we will check in with brad bell and josh knight in storm's path shortly. nancy: but first we are getting new information coming in now on the storm's track and the power. for that we go to chief meteorologist doug hill. doug: yeah, the brand new 5:00 update just in. still a high end category four. category five is 157. it's close. winds gusts increase to 190 miles per hour. the speed is now down to 12. it's slowing. you can't miss showerful the storm is. the forecasters believe once it is emerged over the open waters, it's warmer here. it will develop to a category five storm again to be near the level when it makes landfall in south florida sunday mr

check this out. high of end four. the track is looping close to cuba. the category five, category five. stymied 8:00 to 9:00, 10:00 sunday morning. the possible impact along the southwest coast that has huge implications for the storm surge, the wind damage. not only there but the east coast as well. the warning continues to stand. we will monitor this closely with more to share in a couple of minutes. larry? >> this is hard to imagine a more devastating path for hurricane irma. >> remember hiker andrew one of the worst storms in the history of the state. this is more devastating on the path. >> i demand they leave miami beach. >> the dire urgent pleas follow yesterday's warning and the emergency responders will not be able to help once the storm starts and

precious hours from now. where you are standing could be under water. >> beautiful day. but it could make it into this town. people take the threat seriously. this is already filling up fast. panel is bringing the wheel shares, the blanket and the pillows to see gymnasium as the best option. >> i don't want to take the chance of absolutely getting stuck and have someone rescue me in the storm. >> preparations are fully underway. this church the pastor is checking the message board and securing the doors. >> the church is at go

shape. i'm not going anywhere. >> the pizza shop giving away slices knowing the food will go back if the power goes out. along the beach front road, the store owner is now done all she can do. >> you are looking at the stores closest to the ocean. there are two approaches. sand bags to hope to give four more inches of comfort. then storm shutters that will protect against the hurricane force winds expected to pound this town. in delray beach, florida. nancy: this is the scene at the pit stops in i-95. th

plates loaded with people and supplies trying to get away from the storm. many are taking shelter in our area. they are talking to the people fleeing irma. he is live at the airport where the flights bring people here by the hundreds. rich? richard nancy, time is running out. a lot of people making hard decisions. a few flights now from south florida. the question should we stay or go. for helen and her family this apartment is home. >> we are watching and waiting and praying to god. >> she and her sister and their children. they drove up from fort lauderdale wednesday afternoon. >> she said we have to leave now. where are we going?

decision. she bought this home in december making $60,000 in renovations. at nearby home depot, there are no plywood to cover the windows. >> i couldn't find anything. i just left to save my family and my life. 18-hour trip. no time for goodbyes. >> i am sad and happy because she kept me safe. i left without saying goodbye to anyone. richard at nearby reagan airport, planes on the ground and dwindling flights from florida. >> last year it dodged us. this year it doesn't look like anyone will get spared. >> ed and his wife are here for a funeral. the storm added motivation. >> bitter sweet. didn't want to be part of the devastation that is going on there. >> miami in the bullseye. you can see there are flights from there. how long s

here and what do they do about school for the kids? then a quell of what will they find when they finally get home? richard reeve, abc7 news. nancy: thank you. there is a state of emergency ahead of irma. in addition to preparing the state for anything it brings this far north it opens up resources to help neighbors to the south. the governor made a similar declaration after hurricane harvey. larry: the u.s. mainland braces for disaster. hundreds of thousands are living with the aftermath of catastrophic storm. we have the recovery effort underway. >> every hour we are getting new images from the caribbean and what folks deal with first-hand. new tonight the word that resources are redirected to help. >> record breaking winds as irma ravaged the caribbn.

>> that is the roof. there it is. >> barely a building left with a roof. u.s. virgin islands, power, water and the cell service knocked out. the popular tourist attraction the soggy dollar bar hardly recognizable. help is on the way from the military to virginia own search and rescue team. both deployed to the virgin islands. >> the mission is conduct search and rescue missions on the u.s. virgin islands impacted boy hurricane irma. >> what will they find there and do as the rescue effort? many of those in the island looking at jose and what will the impact be for those ravaged islands.

larry: we have in-depth look at the path at 5:15 and the chaos coming with with hundreds and thousands evacuating a state. nancy: a pregnant woman critically hurt after police say someone set her on fire. how is the woman and the baby doing at this point? terrifying to hear about. >> this baby was not supposed to be born today but the horrific crime changed all of that. this mother is in critic condition at the hospital. she ran outside after being set on fire and got he from neighbors. the investigators say they got on the phone with the suspect and talked him into turning himself in. no names released.

