hermine is long gone from the bay area but several neighborhoods in pasco county are still under water, what the county is considering doing to help people in flood prone areas for the future. good evening, i am jennifer leigh. >>ioam josh benson, thanks for being with us. hurricane hermine may be one of the most costly storms every for-- ever for pasco county, estimated $90 million in storm residents are asking what will be done to prevent flooding in the future. jeff patterson joins us live from elferred area where flooding is a problem. last year it was a problem, they have seen a lot of this out there. >> reporter: good evening, just last year i was standing in this neighborhood wading in water. i have been here several times because of flooding, behind me, damaged furniture, mattresss, property, and the county is suggesting the only long-term solution may be to buy homes

hermine hit, dave and jasmine walk back into their mobile home today surveying the damage and salvaging what they could of their belongings. >> first thing that hit me was the smell outside. >> reporter: the family had to be evacuated by boat at the height of the storm. they sent me these photos showing the rising water and their evacuation. rivera and his wife were flightened. >> my main concern, my wife and my children. >> reporter: the house damage. >> actually the first time in a flood like this, this is our last time. >> reporter: jasmine told me they can't stay here. >> i have got kids that are asthmatic, that is a no-go, that right there, just put icing on the cake. >> reporter: they also told me the landlord never told them this is an area that floods. >> we just got the house, 2 and

that it is a flood zeen. >> reporter: there may be-- zone. >> reporter: there may be little help for them because they are renters and the long-term solution may be buying properties like this from landowners. >> sometimes the house, it really should just be acquired and maybe the land turned back to a natural condition. >> reporter: the big problem with that is that some of these landowners simply don't want to sell. the county told us they a investigating the possibility of the eminent domain process to go ahead and buy these properties, but that will take time pmoney. >> lound-- and money. >> sounds like a last resort. have other solutions been offered? >> reporter: as we have reported this week, the county has identified more than $300 million in storm water improvement projects they need to prevent flooding. a committee commissioner told us she doesn't know where the money is coming from.

way. jeff patterson live for us in pasco county, thanks. nearly 10,000 people remained without power in tallahassee when the day started and part of the problem is the debris the utility crewerize dealing with-- crews are dealing with. the governor joined to pitch in. we sent our capitol bureau reporter, matt, out to check on the progress. >> tree limbs, branches, and brush, littered angie's yard tallahassee, all caused by hurricane hermine, but the nuisanceed debris didn't start the department of education employee from keeping perspective. >> i have life, i thank god for life t could have been a lot worse. when i think about it, i have to think about the people in louisiana, that have great amount of damage and floods and they lost everything. at least i still have a roof over my head. >> reporter: the fallen foliage

the city. that is why governor rick squat rolled up his sleeves wednesday, openly critical of tallahassee's response joined state employees and volunteers to help with degree removal. -- debris removal. >> we have 3 groups where we are just cleaning up. >> reporter: even though he wanted a faster response, he wasn't ready to commit to chopping down the city's beloved trees or investing in burying power lines. >> i think we always have to look at what can we means. >> reporter: among the volunteers, mara with the department of health who had plenty of struggles during the storm. >> sleeping in our bedroom and woke up to a deafening boom and there was a 70-foot pine in my bedroom. >> reporter: the governor expects a full report on the response to the storm after everyone has power, and the mess is cleaned up to see what could have been done better.

matt galka. >> the state activated a loan program for businesses effected because of the storm. a second baby in miami has been born effected by the zika virus, during an emergency zika meeting today it was announced. the first baby born in miami-dade county, the baby does not have microcephaly but has issues with muscle tone and calcium depo i new information tonight surrounding the murder for hire plot of fsu law professor, defense attorneys say they were given information not yet made public but they did say it includes wire tap information, the state attorney's office expects to take 3 weeks redacting the latest information before any is released to the public. right now the search is on for a wum whoon fell off-- woman

cruiseship in the bahamas, rina patel was seen going overboard after 2:00 a.m. it was on its way to charleston, south carolina at the time. long island iced teas may be to blame for this massive 72-foot yacht on a south florida beach overnight. the captain told police he was trying to steer the yacht into the inlet but he accidently ran into the beach instead. he also, by the way, admitted to teas before the incident. no one was hurt but the man was arrested for boating under the had influence. a wild game of gator verses neighborhood kids is over, a 5-foot wayward alligator found its way to a martin county play area and was reportedly chasing the children. parents called the sheriff's office who quickly contacted a trapper, that trapper came out, caught the gator and hauled it to a farm in okeechobee county, thankfully no one was hurt. parking metererize coming--

