its fury over the florida keys as the powerful category 4 storm slams into the southernmost point. the monster storm moved to the west where it has a potential to gain even more strength from the warm waters of the gulf of mexico. good morning, i'm nydia han along with gray hall. with special action news coverage of hurricane irma. yyou can see the powerful storm as its hour bands moves ashore. the conditions are expected to worsen as the day continues. this is a live picture. west palm beach florida, hurricane irma began latching the state earlier, it was a powerful category 4 as it reached the popular destination spot of the florida keys >> there has been at least three storm related deaths already in florida. one man died when his truck stormed into a tree in marathon near the florida keys.

strong winds thrashed boats around violently in miami like they were children's toys. stephanie ramos in miami with the latest on irma. >> reporter: hurricane irma is roaring into florida. we're seeing some side way rain, you can see behind me the trees being pushed and slammed by very strong and intense winds and this is just the beginning. the day florida has been anticipating is here. >> my gosh. wow. >> reporter: in south florida, trees are down, streets are flooding. >> you can really start to feel the wind and rain coming down. i'm getting blown away here. you know what? we're going to send it back to you, it's getting a little dangerous >> the state put on notice. >> this is not a storm to mess with. >> i can hear the how long, i can just he imagine the amount devastation that's taking place.

>> reporter: the storm tearing itself away from northern coast and head towards key west before moving up the state's west coast >> i'm pretty emotional. just had to console a coworker who is pretty devastated he's going to lose his house probably with the storm surge. and it's hard. it's hard. >> reporter: a storm surge is one of the biggest concerns near here in florida. the water could rise significantly even lifting a boat this size on to land. >> ten to 15 feet of storm surge above ground level, that's just devastating. it will go all up the coast. >> 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. >> reporter: high-rise buildings are experiencing 100 miles per hour winds, garbage cans tipped

over, signs on the ground, trees snapped in half. it is mess and we're expecting the worst tonight. reporting in miami, stephanie ramos, abc news. >> stephanie, thank you so much. please stay safe. our brian taff is in naples where he will feel the brunt of the storm. >> and chris sowers is keeping track of irma looking at where the monster storm headed. let's go to chris for the latest. this thing is a beast. >> it really is. it's still a category 4 storm and now it's become first time in 102 years that we've had two category 4 storms or great hit the united states in the same year. the difference between this storm and hurricane harvey, irma will not stall. we're not expecting 30 to 50 inches of rain, most locations will pick up general six to 12 inches with isolated heavier amounts perhaps as high as 15 to 18 inches, still flooding expected in terms of rainfall with the storm, but it shouldn't be close to what they dealt with

with heavy, coastal devastation is likely. it's getting ready to pound away at the southeastern coast of florida. the wall of water as high as ten, 15 feet. here's the leached. maximum sustained winds up to 130 miles per hour. the eye just crossing right over sugar loaf key in between key west and marathon, and it's this area here, this bright red, that's where we're seeing the strongest wind, that's the eye wall where we're putticing up the 130 sustained winds gusty to 160. we started to talk about this yesterday, the track continued to shift to the west like this, it's now hugging the west coast of the peninsula of florida. you have four quadrants to a storm. now that the track is heading like this, the right front quadrant here is the strongest part. because not only are you taking on the winds, your adding on top

of that the storm's forward speed. so we have winds of 130 miles per hour, the storm is moving approximately ten miles per hour, the greatest gusts will be right in through here, and that's where you don't remember greatest storm surge will be. the worst part of the storm surge, even if the eye were to stay offshore. the worst part of the storm will be battering away at the western coast of florida. here's another look at it on storm tracker 6. there's the eye wall right there. just now crossing over the florida keys. some of the peak wind gusts look like this. a couple locations we have been able to tack a measurement over last couple hours, these winds might have knocked these wind speeds down a little bit. 94 miles per hour, key west, 92, marathon key, 88 miles per hour, two and a half hours ago, we haven't had a report since, more likely their measuring unit down, fort lauderdale 72 and miami, 58, what we're looking at as the eye wall parallels the coast, these winds will start

intensifying by 3:00 this afternoon, marco island up to 125 miles per hour. by 7:00 this evening, fort myers close to 100 miles per hour and as we progress along to sunday and monday, storm lifts north into northern florida and the pan handle and eventually getting into georgia. by the time we get into monday afternoon. so the worse is just now hitting southern florida, i'll be back along in a few minutes, folk more on the storm surge, where the highest waves and the highest wall of water hit and when things begin to clear out >> thank you so much for the update. as chris just mentioned. irma made landfall along the florida keys, it's a powerful storm that could bring catastrophic damage across the west coast. >> this is a live look now from miami beach. you can see the winds really whipping up. look at those palm trees. right now, 810, 638 people are without power. half a million in miami, dade county alone. let's switch to our own brian taff live in naples.

