to schools. in nearly two thousand pot shops across florida. no medical standards. no pharmacists. no prescriptions. and no way to stop it... ...unless you vote no on amendment 2. >> right now, on newschannel8 at 5:00. >> hurricane matthew hits haiti and menacing florida. ahead, the reason we need >> and, not clowning around. a student faces criminal charges for a creepy clown threat against a school. >> plus, if they say they are calling from the irs, they are lying. shannon behnken shows us how to protect ourselves and a loved one with a common scam. i'm jennifer leigh. >> i'm keith cate. thank you for joiningtous night. hurricane matthew roaring

storm. swelling rivers, pelting rain, and driving winds. it is headed to cuba and possibly florida. we have team coverage of matthew. we start with chief meteorologist steve jerve. i know that latest update to the forecast crack is out, steve. what does it show? >> it looks similar. we still have a category 4 hurricane with 140 miles an hour winds. clearly category 4. it surprised us. it has not weakened as a result of the te kind of passing now between the eastern part of cuba and the western part of hispanola. then haiti, the center of the storm, the eye of the storm. overcast, a very small eye indicating high intensity. it has interacted with land close to 24 hours. and according to the national

category 4 status. the strongest winds will be east of the eye. these are hurricane warnings colored in red. in the bahamas and cuba. it is just east of of guantanimo we are located, does include in the cone of air, sections of polk county, high lands county. we have seen the shift wobble back and forth. depending on the computer model you look at. and the timing is always a question. thursday into friday. some concern with north winds. inland, squally kind of weather on the east coast. but of the models show the wind gusts over hurricane strength,

you can see the tropical storm force winds colored in yellow. hurricane force in red. red kind of goes away a little bit as the storm weakens but still, you can see stronger easterly and northeast and north wind once the storm moves around us and the northern areas feel the strongest winds associated with the counterclock wise movement as it move to the northeast. still a category 4 despite land interaction and the state of florida especially southeast coast of florida will have to watch for the movement the next several days. but inland, polk county, highlands county, hardy, de soto. >> prepare now for the worst. thanks steve. we will check in with you in a little bit. meanwhile, haiti is one of the islands feeling matthew's hurricane. >> one tampa area organization is making plans to help.

benson? >> reporter: people for haiti travel several times a year to help haiti rebuild. these tourists were told to hide under bathroom sinks in the hotel rooms. >> that section there, go underneath. that is the safest place. >> reporter: cuba, the nextcaribbean island in the path of matthew. >> this is they tee with a forecasted 40 inches of rain. >> there are structures and homes that have been wiped out entirely. electrical fires. lack of power. there's other parts of haiti who have not seen the worst of it yet. >> reporter: people for haiti, a medical mission group in tampa knows firsthand haiti continues to recover from the devastating earthquake injuring countless men, women, and children.

there is going to be stuff down. and we will be back to the same conditions that we once saw six years ago. the only upside is that people for haiti has been there. we have been there for six years. we understand the struggles. we understand the needs of the people. >> reporter: matthew brought flash floods to jamaica as well. but quickly made an exit. >> it is moving from our water. so that is a good sign. we just heard on [ screaming ] >> reporter: animals at hope zoo in kingston rush to safety as matthew rushes too close to comfort. this child is almost pulled out to sea. man, scary video there. people for haiti say they travel four to five times a year to bring medical care to haiti. they say they are planning to go back and deliver food and water and medical supplies. but even this being an unplanned trip back thanks to

hurricane matthew could have a big impact on the navy personnel in guantanamo bay. they air lifted 700 civilians and 70 pets to pensacola. as matthew takes aim at the u.s., an evacuation order is in place for parts of south carolina as well. >> a state of emergency is in place for florida. speaking in daytona beach, governor rick scott begged all floridiato seriously and be ready for a direct hit. >> if matthew directly impacts florida, there will be massive destruction that we have not seen in years. this is a deadly storm approaching our coast. i cannot stress that enough. the fact that we don't focus on the storm path. focus on if there is a minor deviation, it could directly impact our state. >> drivers are lining up to get gasoline.

in broward county. a lot of cars, a lot of traffic. attorney general pam bondi is encouraging people to be on the lookout for price gougerring at the pumps. we learned this afternoon that president obama has postponed a visit to tampa because of hurricane matthew. he was going to talk about healthcare at the university of south florida and attend a rally for hillary clinton in miami. >> we are hopeing to be able to reschedule those events relatively soon. that will be determined by the impact of the storm and by other components of the present schedules. >> the white house says the president is receiving briefings about the storm. you can get all the latest updates yourself on hurricane matthew right at your fingertips. download our free storm team 8 weather max am. now to breaking news. a 12-year-old student is facing a very serious charge in connection with a creepy clown threat aimed at a school. let's get right to

