coronado street here in clearwater beach. the actual beach where the gulf of mexico is about oh, i would say a football field or so away you see this road is inundated with storm surge as we expected. we expect potentially up to 7 feet. we could see here as an outer band is following the eye of idalia and it's making its way through here right now kicking up this water and pushing in to pretty heavy wind gusts right now. we had some rain moments ago, and that's what we're seeing. we are seeing the ebb and flow of this scenario. as the water comes in and makes its way through the side streets into these main arteries of clearwater beach. that's the issue. that's why they called for a mandatory evacuation. yesterday, tried to get everyone out. [horn] >> by 7:00 p.m. last night. that was the hope that that would occur. whether or not everyone left, we just don't know. but we have seen high water vehicle by the clearwater beach police department come through here. otherwise, haven't seen anyone walking around, thankfully, as this

pete beach up near clearwater. a few shifts near a mile or more will bring in the impact of storm surge pretty quickly. the clearwater beach reading keeps rising, 2.9 feet now. we have our bob van dilen on the beaches there, been showing how the water's crashed up on the barrier walls onto the sidewalks. they've closed off a portion of the road there right along the beaches. this, you know, even before we see that full southwest shift into clearwater beach, that's expected to happen as idalia continues to push a little bit further up to the north, but to see numbers this high already, this coinciding with the high tide, too which is already making the problem worse, is going to be a real tough stretch as we open up the rest of the day today. >> ian: jane, i was speaking with cody behind me in weather command. the hurricane hunters are in the storm and they're finding a pressure which is probably somewhere high in the 940's, somewhere around 948. keep in mind with the last update we got last hour at 1:00, minimum ce

which means clearwater beach will be under water, as will most of our beaches up and down the coast hereeach. the transportation stops at 5. there still will be emergency vehicles available to help. until winds reach 40, 45 miles an hour. >> neil: you talk about prior experiences, mayor, and they're not taking anything for granted. i get that. there were some early hopeful reports on the tracking of this storm, sir, that showed it veering ever so slightly. i'm just going by governor desantis' latest press conference, to the left. the more to the left the better. more east into the florida proper, the worst. any updates on that, mayor? >> last i saw it went a little left. it's going back to port a little bit. for it to turn right and come up tampa bay was not going to happen. we were lucky there once again. still, we're going to get sustained winds and tremendous storm surge. it's still going to be a serious situation until we get through tomorrow. >> neil: i know you've been pounding that, mayor, saying more people are listening. but where are they going, when that happens? i notice the

mandatory evacuees on clearwater beach fchl we had like ariel shot of where i'm at now, but too windyor a drone. as far as i could see, both sides, all full of water and clearwater tweeting, asking people that decided they were not going to leave, asked them to not flush their toilet or turn on the water until this receded. the sewer systems are maxed out because of this. we knew this was going to happen, whether we hit seven-foot mark of surge that will not likely happen. we are just under four feet as i stand here this morning. live on fox and friends an hour and a half ago, bands that came in, barely make out me when i was walking through here, incredible photographery team. very intense moment for everybody on this barrier island and even island in tampa, been reporting in there. as brian norcross and janice dean were talking, i was listening, we fear the path of destruction moving through the panhandle, we are nowhere out of the woods and look at cedar key. i've seen visual out of that, town under water right now, expect up to 15 feet plus of storm surge. we are not in dire situa

robert ray in clearwater beach. what are you seeing there now? looks a lot better than what katie is experiencing. >> yeah, no doubt. yeah, what katie is experiencing we went through predawn here on clearwater beach, and that's when the surge came in. this is what we expected, i'm in a neighborhood on clearwater beach. take a look all the way down as steve trains down the street. block after block of storm surge in this neighborhood and many of these homes have taken in on the first floor water. here is the good news, if there is any in the aftermath of a hurricane. there is no major structural damage, at least here on clearwater beach to report. lieutenant told me earlier they have pretty much surveyed the entire barrier island and no injuries either. a lot of people listened to the mandatory evacuation orders and they left. that is according to the clearwater police. now we still have the wind gusts pulling through here, the rain is done in earnest, the system is just massive and moving across and the remnants still are happening here. now guys

>> i am in clearwater beach, mandatory, this is an island. if you go across these bridges over the inland to clearwater there are areas under mandatory over there but low-lying areas, the majority are not. we are going to stay at a fortress of a hotel, many vehicles in a safe place and we will capture the water as it comes in off of the coast and inundates these roads, businesses and homes. we are hoping for the best, but the way it looks, the surge is coming at it won't be like hurricane in a year ago, 15 feet plus, but we could have record surge here on clearwater beach of 7 feet or more. have not seen that kind of number in modern history. neil: just be safe. robert ray in the middle of that, hours away from being just that. we could be looking at, what do you think? >> reporter: right now maximum winds of 85 miles an hour. it has turned to the southwest of the fort myers area. it's considered a category one storm but eventually we anticipate idalia will undergo what we call rapid intensification. that means we will see winds increase by 35

