through haiti. as much as 40 inches of rain is expected to fall in some areas making flooding and mud slides a major concern. >> and, here is a live look right now at cocoa in brevard county overlooking the indian river. certainly the calm before the storm. no effects from matthew just yet. steve jerve joins us live in the forecast center with the latest. >> that area in cocoa, they are conditions are possible within 48 hours, that is the east coast of florida. and no portion of the bay area is under any kind of hurricane or tropical storm advisory at this point. it is the east coast of the state of florida. let's take a look then and see what the numbers are as of 5:00 from the national hurricane center and the position of the storm which is about 65 miles east of guantanamo, cuba. the worst of the storm in this scenario would be on the eastern side of it to the right of the number four there is where the stronger winds would

this forecast path. the weaker side on the western side. the advancing side on the eastern side could be where the stronger winds and typically the storm surge would be located. it could change more of a westerly track. concern with strong wind gusts on the coastal areas. the cone of air does include portions of the bay area highlands county meaning that within this time period, say, thursday at 2:00 p.m., 130 miles an hour winds offshore. that is not what we would experience in places like polk county. perhaps stronger wind gusts, 30, 40 miles an hour might be possible if it continues to follow the track. there is the center of the storm. you can follow it a little bit overcast around the center itself. very close to the southeast and eastern tip of cuba at this point on the northerly path.

determine 139 miles an hour wind gusts. this is remarkable because the storm has interacted with land which usually weakens the storm. it shows the intensity and the size of the eye of the storm that it is able to hold that wind strength of 140 miles an hour category 4 strength even with the land interaction. >> and we know it has changed a lot in the last 24 hours. we will continue to watch it along with you steve. thanks. you will want to keep a close eye everyone, on matthew the next few days. the best way to do that is with our storm team 8 weather max app. it is a frow app store. one place where they are keeping a close watch on the storm is in polk county. they are on the edge of the cone of uncertainty steve talked about. candace mccowan joins us live at the emergency operations center. really a small shift in the storm could make a big difference in the location. >> reporter: good evening. i just got off the phone with the emergency management director. he is concerned about the recent shift to the west the storm is taking. they will monitor it overnight

morning about whether they will activate their emergency operations. >> this is the program. >> reporter: for polk county management director pete, it is easier to prepare when he knows whether or not his county will be hit by a storm. right now, he is in limbo waiting and watching. >> with this storm, we are really on the edge. it could go either way. we need to make sure that we don't go overboard and get people overprepared for it. >> reporter: for people such thing as overprepared. >> we didn't expect it to be that bad, no. >> almost within moments, turned and swept through here. >> reporter: those living in wake wales at the time, it is impossible to forget hurricane charlie. the storm took a detour from its predicted path. >> you couldn't get into my house because of all the trees that had fallen down the drive. >> i probably spent the next

blue tarps. >> reporter: for that reason, even without anticipated hurricane force winds for matthew, they say they are ready. >> make sure everything is tied down. and, get us some gas. >> any time we hear of another storm headed our way, it makes us perk up a little bit. >> reporter: right now, their eye is on the the radar making sure matthew doesn't pull any surprises. >> we need to be prepared for a s storm. right now, lo >> reporter: they are ready at a moment's notice to fire up the shelters and activate their operation center. keith? >> are they talking any cancellations yet? >> reporter: a lot of people are curious about school. the school districts are saying they will make the call about thursday. tomorrow afternoon. they have already moved some football games from thursday to wednesday just in case. >> all right, candace mccowan live in polk county. thank you. and right now, noaa hurricane hunters are flying over the storm to get a better

along on that ride. he continues our team coverage tonight from macdill air force base. >> reporter: i'm going to be flying in noaa's g4 aircraft today. it will be flying above, around, and ahead of the storm hoping to predict its path. >> reporter: before etch flight. >> these areas, we will try to execute this plan. >> reporter: the scientists are briefed on the exact details the mission. >> then enter the storm environment. >> in the event we run into hurdles, we have a predescribed backup plan already. so we don't have to go through this whole discussion on the aircraft. >> reporter: this is called a drop sign. it comes out of the aircraft at this point, it measures temperature, pressure, humidity, wind speed. and gives a lot of information to the scientists on board the

