captions by: caption colorado, llc (800) 775-7838 comments@captioncolorado.com now at 5:00, tropical storm hermine is bearing down on the florida coast. that could be bad news for neighborhoods already under water. we'll show you where flooding is already happening. >> why one sarasota neighborhood is thinking it's more than the rain causing water to rise there. >> reporters are spread out with up to the minute information on how the storm is impacting your neighborhood. good morning and thanks for joining us on abc action news. i'm deiah riley. >> the tropical storm warnings just came down. ivan? >> it's still a strom. if it had been upgraded, still the same forecast for us. 60 mile-per-hour winds still struggling hermine out there. that has been the history of this tropical feature here. of course, we can continue to see the wind shear there. notice it's not wrapping around the center of circulation.

is better and better news for our friends up in the big bend, which is where it will take the brunt of the storm. it's not a huge deal as far as the wind and storm surge locally here. we'll still have to deal with issues. 65 is the hurricane center forecasting to makelandful late tonight. it -- make land fall te matter as far as the rain is concerned. they are under a hurricane warning. still a watch for us. we're going to have strong winds, 40, 45 miles per hour through today. that along with the push from the water from the storm will result in coastal flooding especially at the time of high tide. now that the storm is close enough to us, we get the spin into some of the thunderstorms that will develop today. they will be rotating. they have been doing that all morning.

it is as far as the heavy rainfall. these particular cells all have the potential to become tornadic. we have to watch that throughout the day. as the water gets pushed in, one or 2 foot storm stirchs and we will have water coming in. as far as the winds, light right now, but they will continue to steadily increase. this is the issue. they are coming in at the surface where we are and at the and moving in different directions with a different speed. that is why we have the potential today for that tornadic threat. especially closer to the center of the storm up to the north and a little farther to the south we'll see that as well. we'll be back with the rain totals. at this point here, what a difference from yesterday morning, though, right? we've allowed the water to recede a bit, not raining as heavily. so folks for the commute will be much better. >> yeah, remember this? we were looking at this

cars got stuck? cars kept coming off the ramp and it was under water. they also had to close the northbound entrance ramp yesterday. they are both open. if you see standing water, don't drive through it. those cars were stuck there for more than an hour before they were able to get out. we're checking cameras all across the roadways. this is what it looks like at i-75 and the leroy selmon expressway. still damp out there but nothing ke ride from apollo beach to i-4. the average speeds on the interstates are looking great as well. route 70 on i-4 heading into tampa. 73 from the apex to i-4. 65 the average speed over in pinellas county from bridge to bridge. deiah? breaking news in st. pete right now. a woman trying to escape police crashed a car then ran into a drugstore where police arrested

pete. they say she robbed a convenience store clerk at knife point. she crashed on ninth street north. as tropical storm hermine tracks toward the big bend, folks hope the rain bends that flooded parts of the area will move away as well. >> michael paloosa is live in -- michael paluska is live with more. good morning, michael. >> reporter: we had a nice break past ten minutes or so started to pick up again. this is one of the homes that flooded. the water started to recede but still has a long way to go. a lot of the homes behind me are still flooded as well. as people get up to check this out, they will have a big mess to clean up. it deposit take long for the homes on 40th street and coconut avenue to begin

voluntary evacuations. >> reporter: emergency manager todd says there was nothing people could do to stop it. >> it came pretty quick. >> reporter: this was a similar story along the beach only without the flooded homes. one man, however, grabbed a shovel to make sure it stay that way. you have to do what you can during a tropical storm. bob is an engineering and he came out to help a friend of his dig this moat out. he's been out here for a while. he's 70 water out of the homes out of the retention pond. he's doing a good job and putting a lot of muscle in. his hard work paid off for now. you are a one-man army tonight, bob. >> i've been there before. [ laughter ] >> reporter: a lot of people working extremely hard tonight to protect their homes. we're told bit city of sarasota officials in this area, they haven't seen flooding like this in 25 years.