band later on but it is very telling with the storm surge watching the situation play out at clearwater beachint pete beach this is why we try to stay above it you don't know how deep it is on the ground on the road level and just how strong the waves are. coming in hot you can see how they pushed over into the me median. i would be shocked if we see that continue further down into the road we already notice the businesses and homes they are boarded up, sandbags, even they recognize that threat is very real and possible at this point. >> jane: not only the waves with the barrier but we track the band going into tampa bay rain is still potentially coming through talk about the concern with the community the rain on top of the storm surge. >> that is the case. there is a lot of conversation is the storm surge threat even more of a danger at that point if we already see what has happened at low tide people are very concerned several hours from now at 6 or 7 or 8:00 o'clock a.m. now we talk about landfall. this is still very evident that tampa bay and saint pete beach will still see a very intens

i'm literally in a neighborhood in north clearwater beach.ou can see the storm search that has inundated this particular pocket. that's been happening all day long. it all started predawn. take a look at some of this video what myself and crew were experiencing as the heavy bands from idalia came in not only kicking up the storm surge from the gulf of mexico in the inlets but creating rain and wind that forced all of this water in to the main streets and the neighborhoods. much of clearwater beach the water has receded. there's no water any monday in many neighborhoods. same with the main drag where the hotels were where we were reporting live on "fox and friends" and fox news and fox weather and fox business and all of our affiliates as well. here's the thing. as you know and i've been talking about, mandatory evacuations were underway. they had everybody out by 7:00 p.m. the police tell us indeed that is the case they feel. most people heeded the warnings. they got off of the barrier island and to higher ground. that is why they're not seei

a similar scenario around clearwater beach. steve harrigan described the waters, the surge receding. take a look down this road as the camera lens trains all the way down to this neighborhood. i'm not exaggerating when i say this. less than 30 minutes ago, this was about a foot of water. now vehicles can go through. that's how quickly the recession of the surge has happened. we have seen that all up and down clearwater beach throughout the date. if we can, take a look at this video from before dawn. myself and team were live on "fox and friends." that's when the outer bands were raging in to clearwater beach as the wind was spinning up and the water just kicking up on the surge. you can see some of that water was knee deep, even higher than that. when the rain kicked in and the winds blew up the water, you can taste the saltwater in the gulf of mexico. right on my lips i could taste it. this area was on mandatory evacuation. according to police, most people heeded the warning and got out. no reported injuries on clearwater beac

idalia is throwing haymakers right now into clearwater beach.ng through here on coronado drive right now. this is as intense as we've seen. liz: that was just between 24 minutes, and there the he is right now live on your screen, robert ray in clearwater, florida. robert, what does the damage look like right now where you are? >> reporter: yeah, good afternoon, liz. so you saw that video from earlier this morning right before or the sun came up as those bands came in, and it was nasty. it was intense for quite some time. but now you see this, i'm walking through a neighborhood. this is what storm surge has created. and if we can train the camera lens all the way down there, it goes on for a couple blocks, and it is literally block after block in these neighborhoods. but as quickly as the water has come up, it goes back and recedes the that fast as a well. we just with experienced that that in the past 20 minutes, half hour. we were, oh, i don't know, four blocks away9 and the road looked like this, and sure i enough, all the water receded. so th

off the gulf of mexico, clearwater beach.hat we are seeing and experiencing as a team myself and two photographers, fox news photographers is a very heavy band that has just come in. one of our meteorologist at fox weather in new york alerted me that this was coming and, boy, was he right. because this is coming in. counterclock wizard of oz. you see the wind, you feel the rain. the water inundating these streets. this water is acting like it should be here. like it owns the street. like it's a river. they expected this surge to come in into clearwater beach. that is why mandatory evacs went into place in pinellas county the last day or so. they began the evacs on sunday. let's hope everyone went out. all we have seen this morning a few official vehicles. pinal laths county vehicle and clearwater beach high water vehicle run through here. nobody else has been here. hopefully everyone has listen to the those evacuation orders as we are seeing an imminent landfall within the next hour of this hurricane, a cat 4 up in the big be

we are just looking at pictures of clearwater beach in | at pictures of clearwater beach in tampa.e winds are. i hope you can still hear me. earlier, we had the governor asking people not to take risks. looking at these pictures, you won want to be out in that. how many people have been evacuated, we have any idea? i people have been evacuated, we have an idea? ., �* ., any idea? i don't have the exact total, but _ any idea? i don't have the exact total, but it _ any idea? i don't have the exact total, but it is _ any idea? i don't have the exact total, but it is into _ any idea? i don't have the exact total, but it is into the - any idea? i don't have the exact| total, but it is into the hundreds of thousands. 0ver total, but it is into the hundreds of thousands. over 20 plus counties were asked to evacuate, certainly along the gulf of mexico. all the folks in low—lying areas along the coast were being asked to evacuate. the truth is, here in charlotte county, i am several hundred miles south of where the direct impact was made, but we even have bridges closed because of the flood

