of that? jack: the u.s. shares gulf coastline with both mexico and cuba. almost through the exact mile. the u.s. coastline is 50% of the total gulf coastline. we really dominate the sea, politically, but also, economically, industrially. i chose that subtitle because the gulf of mexico rarely appears in history textbooks. if it doesn't. , it's just -- if it does appear it is just mentioned in passing and i want readers to know that this sea has played an important role in american history. so, i also understood my audience would probably be american. peter: what is the health of the everglades? jack: that's a sad story. the health of the everglades is not great. of course, congress adopted the comprehensive everglades restoration project in 2000. billions of dollars have been spent. not much has been accomplished, to be honest with you. probably the greatest success so far in restoring the everglades has been the restoration of the kissimmee river. that feeds into lake okeechobee. that is the watershed for the everglades. lake okeechobee is still a mess. we are still dumping what i refer to as th

high over the gulf of mexico, hurricane hunters flew into the eye of hurricane ian, a full 20 miles wide. far below, in key west, people snapped photographs of powerful waves coming ashore. the outer bands of hurricane ian hurricane ian are pushing in to florida as the storm heads north. it's currently on track to reach the sarasota area is a major hurricane before slicing up and over the state. >> unfortunately conditions over over the southeastern gulf of mexico will be favorable to see ian strengthen to category four intensity. >> over 2 million are under evan under evacuation orders. >> i'm pretty ready when they said hurricane. >> sandbags, piled up in front of homes and businesses, windows windows boarded up. forecasters expect ian will be a major water water e re has a slowing down to almost a crawl, and what that it's going to dump an inordinate amount of rain. >> storm surge could also be significant, up to 10 feet in the tampa bay area. even in neighborhoods that are built right on the water, not everyone everyone is leaving. they know that their homes at our 11 or 12 12 feet o

storm is also on a path toward florida and it's expected to strengthen as it moves across the gulf of mexico. nbc's sam brock is in tampa. >> reporter: it's been an active morning in tampa, one of the 67 counties or every county in the state of florida currently under a state of emergency. of course, everyone anticipating what's going to happen next with hurricane ian at a category 1 status right now, but is nearly certain to get to major hurricane status 3 or 4 on the gulf and the impacts that could have for storm surge and coastal exposure all over florida. it's a 600 mile stretch from the panhandle to the peninsula that could conceivably be in play. you see all of these folks with shovels. sand has been the most precious commodity we've seen over the last 48 hours. trucks came in early this morning. all of that sand was gone within about an hour. luckily, there were reinforcements, but the people i talked to waited online for basically 5:00 to 5:30 in the morning. it's only one small of a piece of the puzzle. governor desantis mobilizing some 2,500 national guardsmen. electrical workers a

the gulf of mexico churning up here as ian's wrath is on its way. is is exactly what janice was referring to. this is only the beginning. we are actually going to have to leave this island of fort myers beach fairly soon in the next couple of hours to make sure we're safe with our vehicles. if you just look, i have to point this out. we know lot of elements go into how charged up a hurricane is. if you feel how warm this water is off the gulf of mexico, it's bathtub water. that helps fuel and charge this up. as these rain bands and wind bands come in, outer bands, the storm sitting out to the southwest right now. less than 60 miles in the gulf of mexico. as you see, those waves continue to increase. so many people have evacuated this region specifically where i'm at right now. if there are folks, they are hunker down in their high-rises. hopefully they don't have vehicles. there's no way to get them up. back to you. >> todd: all right, interesting series of events. we'll continue to watch. good news for tampa. we're less than six weem -- weeks from t

experts say the warming waters of the gulf may be attributed to climate change. 40 years ago, the average temperature of the gulf of mexicoly 3 degrees cooler. that small increase makes a huge difference. that warm water fuels the monster storm in just 24 hours increasing wind speed by 35 miles per hour. a phenomenon known as rapid intensification. ian jumped from a category 3 to a strong 4. scientists say that will become more common as the earth's oceans continue to warm. with the second longest coastline of any state, the florida peninsula is vulnerable to storm surges, especially on the gulf coast, where ian is slamming the coastline. the shallow seabed here, less than 100 feet deep makes it easy for a storm with strong winds to push an enormous amount of water into the coast, rushing water destroys almost everything in its past. >> if you think about a wall of water 10 foot high being pushed by 155 miles per hour winds. that's like repeated impacts by a large vehicle, say an suv hitting a structure every five seconds, boom, boom, boom. >> our thanks to kerry sanders for that report. while that disaster unfolds across

the gulf of mexico and tampa bay itself are relatively shallow. and that means with hours of onshore winds and heavy rain, it doesn't take a lot to push the water of the gulf of mexico and tampa bay inland. and they were predicting as late as yesterday up to 10 feet of storm surge. and so if that had happened, it really would have been catastrophic. now. does that mean that tampa won't get a significant storm surge? of course not. but that real significant heavy, a storm surge now is expected to be south of here, those low lying areas, those coastal towns, those beaches will be expecting. high water and officials hear say, when many structures in florida can handle winds of a category 3 or 4 storm, it is really the storm surge. it is really flooding that local official se cause the most depth. and that's what they want people to get away from crisp alone. thank you very much. reporting live from tampa, florida. there will be keeping a close eye on that. thank you. and there's been violence between security forces and demonstrators, and dozens of ir

