track from the latest advisory. it was an intermediate advisory when it was upgraded to a hurricane. max sustained winds at 75 miles per hour. hurricane warnings posted in

hardest across the big bend region of florida. tropical storm warnings for the coastal portions of the tampa bay area. by friday at 8:00 a.m., moving across the florida peninsula and out of the picture by friday afternoon. but for the next 12 hours or so, still the threat to see heavy rain and also the threat to see isolated tornadoes as the rain bands move on shore. rainfall potential as we head into tomorrow afternoon, you can see anywhere from 2 to 3 inches of rain is still possibler area. i think that's generally accurate. of course, the closer to the coast you are, the better your chances of seeing some heavier rainfall amounts. you may even see 3 to 5 inches of rain, if you live close to the coast. heading into tomorrow, you can see southwest winds expected at 20 to 30 knots, seas 10 to 14 feet. so a rough day on the water. knight place you want to be. and with the -- water. not a place you want to be.

tide. this is the overnight hours and tomorrow afternoon. clearwater beach, st. pete, bay shore, the high tide times there. for us, reign rain chance, well, about 60% for the next couple days. by sunday, we get back into a more normal pattern and looking better by labor day. all right, well, right now, there's water nearly level with the riverwalk in downtown tampa. and that's where we are situated here at the news center. let's check in with he's up on the roof top. how are the water levels there? >> reporter: still rising. of course, we had high water manatee, sarasota county, that was related to the excessive rainfall. and now we are starting to see the coastal and tidal impacts of hurricane hermine. and look behind me there, some of the low-lying areas of the riverwalk, that's where we're starting to see the hillsborough river starting to encroach on those spots as hurricane hermine passes by to the west. the windeds picking up and

into our local rivers, filling up the storm drain, not allowing the areas to drain as they normally would when the heavier rainfall is on top of them. and we have video from bay shore boulevard. and of course, bay shore is a usual suspect but again, that is an indicator as the storm drains start to fill up and the rainfalls on top of that, we start to see the flooding threats increasing through the coastal communities. what we're seeing here in areas like the tampa bay area that are vulnerable direct hit from a hurricane joaquin like hurricane hermine to see big time flooding -- from a hurricane like hurricane hermine to see big time flooding. 2:00 to 3:00 a.m., that's the time we will be watching closely. >> i know you drew the short straw up on the roof top but you can't get closer to nature than that. >> it's not so bad. and some communities are still handing out sandbags. our web team put together a

they are free. there's road closures listed there as well. that's wfla.com. if you're wondering about school, the only district we have heard about closed tomorrow right now is citrus in the bay area. >> there could be more so we will keep ears open on that. and i and a hudson hospital left in the dark last -- a hudson hospital left in the

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scenario, what every hospital hopes never happens. a massive electrical outage and during a tropical storm. it happened here in hudson on wednesday night and it turned out to be quite a mess. a lightning strike knocked out the emergency power. and now the hospital cannot accept any patients until monday. people who live in this area will now be transported by ambulance to other hospitals if they show up for emergency treatment. ambulances had to line up last night from all over the transport those patients. and now other physicians in the area are taking on those additional folks. >> bumps, bruises, scrapes, cuts, any minor things, you're ready and prepared for patients over the weekend? >> yeah, absolutely. we always look forward to being able to serve the community and be a useful resource. we are urgent care and we pride ourselves on doing that. >> reporter: okay, so here's how it stands this afternoon.

they are working on the power right now but we want to let you know, 8 on your side learned that anyone out there with an emergency can come here. they'll just been transported somewhere else. and911 is still working so you can utilize those services in. hudson, melanie michael, news channel 8. >> and that was quite a scene out there. we were getting pictures of the ambulances lined up from different areas coming to help transport the patients. >> it is terrifying for a hospital. >> yeah, you never of that -- you never hear of that. yep, and we will be back with more hurricane hermine after this. for a limited-time only, bright house networks invites you to check out two of our most popular services for one low price, connect to what matters most with standard tv and lightning 50 internet

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hurricane hermine is now inching closer to florida. and the big bend area. but we are feeling the effects as well. >> it is the first hurricane hermine to make land fall in florida since wilma. that was 11 years ago. and we have already seen flash flooding and tornado warnings in the bay area.

