cedar key is in through here. so you see the shape of this, how it's just getting tucked in toward appear lachie bay. that's what the -- appal achee bay. that's what the storm path shows. on the other side of the storm system, you get the significant component of onshore flow. it'll stay that way for several hours' time. you throw that in conjunction with the fact that this is an incredibly poorly timed major hurricane with the super moon today. now, we're expecting it to peak today. these were already going to be some of the highest high tides of all of 2023, and now you've got a surge that's helping to assist that. jane just pointed out the pinhole eye. when you got the smaller inner cores where you can see the darker reds and the purples, these smaller cores can intensify much more quickly, jane. that's what we're expecting this go around. this is likely going to be up to cat 4 status before it makes landfall. >> jane: you can see the deeper convection bubbling up on the southwestern side of the eye. you know,

cedar key up to 2.3 feet. waves crash over the rails to the road, this cadillac swallowed up by water and it will be a goner by the time the storm continues to pull into the big bend coastline and cedar key is interesting, we haven't seen impact of full force of wind onshore pushing to cedar key yet. >> the wind direction is mostly parallel to the coast line, have not had that true push of water perpendicular to the coast that will lead to the devastating surge. we've been watching the camera, the cadillac is our measuring stick and nou water up to the bumper. left side of the screen is weather instrumentation we installed and we are washing pressure drop and wind rise. this map is storm surge potential, the reason worst case scenario, you see a lot of red on the screen. that will pop up in just a moment, not everywhere will see this reasonable worst case scenario. it is spots close to and right of the center. some areas, all red is mar issuey, north of the sun coast, north of pinellas county. south of there i

cedar key could be completely cut off by flooding. officials have been going door to door there to make sure residents evacuate. but not everyone is heeding the warnings. >> this is crunch time right now. we're going get hit with a major hurricane. it will be some time the eye will arrive on shore some time tomorrow morning most likely. and it is going to have major impacts. so it's likely to cause a lot of damage. and that's just the reality. so be prepared for that. be prepared to lose power. and just know that there is a lot of folks that are going to be there to help you get back on your feet. >> cnn's gloria pazminos. and karen maginnis, what are you seeing as it gets ever closer to florida's coast? >> yes, we just received our 3:00 a.m. eastern time update from the national hurricane center. this system, hurricane idalia is now traveling towards the north. the shift occurred maybe a couple of hours ago slightly towards the west. and this changes the dynamics quite a bit. but overall, what it means is there is going to be a treme

. >> that would be perry -- there's the live picture from cedar key, where we've been watching. >> okay, apparently we've got word that there's a person walking around this area and there's been a manned tore aevertion -- evacuation, and this is into one of the areas that we're expecttion to see the absolute worst from --. >> jane: is that off in the distance there? >> yeah. >> there you go, jane. >> jane: i mean, this a really dangerous place to be -- this is not what you want to see at all. >> look at the waves as they crash on shore. >> it's making me nervous just watching this unfold. >> you know, hands up -- these waves are incredible, and this is not what you want to see worst case scenario here in cedar key, florida. >> these are waves and storm surge that are beginning to happen because of high tide. >> if this doesn't continue to intensify, we're going to see the potential for this camera to go down or potentially show -- no car, no road there all together but really dangerous situation to see that. >> ian: it looks like that person is leaving. >> they must be -- the only choic

look at the contrast in cedar key two hours north.he difference between a couple of feet of water rise which was flooding treasure island, and it's right down the road from saint pete beach. now this only a couple of feet that can go up at 16. >> jane: it was one.6 feet at last reading and you can see what it has done here at cedar key they were already continuing it is just a nonstop barrage of waves as high tide comes in slowly but surely we will see the impact of the wind being parallel to the coast to impact cedar key as that juts out. but this will just get worse as the day goes on. as you were highlighting me be worse post landfall and that is the thing is that the worst flooding could come as it comes from the gulf of mexico. >> ian: so many areas that place talking about the shape of the coastline which is catching some of that water and the depth of the gulf which is not deep at all because of the shallow shelf wat waters. then the magnitude of the wind and the direction of the wind and how long they last. that is the issue.

meantime in cedar key, there was so much concern and conversation last night about cedar key. water levels reaching a record high for the area. you see these waves coming right on land, water battering this condo complex. property just demolished here. the doors literally blown off. street after street in cedar key completely flooded. we're going to speak with the man who shot this video, accu weather network extreme meteorologist, one of very few people who've been able to access that area. the floodwaters, again, just up to the windows of these homes there in cedar key. you can see everything that's out there, the debris, things that were once, of course, in people's backyards, just floating around. near perry, florida, hurricane winds knocking the roof off of a gas station. you can really get a sense of the sheer force. you see it there knocking the roof off. even as you see that water being blown, the structure, the debris in the path. and in keaton beach, take a look at this picture. the walls just completely ripped off this home. it almost looks like a doll house where y

