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.

landfall there. we're going to be on the southern end of it. so again we tell you not to focus on the line. but if this is the center of circulation and comes in just this way we're going to be on the southern end of. of that. that is pushing water in our direction. so not only the potential for flooding rains but also coastal flooding as well at the time of high tide. that is coming up through thursday afternoons for both st. pete and sarasota. so heavy rain potential, that begins today, continues through the day on thursday and we'll have tropical stm possible thursday, that will be winds in excess of 40 miles per hour and also the tornado threat will be with us as well, through thursday. more on this and the forecast for later this afternoon in a few minutes. people in tampa hoping for the best, preparing for the worst. abc action news reporter rodney dunigan is live in st. pete now at a sandbag location. this is just one place where people can go today if they are concerned about flooding.

a lot of folks are concerned, this is one of the sand pga locations where folks can come and pretty much load up a sandbag, whatever they need immediately and a number of these locations have been popping up at several counties throughout the area. of course everybody getting ready for possible flooding this this area. the same can be said for pasco county where they opened a number of these sandbag locations as well. the director of emergency services in that county says it's an all hands on deck sort of situation. they have plenty of sandbags on hand for anyone who needs going throughout the area to help out in case of flooding. we spoke with a homeowner in pasco that went through flooding there last year and is hopeful they won't have to go through the same thing this year. >> 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. >> reporter: of course county officials throughout several counties, whether it be pasco,p

any sort of flooding or problems popping up to report it immediately. back here live this morning the mayor of st. pete plans to hold a press conference at 1:00 this afternoon to outline exactly what the city is doing to prepare for the flooding and to help residents here. to find out any sandbag locations in your area simply head to our web site, abcactionnews.com. for now reporting live in st. pete, rodney dunigan, abc action news. as that rain moves closer we'll continue roads and let you know if we're seeing any flooding but right now the roads are dry. no crashes or breakdowns, really a smooth drive for the moment. here's a live look at i-75 at the selmon expressway. a lot of you will be hopping on the selmon to get to downtown. that drive is going to take you just 7 minutes. a live look at i-4 at the polk parkway, look how wide open the lanes are, no crashes or breakdowns on i-4. you have a smooth ride all the way from lakeland to downtown tampa.

to downtown just 22 minutes. 14 minutes to county line road to 75 and 7 minutes from 75 to 275. 5:34. democracy 2016 -- today is primary day in florida. polls open in just under 90 minutes, 7:00. >> they will remain open until 7:00 tonight. republicans, democrats choosing which congressional candidates will face off in november. early voters can vote in ever vote in nonpartisan race and on amendment 4 to eliminate taxes on solar panels. after the poles close get more information on our free mobile an app and abcactionnews.com. we'll also be on facebook discussing the key races all night. you can get rides to and from the polls today. the offer starts in 90 minutes at 7:00 this morning. runs until polls close at 7:00 tonight. just show your voter id card to

pasco county deputies hope a cash reward will motivate people to come forward with information on the drive-by shooting that landed a 1-year- old baby in the hospital. they are offering $3,000 to anyone who can provide information that leads to an arrest in this case. just before sunday night, before midnight sunday night a car pulled up to a home on westcott drive in port richey and started shooting. six bullets hit the child's crib, one going through her wrist. >> there were angels in that crib wi to protect that child's life, that only one shot made and went through a wrist. that child is still alive. >> also in the home at the time of the shooting three adults. one was arrested for cocaine possession. the sheriff's office says the baby's mother is a known gang associate who had another of her children taken into protective custody before. she won't be charged for what happened to this child but she will be charged with drug possession. an 8-year-old girl is on

in a drive-by shooting over the weekend in miami. the family of jada page says doctors told them her chances of surviving are slim. she was shot in the head while standing outside her house with her father sunday afternoon. the father was shot multiple times, he's in stable condition. police hope a $23,000 reward will motivate people to come forward and provide them with information that might lead to an arrest. heroin abuse is a huge problem in manatee county and the children of drug abusers. in july eight of 1,000 children were removed from their parents' care in manatee county because of a parent addicted to heroin, putting a strain on local agencies who are devoted to helping kids. for example, there are not enough foster homes in that county right now. so tonight manatee county, dcf and ymca safe children coalition are inviting the public to a discussion on the

town hall is 6:00 at the dream center in bradenton. we have an update on a bizarre drug-induced attack in martin county we first told you about yesterday at 9:00. >> authorities now saying the 19-year-old that tried to break into a woman's home was high on a psychedelic drug similar to bath salts. the family of sneako gallo is apologizing. they say the teen had a difficult upbringing but was making positive changes in his life before the attack. he had tt driver's license and now seeking help from medical professionals. he's recovering in the hospital, will likely face charges when released. it's eerily similar to an attack two weeks ago involve austin harouff who stabbed a couple before biting the man's face. his blood is being tested to see if he was on anything