>> several business owners are worried they will drive people away. we will show you what they are doing to try to stop that from happening. eating out all the time can impact your health and your wallet. we have some simple 8 on your side solutions that could help save you time and money. another warm day, 92 degrees without rain in most locations, although some southern spots saw a few showers in sarasota county, we will see if the dry trend continues and

donald trump facing new criticism - he appeared to mock a reporter with a disability. "you gotta see this guy. 'uhhhh i don't know what i said, i don't remember.' he's going like 'i don't remember'." "putting a wife to work is a very dangerous thing. i don't want to sound too much like a chauvinist." "you have to be wealthy in order to be great. i'm sorry to say it." "he's a war hero because he was captured. i like people that weren't captured."

parking meters will make a come back in downtown sarasota.

their future, news channel 8's john rogers joins us live from downtown sarasota. the city is growing and parking is limited shs that has to be part of-- limited, that has to be part of the problem. >> reporter: there is a bad taste in their mouth from last used in 2011, they were not user friendly, unpopular, and folkerize not excited to see meters again. the jefben family is visiting from the uk, their first time downtown and ts taking their time and shopping. >> i like the feel, the ambience. >> sort of brings the shoppers very close to the shops. >> reporter: things are changing, next year the city will install parking meters downtown and charge $1 an hour and it is meant to free up spaces during peak hours. 72 if you go ot-- >> if you go out at lunch and dinner, all the prime spaces are

spaceerize not available-- spaces are not available, it is less convenient for the elderly. >> reporter: free parking will be available in parking garages and off of main street. business owners are worried it will discourage people from spending time here. >> the people putting down the policies have never owned a small business and never had to write a 941 form, never had to pay employees, or pay the rents or anything like that. >> reporter: once the meters are in place, if they will be able to do it. >> we will have to find free parking, maybe out of town. >> reporter: the money raised will be reinvested into the area. >> it is not easy for the community but we will try to make it as simple and low cost as possible. >> reporter: some downtown merchants are considering pursuing legal action to put a stop to this as this goes forward. back to you. >> john, is there a timeline on

>> reporter: over the next 6 months a subcommittee will decide what kind of meters, they are looking for smart meters, pay by phone, credit card but they say sometime next year the meters will be installed. >> hopefully smart meters because nobody has quarters, that is for sure. thanks so much. a rescue dog is now the newest member of a police department in florida. the boynton beach police department brought in a beagle mix named harley, harley will be assi t special victims unit and act as a therapy dog, mostly for kids. the national center for missing and exploited children believes harley will be a great addition to the department. >> for children, i can't imagine how harley will not be a huge hit and help in really traumatic, difficult situations. >> the boynton beach police department says they are the first municipal police department in florida to have a therapy dog. after school activities are

which makes eating out even more convenient for some, but we all know that can be expensive and unhealthy. hailey hernandez has 8 on your side ideas on how pre-planning can make all of the difference. >> reporter: the american culture never tasted so good or had such little time to spare. so on average, people in the united states eat out at least 3 times a week. >> we tend to eat on the run because our lives are so busy. >> reporter: registered dietician, times we forget to pack our lunch and we are packing on pounds in turn. >> at the end of the day we work a full day, we are tired, we are hungry, and we tend to make more impulsive food choices. >> reporter: she says that impulse to grab and go leads to eating twice the calories at a restaurant than you would at home and it comes when we are not prepared. her suggestion is to plan ahead setting aside a day of the week to divide meals to store in the fridge or freezer. >> if you have 3 or 4 containers