information such as the relationship between the victim and the suspect. the mother in critical condition. we don't have a status on the baby condition and we know the baby is alive. so more that we are digging into tonight. we have latest throughout the newscast and abc7 news at 11:00. larry: country music star troy jentry died in helicopter crash. f.a.a. says it crashed friday afternoon in a airport at medford, new jersey. one other person on board the helicopter. they died as well but they have not been identified. nancy: still ahead, a massive earthquake striking mexico leaving a town in ruins and shaking buildings hundreds of miles away. nancy: if you are plans to

the capitol the roads will be shut down. but for a good reason. i'll tell you why tents are going up coming up. nancy: a big event there. the stormwatch7 team is tracking irma. both where the monster storm is going and the path of destruction.

larry: tomorrow we will race for a cure in d.c. nancy: all week we have been sharing stories of survival and hope. >> q mccray introduces us to the 2017 survivor of the year. >> this is my aunt. >> ann keeps her family close. the pictures are up all over her house. >> the family is a huge deal. >> her time with them was almost cut short. >> i had the annual ma'am mow graham and then -- annual mammogram. and they found a tiny dot. q: she had breast cancer. i was 1997. >> i burst into tears. that lasted two seconds. i was just one of the people who said okay. let's deal with it. >> that is what she did. after a humpectomy and six weeks of radiation therapy. she beat the disease and was healthy enough to take part

her first susan g. komen race for the cure event in 1998. she has taken part in the event every year since. raising more than $120,000 for the non-profit, growing her family in the process. >> i have had so many people who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. friends since my diagnosis and we are all still here. i think that is one of the main reasons i'm in komen. q: the same friends that voted her 2017 survivor of the year. >> it's been wonderful. q: it has been 20 years since she was first diagnosed. she thanks her komen family and her immediate family. >> i can't thank either of my kids enough. and my husband. >> in my hands right now is the nomination letter the family turned in. it mentions her 20 years of service for the cause. she has a husband, a daughter, a son and three grand children

out here tomorrow to cheer her on. that is the latest from freedom plaza, i'm q mccray, abc7 news. nancy: family there. we are proud to be the media sponsors for the komen race for the cure. we'll provide the national coverage from the national mall tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. on the sister station newschannel8. as well as on wjla.com. i will be there bright and early and i'm emceeing the opening ceremonies there. larry: awesome. nancy: nice to see everyone. it will be the most perfect weather for this. doug: for early september this is as good as you can expect. upper 50's. 56, 58, early, 7:00 in the morning. in the 60's until midday. gorgeous. larry: love it. doug: gorgeous it is not in south florida and in caribbean and cuba and the bahamas because of irma. it's a strong 155-mile-per-hour sustained wind hurricane gusting to 190 now. all the coast of florida, west coast, east coast of south florida and the keys. getting ready for a major impact.

raton, florida. what are they doing to get ready no matter where it makes landfall? >> that is a good point, doug. cones still include pretty much the tip of florida. a lot of people are gassing up and more are hunkering down. we are starting to get more wind. now that i hold this up getting a break. not that strong yet, around 15 miles per hour. but this is the beginning. it will go up from here. the folks we talk to today are planning to stay here. one lady we talked to had the kids in the backseat. interested to talk to her about what she is telling them. >> not much. just that there is a storm, and that we need to be safe. mommy and daddy will keep them safe. that is all they need to know. they don't need more than that. >> she is telling me all week she is making sure that the

they prepared with the batteries and the flashlights. all sorts of stuff. after wilma 12 years ago they were without power for two weeks. she has a rough idea of what to expect in the aftermath. but this is one of the storms that has her on a little bit more alert. obviously, doug, you look at the data coming from the hurricane center from the models. everybody still should really be on alert. doug: good news, josh. the intensity of the storm not good for people of south florida and the part of the sunshine state. the network cameras go to a lot of places on the video tour here all in real time and live. tampa is cloudy now. they will have the impact later sunday night. get you started with the latest information from the hurricane center. the 195 miles east of the cuban coast. it's over the open waters. the westerly

per hour seems like the eye is a close encounter with the coast. hurricane forecasters don't think there are a lot of disruption in the integrity and the intensity because of the encounter with the coast. top end category storm. wind gust to 190 miles per hour, moving west to 14 miles per hour. the winds are out 100 miles on so on either side. the spaghei

