a category five is as high as the category scale goes to work no remains nearby. holes in the roof get so big that the walls of the house start to fall and they are not attached to anything anymore with debris in the neighborhood. catastrophic damage, but again that is just from the wind and there are other impacts from hurricane and a very through the season so stick with the weather channel to keep you safe. >> we will continue to watch the track of hurricane irma and bring you updates from governmental officials as they happen here on the c-span network. >> next, discussion about the faced realignment and closure process. lawmakers

you can see how the unique box for the middle eastern/north african category, response category, and when checked boxes represent the region, if you will, and we also have a right and because unfortunately we can't provide checkboxes for all the different groups. we wouldn't have enough space on the form to do that. we went with the largest groups have represented the region and if you are not represented in the checked box you can write it in. that also worked really well as well, okay? so where are we at now? what i wanted to let you know is moving forward, so we also conducted another content test in the american committee survey. what i been talking to primary is about the census, but we have a very large survey called american community survey that we want to make sure that the proposed changes that the sensor is doing works well with the american community survey because it's a landmark survey. we just released this report just yesterday, and i have positive news. it worked really well. the combined version with the mena category so we're very side excited about that. right now

if a category 3 storm brings -- a category 3 storm brings with it 12 to 15 feet of water. this puts most single floor homes and businesses under water. a category 4, now we're dealing with the 15 to 20-foot storm surge. that will cover two-story homes and businesses and when you get to category 5, that is enough to overwhelm entire coastal cities and towns with 20 to 24 feet of coastal surge. >>> until the threat of hurricane irma is gone our verify team is dedicated to separating fact from fiction on all the things that you're seeing pop up there online and in your social media feeds. take this, for instance, this post being shared and copied all over the place online. it purports to claim you can successfully charge your cell phone with a 9-volt battery. we wanted to take this one to the experts. >> to do this we would look at the battery, find the negative portion and the on one side we'd hook up the negative and on the other side we'd connect it with the red. we then take the adapter on the side. this is going to be our negative or ground position. so we will connect t

a category 4. if it was a category 5, that's the highest category. it does not go higher than that.n this category, basically what we say the homes are unhabitable or no longer existed for weeks if not months, doug. so really serious now. we're getting a better handle on the track and it's not changing. you've talked about the keys of miami all week. as you said earlier, i really like this, now is the time to leave. >> most definitely. as bad as the news is around the miami area. it's a little bit better to the north. they're starting mandatory evacuations up around portions of georgia. the track now, no longer it was back over the ocean and then actually strengthening again around savannah and charleston making land fall. but now it's category 1 hurricane of 90 miles an hour as it traverses the entire span of the peninsula here. that means everybody in florida is going to get hit, whether it's tampa, orlando, daytona, jacksonville, less of an impact over towards the carolinas. it goes well to our west. that means for us this is the rain event as we make our way in towards next week

the storm has intensified a bit, 155 mile wind come a very strong category for, almost category five,but it is tracking to the northwest and then jogging to the east as a begins to wea ken, so no threat to the mainland united states, very little threat to puerto rico, so good news there. around here for the weeke this. low humidity, lots of sunshine, and temperatures will be a little below average. tomorrow, the high perfect for college football games, al gore activities, maybe going to the pool --outdoor activities, maybe going to the pool. redskins pulling sunday, 74 degrees, very little wind to worry about. the 10 day outlook from sunday, 737, 72 monday. tuesday and wednesday, the remnants of irma may bring showers and a clouds. once that is out of here, thursday and friday, middle 70's. then we warm up towards the end of the following weekend. support victims of hurricane irma by donating to the red cross. jonathan: 7 on your side consumer headlines -- did uber spy on lyft? manhattan justice department is looking into whether they use software to spy. attorneys are investigating i

>> moving forward, it's expected to stay a category 4 or 5. we're not seeing any weakening with this thing until it makes landfall. that could very well be in the u.s. florida still in the cone here. we saw the updates coming in. we'l h 5:00 a.m. we have radar imagery from puerto rico. this is why we're able to see the rain. really showing us an incredibly organized hurricane. still a category 5. the eye of it off the coast of the dominican republic. it will be passing to the north of it. hurricane-force winds. it's not too far from the u.s. it will be approaching florida and the bahamas this weekend. i'm going to show you this track. the next update will be at 5:00 this morning. category 5. potentially the center of it staying north of cuba. in between cuba and the bahamas. water temperatures close to 90 degrees. that's typical for this time of year. the north turn will happen sometime early saturday and that north turn will put florida in the cone. the entire state of florida. anywhere in this cone it could go. uncertain about where in flori