and let's take a close look at cedar key.vy rain and wind already being seen on this webcam. >> now tossing it around. and further south, this is the flooding overnight in gulfport, florida. that's near saint petersburg. we also want to give you a view from saint pete beach as that storm continues to approach. >> abc's em nguyen begins our coverage. she's in tampa. and let's get right to it. what's it like there? yeah andrew, good morning. >> you know, the winds are really starting to pick up here in tampa. and overnight there was heavy rain across the area and a hurricane of this strength has never made landfall in these parts of florida. there's even a tornado watch in effect for the state until 6 a.m. overnight. people in at least 30 florida counties placed under evacuation orders. coastal residents told to get to higher ground. >> you really got to go now. now's the time in cedar key in florida's so-called big bend region, people rushing to protect their homes and businesses here in cedar key, the businesses are boarded u

do you feel like most residents of cedar key have heeded that? do you know anyone who's riding this out or planning to on the island? >> i actually do know one that said that he's going to try to hang in there. he doesn't live right in the main area where the water is, but there's always going to be die hards, people that are going to try to hang it out. you know, cedar key over the years has had a lot of storms, and it's a very resilient town. everybody that's there knows a lot of this and has always heeded proper warnings. i do believe that we're going to have some pretty bad damage in the town, but i do think that we will snap back. >> you obviously know the island fairly well. you're the former president of the chamber of commerce there. what are you most worried about? you're talking about damage there, but what are you most worried about in terms of the town's vulnerabilities? >> well, it's truly low lying, the proximity to the sea water, the rushing in, it's pretty devastating, and all of our business, our commerce businesses over on the w

and cedar key is a collection of islands. so the main part of what you would think would be cedar key is three small islands, but we're talking about a two-mile by one mile square area. it is not terribly big. >> so you said at this point, the bridges are impassable. so people are not going to be able to get in or get out. do you have enough supplies to ride out the process until the island is accessible again? >> i think the water by tomorrow will make it so bigger trucks can get over the bridges. i don't have any reason to believe that the bridges are out, just that they're under water. i think we'll be all right. governor desantis, send us some of the public trucks, we'll take them. >> you talked about just how big of a mess you're going to have to clean up there. talk to us a little bit about how you think this is going to impact the future of what seems to be an idyllic place that you live. how much work is it going to take to get things back to normal? >> i mean, i think it will be measured in months and not weeks. but

however, these are not nuts at all, yes, and these are not cedars at all. seeds of a real cedar.se, we don’t eat them real heterosexual we don’t grow him it’s cold here. and what manufacturers call pine nuts. in fact, pine seeds, which were called cedar only at the whim of peter i, the emperor saw that in the strongest maritime power of that time, holland, they make ships from durable african cedar, which does not rot and does not overgrow with shells. i wanted to build a fleet no worse than the european, one snag is to buy cedar in africa, how did the dutch do it? it turned out to be too expensive, found the same pine tree, which, well, in general, at least in appearance, kind of reminded me of the structure of a tree. e. cedar hmm they began to build from it. uh, the new fleet, so that the enemy does not recognize the disadvantages of russian ships, the emperor issued a decree to call the base cedar in the colloquial language , the word cedar was simply fixed. however , it turns out that there is cedar, even the most famous walnut, yes, yes, and it is also not a nut at all, but

a playwright who say he stayed put in cedar keying to help folks. he said it looked apocalyptic this morning. he saw the storm surge swallow entire boat ramps. he joins us now. how you doing? >> we're okay. just weary. it's been a long 12 hours. having seen so much destruction in a place that you live has been hard on the morale. it's also been good to see our community functioning as a community and coming out to help one another. cedar key is a resilient place and we'll rebuild and get back as good as we were before. the storm surge was just really striking to see. our boat ramp was devoured. seems like the surge was coming from three different sides. coming from the bayou, from the bay. it was just a really difficult evening. >> gillian: what is the greatest immediate need there right now that folks have? >> so we still -- we're not going to have electricity for a long while. i heard it's going to be at least a week here. people on the island are a resilient type of people. they have largely prepared for this storm. we have generateders, food and

you're looking at pictures from cedar key, florida. it's now a category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 120 miles an hour. now it's expected to make landfall on florida's west coast bringing with a at least 134 mile per hour wind gusts. authorities are warning of, quote, catastrophic storm surge and destructive winds when the hurricane moves ashore the next couple of hours. most of florida's "the washington post" coast is at risk of severe flooding and storm surges with some forecasted to reach as high as 16 feet in some areas. the national weather service is calling idalia is an unprecedented event. and here's governor desantis late yesterday on the storm. >> you've really got to go back to the late 1800s to find a storm of this magnitude that will enter where this one looks like it's going to enter tomorrow. so we don't really have a historical analog in anybody's memory, so it's likely to cause a lot of damage. >> let's turn to nbc news correspondent jay gray in florida with more. talk about what the conditions are now and w