>> good morning, clearwater beach, this is coronado street.or so here in total as it continues to move in like a small creek moving throughout this barrier island. mandatory evacuations were in play in thes past day. hope everyone got out last night. winds continue to kick up as bands of go. turned into a category 4 in the past 20 minutes expected to hit big bend southeast of tallahassee. this morning, this is what we're discussing, pinellas county and officials wanted people to get off clear water beach. this water coming from the gulf, the wind and intermittent wind gust with pockets of rain will continue. we have a light that is about to go down, this is developing and becoming hostile environment and we could see catastrophic flooding up and down big bend. category 4 major hurricane continues to come in. not common for category 4 hurricane to come to big bend at all, a lot of rain pushing in. ebbs and flows of hurricane, this is what we'll see. moments of peace and then it kicks off and moves in. the streets are being pushed in by water fr

you are looking at live footage at clearwater beach where sara sidner is. derek van dam, our meteorologist, is also down there. a lot of preparation. very quiet right now. what is expected on the ground there? >> reporter: that is the thing. when you look at that picture from the drone, it looks like paradise. it is beautiful right now. but there are preparations underway. there are evacuations underway. there are mandatory and voluntary evacuations now in 20 counties. why is that? because a storm is coming. we know now that it's no longer a tropical storm. it has gained in strength to a category 1 hurricane and we are expecting that to grow even more powerful as this hurricane hits those warm gulf waters and intensifies to potentially a category 3. to remind people what kind of damage a category 3 storm can do, it's not so much about the wind as it is about the water. a category 3 storm, you will remember, hit in louisiana in 2005, hurricane katrina, and you remember the story there with the breaking of the looefs. it was all about the power of water. than

. >> clearwater beach, coronado drive flooded three hours ago. i was standing here, with the wind and the rain coming in, storm surge was by me, mid thigh. it has receded at this point and still getting the low from the bands even though it is up there. this arcane is a cat one in southern georgia omma still feeling the effects in clearwater beach, the tampa area. i spoke to officials a couple hours ago as they drove in a humvee, talked to a lieutenant of the clearwater police trying to assess what was going on around this barrier island, she told me she thinks most people heated the evacuation warnings, by their assessment they drove by and passed several homes. and they have not seen any structural damage here, we confirm two people lost their life in the state of florida, the hurricane came in as a category 3 had one point turned into a cat 4. we talk about the storm surge here and it has receded on clearwater beach in many areas. if we look at the big bend north of here where landfall occurred, storm surge up to 10 to 15 feet, that is really

clearwater beach is just over my shoulder there. d if the drone goes higher nell varks in elevation, you will see the beach stretches for miles. and 4 to 7 feet for tampa bay. the pinellas county region. but look at the reds, 8 to 12 feet around cedar key region. that is where we're concerned about all of the shallow water from the eastern gulf of mexico that you see behind me, that warm water is going to push up and pile up into that almost catcher's mitt type topography feature. so what you are looking at is storm surge potential. and there is important because you can see the shades of orange around tampa bay, that is 4 to 7 feet perhaps locally higher. and then along the intercoastal water ways, barrier island, you can see yellows and oranges there as well. that is 4 to 7 feet of elevation above normal dry land. and this storm has got a trajectory towards the big bend, but again, we talk about the oneles with these strengthening storms. any deviation for the west or any deviation to the east has major implications for such large

these are the live pictures from clearwater beach in florida.ed. there has been a lot of flooding in many areas. we can show you pictures now from jacksonville. we are expecting some updates there from officials who are speaking. but we are also watching tallahassee, we are expecting governor ron desantis to give an update on the situation in florida. hurricane idalia has hit florida and of course is now crossing into georgia. still powerful winds and potentially life—threatening conditions. we will bring you the latest here on bbc news. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. now let's go to a story we are keeping an eye on. the property website zoopla says the number of houses sold in the uk this year is on track to be the lowest in more than a decade. around 1 million sales are set to be completed, down almost a fifth from last year. the cost of mortgages and rents have risen sharply since banks started increasing rates on lending. hundreds of tents have been left behind at campsites following leeds festival at the weekend. dron

clearwater beach under evacuations as of two, three hours ago.y had a meeting this morning and decided these barrier islands need to clear out because of the intensity that idalia expected to be. maybe even a category four. we don't know yesterday. this is where boats are being shored up. neil, you remember hurricane ian. all the boats piled up in the aftermath. i want a quick question here with andrea. what's happening? >> we have 3, 500 pound anchors in the intracoastal waterway. wee getting them anchored up so we don't have boats here. >> be safe. neil, that's the deal. we're expecting seven feet of storm surge as it will brush this area. it is a fluid situation. someone's horn has now gone off, neil. we're in that situation. back to you. >> neil: i always appreciate hearing from you. robert ray in the middle of that. clearwater beach. let's go to michael estime. what are we looking at here? >> neil, good afternoon to you. soi'm going to tell you more about what we're expecting idalia. right now a powerful tropical storm. it is within four to