the streams and tributaries to make sure there's no clogging. they think that may have contributed to the flooding behind me. >> thanks, michael. aaa is offering tips to drivers who plan to hit the roads as hermine hits. make sure your tires are properly inflated for best traction. turn on headlights, of course, and avoid flooded streets because it's hard to tell how deep >> now to clearwater where the community is without power after being forced for the second time this summer to evacuate. ashley, what are people up against? >> reporter: right now, deiah, they don't have any power. thankfully, there is a little bit of a break in the rain here, but come this way. i want to show you doen this street where the road is up to 4 feet high. as actually a deputy who is out here right

back of the sign. again, there is a greek in the rain right now -- a break in the rain right now, but yesterday was a different story. here in the video, you can see two people and their dogs wading through the water. they grabbed the belongings they could carry. this community has been flooded out before. tropical storm colin hit them hard back in june. the storm caused severe flooding, displaced dozens of people, but this time, 18 properties have been evacuated. one enough is enough. >> it's just horrible. it's like being in a hurricane for a week and you can't go nowhere because the water is dangerous. >> reporter: she's frustrated, as are many people who are living in the community. the power is still off this morning. with more rain on the way it could stay off for some time.

and on social media. for now reporting live, i'm ashley yore, abc action news. a tree came down on a roof on a tampa home while a mother and young child were inside. weather may be a factor in this one, too. the family was able to go back in and collect valuables. the mother used her body to shield her 5-year-old when the tree came down. fortunately, no one was seriously hurt. remember, most bay area schools are closed because of the storm. sarasota and polk county for the majority of the district, the concern is getting kids to and from school safely. at least one school, though, is dealing with flooding. traffic pushed waves of water inside of inona elementary school in largo. with schools closed, it creates a child care nightmare for many working parents. the city of tampa is stepping up to help. the city is keeping open two dozen rec centers today. childr between 8:00 this morning and 6:00 this evening free of charge. the mayor says he realizes

who can't afford >> we want to do what we can to be helpful. if it means watching a bunch of kids on a rainy day, we're happy to do that. >> reporter: we've got a full list posted on abcactionnews.com and on our facebook page. it's not just florida prepping for the storm. it's expected through georgia as well as up along the eastern seaboard. in southeast georgia, officials on tiny island made plenty of sand available for sandbags. some homeowners are bein aggressive about protecting theieir property. >> so there's probably more sand on the island right now than on the beach. >> check out this video from pensacola. it caused dangerous rip currents at the beach. red flag warnings were posted yesterday and will likely be up again today. here's the latest track on the national hurricane centers as we continue to see -- [no

all right. there's our graphic there. 65 mile-per-hour winds is forecasted in about 12 hours. notice the change is not as strong but still an issue certainly pore the panhandle here as we continue with a count one to the forecast. for us, the forecast does not change. we're still going to get gusty winds and still deal with coastal flooding, i think, later this afternoon especially sarasota and st. pete as well. it has been ongoing. that long patch has been pushing in of water here. as the storm approaches, coastal flooding 1 to 2 feet above the normal high tide. then the tornado threat is also going to continue to increase throughout the day. the heavy, steady rain that we had yesterday, that is to the north and east. we'll have some but not as heavy as yesterday.

also coming up, why one florida animal sanctuary says they will have to euthanize animals that aren't adopted in the next few days. >> and why some even like the

>> hundreds of animals, everything from miniature horses to wild hogs on a volusia county animal sanctuary

euthanized if they are not adopted by wednesday. now they are scrambling to find homes for the miniature horses, donkeys, and wild hogs. animal control says if any animals are left on the property, the shelter owners could face charges. now to some of the only people who really are happy about hermine. peanut farmers in georgia desperately need the rain and should get plenty of it from hermine. coming now instead of a few weeks from now when the harvest begins. cotton farmers are also hoping that the winds don't damage their crops. the latest we're seeing folks helping each other out for this event very nice to see. let's get the latest on you, tropical storm hermine. the hurricane hunters are able

really. not certainly finding that and on the western side, we're missing half the storm here. so it's not organizing all that rapidly. that is actually some shear still with it disrupting. out ahead of it, of course we had that plume of tropical moisture that crashed into us. we're going to continue to see showers and storms. they are not anywhere near as heavy as yesterday. that's certainly a change. the event, the totals were supposed to happen within a they all basically fell yesterday. today we still have issues. the coastal flooding as the water gets pushed in at the time of high tide. we'll break that down in a second. use the latest track. no significant change making landfall at 2:00 a.m. 75 mile-per-hour winds right into tallahassee. things continue to move off to the north and east. this is going to be storms that

