captions by: caption colorado, llc (800) 775-7838 comments@captioncolorado.com now at 9:00, tracking a strengthening tropical storm hermine. winds and rain are expected to pick up locally later today. the areas most flooding and isolated tornadoes are straight ahead. >> lots of a st. pete neighborhood flooded out. what neighbors saithe are worried about next. >> hundreds evacuated from a pasco county hospital and when we can expect it to open again. right now at 9:00, we are tracking tropical storm hermine looking at the radar right now.

wind is on the way. >> the difference will be the wind unlike the last couple of days. now we add the wind tract to this. we'll have squally weather with 65 mile-per-hour winds, and that is the update from the national hurricane center up from 60. it's getting stronger. still not the most organized thing in the world. you see the thunderstorms not on the western side but the issue is that we are on the side where there is a lot of activity. a lot of thunderstorms and rainfall as perspective. you can see the bands inching closer. those are the ones that will contain tropical storm force hurricanes. this is headed towards the big band and will make landfall and perhaps is the first hurricane in ten years. 75 mile-per-hour winds. there it is as a cat-1. there's the issue. yes, there is that shear of heavier rain that will be coming in. the concern out ahead of that will be the individual cells

these tornado threats that continue to increase. you can see there's one there heading to the northbound. those are -- to the north. those are beginning to crash along the coast as it pushes east. then the big shield of rain that has to rotate through. those are the bands that will contain the tropical storm force wind gusts. along with that, we'll get that push of weather and we'll into the high tide in the next hour. as it does so, the big storm is life-threatening stuff across the north. for us it will be one to three and a little farther north, two to four will be enough for coastal flooding. we'll talk about that when the rain arrives. a lot of folks have been asking, where's the rain? it's coming, which is why we

would coincide with kids getting out. >> i'm trying to figure out what do i do with my kids all day when they are out of school and it's not raining? >> tim jones driving the sunshine sky way right now. a lot of people have been tweeting me asking if it's open. yes, the bridge is open. i just checked your drive time. it's tyking just nine -- it's taking just nine minutes from south. 275 seems to be moving good right now. also a serious crash in river view southbound 301 right at cycle avenue. this is a serious crash with injuries so avoid it. you might want to use 375, which seems to be moving just fine right now in both directions. we just found out minutes ago governor scott is set to

two hours from now in tallahassee. we have a crew headed there right now and will bring you information you can use. a section of martin luther king boulevard is flooded. it closed about two hours ago but cars are still being diverted. ashley yore is live at the scene. ashley this is a major road, so it is a good thing that it's closed down right now. [no audio ] >> reporter: that's right, deiah. come this road is completely submerged. i'm at a bus stop right now. there is no way that a bus could be able to drive down this stretch of road today. a while ago, we caught neighbors taking in the flood for the first time. people who live on this street say they never have seen the flooding so bad before. about ten blocks on mlk are flooded right now.

knees. one man says it got bad about 4:00 in the afternoon yesterday with cars stalling out. now he's thinking of what comes next. >> just got worried about how close it starts working its way up to the house. they say we'll have re rain coming in this afternoon. we'll see what happens. >> reporter: one neighbor told me he saw a gator swimming right here early this morning. it's a good reminder to stay out of that floodwater if you can. now, as bad as things look here, they could be getting worse in the panhandle. right now, my colleague lindsay logue is tracking the storm. the panhandle could be seeing the storm hit tonight. >> reporter: ashley, that's right. anywhere from 8:00 tonight to 8:00 friday morning, this is a live beach camera right now showing exactly what's

/big bend area. a little bit of a breeze there but no rain yet. guaranteeing you we are keeping a close eye on the big bend area. pan that city, tallahassee, beach towns that are usually packed on the holiday weekends like pensacola. right now, red flags are raised. there are rip current warnings as surfers hit the waves for a thrill. the rain, as i said, hasn't started yet, but it's not far off. the storm surge estimated to be between 5 said and done. if you've been through a storm before, you know that they can be a little more dangerous when they hit overnight. number one, it makes it harder to assess and makes it tough to rescue anyone who may be in distress. we have crews headed to the big bend area right now, and they will be there in the area when hermine makes landfall. we'll bring that to you as it happens on air and online. dewhy back to you. -- deiah, back to you.