studied together with the cedars.sible to talk like a human with someone with a kedrin like a human? our doctor is good, but nothing human has ever been a mother. everyone gets sick. what is better then? you can talk well after that. one more question. this is anyone, maybe to expose anyone seen? at home good evening good please tell me you didn't see yesterday. here are these guys in the evening this is this is this and this is how it went. they go exactly. here is a couple like that. can you just one day? you are taking serious antidepressants. what difference does it make to you? i'm just investigating here crime, and you argued about something, it does not concern you. no, everything that happens in this cottage concerns me now. it is known that yes about the murder. or are you hiding something from me does not like. he's only with me because my father works in the ministry, that 's all. it's my friends birthday. this is all untrue. he doesn't need me. calm down. i am to blame for the death of kirill. i should hav

cedar key 6.5 feet surpasses hermine and cedar key is going to continue to rise because we have highide yet to come. historic storm, again, storm surge over topping homes, inundating communities and it could take lives. keaton beach florida wind gust 83 mile per hour, certainly see those storm tropical storm force winds and storm moves north and eastward, quick moving, into georgia and south carolina. category two hurricane in some cases, they need to complete preparations now. heavy rainfall 5 to 8 inches, some isolated amounts of 8 to 12 over next 24 to 48 hours. core of strongest wind, gusts in orange and tropical storm force winds will be felt across florida to southeast and up to mid-atlantic and watch this storm meander into the weekend. widespread power outages, it is hard for first responders to get to some areas. if you are in a community inundated with storm surge, it will be hard for them to get to you and could see power outages for weeks. storm surge, worst still to come with high tide approaching around noon hour. midday hour. that is going to be upward of 16 feet compa

we, cedar key is a resilient community.y of these storms and actually in reality, even though we've had historic storm surge today that they're resilient. it hit a lot of our businesses and homes but they will come back and they already are. they're working hard. we have some extra help in. our florida sheriff association task force is amazing in florida. share together and help each other out. we have a group of about 40 special deputies from polk county with us to help both in security and in further search and rescue and even some of the clean up that we'll be doing fairly immediately. so we couldn't ask for any better result for us with what we were facing. we were prepared but we were prepared for the worst and again, we were very blessed to come out in the shape we're in. >> we certainly saw how afraid and nervous you were for your community. that is such a relief that you seem to have dodged the worst of this and we're thankful for that as well as for your time. sheriff, thank you very much. >> thank you. >>> just ah

cedar key on your left. punta gorda in the center. and tampa on the right.and the storm making its way toward florida, expected to make landfall in the coming hours. we want to also take you about to 150 miles away from cedar key where you see the rain just whipping across the screen. and we'll take you to madeira beach, florida. you've been seeing derek van dam in tampa. this is a little further away. chad mills from our affiliate is on the ground there and this is what he's seeing. >> reporter: it is bad and getting worse, that is the bad news here. i just spoke to the mayor of madeira beach and he tells me that the water on the intercoastal has breached the seawall. and you can see gulf boulevard behind me, this is kind of what we're seeing here in madeira beach, a portion of the gulf boulevard closed here. daiquiri shack is in this area. we're standing next to the lucky lizard restaurant. it is holding up pretty good. the side entrance is pretty well off the ground. so no water approaching this door. but let's carefully walk to their main entrance on gul

by about 6:00 we will be cut off. >> michael, best of luck to you and the people on cedar cedar key. we will check back with you. we hope everything goes just fine. >>> breaking tonight a brand-new bombshell report seems to back up claims from a former ukrainian prosecutor that he was fired for investigating an energy company tied to hunter biden. the senior national correspondent kevin gorg is live in d.c. with what new e-mails are revealing about the investigation into burisma. >> something else. good to be with you wants again, my friend. huber recall there was an interview with fox news last week and that former ukrainian prosecutor repeated allegations that joe biden got him fired for a probe involving burisma. now there are e-mails from hunter biden's abandon laptop obtained by the daily mail that seemed to lay bare just how the first sun may have been involved in attempts to keep law enforcement from looking into possible corruption at the company. according to that report hunter connected burisma with a d.c. consultancy by the name of blue star strategies. it is run by a form

the 4 aircraft from washgton, d.c., landed in cedar rapids before 2 p.m. now i give you wmt radio coverage of the events starting in cedar rapids at the airport. >> good afternoon, this is grant prize reporting atteburyial site, more than a hour the body of 31 president of united states will be laid toe rest, we switch to cedar rapids municipal airport and news man. >> approaching from the east now is plane which carries remains of iowa only president. plane now nearing the runway. just touched the ground. taxiing down, hundreds of people are along the fences, to behind the terminal on one side. and out for several hundred yards to the west of the terminal, the inside of the terminal filled with people here. to view the arrival of mr. hoof are's body, the hoover family very closest friends are walking down the steps. they greeted there are by governor. slowly, the big cargo plane moves up to its destination, a point on the runway about 3 feet ahead of where it now stands. family and close friends. now walking directly toward us. escorted by an army officer