the record here at clearwater beach is a 4-foot surge and that wasn't even with a hurricane that was with a nor'easter back in 1993 when it pounded it with snow in the wintertime. this could rival that. also the record for the tampa bay, ian you used to work here we know four feet, we could probably see that as it funnels in here. you think about what a storm surge is, if you blow in your cup of water it creates the ripples, that's like a mini storm surge, now put that on a global scale, the wind blowing right over the water channelling it into the tampa bay area, and it's not going to let it loose until that wind shifts around and says, go right back out again. that could be a long period of time. because the way this storm is coming in parallel to the beach, we could see that thing with the southwest winds for at least 12-16, maybe 18 hours. that would keep that water elevated, for sure. and here we are. this is the strongest rain band that we have seen so far today, it's the biggest one, the fattest rain drops and, yeah, nothing water proof when you have 45 mile per hour winds. ia

they were cruising north clearwater beach and did not see many people that stayed.ot a lot of structural damage, though the water is higher down there. we will go and take a look at that part of the island very soon. assess it for ourselves. i am not negating power and fury of this hurricane, the big bend area is where this hurricane came in as category 3. by the way, it hit category 4 strength at one point before landfall. that area taking upward 10 to 15 feet of storm surge, anyone in the way of that cannot survive. we saw that last year. structures get washed,a way and vehicles, and wind at 125 mile per hour, roofs will be ripped apart. in clearwater and tampa area, what we're not seeing thankfully is a lot of structural damage. roofs that were peeled off by heavy wind and not seeing the surge we could have seen, up to seven feet. we saw about four feet. having said that, this morning was intense, no doubt about it. one point, jasper think we thought it was going to be a lot worse here. there are people going through t tremendous amount. the storm is not done it

we are in clearwater beach in the rain has stopped as you can see. but the wind significantly increasing the last few minutes. so the rain has let up. we are feeling the force of that wind just sweeping through the area now as you said, the hurricane now officially a category three. we are expecting that to be come a category four hurricane by the time that it makes landfall in the early hours of the wednesday morning. conditions here are changing really minute to minute. it was raining hard about an hour ago. when we last spoke to a stop now. it's very windy. storm surge is going to be the primary thing that we are watching for. expecting to see anywhere from 47 feet of storm surge. coming in. that's going to be catastrophic for the area. a large amount of water. dangerous levels of water. as a result the area has been put under a mandatory evacuation order. not everyone has heeded the waters. i've spoken people who are local, telling me they would ride this out. just writing it out. hoping for the best, but as we've heard from the governor, he beli

we went to a place called clearwater beach. at is peninsula surrounded by you've got the gulf of mexico on one side, the tampa bay the other side. whole thing mawdatory evacuation zone "a." we saw so many people on the beach. we saw people ongoing for a swim. they weren't bothered. i'm a floridian, i get it. i think authorities get nervous about that because if something changes like what we saw with ian, then you have a sudden shift and then people are stranded and stuck and it's too late to help them in some cases. so that's of course a big concern. i went up to an officer in clearwater beach and i said out of curiosity when you see people that are in these areas, these mandatory evacuation areas what do you do, is this enforceable? and he says, no, this schbt something we can force people to do match at least that's in clear water. i can't speak for every jurisdiction. he said the reason they have that mandatory evacuation order is to say we tried to get people out but ultimately that is their choice. one thing i did notice t

now, clearwater beach is part of pinellas county. this area is about two and a half miles long, there is a big, long beach that is right in front of us in this direction. it is very flat and that is important. what does that mean? it is flat and that ocean is shallow. you can walk about half a mile into it and the water might just be barely up to your waist. so that creates a conditions for storm surge. another key factor here that we have been talking about all day long, the gulf of mexico. the waters which this storm is traveling over right now are extremely warm. those warm waters are acting like gasoline for this hurricane. it is making a gain to strength and speed as it moves forward, and that motion as is directly in front of us, if it comes anywhere where we are right now, the expectation is that we could see anywhere from 4 to 7 feet of storm surge. a little over five feet tall, so any amount of water that is more than that is obviously going to be catastrophic and extremely damaging. now, people here for the most part have he

bob is tracking it all and is live from clearwater beach, florida.bob. >> clearwater beach is under a hurricane warning. a storm surge morning. expecting a six-foot wall of water to come slamming in here shortly. it's already high tide with a super moon which makes it even bigger. the storm will be the main story as it rolls passed us overnight tonight and then bangs into the big bend area of florida. we are talking about cedar key, stein haji, yankee town. that area could see a storm surge like no one has ever seen and that region. we are talking 12 or 16-foot storm surge as it rolls in overnight tonight through tomorrow morning. the storm is so strong with 30 miles per hour winds when it makes landfall. it will hold together with all that momentum and blast through lower georgia as a hurricane into the carolinas by wednesday evening and thursday. still holding onto the tropical storm strength. we are talking about a major storm that has turned into a monster. it will not slow down until it reaches land. that is not until tomorrow morning. >> bob, t