as millions fled florida, you headed to the evacuations. this catastrophic event, i know this is personal now, explain that and what are conditions there now? >> reporter: yes. let start with that nydia. daylight risen over naples, and southwest florida giving sort of a visual evidence to what our other senses frankly have been feeling and experiencing last several hours, the wind is notably picking up. the rain, when it does come is falling with greater intensity. we have no allusions of what's to come. irma is about 20 miles east east coast off the coast of key west. as chris has been telling you. they're getting hammered right now. but what that means is about 100 miles or so away from us, it has made that feared northerly turned and irma is now making a direct path to the west coast of florida, which is where we're standing right now. i'll step out of the way and let jason, our photography give you a sense of what we're dealing

with. sheets of rain perhaps the drama are picking it up. and wind seems to come in straight lines, palm trees are wind ripped while the trees in the foreground of our picture less effective. it's an odd dynamic. there are, as nydia mentioned about 800,000 houses across southwest florida and across southern florida, keep in mind this storm is still offshore. incredible he evidence. wynnfield about 120 miles across, hurricane force winds about 80 miles across, and what that means is that the strong winds, the strongest are very close, perhaps uncomfortably close to where we are right now. gusts here in naples about 38 miles an hour right now. typically standing at about 25 miles an hour. we do expect that as this day goes on, that number will rise dramatically. wind gusts topping 120 miles an hour with sustained winds. near 100 miles an hour. the word sustained is important.

that means a constant barrage of 90 plus miles an hour wind and you're beginning to experience the first of that right now. take a step back if you can. i'll tell the folks that the -- there's a shelter in place order here, which means if you haven't left, it's too late, stay where you are, hunker down and that's what we intended to throughout the duration of this, we're live in naples, brian taff channel 6 action news, nydia, gray? >> stay safe. >> this is video of a power line sparking yesterday when hurricane irma's far reaching band began to hit port st. lucy. right now, hundreds of thousands are without power and crews will need help getting the electricity back on after irma has left. >> bob brooks is live. where peco crew are preparing to head to florida. what do they have to say about the challenges that lie ahead? >> reporter: they almost don't know what those challenges are

going to be, just like everyone else, they're on stand by to see what irma brings, after the storm goes through passes through florida then expected to go up into georgia, we know right now, it's a category 4 hurricane, there's 500,000 people reported in florida right now in southern florida without power and that's where the help comes in. right now, joining me live is craig with peco >> we have 50 peco employees, line workers, safety personnel and other support services heading south starting today to help restore any type of damage that was caused by hurricane irma. and this is part of a larger initiative. we are part of the exelon family of companies, this includes nearby utilities such atlantic city electric and delmarva in delaware. we have 1800 employees and contractors that will be dispatched. >> reporter: where exactly will your countries go?

i know you'll go to florida and georgia, but pretty much on stand by like everyone >> right now we'll be making the multi-day trip, heading to north carolina, the georgia area and then ultimately into florida where we'll be able to get additional understanding of where damage is the most hard hit. what areas need the most help, what can we do to help restore service. so really, taking the q of the host utility whenever we go to offer this type of assistance to understand what's needed and where. >> reporter: we were speaking before, and in the news really you guys put out. this might be one of the biggest restorative efforts ever after major storm. >> it could be. this is one of the largest storms that the florida area is going to be seeing since they've seen some of the larger hurricanes in the past. right now, it's kind of a wait and see approach. we don't really know what's going to happen, we're amassing a large contingent of people including these trucks that are set up and ready to go. being able to answer the call

where we're needed the most. >> guys, certainly, a lot of help is going to be needed. again, no telling where the damage will occur, florida, georgia, parts of the east coast, it's a waiting game right now to see exactly what happens. reporting live in eddy stone, bob brooks, channel 6 action news >> our coverage of irma will continue all morning. we'll have a live report from miami on the conditions in that city as the storm bears down on florida. taking a live look right now west palm beach, chris sowers will have your exclusive accu-weather seven-day forecast when we come back.

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miami was spared a direct hit. the fact that still getting pummeled. >> that's because of the massive size of irma. stephanie ramos live in miami with more on the conditions there -- in that city, stephanie, talk to us about conditions and how things are starting to change there. >> reporter: we are starting to see stronger and stronger winds, we were seeing intense winds a couple hours ago, it's getting stronger and stronger, we've seen small circulations of what looks like a tornado here on the ground below us, and we were

actually under a tornado warning not too long ago. very, very dangerous conditions here in south florida, we actually saw a few people on the ground trying to take pictures and video and witness this massive intense storm. that is highly -- that is not recommended, it is so dangerous to be down there on the ground, miami right now is experiencing 100 miles per hour winds, it is very, very intense here, but i want to show you video of what we've seen here on the ground, the storm surge being the biggest threat to south florida right now. the water could rise three to five feet. which would definitely flood a lot of businesses in this area, this inter coastal area, the winds so intense, rains hitting sideways, all of it picking up in the last half hour. i want to let you know we're in a safe place, where we can hunker down, when you step

outside, it is at the time where you have got to hold on to something and that may not even help you. you are bound to hit the ground. it is so intense out there. but this is the day florida has been anticipating. frees are down, streets flooded. absolutely chaos here in south florida. the state was put on notice a few days ago, florida's governor telling everyone this was not a storm to mess with and a lot of folks heeding, evacuating or seeking shelters and staying in place, intense wind in south florida. we've seen signs violently shaking, garbage bins, tipped over. trees blowing, waves crashing. a lot going on here, very, very intense and a very dangerous situation in south florida. nydia? gray? >> stephanie ramos thanks so much for joining us.