it is a category five. it's been a category five for a long time and people are really respecting it. also the images that came out of houston. that was an impression. so, yes, we're getting prepared. we are prepared today and it was good to see that a lot of people have done their preparations. traffic was very light, which indicates to me that they had already done what they were going to do and they were hunkering down for the storm. >> for those who have not, and we're going to hear from some of them later this hour, but for those who have not, at what point is it too late? because we know one of the worst places to be is on the road when a storm hits. at what point would you say, if you haven't gone, you need to stay? >> it is difficult to say. how many people make that decision at the last minute. but i know that a lot of people have already made that decision and already left. the people that need to evacuate can evacuate into a friend's house, coworkers, et cetera here in miami dade county. but, you

end category 5. we've seen the expansion of hurricane watches and warnings. they're pushing further north. weect pelkt them to continue to push further north as we get closer to land fall itself. the timing of land fall, especially say around the key west region likely between 4 and 7:00 a.m. on sunday morning. long before then you're going to start to see the outer bands push very heavy showers and thunderstorms into portions of southern florida and you'll start to see some of the storm surge begin to build. from west palm beach to key west is expected to be 5 to 10 feet. 8 to 12 feet from naples down to key west. even as far north as tampa we're talking three to if i ever feet. so again we knew this storm would intensify a little bit more. it has already done so. i know you've mentioned this many times. so many people have mentioned it. get out of florida. if you have, get out. you have very little time left but there is still some time left. >> i've got derek van dam on the ground for us in florid

>> well, right now the storm is fluctuating in intensity between category 4 and category 5.uch of, for example, if they say it's a category 5 and then they make it a category 4, it shouldn't give people the impression that it's weakening, because what's really primarily driving the intensity of the storm right now are what we call eye wall replacement cycles where it's building itself a new eye every eight, ten, 12 hours. and as it goes through those cycles, they weaken. but then as that new eye wall consequence dates, the storm intensifies again. so it's possible that the storm could gather another 10 or 15 knots of energy tonight. it's very possible it could do that. but even if it doesn't at its present intensity, and it's forecast to hit land at very close to its present intensity, it is going to be an extreme event for south florida. >> and regardless of whether it's -- you know, i know it's important for data collection how far it comes in to the shore, but even if it hits, no matter where it hits now, florida is going to be impacted hugely by this storm. >> we dropped

that moved it from category five to a category four. and it could go up again? absolutely.ing over warm water, that feeds it, gives of the energy, maintains the energy and so it could extra strength and again by five miles an hour into a category five over the next 12 to 24 hours or so. the difficulty is the turn to the north and that is the crucial bit. so far it has followed a fairly steady path over warm waters, maintained its intensity for so long, it has been strongerfar intensity for so long, it has been stronger far longer intensity for so long, it has been strongerfar longer than intensity for so long, it has been stronger far longer than any other, but we're expecting it to turn to the north and that means florida is in the firing line. the turn is happening a little bit later so the track has changed positions lately. you can see the centre of moving up to the keys by sunday morning and then inland over mainland florida a bit later on in the day. when it hits land, is it because it hits land and hits buildings and trees, that that can actually contribute to a shif

it'sow a category 4 storm. went from category 1 to category 5 in a mere 15 hours. that makes it the most powerful hurricane to ever make landfall in domenica. initial reports from the caribbean island are grim. prime minister posting on facebook there is quote, wide spread devastation. >> 72,000 people on that island and it was a direct rough hit. the governor there says his great es fear is finding out about injuries and fatalities later today when they can get out and secure the procedure medical assistance. now puerto rico bracing for its own direct hit on wednesday. the national hurricane center warning maria is likely to cause live threatening flash floods and mood slides. i want to get right to the meteorologist. look at the path of that storm, the virgin islands are in its path too. just a really awful, awful kind of echo of what we've already seen. >> it is. the storms we've seen from jose to irma, harvey. we're essentially seeing them one after another. with this particular one, we see this sitting as a strong category 4. it has kept the winds at 155 miles

a category 3 storm, 12 to 15 feet of water. that will put most single floor homes and businesses under water. category 4, now we're with 15 to 20 feet of coastal surge, covering two story homes and businesses, and with a category 5, that is enough to wipe out homes and businesses 20 to 24 feet, the wall of water just pushing in and really overwhelm towns. >> thank you. >>> here is the forecast of the storm surge in feet. now, you look at this purple here, 12 feet plus, you know, that is mainly along the ever glades, but even toward homestead, you see the red, that is about 9 to 12 feet, in miami, anywhere from 3 to 6 to maybe nine feet so right now this model has the highest storm surge right over the ever glades. that is the good thing. that is what would stabilize and save the property at this point so pretty strong storm surge up to naples. that is not good. if we see anything close, miami and homestead, a little bit better, in fact, only about 3 to 6 feet in miami. homestead, a different story as you go inland a little bit.