watching something quite phenomenal-- water pulled out of tampa bay and literally pushinto the gulf of mexico. it's known as reverse storm surge. five to six feet of it pulled out of here. now, at some point it's going to come pubbing back in with potentially damaging results. so we're on the northwestern side of the storm where you're seethe reverse storm surge, and on the southeastern side where manny and omar other and people are, you have storm surge in excess of 16 feet. bottom line-- tampa was going to take a direct hit. it's not the cases anymore. but make no mistake about it, we're hunkering down for what is expected to be a wet and possibly wild night. norah. >> o'donnell: david begnaud, hunkering down as well, thank you, david. more than two million floridians are under mandatory evacuation tonight. ahead of the storm, officials had urged residents to go to higher ground. and for thousands, that meant going to a shelter. we visited two schools now housing families just before hurricane ian hit. evacuating was an easy decision for anita goff. she's taking shelter at this high school

but we watched the gulf of mexico encroach on naples beach into this -- the gulf of mexico's 25 feet that way. it all came over here, and it started to engulf these cars. there are cars parked on the left and right here. it took them up, floated him away. we watched the whole thing. then the water went back, and you can see here, there should be a parking lot, it should be tarmac, but it's all sent. this is dissent from naples beach. we saw it go away. we saw the water drain away. and had to be, i am told, officially, six feet. it was definitely higher than six feet because we know there are car ports across the way there that were sort of all under water. it's remarkable to actually see in that instant. normally, i hear the point where it sounds like a freight train, and it's in your bones, you can sense a hurricane. this one, i could see the power of the water, and that's what continued. there is still a big wind storm. elected 150 miles per hour in central florida, as michelle was saying, still a very big storm, but it's a lot of water demine, we have 2 million people without wate

we are moving into the gulf of mexico. we have the gulf stream here. as it moves into the northern caribbean and within the southern part of the gulf of mexico, we have water temperatures in the mid to upper 80s. that is fuel for ian to strengthen or rapidly intensify, which it is forecast to do. plus, we have very little shear within this environment so it's a little more conducive for strengthening. that's what we can expect in the upcoming two days. >> for more on florida's scramble to prepare, let's check in with cnn's carlos suarez. >> reporter: saturday afternoon florida governor ron desantis expanded a state of emergency to the entire state of florida. the florida national guard has been called up and is on standby. exactly where they go will depend on where ian makes landfall. emergency officials throughout florida are urging folks to get their hurricane supplies this weekend. this morning in the florida keys, officials there held off on an evacuation order. parts of the lower and middle keys are still rebuilding following hurricane irma, which

whether or not it gets swept out easterly quicker or does it stay and kind of fizzle out across the gulf of mexicoone thing is for sure, the flood threat is real across much of the southeast, mainly into florida but fending on where it goes it could impact portions of georgia as well. there is a lot of heat content, very high sea surface temperatures and that is like jet fuel for developing tropical storms. one thing is for sure and it's explicitly mentioned been the national hurricane center' discussion is rapid intensification will take place within the next two to four days. that means we could be dealing with a major category 4 hurricane as it enters the gulf of mexico. more to come. back to you. >> we will be waiting for that 5:00 a.m. update and we will bring you back in a little bit to talk about that typhoon. derek van dam, thanks so much. >>> one week after hurricane fiona made landfall in puerto rico residents are getting help from dozens of out of state troopers. more than 100 law enforcement officers from new york and new jersey flew to the island to help with recovery efforts and more

strengthened overnight and is forecast to intensify into a major hurricane when it moves into the gulf of mexico in the next few days. landfall is possible on the west coast of florida as early as wednesday. florida governor ron desantis has declared a state of emergency for 24 counties in the storm's path and is urging people across his state to get ready right now. we have team coverage tracking tropical storm ian. cnn's carlos suarez is covering storm preparations, and meteorologist allison chinchar is in the cnn weather center. let's begin with you, allison. how powerful might this storm be? >> it's very possible this could end up becoming a major hurricane in just the next two to three days. we take a look at the current statistics, sustained winds 45 miles per hour, gusting up around 60 miles per hour. with this storm, you have tropical storm watches in effect for jamaica and hurricane watches for cayman islands. that's because looking at the frarsz we anticipate that this storm will become a category 1 storm maybe even as high as a category 2 storm as it's crossing over the cayman islands

the gulf of mexico is 25 feet from here. and i was on with andrea mitchell and i positioned myself on the beach. but there was a lot of big waves coming in, and so i found myself a safer spot as possible, it wasn't the greatest shot on the camera but it was a place that could be safe. and all of a sudden this massive wave came in and cover the entire beach. and i've been doing this for a lot of years, and i thought myself, this doesn't feel right. so, we repositioned quickly to a second story. and weirdly, because there was some signal and satellite problems, we sort of decided to face this way, which is inland. this is east. the gulf is there, which is just unusual in a hurricane to be looking in the other direction. but the story with here because that wave i was so bothered by was the beginning of an inundation of the gulf of mexico into naples. and it wasn't flooding, it wasn't rising water, it was the gulf of mexico overcoming naples beach and flowing into this area. this whole area behind me, which i was talking about o

