and then into pinellas county. and pinellas you've already been hit overnight hours. and some locationses, you picked up 6, seven inches of rain throughout hillsborough county anywhere from 1 to a little over two inches of rain. then right near the coastline, you see the jackpot over towards indiana rocks. 6 to 7, over seven inches of rain by doppler radar estimates. so certainly, you're dealing with a flooding, and it's just getting starred at this point. we've got more heading your way. here's a location of td number satellite presentation, it's really starting to get a little more organized at least more thunderstorm activity. it looks like the center still may basically sitting on that northern side. but at least you're starting to see its kind of wrapping around bit more starting to see more out flow on northeastern side. now the hurricane hunter will be flying down there later this afternoon. kind of really pick out exactly where the center of this storm is. we'll get more information, and get strength of this system. right now they are maintaining this as tropi

so far, though, that case, not the case for pinellas county. officials still recommending taking precautions if you're in pinellas county. >>laura: and shayla reaves is there. clearly a concern for sending kids to school. >>reporter: this is certainly something parents are paying attention to and we've already seen the word is spreading on social media. in fact, we're here at lake st. harbor where the pta active on social media did share a message yesterday from the principal on just some of the steps that are being taken here in pinellas county to address this concern. so students are going to be returning to the classroom in a few hours and the district, the pinellas county school district did release a statement about this non travel related zika case tuesday. a spokesperson said in that statement in part, pinellas county schools will continue to departments. there already is a policy in place for the district to deal with mosquito control. teachers will share information from the governor's teachers cool kit with the students and at this po

and they're right along 275 in pinellas county going up through pinellas park so the howard frankland is getting some heavy rain. now over the courtney campbell, up to the mid span portion of the courtney campbell, notice how you go back offshore and there's more rain just kind of waiting in the wings and i think this is what we're in for, for you have some heavy rain. that will cause some ponding on the roads a then it slows down. in fact, it may stop for awhile and then another round of rain comes through and i want people to understand that until this tropical depression moves intu our state and away from us, this is what we're going to have the next couple of days and of course, even southeastern hillsborough county has got heavy rain into manat county, down to so far, boy, right over our bridges, too, and i want peopl coming down in a very short period of time which would easily cause some flooding. let's get on to talk about the storm itself and honestly, on satellite it's beginning to look a little bit more impressive. the wind shear is dropping and i think that was the limitin

guess what, pinellas county? i have more heavy rain coming straight at you and this is a problem with periods of rain over and over for the next couple of days. it's not going to be just today. it will be tomorrow as well. hae has moved into southern portions of pinellas county. indian shores, st. petersburg, watch as we lapse it meaning we put it into motion. that is heading due north bu the same spots where we're experiencing some flooding this mor morning. north and east, veterans right now, has to be slowing down with all the heavy rain which is now moving up through, say, the dale mabry area into the airport. heavy rain that has reached plant city, southward. how about southeastern hillsborough county? pinecrest, some very heavy rain this morning and that extends southward into dewitt. bradenton and sarasota, you picked up rain this morning. this trend will continue, this south to north trend will continue. tropical depression nine, winds of 35 miles an hour moving north at two and the pressure is beginning

right in the middle of pinellas county, down over southern portions of pinellas and down toward fort de soto 4 to 5 inches of rain. this why we're getting flooding so far in pinellas county the lesser amounts in tampa. it has been raining for the past couple of hours. here's your latest radar with heavy rain continues right in the middle of pinellas county. and watch what happens is after the heavy rain bands move through, it stops for a while. but then you look off shore, and so this is going to be on and off especially along the coastline for the next couple of days. >> you can never underestimate any type of tropical system. even tropical depression. because they can throw out tons and tons of rain which lead to flooding. so i need people to understand especially in pinellas county this morning everything is full. so more rain is only going to cause more in the way of flooding issues in this partic let's go north. because right along 19, new port richey up through hudson there's a batch of heavy rain. that is on its way up to spring hill. again just round one for you. you go east