where will that be, "fox weather" robert ray in clearwater beach florida with the very latest on thets, the window is closing for people to fly out of the region, 12:01 a.m., fewer than nine hours, tampa's main airport will see the commercial flights, what are you seeing on the ground? >> an afternoon received mandatory evacuations as i speak to you, look at this if you can this is the inlet that is clearwater, we are on clearwater beach take a look at the business this is a charter business, it is a bar in the restaurant they are packing up you see the u-haul they are moving all of the equipment in their because the storm surge is expected to be upwards of 7 7 feet. if that happens in this area unfortunately that is historical for modern times and we may see another scenario, god forbid like hurricane ian where boats are crashed up and businesses are destroyed that is why mandatory evacuation on the barrier islands right now and governor desantis and officials have been updating all of us for two days there is an army of personnel here and on their way. let's listen to what he told

not too far from there is clearwater beach which is where gloria pazmino is tonight. ing to people who were walking along the beach just about two hours ago as the sun was coming down, they were walking, taking in the scene, taking in the waves that were coming in. and they told me that they were riding out the storm right here in clearwater beach even though this is a mandatory evacuation zone. they said they live about five miles inland and that was giving them a little bit of comfort about what might happen in the next several hours. now, you talked about the storm surge. you are about 200 miles north of where we are. we are to your south right now. so the storm is moving in your direction. and here we are starting to feel -- it's raining steadily now. the wind is starting to increase. but we are expecting conditions to deteriorate here significantly over the next several hours. now, we have spoken to residents who told us that they were staying put and riding out the storm while others as we understand have actually heeded those warnings. this is an area where ther

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you are looking at live footage at clearwater beach where sara sidner is.pected on the ground there? >> reporter: that is the thing. when you look at that picture from the drone, it looks like paradise. it is beautiful right now. but there are preparations underway. there are evacuations underway. there are mandatory and voluntary evacuations now in 20 counties. why is that? because a storm is

this is clearwater beach in florida. as you can see, still very high winds.e. the national hurricane center said a catastrophic storm surge on the florida big bend reached 6.8 feet. it has since been downgraded to a category two storm, but more than 230,000 homes across the state are without power. you can see the effects on the ground. this is the view from the international space station of the storm. we are continuing to follow that story. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the man who was chief executive of the nhs trust where lucy letby murdered seven babies wrote in a now—deleted blog about being "persuaded" to run a london trust by a senior nhs england boss. tony chambers went on to get three senior nhs jobs following the serial killer's arrest. nhs england said its london region was unaware of the murder probe. the property website zoopla says the number of houses sold in the uk this year is on track to be the lowest in more than a decade. around 1 million sales are set to be completed,

i think this is clearwater beach.ause it is extremely windy and wet and the camera is not going to be perfect. what we are seeing there are trees swinging from side to side as the winds begin to pick up. hurricane idalia is expected to affect a lot of florida's counties, think about 28 of the 67 counties are under some form of evacuation. that is tampa, look at how close the sea water is to the road, where cars are actually still driving up and down. italia is forecast to make landfall at the state's northern panhandle on wednesday morning local time. in the last minute or so, we have the latest update, which is coming to us here at the bbc, that that the winds have slightly eased to 125 miles per, which means it is now classed back as a category three hurricane. that is according to the national hurricane center. the hurricane has been category four for the past few hours those potentially catastrophic storm surges and destructive winds, which are still expected. so the winds have eased slightly but we don't know wha

those coming from clearwater beach in tampa.e overcome. that has the latest on hurricane idalia. we will bring you more as we get it. the duke of sussex has described his emotional "unravelling" after he returned from military service in afghanistan in 2013. in a netflix documentary series about the invictus games, prince harry says he found the deployment triggering, bringing to the surface the trauma of losing his mother, princess diana, at the age of 12. let's hear some of what he had to say: i can only speak from my personal experience, my tour of afghanistan in 2012 flying apaches. somewhere after that, there was an unravelling. the trigger to me was actually returning from afghanistan, but the stuff that was coming up was from the age of... from 1997, from the age of 12. losing my mum at such a young age. live now to kevin porter, hypnotherapist and coach, also author of the book called "fearless — the diary of an 18—year—old at war in the falklands." thank you very much forjoining us. prince harry really bring some attent

this is the scene in clearwater beach. live pictures. you can see the trees shaking there.now upgraded that hurricane idalia to a category four. the advisory says a catastrophic storm surge and catastrophic storm surge and catastrophic wins are nearing the big bend region. they say whilst idalia should weaken after landfall, it will still be a hurricane in southern georgia, the coast of georgia or south carolina later today. so there you have it. we will of course be bringing you the latest on that story from the united states as and when we have more. now to north africa, and the ongoing flow of foreign migrants trying to reach europe across the mediterranean. the tunisian port of sfax has become the main departure point for many. almost the same number of migrants have crossed in the first six months of this year, as in the whole of last year. the country has been heavily criticised for its treatment of migrants, but officials there say they are cracking down to protect tunisia's sovereignty. bbc arabic�*s bassam bounneni has spent 2a hours with the tunisian coastguards a