plus the latest track. i'm josh benson. >> and i am stacie schaible. let's take a look at hurricane hermine's latest track. >> here's julie phillips. >> thank you, josh. and we are closely watching hurricane hermine now on our visible satellite imagery. you can see the center of circulation right there. and you can see a lot of the heavy convection on the eastern side of this system. and that's what we're dealing with, the heavy rain bands started up yesterday continuing throughout the day today. and likely continuing into the overnight hours as well we had the advisory that came down at 2:55 p.m. after hurricane hermine hunters were out investigating this system. and they found that the wind, maximum wind speed were up to 75 miles per hour. so it strengthened fairly rapidly into a category one hurricane. right now moving north, northeast at 14 miles per hour. and headed towards the big bend region of florida. that's off to the north. but of course, we are still within range to see the effects

this storm is quickly going to move across the peninsula and up the east coast. but all the way through friday morning, we could continue to see rain bands and strong winds from the storm. it makes its way up the east coast throughout labor day weekend here's a look at the hurricane hunter flight out earlier today. they found gusts up to 86 miles per hour. so you can see why it was upgraded to a hurricane. and with tropical cyclones, on the southeastern side of those, we are in the threat of rain bands. they don't typically last that long and not typically that large but quick spin-ups are definitely a possibility. and that's why the northern part of the viewing area is under the tornado watch throughout the rest of tonight until 11:00 p.m. and you can also see that for parts of the area under a slight risk of seeing severe weather. mainly being strong winds within some of the storms and also the threat to see the isolated tornadoes. this is quite common within

at this point, a lot of heavy rain just offshore. you can see the strong rain bands at this point. and isolated storms have made their way onshore as well. you can see right around new port richey, bayonet point, tracking heavy rain coming down, likely gusty winds as well. and also tracking heavier showers and thunderstorms towards feather sound and over towards sun city center as well. on the satellite imagery, hurricane hermine still a strong hurricane. we will have more on what the effects will continue to be and when things will finally forecast. guys-- >> thank you, julie. and the rain caught a lot of people in manatee county off guard yesterday. news channel 8's rod carter continues our team coverage and tells us, people there are not taking any chances on a repeat. >> reporter: good afternoon. we are in bradenton. and there are a lot of people who are not taking any chances with this storm. in fact, many of them have come to the five sandbag locations throughout the county to make sure that they get some sandbags to protect themselves.

workers earlier and he told me to-date, so far they have handed out roughly 12,000 bags from the five locations. and they have also had about 225-tons of sand that has been handed out as well. people i spoke with say, they don't have any problems right now but they want to make sure they don't have any later. >> just a matter of being prepared. better to have the bags and don't need them than not to have them. >> reporter: and we want to show you an aerial look of what bradenton looked like ea and you can see many of the areas there absolutely under water. however, the good news is, a lot of the area, a lot of the water has already receded. spoke with folks at the eoc and they told me today that they haven't had any major problems so far and the rain holds up, fingers crossed, they won't. in bradenton, rod carter, news channel 8. and the new update now.

florida tested positive for zika virus. they were trapped in the miami beach area. these are the first mosquitoes in the continental united states to test positive for zika virus. right now, most of the non- travel related case of zika virus are in miami-dade county there. is one non-travel related case in pinellas county so far. and we're going to be back with more hurricane hermine coverage in just a moment of it's the final days of the ford freedom sales event...

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which you talked about with the waters in the gulf being so warm. >> yes. and our forecast, you know, are that, a forecast. so they're not always 100% accurate. that why we say prepare for the worst and hope for the best. there's a nice range. >> and it's tough here in the bay area because we hear these spooky numbers from north florida and what's going to happen there. and not necessarily the case here but we still have to prepare. >> we definitely do. we will see more rain and coastal flooding as well. here's the view from loews don and now today the rainfall as not been as impressive as yesterday. yesterday, over 7 inches of rain. today, 1.5. not much as beach as yesterday. winds out of the south but as they theft southwest, we will start to see the water piling up along the coast. here's the view. a lot of heavy rain and the rain bands coming in. a lot of this still offshore at this point but we're expecting to see more rounds of rain over