accepting patients because of an electrical fire overnight. >> everyone who was being treated at regional medical center was forced to evacuate. clifton french is live in hudson now. clifton, give us an update on when the patients will be allowed back in. >> reporter: right now, there's no update from hospital officials but we're hearing rumblings that update later. i want to show you two ambulances just sitting at the emergency room. apparently, they are here just to transport any emergency patients who may show up at the hospital. if we pan out a little and show you the parking lot, you do see cars out here as well. these are employees, your typical hospital employees, doctors, people like cafeteria

work, though. here's what we know. 209 patients were evacuated. the backup generator was damaged. the issue is, if the power goes out, the main power, there's no backup generator to power the hospital. all patients have been moved to hospitals across the bay area. now, the ceo of the hospital did talk to us and tell us that their entire system, so their generator, everything, it had been tested just last week, everything was working fine then. so they are still trying to figure out exactly what caused this electrical fire inside of the generator room. we're going to keep you posted on any updates we get. obviously, an extreme safety concern. the closest hospital, i believe to here, is in trinity. that's a distance for people to

emergency. clifton french, abc action news. students are home today because schools are closed in pinellas, hillsborough, manatee and citrus counties. polk county districts are open today. >> the city of tampa is keeping two dozen recreation centers open today because of those closures. right now, parents can drop off their children for day care there for free. he realized a lot of parents can't >> we want to do what we can to be helpful. if that means watching a bunch of kids on a rainy day, we're happy to do that. >> we'll update you on any other closures on abcactionnews.com. we also have a reminder for you. you can get weather warnings sent to your cell phone or tablet by downloading the storm shield app. we'll show you where in the country folks are welcoming

break. >> if you are stepping outside or looked out your window, this is a big storm, so don't let this lull fool you. we'll have the latest on the accumulations that we expect and the big storm surge is coming up as well in a report

it's 13 minutes after 9:00 right now. take a look at the taking advantage. surf. the wind is expected to continue to pick up throughout the day. if you choose to go in the water, remember it can be very dangerous. checking in with ivan with the forecast in a moment. new developments this morning concerning how a key isis leader was killed and the pentagon confidentially claiming that they are taking credit for the air strike that killed a key isis leader, but

the russian defense ministry claimed on its facebook page that it was a russian air strike that took out the leader. the u.s. has into facts to support a russian strike. the pentagon is looking to confirm whether a u.s. strike did k. adnani. take a -- did kill adnani. take a look. that is a hand print on the side of a 5-year-old's face after a 17-year-old slapped her. her father noticed the red mark when he picked her up from an after-school care. now the image is going viral. the bus security video shows a 17-year-old boy grabbed another student's hand to use it to hit jasmine several times. the teen has a history of getting in trouble and was on probation at the time. the school district says he was allowed on the bus with the

never had a bus-related incident. still, parents say the school never told them about what happened. >> it can happen to anybody's child. i had not seen that slap on her face, i wouldn't have known about that video. >> the superintendent says they didn't call the family because the bus driver didn't actually see the slap. the parents are considering a lawsuit and police are investigating. take a look at this cell phone video that captures the moment where paramedics saved two men who overdosed on heroin. you can see the men on the ground where the first responders are working on them. authorities say the video is proof of the heroin problem in our country. thankfully, crews were able to revive the men using twice the normal dose of narcan that reverses the effects of the drugs. the witness who recorded the video is still trying to wrap his head around what he saw.