a key inlet to the gulf of mexico and, guys, the storm is starting to come in. are seeing the deterioration of this island. take a look. if rick can look up here into the palm trees and you see they are starting to sway. we get these heavy rain bands that come in from time to time. i have to say the big issue here is the storm surge. where i'm standing right now here later this morning, expected potentially 8 to 12 feet of storm surge. we need to get out of here at some point. and we are monitoring that. the gulf of mexico just a football field away. we're monitoring those waves coming in. and the bridge that goes across this inlet here to the mainland. fort myers right there. literally so we are positioned when we start to feel that surge. will in the interim hunker down here and wait as roll in the this part of southwest florida and make land at some point later today to the north of us. we don't know exactly where that is but i can't stress enough about the impacts. category 4 winds. storm surge and the energy is going to cause really bad situations up and do

florida's west coast is uniquely vulnerable to storm surge the shallow shelf of the gulf of mexico push massive amounts of water onshore. this is tampa bay, a massive body of water that spans 30 miles to the gulf of mexico. only 11 ft. deep with the right wind, that water gets pushed up the bay piling up. until it reaches downtown and has nowhere else to go flooding the core of the city. meanwhile 1500 miles north, the remnants of hurricane fiona have now turned deadly in eastern canada. good morning. jesus he's at least 20 homes have been swept into the sea from this small town in newfoundland. authorities say a woman's body was found after a towering wave hit her home. forecasters say fiona is now the strongest storm on record to hit canada. and back here in tampa, a state of emergency has already been approved by president biden sending federal dollars this way . forecasters here also hopeful that here where we can slightly before making landfall, andrew alright, justin, thank you and stay safe out there and stay with abc news for continuing coverage as ian approaches florida the abc

pippa stephens >> bp and chevron announcing shutting production at the oil plat p forms in the gulf of mexico the category 2 storm which is expected to intensify in the coming days is the first to disrupt oil and gas in the gulf. obje obje . >>> and now a wave of protesters at the san francisco international airport launching an open-ended strike yesterday over staffing levels and wages flight attendants are expected to democrat straight at 21 airports around the u.s. as well as in london today to draw attention to workplace problems made worse by under staffing neither of the strikes are expected to disrupt air travel, but there is a latest sign of upheaval in the transportation sector. >>> and charles evans defending the string of rate hikes speaking with colleagues in europe, evans is looking out for another 75 or full 1 point rate hike >> i think we have been very clear in our communications and i'm a strong proponent of the communications and projections and indicate where we think the path should go to justify our projections. the timing of the path is less important than the fact we co

if you want timing of when the storm will be, likely into the gulf of mexico but monday you run up near west and it is slowly? north across gulf of mexico so tuesday morning, fort myers in the middle of the state by tuesday evening and if ultimately will make landfall and there's time to change the probably wednesday morning, a bit of time but obviously it will be a big one, 130 miles an hour category for, we will be watching. jon: selby scary storm. adam cost, thank you. as we mentioned, want desantis expand the state of emergency and two dozen counties to the entire state. officials are urging everyone in florida to be prepared right now. well before the storms expected arrival. max gordon has more now from florida. >> he's requested federal read landfall emergency declaration that would unlock additional resources from the federal government and with the national guard here on standby. today the weather is calm and the sun is out and things are about to change drastically in the coming days. as a potential dangerous storm surge, strong winds, heavy rainfall and isolated tornadoes. em

we do anticipate that storm will become a major hurricane as it enters the eastern gulf of mexico. as of right now anywhere from apalachicola to key west is a possibility for landfall. we will keep a close eye on it in the coming days. >> thank you so much. let's pivot to carlos suarez now who has been following the developments on this storm. carlos, it takes a lot for floridians to snap out of it and prepare. they usually shrug at a category 3 hurricane as you know. are folks worried about ian? >> reporter: i think the hope at least from emergency officials right now is that folks take advantage of the fact that we are in a weekend. so they can get their preparations done ahead of time. we know that officials have asked folks all along florida's west coast as well as the florida keys to go ahead and wrap up their preparations by monday night. you are taking a look at some of those folks that are getting bottled water in the tampa area. now, later today authorities in the keys they are set to decide whether visitors and people who live in mobile wilhomes will be skod to evacuate. w

behind that is the gulf of mexico. sarasota area is just behind us. sarasota is side by side with sarasota. we're seeing heavy damage. and large swaths of of this county, sarasota county, are still without power. bradenton, a lot of areas without power. yesterday the governor of florida said that there were 42,000 people ready to step in and different -- 30 different locations in the state of florida waiting to immediately come into the area that have suffered power outages as soon as possible. and it's already starting to get possible for areas like sarasota, bradenton when we see strong winds. but certainly not as strong as we were seeing just an hour or so ago. i want to turn to someone who has flown into the eye of the storm. nick, i was struck by video that had gone viral that you put up. and it is something you wrote. when i say this was the roughest flight of my career so far, i mean it. another thing you said, i have never seen so much lightning in the eye of the storm. describe like what you saw and what you experienced. >> yes. so we flew thr

