seven thousand members of the florida national guard with at least 30,000 from elsewhere on stand by. a live picture of miami, considering the is sides and strength this could be the most devastating hurricane to hit florida. >> we can tell you already that millions of people have evacuated florida. there are people there still in florida. hunk erred down in shelters. meteorologist chris sowers saying that this system is expected to hit the keys about 7:00 or 8.this morning, florida is bracing for the huge impact. 8: 8:00. the hurricane got stronger overnight increasing to a category 4 >> the power is already out to hundreds of thousands of florida households, more than 75,000 people had hungering down in shelters >> miami is a ghost town this morning as irma pounded the city with winds and heavy rain.

>> governor rick scott warning residents not to think it's over. stephanie ramos is in miami and has more. >> reporter: the rain is coming down, we're feeling the strong winds and this is just the beginning. the day florida has been anticipating is here. >> my god. very scary. wow. >> reporter: in south florida, trees are down, streets flooding. >> we've seen high waves and these -- this rough surf rolling in. >> reporter: the state put on notice, this is not a storm to mess with. >> i can't believe it's scared to death. >> reporter: storm tearing itself away from cuba's northern coast and headed towards key west before moving up the west coast >> it's one of the biggest concerns here in florida. the water could rise significantly, even lifting a boat this size on to land. >> remember, in southwest

florida, the storm surge comes after the strongest winds, do not think the storm is over when the wind slows down. >> reporter: the power is out to hundreds of thousands of customers, and more than 75,000 people have flocked to shelters. >> very stressful. didn't really know what to do. >> the storm producing even tornados in parts of south florida and the worst is expect tonight. in miami, stephanie ramos, abc news. back to you. >> thank you so much. the update 6:02. let's get you to chris sowers with the update from irma, this storm intensified yet again. >> it has. briefly weakened down to a category 3 at one point, now it's encountering the warm tropical waters to have the florida straights, max sustained winds as of 5:00 a.m. 130 miles per hour, a category 4, the center of circulation the eye is getting closer and closer to key

west. i don't know if you can make that out. that's the key, marathon is here, key largo, this is the national park. where those 130 miles an hour winds are being felt is right here, if you can see this little bright band right here. that's the eye wall. that's also where we're seeing 160 miles per hour gusts. another look at it here on storm tracker 6 there, that's the eye wall. the eye is actually the calmest part. the wall, which rap wraps around the eye is the most dangerous part. we turned the bouyreports on, key largo reporting winds 62 miles per hour, sustained wind speeds, gusts are as high as 72. that's with this outer band here working its way through the everglades national park. the storm is projected to start to make the right-hand turn and then parallel the coast line throughout the day today. putting the worst part of the storm, which is right here, i've

been talking about that right front quadrant, right here puts the worst part of the storm over the coast. all day today, tonight, then through the day on monday. as it lifts north eventually up into georgia. this is where we'll see the strongest winds, where we'll see the worst of the storm surge, and the heaviest rain. so irma's track shifted. a few days ago all the models had this running over miami then back out to sea and a secondary hit somewhere around savannah or maybe charleston south carolina, they shifted west and the same thing happened yesterday and now this looks like it will be the track paralleling the western part of the state of florida, putting the right front quadrant here the worst part of the storm over top of some coastal communities, fort myers beach will get pounded. naples, an area that will get hit hard because they only sit three feet above sea level to begin with, now they're looking at a ten foot plus storm surge as the eye gets closer and

closer, we're expecting a direct hit somewhere around key west a second between fort myers and tampa. this will lift to the north and we'll start to see, the wynnefield is huge. this is a massive storm. tropical storm force winds 220 miles out from the center of circulation, it's two and a half times the size of andrew, which was a very compact storm, as the storm moves north, wynnefield will produce not only a storm surge here, out of the west so you'll start piling the water on, tampa, i naples, fort myers, six to ten feet at least. and also as the storm lifts farther to the north into georgia by we get to monday and tuesday, wind will shift out of the east over on the eastern side. so you'll start to see the water pile up and a storm surge for places like daytona as the storm gets closer to georgia and that will happen through monday, starts to lift, loses the