saytips ithaca new york, saytips are pouring in. anthony zayer was a student and at a fraternity party near cornell early sunday morning. the family says he was leaving with a friend, the friend bumped into a woman. that led to a fight that ended with anthony being stabbed to death. police say this is the first homicide in the city since 2011. police have not -- >> a lot of information, we have a co on scene, we have police officers, witnesses, people that, again we're reaching out to that are submitting stuff to us on facebook, snapchat, instagram. all that stuff. >> police haven't announced any arrests but anthony's sister says police told the family they have a suspect. anthony's friend was also stabbed, he was treated and released from the hospital. investigators now say tanks of nitrous oxide caused a

the explosions killed one employee but the company hasn't released his identity. investigators say they have found no signs of foul play and are calling this an accident. dentists often use nitrous oxide "laughing gas" on patients during procedure, it's also used on fuel in racing cars. new travel options coming to and from the bay area. allegiant is announcing flights from st. pete clearwater airport to austin, texas and the one-way fares are between $44 and $75. they will be non-stop and year round starting in mid-february. nonstop flights to portsmouth begin in mid-november but only run through mid-may of next year. quiet start -- looking warm and humid and by the afternoon showers and thunderstorms. tropical moisture its going to be streaming in. so local heavy downpours with temperature in the mid and upper 80s. we'll talk more about that and

become a tropical storm later today after the break. still to come -- donald trump is giving relationship advice. the couple's breakup that trump says is the right call and how he is using it to bash hillary clinton in the process. >> a 4-year-old boy is thrown off a bridge. where was his mother the moment

welcome back. you're looking live at the courtney campbell causeway. traffic moving pretty well through there. 77 in tampa. 78 on the other side of the bridge. st. petersburg, clearwater area. traffic and weather coming up. in democracy 2016, it's primary election day in florida but the general election for president is still 10 weeks away. >> senate minority leader harry reid is asking the fbi to investigate if russian hackers are tampering with u.s. elections including the possibility of falsifying praising hillary clinton's top aide for her decision to leave her husband. trump says huma abedin is making a "very wise decision to leave former congressman anthony weiner" after photos show him and another sexting scandal. showing him with a 4-year-old son sleeping by his side. trump is now criticizing

weiner he was in close proximity to classified information. last night continued fundraising on long island. hillary clinton now getting help from republican meg whitman, hewlett packard ceo is going to campaign for clinton in colorado today. whitman worked for new jersey governor chris christie's presidential campaign until he dropped out of the race. yesterday governor rick scott updated the situation in south florida saying the state is making progress. eradicating zika's threat miami. the affected area now half the size it was six weeks ago. next week the governor will travel to washington to ask congress to pass a zika funding bill that will give critically needed money to find a vaccine. as we said yesterday florida theme parks are joining the fight against the zika virus. walt disney world, universal and sea world in orlando along with busch gardens and adventure island in tampa are all offering free mosquito repellent to guests.

there have been no locally acquired zika cases linked to mosquito in either orlando or tampa. the bucs are moving their final preseason game against washington because of the weather. it was originally set for thursday at raymond james stadium. instead they will play tomorrow night. kickoff is 8:00. the bucs are not the only ones adjusting schedules. we're still waiting to see who else is going to cancel events as the storm gets closer. we're watching that depression, when is it going to turn into a storm? >> it's going to turn into a stm hermine or ian. we have competition in north carolina with the storms. doesn't matter the name, right? it's going to be headed our way with tropical storm-force winds on thursday but out ahead of it the tropical moisture already on top of us. so we're going to rain pretty good beginning later this afternoon. winds of 35 miles per hour looking much better organized. thunderstorms beginning to wrap around so i think we'll be talking about hermine or ian later on through midday or certainly by the time shay and

thursday, 1:00 a.m., it will focus on our area. you can see the track. it's a cone but regardless of whether it hits further north or south i think the affects for us are going to be just the same. heavy rainfall, potential for some flooding with that rainfall and also with the winds getting pushed from the gulf into the coast minor coastal flooding at the times of high tied coming on thursday afternoon. that's what we have to look for in the next few days. multiday rain event, then one day with the wind that would be through the day on as it makes its approach towards the big bend not a lot of spin so tornado threat on thursday potentially, especially as you get closer to the storm which would be right now as it looks along the nature coast. we'll watch all of that for you. it's going to be a busy day thursday. the closer we get to the event, of course you want to check with schools, your flights if you're headed in or out of tampa in the next few days. may have impacts. numerous storms today, indirectly associated with the

moisture coming. in we'll get our typical thunderstorms but they are going to be juicy so it's very heavy rain coming in through the early part of the afternoon. and look at the winds shift now. we're going from east to southeast and look at the winds here, coming from the south so we'll begin to tap into that tropical moisture. eventually off the southwest and gulf and will rain buckets by the time we get into thursday as well. so 89 for today. rain chanc thursday the windier day. friday and into the weekend things beginning to improve. just our typical afternoon summer thunderstorms and janelle of course labor day weekend coming up which by the way looks good. i don't think you have any issues -- >> good timing that we can get all this rain out of the way for the holiday week. we're dry on the roads now. no crashes or breakdowns to slow you down so if you're heading out the door, maybe to memorial highway coming off the veterans expressway to 275