turning to countries, where stephanie, that's not really the worst of it. the eye is over the keys >> part of the reason they won't want anyone out, if that comes loose, it could stab you and very, very dangerous, she's not even in the worst part. as we take a look at storm tracker 6, the worse is across the lower keys right now, and it's the southwestern tip of florida that's going to see the worst of the storm surge and the strongest winds over the next 12 hours or so, we've turned on some of the buoy reports, because i believe some of the instrumentation, the reporting stations are down, we haven't had wind reports in a couple hours, it might be due to fact we're seeing that 130 miles an hour winds field cross over southern florida. south of miami, wind are up to 71 miles per hour, constant wind speeds gusting to 87. we go to the south, here's key

largo, 67 out of the southeast. here is marathon in the florida keys, sustained winds 45 miles per hour gusting to 70 and key west winds out of the north, blowing in a counter clockwise fashion around this storm, we're seeing a northerly wind 61 miles per hour with gusts as high as 76 miles per hour. again, this storm is just now ramping up. the official numbers from the national hurricane center, 130 miles per hour in that eye wall, which is the bright red banding around center of circulation. the eye is that doughnut hole. the worse part of the storm is this massive wall around it right here. that's the eye wall. that's where we're seeing the winds to 130 gusting to 160. and in time, this is -- you can just see it now, the wobbly, it will start making more of a right-hand turn and parallel the western part of florida during the day and most of the tropical computer models are showing good

agreement, they're all saying it will be a western hit, they bring it right through fort myers beach through tampa and eventually into the pan handle and southern georgia when we get into monday. here's a look at future tracker 6. stop the clock around 6:30. here's the eye over naples in fort myers beach, this is the band where we would see the 130 plus miles an hour winds, telephone torrential rain, feeder bands wrapping around. even though it's on the west coast, the east coast is not spared. the winds field is so large, the two and a half times the size of hurricane andrew in 92, tropical storm force winds extend 225 miles from the center of circulation, which is here, almost from here to pittsburgh. so it's a huge winds field. we'll see a storm surge on the east coast as the storm. lifts farther to the north, by 4:00 a.m. monday, jacksonville

seeing heavy rains, this will lift to the north as we get to monday. rainfall totals the difference between this storm and harvey, this one zipping along, we're not expecting to see 30 to 50 inches of rain, most areas will generally see six to 12 inches of rain. isolated heavier amounts to 15 or 20. the worst part of the storm outside of the wind will be this, right here, that wall water. the surge that rushes inland as the eye gets closer to the coast. this comes out, this red shade here, anywhere from nine to 12 feet above what is considered normal high tied level, fort myers, naples, marco island, florida keys within this nine to 12 foot range and extends northward into tampa st. pete area and then we get to six nine feet above what's considered normal high tide. tremendous wall of water coming on shore.

this is what they can expect the florida keys they're seeing now, wind to 1 lunch to 125 miles per hour, rainfall ten to 15 inches, storm surge at least ten feet if not higher, then we go farther to the north and into the sarasota florida area, this impacts are later this evening, winds at least 100 miles per hour, maybe higher. rainfall totals between five and eight inches and your storm surge or the wall of water coming inland between six and nine feet above what's considered normal high tide. the exclusive accu-weather seven-day forecast. the weather back home for us looks great. mostly sunny yesterday was beautiful, today, same thing, 74 degrees, no humidity at all. it will be almost crisp tomorrow morning, look at this low, that in the city of philadelphia, 56, surrounding suburbs in the 40's, monday, sun and clouds, 78, increasing clouds tuesday 78, showers from irma for wednesday and thursday. and highs are in the mid 70's. >> thank you for the update. this morning we're getting

images right here, the national guard tweeted these pictures of more than 800 americans who evacuated from the island of st. martin last night. another 5,000 believed to be trapped after hurricane irma slammed into that island. all of the evacuees are being taken to puerto rican. flights temporarily stopped due to high winds from another hurricane, hurricane jose. back after this. ♪ from fertility services to pre-natal education, we've helped the two of you get this far.

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♪ . ♪ . welcome back to our continuing coverage of hurricane irma. you're looking at a live picture right now of florida city. this is near homested which was flattened by andrew on the east coast but as you can see, the winds are really whipping up right here. you can imagine, as you know this vast storm is more than 300 miles wide and so even though the storm is tracking and has made landfall in the florida keys on the west coast, the east coast still really feeling the impact of this monster storm.

irma's powerful winds whipped palm trees in west palm beach. state officials gave a stern warning to residents to evacuate and we're learning animal control had to rush up in that dangerous weather to rescue more than 50 animals not only left behind but had no way to escape. >> these are dogs that had literally the owners had gone. and they were left either in pens or in yards that they would not be able to get out of. or tethered or chained. >> animal control and florida state attorney said that those residents who left of their pets outside will be charged with animal cruelty. our coverage continues after this.

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hurricane irma lashing the west coast of florida. hundreds of thousands without power. ♪ . ♪ . we sip, we peel, -and we slide! -whoo! nah. like this. grab a large or extra large freshly ground, freshly brewed hot coffee for your chance to win. get your celebration ready. dunkin' donuts. this is coffee. this is winning.