fueling for the system because it will move out of the water and over the less than start to weaken no a tropical storm. some effects that will be felt, particularly the florida keys are going to hit hard, winds between 100 and 125 miles per hour. rainfall totals anywhere from ten to 15 inches, and a storm surge, that wall of water, ten feet or maybe even a little bit higher, and one last location, this is again, the fort myers, fort myers beach area, same idea with the winds be 100 to 125 miles per hour, rainfall totals close to a foot and at least ten feet of water, that storm surge, that wall of water pushing assure. i'll be back along with much more on hurricane irma in a few minutes. a monster storm. anchor brian taff was in fort lauderdale friday, now in naples, this is everyone you're familiar with, that's not the naples you're used to seeing. >>reporter: no doubt about it. as you mentioned, as i mentioned

my parents live about 53 miles down the road. gratefully they're not here right now. i did take a look at their house and make sure everything is good. here's the if news, most people have heeded the warnings and the evacuation notices and have gotten out. and that is good news for a couple of reason, 6:00 obviously, that means a couple of things, emergency officials have now said it's shelter in place time. it's to all. in other words, if you haven't left yet, don't leave now. because you're not going to out run this thing. shelter in place. it also means that this is the hour at which emergency crews will no longer respond to 911 calls. should something happen from this point forward, they say, you're kind of on your own, frankly that's the decision people made by staying. not many people did stay, i want to show you video we shot from downtown naples, fifth avenue is the heart of this small city. just a beautiful strip of earth right there. fantastic restaurants and world class shopping have been there

countless times over my life as i visited my parents over the years. yesterday, not a soul in sight. we saw one family that we talked to. they told us they wished they had left. frankly, they were thinking the storm would track to the east, as so many others did, obviously, the track has changed in the last couple of days, i asked them, what they were doing, they said, like you, we're staying in a hotel. and just kind of hoping for the best. coming back out here live, i can tell you a bit about the conditions we're dealing with. appeals in comparison, 30 miles an hour and gusting 40. you see how that's manifesting and a little bit of rain falling, we do expect that over the coming hours, this will ramp up significantly, our top wind speeds later today, 130 miles an hour gusts with sustained winds. just north of 100 miles an hour, south of hundred miles an hour and this could be a very long event.

perhaps ten hours. so we're expecting it to be bad. we're planning for the worst >> good news your parents have evacuated. what's the sense for those folks who stayed? what's the biggest concern for those folks and in particular, those emergency workers i would imagine it's that storm surge they're worried about. >> reporter: yeah, this is a two-fold event, as chris has been talking about a major wind event be major perhaps unprecedented in a category 4 coming this close to this city. that's only the first phase, after wind subsides, then storm surge, we're being told to expect about nine feet of sea water where we are and frankly if you could see make those out buildings, that's how close we are to the buildings are on the beach. we expect the storm surge will come back as far as we are, the good news is we're about 40, 50 feet off the ground in a hotel. that's actually raised up. so we're hopeful that the water

does not ill fill at any rate the lobby >> as you mentioned this is an extend storm. talk about food and water, you may lose electricity. >> reporter: yeah. well, we flew in to orlando on purpose. we decided we better go north where we knew there would be more fuel. more access to groceries. we flew into orlando the other day, filled out the tanks. went grocery shopping, filled up our car, and made our way south and spent the night in fort lauderdale when the track of the storm was expected to be over there, as the storm shifted so too did our plan, we drove west along alligator ally. we're loaded to the hit with food, batteries. if cell towers go down, our communication with you will be severely impacted by that but frankly nydia, we're hoping it doesn't get to that point.

we got the necessary supplies, after that we're relying like everybody else on the good nature of other people. >> thanks so much. we know that you're resourceful and will stay safe. live reports coming up. coverage continues ahead of on action news news we'll get you another live report from other areas feeling irma as the hurricane clobbers florida >> chris sowers will be back went an update and a look at our local forecast coming back in a few minutes.