we have jose, a category 3. irma, a category 4. and katia, a category 1. it is very active in the gulf and the atlantic basin. we said that earlier this year in june that we were expecting a very active season and mother nature did not let us down at all. currently, we have really nice conditions. a couple of clouds, that's it. and current temperatures, 58 degrees. coming up in just a bit, we'll talk about what to expect for the rest of today and through the entire weekend. >> well, we have a report of an accident that i want to get you up to speed with. this is in warrington township at limekiln park. 476 at baltimore pike, more cars on the roadway, but still not a lot of problems to speak of as of right now. 76, 95, 467, average speeds in the 60, everything is in the green. pretty easy going out there. >>> now to breaking news in mexico. overnight, a deadly magnitude 8.2 earthquake struck off the coast near the city of chipas. people more than 600 miles away could feel the quake. residents immediately fled buildings, many in their pajamas. neighborhoods

even though we are just a category 4 now, it is at the very top end of that category 4 strength. you can see this storm continuing its trek in between the bahamas and cuba. this plays an important role, because over land, the storm weakens, but it's over open water. this is where the storms like to be. this is where they can either maintain strength or get even stronger because of that warm water. we've also seen an increase, this swath of hurricane watches and warnings has expanded a little bit because we're getting closer to landfall time. and the closer and closer we get, the more these hurricane watches and warnings are going to spread further north into the state. keep that in mind. even if you see your county on the map and it's not on a hurricane watch or warning as of now, that could change as we get closer to landfall. speaking of landfall, we expect that to be around sunrise somewhere between overnight and sunrise sunday morning. again, depending on where exactly that landfall could end up being. it could be over the keys, it could be around key largo, the exact point i

category 5 force heading straight for puerto rico as a category 4 storm now.ent from a category 1 to 5 in a mere 15 hours. that makes it the most powerful hurricane to ever make ldfall domenica. reports from the caribbean island are grim. the prime minister posting on facebook there is quote, white spread devastation. >> he says the greatest fear is finding out about injuries and fatalities later today, securing the procedure medical assistance when they can get in there and help people. puerto rico now bracing for a direct hit on wednesday. national hurricane center warning it is likely to cause life threatening flash floods and mudslides. the you can see the virgin islands are in the path. let's get right to the meteorologist. just this early report from the governor of that island, and domenica, not very optimistic. >> no. nault. this is just getting started. think about an ice skate ier spinning quickly. this being so tight in the center has that dreaded pinhole appearance in the center makes it intensify extremely quickly. that is a concern here across th

a category four is a big storm. this storm when you look at that diameter of it, it's almost 400 miles wide. it's massive. hurricane force winds extend outward from the eye over 70 miles. we're going to be feeling those hurricane force winds across all of florida. 245 south-southeast of miami right now. the maximum sustained winds 145 miles per hour. the movement, a slight change. at first it was going westerly. now it's west-northwesterly at 12 miles per hour, and i was really watching that because, unfortunately for cuba, boy, i mean, the torrential downpours and the hurricane force winds have been relentless for cuba. particularly on the north part of the island. now we're getting some of those feeder bands. the very outer feeder bands coming into the keys right now. winds are picking up. current winds as far north assist west palm up to 25 miles per hour. the winds are stronger in key west, and they're going to go up from there. >> if you are just joining us now, and you haven't -- most of the computer models ha

it category 5 again so it's right on the edge of category 5. heres the wind field. the red area is the hurricane force winds and inside the core, the worst part of the hurricane, the eye wall is the most destructive part. the forecast track shows the storm battering the cuban coast through the night tonight, the day tomorrow and then comes to a key turn right there starting to move north toward the florida keys. the latest advisory is calling for strengthening category 5 going into the keys sometime during the early morning hours on sunday and then after that it's to the north. this is the sunday 2:00 p.m. time frame, closest approach to south florida and miami. any shift to the east could bring that destructive core right into the metropolitan areas, then the rest of the state is under the gun, up in the tampa area where there's increasing concern for storm surge there, atlanta the wind threat and finally begins to wind down. the keys have not been hit by a category 5 hurricane since 135 and that was catastrophic. category 5 hurricanes are ver

on landfall, it is still going to be a category four or category five.hwards. it looks like the tracker is across the western side of florida so that is a slight change and is going to be neither the gulf coast and the atlantic coast. that's the centre. remember, we got category four, category five weakening as it moves overland, a storm surge and torrential rain. it doesn't just stop storm surge and torrential rain. it doesn'tjust stop in florida. by the tenure in atlanta on monday, is no longer hurricane, it will have decayed to a tropical storm but you still have rain continuing, it's not just georgia, he got into carolina, too. hurricane irma has a lot of history and it's probably going to make history as well. we've never recorded two category four hurricane is making landfall on the continental usa ever and we expect thatis continental usa ever and we expect that is about to change because hurricane irma is going to be hitting as a category four, possibly category five. this isn't being exaggerated, people talk in grand language but when the govern

