the coast. you see the power outage forecast. if you live closer to the coast, you're likely to have gusty winds there. here is something that is improving. if you were watching earlier, the track continues to shift west. so because of that, the threat for tornadoes also begins to shift away from our area as well. in fact, the hurricane center and the storm prediction center says there's really only a marginal risk of a tornado or two in the area. a slight the center should cross. there in a nutshell is the key to the forecast. if this storm continues to move off to the northwest, and in my opinion it will, then it will do a couple of things. as it gets stronger, it will consolidate the moisture around it. kind of like a figure skater does when they spin. they bring everything in. that will help to bring the moisture closer to the center. that's a good thing. that will limit the extensive

there's the forecast track. still though we are under a hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning for part of the area. we will talk about the effects in terms of coastal flooding because that has everything to do with the path and not the rain coming up in a couple minutes. >> now they may have lost everything. >> families forced to leave their homes. this storm that hasn't even made landfall yet and already bad flooding in pinellas county. >> lauren rozyla is largo right now with how those families are doing tonight. >> reporter: it continues to rain even harder out here in largo this evening. now, what we have seen is six families having to be forced from their apartment complex after all of this rushing water made its way into their homes. so the fire department came in and had to get them out. now they have cut power to the area. you see the transformer over there has actually fall every over. they had to make this area

became unsafe. now, you can see all of this water is rushing downhill and toward other buildings. so now they're concerned maybe there could be even more evacuations. the residents here are just wondering what is next for them. as for the people evacuated this morning, they are staying with family or friends. we will continue to provide updates on abcactionnews.com. in largo, i'm lauren rozyla, abc action news. the schools will be closed all over the bay area tomorrow. let me walk you through it. hillsborough county schools are closed. pinellas county schools are closed. pasco county schools also closed. however polk county school district decided to remain open tomorrow. you will have school in polk county. now to the outlying counties tonight as i walk you through this. citrus county to the north where there is expected to be a lot of rain, they will be closed tomorrow. hernando county schools also closed.

decision to close. sarasota county schools will be open tomorrow. also want to give you information tonight about local colleges. we have learned that hillsborough community college will be closed tomorrow. and usf at this time the plan is they're going to stay open tomorrow. now, friday that is still up in the air. that decision will happen sometime tomorrow. keep it right here. we will keep you updated for sure. laura. >> and paul, we just got this in. usf now saying that the campus will close on all classes are canceled. that just in. what you're looking at right now, flooding on clearwater beach forcing workers to move the lifeguard stands. the guard towers being moved back to the beach wall. there is rough surf. there are always a few people who just don't want to take those warnings and jumped in the water anyway today. we want to give you updates when it comes to storm coverage by downloading the abc action news app. you can get the latest on the

your phone. plus, if you're without power, you can actually watch the live stream video. it's available for download right now on google play and apple stores. let's push it forward here. look at the flooding in gulf port tonight. it's putting police there -- they are putting these cones up throughout the area to warn people. let's go out to clifton french who is driving on the roads tonight in st. petersburg. clifton, i know it was pouring down there earlier. how does it look >> reporter: yeah. well, paul, you can see one, two stall cars. there's a third with its flashing lights in the yard over there. there's another on a side 62nd street north. excuse me. this is 55th avenue north. we're near 62nd street north, near the intersection there. this is a major thoroughfare through st. pete.

it was not like that just a little bit ago. like i said, that's why cars were stalling out through here. many cars still not ki chances. g around right here. but like i said, this vehicle right to the right, this one stalled out over here. this is the reason that we tell people turen u into this. the water start today recede over here once the rain broke up a little bit. but that rain has started to pick up. so you can expect this area to start to flood again like of the areas across -- across tampa bay. so we're keeping an eye on this. and we're going to keep you posted online everywhere. we will keep you posted online, on social media and of course on air. back to you. >> thank you, clifton. you know too much water too fast is really the big concern with the storm, especially in st. petersburg. tonight as the storm approaches. this is video from back in june

filled up the storm drains, overpowered the city's sewer system. tonight st. pete officials need your help to avoid this problem from happening again. they're asking you to do a few things for them. they're saying do less laundry and dishes. take a shorter shower to conserve water. and turn off your faucet when you're using it. they're trying to control the water there. all right. people across the bay area are picking up sand bags tonight before the rains get worse. here you see crews in sarasota tonight for folks. some sites in pinellas county will be open until sunset. we have a list of the sites with sand bags on abcactionnews.com. another important road closure to tell you about right now. in st. petersburg, this road is shut down. you see it in the video. it's at 75th avenue. our crew was there right after they put the road closed signs up. city workers still left a little bit of the road open. you can see people trying to get through the area.