> 6:13, we continue did track hurricane irma. naples expected to get pounded by the system >> one of the hardest hit areas, fort myers, the keys will get clobbered. if you're on the eastern side, it appears as if you can escape the worst part. good news for those folks. again the western part, really going to hit and hit hard over the next 12 to 24 hours, here's storm tracker 6, zoom right into the florida keys, you're looking at the center.

where the eye wall, the massive band of red, that's where the worst winds are situated at this point. so let's put the brakes on it quick then we'll circle the area, right here. this little red band, this is where the winds are gusting to 160 miles per hour. now, the latest forecast guidance to come in and the latest track from the national hurricane center suggest that is the eye will pass right over marathon key is right here. so it's like sugar loaf key to the east of key west. this is already gusting reports over 90, the track will make the right-hand turn and then starts paralleling the coast line here, putting the worst poverty storm over top of the coastal areas, the gulf coastal areas of florida. so essentially what's happening, you have four quadrants to a storm, you have the left front, right front, the left back and right back here. well, it's this part of the storm, right here, that's always

the most dangerous. because not only are you taking into account the storm winds, 130, 140, 150 miles per hour, but your also adding on the storm's forward momentum or the forward speed. for example, let's assume, for a second that the storm is moving at maybe 20 miles per hour. what happened is you would add the 20 miles per hour to the storm's winds of 150. and that equals 170. that's your gusts. that's the worst part of the storm that's going to be paralleling the coast. they will get hit so hard on the western side, the gulf side of the state of florida. let's take another look on the infrared satellite shot. you can see the deep convection, the bright reds wrapping around the center of circulation. that's a sure sign that the storm continues to strengthen. spiking 40, 50,000 feet, the strong gusty winds, that's the eye wall public pushing over the

keys getting ready to move into naples fort myers, spaghetti plots coming together, good consensus finally among the forecast molds suggesting a glancing glow but that puts the worst part over the storm over the western side of florida. tampa, you'll get hit pretty hard. gainsville looks like jacksonville on the east side, you're going to escape, miami, you'll escape the worst winds with this also the worst part post storm surge, sustained winds are the constant wind speeds at least for one minute if not longer, hurricane force winds expected by 3:30, fort myers, fort myers beach, naples, that area, national everglades park, this area here, as we progress along, we get not overnight hours tonight around midnight, hurricane force winds for tampa, sarasota, will be a tremendous storm surge anywhere from six to nine feet with this storm. as we fast forward, the storm starts to pull away and eventually over the state of georgia and start to weaken a

little bit as it loses its fuel. the warm gulf waters. rainfall totals anywhere from six to 12 inches. a big difference between this storm here and harvey. this one is zipping along, that's why they picked up 30 to 50 inches, that's why the numbers will be so much lighter here. moving along later this afternoon, key largo expecting about a foot of rain, and all the other forecast models roughly in that eight to 12 inch range, same thing with key west and this whole area picking up a good nine to 12 foot storm surge, a wall of water coming barrelling assure. fort myers beach, naples, marco island all in that nine to 12 foot storm surge, parts of the tampa bay area will be in that nine to 12 foot storm surge when all is said and done, speaking of tampa, we updated the impacts, at least hundred miles

per hour, rainfall totals between five and eight inches and a storm surge of anywhere from six to nine feet above what's considered normal high tide levels for that area. 74 degrees today, delightful out there. monday sun and clouds, 78. tuesday, we'll start to see outer edges approach the area but it's kind of raining itself out over the midwest, we'll see a couple of showers, and maybe a brief period of rain as we get into wednesday, lots of 70's, friday looks good, sun and clouds, 78. saturday, same thing, sun and clouds 78. >> thank you. abc news crews are fanned out in florida to cover the impact of hurricane irma. 25 years after andrew's slammed the sunshine state, irma carving out its legacy >> stephanie appears miami dodged the brunt of the storm but weather could still be bad

there where you are. >> reporter: absolutely, gray and nydia, the rain is coming down, we're feeling the strong winds and this is just the beginning, irma is roaring into florida. yesterday, we saw and we felt the outer rain bands of irma. we also saw few people kind of walking around, mulling around, this morning, nobody is out there, and no one should be out there. i want to show you video really captured the storm making its way in, the wind and rain picking up, in last couple of hours, just whipping around, we are in a safe place, where we can hunker down when not doing live shots, but when you step outside, it is at the point where you have to hold on to a railing or something or else you're hit the ground, at least i know i will. this is the day florida has been anticipating. in south florida, we're seeing trees down, streets are flooded,

not stopped raining since last night. and the state, you know, has been put on notice all week that this is not a storm to mess with. we've heard from the governor he said this is clearly a life-threatening situation. again, here in south florida, another major concern is a storm surge is one of the biggest concerns the water could rise significantly, pushed by the hurricane's wind. and also, something else to mention, the power, the power is out to hundreds of thousands of customers here in south florida and more than 75,000 people have flocked to shelters. right now, nearly 90% is under a hurricane warning, which is pretty astounding. nydia, gray? >> we talked more about those shelters, tens of thousands of people are hunkerring down. have been been able to visit and see how people are coping? >> reporter: not yet. a lot of the shelters haven't allowed media in at least where