you can see some pockets of rain near the coast in pasco county. this is near the hudson, new port richey area. farther to the south, you can see some spotty heavy rain that's moved out of st. pete and heading into south tampa. so we will mainly see the isolated activity throughout the evening hours. more spotty rain as you head over towards sarasota. so big picture wise, there's hurricane hermine, expected to make land fall tonight. for the rest of the even, what to expect, cloudy skies and the chance to see more heavy in winds are going to continue to strengthen. tropical storm-force winds are expected ifer the tampa bay area as we head throughout tonight and into tomorrow morning. and when you wake up tomorrow morning, we could still see strong storms still around. still looking at strong winds as well. so breezy conditions, rain possible for your commute tomorrow. as we head throughout the day though, i think conditions will slowly improve. winds will gradually ease up some as we head into friday afternoon and friday evening as the storm pulls farther away.

the rain. so it's not going to rain all day on friday. but a good chance you will see more rain at your house. saturday, some isolated rain possible in the morning hours. and then into the afternoon, scattered storms will continue. so as you start your labor day weekend, about a 60% chance of rain on saturday. from there, sunday and monday look better. here's a look at the latest advisories, tropical storm warnings were extended from citrus county down through coastal sarasota county. ag strengthened and we have seen these tropical storm-force winds that have extended far from the center of the storm. so much of the tampa bay area is expected to feel that throughout the course of the next 12 hours or so. the storm expected to make land fall as a category one hurricane later on tonight, probably after midnight or so and it will make its way towards the north and east. but a front behind it, lingering moisture in our area. notice the storm could cause problems up the east coast all the way through the labor day weekend.

and the big bend region of florida. they're going to be hit hardest. rainfall, downpours possible all the way through tomorrow morning. and we're watching the threat to see severe weather again. isolated tornadoes, always a threat with the tropical system. calling for a 60% rain chance friday and saturday with lower rain chances as we head into labor day. guys-- next, the city accidentally flooded this inches of raw sewage. >> and they don't care. >> the few keepsakes she was able to salvage are now flooded by hurricane hermine. better call behnken is on the

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we have been watching the the hillsborough river lapping against the riverwalk in downtown tampa. you don't see that every day. >> yeah, it was dicey for a minute too. and then it backed off. ian oliver is live from the roof top with a look at what's going on out there. it's getting awfully close to the surface, the river? >> reporter: yeah, there's only a few inches of clearance. you can see the rising hillsborough river. we have seen plenty of high water from excessive rainfall tallies over the last couple day, today and yesterday,

sarasota county where we will see 10 inches of rainfall total from hurricane hermine. but now watching especially into the high tide cycle, 2:00, 3:00 a.m., in coastal areas, some of the tidal and surge effects as the national hurricane center predicting about a 2 to 4-foot storm surge from hurricane hermine. and the southwest wind pushes water into the bay, the local waterways and rivers and backs up the storm drain. so when we see the heavier bands moving onshore, it can't communities. so during the overnight hours tonight, that's a period we're watching. we have some video to show you from bay shore boulevard. and now of course this is a typical flooding spot. we look at that every time we get a heavy rainfall event for flooding. but that shows us that we have the water pushing into the bay and the elevated levels along the hillsborough river. going to be the potential, that window coming after midnight tonight as we move back towards the high tide. you add that 2 to 4 feet of

tide, that's where we could see some concern. coastal bay and neighborhoods that are flood prone heading into the overnight hours tonight. back to you. >> and we were watching through window from our newsroom, some of the weather. and at times, it gets almost pitch brach and the water rise and then eases off. is it just the bands that move through? what is the reasoning for that? >> this is actual water being pushed in to the gulf, from the bay, up the hillsborough because it doesn't have anywhere to go. and the southwest wind will keep some of the water from spilling back out into the bay. as we were to head into the low tide cycle. we will add the high tide water, the rain waters and we will see a flooding threat after midnight tonight. also, a nice josh, i wouldn't blow up the work space if we could get a window in the weather office. >> yeah, we will talk to the boss for sure. thank you so much.