if you're near the gulf of mexico or a river, the meteorologist are expecting storm surge of 12 to 16 feet, which is enormous, and can be quite dangerous. carry bolivar in fort meyers, florida. thank you. very much karen. thank you. to iran now, which has seen a wave of protest now lasting 12 days demonstrations over the death of 22 year old moss armine in police custody. have been met with a violent response from authorities, human rights group say at least 76 people have died in the crackdown is causing concern for iranians around the world. d. w. sports met to iranian athletes. now, living here in germany, they're worried about relatives taking part in the protests. ah, iran is rebelling, but some iranians are stuck on the side lines. one chair or so it could have been me and massa me needs place with them. but i've had similar experiences in iran when i went the practice at the university madonna's. the morality police miss treated me in the same way to provide a man parish if i shady and cast for our metty poor job. our professional taekwondo athletes originally from iran. they f

the most dangerous category 5 status fueled by more waters in the gulf of mexico -- warm waters in theulf of mexico and growing to eight category four hurricane overnight. -- eight category four hurricane overnight. this according to the national hurricane center. more on what is happening in florida later in the program. cuba was where the force was first felt. winds are some 200 kilometers per hour. driving rain and a title search. in western cuba, there is widespread damage. the storm bringing down the country's electrical grid. more on hurricane ian at later in this program. time for business. kate moody has joined us on u.k. bond markets as the central bank steps in with unprecedented action and unprecedented is an overused word, but in this case, i think it is very aqua secured kate: everyone i have spoken to today has described it as unprecedented, but possibly no other choice for the bank of england. given what has been happening this week, we have seen at the pound sterling plunge to record lows against the dollar, bond yields have spikes to their highest level in 15 years. th

moisture here, it is going over land, losing water source for a couple hours and back to the gulf of mexico and computer models are tracking. obviously tampa, one of the worst places for a storm to hit because of geography of the lands, the low-lying land and the storm surge will affect the area. we have potential for a major category three storm surge. this is what we're dealing wither hoo. we have a trough, when will the trough scoop the storm up? still yet to be determined. i think that anywhere south of tampa, up toward tallahassee, you need to be prepared for this storm system because jog to the left or right or north or south will mean the difference between the worst of the storm surge, the worst of the winds issue the worst of the heavy rainfall. go further out in time, there is consensus, national hurricane center thinking landfall around tampa bay area, we still have, again, some uncertainty. that is why i say if you live anywhere south of the tampa area toward panama city, cedar key, you need to pay attention to a major hurricane in next 24 to 48 hours and completing your plans.

the powerful category 3 storm is intensifying at this hour thanks to the gulf of mexico's warm waterse landfall as soon as tomorrow night, possibly as a category 4. parts of the florida coast may see up to 7 feet of storm surge. some areas as much as 12 feet. it's important to note, it's not just florida's west coast under threat. you're looking at pictures from key west, the florida key, southern parts of the state are under a tornado watch. frankly, all across florida people are getting ready, boarding up, as you can see, gassing up, piling up sandbags. in many areas officials hope they're heeding the warnings to get out. president biden also addressing the hurricane's threat a short time ago at the white house. >> i just spoke this morning with areas that will likely be hit, the mayors of tampa, st. pete and clearwater. all of them, all in the storm's path, and they're focused on the safety of their communities and doing everything they can to get people out of harm's w

with storms expected to pass over the western tip of cuba and grow ino a major hurricane in the gulf of of mexico with florida in its path. mandatory evacuations are already underway in some of the low-lying areas surrounding tampa bay. >> this could be the storm thate have hoped would never come to r shores. >> reporter: officials have asked others in the area to voluntarily evacuate, knowing it it could take some time to move hundreds of thousands of people out of hurricane ian's path. >> for all practical purposes, get out, right now. everybody needs to go. >> reporter: the national hurricane center predicts ian could bring life-threatening storm surge of up to 10 feet in and around the tampa bay area. that is due to the storms track in the high tide when it is set to arrive. >> this is like a wall of water coming in and it will come in very rapidly. this could push houses off of their foundations. their foundations. >> reporter: florida officials have been urging all residents to stop up on essentials, at this grocery store in fort myers, cases of bottled water disappeared in seconds. the sta

it's been actually pushing the water out from tampa bay to the gulf of mexico. en a reverse surge. that's been a saving grace for tampa. but this wind is going to keep up through the overnight periods that we're right in that realm of damaging winds through at least tomorrow morning. and this has been a historic storm. take a look at this. as far as some of the wind gusts, over 130 miles an hour in some spots. punta gorda, port charlotte, naples over 110 miles per hour. this is truly impressive. and i'm sorry to say, devastating when we wake up tomorrow morning and see some of the damage. we're going to continue to hear horrific stories over the next couple of days and see the damage and what these people are going to have to do to rebuild in the months and years to come. stephanie? >> our thanks to rob. ian will continue to cut a path across central florida tonight, putting some who evacuated inland at risk. here's abc's janai norman in orlando. >> reporter: stephanie, we're waiting here in orlando for the brunt of the storm. and you have to think about this. so