is joining us live in pasco county. you heard from the sheriff just nowed. >> reporter: yeah, the sheriff just wrapped up a press conference. we learned they arrested a 12- year-old boy. the charge, written threats to kill. and this is some serious stuff here, keith. it is a second degree felony. again, for a 12-year-old boy. and, he is going to be charged as an adult. this threat reportedly came from an app that he had called musically. it is a very popular app among dr right now, this boy's profile page on that app. and if you can read this, it says that he is going to kill the kids at seven springs middle school on friday, october 7. get ready, sixth graders, for your worst day and your last. now, some video here i want to show you as well. investigation beginning last night. parents and students happen to see this. and they called 191, the sheriffs office said. they called the sheriff's

officers started asking the kids who had happened. who was this, and they told them they pointed out the 12- year-old boy in question who we are not naming at this point. this kid admitted it and said he did it to be funny. take a listen to the sheriff from a few minutes ago. >> the anxiety levels, the fear. it will not be tolerated in this county. and so, a child is being arrested today. and, the warning is still going if anybody wanted to go down this path, threatening to kill kids, threatening to shoot up a school. threatening to shoot up anywhere, the pasco sheriff's office has zero tolerance. >> reporter: yeah, and a lot of fear, and anxiety among students and teachers and their parents today at the school. we are told that right now, happening right now, detectives are on hand at seven springs middle school, talking with the kids telling them what is going

obviously this is not the thing to do. see you at 5:30. >> this shouldn't come as a big surprise. we did a story on this last week. this is is a nationwide trend with the creepy clown business. locally, it is impacting us. as you said paul, we will have more coming up at 5:30. we look forward to your report then. tonight, we will see the first and only presidential debate. mike pence and tim kaine will square off in virginia. there is a strong spotlight on their running mates so many don't know a two. tonight's debate starts at 9:00 p.m. you can watch it right here on newschannel8 followed by the news. in the next presidential debate, hillary clinton versus donald trump round 2 is sunday october 9. coming up, it is the same old scam. >> shannon behnken tells us how

>> testing for zika. find out how sarasota county is in the forefront for fighting this dangerous disease. >> that and more coming up. you're watching newschannel8, the station that is always on your side. what if one of the biggest challenges we face down here... could be solved... simply by looking up there? what if unlimited, clean power was at your fingertips? what if it was good for consumers,

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>> right now, people in north pinellas county are being asked to limit showers, washing dishes, flushing toilets and any nonessential water usage. the reason, a large break in a force sewage main near the enniswood subdivision along alderman road. raw sewage is spaing out a

utility crews will be there throughout the night. you don't want to cause panic but you cannot take your eyes off this hurricane. the size and the strength, it is just moving along. >> yeah. and it has been shifting west. the next couple of days we will have to continue to watch the movement of it. but chemoin mind we are on the western side of the storm. we are on the west coast of florida. but our inland folks, otherwise, the east coast, if it continues on would see the worst of the storm. but obviously, it is the east of the eye that is where the strongest area is. beautiful view there from plantation, crystal river. famous tate. 82 degrees with a northeast wind at 10 miles an hour. that is a nice view too. a little blue patch of sky there. here at hula bay, 82. north wind, 13 miles an hour. but mostly overcast here in tampa south of gande. we are seeing a lot of sunshine. a few clouds here at ennis

two one-hundredths of precipitation. there are still a few showers in and around the area. everything is continuing to move from east to west. east of sebring. a few showers around 75 in the southern part of pasco county around wesley chapel. you can see, there are a few scattered shower ins the southern sections of hillsborough downty. and a few of those across hillsborough county as well. down around bradenton, too. at 7:00 a.m., 75 degrees. maybe a few clouds around for 84 degrees, a mix of clouds an sunshine. another warm one. and the rain chances kind of similar to what we are seeing today at 40%. winds will continue to pick up. but not a breezy day tomorrow. that is more like on thursday. 86 degrees in pinellas park and macdill. seminole, 85. largo, 80. river view, 84 degrees. brandon, 83. same in crystal river.

sarasota, 82. saint petersburg, 87 degrees. terms of the cloud cover, you can see quite a bit across the central portion of the state. some offshore rain as well. as i mentioned. the deep atmospheric moisture we talked about yesterday. when you have that in place, it generates a few showers and storms so the warnings are up. that is no surprise. we talked about the center of matthew. 65 miles east of bay. still, the stronger side unfortunately is in haiti. they have seen a couple of feet of rain in the dominican republic associated with this storm. and the bahamas, thursday at 2:00 a.m., 130 miles an hour. the strongest part of the storm over the atlantic. the weaker side with the winds coming in on the western side against the forward movement. that would be where we would be located but that cone of error, that window of possible movement is in the colored in white there.