interesting to watch but they are coming many in alignment with the northerly turn tomorrow. one thing they pay attention to is the likelihood of times that nobody has it figured out. the more of an error where the center might be. use the cone. it explain that as we look at the cone. category four as we get to sunday morning at 2:00 a.m. up to a category five. it could be on that edge or over to the miami side. it is not set yet. through the day the cone is going to shrink and slink. we will know where the worst

nobody gets off the hook in south florida. who gets the higher storm services depends where the eye wall passes but everyone will have major effects across south florida and up the spine to central florida as the hurricane continues through the state. maybe, just maybe when it hits the georgia line it might be down to tropical storm status. this is during the day, sunday, sunday night and monday. hurricane warnings in effect. i suspect some of them tomorrow, tomorrow night is pushed northward. the storm surge warning in effect as well. the timing of the worst effect is mid-morning sunday to monday morning. now we are talking about jose with 150-mile-per-hour winds. hurricane warning from barbuda that was devastated earlier in the week. the eye of this storm is close to the islands late tomorrow and tomorrow night. there is the track. once it's past that latitude, it will turn out to sea. might hang out there for a while. here, how do you beat this? day afte

remindses off early october. clear and cool night. sunny mild days. tomorrow near 72. we take a look at the extended outlook, nothing but sunshine to monday. monday night, clouds roll in tuesday, wednesday. that is the time frame if there is any effect in our area from the remnants, that will be the time period. it's 50/50 dole -- deal right now. it depends if it turns this way or to the right or the east. that could effect us. we will know if we have remnants but now the focus on the millions of people in south florida and through all of florida that will have a dramatic impact and the effect sunday and monday. nancy: especially with the latest update becoming category five slamming to florida. very close to five. wind gusts may be approaching 190 miles, 200 miles per hour. unthinkable for that highly developed area. >> thank you. >> breaking news right now, president trump has signed legislation

billion in aid for hurricane harvey victims. that is coming in the news room now. of course the coverage of hurricane irma continues ahead. when we check back in with josh in boca raton. larry: that is on the way. we'll dissect chaos as hundreds of thousands of people flee the storm's path. next, it's called the worst earthquake to hit mexico in a century. the race to find survivors after a trembleer strong and

larry: 58 people are dead after earthquake rocked mexico. nancy: the worst seen in a century. mike carter-conneen is monitoring the story in the abc7 satellite center. >> a traffic jam in mexico city because of the earthquake and the aftershocks. this happened before midnight off the southern pacific coast but it shook buildings 650 miles away in mexico city. tonight the mexico civil defense agency is trying to assess the damage across the

near the epicenter, hundreds of buildings collapsed. nearly 2 million people lost power. the worst hit is where the homes are rubble and the streets are littered with debris. the country bracing for hurricane katia, a category two storm set to hit the gulf coast tomorrow. reporting live in the satellite center. abc7 news. nancy: thank you. still ahead hundreds of thousands fleeing florida ahead of hurricane irma, and that will cause gridlock and chaos in the race to escape. >> a lot of people here deciding to hunker down but the weather starting to change. i have the latest on

born and raised incian, dr. rrural virginia went to vmi. trained at johns hopkins.

o treated soldiers seriously wounded in the gulf war. eighteen years as volunteer medical director of a children's hospice. as lt. governor, he's fighting to expand healthcare in virginia. he'll get it done as governor. ralph northam: i'm ralph northam, and we need to provide access to affordable healthcare for all virginians, not take it away.

announcer: you're watching "abc7 news at 5:00". on your side. nancy: welcome back. take a look at this. these are images. devastating images of what is left behind in the islands battered already by hurricane irma. monster storm is set to make a direct hit on florida. that could be nothing short of catastrophic. meteorologist josh knight in the storm's bath in boca raton. what is the latest on the path right now? this is a stark warning we are seeing now. josh: it really is, nancy.

storm has done. now the storm is moving west. irma has a slightly slower trek to the west. look here in the distance. you see the highway but above that. that cloud cover is associated with a frontal boundary and a trough that is just working its way through florida. those clouds associated with that system, that is what is going to allow the storm to turn north. let me show you the latest track. the current intensity. 155 miles per hour. that is just about as shy of a cat five as you can get. we would be there at 157. so as we put this in to motion you can see after the storm hangs closer to cuba, back over the warm waters. it is expected to ramp up the five miles per hour taking us back to cat-five working its way across the keys. heading to naples getting toward land working back to a category four. changing from a five to a four or a four to a five really doesn't make a huge difference. we are talking about a catastrophic storm either way. the winds are