report in that area right now. and covering pasco county, no major flooding yet. but the threat is there especially if the river goes above flood stage after all of the rain. eric waxler is live with what effect that could have on hundreds of people in that area. eric. >> reporter: laura, here at mitchell park in new port richey, they have been giving out sand bags all day long. more than given out. he is helping his dad fill up the bags. no school for you tomorrow, aiden. are you happy about that? he is happy about that. the decision was made late this afternoon. people in pasco have had to deal with flooding too many times before. especially the residents where the river spilled over into neighborhoods, caused so much damage. many of the houses are built up on stilts. but others will be in trouble if too much rain

>> we just have to evacuate. and hopefully it's not going to get into the house like it did before. i wasn't here for that but my mother-in-law was. >> reporter: yeah. these are some of the images from tropical storm debbie in 2012. streets just turned into rivers. many of the houses completely flooded out. and out here now, a heavy rain as we these people though doing their best to protect their homes and get some of the sand bags before more comes tomorrow. eric waxler, abc action news. >> eric, a lot of work to do tonight. now we go to hillsborough county where crews are clearing out storm drains to reduce the flooding. sarina fazan is live there tonight. is it working? >> reporter: well, paul, i was going to tell you, there are many proactive steps they're taking. one of them is right here. we're at one of the

say have a tendency to flood. so what we have done, they have set up pre-barricades. you see them set up here. they're also across the street. which means they're ready to put up and close down the street if need be. let's take the video. we spent all day with crews clearing out storm drains. it's really interesting. the city has four of these super powered trucks. each of them cost about $200,000 a piece. city officials say they are worth every penny because each has a powerful vacuum that sucks out all of the debris or any junk in the storm drains. that is later disposed of at an area out at the port. the director met us at one of the locations. she talked to us about how crucial this is. here is what she had to say. >> if we didn't take these actions, we would certainly have more flooding locations than we will depending on what the storm does. because our storm water system

we need to continually maintain and keep it free from debris. keep those pond levels down as much as possible. so we could have certainly more problems if we didn't take these actions. >> reporter: now, those proactive steps, as well as an upgrade to the pumping stations, that is leaving city officials confident that they can handling rains better than last year. i'm sarina fazan, abc action news. >> thank you. let's hope so. still to come, a sarasota woman is accused of stealing from the girl scouts. thousands of dollars. why did she do it?

y23ppy yy6y >> welcome back. as we continue to monitor this storm predicting the economic impact of a tropical storm is as difficult as forecasting the path itself. >> jacqueline ingles looks into whether tropical storms boost business or actually hurt your bank account. >> reporter: now it will appear with the storm we will have both winners and losers. some of those impacts, the vendors at ray jay right behind me.

attendance. economists say don't feel bad. in truth, everyone is in the same boat. this south tampa bay barbershop is buzzing but not about hair. it's about tropical storm hermine and the money she will cost the shop as customers are canceling appointments. >> if we don't work, we don't make money. >> reporter: according to demico, many customers don't want to deal with the flooded streets. th the barbershop's door. >> we don't have a no wake zone here. >> reporter: the store stacked sand bags out front. >> we are getting the shortened of mother nature's stick here. >> reporter: hurricanes have cost the u.s. $400 billion. that is the same economic

see customers stocking up. but blanco says they will cut back on what they buy on their next trip. >> it is important to note that that kind of income is not something that they're going to be sustaining. >> reporter: one business is seeing a silver lining of the storm. west shore pizza. they're expecting about 350 orders tonight instead of 200. the bulk of pizzas deliveries. >> storms, huge surge in sales. >> reporter: the restaurant is staffing extra drivers and anticipating making an additional $1,000 a night. >> it can add up over four or five days. >> reporter: again, this wind fall will only last when the storm is here. overall economists say there are truly no winners. explaining if natural disasters were beneficial to the economy,

into a hurricane. live outside of raymond james stadium, i'm jacqueline ingles. now the most accurate weather team in floor, abc action weather. >> they're going to play that game tonight. >> still tracking heavy rain out there. >> flooding was an issue this afternoon. it will be again two times over the next 24 to 36 hours. we will talk about that in a second. the tides how well we can drain after heavy rains. you look from river gate. it is nasty. not going to get much better any time soon. however, when you look outside, there's a look at titan doppler radar. we're getting a little bit of a break. it is still raining heavy at times but there is still plenty of rain coming in from the gulf. you're thinking, oh, man, if we already flooded now, where is the water going to go? it all boils down, especially along the coast, to the tides. if we're at a high tide and the water falls, there's no place

of low tide and of course this has to do with surge as well, the lower the tide, the less likely you will have flooding. so i think overnight tonight, 2:00, 3:00, you will have a chance to see more flooding especially if we have real nasty weather. i still believe tomorrow afternoon is the time we will have to keep a close eye on the possibility of flooding in flood prone area. if you have lived here long enough, we know the areas that check out the rainfall totals today. if you live anywhere from south central pinellas county down, you had a solid 6 to 7 to in some cases 12 inches of rain today. yet if you lived on the east side of the viewing area, some folks not a drop. even around plant city, two inches. you see how heavy it is there. let's focus on the worst of it. this is so awful. you think of a tropical storm and a hurricane. okay.