we're located in south florida but we do know that the state, the governor is still continuing to open up more shelters, at least as of last night. at least 300 more shelters were open to people looking for a safe place to go. these are people that perhaps weren't able to evacuate the area and head up north, another big story that we're hearing down here is so many people here in south florida decided to go toward tampa and the west coast of florida when they thought the storm was headed up the east coast and now they're stuck here, my family lives in miami. they did just that, heading up towards st. petersberg thinking that was a safe place, now they're stuck there, hotels are full and shelters and they have to ride out the storm, wherever it is and that goes for all of the folks whether here or up north, to the west or east, officials are saying shelter in place that's best thing you can do until the storm passes and that's when first responders will be able to come out here and get to folks that need the

help. >> stephanie where is your family now? they were in st. petersburg. >> reporter: they're there right now. they live in miami. few days ago they heeding the warnings and said we're getting out. not taking any chances we'll go to where the storm isn't headed and all of a sudden, it was a new reality for folks there on the west coast of florida that the storm was headed directly towards them. so you know, i've been keeping track of the storm and listening to the officials and then just passing along that information to my family and so folks just across this area and to where you guys are as well. >> we'll be thinking about your family as we think about all the folks in florida, stephanie ramos, thank you very much.

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behind bars, the suspects were arrested yesterday in the death of 38-year-old gerard grandzol shot in the head near 15th and melon in the city's spring garden section, home surveillance video with audio captured the entire crime. officers said it was one of the most disturbing video they've ever seen >> the 2-year-old was in the car, the 6-year-old stepped up, and they walked up and shot him

in the head >> 21-year-old maurice roberts and his brother, the 16-year-old will be charged as an adult. police followed them on the home surveillance video and located them on septa cameras, funeral services are wednesday. 6:26. we continue to keep eyes on hurricane irma, brian taff is live in naples, we'll continue to track this system all morning long, this is a live picture here of miami florida, that's where our abc correspondent stephanie ramos, the area is expected to deteriorate. we're back after this.

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. storm tracker 6 live radar is tracking hurricane irma as it pummels the state and appearing to make landfall in the florida keys around 8:30 then up the west coast and make landfall again in the tampa area, tampa hasn't taken a direct hit from a hurricane in nearly a century. now it is in the bulls eye of irma. >> coverage continues after the break. voya.etirement, it's time to get i doni refuse to lie down. why suffer? stand up to chronic migraine

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irma's brutal march has come to u.s. shore, the massive hurricane lashing south florida right now, 6.4 million have been told to get out. it is a shelter in place situation. >> that is the sound of harsh wind and rain felt in miami beach. normally busy areas are turned into ghost towns >> the big story on action news is the start of that possible catastrophic punch from irma >> millions are evacuating waiting to see how irma impacts them. stephanie ramos is in miami. >> reporter: the day florida has been anticipating is here. >> my >> reporter: . it's still scary. wow. >> reporter: in south florida,

trees are down, streets are flooding. >> have seen high waves and these -- this rough surf rolling in. >> reporter: the state put on notice. this is not a storm to mess with. >> scared to death. >> reporter: the storm tearing itself away from cuba's northern coast and heading to key west, the storm surge is one of the biggest concerns in florida. the water could rise significantly, even lifting a boat this size on to land. >> remember, in southwest florida, the storm surge comes after the strongest winds. do in the think the storm is over when the wind slows down. >> reporter: the power is out to hundreds of thousands of customers. and more than 75,000 people have flocked to shelters. >> stressful. stick to our stomach. >> reporter: even producing tornados in parts of south florida and we're expecting the worst tonight.