that is the sounds of hurricane irma as it slashed the florida keys this morning, the

monster storm made landfall and is packing a powerful punch. >> good morning, we continue our coverage this morning of hurricane irma. >> the storm is a powerful category 4 unleashing its fury on the keys right now. let's take a live picture from florida city, this is you don't have the the beginning of irma, it will get far worse before better as the hurricane sets its sights on the tampa area next, why so many are being battered by high winds the next and more deadly will be storm surge >> we can tell you three deaths are being blamed on irma, one happened yesterday afternoon when man lost control of his truck after picking up a generator to help his get through the storm. strong winds from the storm also thrashed boats around violently in miami like they were just toys. about 628,000 people are without power across the state of florida as winds tear apart power lines and rip trees from the roots. >> we have live team coverage of

hurricane irma, action news anchor brian taff is in naples. >> chris sowers is keeping a track of irma. let's begin with the latest on this storm. chris. >> good morning, irma is still a category 4 storm, maximum sustained winds up to 130 miles per hour, we have gusts as high as 160 miles per hour, which ask over category 5 strength, huge storm, the winds field 225 from the center of circulation which is just now could saying overtime florida keys. here's key west, marathon both locations just taking a pounding right now. they're in the eye wall. where we're seeing those 130 miles per hour winds, key largo looks like you're outside of the eye wall, that area as well has picked up a tremendous amount of rain over last six hours, and a huge storm surge. we're seeing the wall of water come on shore now, irma track made landfall somewhere to the east of key west, somewhere around sugar loaf happened about an hours ago now we expect it to

push more off to the east-northeast making that right-hand turn and as it does, as the center gets closer to the coast that wall of water starts coming on shore and this is an area you have to remember you get into naples, fort myers beach, the everglades national park, they're only about three, if i feet above sea level to begin with and we're expecting a storm surge of at least ten feet that's the average size of say the first floor of a building. i've seen reports forecasts where some areas could see a storm surge as high as 15 feet, a tremendous amount of water will come on shore here over the next ten, 12 hours. then irma will continue on its journey and head through florida sunday into sunday night. somewhere between tampa and orlando as we get to the late afternoon, early evening hours and look at the winds feel. let's go back quick. you can see the huge massive wind field as it's sitting near tampa, we pick up an easterly wind piling the water on shore across the east coast and

picking up a westerly wind down in naples, the water is piling on here, and there. both coasts are beginning to take on a storm such, six to nine feet in the tampa st. pete area, fort myers could be ten so 15 then the storm lifts north off to the pan handle of florida and georgia and everything starts to calm down as this tremendous storm starts to use some of its power. fort myers, florida the impacts will be felt this evening. rainfall totals eight to 12 inches and a storm surge anywhere from ten to 15 feet. as chris has been telling us all morning, irma expected to batter the west coast of florida with powerful winds, that is certainly not all >> along with those winds will be heavy rain and the possibility of storm surges several feet high. anchor brian taff in naples for us this morning, what are the conditions like there right now?

i know the concern is that storm surge. >> reporter: yes. in a word, deteriorating and quickly at that gray and nydia, rain coming down significantly the wind kicking up from time to time. current conditions here are the 40 wind gusts with a consistent wind speed just north of about 30 miles an hour, so nothing -- it pales in comparison to the story, later today, but we got word from the associated press the storm made landfall down in the key west, it is still about 80 miles, 90 miles from where we are right now, we know the worst is yet to come. there's been so much talk about the breadth of this thing, the size of this storm and i got a few pieces of video to show you evidence of that. let's go first to miami, you see images this morning, this is one scene which shows the intensity of the winds they're dealing with right now, keep in mind miami is very far from the center of this thing given

they're on the east coast of this state and this storm is now off the west coast of this state. one more piece of video from the miami dade area, a flag torn shreds. they're on the northeast quadrant of this massive hurricane where the winds tend to be the worst, we're preparing for the arrival of those winds but i did mention the landfall in the keys, let's take you down to the keys and key largo where they're dealing with the wrath of irma right now, this is some video from key largo showing the intensity of the situation there. driving winds. incredibly intense wind and rain, they're dealing with the brunt of this right now as mentioned it is coming our way. let's come on back live and bring jason our photography out here, we're standing on a narrow balcony, about a half mile away from the gulf of mexico.

you can see the buildings in the distance. those buildings all line the beverage. i can tell you from having been here last night. not a single light on in those buildings, people heeded the advice of first responders and officials, get out. they have done that and there's a shelter in place order, which means if you've not left yet. you can't do it now. you're not going to out run this thing, stay put. stay where you are. and indeed, that is exactly what we're doing right now as the situation deteriorates. we want to assure all of our viewers and you guys back there we're take every precaution as well. we are loaded up with batteries. a lot of food we brought, in good company with fellow abc crews, on the fifth story of this hotel, well above what we think could be a nine to 15, for the storm surge that would put easily the first floor of this hotel under water. i mentioned earlier, but this place is a bit of a second home. my folks live, three, four miles down the road. they are not here today, they're

in new york, spend the winter months but i know this place like the back of my hand, i feel fearful for what we will see when irma passes through, about we're here to weather the storm and bring the story home to you as so many of you also have family in this area, mothers and fathers, grandmother and grandpa. we're keeping an eye on the situation. live, brian taff, channel 6 action news >> we're glad your parents are safe and certainly you and jason your photographer >> 800,000 people have lost power >> the difficult tasks of getting the lights back on will begin, bob brooks live eddy stone, crews are preparing to head down to the storm zone to help out. >> nydia and gray we're at the peco station, like you said, almost a million 800,000 people without power, going to need help, that's where the help is starting to come from here in

the delaware valley. they're sending 50 employees plus 150 contractors in a 30, truck car van, behind me you can see they're starting to get that ready, they will take down whatever they can to try and restore power after irma blows through, we know it's a category 4 hurricane going through south florida and coming up through the east coast right now. and they said they will and prepared for anything, and what's most important is some of the officials at peco told me they remember all of the help they had when super storm sandy came through and all the help from other utility countries from around the country that came in to get the power back on here. that's the favor they want to return. let's take a listen. >> we know that there's going to be a lot of work to be done, obviously, preparing for the worst, hoping for the best. but our crews are standing by, they're making their way down and ready to respond where they're needed the most. it will be a damaging and challenging time for southern florida and for possibly even georgia, we want to make sure we're there, providing the