we drove over on clearwater beach yesterday evening. i mean, it was a ghost town. didn't see too many people. and at this hour, access to the beach is closed. it's completely cut off. emergency officials shut down the roads. roads are impassable. all so those people that did leave, it's going to be probably most of today, probably more likely tomorrow. so before that, they are they're even able to get through the roads to check on their houses. okay rebecca, you

here where we are, in clearwater beach, part of pinellas county, there is also a mandatory evacuation order. and the concern here is the storm surge. we are about from where i'm standing about a quarter of a mile i would say to the edge of the beach in that direction. and we watched earlier today as hotel workers here in the area kind of lined the area with sandbags, trying to prevent that water from coming in. so far it stayed away. but if the storm surge does start to move inland to where we are right now, we are expecting to see anywhere from 4 to 7 feet of water moving in this direction. there are other parts of the county here in pinellas that are already seeing some flooding from that water coming in from the beach. so the next critical hours will determine whether or not that water starts moving inland, and that is going to potentially cause a lot of problems as idalia continues its path headed to the western coast of florida. omar? >> gloria pazmino, thank you for your updates throughout the past few hours. we'll stay close to you. christopher evan is citrus county's are direc

clearwater beach, mandatory evacuations in place right now.here at the gulf of mexico. there are still people trying to get their last moments of paradise here. there's surfers there. in the distance, what you might see are the outer bands. we just got the first squalls that came in. this storm is well south of off, off of naples and fort myers area. this will make its way up here, expected to be a category three storm as it will make landfall on the big bend sometimes very early tomorrow morning. this is going to get rocking soon. it will be a hostile environment here on this beach. it's mandatory evacs. local officials say get out of the flood zones. many people are moving to an area to get away from the storm surge. where i'm standing right now could be up to seven feet of storm surge pushing in from the gulf of mexico over walls like this, in to parking lots and on to roads. it will get dangerous overnight very soon, this will be a hostile environment in the coming hours. many folks need to get off of this barrier island by sunset, trace.

clearwater florida wih the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, maria. actually tomorrow at this time you look at this, the gulf of mexico here and the beaches of clearwatero seven feet expected as idalia is strengthening. take a look at this radar of idalia, down near cuba right now, a category 1, expected to continue to rise up to a category 3. we just don't know, maybe even a category 4 by the time it hugs the gulf coast where i'm at and makes landfall at some point tomorrow morning. residents have been preparing. let's hear what they've been doing. >> it's better to be prepared versus not prepared and have regrets. >> people have been back and forth, hauling trash, hauling boats, getting everything put away the best they can, hoping and praying for the best. >> hoping for the best. you know, we do this each time, we leave every time. this one looks like it's a biggie. >> reporter: it does look like a biggie. people are breaking out sandbags. mandatory evacuations are in place on barrier eye hands and low-lying -- islands and low-lying gee geography. the governor has been briefing the country. here's what he said yesterday can about the emergency evacu

clearwater, they are on the dirty side of the storm and will push a lot of water into tampa bay and clearwater beach, so make sure you stay away from the water. the governor has a lot of contingencies to deal with the aftermath of the hurricane when it blows through, but immediately the task is to get out of the way of it. >> sandra: right now it is lashing cuba, a lot of flooding is happening, we are watching the storm's path. we'll continue to bring updates as we get them. a live look at the white house where the president is set to speak any moment now we are told on healthcare costs, and his plans to allow medicare for drug prices. a key part of the 2024 pitch to voters. but drug companies are already fighting back in court. also waiting on a pentagon briefing to start any moment now, $250 million weapons package to ukraine as americans are divided over the funding of that war. we'll keep an eye on all of that for you. but first, breaking news from our southern border. >> john: federal authorities are investigating a group of foreign nationals who crossed the border with help from an isis-linked

. >> and where i'm at on clearwater beach, expected up to 7 feet of storm surge. that is the huge concern along the gulf coast especially in tampa bay which essentially acts as a catcher's mitt for that water when it r rushes in. wobbles to the storm. anything that tracks more east puts the gulf coast specifically here and to the north to the big bend in even bigger jeopardy. people need to be careful. this could be catastrophic and deadly if you're in the stowrng area. time is now to pack up and leave if you are. guys, back to you. >> steve: robert, the x fax factor this time is that the water in the gulf is at record high temperatures. >> oh, yeah look at the gulf of mexico. surface temperatures in the high 80's. potentially even 90. for a hurricane to rapidly intensify, which is what is expected right now, you need three things, that is high surface water temp. high humidity and a lack of shear. the shear is what drops down and kicks that storm around and breaks it up. we don't expect that unfortunately. and after it heads into florida, guys, up into georgia an