downtown cedar key, city hall was swamped with 6 feet of water.icials say the storm surge got as high as 15 feet. that's on top of 100 miles an hour winds. strong enough to pull this gas station awning on to its side. more than a quarter million people are without power in florida. and moments ago, the head of fema talked about the people who chose to ride out the storm. >> and my biggest concern is those people who chose not to evacuate, and i know that our local first responders, the heroes that are out there in those local communities are doing amazing job already of going into the areas where people did not evacuate, and helping to get them to safety. >> let's go to crystal river, florida, where msnbc's jose diaz-balart has been moving through surge waters all day long. i think that's the lowest amount of water i've seen you in so far, jose. but what are you seeing in and around where you're at? >> indeed, chris, it is the lowest we've seen in a while. i don't know if you can hear this, but we just heard, and i saw, just about a block from her

very humid here in cedar key. debris lines the roadways as people try to muck out their homes, businesses, trying to just salvage whatever they can. just picking through the debris here. neighbors have been helping neighbors. the national guard has been here, too. high-wheeled vehicles, getting in to hard-to-reach places delivering food, water to residents. take a listen. >> it's always hard. it's always hard. the greatest blessing is seeing the community come together. so many people pull together in times like these to love each other and meet needs where needs need to be met. >> officials are telling folks to be careful, not to exert themselves too much. it's hot and sweaty out here. make sure they're careful with generators and place them in well-ventilated areas. back to you, neil. >> neil: thanks. want to go to grady trimble in horseshoe beach, florida with the latest there. what does it look like now, grady? >> you can see how beautiful it is now. but you can also see right next to me here the devastation t

they had predictions about the storm in cedar key.hat they were projecting above a certain number of feet and it could be over the entire area there. you are just not seeing that as of yet. >> well, no, i haven't, no, i haven't. the power went off about 5:00 and i've been up since about then. i've watched the water come up but -- walked down the street and saw there was about a line on one of the measuring polls about nine feet of surge, which is what we had back in hermine, which was pretty bad deal. but i can't imagine if it goes much higher than that. >> bret: how does your hotel survive, the 164 year hotel. you've survived some other storms. >> well, historically we've done okay. historically we've never had a tidal surge that came into the hotel. we've had the roof blown off and got some rain in it. but when we had hermine back in 2016 with a nine-foot surge we had some, you know, wiggle room still to go. we could have gone another 4 or 5 feet before it came in the building so by the fact we're on high ground on the top of the hi

both are in cedar key, which steve was talking about. the governor says they're under a mandatory evacuation order. both have decided not to leave for now. michael, to you first. you say you're going to ride this out. anything in the coming hours that might change your mind at all, sir? >> i mean, possibly. category four or five storm that is completely unsurvivable might change my mind. i want to make it clear. everyone else should leave. part of the reason why i'm staying, i have elderly neighbors. there's lots of folks that are refusing to leave. some folks are in a that can't help themselves during the height of the storm and after the storm. i feel a responsibility to stay and help them. the major and i and others are going to hole up in episcopal church. we will be safe there and will rapid deploy when the conditions are safe. this is a once in five generation storm. if you can leave, please leave. >> yeah, it's confusing. when you say, please leave. it's noble that you're staying to help your neighbors. i want to go to hannah. why

we spent time in cedar key yesterday.yor -- we have been seeing pictures of the storm surge that swamped cedar key. we see emergency responders that are coming down there road and about to cross. you can see -- there's an air boat coming as well. right now, we are looking live at the first responds in the state of florida at the point of landfall. keaton beach, you see first responders bringing in their boats, trying to make sure that they can get to the people that need rescuing at this point. we are being told to hold back while they run their initial checks. that's why we are waiting at this checkpoint. you can see a massive response unfolding here in keaton beach, the point of landfall of the massive, monstrous hurricane that hit the region that isn't used to it. it seems local officials were prepared. they had been urging people to evacuate for days. they met some resistance. some people didn't want to leave. in cedar key yesterday, the mayor makin a employee for -- making a plea for people to get out. some residents

could be as a category 3 storm, somewhere between tallahassee and cedar key. we are looking for winds that could top 118 miles per hour bringing down trees, communication, damaging buildings as far as that storm surge, that wall of water, life-threatening inundation, roads washed out, upwards of 7 to 11 feet, especially around cedar key. and of course tornadoes can't be ruled out from cross city including tampa and sarasota rainfall amounts, lester, we're talking heavy rain from the florida panhandle to the carolinas. locally four to eight inches with as much as a foot of rain lester >> all right al roker, thank you. and our priscilla thompson is in the storm zone priscilla, there's a mandatory evacuation where you are tonight. >> reporter: that's right, lester. windows here are boarded up the sandbags are in place. as residents are racing to get out by tomorrow's 4:00 p.m. deadline tonight florida's gulf coast taking no chances when it comes to tropical storm idalia >> i got the bags that i need and they loaded it in my car >> reporter: idalia could become th