northeast. for us, this is the time frame here as far as the strongest winds. that will be today. we'll be looking at 40, 45 mile- per-hour winds. you combine that with showers, it's not the nicest day out there, certainly. the winds won't be as heavy or as steady, 40, 45 mile-per-hour winds with the coastal flooding. the tornadic threat is already seeing spinning thunderstorms out there, which i don't like. see this partila would be a problem for us. they happen as things get closer here and we start seeing the bands coming on in. it doesn't look like yesterday with the big rains but these have the potential to rotate and have been doing that. as far as the winds, we'll futurecast that for you expecting 40 to 45 with gusts along the coasts. winds out of the southeast up above at another speed which

citrus, pinellas and the level 1 for the rest of us here. remember, we've had tornadoes here when it's been onend two. we all need a 3, 4, 5 for that to happen. some of the showers turn nasty as we head through today. and then we'll continue to see this lifting up to the north. the rain bands associated to the storms watch as it spins up and heads over to the big bend. we'll be on the eastern side of that, so the bands are the ones that contain very gusty winds and the pr rotating thunderstorms. th get by hermine for friday and saturday. friday and saturday both look fantastic. a lot of sunshine early on. we'll have a few afternoon thunderstorms but nothing that would disrupt your holiday monday. rain chances going down for early next week and with that, it 'em chores going the other direction back in the 90s. so for pretty good, right? >> a couple of trouble spots with standing water, but much

tim jones is behind the wheel of our live drive camera on 275, and traffic looks great out there if you are heading out the door right now. the interstates are clear and up to speed on 275, i-4, and i- 75. a couple of trouble spots reports of power outages in the south tampa area. so you could run into traffic signals that are out. one report of cypress stet if you pull up there, treat it as a four-way stop. i know not everybody does that but that is what you are supposed to do. we have standing withouter reported in north -- standing water reported in north hillsborough county. and mcelroy avenue at bridge street. road closures due to flooding in manatee county. i posted more on twitter but here's a few of them.

cortez and state route 64 at morgan johnson road. if you see standing water on the road, do not drive through that. we can't say that enough this morning. back to you. >> thanks, janelle. still ahead, a look at social media posts from the flooding and how many people

welcome back. it's 5:24. we're sorting through the videos of tropical storm hermine's impact. >> lindsay logue has the impressive photos. >> we've been getting photos and great videos overnight and into this morning. hermine makes an impact on florida of course. we are enjoying seeing what you have to share, flooded roads. cars stuck in water and let's say it was a here. almost as many people on the fields as there were in the stands. the smarter people in the stands taking cover in the second and third tier. the game did get moved at the last minute and that also with the storm had something to do with the turnout, i bet. south tampa and st. pete roads flooded yesterday causing huge traffic jams on the interstate. some people were stuck in their homes most of the day until the

we said we enjoyed seeing them, i didn't mean that in a mean way. i meant we're enjoying your pictures of what's going on out there, of course, and we want to see more. >> use the hashtag #hermine in action when you post them to social media. coming up, fire forces hundreds of hospital patients out of their beds. what started the fire and also what is it going to take for the hospital to open again? >> several good reasons to stay

tropical storm hermine is creating problems in the bay area as it moves closer florida. ivan is monitoring conditions and will show you what to expect and when. we didn't discuss payment of the wall. >> donald trump did discuss immigration policy with mexico's president south of the border, but now the leaders appear to be in a twitter fight. >> an entire hospital evacuated and what it will take for them to reopen. good morning. thank you for waking up with abc action news. >> we start of course with

fresh update from ivan cabrera. >> yeah. you are wondering what's going to happen with the storm today. yesterday was the heavy rain part of the storm, right? today we're supposed to have a little more heavy rain spread between two days. it all kind of mostly fell yesterday. today was always going to be the windy day. that will happen at 5:00 hurricane hunter $not find hurricane force winds here. -- hurricane hunters did not find hurricane force winds. that's wind shear wrapping around and that is good news. we hope that continues and makes landfall in the panhandle tonight and early tomorrow as it is a minimal hurricane approaching the coast later today. that would, of course, produce the biggest storm surge right