the latest case in pinellas county. the governor emphasized that doesn't mean mosquitoes carrying the zika virus have been discovered in pinellas. the governor told reporters today efforts are now being made to find out how the infected person in pinellas county contracted the virus. >> we need to start doing strategic testing with the family, with individual work. all those things. >> reporter: the only known direct transmission zone the zika virus are in the miami area. the first area, a one square mile area in the wynwood area. the second in miami beach. >> the good news here, as a result of education and aggressive mosquito attacking, it is now less than one-half a square mile. >> reporter: yeah, the governor told us today he is now directed more than $26 million zika. most of that to inpsychiatries spraying activities. primarily in south florida where the hot zones are located. >> what about pinellas county? what are they doing there right now? >> reporter: they are stepping up efforts to monitor for any mosquitoes

the shooting happened at bay vista park on pinellas point drive south. one man drove himself to the hospital. the other was found with a gunshot wound at the park. >>> and now to the latest developments on the zika virus in your backyard. the number of zika virus cases in florida is climbing and now a pinellas county man may be the first to contract the virus scott will meet with hillsborough leaders to discuss battling the virus. jamel lanee' is live with the latest on the state's fight against zika virus. >> reporter: good morning, gene. that meeting happening here at 9:30 this morning at the florida department of health of hillsborough county. the county leaders here want to stay ahead of the virus now that there's a confirmed case in our own backyard. so far, state officials have put more than 26 ll additional dollars into fighting mosquitoes to control the zika virus. the governor saying yesterday mosquito control now ramping up their efforts to spray more and do aggressive testing to see if we have local transmission. and now officials said it's no

pinellas park police giving us the sad update about caroline sine last night. her boyfriend sean hankins is still in critical condition at the hospital. officers say brice macleod was driving drunk when he ran a red light and hit the couple's car early on sunday morning. he now faces dui manslaughter. faced two dui convictions in manatee county. this n this case a judge raised bond to $250,000 calling him a threat to the public. coming up at 5:30 how pinellas county schools are responding in providing support to students and staff. >>> a beloved firefighter who lost his battle with cancer would will be laid to -- will be laid to rest today in pinellas county. pete huffman's funeral will be in clearwater today. abc action news anchor james this will be happening today. >> reporter: the procession is going to conclude at the calvary catholic cemetery and then huffman will be laid to rest here later this morning. it's hard to put in words just how tragic this is. cancer forced him into early retirement after he spent the last 17 months taking treatments. doctors c

that's how much rain has come down in pinellas county. but you're talking about a storm which is hundreds of miles away. look at this visible satellite picture. now we can only use this when the sun is up. but this we'll show you exactly where the center of tropical depression 9 is. there it is. their your center of the storm. looks like it obviously is morning. the clouds are expanding. getting some out flow. here's tampa as reference. there is the center of the tropical depression. the plane is on its way out there. i think once it gets out there it finds tropical storm force winds you have a yourself a named storm. you can see clouds expanding. now we're on eastern side of this storm. so as it slowly drifts north and then turns, like russell and i just talked about to the northeast, you're going to take all of this moisture, and you're going that's why i'm really concerned about the rainfall. here current wind speeds out here buy buoy 42003. should name them. anyway, 29 mile per hour winds around this over clearwater beach. 18 mile per

>>> well, out here in pinellas county, we have two issues going on. not slowing you down but be aware of it. first of all, 119th street at ulmerton road, accident with injuries. good drive near the beaches. northbound 275 past the 375, remnants of a collision on the side of the roadway. not blocking lanes. let's take a live look. look at this, sunshine skyway across the area. about six minutes howard frankland bridge. so does the courtney campbell causeway and the gandy bridge. when it hit, it really was quite dramatic. road signs bent over because of the force of the water. you know, gushing down the street everywhere oving down the street. we always think we're the keeper of the house... ...so it makes a lot of sense you would have flood insurance. knowing that you have that and if you need it, it's going to be there, and you've done everything you can that this house might be here in a hundred years for another family to enjoy it. >>> it's back to school for students and polk county. what officials are doing this morning to make sure the students g

