morning. we're dry now but we want to be sure you're prepared for what is on the way. >> ivan cabrera has the latest forecast track. issued moments ago. >> just came out. a similar track. we like that because when you get a significant shift in track you start thinking well, not too high of a confidence in the forecast. we're still thinking it's going to be heading to the big bend. 35 mile-per-hour winds expected to become a tropical storm later on today with 40, 45 mile- per-hour winds and t north and then it's going to make that hookup towards the big bend area. and our time frame is going to be thursday. that is the day where we're going to have significant wind and also tropical downpours. however the tropical moisture is already in place so that we rain pretty good later this afternoon and tomorrow as well. so a multiday rain event, one- day wind event on thursday as the storm makes its closest

side. that means the winds push the water towards the coast. so at times of high tide especially on thursday we're going to see the potential for coastal flooding as well. we'll have more on that on futurecast and the local forecast coming up later on today,. a we're in constant contact with bay area emergency operations officials to find out what is being done to get ready for tropical depression number 9. >> the st. petersburg mayor will share the city's plans this afternoon. officials in pasco county because we've all seen what a storm can do on streets and homes many who live in pasco county picture this. >> several neighborhoods flooded last year in jasmine lakes. shawne green says she lost 90% of her belongings. >> we're a little nervous with the storm coming in but we definitely feel like we're in way better position than we were a year ago. >> she's referring to the storm drainage system there. the county admits it needs

improvements but also believes people need to do their part by immediately issuing reports of street flooding. >> county officials are reminding folks to have plenty of food and water on hand. now's the time to pick up sandbags if you think you might need them. there are dozens of self-serve locations where you can go, in pasco county open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. pinellas county location opening during daylight hours. citrus and hernando cou find an update on places and times on abcactionnews.com. you can also find them on our mobile app on your phone. let's head to janelle for a look at the roads. >> good morning. traffic looking great now. we have a few crashes overnight but most of those are in the clearing stages. you can follow me on at which time @tampabaytraffic. the roads are dry.

live look at 275 at hillsborough traffic also looking great here. both directions, no crashes or breakdowns. in the pasco area heading through hillsborough county we're still in the green on 275, 14 minutes from the apex to i-4. 5:03. it's election day in florida. >> today's primaries will give us our matchups also determine which major parties will gain or retain power in the senate and house. abc action news anchor james tully joins us from one polling mace expected to be packed today. >> he's watching one crucial race in the senate. could marco rubio's re-election bid be stopped short today? >> reporter: it's not likely. in fact the rubio camp is probably looking towards an easy victory today. the latest polls i found from the orlando sentinel show him

61% to 22%. of course the votes still have to be cast. this is florida. strange things tend to happen on election day. our political analyst susan mcmannis says there are problems for him in the republican party. for one some florida republicans still bitter about the fact he ran against jeb bush in the presidential election. the same republicans are disappointed he didn't do better in the presidential election and of course he had that big defeat in the primaries in florida. but will bog him down in the general election. not today. >> the bottom line i think you're going to see a lot of the republicans who are going to vote in the primary are still going to vote for marco rubio because they want to hold on to the u.s. senate seat. bebecause it's critical that he controls the u.s. senate after the general election is over. >> reporter: turnout will be big for both candidates. coming up at 6:00 we'll talk

election democratic challenger could be and why mac mannis says that person has political goal on their side. remember you're voting today. bring your id. live in tampa, james tully, abc action news. >> thank you. 5:05. today marks a sad milestone for a family that hasn't seen or heard from their 9-year-old daughter in more than three months. we just saw a picture of diana alvarez, went missing from her lee county home may evidence was tested at an fbi lab but so far hasn't said exactly what that evidence is. authorities did arrest jorge guerrero on federal child porn charges. he once lived with the alvarez family but hasn't been charged with diana's disappearance. cell phone records place him near diana's fort myers home around the same time she went missing in the middle of the night. the mother says she kicked him out of the home weeks earlier

the lawyers say investigators haven't done enough to follow up on leads into mexico where her father lives. >> diana could be there. that gives us hope. >> the mother says she spoke to guerrero in jail last month and claims he told her that diana is still alive. there's a $10,000 reward for information that leads to her whereabouts. the military veteran from pinellas park is out with child abuse. the victim's family is now warning others about what happened on facebook. according to the police report on august 20th robert sypes hit a 6-year-old boy repeatedly with a belt on buttocks and legs and punched him in the thighs. these pictures why on social media showing how bad the injuries were. it goes on to say he also hit the child violently with a pillow sending him face first to the floor. detectives say in interviews