. >> good afternoon from clearwater beach, the barrier island outside of tampa.ou see behind me, look at the bridge and if there is a mandatory evacuation, a lot of people that's their way out to the mainland, pinellas county has been having meetings this morning, that's where were at that includes tampa as well deciding mandatory evacuations. we heard governor desantis say the barrier islands will be evacuated but we haven't gotten the mandatory word quite yet as the storm is churning and making its way out here, current track, making his way to the gulf of mexico. it is forward to come up 80 miles where i'm at right now to make landfall at some point in the middle of the night tuesday into wednesday very early morning and hit the big bend area north of here that's where the peninsula curves and goes into the panhandle. as we know in the storm involves it is not even a hurricane yet, it will be soon, there could be a wobble or jog just to the south and east of that happens. where were at right now is in deep trouble. as it stands next - 8 fee of storm surge will

horseshoe beach, landfall spot, cedar key, those areas had that 8-foot storm surge, clearwater beachper hour. it was going po be a close call for the tallahassee area, thankfully the storm for you took that right turn at the end. the storm itself is located in southern portions of georgia. we'll wait and see if they keep it as a hurricane. gust on the coastline down near jacksonville right around 66 mile per hour winds. they may leave it there or bring it down to a tropicastorm. the intensity isn't going to change much now through tomorrow. it's going to stay status quo as it goes back over the water. thiwe it's going to increase in intensity. the next story that will be developing, low tide. heading toward that high tide this evening for savannah and charleston. >> bill, let's talk at storm surge, a word we keep saying and most people are familiar generally what it is, give us the science here what exactly is storm surge, how does it work? >> reporter: you have to think of storm surge like this, just the component of what the wind does to the waters, if you want to do a little exper

. >> idalia is throwing haymakers right now into clearwater beach. >> some barrier islands entirely cut from the mainland with storm surges from 12 to 16 feet reported. maximum sustained winds 125 miles per hour at its peak. in cedar key, most of the downtown has been submerged. the fire department there saying propane tanks were blowing up all over the island. in keaton beach, drone footage shows roofs blown off, trees toppling on to houses. and in tarpon springs, residents just beginning to measure the scope of the damage. this business owner we spoke with uncertain whether he has the resources to rebuild. >> i do have insurance, i have had insurance. but the insurance companies they change their rules so often every year, what i'm covered for right now i honestly don't know. >> the awesome scope of idalia seen from satellite with lightning pops from the eye wall. in neighboring georgia, more than 60,000 without power. northbound interstate 75 near valdosta closed. [chainsaw] >> as are nearby streets from fallen trees as fox weather brit a that merwin witnessed. >> residents have show

we are in clearwater beach, which is part of pinellas county. of the counties that told people here to get out. now, i just want to give you a sense of where we are. the ocean is in that direction, about a half mile to the edge of the water. we can't see it now because it is absolutely pitch dark. but, in this direction is the street. inland. that is where people have been heading, in fact, i spoke to a man earlier today who was walking the length of the beach, kind of checking out conditions before things got bad, and he told me that even though there was a mandatory evacuation order here, he was riding out the storm at his home. he told me he lives five miles inland, and he is used to this kind of thing. now, that is the problem with this area and the hurricanes. florida is used to seeing hurricanes, but usually they hit the eastern part and the southern part of the state. now we are preparing to see hurricane idalia hit the big bend to the north at the west side of the state. that is where we are expecting to see the biggest impact. and so, e

and south and north carolina, but florida suffered the worst of the storm including tampa bay, clearwater beachxperienced record storm surges. cities like crystal river saw entire areas flooded. these satellite images showing the before and after. >> people losing homes, losing businesses, really, really a lot of work that needs to be done. >> reporter: florida governor ron desantis toured more damaged areas today promising funding help for all 25 counties that fell under the hurricane warning. president joe biden formally declared florida as a major disaster area. >> i know it's going to be a lot of work, but we will get everyone back on their feet. >> reporter: a hopeful message for people who lost everything during the storm including these home owners in horseshoe beach, which sits squarely in the middle of the big bend area. >> my dad always said if we had a direct hit right off the gulf it would not last. >> it's very painful. i tell, you know, my daughter i can't hardly even talk about it. i love that old house right there, you know, like a family member. >> wow, carlos, i'm sure at this

now but at this time last night the storm surge start coming in clear water and the record for clearwater beachour feet. we got just a hair above that after midnight last night. it lasted for about 12 hours and then it receded. the reason why, the winds just died down as it moved a little farther inland in through florida and georgia and rate now it's hammering away in south carolina and the leading edge of rain is going to south carolina too. good news power outage reports are coming down for both florida and georgia but they're still elevated for south carolina, they're elevated for north carolina, too, but by overnight tonight still 60 mile per hour wind storm. you're talking about a tropical storm storm still. that is going to move off into the atlantic ocean and not affect anybody else. power outage is real, my parents live in buford, my mom texted and said the winds all of a sudden stopped because they're in the remnant of the eye and the power went out. that's what it looked like for them. as for the rest of the region we're going to be drying out nice couple days shaping up for us, on t