pinellas county. but these waves of rain will continue all day today. doesn't mean it's going to be heavy rain all day, just rotating in off the gulf of mexico. so i'm going to keep it cloudy. temperatures only coming from about 80 degrees at 8:00 a.m. to 85 in the afternoon. 75 in plant city. 23479 sarasota. 37 in clearwater. here's the culprit. this area of low pressure with the counterclockwise wind flow, just pulling in tropical downpours. here at 7:30 a.m., areas along and north of i-4 and along the coast, that's where we will see the heaviest rainfall totals. so please be careful on the morning commute. still getting heavier rain with the brighter yellow and at times, just light rain and maybe even stopping rainful going to keep it cloudy when it's not raining on you but the low pressure still sitting there so at any point, rain will come onshore and be heavy, especially near the shore. 70% chance today. and a 60% chance of rain tomorrow. not until wednesday when we start to lower the rain chanc

pete and two in pinellas park. they are also charging with a burglary in the pinellas jurisdiction. >>> tallahassee judge sides with families who are fighting standardized testing. the judge said school districts need to look at something other than the florida assessment test when deciding to promote the student 245 includes things like class grades and assessments they made reading test scores a requirement for going to the fourth grade. >>> tampa's beach is officially closed but look what was left behind under all those plastic bars at amalie arena. cell phones, jewelry, watches, hats. lots of single shoes. workers also found two diamond engagement rings that have already been reunited with their owners and they are looking for the owner of a missing gold tooth. bottom of the ball pit cede edie how due does that happen. [ laughter ] ing too hard and your tooth comes out. >> anjuli: lose your tooth in the ball. >> alcides: wrestling your on or something. >> anjuli: looked like a lot fun. a lot of admults there to

pinellas county schools will continue to work with the pinellas county and in place to deal with mosquito control (dumping standing water, etc.). teachers will share information with students provided to them within the governor's teacher's toolkit. at this point in time recess will not be affected. concerned parents should spray their students skin and clothing with insect repellant before coming to school. fox 13's shayla reaves will be in pinellas county this morning covering this for us. she'll have a live update, in our next half hour. the florida highway patrol is investigating a deadly crash this morning in clearwater. a man ?tried to cross the street... but he never made it. it happened around nine-thirty last night at the intersection of roosevelt boulevard and morgan street. a 57 year old man was trying to cross roosevelt when he went right into the path of an oncoming car. the car hit him, and he died at the scene. the man's name has not been released. troopers say he was ?not on a crosswalk, and no charges have been filed. but neighbors stretch of road is known for deadly cras

storms are on the way anywhere from clearwater south and pinellas and st. pete also picking up a thunderstorm where that severe thunderstorm warning is in effect. there's your yellow box in effect until 6:45 tonight. even the possibility of a funnel cloud or two. kind of storms. the flooding is an issue right now. please avoid the standing water at all costs. you don't know what is underneath the water. this evening through 8:00, things wind down rapidly. by 10:00, it's gone. look out into the gulf and see lightning. but we will be dry. you will be dry wednesday morning. mostly sunny skies. not just wednesday morning but thursday and friday mornings as well. the afternoon, just as was the case today. you will get your heat and your energy, expect storms. coverage today only 30 to 40%. same setup for thursday and friday. now, what happens this weekend all depends on what is going on here. we're not worried about fiona. we're not worried about gaston. mere is -- here is what is going on. the chances are probably a little higher than that. it boils down to whe

yesterdave related cases, one in pinellas county. the person was recently tested and officials aren't saying where in pinellas county the person with this zika virus livers or how they got the virus. the governor told us, they are still working to find that out. >> just because we have one case here doesn't mean we have local transmission. the next step is, the department of health working with the mosquito corral aggressive mosquito control and aggressive testing. >> so far, the state has pumped 26 more additional dollars to help fight mosquitoes that could potentially carry the zika virus. and a lot of that money has gone towards spraying. >> gayle. >> i know the governor will be here answering our questions about zika virus in about an hour. so it's going to be interesting to see how it unfolds. thank you. >> it's hot out there, leigh. >> yeah, it is already hot at 4:38 but it was very hot yesterday. in fact, we broke some records in sarasota. it was 99, the old record was 96. in tampa, it was hot too. tied the record there of 95