now counties canceling classes tomorrow. pasco and citrus county, no school tomorrow. we will keep you updated there. >> but communities still handing out sandbags as well. our web team has put together a list of free sandbag locations and the road closures at wfla.com. look for it on the home page. and you can see that information scrolling at the bottom of the screen. an in cape canaveral and now it's under investigation. nasa reports spacex was conducting what they call a test firing of an unmanned rocket when an explosion happened. a second explosion occurred about 20 minutes later. routine tests was in advance of a planned saturday launch. fortunately, no one injured in this explosion. and many people are chronic pain may find relief from non- drug therapies.

and other therapies on patients with a variety of ailments. acupuncture were helpful. massage therapy worked well for people with neck pain and headache suffers found relaxation techniques help them. with the first week of high school football behind us, we are looking to give out our first news channel 8 team of the season. >> this week, we have teams from three counties and we go to the sidelines for a look at the standout plays and play makers. >> reporter: tampa bay, what to do? i have all of my team of the week trophies in the house. but over the next three months, all of these bad boys right here will find a new home. so as you sit back, relax and think about who would you choose, i'm going to make the

season, it was a dark and stormy night. no, really, it was. meanwhile, down on the ground, jordan mccloud making his first start at quarterback, threw for almost 300-yards, hooking up for 47, 67 and 77-yard touchdown strikes. but play of the game came from this fake punt when meliek johnson getting the olympic medalist simone biles on and stuck the landing. but the grip would shut out the ravens 26-love. and in pinellas county, the northeast vikings were wearing the road white got off to a quick start scoring early and often on the dunedin falcons. they'll score to beat the falcons 34-13. and over in pasco county, chief photographer paul cruising

highlights. wesley chapel wildcats wearing the road white have not won a season opener four years but like michael jackson, the wide cat's defense kept making big hit after big hit to keep them within a field goal the entire game. in the 3rd quarter, the wildcats came roaring back. scored two touchdowns and in the swamp told the land o'lakes gators to just beat it. the wildcats season-opener in four years. now that's huge but at 5:30, i will reveal who is taking this bad boy right here home. anthony allred, news channel 8 sports. and we found out more school closings, hillsborough and plus schools are closed tomorrow. >> on top of pasco and citrus. >> and the only one we have heard that's open for sure is sarasota. sarasota has decided to remain open.

>> and anything that changes, we will bring that to you in upcoming shows. coming up, he has a new job. >> we're going to explain -- he's kind of scary. >> he's going to remind drivers how to pay attention on the roads when the school is back in session when first at 4:00

now what's trending online today. >> students in oregon getting safety tips from a famous furry giant. huh. everyone's seen that grinny footage of what's believed --

believed to be big foot walking around. but have you noticed how safely he's walking? he's a stickler for safety. his goal here? to promote a dot video starring -- you guessed it -- big foot to give guidance to kids. and let's face it, perhaps nightmares, too. and then there's this -- >> that girl must be pretty sc. prepare to say, aw. this video of a baby panda learning to walk going viral. he takes a step or two before tumbling over sleepily. his temporary name is baby p. the zoo launched an online poll to help pick a name for him. and if you like burgers and might like to win $3,330, all you need to do is eat this

>> oh! >> it has nine patties, nine slices of cheese, lettuce, and tome. and it's all -- and tomato. and it's all part of the backyard burgers triple triple -- way back burgers triple triple challenge. there are two locations in the bay area. more than 800 people have already signed up to tackle that puppy. >> don't go back to work. you'll need a nap for five hours afth [ laughter ] >> head to our website, wfla.com. >> you can check out the news there. and right now, news channel 8 at 5:00 starts. right now: >> hurricane hermine batters the bay area, turning street into rivers. >> trapped residents need rescuing and florida prepares for a stormy night. good evening, i'm jennifer lee. >> i'm keith cate.

bringing wind and rain to the area, especially along the coastline. it will be the first hurricane to make landfall in florida in nearly 11 years. we have team coverage from across the bay area for you tonight. let's get started with chief meteorologist steve. >> it certainly has picked up forward speed. stationary. but getting caught up on the upper level trough, should come toeshoe in the panhandle this evening. we have the possibility of strong thunderstorms. looking outside right now, 83 degrees with a south wind occasion occasionally south of 25. we're feeling effects to the eastern side of it. the seas are up but doesn't look too high at this location. of course, the high tide occurred around midday today.