it has dropped and is about 90 degrees over clearwater beach. phoenix, the streak is over. they ended it because they really were 108 yesterday. 108 today and then we start a new streak, so we could have, like, added on to it. we look back at the record the most, we'll see the big streak and then two days that were close and then we'll go right back into it. at least five days in a row starting a new streak as we head toward the middle end of this week. we're already under excessive heat watches for phoenix and tucson. the worst of the heat by far, currently, now over texas and louisiana. some of this is dry from about dallas out to west texas. but it is just hot and humid and gross. a lot of areas here, i was looking at brownsville, feels like 111 right now. new orleans feels like 107 already. here we are in the lunch hour here in the central time zone, dallas, 104. it is a really hot, humid, gross type of air mass. we will be near some records. yesterday we were just shy of the record high in dallas, you get the idea here. and then tomorrow we'll do it all over again. no

the pinellas county sheriff's office has started those rescues along clearwater beach.ideo that we are seeing from the beach shows residents using paddle boards to get through their neighborhoods. so it's going to be several hours until the flooding subsides. there and high tide in the next hour is truly going to complicate things. rebecca, let me ask you this. we know that it's still early, but the storm has for the most part, moved much further north of where you are right now or farther north of where you are right now, into georgia, near valdosta, georgia. what can you tell us about it? any reports from emergency officials about the damage or injuries in that area right now . so, so far throughout the encompassing the entire state, we have heard of two deaths from this storm. and those are related to car accidents while they were out on the roads in bad condition. so that is the unfortunate news that we are hearing this morning. but as far as property damage, the good news about this storm is the storm made landfall in an area that is predominantly forest land. now,

there are these outer bands of the hurricane that are starting to arrive here in the area of clearwater beachearlier in your program chad myers was talking about parts of the state where people still have time to get out because it hasn't started raining yet. it is definitely raining here. now we are in pinellas county and this is a mandatory evacuation's own, but i spoke to a man earlier who told me that he had no plans to evacuate. he is going to ride out the storm right here in town. part of the reason for that, he told me, is that he lived inland about five miles in this direction. the water is that way, in the pitch darkness, but the concern here is of course for that surge, the storm surge. as the storm continues to worsen and the forces here continue to increase we are expecting that surge to really come in and potentially be significantly dangerous, not just to the lives here but the property that could cause significant damage. abby? >> that is going to be the big story of the storm, along with winds that are picking up if the strong gets stronger. thank you gloria, and stay safe ton

. >> all access to clearwater beach was closed off. streets across the city closed.e only way they're able to access some areas is with a high water vehicle right now. what is your concern? i'm guessing that you would echo what we just heard from the mayor of gulf port. >> definitely. high water vehicle is the only way we're getting to certain parts of the island, the barrier island, so saying the same thing, stay in your homes. give us a chance to do our jobs. let the water reside. so we can go out and do our damage assessment, clear the debris, and make sure it's safe to come out. >> let us know if you can, i mean, i know that the water is still there, you haven't had time to do assessments but knowing the city, as you know it, and i'm sure getting information from folks who are out there whether they're calling 911 or elsewhere, what do you think is going to be the biggest problem when all of this clears? >> again, with the storm surge brings a lot of sand, the environmental conditions. there's a lot of unknowns that actually just washed up. environmentally and cl

popular tourist areas, clearwater beach , you can't even reach right now. so any of the folks there that did not evacuate weight, they are strongly encouraged to stay inside right now until those waters subside. and. dahlia, i wanted to ask you about the preparations that were in place. the national weather service, no major storm has hit this particular area in history. and when we talk about directly hit, we're talking about the eye wall of the storm moving over this area. but but how were people prepared for this? did they understand the severity of the situation leading up to the storm. the national weather service was very aggressive of with their warning. i will say they told people in that big bend area, do not mess with this storm because we don't really have that historical data for this area because they haven't been hit with a major hurricane like this since the 1800s. and so officials there, they actually went door to door encouraging people in cedar key to get out. they didn't want people to stay. so hopefully people heeded those warnings becau

petersburg, clearwater beach, treasure island. level one trauma center. people with the most serious injuries get taken there, it is only accessible by bridge. we were there this morning and we had to leave because the waters were raising to a level that we thought we ourselves, our crew, would get stuck there. so this is the main concern here in tampa. and the tampa bay area. it is not about the winds. we're seeing gusts probably maybe at most 50 miles per hour, maybe sustained winds a little less than that. it wasn't about the winds, though. we knew that tampa bay was not going to be a direct hit with idalia. it was always the threat of the storm surge. exactly what we're seeing right now. the day is still young. there is still a lot of time for these waters to rise. so the other concern here, mike, as we wrap up, is it is not just the storm surge, we also have the threat with those outer bands, which keep crossing through here, adding more rain. there is also tornado risks. that's something not just here in tampa bay, not just