like, this can't be right. >> the men are facing drug charges. firefighters in ohio say they responded to at least four other overdose calls that very same day. it's been more than a decade since florida experienced a landfalling hurricane, and that was hurricane wilma in october of 2005. in the last ten years, there have been 66 atlantic hurricanes but none have hit florida shores. meteorologists say it's remarkable that no hurricanes have made landfall since the state has 1200 miles of coastline. the long run of luck looks like it's about to end as hermine looks like it's landing around the bend tomorrow as a category-1 hurricane. peanut farmers in georgia desperately need the rain, and they should get a good dousing from hermine. farmers are also happy that the rain is coming now instead of a few weeks from now when the harvest begins. cotton farmers are hoping that

their crops. all of that rain, is that going to hit us? >> i think this time around unlike yesterday, we'll have the issue with the winds as well. we'll talk about coastal flooding because i think that's still a good threat here for us. as we check in, there it is, 65 mile-per-hour winds with hermine switching over to the radar perspective. there you see the rain band to the north, to the east, and south. not to the west, so this is not intensifying rapidly, right? so that's a we still think it will hit as a 75 mile-per-hour hurricane about as minimum as you get. maybe 80 perhaps. if it's 65, then we don't end the drought, which would be just fine here with everyone. category-1 by 2:00 a.m. as we head to friday. this will happen tonight through the early part of tomorrow. this will be the worst of it as far as conditions across the big bend and along with us as well along the tropical storm warning with the gusty winds. titan doppler radar will see

i don't think it will ride in this fashion. we're going to start building in as far as the rain band. so it will come in waves. we have such a large tropical cyclone here. it's messy, right? it's not like a compact hurricane. we began this process a couple of days early. we had the heavy rain and now we're in a lull. that's just the way it goes when you are talking about a relatively disorganized system. out ahead of it, today what we didn't have yesterday is the spin you have different speeds at different heights and that sets the stage with the landfalling tropical cyclone for spinners here. that has been happening all morning. they have stayed off shore but no question they have been spouting water spouts. they just haven't come ashore. that will change as this pushes to the east. not guaranteeing that, but the potential is there, so we'll watch for that. wider view of futurecast. you see the storm wrapping up

hour winds heading up toward apalachicola. that water has to go somewhere. there's the catcher's mitt with the con cave orientation of the shore here. it's not the worst as far as the potential storm surge. this is going to come in and this will be the area we have to watch for. perhaps over 7 feet of storm surge there. so that's going to be a major issue for them. the farther away you get from the storm's center, the lesser that you have to storm surge. 2 to 4 will flood across the nature coast. for pinellas and the bays, 1 to 3 feet. you know the areas even with 1 to 3 foot storm surge will have minor coastal flooding at the time. here we are coming up at 12:40 and 1:03, st. pete, and the peak of the gulf pushing in of our storm surge. we'll continue with showers and storms and fresh water flooding which is why we continue with the flood watch through tomorrow.

threat that we'll continue to monitor throughout the day. by the way, tomorrow is still windy. the rain will subside, we'll have some, and then the weekend salvaged, yet there are thunderstorms in the forecast but back to normal here, morning sunshine with late day storms into early next week. >> don't forget the latest updates are available by downloading the abc action news app. you can sign up for breaking news alerts and stories. get the latest with radar right on your phone. if your power goes out, you can watch live streaming video available for download now on google play and the apple store. on anna maria island, you can see as ivan said, we are in a break from the rain right now. it is far from over. stay with abc action news as we

welcome back. 9:23. this morning, we're learning vehicles are becoming safer for younger kids to ride in. a study by the insurance institute for highway safety finds buckling a child seat into cars and suvs has gotten easier over the past 14 months. out of 102 vehicles, the iihs looked at the majority that rated poor or margin all. most of the 170 vehicles looked at are rated either good or

q7, lexus rx and prius are in the top rating of good-plus. that is a distinction no vehicle achieved last year. if you are a aaa member, one of the big benefits is being able to call a tow truck if your car breaks down. you can do the same for your bicycle. as of today, aaa is adding roadside assistance for its members. youyo transported five miles or longer with premier and plus membership. also from aaa, tips for drivers who plan to hit the road as hermine moves in or any time there's inclement weather, make sure tires are properly inflated for best traction. slow down so you don't hydroplane on wet pavement. turn on headlights in low visibility conditions and avoid flooded streets. still ahead, we're sharing