stephanie ramos, abc news miami >> waiting and watching. meteorologist chris sowers tracking irma along with our correspondants out there, this is a massive and intense storms. >> hurricane force winds extend 80 miles from the center of circulation, tropical storm force 225 miles, from the center, that's almost from here to pittsburgh. the wynnefield is tremendous. hurricane warnings are up for the entire state of florida, as you can imagine. all 67 counts in the state of floor are under a state of emergency. here's a look at the infrared satellite shot. you can see the eye quicking approaching key west. these are the florida keys right here, here's marathon, key largo, the eye wall is over top of them right now. that's where we are picking up the 130 miles an hour winds and the 160 miles per hour gusts on its latest track, looks like it will move over sugar loaf key,

this is key west, this is smith shoal reported wind over 90 miles per hour about an hour and a half ago, now that the eye wall is pushing over the keys we expect to see the numbers increasing over the next half hour. eventually this will make the right-hand turn and paralleling the southern coast of florida from marco to naples and fort myers and later into tonight the sarasota tampa area. here's storm tracker 6, we've turned bowies on and we're seeing sustained winds, 61 gusting to 74. that's hurricane force winds in this feeder band wrapping around the everglades nash park pmiami picking up 60 miles an hour, fort lauderdale seeing 60 to 70 miles per hour winds, when we see the radar start to show these colors of red, orange and yellow, that's indicating heavy rain, so the rain is coming downside ways in sheets as the center gets closer and closer,

again, the track will take it something like this, paralleling the west coast of florida. during the day today. peak wind gusts smith shoal you're leading the way, 94 miles per hour, just west of key west, marathon, key, 88 miles per hour, that was reported about two years ago, key west 84. fort lauderdale 70 miles per hour, and miami just under 60 miles per hour. taking a look at future tracker 6. wind gusts will start to see these increase as the eye moves over, by 11:00, key west up to 100 and 21 miles per hour, that's a huge wind gusts, marco 84, eventually getting up to about 125 miles per hour as the eye passes on by at the north by 5:00 this afternoon, fort myers, about 98 miles per hour, tampa under 60, and eventually, as the eye gets a little bit farther off to the northwest, the winds in southern florida will begin to diminish a little bit, that's really not going to happen until tomorrow morning and afternoon. so they're really going to take

it pretty hard here across southern florida. here's a close-up look at the tracking winds are 130 miles per hour, constant wind speeds, gusts meaning the cash wind speed up to 160, moving off to the northwest at 8:00. we look at the wynnefield, the front quadrant the worst part of the storm with this track parallels the western shore line florida, from sarasota and fort myers all the way up to tampa as a category 3 or 4, the whole area expecting a storm surge of at least six to nine feet and in some cases, it could be much higher. i'll be back in just a few minutes and have much more on hurricane irma. >> they're watching it for us. brian taff is in naples, this is a place that's like home away from home. >> reporter: it is, nydia and gray. i've been telling you this is? i grew up. my parents live a couple miles

down the road, they're in new york, which is where they spend the summer. so all these places are very familiar territories for me. it's very sand frightening to know what is coming our way. there are 11 million people under evacuation orders because of the i norty of this storms, six and a half in southern florida alone, as the initial track had it going up the east coast, so many decided to evacuate said i'll go to the west coast, that turned out to be a bad idea. when the track changed, that left those people with no place left to go. many of those people are now in shelters here in southwest florida, filled to capacity, not letting anyone else. and there is a shelter in place order in evict. in other words, if you not left the house yet, it's too late now, just stay. this is video from the other side of the state, one of our crews in a car over there, giving the sense of what's happening in miami. they're getting, they're getting

the brunt of the force of the wind because of that position in the northeast quadrant of the hurricane, that's where the most severe winds tend to generate. that's what miami is dealing with, even though the picture may be misleading, we've bean seeing crews on our live feeds dealing with strong winds. we know that that is what is coming here. the storm is about 130 miles to our south right now, about 30 miles, just slightly less than that off the coast of key west. which is getting hammered right now. that's then coming in our direction. we know that the situation is going to continue to degrade throughout the morning. i'll step out of the picture and give you a sense of what's we're dealing with, you can see trees ripping around, pretty good rain happening right now, but generally this is only going on every minute or, so two, three minutes we get a really, really strong wind gusts. and some sheets of rain, in fact

i can tell you the parking lot is starting to pond and puddle a little bit and all we got a rain so far. not even the worse, we've been telling you it's is to,ing prong, first wind and storm surge, we expect flooding will be real and devastating in the days to come >> we know this was a personal and emotional assignment for you. we thank you for being there for us. again, you and jason stay safe out there. thanks. >> we'll check back with you a little bit later. i'd like to remind you that brian taff will be in florida all weekend and you can catch his reports on action news, also, our website, 6 abc.com. a u.s. military operation rescued more than 800 americans stranded on st. martin island southeast of puerto rican >> c-130 aircraft from the puerto rican, kentucky and air national guard has been evacuating americans through the weekend. people are sitting on c one of