the neighbors are disgusted by the charges. >> kids don't understand being beat. they understand if they did something wrong you talk to them, explain to them what they did wrong and how you do it right. you don't touch them. >> he admitted to hitting the boy but didn't provide a reason. an unsettling story out of punta gorda. a charlotte county deputy is fired and others under investigation. after an inmate claims they forced him to eat his own feces. it was in the video deputy michael burnett seen laughing at the inmate while three other deputies watched. this morning we found out no charges will be filed after a man was accidentally shot at a gun range by a family member. he was shot in the leg yesterday at the shoot straight gun range in fort myers, that man went to the hospital. doctors say he will recover. it's still not clear how the shooting happened. police in italy arrested at least two people for taking advantage of the devastating

looting abandoned homes and now officers are patrolling around the clock to try to stop them. families of course forced to leave their crumbling houses for safety reasons and theefers have been stealing valuables from the rubble. some homeowners are even sleeping in cars near their homes to try to catch the looters. the earthquake killed at least 292 people. the community has another chance today to pay respects to one of the bay area's most beloved and respected catholic leaders. monsignor lawrence higgins died visitation will be held from noon to 9:00 today at st. lawrence catholic church, the parish he founded. the church also will celebrate his life with a funeral mass tomorrow at 11:30. as we talked about the top of the hour, 5:00 a.m. advisory from the national hurricane center, not a big change, still headed if our direction. that's a tropical depression. you can see the rainfall

get into tropical downpours later this afternoon. more on that coming up in a few minutes. 5:09. also coming up -- many already thought his sexual assault sentence was too light and now a stanford swimmer is getting out of jail earlier. what lawmakers are doing to ensure harsher punishments for similar crimes. >> new information on the man that ambushed officers in baton rouge. the important diagnosis the ex- marine and doctors don't agree

5:13. early tuesday morning. 77 degrees in tampa. here's a live look at i-75 and i-4. traffic and weather moments away. an ex-marine believed not to have had ptsd even though claimed to. gavin long never was in combat in iraq but he said he had ptsd because a friend had shown him graphic videos. for the first time in nearly four years students are back in class at sandy hook elementary school in connecticut. a gunman killed 26 people at that school in 2016 including 20 first graders. the school where the shooting happened was torn down and

new school. brock turner, the former swimmer accused of sexual assaulting a woman will get out of jail early. in the decision turner was stepsed to only six months in jail but getting out after three months for good behavior. california lawmakers unanimously passed a new sex crimes sentencing bill in response to the turner case. turner's leantent sparked outrage, currently people convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious person can get a more lenient sentence in california but this bill would make jail time more mandatory in such cases. it's heading to jerry brown's desk now for his signature. big update, 5:00 a.m. advisory. no big changes in the track. we'll talk about that in a second. i want to get you out the door with dry conditions in the upper 70s now so no worries, roads will be dry. bus stop will be dry.

around 10:00, 11:00, and then in the p.m. hours certainly showers and thunderstorms and not just our typical showers and storms, i think we're already enhanced with the tropical moisture. we're going to have very good downpours coming up for later on today. that will set the stage, we have a lot of heavy rain, tomorrow the same. then thursday as the system gets closer more rain. so a multiday rain event. as far as the winds we'll talk about that in a second. 35 mile-per-hour winds, 40 for a tropical storm. we're going to get that today as the more to the north. we have a feature they're is going to be swinging over towards the big bend so it's not going to be headed west. we know that certainly, as far as the intensity, 45 mile-per- hour winds and then 65 mile-per- hour winds intensifying a little, remember 75 is hurricane here as it heads in by the time we get into thursday. so for us, let's focus in a little closer and show what you is going to be happening from, essentially wednesday night through the day thursday but thursday will be the day as the center of the storm moves to

southern end of that and that could push water, so coastal flooding, i don't think it will be a huge deal as far as the flooding, just because it's not as powerful of a storm but that fetch, when you continue to get that in especially at times of high tide you can certainly see that and of course the rainfall. that in itself could cause flooding the next couple of days. that is how we're seeing it now. that was not a big change from the forecast track we had at 11:00. flood potential continues to be our main threat although tropical certainly possible on thursday. we'll likely get watches and warnings eventually later on today. then a tropical cyclone with the spin and you get tornadoes but the potential for spinners that come in on some of the rain bands that push in. so we'll watch that closely. thursday will be very busy with a lot of watches and warnings up. so heavy rain comes in. there's futurecast, by wednesday already raining pretty good. of course thursday the system moves in leaving with you a 7-