days how it has shifted both east and west. we will continue to watch that. potential landfall up around the carolinas. we will see how that plays out. but that's the current thinking at the moment. as we see the computer model trend, this has shifted a little bit to the west, but today, not much change. it is still offshore in terms of the location of the potential movement of the storm. high pressure is our big feature. the upper level ridge will steer matthew northwest. it will be off the east coast on thursday. that played a big part storm. trough in the offer atmosphere by the weekend should help to guide the storm off to the northeast. when that change occurs is what the computer models don't agree on. in terms of the rainfall potential, this is just a computer model opinion. not written in stone. most of it obviously would be on florida's east coast, higher amounts in the eastern sections of the newschannel8 viewing area. eastern sections of polk county. highlands county. this would be at the high end. unless the storm should shift a

terms of wind gust. these are just forecast wind gusts through thursday at 9:00 a.m. you can see out at titusville at 20 miles an hour. as you go through the day thursday, they tend to increase. thursday, later thursday, into the first half of friday especially, that is the way the timing looks at the moment. but, that can change. 30% rain chance wednesday. same for thursday. the good news out of all of this if there is anything ultimately, we are getting drier weather. cold front is going to come through on sunday. and then, our rain in fact, we see some lower humidity. monday, tuesday, wednesday, maybe, the start of the dry season. which a lot of folks will welcome. if you've been cheated, when you need help, she's on your side. better call behnken. >> and tonight, better call behnken takes a look at one of the questions we get asked most often. it is this irs scam.

and this scam continues because people just continue to fall for it. don't let it happen to you. every day, i receive calls and e-mails from people at the receiving end of the irs phone scam. [ phone ringing ] crooks pretend to be the irs and call and threaten. demanding payment for back taxes. often payable through store cards. nancy says i received calls today saying i needed to call the irs and not to ignore them. from kenneth, someone called my home several times, stating they are the irs. starting a lawsuit against me. i called the number several times to request that my number be removed from their calling list. and from peter in tampa, just received my second call. it was a recording claiming i owed the irs and if i don't

but i can't stress enough that the irs will not call taxpayers. use e-mail, or social media. and they would never demand immediate payment. especially with gift cards. so, what do you do to stop these scammers? you can call the irs and provide the investigators with as much information as you can. so they can catch them. >> and i have gotten these phone calls. i think everybody in the news room has gotten them. how widespread is this a local florida thing? >> it is all over the country. they are targeting a lot of elderly people which we do have in florida and a lot of people are falling for it. it is not just elderly folks. i received a call from someone who they went out to target and bought $3,000 worth of target gift cards for someone they thought was the irs. they are not going to want to get paid in gift cards. >> thank you shannon. if you have a question or a problem that needs solving you

the number, 1-855-behnken.

>> just a quick reminder, the heart walk is 40 days away. we are trying to raise $100,000 but we need your help. you can go to wfla.com/heartwalk to join our team and donate.

the walk is at raymond james stadium. this is medicine. medicine. uh... medicine? up to twenty times stronger than it once was. marketed to kids. sold next to schools. in nearly two thousand pot shops across florida. no medical standards. no pharmacists. no prescriptions. and no way to stop it... ...unless you vote no on amendment 2. wife: our electric bill just keeps going up and up... we're doing everything we can...

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no injuries or accidents have been reported. that facebook marketplace is getting low ratings for its first day. some users posted drugs, weapons, sex acts, and body parts for sale. the product manager says a technical issue prevented the company from flagging the bad postings. facebook is working to fix the problem before giving more people access to marketplace. that's a little scary. today is national taco day. of taco tuesday. many people are having special deals. we have a list for you on wfla.com. you are big on that taco tuesday. >> i love taco tuesday. yes. what's not to love? >> uh-huh. it's a nationality. >> i'm just saying. hey, josh benson. coming up, losing a pet can be a heartbreaking experience. how one business aim to make that a little bit easier. and new technology is speeding up the fight against zika.

and fighting for the rights of victims. i want to make the state attorney's office a model for criminal justice. i'll prioritize violent crime and be tough on murderers, gangs, and anyone who commits domestic abuse or sexual assault. and i'll make the system fair by working with police to wear body cameras and using dna to put criminals behind bars, not innocent people. i'm andrew warren.

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>> right now, on newschannel8 at 5:30. >> praying for haiti. a bay area church with ties to an orphanage in haiti reaches out during hurricane matthew. good evening, i'm jennifer leigh. >> and i'm josh bens as it takes aim at the southeast. meteorologist steve jerve joins us with the latest forecast track. steve? >> reporter: still coming close to the east coast of florida, keeping in mind, when you look at this storm, the western side of it, most of the florida peninsula is on the weaker side. that is good news but the bad news is haiti got pounded today. 140 miles an hour winds, we have seen some very strong wind gusts as well. and a lot of rain, several feet of it. north winds at 9 miles an hour.