capturing the gulf of mexico pushing ashore wednesday in fort myers beach. watch as it simply carries this house away. anyone surviving scenes like this is lucky to be alive. ian's surge is still a force to be reckoned with as it moves north. we're 20 miles from the gulf of mexico, but the big winds lifted this water and pushed it farther up the bay. by miles. again ulfing anything in its pass. the catastrophic damage now coming to light. early estimates in the billions. our ginger zee in fort myers. >> in this neighborhood alone, there are hundreds of homes. you can see from our drone there, that each of these took on at least 12 feet of water. they are all total losses. >> reporter: the scale of the damage due in part to the massive population explosion along florida's west coast. this graphic shows the fort myers area alone growing by more than 600% since 1970. and this shows that forecasted storm surge that inundated that same population. a record surge of over six feet in naples, over seven feet in fort myers. you could double the numbers in the nooks a

in tampa bay, the water has been pushed into the gulf of mexico. imagine the power of this storm to literally suck the water out of tampa bay. i'm talking about five to six feet. it is still sitting in the gulf, so to speak. at some poi point with the tide, that water is going to come back in, and with damaging effects. as of right now, i would say the wind is mild. it has been far gustier earlier in the day. some people in the tampa area would say we have dodged a bullet. the mayor is saying we're not out of the woods just yet. norah? >> o'donnell: david begnaud, thank you. alex wilson from our partners at the weather channel is in orlando tracking where the hurricane is headed next. good evening, alex. >> good evening, norah. the worst yet to come for the city of orlando, not just flooding rainfall, but hurricane-force wind gusts, likely into tomorrow morning. the storm itself will continue to move slowly off to the north and east. it weakens as it does so. but, again, still likely to see hurricane-force wind gusts here in central florida, but the

the gulf of mexico very shallow. and it does not take much wind to start piling that up along the western shoreline. that's exactly what's happening here. the manatee river, directly behind me, gulf of mexico, just over my right. there's a lot of water there. a lot of warm water. that's also going to fuel the development of the storm right up to landfall. the trajectory, the way that the storm is moving in is so crucial as well. because yesterday, 24 hours ago, we had a storm that was projected to basically parallel and crawl along the coastline of florida. that would also maximize the impacts. but would also allow for a slow-moving storm and weakening storm upon arrival. but it's changed now. we have more of a perpendicular approach to the coastline. and why this matters is because that will allow for an earlier arrival of the strongest winds. and it's going to give last time for major hurricane eta to weaken. so, we are anticipating a powerful, using the words for the national hurricane center, catastrophic wind dam

the state of florida bracing for the storm as it intensifies in the gulf of mexico. rength early this morning. across the state, empty shelves as people stuck up with supplies. governor ron desantis deploying the national guard as millions prepare for the first major storm of the season. to stay updated on hurricane ian, download the fox weather app. at least 13 people are dead after a school shooting in russia this morning. officials say two security guards and seven children were killed before the gunman turned the gun on himself. this taking place at a school located roughly 600 miles east of moscow. more than 20 others were also injured. the gunman was allegedly carrying a columbine key chain and wearing a nazi swastika. he was identified as a former student of the school. history in the making, later today a new nasa defense system is set to collide into an asteroid at 14,000 miles per hour. the double asteroid redirection test, or d.a.r.t., is part of nasa's larger planetary defense initiative. former nasa astronaut clayton anderson joined us earlier to share hi

it doesn't take a lot to push the water of the gulf of mexico and tampa bay inland. and they were predicting as late as yesterday up to 10 feet of storm surge. and so if that had happened, it really would have been catastrophic. now does that mean that tampa won't get a significant storm surge, of course not, but that real significant. the heavy a storm surge now is expected to be south of here. those low lying areas, those coastal towns, those beaches will be expecting high water. and officials here say when many structures in florida can handle winds of a category 3 or 4 storm. it is really the storm surge. it is really flooding that local officials say cause the most depth and that's what they want people to get away from over in the pacific. more than a 100000 people in vietnam are evacuating as time through noted approaches. there. it's anticipated to be one of the most powerful storms to hit the country into decades. thousands of flights and trains of postponed schools are closed in 2 provinces of impose curfews to keep people safe, noted, was responsible for th

warmer water fuels the system, so as it lifts into the gulf of mexico, it starts to really strengthen. this is going to time out, our forecast cone of uncertainty here. you see beginning to approach the gulf of mexico north of cuba by the time you get into tuesday morning. still over warm water and a wide area where this could turn and run into florida from as far south as perhaps south florida, but it is trending more and more off towards the west, the florida big bend or the florida panhandle. there's several different models , and they are updating every couple of hours. our most recent runs perhaps into the tampa area, but you are seeing more and more agreement that this is going to drift up along the florida panhandle. again, there's time for this to change, so really everyone up and down the west coast is going to need to pay attention to storm as we get a better idea of where, ultimately, it will run in the next day or so. the timing to be ready, 8 p.m. by the time you enter the southern tip of the gulf of mexico north of cuba and lifting by 8 a.m. on tuesday morning into the f