morning, it is great. >> reporter: still not possible? she also recommends companies like home fresh and blue apron who deliver to your door, these give good portions, fresh ingredients, calorie count, and estimated prep time. if all else fails, you still don't have to with places like eat fitters, my fit foods, and snap kitchen. the 2016 heart walk is right around the corner, news channel 8 is committed to raising your help. fewsillo kia is matching every dollar you donate, counts as $2. the walk is november 12 at raymond james stadium and you can go to wfla.com/heartwalk for details or to sign up for stacie schaible's team. we will find who makes it to the final round of america's got talent. last night, 11 acts took to the stage hopeing for a spot in next week's final round. only 5 acts will move on,

they will be competing for a chance to win $1 million and named the most talented act in amark. find out who-- america. find out who makes it through on the live episode at 9:00 p.m. tonight and stick around for running with bear grylls followed by news channel 8 at 11:00. limited rain chances in the forecast for now, mostly dry conditions, the kind of dry that might feel are feeling it, not all. the moisture will increase on friday, deeper in the atmosphere. combined with the heating will help increase rain chances. the weekend, highs near 90 degrees, maybe few afternoon thunderstorms. here at new port richey, 86 with a northwest wind at 9 miles an hour, we are not seeing much in the way of clouds at that location, many spots purely sunny, the dry air aloft will help dry some of these up in the overnight. hot on the beach, though, 92

of mexico, freedom plaza, sun city center, 88 right now. we have an east wind at 4 miles an hour, no precipitation, the only rain falling was across the southern portion of the area weeshgs can look at that now on radar, most the activity rolling east to west, kind of like we saw 24 hours ago. few sprinkles in highlands, south of lake placid around arch bold and moving to the west. you can see the atmosphere is not doing a great job of supporting the showers because the drier air aloft is really helping to control things. as we look ath summer we have had, our june through august, over 30 inches of rain, 9-inch surplus, that is one location at tampa international airport. since september 1, meteorological summer ends end of august, first part of september with 3.4 inches of rain, carrying the trend of above normal rainfall. many of you are experiencing that same thing especially if we had hurricane hermine in the gulf of mexico.

you saw the past 2 days, really has been the trend. noon, 78, pleasant temperatures, 90 degrees now tampa international airport. the dew point, though, at 67. i think at this hour yesterday we had 68. so that is a critical number, meaning the air is a little drier. little more humid in downtown st. petersburg, 88 degrees there at the airport. that is the key, this red stripe right here is basically dry air high above on the water vapor imagery, deeper moisture to the south is where the shower activity is across south florida. high pressure continues to dominate, though, across the southeast, more of an easterly surface wind, you can see the difference and boundary with the dry air to the north. as you look at the rain chances in the forecast area, clearly will favor farther to the south for tomorrow, same story, better rain chances there. in the tropics, 70% chance of potential development the next 5 days for this area.

we watch the thunderstorms cross the continent and get over warmer waters and develop into something tropical. that one likely will stay at sea but it is something we watch because of general east-northwesterly rather west-northwesterly movement. pleasant morning to start. as i mentioned, the drier feeling air for some and you can see thursday afternoon, the dry air limits the amount of rain we see in the forecast, favoring the southern spots. so for thursday, a high of 91, 20% rain chance, little higher friday with the additional friday, saturday, but that is probably still lightly be-- slightly below normal. next week, perhaps more of a typical pattern, mostly afternoon and evening activity, tuesday, wednesday, thursday. keep in mind as we head closer to the month of october, we are trending down as we get into late september into october with lower rain chances and eventually some drier and cooler air. but not yet. >> you are mean when you say it like it is so close and yet it