category 5 storms are rare. some of us could go our entire careers in this line of work without seeing one, flying through one. so just immediately, as you start flying through the storm, you recognize the power of it. and you know, you're flying through, it can be relatively smooth until you get to the eye wall area. and that's when you really start getting jostled around, completely obscured with cloud cover and rain. what's unique about these major hurricanes is, as soon as you hit that eye wall, punch through that, it just opens up into a clear blue sky, and calm winds. pretty incredible. >> you talked about, you could feel the power of the storm as you were flying through it. how do you feel that in an aircraft? >> well, one example is, there's something that we call slip. so when you're flying through the storm, you know, you're trying to fly in at a straight line. but you're getting blown from the side so much, so we have a slip. so we were at about 35-degree slip, which means to maintain a constant headi

now a category 4. but the strongest possible category 4. for people, who are preparing for this storm, deciding whether or not to take certain precautions the lack of comfort that could be feign in the reduction from a 5 to a 4? >> well, there's say lot of warm water ahead of this system. so, as soon as it moves a little bit away from cuba, it will regain its intensity as category 5 likely. the waters are in the upper 80s. so as it makes a northwest turn, it will likely intensify on its approach to south florida. you definitely don't want to get any sense of comfort from that downgrade to category 4, it's about to move from cuba and likely intensify to a category 5. >> all right, accuweather storm chaser reed timur, thank you for being with us. as we check out the rest of the day as irma approaches florida. again, is this a category 4 storm. we're following the path of this massive hurricane in the weather center. we'll have an update on what it may look like when it the hits florida. that's coming up. stay with us. that's mom taking care o

she has reached category three. >> category 3?> the force on her body is 220 pounds. >> so can anyone at this point stand? >> you would have to be in a very low crouch and you would have to be very strong. >> what did it feel like? >> well, anderson we got up in tend before it was over to 123 miles per hour, and it was really hard, you saw me probably shake my head at the end, that was any signal to bring it down. my cheeks were flapping the skin on my neck was vibrating and the skun -- and the skin on my arms was flapping. it was hard to breathe, i was able to lean in to chains so that took the weight off the chest. it felt like there was a brick on your chest or you were up against a brick wall, it was hard to breathe out and it was loud in there. i had ear plug hads in. and it got really cold, it got in the low 50s once the wind kicked up. it was tough and i will tell you the speeds as you know, they are no joke, anderson. >> and that's not up to cat 4, cat 5, more ahead, including the head of emergency management in the bahama

the now category 4 storm-- already wreaked havoc in the caribbean. at least 13 people are dead this morning across several countries. and the damage we are seeing is almost indescribable. now this monster storm-- is poised to slam right into florida. south florida now under a hurricane warning-- and thousands of people are still evacuating as we speak. paul gessler is in boca raton. as thousands of people in florida breaking hurricane remember- we have breaking hurricane updates around the clock at wjla.com- and sign up for remember- we have breaking hurricane updates around the clock at wjla.com- and sign up for breaking news texts at wjla.com slash text. 5:xx staying on top of the breaking news out of mexico this morning... a massive 8 point one magnitude earth quake rocking the country overnight. it struck near the guatemalan border. at least 5 people are dead...including children. shaking could be felt 600 miles away in mexico city. officials there say this is the most powerful quake in more than 100 years. it happened around midnight. once the s

irma, a category 4, and katia, currently, a category 1. so a lot of activity going out on in these waters because sea surface temperatures are very warm, an active time of year in the tropics. current temperatures, mainly in the 50s. we're almost seeing 50s in philadelphia. let's hang tight. 59 in philadelphia. 52 for you, trenton. and atlantic city currently at 57 degrees. conditions are going to be chillier than average for today. we're only going to see 70s, however. we're also going to see plenty of sunshine, so i do think we have a nice stretch of weather. lots of sunshine for both saturday and sunday. here's pam with traffic. >> good morning. we're seeing some more cars out on the roadway this morning. we're going to start by taking a look at 95 at broad street. you can see, traffic moving smoothly there. there is one problem that i do want to pass along your way. we were telling you earlier about a fire at a recycling plant, which is right near the walt whitman bridge. now, it's not causing any impact to traffic on the bridge, but w

sunday morning across the florida keys, perhaps is a category five. maybe a category four. it is still a major hurricane. then moving on in in the vicinity of naples, florida. this is different from the early computer models. we are seeing a landfall around miami. you have to shift conditions from what you put in with the models. look at the next 48 hours. this is not a five-day event, but the next 48 hours. naples, florida, 10 inches of rainfall. ft. pierce, 6 inches. you can see the western edge is now really kind of the critical path for the system. this is the european model. there we go through the florida keys. there we go in the vicinity of ft. myers. here is the split right down the florida peninsula. still the impact from hurricane force winds on the eastern side. don't feel like you have been duped by this. you feel the impact from the category five hurricane, maybe category four. take a look once again. draw a line down the middle. here is the eye through the florida keys. here is naples. this is the tampa bay and sarasota area, more to the western edge. if you h