so hopefully that's the answer in pinellas. one case and nothing more. but all of us have to be part of this. we had good news yesterday. in the winwood area, we have been able to cut the area in half because of the education efforts, now it's half the size. it's about a one-half square mile. and the miami beach area, five cases and our area is between 8th and 28th street but we're eradication, a lot of education. and for the pregnant women, that's who we're worried about. there's free assessment and testing at every county health department in the state because we want to keep them safe. >> and what about tourism? a matter of no time, the snow birds will want to come down and how cowe keep them from staying away? >> over 20 million people live here. over 60 million tourists already this year. we're safe. we have very good emergency management for storms. we've been preparing for zika virus since february. and the first travel related case happened, we started doing round tables and educating everybody. we started making sure the health departments and m

rain chances are fairly high and would favor pinellas county northward. but because of the westerly flow, we can see morning rain. a.m. the northern spots have a slightly better chance. 88 degrees at 4:00 p.m. temperatures in the 70s at this hour. even low 80s. we can thank the clouds and occasional showers for that. 81 lakeland. you can see most of the cloudy skies persist around the area. as we just showed you, most of the activity inland is drying up at this point. on the rpm forecast computer mo this activity to the north. with an area of low pressure farther to our north and sitting there for a while, it will probably stimulate the northern sections. inland areas not as much. the better chances -- especially earlier in the day would be pinellas north. saturday evening, same as tonight. temperatures held down a bit. you can see mostly cloudy skies in the forecast. in the low to mid-80s tomorrow. heavy rain possible and drifting inland. we have about a 60% chance for this day. the conference could be a little better. 50% rain chance saturday. 60% on su

one, in pinellas county. the state is calling that case nontravel related. >> not travel related means that they have not gone to a place where there transmission. >> reporter: the governor told us today they are still working to find out how they got the virus. >> you have to start doing are the teenist strategic testing. >> reporter: and they want to assure tourists that florida is safe. >> we have to be aggressive anywhere. everybody has to be aggressive with no standing water. >> reporter: that is why i'm standing here next to a public sports complex. old tires can collect water, breed mosquitoes. the parks department definitely need to do something about that mess over there. >> so right now we don't know where the person contracted this. we are not sure how this person picked it up and was it sexually transmitted. do we know anything about it? >> reporter: not information that we gleaned. they are trying to protect the privacy of this one individual. they do not believe this case was sexually transmitte

the rains let up a little bit in pinellas. there is more heavy rain lurking to the south and southwest of you in that rain is heading your way. additional street flood something likely in the next hour. the rain is still coming down. wachula and it has been along the county line. heavy rain in polk county but by and large it has been a coastal event as we expected. then light rain in hernando and pasco and breaks in the rain up in citrus county. the rain fall totals are incredible. this was updated. by bradenton and the storm now is taking a big right hand turn. the model something good the next day or two. and the slow motion picking up on a turn and to the northeast. getting pecked up by a trough. moving northeast. moving west and northeast. confidence is good. they take a move along. there could be serious issues and the capital and accelerates in the northeast. we're left in the soup for a how many more days. friday is going to be wet. get set for more rain near the coast as the temperatures are in the 70s. we'll talk abou

already had four crashes reported on the interstate through pinellas county. so nothing causing any major delays out there but again just a sign that the roads are wet and you want to use caution when you're heading out. same area, tampa road and u.s. 19, earlier crash from overnight that involved a semi. that has cleared. now we have a new crash in this area reported, looks like some lanes are still blocked, might want to avoid that area if you can. you can try belcher instead. checking out another crash eastbound i-4 just before you get to macintosh, you can see it here not really seeing delays and westbound into tampa looking pretty good. >>> 6:01. we will continue on weather and traffic conditions all morning to help keep you safe. >> people in citrus county are paying especially close attention to the forecast. they could take the brunt of the storm in our area as ivan told you a little while ago. they are going to see heavy rain and also gusty winds throughout the day today and tomorrow. and because of that restaurants like the freezer tiki bar have gene