path of the storm. >> flight meteorologists qc, quality controls the data. and packages it up and transmits it out, actually, to the world. >> reporter: at this time, matthew is currently the most powerful atlantic hurricane to be tracked in a decade, so, the information gathered by this aircraft today will be extremely important, potentially, for millions of people. jeff patterson, newschannel8. meantime, matthew is leaving a trail of destruction behind for many caribbean islands. haiti is still rebuilding after being hit with a earthquake six years ago. tampa based people for haiti makes trips to bring residents medical care several times a year. they plan to make another trip because of matthew. our big concern was they didn't know. they had no idea hurricane matthew was coming. imagine, a category 4 hurricane coming your way if you are lucky, you live in a structure that is made of tin. most have sticks and tarps for homes. and a category 4 hurricane is

>> if you have family in the caribbean, you can call them for free if you are an at&t customer. they are waiving or crediting charges made in haiti, jamaica, the bahamas, bermuda through october 7. right now, crews are working to fix a major sewer main break in palm harbor. an estimated thousand gallons of sewage per minute is gushing that has been going on since 7:45 this morning. they are asking residents now to limit their water use. >> we are asking them to reduce their water use. reduce the running of the diswasher. excessive showers and whatnot. the sewage is flowing into a retention pond in the hidden lakes subdivision. they claim there are no health concerns for people who live

charged as an adult for making a creepy clown threat in pasco county. the boy threatened to kill sixth graders at seventh spring elementary school. he is charged with terroristic threatening. that is a second degree felony. well, a bright yellow substance is raising some concern in the port of tampa. >> coming up, we will explain what this is and what kind impact it could be having on the environment. >> plus, the issues with the tampa housing authority's crown jewel? they are even worse than we first reported. what we have uncovered about the project you paid millions

after an obscene amount was spent building this controversial courthouse, the state learned the contractor had overspent on framed photos that were never used. when the state refused to pay, bob buesing sued... demanding taxpayers foot the bill, including his own legal fees. now running for senate, buesing wants us to trust him with state spending. you've got to be kidding. i think my strongest asset, maybe by far, is my temperament. i'd like to punch him in the face, i'll tell you. i would bomb the [bleep] out of 'em. i could stand in the middle of 5th avenue and shoot somebody and i wouldn't lose any voters, okay? and you can tell them

t him out of here! get him out of here! get the hell out of here! priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising. spill. you can see the yellow substance spilling over the side of the tank. we are told the tank overflowed when the ship was loaded sulfur. the spill has been contained and there is no real threat to the environment despite how it looks. two children hit by an suv are now identified. they are in serious condition

investigators don't expect to file charges against the driver or the children's parents, the venice library has opened its testify the temporary location after the old one closed for mold. >> a leaky problem we reported on is worst than we thought. >> how 8 on your side uncovered the issues with the encore building. mark is on it because you paid for it. >> plus, 8 is on your side and election ready. you can join us tomorrow for our phone bank. we are going to have bay area supervisor of elections here answering all of your voting and election questions. so be sure to tune in. but it's even worse when he shows up. he's voted for a plan that would cut social security... and has said social security is "bankrupting our country" and has "weakened us as a people." he wants to eliminate the department of education...

marco rubio. it's bad when he misses work. it's worse when he shows up.

z251cz zi0z y251cy yi0y as a federal prosecutor, i've spent my career prosecuting criminals 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

not innocent people. i'm andrew warren. as state attorney, i'll make our county safer for our families. >> battling boondoggles, fighting frivolous spending, mark douglas is taking on the big shots because you paid for it. >> it is a life safety emergency. 8 on your side has construction defects inside a tampa bay housing authority high-rise are even bigger and worse than first thought for the residents who are living there. our investigation actually found water intrusion back in august and we reported on that. but now things are looking much worse. mark is on this because you paid for it. so, how bad are we talking here mark? >> reporter: keith, this report is troubling from a taxpayer view as well as the well being of the reed residents.