a very powerful category 4 about to become another category 5. i don't think i have ever seen two back to back in the atlantic. i can't remember this happening. this one is going to skirt over some of the islands that were so terribly hit like st. martin looking at another hit from another category 5 hurricane over the weekend. so this is just really aic situation. and even though that one stays out to sea and doesn't bother us, it's just as tragic. the information just in. 155 mile an hour winds. irma has not changed regarding th that. but look at what happened. here we go. category 5 is expected to maybe intensify all the way to the south as can crosses thes. that would provide massive destruction. that is the worst case scenario. coming in on that part of the florida also very bad. it's going to push a huge storm surge from naples to long boat key up to ven nis beach and possibly into the tampa bay. this is going to be something very dangerous. look how close it comes. the closer to the left-hand side of that peninsula, the worse it is for the

it's still a category 1 storm at 75 mile per hour winds, but maria, a category 4 storm, a strong catd up would be a cat 5. she already has winds of 155 miles per hour impacting those same islands that were impacted by irma. it's going to hit right around the puerto rico area once again. we are closely watching that particular storm. meanwhile for us, 70 degrees. clouds out there, a little humid as you are stepping out. we'll see scattered showers possible along with somewhat breezier winds than what we experienced yesterday with highs topping out right around the 82-degree mark. >> all right. thank you. >>> and i'm in for ellen bryan and larry miller this morning so you guys got the third-string traffic person this morning, right? we's okay. fine. it's a tuesday morning. the good news is things are off to a pretty quiet start out there. i don't see any major road closures, just routine -- one of those places in particular, the inner loop of the beltway over in silver spring, only one right lane is closed, otherwise, you should be getting by just fine. no issues coming in for montgome

a category 1 hurricane versus a category 5.ategory 5 hurricane is 500 times worse than a category 1. when you say puerto rico is the only dealing with category 1 force winds think about that. it is 500 times more lucky that they are seeing the winds in puerto rico. to give you an idea and doug and i were talking about this expect it to impact parts of south florida as a category 4 so that means winds are 250 times stronger than potentially a category 1. where it hits and when it hits still remains to be seen. >> it really does. we will get the latest data any minute for the 5:00 advisory that will most likely take it southeast. our region seeing rain across the area. expect this tonight already got a call soccer practice cancelled across the region. my kids' soccer practice cancelled because of rain. 74 on your thursday. 75 friday. weekend looking good and then we will be tracking irma here, as well next tuesday and wednesday. nothing to be worried about. i am expecting rain and that is it. il posted in the storm center. >> the

could be a category three tomorrow evening, expected to become a category four close to puerto rico, then that the dominican and close to the bahamas by friday. where it goes after that is still up in the air. if it works its way close to the east coast, that would be several days after. much closer, a category one, and not expected to strengthen. in fact it is weakening, but a good bring gusty wind and rain. closer to home, we are looking at things staying much nicer tonight, very quiet, the temperature still inhe 74 degrees. tomorrow morning comfortable as well. most of the area in the mid-60's, upper 60's d.c. tomorrow morning at the bus stop, still feeling very mild. quickly into the mid-70's around noon, topping out right near 80 degrees. we can see an isolated shower tomorrow, a lot less than this weekend. other than the class, we are looking at a nice day. across the week, we bring in the rain chances again, jose the closest it will be to us tuesday. kellye: thank you, josh. we want to remind you to follow our stormwatch 7 team on facebook, twitter, wjla.com, and you can alway

that gargantuan category-5 storm. you see irma made landfall in cuba as a category 5.till around cuba as we speak. it is expected to hit florida early tomorrow morning. look at that. the anticipated storm, by the way, the surge from it, rapidly rising waters that will rush inland are of high concern, forcing some tough but prudent choices by first responders. you get a sense of how all that happens. now to msnbc's lester holt who reports for us. [ siren ] >> reporter: it is business as usual at miami beach's fire station two. station two might be the seven square-mile island's sole lifeline. the stations closing for the storm. their apparatus to be relocated to the mainland. virgin fernandez is fire chief. >> what we -- virgil fernandez is fire chief. >> what we want to do is make sure we can respond afterwards. we will keep a contingency here at one of the fire stations. we don't want to mess up our equipment and not be able to respond. >> reporter: firefighter ready gear for search and rescues that could be necessary. the city has also announced first responders will

now, hurricane irma currently a category 4. not a category 5. we'll keep you updated on that. be sure you follow us on social media @nbczpchphiladelphia and e give you more updates there. >>> ten minutes past 5:00 on this friday. let's hope the commute to work and school is easy this morning. nbc 10's pamela osborne keep can go an eye on the maps and traffic cameras. p pam? >> well, rosemary, there's a bit of a problem we talked about earlier, that's that fire at the recycling plant. right on 76 near the walt whitman bridge. now we know that fire is causing heavy smoke to show over the walt whitman bridge. this is east of 95, right near the tollbooth. so keep in mind, if you're headed out that way this morning, you may see some heavy smoke. you may see reduced visibility there. now taking a look at 95 and broad street, you can see a few more out on the roadway this morning. no major problems to speak of as of now there. everything's looking good. we'll give you a check on new jersey roads when i come back. >> see you then. thanks for that, pam. coming up, parking problems in s