the storm surge at cedar key is five feet.k possibly could be as high as 10 to 15 feet. right now it's at 5 feet. also in tampa your storm surge is at four foot right now so we'll continue to watch that and as we take a look at some of the pictures here, now as we're getting daylight, the tampa area, that four-foot storm surge and wave action coming up here to the bridge and causeway. the low-lying areas with some water heading over there and definitely some overwash problems and this is coming off high tide at 4:00 so the tide is actually going down, but the storm surge is coming in at the same time so we'll keep an eye on that. this is tampa, 200 miles away from the center of the storm moving onshore so, willie, a lot of concerns, this is when the worst of that storm surge is happening. it looks like cedar key is in the four to six-not range but it's occurring as we speak. >> 16 feet you're getting up into a two-story building and started to answer my question with that image from tampa as we've got daylight there which is t

like cedar key. honored that emails north of tampa and dead center of hurricane expected. several homes and businesses there are now boarded up. >> a lot of older structures may have some issues standing up to the islands. and of course this tidal surge that we are hearing. >> tampa international airport has shut down. crews are securing boarding bridges. 5500 members of the national guard are standing by, ready to help those in the. >> so there is several officials, including the national guard. standing by to help. thousands of lineman for the power utilities. in order to get to work if the power goes off. we are expecting that to happen across several parts of the state. and omar, we have been talking about where we are here in pinellas county. this is an area where there is a mandatory evacuation zone. but i want to show you this presidential tower. it's right here behind me. i spoke to a couple earlier this morning. they were walking around the area here. telling me that they lived in this tower

grand prize reporting from the burial site in herbert hoover memorial siteer in cedar rapids, iowa.he 31st president of the united states will be laid to rest and going from the east in its final approach is the plane carrying the remains of iowa's only president. hundreds of people line the benches from the front of the apron all the way behind the terminal p on one side and sevel hundred cars to the west of the terminal, the inside of the terminal filled with people here to view the arrival of mr. hoover's body. and his family and very closest friends are walking down the steps and being greeted there by governor harold coombs. very slowly the big cargo plane, very slowly moves up to its destination. a point on the runway about three feet ahead of it where it now stands. the flag for the other side of the marine. and appears to be carried by an army.. ♪ ♪ >> color guard of the american flag ♪ down from the islands and as the funeral party now approaches, the west branch location and the miers, members to thehe official funerl the people and the friends of herbert hoover great and

he said the cedar key bridge leading to the community of cedar key which was cut off during the storm, that bridge was reopened late wednesday. that will be a crucial development because in the coming hours and days, officials will need to get a read on how many people might have been unaccounted for in cedar key, that place was isolated. one resident told us that the whole area didn't look very much like it used to look and they were really worried about elderly residents in isolated areas not being accounted for, so the opening of the cedar key bridge was a very important development. also the governor saying by late wednesday the number of customers without power had dropped but they are still frantically working to get hundreds of thousands of people back online. not only in florida, but also in georgia. there were reports of at least two weather-related deaths in florida, two car accidents not related to each other involving two men being killed. at least ten hospitals had to be evacuated during the storm. according to ron desantis, out of those ten hospitals that had to be evacu

take a look right behind me, and this used to be an inn right here on cedar key.decimated by the storm surge that came in. this is a small town, just about 700 full—time residents living here. of course, it depends on tourism and people coming to these inns and motels to spend a weekend at the beach. that is not happening any time soon. in fact, there is a roadblock by police, only people that have business being here are actually allowed into cedar key. now, the owner of this business is vowing to rebuild. i think it's important to compare what happened last year with hurricane ian and some of the destruction we saw there. if you think about these both being major hurricanes, and where they hit, we had an area that was not so which is where hurricane idalia went through, and then we had a heavily populated area, which is where hurricane ian went through, and we saw sort of the loss of life that we had with ian, we had not seen so far that it is anything close to that with idalia. so two things. you have a less populated area. you also have the fact that that was

radio coverage of the events turning in cedar rapids at the airport. >> good afternoon. this is grand prize reporting from the burial site in herbert hoover memorial park in west branch iowa wherein a little more than one hour the body of the 30 first president of the united states will be laid to rest. we switch to cedar rapids musical airport and martin jensen. >> approaching from the east in final approach is the plane which carries the remains of iowa's only president, the plane is now nearing the runway. has touched the ground. down the strip. hundreds of people arrayed along the fences. from the front of the april all the way around the terminal on one side and out for several hundred yards to the west of the terminal the inside of the terminal filled with people here to view the arrival of mister hoover's body. the hoover family, the very closest friends walking down the steps, by governor hughes. the big cargo plane very slowly goes to its destination. the point on the runway 3 feet ahead of where it now stands. family and close friends. coming directly toward us