resource that is they need when they need it. >> reporter: glad to see that happening, certainly hope for the best down there, we hope for the least amount of damage in all, going to be about 1800 employees and contractors leaving the area heading down there, we know they will symptom at north carolina when they get far enough south tonight. they will spend the night and tomorrow when they get up. assess the damage and get right back to work to get that power back on. reporting live in eddy stone, bob brooks channel 6 action news. challenging journey but we know they're up for the task. thank you. a u.s. military operation rescued more than 800 americans who were stranded on st. martin island southeast of puerto rico. c-130 aircraft from the puerto rican kentucky and new york air national guard have been evacuating americans throughout the weekend. and this is video taken by the 106 wing of the new york air national guard of people on a c-130 aircraft flying to puerto rican, an official said the

operations will expand hurricane jose passes st. martin >> we'll have more coverage as the storm bears down on the sunshine state. >> this is west palm beach as irma continues to lash at florida, of course, this system will be a problem for several hours to come. already reports of over a million people without power. meteorologist chris sowers will have a look at the latest location and your exclusive accu-weather seven-day forecast when we see you after the break.

sflfrment before hurricane irma radio ashore it was whipping up waves in the florida keys, this man decided to take pictures at the famed southernmost point landmark yesterday and a wave washed over the wall knocking him off his feet. state officials warned people to evacuate the keys long before the weekend. and irma's arrival this morning. i just tweet that day. i hope that guy is ok. chris sowers is tracking

irma for the next several hour, florida will get pummeled >> key west is an area we haven't had reports over the last couple hours, i'm wondering if some of the instrumentation is damaged. let's go to storm tracker 6, we put the buoys on, we're reporting wind gusts as high as 87 miles per hour, look how far away miami sits from where the eye wall come on shore, across the lower florida keys, that's a pretty good distance here, to pick up that wind it shows you how massive the wind field is with this storm, tropical storm force winds 39 to 73 miles per hour, extends 225 miles from the center of circulation. 225 miles in all directions. from the center of circulation. it's just a huge, huge storm. the track is going to take it just like this paralleling the western coast of florida over the next 12 hours or so. here's another look on the infrasatellite shot maximum

sustained winds, it's a pretty strong category 4 storm. and what you're looking at, the doughnut hole is the eye, the call. part of the storm, this little ring is the eye wall. that's where we're seeing those powerful winds. the latest track from the national hurricane center is situated about 15 miles to the northeast of key west and it is moving off to the north, northwest now, at eight miles per hour, the pressure reading continues to climb a little bit, which is a good sign, sign it's trying to weaken but still a massive storm. as we get to later this afternoon, 6:00, winds still 130 miles per hour, passing by fort myers beach and approaching tampa st. pete area and we stop the clock again on 2:00 a.m. monday, winds 115 miles per hour, center is just offshore of tampa and starting to make the left-hand turn getting into the pan handle of florida and then eventually georgia and alabama. notice how quickly it starts to

weaken once we remove it from the warm gulf waters, that's the source of its energy, once the gets over land it starts to collapse. florida is in the thick of the it now through, let's say, monday morning, you can see that with the sustained wind field. hurricane force winds in red, fort myers, naples, a fort myers beach, tampa, st. pizza, seeing sustained winds to 125 miles per hour. as we fast forward to 4:00 monday, northern portions in the pan handle of florida reporting hurricane force winds and by how much time you can see how quickly everything starts to shrink. the wind field begins to kind of shrink a little bit, the storm is losing the influence of the water where it gathers its strength. rainfall totals i took key largo one of several locations i could have did this almost all of south florida, you can see how much rain the forecast models are putting out. they already picked up over four

inch, the american nam said there's still a foot to come. these predict an additional six to eight inches and the rpm is picking up only an additional 2.53. the storm surge will be the biggest problem, nine to 12 foot wall of water for the western shores of florida, naples, fort myers, marco island nine to 12 feet, getting into tampa st. pete, nine to 12 above. tampa 100 miles per hour wind, that's tonight. storm surge six to nine feet and severe damage is expected. now, in case you're wondering why our weather has been so nice, part of the reason why this storm is not going to come up the eastern sea board, it will go like this it it has had a huge area of high pressure shutting the northern door, it will keep the storm to the south and therefore, we'll see lovely weather over the next several days, look at this, exclusive

accu-weather seven-day forecast, crisp and cool tomorrow morning, 56 in the city, surrounding suburbs dropping down to the 40's, probably going to have to close the windows. monday be sun and clouds, 78, maybe a little bit of remnant rain or showers from irma by wednesday, 77 degrees. they're taking a pounding down there, getting lost in all of this, and it's how well >> we're looking good here, chris, thank you. before hurricane irma began its track towards floor, it left a path of destruction across the caribbean, we're getting these pictures right now of the damage from cuba, irma raked across the coast of santa clare yesterday, many homes flooded and before hitting cuba, pounded turks and caicos, homes badly. damaged or destroyed. an entire community of the northwestern side is wiped out. back after this.