as powerful. as the storm continues moving up florida, then it begins to weaken with more and more land interactions and ultimate my heading in -- ultimately heading inland as tropical depression and a low. taking rain with it across the area. talk about the storm surge. the area for the keys as the storm is moving right never. we could see ten-foot and maybe 15-foot storm surge in some of the places. we have the storm surge warning. what that is the wind on the way, piling up the water and bringing it with it. what that looks like for you, you see the couple of feet in the animation. it gets us looking to a high tide. then you tack on a little bit more. next thing you know the water is in people's yards. this end really in some of the low-lying areas like part of the keys you could have water going over houses. so this is a really serious situation. we talk about the storm surge, the wind and the rain and the chance of tornadoes there are so many different threats wrapped up in these things and that makes taking the warnings

all the more important. larry: josh, thank you for that. great illustration to explain what it means to people down there in the path of the storm. for days we have seen the scenes like this. southbound lanes are barely used. as molly hunter reports that is complicating evacuation as many people are running out of time to flee and places to go. >> anywhere in the state, if you are told to evacuate leave, get out quickly. >> florida governor rick scott pleading with floridians and the tourists to get out. and get out now any way they can. >> evacuations are not convenient. but the goal is for them to be safe. >> at airports across the state, desperate vacationerrers are showing up without reservations. there we spent hours trying to find flights. it has been awful. we haven't slept or barely eaten since we have been here trying to find a way out. >> long lines and angry passengers, airlines added nearly 11,000 more seats sin

bigger planes. american airlines adding more than 4300. united more than 1,500. delta more than 5,000. airlines capping fares starting at $99 amidst complaint of price gouging. >> everybody has to go. >> but every flight is sold out. look at this screen shot, this cluster of the planes more than 300 flights leaving florida today. >> at this point are you planning to ride out the storm at the airport? >> if need be, this is where i'll be. i don't want to be in the middle of it. i want to go home but there is nothing else i can do. >> that is what officials want to avoid. miami international just announced they will bring passengers without flighteds to shelters in the area. for those who hit the road, we are up on i-95. one of the main freeways moving north. up near us is moving fine. down south inching along. 4,000 cars an hour passing through before it's too

molly hunter, abc7 news, daytona beach. larry: i know of a story of someone going from miami to atlanta. 20 plus hours on the road. another live report from the florida coast. you can count on abc7 for continuing coverage as we will continue to check in with josh knight and brad bell throughout the storm and the afternoon math. nancy: hurricane harvey may be gone but the recovery effort is going strong. d.c. police officers, union and the recruits loaded five trucks full of supplies. they have been collecting supplies last week and half of that is going to texas. the other side for florida once the hurricane passes. crews mobilizing in the area to coordinate relief in texas, louisiana and where irma leaves the damage. you can help with all of this. go to wjla.com for a list of the charities on the ground and helping and relief efforts. larry: former prince george's county substitute teacher

pornography charges. christopher speights worked as a sub and as a basketball coach for traveling county team. investigators say they are concerned it may not be child pornography. they are investigating if he had physical contact with any children. anyone with information is asked to please contact police. nancy: former high school band director heading to jail for having sex with a student. judge sentenced 57-year-old wilbur hildebrand to 18 months in jail. hildebrand pleaded guilty to three counts of fourth degree sex offense. he admitted he had an ongoing sexual relationship with the female student starting when she was 16 years old. coming up still at 5:00, how lasers are about to help transform one of d.c.'s most visible memorials. larry: the "7 on your side" team has a warning parents need to hear. how to protect your child's personal information when they log in to college. nancy: coming up tonight at

tactics a pair of pickpockets is using to get really close to the victims.

steve: here it is friday everything and we are gearing up for the upcoming everything. we are thankful and grateful we have nace weather for the d.m.v. on saturday and sunday. it's on the cool side for this time of year. how can you complain about temperatures in the 70's? 72 tomorrow. 72 on sunday. looking good. don't forget the race for the cure tomorrow morning. down at freedom plaza looking at the temperatures chill in the air. early on. upper 50's. warming up to the middle 60's by 11:00. don't forget the season opener, the big game 70 to 74 degrees on sunday at fedex field. looking at the temperatures. mostly sunny skies. little on the cool side, though, make sure you have the sun screen with you. it will stay dry all da

stay with us. you are watching "abc7 news at 5:00".