30 aircraft, many of them giving the thumbs up, hoisted on helicopters and flown to the giant transport plane, then flown to puerto rican. officials say the operations will expand after hurricane jose passes st. martin, our coverage of irma continues, ahead on action news, we'll give you another live report from other areas now feeling irma's evict. >> chris sowers of course comes back with an update on irma and a look at our forecast, coming back after the quick break.

big stormy is hurricane irma and its direct path towards florida >> clobbering the keys right now, chris sowers has the latest. >> the center is quickly approaching the florida keys, looks like the eye will move right over the sugar loaf key area between key west and marathon right about there and all the forecast models are coming into agreement and they suggest that after the storm passes over sugar loaf key it will start to lift to the north but it will parallel the western shore line of the state of florida. which will put the worst part of the storm right over places like fort myers beach, fort myers, sarasota, tampa, naples, that whole area will take a tremendous pounding, because not only are we going to go see the 130 to 140 miles an hour winds

but we'll see a storm surge of at least six to ten feet. five to ten inches of rain, just a tremendous storm that's going to be walloping southern florida over the next 12, 24 hours, we've zoomed into the center of circulation, there's the eye here, so marathon, key west, sugar loaf key is right there, moving right over top of them now, probably reporting winds of at least 100 miles per hour, wouldn't surprise me if some areas are closer to 130 because that's where the strongest part of the hurricane is, this red right here, it's the eye wall, that's where the heaviest rains are. that's also where the strongest wind gustses are. the center right here, this little doughnuts hole is the calmest. all of a sudden, the eye passes over and the sun comes out and all of a sudden the next part of the eye races right over and conditions deteriorate again. that's what they're experiencing right now, the eye wall moving over top. good consensus among the

forecast models, all suggest this will graze right over the western shore line here in florida. again, from just west of gainsville, all the way down into the everglades national park. and again, puts the right front quadrant over places like tampa and sarasota. so let's take a quick look at the wynnefield. it's a massive storm, tropical storm force winds, at least 40 miles per hour, 40 to 70. extends over 225 miles wide, the whole state is covered with this today. hurricane force winds, the red shade extend where the from the center of circulation. by 4:00, fort myers picking up winds at least 75 miles per hour, i was looking at future tracker and it suggests over 100 miles per hour at that point during the day. sarasota, tampa still in the tropical storm force but again they start to ramp up later today, tonight and first thing tomorrow morning, continues to

pull to the northwest getting into southern georgia by upon, rainfall totals not nearly as what we experience with harvey and the big reason is this storm is zipping along, it will not stall like harvey, therefore, we're not going to go see 30 to 50 inches but nine to 12 is a hefty amount. not only will you experience the coastal flooding but you may experience flooding due to rains as well. so this is today and tomorrow, jacksonville close to ten inches of rain, fort myers a little bit more than eight inches, miami looks like you'll be somewhere between seven and ten inches when all is said and done and your storm surge or that wall of water that will kind of ride right with the right the front quadrant over the storm, so your eye will go like this right here, parallel to the shore line, the right front quadrant goes like this, that's where we see the strongest winds and the wall water being forced inland, marco island, naples, all nine to 12 feet above what's considered a normal high tide,

then we get into the tampa, sarasota. and a little bit further to the north, getting closer to the pan handling gets down to about six to nine feet. a tremendous wall of water going to be coming on shore. florida keys feeling this right now, winds gusting 100 to 125 miles per hour, ten to 15 inches of rain when all is said and done and the storm surge of at least ten feet and as we get to sarasota, pretty much the same thing, although the rainfall numbers are lighter. winds of at least 100 miles per hour later today and tonight. rainfall five to eight inches and a storm surge between six and nine feet. back home. here's your exclusive accu-weather seven-day forecast. experiencing beautiful condition, yesterday was lovely. today, equally as nice. of mostly sunny. monday the winning streak continues, 78, increasing clouds tuesday, some remnant rains doesn't look like anything significant. 77 wednesday passing shower