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currently between 130 and 160 miles per hour, the wind field is massive. picking up hurricane force winds in miami, sustained winds out of the east at 70 miles per hour on south beach and gusts as high as 87 miles per hour. we'll take a look at future tracker 6. by 9:30, the eye is getting close to the everglades national park in southwest florida. and then by 7:00, you can see it's right around fort myers, fort myers beach, the heavy rains indicated by the purplish color and as we continue to progress into early monday morning, it lifts north's tampa then getting into the pan handle in southern georgia by monday afternoon, a lot of wind, huge storm surges for almost the entire western side of florida and a tremendous amount of rain, back home this is what you can expect. it's just absolutely lovely for us, 74 lots of sun today. 78 for monday, sun and clouds and milder, and the winning

streak continues through tuesday, increasing clouds 78. there may be some remnant rains a couple of showers from irma start moving in by wednesday, doesn't look like anything significant at this point. >> thank you so much. anchor brian taff is in naples. he will continue live reports this afternoon and this evening on hurricane irma. >> we now go back to good morning weekend and continuing coverage of hurricane irma >> we will be back at noon and have much more on the local reaction and help being extended to those affected >> for gray hall, chris sowers and the entire action news team, i'm nydia han, have a great sunday morning, we'll see you back at noon.

. good morning america. happening now. >> it's horrifying. absolutely horrifying. >> hurricane irma making landfall in florida. treacherous 130 mile per hour winds downing power lines. life-threatening storm surge up to 15 feet and over 20 inches of rain expected in some areas. >> the monster storm's death toll climbing. fatalities now reported in florida. plus new warnings about the potentially catastrophic category 4 hurricane. >> people are losing their power. they are losing their cell service. we're going to have storm surge along the west coast. >> people fleeing to safer ground. >> i was really scared about the storm. >> jamming interstates and filling evacuation centers to capacity. >> it's a madhouse. >> thousands lining up outside

one arena waiting for hours to get in. >> we don't have anymore space. >> others hunkering down wherever they can. >> this is the worst. >> trying to ride out this storm. >> i won't lie. it's definitely frightening. >> our david muir and amy robach on the ground in florida leading our team coverage with all you need to know. this is a special edition of "good morning america," hurricane irma, monster storm. good sunday morning everyone. hurricane irma is making a flow and terrifying treacherous march up the west coast of florida as a massive category 4 storm calling this the big one. >> this monster storm just made landfall a short while ago in the florida keys. we have fresh images of key west already seeing heavy flooding overnight irma gained strength. it is now packing 130 mile an hour winds, rain and catastrophic storm surge and on top of all of that tornados. >> we have learned we can call it a killer, at least three

deaths blamed on irma. more than 6 million floridians have been told to evacuate. 124,000 people are riding the storm out in shelters and over 1 million are without power all because of irma. >> there is as we have said fear of catastrophic and life-threatening damage. we have team coverage led by david muir who is on the ground in naples, a place where they're expecting a direct hit in a few hours and "gma's" amy robach in miami. >> our team covering every an e angle. we're start with ginger zee with where irma is. who is taking the brunt of irma? >> the keys are steel feeling it and even if you're feeling the calm you're in the eye. you'll still have a backside of this storm. i'll take you straight to the radar. you see the eye north and east of where key west is and north of where it made landfall just about 9:00, 10:00 this morning.

those outer bands by key largo up to miami could have 80 to 100 mile per hour gusts in miami for the next two hours. the hurricane forced winds take over the entire state. the tornado watch that extends up there to west palm beach, hollywood is included, fort lauderdale and back to ft. myers, the track is what everybody wants to see. the latest update. we'll get a new one in about an hour. it is hugging along the west coast pushing water and that storm surge so deadly up against these beaches, inlets and bays so vulnerable. by tampa, monday 2:00 a.m. overnight tonight into tomorrow. it is right there in the center of the state and moves quickly up and into alabama and tennessee where it weakens considerably. just to note, 10 to 15 foot surge. you'll hear more about this. this is the big one, not just the storm but the biggest threat. you have rainfall and tornados and too much to talk about. >> a new track in about an hour?

>> yes. >> quickly on tampa, i think that's the largest city on the west coast there. metro area roughly 4 million. it's been designated as one of the most vulnerable to flooding. how vulnerable are they? >> in this day with this track, it is a frightening situation that could set up. you could start to see concentrated water 5 to 8 feet of storm surge and remember, you add on 10 inches of rain. so the water has nowhere to go. i think people don't quite understand the power of how water moves and can move objects including cars and potentially homes. >> tampa has missed hurricanes for many, many years. it looks like that lucky streak is running out. we want to show you some incredible video of the power of this storm. this is a storm chaser named justin drake braving the winds in the keys. take a look and a listen. >> and what justin and his fellow storm chaser simon are

doing here, they are clocking the winds and they clocked it at 117 but they said that was a very conservative and modest number. it has to be much more. >> it could have been higher and the radar has not updated for about a half hour out of key west so they're having issues because of how strong it is. >> a lot of people look at this video and the phrase don't try this at home comes to mind. what's the benefit? >> i would love to have an instrument that didn't have a human attached to it. that would be even better but we need the information. getting information from a storm like this helps you to predict in the future. that's what that specific person would probably say. in my own experiences and there are other storm chaser who is have mounted items and tools that can be put out and you're in a safe place. >> thank you. we want to go to amy robach in miami where the dangerous winds are hitting hard. good morning amy. >> reporter: good morning paula and dan. yes, this is the strongest we