[ laughter ] >> that's a cat fish. you can show your picks and videos on your twitter pages. lindsay logue will show us the trend images. -- trending images. this is a look in st. pete. the live drive is heading into tampa. the roads are still dry out there. if you have plans to head out later today, that's going to change. ivan will have the latest on

all right. folks, we are back here. it is 9:29 and we're bracing for hermine. that's coming up later this afternoon with more heavy rain. >> waves in the gulf are a little bigger than usual. it is the warning that beach patrol is giving to everybody today ahead of the storm. good morning and thank you for joining us for abc ac it is a busy morning here. ivan has been tracking the storm, gosh, for the past couple of days now. >> it's been a messy one. it took forever to become a tropical storm, right, and now it's on the herch of becoming a hurricane. tropical storm force winds and heavy rains continue to approach the coast. by the way, if you are curious, it's the latest 65 mile-per- hour winds. pressure has dropped. the wind has come up, so it's

despite doctor hermine, despite it's not expected to be a hurricane. it's minimal but getting there along the coast getting to 2:00 a.m. late tonight, very early tomorrow morning where the hurricane warnings are posted. for our area here, we still have a lot to get through here in the form of showers, thunderstorms and the ial for even rotating thunderstorms. that's been happening along. you begin to senothe bands setting up. it's those bands that want to contain spinning thunderstorms 45 mile-per-hour winds. there you see what's about to head up toward pinellas here clipping the coast. everything is pushing ever so slowly and pushing east so that eventually the south to north flow will get through there. it will be rain and will be heavy at times. the winds are up to 40 miles per hour. we're watching conditions along

the strong winds pushed onshore. we'll get coastal flooding again with the tornado threat continuing and increasing, by the way, throughout the next several hours. like i said, we'll be back with the rain showers thinking what's going to happen and when we could get set for better conditions coming out. just into the newsroom, we heard from governor rick scott. he will close all state offices today at noon. they'll make a decision on tomorrow probably later today. right now in clear water, beach patrol is telling people to stay away from the shore. red flags are up and will likely stay up today. >> james tully is live overlooking a section of clearwater beach. are the conditions getting any worse? >> reporter: deiah, i would say so. we got here about 6:00 this morning. now looking at things, we've got waves, it's my estimation, about 4, 5 feet. some people we saw were taking

go surfing. beach patrol made this clear. they are advising that conditions will get increasingly rough out here today as the tides are expected to surge a few additional feet than normal. turns out, the surfers we saw are actually lifeguards here on clear water beach, and they are doing this before their shift starts at 9:30 this morning. i got a chance to talk to one of them. he made it really clear that you want to be very careful if you do this today. they ar they will not stop you but they want to you check in with them before you go out. there's a pennsylvania boy at heart, guys. looks like a typical day in ocean city, maryland, but don't be fooled. meantime, we'll be tracking conditions at the beach all morning long. james tully, abc action news. we'll take you back now to st. peters to a section of martin luther king street that's shut down because of

intersection of 38th and 47th avenue. ashley, how's the road looking? >> reporter: dewhy you can see this neighborhood -- deiah, you can see this neighborhood is completely submerged right now. it's hard to believe until you see the markings on the road that tell you that this is not a lake. there are rumors that there has been a gator out here. some neighbors said they spotted it swimming down mlk around 3:00 or morning. another neighbor tells me you saw four or five cars stalled out and police actually shut down this roadway about 8:00 last night. as you can tell it is for good reason. now the neighbors are worried about what could come next if more rain comes. now reporting live in st. pete, i'm ashley yore, abc action news. >> thanks, ashley. and still dealing with lots of standing water right now. people are returning home to

we sent captain al and action air one to mariner's cove. families there will return to this, lots of standing water with the potential of more rain on the way. take a look here. this is what that same community looked like yesterday. people tell us the water was about 4 feet high in some places. you can see people grabbing what they can carry and they are wading through the water. 100 properties are still without power and the community has been flooded out before. it happened last in june. right now. flood victims are waking up to a muddy mess this morning. fast-rising water in sarasota forced the evacuation of a dozen homes on coconut avenue. police are taking some to safety because they couldn't make it through the waist high water. >> in my ten years of emergency management, and the lieutenant has been on the pd for 25 years, and it's never happened up here.