conditions improve. not until saturday and sunday and by then we'll be back into our afternoon showers and storms. so a lot to get through but for this morning another dry morning so far. >> let's enjoy it while we can. the roads are dry. no crashes or breakdowns. some of the crashes from overnight have already cleared so the roads are good to go. we're checking the cameras at 275 through downtown tampa, look how wide open the lanes are now. just five minutes from busch boulevard checking the drive in pinellas county, just as good. this is a live look at i-275 and 54th avenue north. again no crashes or breakdowns to slow you down. pushing 70 from the sunshine skyway all the way down to the howard frankland. let's check the drive times on some of the major roads, starting off, u.s. 19, tampa road to east bay 11 minutes. still in the green on the veterans.

fletcher to waters. authorities in rhode island are investigating this crane that tipped over on a bridge. the accident left two workers stuck in a bucket under that bridge. 100 feet above the river below. those men were inspecting the underside of that bridge when their truck tipped over. another crane was used to rescue both men and that bridge was shut down during the rescue as the rescue boats waited on the river below. both workers did not appear to be hurt but were taken to the hospital as a a california man who loves being a pilot is now teaching his young daughter how to make her career out of it. 1995 jeff boyd created a message in his family's rice fields near sacramento. it spelled out "i heart southwest" along with the airlines 1-800 number. the message was visible to pilots landing in sacramento, it helped jeff land his dream job of being a pilot for southwest. now he's teaching his daughter amanda how to be a pilot. she says she flew her first

birthday. >> dad was just talking to me about the shortage of airline pilots and stuff. if i started flying i could probably have a chance of getting a job like he has. >> her dad hopes she gets hired as a pilot for southwest before he retires. jeff says amanda has 13 years to land her job. still ahead -- one man starts getting strange texts from random numbers. what went missing from his home that the thief is now holding for ransom and why police can't track >> first what's app has new policies. here's kendis gibson and diane macedo. >> in "tech bytes," privacy worries about what's app. >> they are sharing information with facebook. >> facebook says the data will enable users to see better ads and friend suggestions but privacy groups are complaining

introduced the latest version of its smart watch. this has an eaink display on the face watch and band. >> no price has been announced yet. russian astronomers say they picked up strong radio signals from space. it's coming from a star similar to our sun, even has a planet nearby. >> don't put out the welcome mat yet. the signal hasn't been confirmed by any other radio

5:24. a arizona man says his dog is being held for $200,000 ransom is starting a facebook page hoping to find his dog. >> he left his terrier mix named "beautiful" in the yard overnight last month. someone took "beautiful" and is demanding cash for the safe return. he says he's contacted police but can't do much without a phone number to track. >> it's like a piece of your heart is not there. it's like -- the worst part about it is -- her wondering where i am.

page, hoping someone knows where "beautiful" is. he's not looking to charge anyone with a crime. he just wants her back. to play with the toys she left behind. an iowa woman went to the doctor friday morning for bad cramps, got two surprises in a three-hour span. >> stephanie hughes found out she was pregnant and three hours later gave birth. her husband understandably in disbehave. >> i was in shock. to be honest i wouldn't say mad but like i kept saying no to myself. no, even driving to the hospital i was still -- like no, no way. no. it's all can i say. >> of course he's happy. stephanie gave birth to a 5 pound 13 ounce baby girl. she says she didn't have the classic pregnancy symptoms. this is the couple's fourth child. there's an 11-year difference between the third child and this baby. doctors say both mom and baby are doing well. 5:25. officials confirm the drugs

attack in florida. the family sharing the life changes the teen was trying to make before he fell back into a troubling pattern. >> tracking a tropical depression, the latest advisory from the national hurricane center, coming up. >> good morning. if you're morning commute takes you across the water you're in great shape. this is a live look at the howard frankland bridge, just 6 minutes to get across.

5:30 -- a tropical depression that could strengthen today and continues to threaten the bay area. ivan cabrera now joining us with the latest track and all the updated information you need to know. >> no big changes from the 5:00 a.m. advisory. that is good. in a way. the track is still coming towards us. you don't want to see huge movement in track because then you start thinking where is this going? we know where it's going. it's going to hook north and eventually head in as we head through thursday. as i've been saying the last few days i still think this is a multiday rain event but one day, thursday, is the day for wind as a storm makes its closest pass to us. right now forecast to come along shore through the day on thursday.