affect two dozen units in the building. back in august, every time it rains hard, water soaks the bedroom carpet in this fourth floor apartment at the reed high-rise. this report now concludes that water intrusion at the reed high-rise you paid $18 million to build is a widespread problem. tampa housing authority lawyers sent a letter to the contractor claiming those consul tents have sc safety construction defects. back in august, housing authority president jerome brians insisted he didn't know about the water leaks until our investigation though other members of his staff clearly did and they failed to act. >> that situation should have been treated as an emergency. it wasn't. >> reporter: they have now confirmed water damage in 26 different apartments.

cracked stucco. water intrusion in closets and bedrooms and mold behind the dry wall. even the manager's office has water damage. all of this in an $18 million building you paid for that is barely a year old. housing authority lawyers now insist the health, safety, and welfare of residents requires necessary emergency repairs. it is exactly the kind of trouble we suspected back in august when we ryans. >> could be a symptom of a much bigger problem. >> that is absolutely correct. >> reporter: the next report is supposed to explain the source of the water intrusion. the lawyers say if there are provable defects, insurance, not taxpayers, will pick up the tab. we will see about that. >> i remember they were building this. it was a big deal. it is a beautiful building on the outside, but a lot of problems and there is another building under construction and it has problems too? >> reporter: yeah, it is another seven story building

it is the subject of suits. we will have another report dealing with that building tomorrow night. so stay tuned. more on this. >> mark is on it because you paid for it. thank you mark. now, we have breaking news. a deputy involved shooting is under investigation in hillsborough county. it happened at oak ridge drive and river crest drive. the deputy is not hurt, but one person was shot. we are working to get more details and we will bring them as soon as here is a view from south sarasota county. nissan of venice. a mix of clear skies and clouds. 72% relative humidity. no rainfall at this location. here at veteran's ford, one one- hundredth. not a lot. 75 degrees. a few showers and thunderstorms have developed today. have helped to drop the temperatures. and again we are not seeing super cool temperatures. numbers are down.

auto mall in polk county. you can see the view at plantation crystal river. there are a few showers and thunderstorms, and, they are moving off to the west, you can see the north western portions of manatee county. northern spots, pretty quiet along 75. maybe a fortiors. you can see around the skyway. we saw some in the southern sections of pinellas county drifting to the west. this one has kind of lost a little punch, but the thunderstorms have regenerated around the northern part of and again, you can see around saint petersburg, these are moving in that direction. further south, we saw a few showers inland. quiet in polk county. a few showers in the eastern part of highlands county and west of north port. not very strong at the moment. 75 degrees at 2:00 a.m. 7:00 a.m. rather. 77 degrees, the current temperature at mack dell. 81 degrees in clearwater beach. and, also, in brandon, 82 degrees in lakeland.

77 in brooksville. 76 weeki wachee, satellite picture shows a mix of clouds and sunshine across the state. not as active as it was yesterday. upper level dry air for that. a hurricane watch in brevard county, indian river county. points south all the way down to the upper keys. for us though, there are no watches in place. warnings, anything like that. quite a few of those watches, the path of hurricane matthew. you can see that position friday at 2:00 p.m. part of friday, depending on the timing, the movement, and the track, these can change and likely will. these forecasted positions at the moment, we are certainly in the cone in some of these areas if the storm would wander west a little bit more. the effects would be greater but at this point, we would be on the weaker side of the storm, so largely just stronger wind gusts. especially inland areas. we would have to be concerned with. the trend with the computer models has drifted back to the west. many are still well offshore at this point. so we will have to continue to

especially for the state of florida. but very clearly defined between cuba and haiti at this point as it is moving off to the north. as we look at a computer model wind gust forecast map, you can see thursday at 11:00 p.m., a little bit higher as we go all the way into friday. you can see these are estimates from a computer mold. they might be a little high. but thinking we could see potentially some tropical storm force wind gusts and hurricane strength over on the east coast of florida. as you can see on the forecast developing showers and thunderstorms for the short term here in the evening hours. tomorrow, the rain chance at about 30%. 30% chance as well for thursday. good news is, long term, of course, we have windy conditions expected if we are on the western side of the hurricane thursday and friday. after that, drier air coming in the western side of the storm. and a cold front for the early part of sunday would give us cooler and drier air. especially drier air. not a lot. but a little bit of a change.