you down. a lot of the construction around the veterans expressway has been cleared as well. we're going to take a virtual drive on 275 from the apex all the way through mlk with a live look through hillsborough into downtown tampa at the junction there. you can see we're all in the green as i-4 moves into 275. the average speed 67, that drive is only going to take you 13 minutes. on and dinner spot is closed now. there's a big white tent over jimbo's pit barbecue. our team learned a termite and pest control company is treating the area so its closed temporarily. it takes 20 hours to complete. the management says on facebook every 15 years or so they test the wood-framed building for termites. it's expected to be back open

watch. a man throws a 4-year-old boy off a bridge into the river below. the child came up screaming, swam to his mother who was waiting on shore. this happened in washington state. the people that shot the video called 911. >> let's hope something is done about this. >> i feel she needs to go to jail for it or get charged for something for it, you can't just do it for a kid and let it happen. >> the sheriff's office does plan to cite the mother for reckless endangerment and wa child off the bridge with reckless endangerment and criminal trespassing. both misdemeanors but felony charges could be filed. "dancing with the stars" newest cast on gma. but we have a sneak peek. >> taylor swift reports for jury duty.

good morning. bus stop looking good. temperatures in the upper 70s. we'll be back into the mid-80s by 3:00. raining pretty good by then. we'll all need the rain gear between 1:00 and 7:00. some of these will be tropical downpours. so we'll watch that closely. tropical moisture is already coming in associated with our tropical depression, it will become a tropical storm later on today. i'll have more on the track and what we're thinking as far as

next hour. 5:53. we're just hours away from the big reveal. the season 23 cast of "dancing with the stars" will be announced this morning on "good morning, america." >> season 23. six-time winning pro derek hauf announcing last night he's returning to the show for the fall. while nothing is official until the big announcement we have learned former texas governor rick perry is among the cast of celebrities going to compete. >> and including this guy who some say is controversial, ryan lochte. you no doubt heard gene wilder passed away yesterday, his nephew is explaining why the comedian didn't go public with his struggle with alzheimer's. the nephew says his uncle couldn't bear the idea of their being one less smile in the world. wilder died at the age of 83, famous for his roles in "willy

"blazing saddles," "silver street" and more. megastar taylor swift secreted a frenzy when showing up for jury duty in nashville. she talked to and posed for pictures with more than a dozen fans in the jury pool yesterday. she asked to be excusedded for a rape trial because she felt her ongoing legal battle with an accused groper might affect her judgment. she said she would be happy to serve on another case. >> flooding flaw that one county is admitting to one way you can help. >> it's election day in florida. just a few minutes and votes will be cast in places just like this behind me. and matches determined for a critical senate seat in november. >> we're enjoying some dry

tampa. your drive times up to speed.

6:00 -- all eyes on the tropics. >> ivan is watching a tropical depression that may strengthen as it heads towards and also where it's headed. >> we're starting with ivan who has been closely tracking this system. what is the latest? >> it's going to strengthen and it is going to head in our direction but again i think this is going to be primarily, as we've been talking about a rain threat, flood threat heading into the next several days. in fact it already starts today. tropical downpours later this afternoon but the storm itself won't arrive here until thursday and that is the day i think we're going to be talking about, tropical storm conditions so the rain and then

higher. certainly the forecast now calling for 65 mile-an-hour winds close to the center. the center of which will pass to our north as it stands now. that would put us on the southerly end of the storm. that means the potential for the water to come in, minor coastal flooding not expecting anything significant or catastrophic but just keep in mind especially at the times of high tide thursday afternoons we could be looking at coastal flooding on top of the flooding we're going to deal with because of the rainfall, up to six inches of rainfall through so that will be our day. thursday not only with tropical storm winds but also the potential for some tornadoes especially across the nature coast, closer to the center of circulation where we have spin in the atmosphere. we'll break this down and of course we'll talk about the local forecast which of course will feature more showers and thunderstorms from 1:00 to 7:00 tonight. we're keeping in touch with bay area leaders to find out what they are doing to prepare for what is forecast to be a tropical storm.

to share what his city is doing to get ready. now is the time to pick up sandbags, there are dozens of self-serve locations open. pinellas county open during daylight hours. hillsborough county has locations open from 8:00 to 4:00. in pasco county they are open from 7:00 to 8:00. we posted a complete list on abcactionnews.com. officials in pasco county say they plan to take an all hands on deck approach this week as they look back on past flooding. the county admits the stormwater worth of improvements. in the meantime they are asking people to report street flooding right away and stock up on food and water. the city of tampa is making a big purchase ahead of the storms. mayor buckhorn is authorizing the purchase of 5,000 more mosquito dunks to fight the spread of zika. they are tablets that kill mosquito larva up to 30 days. the mayor anti-a lot of standing water in the city so -- anticipates a lot of standing water in the city so