strengthened overnight and is forecast to intensify into a major hurricane when it moves into the gulf of mexicon the next few days. the landfall possible in the west side of florida as early as wednesday. florida governor ron desantis has put a state of emergency in place for 24 counties in the storm's path, and is urging people across the state to start getting ready. we have team coverage tracking tropical storm ian. cnn's carlos suarez is covering storm preparations and meteorologist allison chinchar is in the weather center. you have a new update from the national weather center? >> we did. a good look now, sunlight for several hours, what this storm looks like on visible satellite. it's starting to come together. you see signs that the storm is beginning to strengthen even though the winds haven't jumped all that much. sustained winds 45 miles per hour, gusting up to 60 miles per hour. we have tropical storm watches in effect for jamaica, but hurricane watches for the cayman islands and the reason for that is we anticipate this storm is expected to strengthen to at least a category 1, poss

you get going early tuesday morning you lift up into the gulf of mexico. arting qassem the outer bands rub along the island. write up along the peninsula the west coast of florida. even though you don't make landfall right away having wrist that the entire half an inch of total rainfall their credit will leave you with one more forecast. this shows you how wide the possibilities are paid a couple of these take it right into central florida. but we are seeing a bit of shift here there's more and more confidence were going to be looking at a storm running up toward the florida bay bend or florida panhandle. as we said, arthel, still a lot of time. still a lot of time for this thing to really focus on exactly where it's going to be. arthel: when you think you'll have a better idea of over the forecast models hone in on a timeframe? >> the timeframe we are going to be into the gulf of mexico by tuesday morning. and then it is going to be lifting her throughout the day tuesday and wednesday. even thursday before you make it to the northern coast there. and it wi

the one to watch is the one in the gulf of mexico. they get upgraded. this storm now heads to cuba and up into the gulf. >> speaking of the damage, when you look at the kind of damage that we're seeing in canada and in puerto rico, when they talk about rebuilding, when they look towards rebuilding, how much are these storms and what we know is coming going to change the way these communities rebuild their structures? >> yeah. that's a fantastic question. it's all about -- all zoning is local. as you travel up and down the vulnerable coast lines, you find some communities that are really taking this seriously and fortifying themselves. charleston has billion dollar seawall plans. others are ignoring it as well. whether you ignore it or not, the realities come to bear economically. even if you don't get hit by a storm directly. for example, louisiana took four hurricanes in 2020 and 2021. that put over a dozen local insurance companies out of business. it changes property values and changes tax bases. yeah, the age of adaptation is part of this crisis. it'

strengthened overnight and is forecast to intensify into a major hurricane when it moves into the gulf of mexico in the next few days. landfall is possible in western florida as early as wednesday. florida governor ron desantis has declared a state of emergency for 24 counties in the storm's path and is urging people across the state to get ready now. we have team coverage tracking tropical storm ian. cnn's carlos suarez is covering storm preparations, and allison chinchar is in the cnn weather center. allison, you first. >> let's take a look at what we've got so far. you can see sustained winds are still 45 miles per hour gusting up to 60 miles per hour, still trying to get itself fully organized, but it is going to be heading into a more favorable environment in the next 24 to 48 hours, lower wind shear, lower sea surface temperatures. you have tropical storm watches for jamaica but hurricane watches for areas of the cayman islands. that's because in the short term we anticipate that storm will strength sboon a category 1, maybe a category 2 as it's crossing over the cayman islands. further st

boris, 30 foot waves in the gulf of mexico. 30 feet. now they're not going to come on shore at 30. but they could come on shore at 10 to 12 for sure. and then possibly getting up there toward the big bend with the rest of that surge. they'll be surge in tampa. there will be surge in port charlotte. and now if the storm, and we don't want this to happen, if the storm is south of tampa, there will be inverse surge. so all of the numbers that you see here, all of the forecasts could change with a change in the track. the united states, the american model is running right now and will be done soon and then the european model will be done about 2:00. they both agree there is a lot of dry air in north florida and there is going to be a lot of rains across central florida and as soon as the dry air wrapped into the storm, the storm begins to die. for me that can't happen soon enough but it will begin to die as we tear apart the storm. there is the heavy rainfall regardless. at least a foot of rain in some spots. >> good reason for that anxiety you mentioned on the west coast of florida. c

peace river away experts say the warming waters of the gulf may be attributed to climate change 40 years ago the average temperature of the gulf of mexicoy 3 degrees cooler that small increase makes a huge difference that warm water fuels the monster storm. in just 24 hours increasing wind speed by 35 miles per hour a phenomenon known as rapid intensification. ian jumped from a category 3 to a strong 4 scientists say that will become more common as the earth's oceans continue to warm. with the second longest coast line in any state the florida peninsula is vulnerable to storm surges like we've seen today, especially on the gulf coast where ian is slamming the coast line the shallow sea bed here, less than 100 feet deep, makes it easy for a storm with strong winds to push an enormous amount of water into the coast. rushing water destroyed almost everything in its path >> if you think about a wall of water 10 foot high being pushed by 155-mile-an-hour winds, that's like repeated impacts by a large vehicle. say an suv hitting the structure every five seconds boom, boom, boom >> reporter: the back side of the hurricane is now slamming into

