look at mike bettes. >> the gusts -- the gusts are so brief. but the problem is now they are coming more frequently. you could get a gust happen once a minute, now you're getting a gust that happens three, four, five times a minute. the sustained winds are now elevated, right, so now you're just -- ratcheting up -- yeah, i'm good. >> unbelievable. >> he's been in this for, like, 20 minutes. >> the best depiction i've seen of the strength of this storm, as human terms as we can put it. and that is a guy like mike standing out there -- >> you know this is a cat 3. look at those trees. they are still standing behind where bettes -- as bad as that looks and as dramatic as it is, those trees are all still standing. if this was a category 5, those trees wouldn't be there. >> well, that's the reason why barbuda is almost unable to support human life. there is -- there is nothing left. >> if you remember, it was only 48 hours ago that the national hurricane center said we'd have a landfall right where we're looking now at 155 mile per hour winds, cat 5

mike bettes barely able to stay on his feet. wind gusts of is 42 miles per hour. >> now look at this video from ten minutes later when the eye of the hurricane was passing over naples. the eyewall of the hurricane passed the -- inside the eye is eerily calm. it looks like a regular rainy day. the sun came out a bit and the people were able to walk around and see some of the damage. >> this is miami where cranes were knocked over like they were plastic. they were dangling from an unfinished high-rise tower. workers can't secure it because it's too dangerous andhe roads are flooded below because of the storm surge. >>> let's give you a big picture of the irma right now. >> a staggering number of people don't have power. 4.8 million, nearly one quarter of the entire state. >> hundreds of thousands had to leave their homes behind. more than 160,000 people are waking up in shelters today. no one has died. >> angie goff is at the live desk with new video we're getting of the damage and what comes next. angie? >> that's what we want to

. >> the angle of approach -- >> reporter: nearly knocking mike bettes off his feet. >> oh! >> reporter: and pelting him with rain. >> that hurt. >> reporter: just moments before the eye of the hurricane moved overhead. >> after getting beaten and bruised and battered, there's the eye. >> reporter: but just feet behind him, a tornado swoops by pushing him down the street. now marching north, irma is leaving behind a path of destruction. uprooting trees, blocking roads, and ripping apart houses. and though the eye is staying west, florida's east coast is also facing the hurricane force. in miami, parts of downtown are completely submerged. nearly 100 mile-an-hour winds knocking down construction cranes on top of high-rises. and tearing the roof off this building. as rivers overflow. at camp david, president trump and members of his cabinet received a briefing on the storm from fema's administrator. the president is now pledging to visit florida soon. >> i think the hard part is now beginning to see what happens. >> reporter: the powerful winds have already left millions witho

is it already the stuff of folklore around the weather channel that while mike bettes was on the air today, a junior ef-1 rotation went right behind him and threatened to suck him in the cone? >> i absolutely would agree 100%. i didn't see the actual footage. but i've seen the hype. >> you've got to esite. >> i know. i will check it out. first thing when i'm dry and can scroll through my phone. but i have no doubt that he was potentially sucked up or almost sucked up by a minor little sorticity near the city. and the strongest winds in naples. devastating news coming out. >> we are buoyed by the news that the storm surge apparently is not going to be as bad as promised or threatened earlier in the day. thank you very much for your work tonight and for explaining these boisterous rain bands that you're still facing down this late in the game, this late in the storm. a storm of dynamic intensity tonight in tampa. another break for us. we have a lot of the state yet to cover. this tremendous hurricane named irma that tonight is showing such great strength over land, still about the size

weather channel meteorologist mike bettes barely staying on his feet in these images. the eye hit naples yesterday afternoon with wind gusts of 142 miles an hour. >> now take a look at this video from just ten minutes later when the eye of the hurricane was passing over naples. the eyewall of the hurricane packs the most devastating winds but inside the eye is eerily calm. people were able to walk around and see some of the damage. >>> knocked down three cranes like they were made of plastic. you can see one of the cranes dangling from an unfinished high-rise here. emergency crews haven't been able to secure it because it's too dangerous right now and they have no way to get there because the roads are flooded by the storm surge. we want to give you a big picture look of irma as it moves north. >> major infrastructure damage is a big concern. there are extensive power outages across florida. 4.8 million people don't have power this morning. that is nearly one quarter of the entire state. >> hundreds of thousands have had to leave their homes. more than 160,000 will be

