look at indian shores. we are still seeing big waves at bay area beaches. >> and tampa has managed to dodge the brunt of this storm. >> and just look at how powe this was in lido key as the storm swept by sarasota county. but we begin with chief meteorologist steve jerve. and steve, hermine is now historic. the first hurricane to landfall in florida in more than a decade. >> it will when it makes landfall later tonight, around midnight or so in the panhandle. it's about 100 miles offshore and moving northeast at about 14 miles per hour. according to hurricane center, some very strong winds through pinellas county right now racing through the area. so watch for high wind gusts. you can see southwest at 40 miles per hour. south winds at 38 miles per hour. we've been tracking this on vipir and other systems. you can see the trees on the

bit. when you see these bands ashore, they can be very, very strong. this is the 5:00 advisory with 75 mile-per-hour winds. in the grand scheme of things, the intensities aren't that great. it's a category 1 hurricane. it's formable, but it's a category 1 hurricane. still doing damage to many folks and likely will the next tropical storm warnings west coast of florida. nasty line of thunderstorms and showers and high winds coming ashore. also the possibility. we've seen this. tornado warnings are possible as it moves ashore. moving at 45 miles per hour to the north/northeast. so know that within this areas it comes onshore, you can see strong wind gusts. outside chances of seeing a brief tornado across the central part of pinellas county right now. you've seen tropical storm wind

sarasota. possibly not as intense but still very brief wind gusts are possible. tropical storm warning for the west coast of florida. we'll continue to track this thing and watch the high tides now the next 24 hours. that's around 3:00 in the morning and then tomorrow, 3:00 in the afternoon. guys? >> all right, steve. thank you. right now, mandatory evacuation orders are in place for coastal communities in levee county. you can see hurricane hernando is slamming the area with -- hurricane hermine is slamming the area storm surge, the big concern out there. we're live in cedar key just south of where hurricane hermine is expected to make lands fall in about 6 hours. -- landfall in about 6 hours. >> reporter: the winds have certainly picked up in cedar key. it's been pounding us the last 20 minutes or so. i had powerful facts tut my hand over my -- i had to put my hand over my head just to hear

that crisscrossed across florida around 2004 and every storm since then. we were measuring winds sustained at 20 to 25 miles per hour an hour ago just within the last few minutes picking up to about 30, above 35 miles per hour. even gusting above 40 miles per hour. i can tell you, though, that the gulf of mexico has gone down by about a foot. that's good news for us because for a time our exit out of here was blocked by high waters. some streets approaching cedar key, completely impassable at this point. that's why the mandatory evacuation order is in place. and the sheriff's office urging people to shelter in place if they have not already left. >> all right. jeff patterson live in levee county. stay safe. thank you. a mother and her daughter had to be rescued from their home along pallanza drive along south st. petersburg today. several streets along lake maggiore closed. the women were pulled to safety

kind equipped with special equipment to keep it from stalling out during a flood. meantime, breaking news in clearwater to tell you about. a wastewater treatment plant has shut down, creating all sorts of sewage issues there. mark douglas joins us live near the marshall street plant. that's the last thing you want. >> reporter: absolutely, keith. you can see these manholes. thousands of gall sewage flowing out of the storm sewers. iscreek flows directly into clearwater bay. not what anybody wants to happen along here. the plant has shut down because of mechanical problems. they brought in temporary pumps to bypass it. that is designed about 10 million gallons a day. they're getting 30 million gallons through it. apparently, it was overwhelmed. this is the result you see here. and this isn't the only problem they have had in clearwater

clearwater's courtney campbell beach is underwater today. the bike path next to it is submerged. to the west on the beach, treats are under -- streets are underwater. 6 to 8 inches underwater. the beaches themselves in the main tourist area also underwater right along the popular beach walk. that still didn't keep people from playing in the water even though the storm flags were up indicating dangerous surf and the riptide. problem not under control. they are working very hard bringing in pumps to do that. that's the situation in clearwater. it's deteriorating as we speak. >> we'll stay on it. thank you. mark douglas in clearwater tonight. >> and streets throughout sarasota are also underwater under hours of rain dumped by hurricane hermine. just look at that video. sarasota county is now under a local state of emergency and there are concerns of more flooding. it's already led to a lot of

and john rogers joins us live. he's at lido beach in sarasota county. what's the latest there, john? >> reporter: hey, there, stacey. the winds haven't let up the past couple hours. the winds are incredibly powerful out here. there's a no swim advisory here. it's really ugly out here. and the surf has been consuming this beach. we'll show you what it looked like throughout the county today. this powerful storm has left its mark on sarasota more than a day now. it's left to and overwhelmed the wastewater treatment plants. so county officials are asking residents to cut back on their water usage. they want people to avoid using the dishwasher, washing machine, and avoid taking long showers. >> if we have any failures, we can expect wastewater spills in some cases, backups at home. so beaver very concerned in making sure that the system is operating properly to keep that from happening. >> reporter: so it's very