even as fiona fizzles, tropical storm ian is raising alarms throughout the caribbean and gulf of mexico. ron desantis declared a state of emergency with ian predicted to hit the state as a category 4 hurricane next week. le no rest for the weary here. what's the latest? >> the very latest from the national hurricane center has now found a center just north of the original center earlier today, which helps us determine where landfall might be. there's still a lot of uncertainty with that. we do have quite a bit of convection with it that's expected to increase as it moves into the gulf of mexico. sustained winds at 45 miles per hour as it takes its turn west at 16 miles per hour. the latest cone shows a category 3 moving over cuba late monday. but now a category 4 storm forecast as it moves into the warmer waters of the gulf of mexico, then taking its turn eastward, downgraded to a category 2 just before landfall but still a very strong storm. the latest cone from the national hurricane center pulls key west just outside of it. that can still change. notice how wide the cone is from pana

in tampa bay, the water has been pushed out into the gulf of mexico, and that has been ongoing since e the power of this storm to literally suck the water out of tampa bay, five to 6 feet, it's still sitting in the gulf so to speak, and at some point with the tide, that water is going to come back in with damaging effects. right now, i would say the wind is mild. some people here in the tampa area would say, we've donled a bullet. the mayor is saying, we're not out of the woods just yet. >> david begnaud, thank you so much. meteorologist alex wilson from our partners at the weather channel is in orlando tracking whether the weather is headed next. >> reporter: not just flooding rain fall, but hurricane forced wind gusts likely into tomorrow morning. the storm will continue to move slowly to the north and east. it weakens as it does so, but still likely to see hurricane wind gusts here in central florida. the big story will be the rain moving forward. we have a flad flood emergency in effect. these areas have seen nearly 20 inches of rain fall in spots. life threatening flash flooding

mentioned a long line and a series of storm the past 5 to 10 years that are found their ways into the gulf of mexico. ready when we are found out throughout the day. ready that the sea surface temperatures and the environment conducive to the striping of storms in the gulf of mexico have been tracking above average from. ready historical values, for instance, that hurricane in its reverse over water, if they were over 30 degrees celsius and in northwestern caribbean, before it encountered. ready water. ready or more than 2 degrees celsius above expected values off the southwestern coast of florida. on this, along with the conducive atmospheric conditions allowed storm, like its predecessors to effectively drop pressure very quickly. and winds based a ramp up very fast. so global warming, you would say, is affecting this. it's leading to the storm. intensification potter is a research has shown that warming around the globe is causing water temperatures, not only in the truck oceans also in. ready areas, north, forward of the tropics, to train, above average, will be expected to see over the last $30

we have residual winds and the water has gone back to the gulf of mexico. for the rest of florida and going into the carolinas in georgia, later on in the next few days this is still a very rough and difficult, uncertain time. >> in april, stay safe, thank you very much for joining us, we appreciate it. joining us now is bob hansen, he's a meteorologist and contributor for the yale climate connection. he is the author of, thinking person's guide to climate change. mr. hansen, what do you see when you look at the vulnerabilities that florida has and vulnerabilities in some of the ways that development has occurred there. what do you see when you look at this storm pattern tonight? >> for of course has been the center of development patterns for more than a century. to put this in perspective, the searchers that we have seen, the last time we saw something tropical was hurricane donna, which was back in 1960. the population of cape coral may naples combined was about 20,000 people. right now, it is more like 200,000. incredible developments since the last stor

the biggest issue is, we could lose 1.7 million barrels a day of gulf of mexico production, as well as we've got 50% of the nation's refining capacity on the gulf coast, and if you lose that refining capacity, that translates into a shortfall of gasoline and diesel fuel, and as a result, higher prices. if we remember back into hurricane harvey, our gasoline inventory got down to about 180 million barrels, we're about 30 million barrels higher than that right now. basically, we were on fumes, where we saw terminals running out across the nation. >> yeah, and we're very, very lucky so far, mother nature has decided to play very nice in the gulf of mexico and the atlantic this year. just got lucky on that unless we're controlling the weather somehow. andy lipow, thank you very much. appreciate it. >> thank you >> all right you're welcome >>> now to the broader markets with all of the debate and the discussion around the fed and inflation, are we not thinking enough about what it all may mean because, remember, while inflation crushed stocks back in the '70s and even into the early '80s, t

they are bracing for this hurricane, hurricane ian. >> the storm intensifying in the gulf of mexico, e last hour. >> steve: meanwhile florida governor ron desantis has deployed the national guard as millions prepare for the first major storm of the season. across the state empty shelves as people stock up with supplies like water and toilet paper and you name it and they are buying