creek in the area to see if there may have been a blockage that contributed to the severity of the flooding. tropical storm hermine has shut down busch gardens and adventure island. the closure is necessary for the safety of guests, workers, and animals. they are monitoring the storm and will reopen once it is safe to do so. a tree came down on the roof of this tampa house while a mother and young child re the family was able to get back in and collect valuables. >> take a look at this video from pensacola. it was a red flag warning yesterday. they will probably have to have more like this. >> lindsay logue joins us in the studio with the winds and high tides, flooding and more showing up on social media. >> you guys, i want to show you even more that we're getting

this one from sherry shuttleworth. she is keeping her eye on the rain totals there from 4:30 a.m. yesterday to 4:30 a.m. today. over 4 inches of rain where she lives. it is not over yet. some neighborhoods in the bay area will be under water again today as the heavy rains are expected to pick up later. this is video here from st. pete from ryan ruins. plan ahead today. get groceries, anything you may need before the roads flood again. you know it's gonna happen. and in case you bucks' pre-season -- the bucs' pre-season game that was supposed to be tonight it was played last night instead. there were as many people on the field as there were in the stands. audios until show of -- a dismal show of support, but hey, if there's any reason to miss the game, it's because of a tropical storm. if you post to social media, post the hashtag #hermine in

news facebook page. the 911 center has been overwhelmed with calls so they are opening a citizens info center at 727-464-4333. it's on your screen right now. as we told you yesterday, the heavy rain is leaving behind lots of standing water where mosquitoes can breed. and zika is a big concern so the city of tampa has brout 5,000 more mosquito dumps that kill mosquitoes. you need to dump any flower pots or anything that can collect standing water. you can also call code enforcement if you need help with that. here is the digital dashboard. all of the resources you need are right here in the special section of our home page. you can find live radar, school closures, sandbag locations and

our free abc action news mobile app. still ahead, sideswiping hawaii. bringing heavy rain and high serve to paradise. >> we're tracking more rain that will be on the way. this time around, we're looking at wind as well with it. we'll have the latest coming up.

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breaking news just into the newsroom. we're learning about a massive explosion at the kennedy space sent perp nasa says a space ex rocket, unmanned rocket blew up. this rocket apparently was saturday. this explosion, occurring again, a little bit ago. people in the area say the buildings shook miles away. so far, no reports of any injuries. again, the rocket was set to launch on saturday. it will deliver facebook's first satellite into orbit. we're working on getting more details. we'll bring them to you as we get them. southern pasco county

port richie home. a person broke into a home just before 9:00 last night. somebody inside shot the intruder who suffered nonlife- threatening injuries. he is in the hospital and will be arrested afterwards. a woman robbed a convenience store then crashed a car trying to get away. she crashed on ninth street north around 4:00 this morning. they ran into that drugstore they say she was on the run after robbing a circle k on east gandy. we're waiting for the woman's identity to be released. this morning, a weakening tropical storm fins to bring heavy rain and high -- continues to bring heavy rain and high surf. it's now passing south of the state. the biggest impacts now are flash flooding and mudslides possible from the foot-plus of

high rains could cause beach erosion. hurricane lester is moving north of the island. all eyes are on florida and tropical storm hermine. i caught that on titan doppler radar with the breaking news. you don't get that often. i can show you the explosion as we continue to see, of course, the beaches as they get going here. once we get to titan, we can show you that in a second. then we'll get to all of the action with hermine. there you see folks,el there it is on titan. remember, the doppler picks up anything in the atmosphere, right? it doesn't have to be rain or snow. there it is. i mean, my goodness. with the southerly flow, there you see the explosion. what if you see yellows and reds from a fire? that is big time stuff there. that is what's going on there, and of course we'll keep you acape canaveral. 65 mile-per-hour winds. hermine here, let's get a close-up shot of what's going to be happening.