this is a hotel, here in cedar key, where some of the cottages were completely destroyed. this one is completely gone. and then there is another one over there that is missing an entire side wall. what i want to show you, jose, is when you look at this from the outside, i first looked at some of these structures and they look like they were made out of wood, but this one, jose, it is cinder block. these walls that were blown out of the way are made out of block. these aren't some of the structures we have seen in the past that are damaged by hurricanes are usually older structures made out of wood, but look at the materials that this was built with. and the storm surge came in, and just completely destroyed this cottage. the owner of this hotel said this was the favorite most popular one for clients and i'll show you why. this is also one of the reasons, jose, why people live in this part of florida, because you have a place like this, and the view is a beautiful ocean view. sometimes people live in other parts of the country wonder why do people live in areas right where

and here's the deal with cedar key. right now, cedar key, all right this red line shows you where w are. all right, this blue line shows you typical tides. what's key about all of this, this square which is right now everybody dead low tide. this i the lowest that mother nature i going to provide. it's going to go up from there and on top of it you have the super blue moon out there. currently running about 8.5 feet of storm surge. initially the projections 10 to 12 feet and then maybe 16 feet. certainly hoping that it's goin to be on the low end of that. i can't guarantee that but i'm hoping it stays on the low end but right now you are at 8.5 feet in cedar key. the maximum is around 4 ok this afternoon. that's where we think we'll see the worst of it. after that things should start to taper down. you also looking at the situation here in tampa bay, florida. again, they're at thei low tide and they're running a storm surge right now you have 7.21 feet. you are running around 6 feet of storm surge or so in that area. ag

>> quite frankly, i think cedar key could be cut off.e water will completely encase it and cut it off. you might not be able to leave for days. you might not have clean water, electricity, be able to access your neighbors. if the worst of this storm surge materializes, virtually every home on that island could be flooded. >> the estimate from the player is around 100 residents are refusing to evacuate. what would you say to those residents? why is this storm different? >> i would beg them to leave and leave now, not wait till tomorrow. it won't be time tomorrow. the conditions will spread well out in front, especially the storm surge, well out in front of this system. they really have this evening and tonight to make that final decision, and it's going to be an important one if you decide to stay. >> all right. jimmy rome, we appreciate your time and perspective this evening. >> thank you. >>> we'll continue monitoring hurricane idalia as it gathers strength on its way to florida's gulf coast. you're watching football wrong! what do you

this is footage from cedar key, filmed by our team on the ground there.can see, although the skies were blue and the sun was shining, the destruction is clear to see. live now to our correspondent helena humphrey, who is in ha rd—hit cedar key. what are conditions like where you are now? you like where you are now? have to keep in mind, her on you have to keep in mind, here on the big bend of florida, this is the worst storm they have seen in over a century, want to show you some of the destruction we have seen on the ground, if i move out of shot you can see behind me the roof of a gas station simply flipped and twisted off in those hurricane winds that came in early this morning, we are also down by the coast and people there say we escaped with our lives but in some cases not our livelihoods. hotels hollowed out by those hurricane winds, the storm —— the storm surge coming in and in much of this area and down cedar key submerged. in the last few minutes some of the power has come back on not everywhere but some areas, 40,000 lines men deployed across t

they revised it upward 10 to 15 feet possibly to the northwest of cedar key.his is a category 2 hurricane. winds 100 miles per hour. the trend over the next 24 hours will strengthen the storm to category 3 with sustained winds 115 miles per hour. between tallahassee and cedar key as we take a closer look at the forecast i think it really is going to be the coast line just to the north of cedar key where they'll see the strongest winds along the eyewall as it comes ashore. winds up to 115 miles per hour. notice the project outline of the storm surge a rise in sea level that could be 10 to 15 feet very close to cedar key, a very flat area. that inundation of storm surge can go miles inland. what this is really like is an ocean wrecking ball. we saw it last year in ft. myers with hurricane ian the category 4, category 5 hurricane had a tremendous impact. this is what we are watching closely into tomorrow morning based on the current estimates of where the storm is going. some further strengthening possible overnight. category 2 to a category 3 moving northward th

this is as far as we can go into cedar key. this is the 70 limit. -- city limit. give you an idea of what is happening behind me, we can't go any further but speaking to law enforcement in anyone who has been trying to get in, that downtown area is underwater. that is what people have been telling me. other people telling you that one hotel is essentially, a chunk of it broke off and was washed into the goal. in the past hour or so, law enforcement have confirmed to me the people in this community have been accounted for. we were concerned when we saw boats trying to get into this community. we did hear some reports that some families, some individuals were still inside. what i spoke to other locals trying to get in, we were asking did you get adequate warning? they saithe morning was very clear. i said, why did others stay behind? they said you, have to understand where we were in big bend. we haven't seen a hurricane like this one in over a century. some people heard the warnings saying, it is like other tropical storms in the past and people stayed in offices,