larry: riding metro this weekend? take patience on the red line. four stations will be closed. meaning buses will replace trains in twin brooks station. the orange line will see t

minutes. other lines should run as usual. nancy: family and friends are not giving up in the search for a missing howard county high school teacher. elizabeth wallin last seen on monday. this is vid grow from the newsroom from the baltimore station. this is video of wallin's car found last night. we have spoken to montgomery county police within the hour and they still have not confirmed those details saying only the team is working around the clock. but friends meantime are passing out fliers. they started a facebook group. and a social media #to search for laura wallin. she is 5'5", weighs 200 pounds and is four months pregnant. larry: coming up -- nancy: more than a million people ordered to flee hurricane irma. the latest on the efforts in the storm's path ahead. first, though, protected your children's -- protecting your children's

room and tips all students need to know next at "abc7 news at 6:00". announcer: for latest irma news anytime, click on the abc7 news app and download it to the mobile device today. continueing coverage of irma's progress when abc7 news

fios is not cable. we're a 100% fiber optic network. and with the new fios gigabit connection... you get our fastest... internet ever. with download speeds up to 940 megs - 20 times faster than most people have. switch to fios gigabit connection with tv and phone for $79.99 a month online for the first year. plus hbo for one year and multi-room dvr service for two years, all with a two-year agreement. and switching has never been easier. get out of your contract with up to a $500 credit to help cover your early termination fee. go to fiosgigabit.com born and raised incian, dr. rrural virginia went to vmi. trained at johns hopkins. an army doctor who treated soldiers seriously wounded in the gulf war. eighteen years as volunteer medical director of a children's hospice. as lt. governor, he's fighting to expand healthcare in virginia. he'll get it done as governor. ralph northam: i'm ralph northam, and we need to provide access to

for all virginians, not take it away.

larry: new information tonight at the security reporting company equifax. social security numbers and addresses were exposed to up to 143 million people. those impacted may not know they are equi fax customers. nancy: horace holmes has a warning about a danger on campus that many of us don't think about. >> moving day for the thousand college student. >> caitlin is 19. she is expected to move to maryland. >> so much to do and so much to think

>> could you be vulnerable? >> now that you mention it, yes. >> there is an assumption you are safe. >> this is heather. >> the last thing we think about when we go to school are the protocols should i take to ensure safety on the internet? >> to protect the schoolwork or the identity. >> the college campuses are prime targets for hackers. they are the communities of tens of thousands connected in most cases like this. >> we have two systems here. visitor wi-fi and a student wi-fi. the visitor wi-fi has a pass worth on it but base one they give to everybody. >> how many people are on that? >> over the past de

is one major cyber breach every week on a college campus in america. >> if they send out the ransomware they look to protect everyone. >> this starts with creating a complex pass worth for each device. >> change up pass worths every three months. >> you never want to hop on an open network. >> access to coffee shops. >> don't do anything sensitive like banking or online shopping. >> this is not the college responsibility to protect you and your child's online identity. it is yours. >> this is not just about your financial life. this is about the personal safety. >> they are doing everything they can to educate students for cyber security. for instance the university of maryland makes the cyber security a part of the freshman

offers malware protection to each and every student. >> more than a million people ordered to evacuate. marci gonzalez is live in new smyrna beach. this is a beach area that is south of daytona beach. north of the orlando area. marcy right now i know you are from the area. you are not in the southern tip which will be hit by a category five. what are you seeing now in terms of the report of the people running out of gas in the area. what has taken place in the last 24 hours. >> we are seeing 60% of the gas stations have run out of fuel.

there are now 2.2 million people under evacuation order in florida and georgia. >> there is a picture of someone north of macon. it was bumper to bumper. one question, what do people who can't leave, news crews and important personnel, officials that have to stay around. how are you sheltering? what do you do to make sure you stay safe? >> we chose our location because we thought it was a safe place to be. this is not a mandatory evacuation zone. we stayed in the same he fell for hurricane matthew last year. so we know that is a safe place. to the south it's a concern for the crews to find a safe place to stay. one of our

hotels because the hotel they are staying in, is in a mandatory evange wation zone. they are clear -- evacuation zone. they are clearing someone out. >> great information. great reporting all week. we will talk to you again. be safe. we will talk to you soon. >> meantime the mouse not taking any chances with irma. disney is now closing all of the florida theme parks. some will close tonight. others including walt disney world and disney hollywood studios will close early on saturday. they won't reopen until tuesday. that is at the very earliest. this is rare that something like this happens where you have to shut down the theme parks. tens of thousands go through this every day. larry: we talk with the floor director rebecca who is telling us she is hearing stories of having to stay in the tunnels underneath the parks that exist in case you didn't know. one thing that doug hill is all over this and the entire storm watch system and the team. he is in th