have seen and felt the wind since we started reporting since we have been up since 4:00 this morning. it is whipping. the last report was a 71 mile per hour gust and we're expecting as you just heard ginger said 80 to 100 mile per hour gusts over the next few hours. and it is treacherous out there. the trees are coming down and apart and going across the streets. we have signs and metal flying and going across the street. so anyone who is even thinking about going out, it is not safe. we are six floors up in a fortified building and i have concrete walls on either side of me and above me. it's remarkable to show you what we are seeing and hearing and feeling here. it is incredibly frightening to look out and see the power of the wind and all the water that is washing up here, we already have a three foot storm surge reported here. i'm right next to biscayne bay and there are white caps and water lapping over right now and

on to the streets. we have flooding already. it's really treacherous out here and for the next couple hours we're in the thick of things. my colleaguecolleague gio is ne. you evacuated earlier this week. good morning. >> reporter: good morning amy. that's exactly why we evacuated. because we -- whoa. we feared these winds are really intense here. i mean, you could see that. but we really feared that the keys were going to get some sort of direct hit by that eye and that's why we left. because if one of those 42 bridges in florida keys comes down we're in trouble. let's zoom in here. this piece of a fence right here is flapping all over the place. we are seeing debris and hearing pops now in downtown miami. you might remember throughout the morning we have been talking about the potential, the danger of windows breaking. that's what we have seen during

hurricanes and now hearing popping sounds. i want to zoom into the building right there. can you see that? it looks like windows have started to pop open. do you see that louis? okay. so you can see that these windows have popped open. we hasn't seen that before so we don't know how these buildings are going to fair as we get these stronger winds. there's a strong rain band moving through over the next two hours here so this is going to get worse and worse. we are also getting reports now of some cranes in danger of collapsing. they are showing signs of buckling and perhaps in danger of collapsing. we have to watch for that. really serious situation here in downtown miami amy. >> reporter: yeah. that's right, gio. we got a report of an 82 mile per hour gust here in miami and that's no surprise given what we're seeing and feeling. we have a couple downed power lines all around us. last report over 600,000 people just in miami-dade county alone

without power. paula and dan back to you. >> amy, i want to eemphasize a point for our viewers that you are taking precautions. you showed us earlier the fact that you are in a protected area surrounded by concrete and we saw that gio has a teether holding on to that balcony. we are making sure everybody is as safe as possible in this storm. now, one thing to keep in mind those guys are in miami which is 100 miles away from the eye of the storm. that eye is closer to key west where things are extremely hectic and earlier we spoke with somebody who decided to stay behind there. zack and his family are riding out the storm in key west. >> good morning to you. we want to say thanks for joining "good morning america." you're in a three story concrete building with your family of five. ginger says you should be feeling the worst of the winds right now. can you tell us what the situation is like? >> i believe this is absolutely the worst. you can hear it.

this is concrete building, the shutters and the door, that wind is blowing. we have a sink. we can hear something going on. the wind seems to be sucking through that. i won't lie. it's definitely you know, a frightening -- my wife is here -- you know -- we're not sure what's out there or what we're going to see when we open the door. from what we hear there's definitely -- yeah. >> yeah. we can hear that eery whistle in the background. we thought it was cell phone noise but apparently it is the storm. i know you're there with your family. do you have children with you and how is everybody doing? >> yeah. we're doing well. we're all together. you know, we are, you know, all five of us in here and we have no power but we're doing fine. >> i know you're supporting one another but the sound, we can't get over it, that whistle. how disconcerting is it to hear

that, that wind outside? >> it's horrifying. absolutely horrify. >> that's my wife cammie. >> cammie, can you tell us about how disconcerting this sound is and are you regretting that you decided to stick it out? >> given the information we had we originally did decide we were going to leave and then as the storm shifted we decided we would not go to miami as we originally intended. and then it changed again and at a point in time we made up our minds to stay and we were committed and i don't know that we would do anything different because we wouldn't have had any different information. >> boy, that howling is harrowing. can you tell us about the precautions that you have taken to deal with what you're facing right now? >> yeah. of course, we boarded up our house.

we're at a friend of ours' house. his condo. he's on the third floor. we have life jackets, generator. we boarded up. we have a radio. we have a total of 20 cases of water. nonperishable food. we filled the bathtubs up with water. if we need to flush the toilets. we have prepared for the worst and hoping for if best. but obviously, we prepared for the worst and we're in the midst of the worst, right? i want to go back to something a lot of people ask, why did you stay and, you know, how was that choice made. you know, when we saw this it was the entire state of florida, right. where do you go at that point? where do you escape this? you just make a decision and the great thing about key west is it's one human family. we have some neighbors and we all bonded together and we're riding this out.

>> and there are so many stories like that, folks that know the pea peril and danger they're in. they're writing their social security number on their arms. one said this is the worst storm they have seen in the century and now we are hearing parts of the keys are completely under water. >> we just got this one in. the car in the foreground, water only up to the wheel well. the next photo shows the car in the distance and you can't see -- it's now been taken over and perhaps the same car, we're not sure but perhaps starting to move. these are the types of images i've seen on twitter, too, some structures coming down. just because the eye wall and eye have passed north does not mean the threat of surge is over. i just talked to my aunt and the one person who stayed behind said their canal they live on has been pulled out to the bay and it looks like a beach and the water eventually has to come back. on both sides of bay and ocean

you have got water coming at you. you know, just to go through timing, the other thing people need to know is what time is it worst? you shouldn't be outdoors anywhere really all day today in the state of florida or tomorrow for the northern half. i want to take you through the track. it's really important, 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., naples and 5:00 to overnight tampa. tomorrow morning, tallahassee monday afternoon and powerful and plenty of rain and wind up in alabama. >> really dies down once it gets to the northern part. thank you. we want to go to david muir. david is in naples where they're feeling the effects of irma and bracing for the worst this afternoon. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. great to be with you. we are seeing wind gusts right now in naples. keep in mind as you heard ginger say the direct hit here is expected between 2:00 and 5:00 this afternoon. the forecast is at least 100