here is a live look at cedar key, florida.ox weather has prepositioned a bunch of cameras in different locations. this is one of theirs. this is exactly where robert was talking about, the big bend area. and janice dean -- janice, how many miles away from the coast is the eye wall or rather the center of the storm? >> janice: the actual eye is about 7 miles away from the coast line. >> steve: so we're going to make landfall. >> janice: within the hour. >> ainsley: janice was thinking 8:00. >> janice: the national weather service has to make that call, not myself. >> brian: janice, we will get to you in just one minute because. >> ainsley: first go to fox news senior correspondent steve harrigan he is live in tar pen springs, florida slightly north of clearwater. steve, what are you seeing there? >> good morning, take a look at look at what downtown tar pin springs looks like right now. we are not seeing the dramatic wind yet. we have had steady rain overnight. gives you a sense of just how big this storm is and how much more t

lugares cedar ky nos reporta carlos robles. >>> sumergida amaneciÓ la isla de cedar key. mÁs de 100 residentes que no desalojaron destrucciÓn justo al salir del sol. y fue de tan mag nit que algunas comunidades de la isla, hacia donde uno mi re, lo que encuentra es total destrucciÓn. >>> deste temprano las autoridades y algunos residentes intentaron rol ver a subirla. utilizando aero lan chaz para los que quedaron atrapados. >>> y en nuestro recorrido encontramos al alcalde de cedar key para intentar llegar a la comunidad lo mÁs rapid posible. >>> >>> (hablado en inglÉs). >>> seguramente tardarÁ mucho tiempo para que esta turÍstica isla reciba visitantes el espÍritu de reconstrucciÓn, ya se muestra dentro. >>> (hablado en inglÉs). >>> julio, por fortuna a estas horas de la tarde ya el agua hace deudo, el sol ha salido y se muestran las tristes huellas. y la idea mÁs allÁ de las imÁgenes deslards. y 7 millas por ora. tiene el poder de vientos sostenidos de mÁs de 200 millas. y por eso el temor que se le tiene a la marejada ciclÓnica. vamos al pronostico, idalia esÁa camino

area of cedar key hard—hit area of cedar key where properties have been all but destroyed. a, where propertiesave been all but destroyed.— but destroyed. a flurry of demonic _ but destroyed. a flurry of demonic activity - but destroyed. a flurry of demonic activity in - but destroyed. a flurry of demonic activity in china. but destroyed. a flurry of - demonic activity in china. we make sense of the revolving door of western officials visiting beijing this week. and the rare lunar sight you can see with just your eyes — a super blue moon takes to skies across the globe. voice-over: life voice—over: life from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. studio in singapore, this is bbc newe— hi there. thank you for being with us. we begin in florida, where hurricane idalia has hit the state, leaving a trail of destruction. it made landfall as a category 3 hurricane, bringing winds of 125 miles per hour, but it's weakened as it passed through florida, and so far there have been no confirmed fatalities. now downgraded idalia to a tropical storm, no longer a hurricane, although they are still warning

you are looking at pictures from levy county where cedar key is located.hat is now a major, major storm and that is hurricane idalia, now a category 4 upgraded in the last hour. rapid intensification that we've seen over the course of the last several hours. and there have been significant warnings over the course of the last 12 to 15 hours about those in the gulf coast particularly the big bend region needing to evacuate, needing to listen to state and local officials about the risks, dangers. some floridians have defied those orders those. michael bobbitt is riding out the storm in cedar key. sir, i appreciate the time. i believe that you've lost power. can you tell me what you are seeing at this point? >> sure. we're starting to see it almost apocalyptic scene here. the gulf is rising up to swallow up the boat ramp and dock street where all of the popular tourist restaurants and shops are. when we're done here, i'll send you some video to show just an unprecedented level of surge sense i've lived here. and we're only just at the precipice of it. really

cedar key in line for a tomorrow morning landfall. it stays a hurricane even into south georgia. then stays tropical storm, south carolina, north carolina, late tomorrow, into early thursday. and when we're talking about impacts well beyond the cone, this map shows you. those tropical storm warnings all the way to the outer banks. it also goes through gainesville and right at the coast, number one way we lose life and property is storm surge. 10 to 15 feet. we're talking moving buildings type of water. that is that cedar key area, where we could see that unsurvivable condition, as it makes landfall tomorrow morning. then, it's about the wind, knocking at power to so many people that live in that hot pink color there. you can see 110-p 110-plus-mile-per-hour winds that goes all the way through south georgia. we'll have tornadoes, rain on the order of 6 to 12 inches. and i think that the national weather service in tallahassee said it best. you shouldn't compare this hurricane to any other, because you can't. we have not had a cat 3 or higher hit this part of florida since records