irma expected to hit as a massive category 4. tonight, the deadly path of destruction already across several caribbean islands. americans trapped. images from barbuda and st. martin. ginger zee with the track just in, and it's not just florida. georgia ordering evacuations, states of emergency in the carolinas -- while here in florida tonight, a million people now told to get out of irma's path. gas pumps running empty. state police now escorting fuel tankers. >>> the other major news tonight. donald trump jr. answering five hours of questions on capitol hill. >>> the wildfires in the west, new reporting tonight, homes burning to the ground. >>> the video. the famous nfl player claiming excessive force, saying police had no idea who he was. >>> and breaking now. a massive security breach possibly affecting more than 143 million americans and your social security numbers. >>> good evening tonight from south florida where this evening as we travel through miami, you can see it everywhere. families, store owners, boarding up, gettin

the powerful category five storm made landfall in the caribbean. this is one of the first looks at some of the destruction. this video captured in saint martin, a shot from the balcony from the beach plaza hotel. looking across the road to the marina. most of the vehicles under water there and every boat in the marina appears to have been destroyed. >> hurricane irma is the strongest atlantic ocean hurricane ever reported. the french islands of saint martin and saint barts have no electricity right now. now irma is heading on a path toward puerto rico and other islands, the hurricane could make a direct hit on south florida. lets go to maggie she s&p live with the latest on the damage done so far and how florida residents are preparing. >> reporter: -- rick and sara, the national hurricane center calling irma potentially cat trough. what we have seen so far out of the caribbean has baseball devastating. hurricane irma tearing through the caribbean as a powerful category five and showing no signs of slowing down. saint barts, guadeloupe, caught up i

good news, information a category 5 during an earlier track, now a category 4, still a big storm, winds up with 55 miles per hour. that is 8 a.m. on wednesday. then it begins to curve. i think the dominican republic and haiti is okay and the bahamas as well as it turns back to the north and east and eventually off to the north by saturday at 11:00. we'll watch this. i don't think it will duck into bahamas, certainly not into florida at this point. look at the wind field right on top of the island right now and watch this after you move off to the north and west. st. croix by 3:30 a.m. on wednesday will be getting the brunt of the storm and then that will move across the northeastern part of puerto rico by noon wednesday. we'll come back, talk about what jose means to us. we'll also look ahead how long our summer pattern will last. >>> fairfax county's own virginia task force one is on the job in puerto rico helping out critical infrastructure on the island ahead of hurricane maria's arrival. the team plans to stay close during the storm and then immediately move and help out once the da

still a high end category four. category five is 157. it's close. winds gusts increase to 190 miles per hour. the speed is now down to 12. it's slowing. you can't miss showerful the storm is. the forecasters believe once it is emerged over the open waters, it's warmer here. it will develop to a category five storm again to be near the level when it makes landfall in south florida sunday mr check this out. high of end four. the track is looping close to cuba. the category five, category five. stymied 8:00 to 9:00, 10:00 sunday morning. the possible impact along the southwest coast that has huge implications for the storm surge, the wind damage. not only there but the east coast as well. the warning continues to stand. we will monitor this closely with more to share in a couple of minutes. larry? >> this is hard to imagine a more devastating path for hurricane irma. >> remember hiker andrew one of the worst storms in the history of the state. this is more devastating on the path. >> i demand they leave miami beach. >> the dire urgent pleas follow yest

and exactly, will it make landfall as a category 4 or category 5? if irma makes landfall as category 5, it will only be the third hurricane in history to ever have done so, including wi, i think it was camille and andrew are the two that did make landfall as a category 5. sos so, of course, all eyes on hurricane irma. we're expecting landfall some time over this ekd wweekend, say into sunday. locally, conditions are sblau absolutely gorgeous. plenty of sunshine. weekend high temperatures in the 70s, it's not going to be muggy. we really like that. here's pam with traffic. >> thank you, erika. we'll start things off on the white horse pike. this is our camera around route 30. no one really on the road this morning. everything's going very smoothly out there so far. let's give you a look at drive times overall. if you're on 76, 95, average speeds are in the 60s. drive times are looking good. i'm seeing a lot of alerts of roadwork, but roadwork that is cleared. you're not going to have any trouble getting around there this morning. also a look at mass

category 4 hurricane provides four times. now, if you look at the way that this storm has sort of gone back and forth around the florida panhandle as it moves west, just because this hurricane is moving west does not mean that the east coast is going to be free of massive storm surge, as you loo. i ended up in orlando. what happens to the thousands and thousands of people that headed to tampa where they are now actually bearing down for potentially the worst conditions as a result of hurricane irma. >> so the worst place to be is in northeast quadrant of the storm. that's where the maximum radius winds are, storms, intensity, the majority of the storm surge will occur and if i remember my numbers correctly, 80% of all landfall in hurricane, tornadoes and quadrant. but the safest place to be is outside of that storm surge zone and getting to inland area. you know, into a facility that can handle the forecasted winds not where the storm is currently but what forecasters are projicting for areas like orlando and tampa and the on