as you mentioned a few moments ago upgrading again to a category five. >> it's going to be. it's still a category four right now. there is no upgrade. nor shall it. in the forecast they upgrade it to a category five storm before landfall. hurricane category four. top winds 150 miles per hour. the areas deavor stated and they are under the hurricane warning again. traveling this way. i don't think the eye will go over it. this is traveling west. slower. expected to have some interaction with the cuban coast and swing

reintensify to the category five according to the track from the hurricane center. before a four or five in that range when it makes the possible landfall over southwest florida sunday morning. it will be in the ocean or miami and the east coast. too early to tell for sure. but do know millions will be affected there. while that is happening we'll have sunshine all weekend long. any potential effect from the leftover of our area in our area is tuesday to wednesday but it's still early to tell what if any they will be. talk right now to scott abraham to see what is happening. scott: hey, doug, i will tell you what. it is a great night for the friday night high school football action. the abc7 game of the week takes us to lake braddock high school where the bruins are set to battle stone bridge high school tonight. it's their first meeting on the football field since 2014. an hour away and the players getting re

getting ready for the game. 0-2 on the young season. lake braddock needs the win here tonight. >> when you lose games early against the teams equal or better than you, it exposes you. we found the weaknesses and we are addressing them. individual le we got a ton of talent. trying to become a better team. >> do you get a sense of urgency from the boys this week? >> i think so. they know this is a first home game and the game of the week. they were a couple of plays away from a goodm copback. win lose or draw we have to keep making the right steps. >> are you going to a game? pick the

the clock is ticking. the redskins season opener kicks off on sunday. hosting division foe eagles. wyden crowder officially listed as questionable for the game. he expects to play on sunday. the game of the week, the bruins are set to face stone bridge high school. opening kickoff is 7:00. we have the highlights and the post game reaction at 11:00 right here on abc7. guys, a great night for the football. friday night lights is back. larry: it's good when the weather is nice. you can spot a polo shirt. >> if you have driven past the jefferson memorial you may notice it

>> what is growing on the dome and the new way

larry: the jefferson memorial dome looks different. the national park service is trying something new to get the memorial shining parkalling white again. >> if you look at the jefferson memorial before 2006, the dome was white. every year since then the dark biofilm has appeared and grown in the splotches. >> living things, if you will it's the blob that is eating the jefferson memorial. >> the park service announced a trial clean-up effort. scaffolding things up and the workers from the chicago based we save art.com will use lasers to clean 1,000 square foot section of the dome. no water, no chemicals. >> we decided to go with the laser treatment because it's safer for the historic marble. we don't have to worry about the chemical run off or the

sam: up close you see how it looks with the biofilm. one thing that the company doing this did is a year ago. they came and cleaned the four sections. as you can see, there is a contrast. a year litter it's not come back. the park service tried the chemicals on another memorial and the biofilm returned. we talk to tourists as how they deal with it. >> i get a brush and dip it in paint. it looks cool. sam: the memorial is 75 years old next year. president roosevelt's idea to honor thomas jefferson. if the first phase goes well, the work will continue. the memorial will be open to the pun lick throughout. sam ford, abc7

announcer: "7 on your side." >> leave now. you won't get an answer if you dial 911. >> standing on my leg. >> i am trying to get as far north as possible. >> as we come on the air at 6:00, a mass exodus to escape a deadly hurricane happening right now in florida. nowhere more than 500,000 people said to evacuate. larry: disney world is shutting down. irma left behind a trail of devastation in the caribbean islands and they are assessing the damage as the death toll climbs. michelle: we have a whole team tracking irma. doug hill watching the track. brad bell and josh knight are in florida to check on the preparations. jonathan: jeff goldberg talked to relief

for a second major hurricane in less than a month. start things off with doug hill on the latest where irma is and where she is moving. doug: the latest location is 190 miles northeast of cuba. 300 miles southeast of miami. top sustained winds 155 miles per hour. gusting to 190. it's slowed to 12 miles per hour. it's expected to have some interaction with the coast of cuba sometimes tomorrow. may temporarily weaken it a bit. but the forecasters think over the open warm waters it could reintensify to the category five status. later tomorrow afternoon and be a high end four or a low end five at the landfall. not sure where the landfall will be. it could hold off a bit. according to the western part of the line. if it stays out to shore a while longer. but the center area in southwest florida. it's not only the winds and the rain, it's the surge caused by the winds and the waves. that surge is profou