thursday. abc news crews have floor covered. 25 years after andrew slammed the sunshine state, irma is carving out its legacy >> stephanie ramos live for us this morning there in miami florida, we know you have family from florida, you're from miami. talk to us about what conditions are like there now and just the reaction from floridians about this massive storm. >> reporter: we've heard from folks that just cannot believe this massive storm is engulfing the entire state. people are frightened, scared and we've seen millions evacuate either getting out of the south florida or heading into a shelter. right now, we're feeling the rain, pounding down strong winds, we see a lot of the palm trees bending, stop signs are on the ground. it is intense, you don't see anybody, that's a good thing, nobody out there on the streets,

if you do head out, which is not recommended, but you would definitely have to hold on to a railing, hold on to something, because it is just whipping the winds are just whipping everything around, but we wanted a show you video of what it looks like through the south florida right now. the wind and rain is -- as i said really picked up in last couple of hours overnight. but this is the day florida has been anticipating. in south florida, trees are down, some of the streets are flooded. and it has not stopped raining since last night. we've heard from officials, florida's governor putting the state on notice that this is not a storm to mess with. and seems as though most people have heeded that warning and have gotten out of town and have tried to seek some type of shelter that can keep them safe from the storm. this is clearly a life-threatening situation, we heard that from governor rick scott and here in south florida, a storm surge is one of the biggest concerns, the water could rise significantly, pushed

by the hurricane's wind, we're close to a marina where there were boats left there, you know, a lot of the owners, we, tying down those boats, trying to secure them and a lot have -- pretty much under water popping up and down, is very intense situation in south florida, power is out to hundreds of thousands of customers and more than 75,000 people have flocked to shelters. again, a lot of people here in south florida heeding those warnings and going into shelters, no one, you know, a lot of folks we've spoken to that's not the ideal situation, you don't want to leave your home, you don't want to go to this random place, but that is the best thing to do at this point. if you haven't done that, best thing to do is shelter in place and that's what we've heard from officials this morning, do not leave -- do not go out in the streets, stay where you are, try to find most secure part of your house, wherever it is that you are, and stay in place.

nydia, gray. >> our intrepid stephanie ramos covering the story. she's worried about her own family riding out the storm. we're tracking hurricane irma on the 6 abc ap. we'll talk about updates and you can get the latest from team of meteorologists, the 6 abc is a free download for your mobile device. we'll be right back.

many are heading south to help and pseand g crews are gathering about to hit the road and the division manager joins us live to talk about the tasks ahead, good morning thanks for joining us, how many do you have going and what do you anticipate they will do once there? >> from our facility right here, we have over a couple dozen folks going. most of them are line men and we have score personnel and that's part of a contingent about 150 state wide we're sending. >> the utility industry is a special one in that you guys share resources in emergency situations to try to get everyone back up and running as quickly as possible. right? >> that's true. our industry is unique that way. they need our help now.

we're sending our crews, they've sent crews up before obviously during hurricane sandy, we're more than happy to send -- they're all volunteers, sending them down there to help them rebuild the infrastructure once the storm passes. >> right now we're taking a live picture of miami florida. range and gusts, major concern is safety, talk to us about your crews and make sure they're safe and able to help. >> obviously, safety is our number one priority for our folks and all the folks, we anticipate a lot of destruction, a lot of folks obviously are out of power so a lot of the work -- excuse me, they will be working a lot of the work dead but then we have our safety procedures and they're at the folks down there that will follow in terms of whatever processes are in place to make sure our guys --

it's safe to work. they also have their own personal protective equipment to protect them from the conductors. >> thank you so much. we'll be thinking about your folks headed down there and we'll be right back in moment with our coverage of hurricane irma.

>> the latest satellite shot on irma, the eye wall passing over the keys, winds up to 130. action news will be back at 9:00 a.m. we send you to good morning america for latest on hurricane irma.

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hurricane irma slamming into florida. leaving hundreds of thousands w without power. the monster storm battering the keys with 130-mile-per-hour winds. and life-threat. ing storm surge, up to 15 feet. over 20 inches of rain expected in some areas. >> as new warnings come out about the potentially catastrophic category 4 hurricane. >> this is a storm of absolutely miss torque detruktive potential. >> people flee to hower ground. >> i was really scared. >> we have a mad house. >> thousands liping up waiting for hours to get in.