one in ten years. it it gets to 7 -- if it gets to 75, it will be a hurricane. for us, most of the weather associated with hermine is on the eastern side, and that's where we are. so we are going to continue to see the showers and storms. a lot of spin in the atmosphere so we've been talking about the individual cells. not too worried about the big shield of rain. it's these sells that have their own little environment and that can provide water spouts certainly and if they there's one now that's moving up to the north. you can see some locations, not anything significant if you are watching from any of the areas there. these, by the way, are screaming north at 40 miles per hour. so we won't have much time to let you know. there's no warning with that and not expecting water spouts to come in. we're letting you know that that's the kind of environment throughout the day today. the winds currently, nothing

especially the rain bands, those will contain tropical storm force winds. you can soo he that in the futurecast. 25 to 45 mile-per-hour wind gusts. by the way that continues into tomorrow and we'll begin to wind things down. we've got a lot to get through here. the various futurecast with the storm and the shields with the rain coming in through the warn handle on the eastern side of that. we will not experience the worst of the storm surge. that is for the north right there closest to the center right along the big bend the big storm surge. it's probably the biggest we've seen in quite sometime. once you get towards pinellas and into the bays, you will get 1 to 3. that is enough when you add the astronomically high tides coming in later this afternoon. so by 1:00, 2:00, we'll get into the worst of the coastal flooding here.

conditions are improving by the time we get into saturday or sunday. there's cape canaveral. here is the breakdown of the storm as it continues to push off to the north and east. one last shot of titan doppler radar. by the time we get into the afternoon, you will be glad the kids are off to school because you do not want to see any of the bands that will accompany 35, 45 mile-per-hour wds. we'll keep you posted throughout the morning, of course, and i'll be back in a office, those people are gone! zero tolerance for criminal aliens! >> still ahead, fiery words from donald trump on immigration. why the words you just heard

you back out to breaking news on thecoast. a massive explosion, a short time ago, at cape canaveral. this is a live look at the scene. you can see that thick, black smoke billowing into the air there. nasa says space ex is conducting a test of an unmanned rocket that was on the launchpad for a scheduled saturday launch when this explosion happened. t one expl perhaps there were as many as three occurring concurrently. people in buildings several miles away said they could feel the force of the blasts. so far, no reports of any injuries. this was an unmanned rocket. that would have been launching a satellite into orbit. we're working on getting more details. >> dan, just in. we found out they were evacuating the whole area because of toxic fumes in the area. that's the latest update from the area right now. dan did say no reports of any

evacuations. turning now to democracy 2016. this morning donald trump back on the campaign trail after a day of working to show where he stands on immigration. >> he made a trip to mexico after delivering tough words on immigration policy. kenneth moten has the latest and hillary clinton's response. >> reporter: this morning, donald trump's signature campaign promise. >> we will build a great wall along the southern corridor and mexico will pay for the wall. back to the tough immigration stance for the gop nominee. >> reporter: day one, my first hour in office, those people are gone! zero tolerance for criminal aliens! zero, zero! i am going to create a new special deportation task force. >> reporter: trump adamant to show he's not shifting. just hours before that typically tough-talking trump

mexican president nieto. >> we did discuss the wall. "i made it clear that mexico did not pay for the wall." >> who is going to pay for the wall? >> reporter: the hillary clinton campaign released a new video. clinton took the stage in ohio to say trump is not a l make up for a year of insults and insinuations by dropping in on our neighbors for a few hours. then flying home again. that is not how it works. >> reporter: clinton also tweeted trump failed his first foreign task. her campaign saying trump doubled down on anti- immigration rhetoric, attempted to divide communities and dealennized immigrants. kenneth moten, washington.

head to break. things are picking up as the winds increase. panel of tropical storm hermine when we come back. closed captioning is brought to you by lakeland

we tip tracking heavy rain. that's all you need to know right now. we've downpours along with gusty winds 40 miles per hour covering coastal flooding as well. shane, bill, denis all on the way in to keep you posted throughout the day. the space coast, if you are just in, a massive explosion a short time ago at cape canaveral air force station there. this is a live look at the scene. nasa says this is a space ex unmanned rocket that blew up ahead of a scheduled saturday launch.

space station are being told to evacuate. the workers are being told to evacuate. stay with abc action news for the very latest. also post any updates that we get on abcactionnews.com. meanwhile, you can find other stories on our web site as well. "tampa bay's morning blend" is up next. don't forget constant updates on tropical storm hermine on abcactionnews.com and here on

good morning. good morning tampa bay. thank you for spending time with us on tampa bay's morning a cohost because carley has the day off. we are joined by roxanne wilder. >> natalie, thank you so much. i'm happy to be here and i know that my cohorts that have been