storm. those are words that i try to every utter. it burped me back in '95 with josephine. i was wading in waist-deep water. these are the totals today. 9 inches of rain east of pinellas park. indian rocks reports of a foot of rain. you go to the north and you're talking a solid 2 to 5 inches that fell in a 24-hour stretch. look at the bulls eye near temple terrace. that can happen. you get you and sits there for a period of time, it is such a tropical air mass that it doesn't take long to drop a couple inches of rain. this is that on steroids. you have a big area of low pressure. a tropical storm trying to become a hurricane, dumping a lot of rain in the gulf. lots of rain out there. there's the satellite. we started overnight.

24 hours. a lot of that has to do with the exact track and the intensity of hermine. tonight through 8:00, still light to moderate rain. i think we get a few breaks at times. not many. around midnight, another round of heavy rain. then as we start inching toward high tide, we start looking at the possibility of more coastal flooding overnight. first thing in the morning, still clouds and rain. flooding can still be an issue. that won't change. look at what the models are hintin facebook. yes, there will shall periods of rain coming through. notice, it doesn't look quite as widespread as it was today. why would that be if you're getting a storm that is strengthening off to our west? that's why. you're getting a storm that is strengthening to our west. it's taking some of that moisture along with it. bringing it closer. like an ice skater, a figure skater when they do the spinny things. laura might know the name of

talking about. an axle is what my producer said. we still have the threat of power outages tomorrow. in any of our storms we can. then you throw in winds. that's the difference tomorrow. the winds will start to pick up. now, do i think we will see hurricane-force winds? i don't. there may be a few partnership- up tornadoes. that is something that we have to watch out for. there's a ton of spin out as i said, if you have not a ragged system but more tightly wound, then all of a sudden it starts to bring the moisture in as it moves north. that's the key. as long as this behaves and stays in more of a north or northwest track, i think our threat of strong winds more than 40 miles per hour is pretty slim. and even less our threat of additional coastal flooding will be waning because it's so far off shore. i mean, look at the track.

that way. a close zoom-in, a path as a hurricane possible, but far away from the bay area. that's how it is now. let's hope it stays that way. let's look at the 7-day forecast. rain and storms tomorrow. friday, lingering storms. believe it or not, the weekend looks good. highs back in the upper 80s and rain chances back to normal. >> thank you, denis. donald trump's running mate making a stop in already thanking voters for right here in florida. download the new abc action news app for your mobile phone and tablet. just search for abc action news

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today. just about an hour ago in fact. the vice presidential nominee speaking to voters at the hyatt regency, addressing donald trump's visit to mexico earlier today. he talked with the president and talked about the wall. pence thanked those who voted for marco rubio. >> thank you for making sure that you send senator marco rubio back to washington, d.c. to represent the people of florida. >>ea running mate senator tim kaine was supposed to be in florida this week but that has since been canceled. covering sarasota county now. deputies arrested a woman for stealing thousands of dollars from a local girl scouts troop. she withdrew $85,000 from a troop account to herself. we're told that she was responsible for managing 500 individual troops. deputies tell us she admitted to the crimes because she says she has financial troubles.

6:00. >> thank you, paul. new images continuing to come in tonight showing the impact of tropical storm hermine on the bay area. it's not even here yet. all new at 6:00, our first look at the potential dangers hiding in the flood waters and the headache for parents just

>> live from the station taking action for you, this is abc action news.

suffer. tropical storm hermine doing a number on the bay area and the worst still yet to come. and here is a live look at the current conditions. just check out all of the rain on the radar. it's not going anywhere any time soon. most of the bay area under a state of emergency at this hour. we have crews fanned out across the bay area tonight, monitoring evacuations and flooded roads. we want to start with chief meteorologist denis ph think will happen in the next 12 to 24 hours, it's based on the current track. at this point i don't believe it will happen. we are solid what we think that hermine will do. rain is still a big issue. it continues to pour. there is a lot more coming in in the next six hours.

the problem is so much rain, up to a foot of rain in some parts of pinellas county, there is really no place for this to go. there is what is up. 45 miles per hour winds, tropical storm hermine still not particularly well organized. we believe over the next 12 hours, it will continue to do so. yesterday it was at 35. it is getting stronger. the track continues to push west, away from us. notice the fan. nowhere near central florida. now, in terms of impact us, interestingly enough, the stronger this gets, the less likely we will have more rain tomorrow. the storm will tighten up and bring in the moisture around the center. because of that, it's possible that if it does get stronger tonight and tomorrow, that would actually limit some of our potential for the widespread rains that we had today. ragged ugly tropical storms that we had today are worst case scenario for us.