for example, storm surge up to 15 feet, especially right around cedar key, with surge accompanied by large waves, which cause beach erosion. wind gusts from 5 0 to 95 miles per hour. dangerous, with trees falling, possible power outages. from wilmington to sarasota, a risk of tornadoes wrapped in rain, hard to see. rainfall amounts, 12 inches or more in the florida big bend, and that's going to lead to significant flooding from cross city, all the way to wilmington lester >> all right, al we've been talking about just how dangerous that storm surge could be, as idalia slams ashore. our tom llamas is in kcrystal river, florida, about 80 miles north of tampa, where they could see 12 to 15 feet of surge. tom, good evening. >> reporter: lester, good evening to you. as you mentioned, this stretch of florida's known as the big bend, and they're getting ready here for something they have never, ever seen before a likely category 3 hurricane that will be getting stronger and stronger up until the time it crashes right into this coast. tonight, this destructive hurricane powering ashore, fuel

and michael, you have chosen to stay on cedar key. why? >> well, we've got some -- we've got some elderly and infirm people here on the island that just refuse to leaf. and i just felt a responsibility as their neighbor and as a person that loves this island to try to stay behind and to see what i can do to help. we've got a stone episcopal church building here that we're going to be holed up that we believe will withstand the winds, and it's at the highest point on the island. we believe even at the highest bit of storm surge we'll be okay. it's just place that i love. and i couldn't bear the thought of our neighbors that had no chance to take care of themselves getting stuck in something that i could be here to help them with. >> what's your plan if things get worse than you've anticipated? >> well, i mean, at some point the plan would be to hightail it out of here. but i believe we have a solid plan to be able to stay. we have rescue boats lined up in places staged, where we believe as soon as the storm passes that we'll be able to get

that includes people in cedar key and big band. one of the greatest threats, of course, is the storm surge. it's expected to reach once in a lifetime levels for this part of florida. cnn's live up and down the coast, including in tampa and steinhatchee. we will speak live with some storm changes storm chasers in the heart of the bull's-eye, also officials warn that time is running out to evacuate. first let's get straight to chad myers with this new forecast. chad, what is the path of hurricane idalia at this hour? >> still straight up to the north and likely just to the east of tallahassee as it continues to the north overnight. now the hurricane center will be putting out updates once per hour, not every three hours, so that is some excellent news for us here in the news business. up to 110 miles per hour, 111 is a category three, so we are there on the cusp. we have been seeing this eye develop for the two or three hours past. we haven't had an eye for most of the storm, but that eye is very indicative of what we expect this sto

now, 8 to 12 feet near cedar key.ory 1 and that brought six feet of storm surge to cedar key. now we are projecting a major hurricane, category 3 or higher, that could bring significant impacts to that area. tampa bay here, we have the official forecast of around 4 to 7 feet. the air force base there south of the city. we've got the coastal areas, the coastal waterways. near clearwater, this is a prone region as well. these intercoastal waterways have potential of 4 to 7 feet as well. fourth north into the cedar key region are more oranges and reds. that's indicating the 8 to 12-foot storm surge. something no one wants to see. that is the reality that we are facing here. and, sara, you know, you talked about the force of storm surge. no one talks about that. 1,700 pounds, that's what a cubic yard of water weighs. so can you imagine 8 to 12 feet of water rushing in on to the shoreline with that amount of force and pressure, no one could withstand that. that is why there are mandatory evacuations that line this coastlin

cristian benavides joins us from cedar key, florida, with a firsthand look at the devastation left behind by idalia. that area got hit pretty hard, cristian. >> reporter: good morning. in fact, this small town of just about 1,000 full-time residents experienced a record storm surge of nearly 7 feet. but residents and businesses most affected are vowing to rebuild. overnight, a weaker idalia moved over the carolinas, bringing heavy rain and storm surge flooding. >> a lot of wind. a lot of rain. nothing too crazy. nothing that we expected. >> reporter: similar in southern georgia where storm's strong winds toppled this basketball net and snapped off tree limbs. >> unbelievable. >> reporter: but in florida, wherel idalia first came ashore as a powerful category 3 storm, there is a trail of de instruction in coastal towns. >> you want to live on the water, you've got to put up with it. >> reporter: this video captures the moment the storm surge demolished a home. residents are now surveying the damage. >> what matters is what i'm holding. >> reporter: cleanup efforts underway around the state

checking the folks on cedar key and other coastal community of yankee town.bably within two hours we had contact with those people and ensured their safety. we're very fortunate. we only have one minor injury and that was due to a fall and zero loss of life. >> 75 people have been rescued so far. what are you seeing on the ground. what challenges are first responders facing as they try to get to people to save them? >> as any community like ours, the problem is getting around the downed trees. we have a full complement of deputy sheriffs out there with chainsaws and other county infrastructure here and on top of that, a huge populous of national guardsmen here helping us. can't say enough to governor desantis for throwing all the resources he possibly had available to us as we weathered this storm. we're now in a recovery mode. want to urge our citizens that want to try to re-enter these flooded affected communities, give it a little bit of time, let the water get out of there, that will make it safer for you. our community has a well rehearsed re-entry plan.