this could hit tampa as a category 3 or category 4. tampa bay is the most vulnerable metro area in the entire nation when it comes to storm surge flooding more so than miami and even new orleans. 700 miles of beautiful sugar sand beaches, the problem, ali, tampa bay serves as a funnel. it magnifies the storm surge. it enhances that rise of water and we have a graphic to show you what eight feet of storm surge looks like, what 12 feet of storm surge looks like. it's unimaginable to most people. tampa has not been hit directly by a hurricane since 1921. there's a consulting firm in boston, karen clark and company, they did a big study a couple years ago, a category 4 storm the size of katrina hitting tampa could produce $175 billion in damage. pinellas county second only to new orleans when it comes to low land elevation and flood risk. so with each passing hour, the computer models seem to be unified, converging on a track right up the gulf coast, naples, sarasota, ft. myers, and tampa st. pete, and i'm really worried about what might h

a category 5. more than 5 million people in florida have been ordered to evacuate. that makes it one of the largest evacuations in u.s. history. irma is spochresponsible for att 23 deaths this week. emergency officials are telling people it's a little too late to leave florida, so a lot of folks are waiting in long lines to get into shelters. yesterday they tried to get last minute flights at the airport. by the end of the weekend, the entire state could feel the impaki impact of hurricane irma. jay gray is in ft. lauderdale where residents are bracing for the powerful storm. >> reporter: sunset on the edge of irma. a quiet evening ahead of what forecasters say could be a catastrophic weekend. >> hurricane irma continues to be a threat that will devastate the united states. >> reporter: florida is the primary target of the massive storm that stretches across an area bigger than the state. home improvement stores are running out of supplies, grocery store shelves are e, too, as preparations continue

and exactly, will it make landfall as a category 4 or category 5?a makes landfall as category 5, it will only be the third hurricane in history to ever have done so, including wi, i think it was camille and andrew are the two that did make landfall as a category 5. sos so, of course, all eyes on hurricane irma. we're expecting landfall some time over this ekd wweekend, say into sunday. locally, conditions are sblau absolutely gorgeous. plenty of sunshine. weekend high temperatures in the 70s, it's not going to be muggy. we really like that. here's pam with traffic. >> thank you,

now making way to tampa bay as category 2 storm it hit marco island south of naples as category 3. more than 160,000 people are in shelters across the state and tonight more than 3 million are without power. >> some floridians managed to escape the wrath before heading to georgia. two tour friingts venezuela got to experience southern hospitality. >> we were just passing here and we just seen you guys were giving food for the people who were leaving miami. >> so we come and grab sandwiches we'll try it. >> they look having a good time. >> volunteers said georgia provided food to more than 2,000 evacuees. a much weaked irma is expected to hit georgia sometime tomorrow. >> and mother nature always has incredible way of acting and sometimes things like this happen especially with hurricanes this is called storm surge storm sucks up all water from ocean and forcibly spits it out. people nearby are told not to venture to suddenly dry land because ocean water will eventually come roaring back. a man did step out on dry land in the barack obama and took in the bahamas and took this of whe

check out the category-4 storm. it is massive. wider than the state of florida, and bringing top winds of 130 miles per hour. >> here's the very latest on the storm. overnight the path shifted slightly, putting florida's west coast in peril. of course, storm surge from the east to the west coast is a huge concern this morning. >> cuba and the bahamas are feeling irma's effects right now. the storm made landfall in cuba overnight as a category-5 storm. already at least 23 people have been killed in the caribbean. >>> and while miami's national airport remains open this morning, there will be no flights coming in or going out of that airport. there's so much to get to this morning. our team covering it all. let's start with al roker. he has the very latest on irma's path. where is it, where is it headed now? >> reporter: guys, a big change just in with the 8:00 update from the national hurricane center. irma being over land in cuba has taken some of the wind out of its sails. it's still a category-4 storm, but now its winds are at 1

a category 5. let's get down, flying a plane, one of the hurricane hunters flying through it as we speak for the past hour and they were able to find a wind speed of one 67 miles per hour, it was upgraded once again to a category 5 hurricane. that's as high as they go on the scale. unfortunately it's ravaged several islands overnight and on track to make a -- potentially a direct landfall in puerto rico tomorrow. a lot of these islands because they're so small, haven't really had that many category 4 and 5 hurricanes over the course of the last 150 years, puerto rico, last major hurricane to hit puerto rico and it was really fringe because it hit the northeast side of it was hugh go back in 1989. and before that i believe it was in 1930s. unfortunately, looks like puerto rico is up next here with a category 5ur category 4. a 4 or 5 as it makes landfall in about 24 hours time. >>> for us 69 now in washington, we'll be in the low 80's later. we too are doing -- dealing with tropical activity that is