>> thank you. campaign sign thieves strike one man's lawn, several times and, boy, he has had enough. >> he has, see how one donald trump supporter booby trapped the sign to keep it from being stolen. you can join jen, julie and me on great 38 from 8:00 to 9:00, hope to see you there. - marco. - polo. - marco. - polo. marco. marco? marco? but it's not a game

and working together. it's why i worked to protect women's health care and worked with both parties to stop cuts to medicare. i'm patrick murphy and i approve this message because florida needs a full-time senator. marco? marco? i never shop without a list. and at publix what's on the list also happens to be what's on sale. stuff you actually want... on sale! isn't that something? that's how i save at publix.

i'm hillary clinton and i approve this message. there's a race going on right now. the world's clean energy super power's either going to be germany, china, or us. and i'm going to make sure it's us. from 500 million solar panels installed by the end of my we'll beat the competition and create new high wage jobs. we can do this, millions of jobs right here in america. that's my plan. you know what i love? when i see all the savings at the bottom of my receipt. it's proof that i'm a smart shopper. which is why i always show it to my wife. that's how i save at publix. how 'bout you?

to what is making headlines across america, miscommunication may have caused 2 planes to crash into each other midair over west georgia, the planes collided thoefsh west georgia reej-- over the rest georgia regional airport, 45 miles west of atlanta, 3 died. there is a single runway and uncontrolled with pilot s announcing takeoffs and landings to each other. it is undenv a police chase ended in a fiery crash in los angeles, the driver trying to outrun police, made a wrong turn and slammed the car into a light pole. you see there, tried to keep going, dragging the pole several feet. when you notice the car started smoking, he jumped out and fell on his face. in the pavement. he was taken into custody, no word yet on what charges he could face. an elderly hiker lost in the wilderness for 6 days is back home tonight safe and sound

helicopter pilot. over labor day weekend, the pilot led the search for 72-year-old man who disappeared in a remote area of coyotea gulch in utah, having disappeared, 6 days earlier he didn't expect a happy ending until he spot the man in his bright yellow shirt. >> all of a sudden i went you got to be kidding me. as we came back along he happened to stand up and had enough to wave his yellow shirt and hat is the only reason we were able to see him. >> the pilot said the 3 things right everyone can learn, brightly colored clothing, told someone where he was going and when he was supposed to be back. when he realized he was lost he stayed put. a donald trump supporter is so fed up with thieves taking his political signs he is fighting back and actually rigged up an electrical system to his newest trump for president sign in his yard, it will zapp anyone who tries to steal the sign, like this woman, who grabbed the sign in the middle of the night.

right to protect his property. news channel 8 at 6:00 is up next. >> stacey and keith are here what we we are working on. accused of doing the unthinkable to children. >> a polk county man is facing nearly 200 felony charges for sexual abuse, why detectives believe there could be more victims. plus, left strandedarve hurricane hermine, how manatees in 2 locations in citrus county got displaced by the flood waters. the brandon mall is closed today after a car here on state road 60. i will show you the crazy crime, coming up. a navy veteran was 12,000 on the va's list and then after an 8 on your side report, suddenly he went to the front of

accused of praying on the most innocent: children, sickening allegations of abuse and why there could be more victims. stealing jewelry in the middle of a busy mall, the employee who chased the thief down ended up in the hospital. 8 on your a never-ending nightmare, our story helped one veteran and why there is more to do. i am keith cate. >> i am stacie schaible, a shocking case of child abuse in polk county. james ballone is facing nearly 200 felony charges for allegedly having choild porn aug-- child pornography on computers and worse, some images of him

be more victims. melissa, the sheriff said he had it all set up to attract children. awful stuff. >> reporter: absolutely, terrible. look at his yard, toys, cars, scooters, a play house, a trampoline. the sheriff said all to lure children into his sick world. we are told james ballone had a secret room in his home, inside he would do horrible things with children. >> he wouldn't allow his wife to gon. >> reporter: he has been in jail since july when he was busted in a child pornography sting. >> it is a clue when you have 52 different devices. >> reporter: as detectives were going through, they found 4500 child porn images, even worse, some of the photos were james ballone pumesting little boys. at least-- molesting little boys. at least 2 have been identified,