might be the start of dry season. >> all right, thank you steve. >> yeah. and the tampa bay heart walk is coming up. and we need your help reaching our goal of $100,000. that is ha we are trying to raise for the american heart association. fuccilo kia matching the first $50,000 we raise. go to wfla.com/heartwalk to donate and join any team. coming up next in sports, the rays set the tone for a long winter rebuild after a disappointing season. >> and the bucs are not sure ic

you know me, i grew up here. and while politics and the political parties may have... changed, i haven't. i've always stood up to the special interests and for... the people. to protect social security and medicare. for women's healthcare, and our veterans. in congress i won't let them privatize the va, cut social security and medicare, take away a women's right to choose, or defund planned parenthood. i'm charlie crist and i approve this message, because i'll put you, the people first. 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, good the economy and good for florida? it's not a "what if." it's "what's next." solar power for the sunshine state.

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wife: our electric bill just keeps going up and up... we're doing everything we can... but it looks like duke energy's not doing theirs. husband: paying for a plant that's never going to be built is just ridiculous. narrator: the duke utility tax is costing florida families. he's taken thousands from duke but has not stopped them from collecting for a power plant that could never be built. wife: someone needs to stand up to duke energy. narrator: house majority pac is responsible for

>> welshing the bucs are already in monday night football mode shifting their entire schedule back a day. which meant today was practice instead of a day off. an extra practice session to work on ending this three-game losing skid. no sign of gerald mccoy today. no injury report required. until thursday this week. so, our injuries are strictly from observing practice. there is robert ayers. he noah spence out on the field. also did not practice. like bucs and carolina practice fans. the bubs defense is monitoring the concussion protocol of cam newton. last time the bucs dodged him in a game. they were beaten twice in one season by panthers backup derek anderson, so, nothing changes defensively for either quarterback. >> be prepared just like he is going to play. i don't think it really makes a

we control what we do. we don't control what carolina does. we execute the game plan better than them, we will be fine. >> the baseball playoffs begin tonight when the orioles play the blue jays in the american league wild card game. far from that contest, 21 games to be exact, the rays sift through the rubble of 2016. 94 losses, did not cost manager kevin cash or matt silverman their jobs. infact, they 2016 today at the trop. if you watched enough rays games this year, you can recite the issue. bullpen, hitting with runners in scoring position. bad base running. injuries, et cetera, et cetera, the list reads like a baseball textbook. cash knows this. now, there were no promises of major changes this winter but silverman knows another losing season could spell doom for a lot of decision makers in the

uh, and, especially, you know, how it went south so early. that feeling, that disappointment, it gnaws at us. when you are 25 games out of first place, there are not enough bright spots. we are hell bent on getting the team back into contention. i shoulder a lot of it. there are 30 of these roles in baseball. and, it is our responsibility, my responsibility to do what you can to create a winning atmosphere. i think we have created positive atmosphere. we have not gotten to the winning we are capable of. >> i think the word is culture if you are following the bucs. a change in culture. we will see what this winter does. if things don't start well in april, i don't know what you will do. >> we need a little magic. >> thank you dan. don't go anywhere. nbc nightly news is coming your way next followed by newschannel8 at 7:00. >> and you can follow josh benson and jenn holloway at 8:00 on great 38. >> see you at 11:00.

breaking news tonight. large-scale emergency evacuations. plans to urge over a million people to flee the south carolina coast as a deadly monster hurricane barrels towards the eastern seaboard. critical clash, the vp candidates face numbers slide. can a big moment tonight turn the tide? spyin on her e-mails. a stunning report that yahoo secretly searched hundreds of millions of accounts snooping on its own customers for the government. getting out alive. residents escape for a dramatic neighborhood blast. the warning signs that every family should know. and life-saving cancer test. ben stiller goes public with his private health battle.