>> reporter: like the weather channel's mike bettes. >> reporter: that hurt. i'll admit, that hurt. >> reporter: irma first struck the florida keys as a category 4 hurricane devastating parts of key largo and countless other spots along the island chain. on the atlantic coast of florida, miami was spared the eye of the hurricane, but still battered by powerful winds and a dangerous storm surge. brikell avenue, one of the famous streets flooded. the massive storms and powerful winds caused two cranes to collapse sunday. as the city recovers, miami-dade county schools are closed until further notice. the president spoke briefly on the hurricane as he landed back in washington. >> i hope there aren't too many people in the path. you don't want to be in that path. that's a path you don't want to be in and we tried to warn everybody. >> reporter: later approving a disaster declaration for the state of florida. elsewhere in d.c., vice president pence visited fema workers. >> our support here in local efforts is simple. wherever hurricane irma goes, we'll be there fi

>> reporter: like the weather channel's mike bettes. >> reporter: that hurt.gory 4 hurricane devastating parts of key largo and countless other spots along the island chain. on the atlantic coast of florida, miami was spared the eye of the hurricane, but still battered by powerful winds and a dangerous storm surge. brikell avenue, one of the famous streets flooded. the massive storms and powerful winds caused two cranes to collapse sunday. as the city recovers, miami-dade county schools are closed until further notice. the president spoke briefly on the hurricane as he landed back in washington. >> i hope there aren't too many people in the path. you don't want to be in that path. that's a path you don't want to be in and we tried to warn everybody. >> reporter: later approving a disaster declaration for the state of florida. elsewhere in d.c., vice president pence visited fema workers. >> our support here in local efforts is simple. wherever hurricane irma goes, we'll be there first. >> reporter: some of the first stories of human drama emerging from all this

we're giving you an early assessment of the damage that we can see in just one little area and if mike bettes was on 41 he's literally blocked from us. so he was i don't know how far south or north he is, but we're sort of experiencing the same thing and just as an aside, you know, it's been kind of exhausting to be out here and to have the wind let up like this is a welcome relief. >> yeah. i'm going show our viewers now mike bettis who is on camera not far from where carrie is. don't be fooled kerry's lens is fogged because the camera got wet at the height of it. kerry is not in a fog bank. this is mike bettis who is in what passes for the eye now. i'm kind of nodding to bill carons. that's as calm as we've seen it all day. >> the leaves are barely moving on the trees and it looks like he is practically in the dead center of the eye which would be the lowest pressure of the hurricane and it's barely a breeze. >> so bettes is on 41. where is that from where you are? >> he is, like, three blocks, if that from us. >> wow. we will lose the battery on this camera. what we'll do is we'll change t

mike bettes a couple of hours ago was doing a live shot on our air. roll the video. watch lined him what sweeps past him and catches him almost off his feet. watch this. it's coming. when you think -- roll back the top. watch behind him here. there it is. that's the danger right now across the state of florida. we can rack that one baltimore time. you will see this thing almost sweeps him off his feet. this has gone viral now online. almost sweeps him off his feet. here is comes on the sidewalk behind him. there it is. this is the concern now as darkness falls. >> because you can't see that coming. >> you can't see it. you go out, you look for damage, a tornado, you can't see it, and it turns everything into those flying projectiles. >> things that are nothing. our cities, our developed cities, are full of "things" that you wouldn't pay attention to. kerry sanders always points out, coconuts on these palm trees are now weapons. >> the other thing that happens, people go out before the storm and think i'll cut down all of the limbs to the trees hanging over my house s