usage it is next 4 24 hours. here, there's concern over beach erosion. sadly, some sea turtle nests were washed away. the in the coming days, we'll have to see what hermine left behind. >> stay safe. sarasota county. >> you always have breeze on the beach. but when you hear that roar behind john and see the waves -- the waves are just going at it! >> and our folks always feel for the s bringing that to you. coming up tonight, we have an entire hospital out of commission. >> its power completely knocked out. what's happened to all the patients and how long it'll take to get this place back online. also ahead: >> the fix it plan for tampa's storm water flooding problems will cost one long pretty penny

remaclosed after a lightning strike knocked out the power and fried the emergency generator. it happened last night at bayonette point hospital in hudson. all patients got out safely. but the power won't be fixed until monday. they can't accept any new patients until things are back

coastal communities are dealing with storm surge tonight. and now we have ian oliver. he's out on the roof of our studios in tampa. we talk about this storm surge a lot, ian. maybe you can explain it further. >> reporter: this water pushed into the bay and our local rivers. high tide cycle was in the middle part of the afternoon. should be trending towards the low tide between 9:00 and 10:00 tonight. you are look at the low part of the river walk there. hillsboro river was splashing up on the high tide cycle. now the water should be flowing back in the bay. some of that has remained and the water levels haven't dropped a whole lot. that's because of that southwest wind pushing water into the bay. we have some footage from the bay shore which is a usual suspect for flooding. anytime we get a heavy

water gets into storm drains, pushes up local rivers. then you get heavy rain on top of those areas and you can't get it out. that's what leads to flash flooding verquickly. our next high tide cycle will occur during the overnight hours tonight. most spots between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. so that's a time period that we'll be watching very closely for high water when you have that southwest wind working in conjunction with the tide. back to you. >> we know your team will be on it. thank you, ian oliver back and this rain was too much for these big oak in tampa. you hate to see these go. this is near north himes avenue. just too much for two limbs that broke and splintered and fell to the ground. if you have pictures or video of the storm you'd like to share with us, we'd like to see them. you can use our newschannel 8 app to forward your pictures to us. and with this storm, a lot of frustration about the storm water system in tampa.

batters the area, tampa city council is meeting about a brand new tax. just how much an overhaul would cost coming up. >> and here's a live look at panama city beach along the panhandle. maybe the calm before the storm. conditions, though, worsening

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misplaced priorities. >> how much will this fix it plant cost us? tampa city council stm water that can't keep up with the flow. >> but there's more than this to the original $250 million price tag may suggest. that's a big number, too. steve andrews joining us live with answers to a lot of questions about this ambitious plan. $250 >> reporter: oh, yeah. it's just the beginning, keith. the projected cost of this plan may run over a half billion dollars. and a couple of -- people in a couple parts of the city may not be taxed at all. >> reporter: the plan? put an end to scenes like this in ten years. >> we can't afford to ignore this problem any longer. >> reporter: how do we pay for it?

not what randy portella wants to hear. >> i've lived in my house for 30 years. for the first time, i can't pay my property tax. >> reporter: they promise the city will work with those hard pressed. >> we do need hundreds of millions to address this. but the cost to citizens is, you know, the price of a cup of coffee these days. >> reporter: is this a fact? this won't apply to property owners here on harbor island in new tampa because they have self-contained storm water drainage systems. how much will this really cost? >> about a $250 million investment. it will go a very, very long way to alleviate our pipes. >> reporter: well, that's not quite the whole story. >> it's over half a billion dollars or over $500 million with interest. >> reporter: charlie miranda argues the volume of water

out of the fix it plans of larger drainage pipes. >> how do i tell someone that i'm spending money and it's not solving the problem. >> reporter: miranda is not hearing answers. >> how do i tell the public making under $10 an hour i'm going to tax them again? >> reporter: charlie miranda told me the fix it plan won't save bay shore. he said that it sits low. rising tide, storm surge will overwell drainage pipes. and keith and stacey, he told me even donald trump couldn't build a wall high enough to keep the water from coming over on bay shore. >> a funny line but a serious problem! >> it is. >> a lot of money and a big price tag. >> thank you, steve. we'll check out some of the cameras around the bay area. we can see up plantation,