mile per hour winds and those are sustained winds. you can see the gusts right now. sustained winds over the course of a couple of hours is not just a direct hit or one time shot through this area. it's going to be battering this area for some time. they're expecting gusts far higher than that. people have been told that when you get to 100 miles per hour or more to expect tornado-like damage. with our crew, once we get to those conditions we'll likely be huddled inside the building we're here with these fortified walls. the plan is for everyone to be okay. in addition to the winds, the real concern in naples is the storm surge we talked about. they are forecasting now a storm surge between 10 and 15 feet and naples sits three feet above sea level. you could imagine the concern. well inland of salt water anywhere between 10 and 15 feet. as ginger pointed out, we cannot

underscore this, this is something that can lift cars up and take them down streets and unfortunately can do real damage to homes even lift them off foundations if people don't heed the warnings. i talked to the mayor a short time ago who told me he believes people, even though the track changed 24 hours ago, that people did heed the call to get out. we'll be here all afternoon. dan and paula. >> that is the one piece of good news david. we know you're going to be there all afternoon leading our coverage and you are in for a hairy few hours. no question. ginger, not just naples, but straight up the west coast of florida. >> and includes the east coast. we have seen an updated storm surge of almost 5 feet in miami already, already and how far away miami is. i want to show you the wind field. 160 miles wide around that eye. look at nches of

rain. that would not be a good case even for atlanta going into monday night/tuesday. >> so many will feel the effects. ginger. make sure you download the abc news app now and sign up for breaking news alerts on hurricane irma and we want to send things to rob marciano who is in sarasota for us. what's the situation like there? >> before you talk i want to play sound that we have got earlier from the governor of florida telling us one of the greatest concerns is the storm surge. have a listen to that. >> my biggest worry is the people that didn't evacuate and they don't understand the risk of the storm surge. last year we got storm surge up in the panhandle and this water comes in and fills up your house and goes out. people -- this lady i can tell you a story about. she wanted to stay because of her pets. she was in a one-story house. the water got to three feet. she knew she wouldn't survive.

thank god when she left to try to get away there was a high water vehicle leaving and she survived. of course, her pets didn't. but i just hope people understand that this storm surge is just deadly. >> governor rick scott of florida. rob is further up the coast north. rob, you're still hours away from this storm surge. is it your sense that people are taking this seriously? >> reporter: for the most part, yes. we just saw people -- a woman walking her dog who is staying in evacuation zone a with a bunch of neighbors hoping for the best here. just to echo the governor's point, the wind, you can get to a brick building and protect yourself and hide from it. you can hide from the wind, but the water, it will find you. that is the most frightening part of storm surge. this water is sarasota bay. it will be up and over this

storm wall and find these streets in the height of the storm. right now the winds are blowing this way so the surge is nonexistent but as it moves up the coastline then the winds go this way. and that brings all the water behind me and pushes it up against these seawalls and into what is a stone's throw from me downtown sarasota and there you see the northern part of sarasota bay. there is so much water here. there is a barrier island out there. okay. that certainly helps protect. but there was a barrier island during hurricane katrina and you know what happened there. the only saving grace is that we're not going to have a long fetch because it's hugging the coast so closely. that is the only saving grace as far as storm surge but we'll get harder with wind. dan and paula. >> rob marciano in sarasota.

rob stay safe. we want to take some live pictures in miami. miami-dade police are unable to respond to callers right now because of the situation but what you're looking at right now, that appears to be a crane that has snapped in the winds. we know these cranes are designed to withstand some pressure and some wind. but there's so many of these cranes littering the sky line because these skyscrapers are going up in a hurry. >> one of the things that makes florida vulnerable, there's been a huge building boom and what they do with the crane is let them spin. they're designed to spin. but it looks like that crane and this is still early in the storm, that crane has not survived the wind. >> and where there used to be orange groves and i heard the talk about impact to orange groves, they have developed into homes and developments. there's population across the state of florida where there wasn't always. a storm of this widths and breath means so much with

hurricane forced winds plus the rainfall that perhaps just went up. >> we will be keeping our eye on this situation with the crane. >> absolutely. ginger, thank you. thank you all of our correspondents out there. we have much more team coverage of this monster storm coming up. >> it is the big one. we'll be right back on this sunday morning. ♪ oh, look... another anti-wrinkle cream in no hurry to make anything happen. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair® works in just one week. with the fastest retinol formula available. it's clinically proven to work on fine lines and wrinkles. one week? that definitely works! rapid wrinkle repair®. and for dark spots, rapid tone repair. neutrogena®. see what's possible.

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. welcome back everybody on a harrowing sunday morning. hurricane irma has made landfall in the florida keys and will be marching up the west coast all day and through the night. >> we can say it's a deadly storm. three deaths and more than 1 million floridians are without power. let's go to david muir in naples. good morning david. >> reporter: good to be with you again. you can see the winds starting to pick up in naples. we're still five to six hours away from when the storm hovers right off the coast of naples. it's hugging the coastline with the track. just to keep in mind we have -- you can see it's taking a power hit because of this. the temperatures and the water right off the coast of naples, keep this in mind, that mid to upper 80s, that's what's