the timing again ringing it in here, anywhere it ends up lifting up to the gulf of mexico by monday nightday morning you are getting closer to fort myers too. and then up closer to the center part of the state thereby tuesday evening. if we end up on the gulf coast to the north that could beat when state morning with us makes landfall. of course, griff are going to be watching very closely here over the next few days. griff: adam klotz tracking force thank you. aishah: the artemis launch delayed once again for this time due to the dangerous weather forecasts associated with tropical storm ian. more on that in what is next after the break. (vo) businesses nationwide are switching to verizon business internet. (wilder) it's a perfect fit for my small business. (vo) verizon has business-grade internet solutions nationwide. (wayne) for our not-so-small business too. (vo) get internet that keeps your business ready for anything. from the network america relies on. (swords clashing) -had enough? -no... arthritis. here. aspercreme arthritis. full prescription-strength? reduces inflammation? than

this is tampa bay, a massive body of water that spans 30 miles to the gulf of mexico. only 11 feet deep with the right wind, that water gets pushed up the bay, piling up until it reaches downtown and has nowhere else to go. flooding the core of the city. nasa watching closely too. weighing whether to roll back artemis one's $4 billion rocket from the launch pad. this as fiona struck canada as the most powerful storm on record. a terrifying nighttime landfall hitting early saturday. multiple buildings washed into the sea. roofs ripped off apartments. scores of trees toppled in neighborhoodft nghborhood. and tonight, long lines for gas amid widespread power outages. >> you're waiting hours for gas. like just to get generators in your house. >> it's erto more than 600,000 customers remain without power there. so let's get right to rob marciano there in tampa, and rob, we know florida is on high alert. how soon could ian make landfall? >> well, whit, it really depends on where it makes landfall. the sooner it makes landfall will be south and if it goes north, it will be lat

lifting its way up towards the gulf of mexico. that is when this thing really strengthens. you only need 79-degree water to fuel a storm. suddenly this thing kind of explodes and become a big monster of a storm. hurricane morning's currently in cuba because this is where it will headfirst before lifting into the gulf of mexico and then we focus on florida. tuesday and wednesday, probably even thursday running up to the florida panhandle where this may make landfall. that would be a category four hurricane. this would be a strong one. you will kind of see as a storm comes together begins to strengthen, and i wall over the island of cuba on early early tuesday morning. even if you are not making landfall right away on the west coast of florida, getting the outer bands of rain. windy and rainy. i think widespread talking about half a foot of rain. the closer to onshore the more rain there will be. it could be from tampa to the florida big band. areas you should pay really close attention. eric: we will be up watching. >> up and around yesterday expanded his counties. food and

falling, tail cost on wednesday afternoon and it really cooked up and intensified in those warmer gulf of mexico waters. so at land, fathers winds were sustained 250 kilometers per hour, making it just shy of a category 5 storm. and with winds that powerful literally picks up the ocean and shoves it further inland. so storm surge, 5 meters high, that's a wave of water coming out you. so here's an example of storm surge time lapse video. now over the course of an hour, this street just fills with water and some of the homes in the background there. so we talked about it right when the big factor, storm surge, but rain, also a part of the story. so here's where the storm is. now on thursday, i think north of orlando, we could see about half a years worth of rain over the span of 24 hours. by friday, this dips into the atlantic weekends into a tropical storm. it's going to hang out here just for a little bit, but over the course of the weekend if years westward along the border with georgia and south carolina, it's going to bring some torrential rain there in the days ahead. jeff, thank you. well,

we've seen some hurricanes in the gulf of mexico that have cut off major routes like interstate 15 that runs east/west there. it is several months before you are able to get the army corp of engineers and reestablish that connection. >> dana: holly smith is the mayor of sanibel. we are sorry for what you are going through. we hope you are doing all right. give us an assessment from your standpoint of what sanibel is dealing with. >> well, we are dealing with an unprecedented situation on our island. we did everything that we could to prepare. everything we could to get the word out to please evacuate. this ended up being absolutely the perfect storm that we had hoped we would never see in our lifetime. right now we are on day two of daylight. we have our teams going out. the most important thing that we can do right now is get out for search and rescue. so boots were on the ground early yesterday morning going throughout the island doing wellness checks to see if people were okay to stay as we went to find more critical needs throughout the island. that is continuing. our -- we're also

oil and gas in the gulf of mexico has a lower carbon emissions than anywhere else in the world. we will have a 50% growth in global demand. we need wind and solar, we need hydro, nuclear and oil and gas. even the biden administration shows we will have an 80% increase in natural gas in developing countries. rather than let russia fill that void, why not let u.s. do that. we should have energy policies that resulted lower emissions, getting back on that trade. of course, allowing the united states to export more of our resource which benefits the jobs and economy here. host: you talked about the speech on friday, to what degree will oil and gas be a part of that energy component versus clean energy? guest: we will have an all of the above energy strategy. we will be using when, solar, geothermal, hydro but it will be based on the bidens administration's projections for global demand. making sure we can meet the demand for our u.s. citizens and stop this record inflation that is >> we'll leave this here to keep our over 40-year commitment coverage of congress. members are expected