gust over 20 miles per hour in this spot in the western part of citrus county. 80 degrees. winds gusting over 20 miles per hour. you can see the dark skies there. and of course the showers. pretty good downpour in palm harbaugh. but mostly about the rain -- harbor. but mostly about the rain. these showers roll through off the gulf of mexico. we have an east wind at 7 miles per hour. good downpour, too, in ne there. so the rain really comes down there. and that's it right there. the intense part racing through the area moving to the northeast about 45 miles per hour per usual around a tropical system, a hurricane in the gulf. we have that tornado watch in place. we've seen several tornado warnings this afternoon, including one in the newscast here during the day. this is coming into pine island right now. hernando county through the western part. that's what you saw in new port richey. all the way through pinellas

new port harbor, that downpour you saw. most the weather is around coastal spots. saw good daytona into venice as well. on the western -- good downpour into venice as well. we're on the much wetter side. 77 degrees at 7:00 a.m. still a possibility of on and off showers coming with these the storm coming ashore. and it will later this evening into the overnight. 76 degrees pinellas park. these are the numbers. 80 degrees wesley chapel. 83, bartow. of course the winds you can see still gusting impressively. that's sustained at 32 miles per hour in st. pete. that's the strongest gust i've seen. 62 miles per hour in st. petersburg. that's that line we've been talking about that. red line on the radar. basically the higher areas of winds.

at the airport not long ago. there's the center of the system wrapping up here. moving toward the panhandle for landfall. east of there is where you'll see the higher seas. high tide has come down but flooding roads along cedar key. and this line coming ashore that extends offshore into the gulf of mexico. to me of the newscast, 75 mile- per-hour winds. pushing it into the northeastern part of the country. could make sure as a category 1 hurricane, the first to make landfall in florida in 11 years. that's historic. that's a heck of a drought. in the tropics, you can see flying out of the air force base in biloxi. an 86 miles-per-hour wind gust. the big reason why we've seen awe an upgrade to a hurricane. the rainfall potential, still a couple more inches possible.

computer model, the showers can come ashorng e rithe bas like that's what the computer models are detecting. this is a forecast. and dragging showers across the area. despite the storm further to our north and northeast, we can still drag showers across the area. tap into that gulf moisture and create more rain. and, of course, you've heard us lecture you about the tides. we've seen the results of tidal flooding which may be worse in some areas with a direct southwesterly so the high tide in around 3:00 in the morning, early morning hours. and then again at 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon. st. pete pier. adjust your time off that. >> we've been spoiled for so long. nearly 11 years. >> wow! >> that's incredible. >> big gap. >> thanks, steve. >> you bet. and our hurricane hermine coverage continues next. >> we'll check back in with manatee county when we come

want to give you a look at some video from manatee public safety. this is at coquina beach. don't go out unless you have to. >> that's because they're expecting heavy wind and rain after sundown. rod carter joins bradenton. hi, rod. >> reporter: good evening, guys. this is where one of the five location wheres people can come and pick up sandbags. this place has been extremely busy all day. after what happened yesterday, no one here is taking any chances. rolling on a river. the problem is, this is a street. people in bradenton swamped with water as hurricane hermine churns out in the gulf. >> we've got retention ponds that are completely filled up.

the right-hand side. everything flows this way. the flow out. >> reporter: and thanks to just how much rain fell, it didn't flow out fast enough. as you can see from this eagle 8hd video, that left a lot of people waterlogged. [ water ] >> reporter: today people wasted no time getting the sandbags they feeded prepares for round 2 [ laughing [ . >> that's why we're here, yeah. exactly. i've never done this before. i've lived here 35 years. >> it's be prepared. it's er and not need them than to not have them. >> reporter: they handed out 12,000 sandbags, some 225 tons of sand. and most of that was today. >> reporter: and county officials are saying, again, if you don't have to be on the roads after sunset, do not. stay at home. keith, stacey? >> thank you, rod. thanks. and want to show you something else. someone appears to be enjoying

hermine. look closely here. cameras capturing an alligator swimming through a flooded street in st. petersburg! he's out on the road. a good reminder to stay out of the flood waters. you never know what's lurking beneath! [ laughter ] >> that's what i was going to say. >> sounds like a mystery film. >> it's not a laughing matter. but like i said a second ago, 62 mile-per-hour gusts? that will get your attention. >> it will. but that's tropical storm force strength. but this is a category 1 hurricane. a fairly weak category 1 ic so it makes you think, what if it was a category 3 or 4? it's the real deal. the tropical storm warning for the coastline. high tides tomorrow overnight and, of course, in the afternoon tomorrow as that wind becomes more southwest. >> sounds good. thank you, steve. >> we'll stay on top of it for you. so keep it on newschannel 8. >> we'll be back here tonight

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