currently a category 3. hurricane irma. as we track it through the florida straits, it looks like it's going to make landfall sometime tomorrow. initially it showed early morning hours on sunday but because it has slowed down a bit, we're expecting landfall by i'd say sunday morning, perhaps late morning early afternoon hours. be sure you follow us on social media @nextphiladelphia. the story continues. once it makes landfall, it looks like it will continue to be a hush f hurricane for quite some time zblchbl. >>> florida is seeing a max exodus as hundreds of thousands leave the state for safety. nbc 10's aundrea cline-thomas is live at philadelphia international airport. you're talking to people who just arrived in our area rp that's right, ted. first i want to show you a different view of irma's impact. take a look at the arrivals board here at the airport. a lot more red on this board. see see flights that were supposed to come into philly from orlando, they're canceled. the same is true over here from flights from nassa

by category 5, that's the category, it's the highest category where it's described as houses potentially no longer or uninhabitable for weeks if not months, doug. >> that's exactly where we are in the island where said, the island may be uninhabitable for a very long time. now, i do have some good news, south florida is nothing but bad news. up towards carolinas and georgia, around the charleston area, this will be much of the less of the storm it's going to traverse much of the peninsula and weaken before it moves towards the carolinas. if you have family down in there area, they may start to evacuate there tomorrow, saturday they may not do that. not going to be nearly as bad as what they're going to see in parts of southern florida. what does it mean for us, first off, the next few days, beautiful weather here, saturday and sunday looking great. the redskins game looking great. look attitudes and wednesday will bring, that is the rain from irma. look, it's a chance of showers a little bit on the breezy side, nothing like what they're going to see here. if anybody is worried in this ar

whether it is a category for mac or five —— category four or five, it has slowed a little and it lookswest coast of florida so over the next 2a hours it is going to make landfall. it will push north and we turn off, but the extent of rain that we are talking about and a huge storm surge is going to cause issues as far as carolina. this is what we know about it for the next 2a hours, the track could change. we need to keep an eye on it as it moves north across warmer waters. the sustained winds at the moment because it's a category four, 155 miles an hour, a torrential storm surge, so it's going to be a problem. jose heading further north, any rain storms they get at the moment is not welcome views but it does look as though it is potentially on the same track as irma was a few days ago. wait mac fascinating but alarming stuff and i know you and your colleagues will keep us up to date. hurricane irma strengthens pounding cuba with winds of more than 155 miles an hour. more than 5.5 million people have been told to leave their homes. mexico declares a day of national mourning after the m

category 4 -- look what happens. strengthening a little bit right is the system approaches the florida keys. out to key west and possibly as a category 5 hurricane regaining strength. here is the timeline into saturday. into early sunday morning. by sunday afternoon as well moving up florida. you can see more of a jog to the left. out to the west. watching out for that. as you know this hurricane a very strong when producer. all these areas in red is a hurricane warning. storm surge approaching 10-12 be. isolated rainfall amounts around 20 inches. you hear about the right front quadrant. with that you get the wind with the hurricane couple with the storm motion. that will be in this area. that typically produces the biggest storm surge. the right front quadrant -- that could be around 10-12 feet heading toward saturday night and sunday with the projected landfall in portions -- the south coast of florida. more on the system. this very strong storm. in our forecast coming up. >>> dozens of airport security workers in

the storm back up to a dangerous category 4. it was category 3 for a while.pected to keep gaining strength as it crosses warm open water between cuba and florida. florida's gulf coast is on high alert. showing you now video that gives you an idea of the area of downtown miami that is starting to flood as the outer rain bands move in. 6.5 million people have been told to evacuate in a state of 20 million. and 70,000 people are in emergency shelters throughout the state. you can expect to see more images like this. almost 300,000 customers without power at the moment. that is a figure that will likely go into the millions in the days ahead. >> although of course the hurricane has shifted, has strengthened to category 4 and shifted northwest, miami is not out of the woods yet. authorities keep reminding us, the rain is intense and a concern over storm surge but debris from the stronger winds when we start to feel them, bearing in mind it hasn't even made landfall yet. this is the outer part of irma. let's get the latest from karen mcginness. she is following the

because naples is built for a category three.e face those same hazards and dangers some will be affected but that storm surge in some areas will show that critical infrastructure all of these departments affected have already moved their assets into areas that are safe like miami beach their fleet and personnel is in our station so they can respond as soon as the hurricane has gone through. we offer a and assistance to each other. >> that is good with the interagency is relating with each other. stakes for joining us this evening. >> the forces of nature do not discriminate all of the of mercy of the killer storm. >> rushing to the aid of the most vulnerable when their lives are in danger. . >> as hurricane irma inches closer to landfall floridians are bearing down for those that our particular the former cold but the next guest is working to help those who cannot protect themselves. we have a supervisor of the powered county soil and water conservation district they give for joining us during this difficult time. you are helping