infected in pinellas county. and as mary mcguire shows us, state officials are working to find out where the person contracted the illness. >> reporter: officials are not telling us where that person living in pinellas county, only that a person here in pinellas county does have the zika virus and they didn't contract it by traveling to any known hot zones including miami. it is the news we never hope to hear. the zika virus in our own backyards. governor rick scott revealed the latest case of nontravel related zika in pinellas county. >> we only have two areas we believe have local transmission. >> reporter: the question remains where did that person contract the virus? at this point, we don't know that it happened in pinellas county. efforts now shifting to find out the answer to that question. >> we need to start doing strategic testing with the family, where the individual worked. all those things. >> reporter: the governor insists there are only two known direct transmission zones the first area, is a one sq

((wally fox-13's shayla reaves is on the story, live from pinellas county... ((wally thanks, shayla. we're learning new details about a deadly pedestrian accident in pinellas county - at an area where there's no crosswalk.. and a history of bad crashes.. it happened at roosevelt boulevard and 60th street north in clearwater. troopers say a 57-year-old man tried crossing roosevelt boulevard when he was hi by a chevy impala. he died at the scene. not been released yet... troopers say they are still trying to notify his next of kin. but this isn't the the accident happened down the street from a bar... investigators believe the pedestrian may have been under the influence. because the pedestrian was not in the crosswalk at the time... the driver is not facing any charges. (wally we have new video this morning, taken just minutes before a man allegedly carjacked a woman in lakeland. it's from outside the seven-eleven at the intersection of west pipkin road and florida avenue south. polk county deputies say: the man left the store, and walked over to the "bonefish

already in pinellas down to manatee and sarasota counties. at 6:80 in weather and traffic on the 8s, i take you hour-by- hour through the day. and leslee is going to take through you the commute. >> that's right. >>> and it is a wet one. a lot of accidents popping up. let's go ahead and take a look northbound on the sunshine skyway bridge towards the pinellas county side. and look at the delays here, an accident southbound 275 away from st. pete. and all eastbound i-4 right before mcintosh road. and then another crash, this tampa road. that's a look at weather and traffic. >>> a handcuffed suspect is on the loose this morning. they are looking for this man. he was arrested in a traffic stop near fowler avenue and 22nd street. he and another suspect were in the car when he somehow escaped. now inside his car, deputies found 20 bags of heroin drug charges this morning. >>> and new this morning, ai school closing in hillsborough county. the literacy leadership academy in progress village closed today after a lightning strike causing damage there

this is 275 in pinellas county at gandy, up to speed here, no major issues throughout pinellas county. all the major roadways are open and running smoothly this morning. the howard frankland bridge also looking great. look how wide open the lanes are. i just checked and six minutes to get across the howard frankland, from pinellas county into hillsborough county. just watch for some lingering veterans expressway, we have hillsborough and ehrlich closed right underneath the veterans so detour signs are posted. >>> 5:19. with hundreds of thousands of kids heading back to school today teachers and school nurses are doing everything they can to protect our kids from the zika virus. right now hillsborough county schools are doing their best to get rid of standing water. a new directive from the florida governor rick scott has school nurses being trained by the health department to recognize zika symptoms like fever or rash. many school districts including hillsborough county are already preparing to send materials home explaining the dangers of zika to families. >>> today senator bill nels

not a lot of storms across hillsborough and pinellas county. but around citrus and hernando county, that's where all of the action has been. thunderstorms up and down the coastline. this has been a northeast to southwest flow. so this is all heading off into the gulf around pine island. hernando beach, it may brush you to the north. but you're likely to see the lightning and hear the thunder from there. you can see in a wider picture that we do have a few showers and storms working through polk county. this has all been coming from the east coast of florida and working its way across to our coast. we will see more across hillsborough and pinellas county in the next couple of hours. no big surprises tonight. we will be dry overnight. but some of the storms could linger as late as midnight. take a look at the heat today. this is what it feels like outside right now. 107 in tampa. 101 in zephyrhills. with the exception of our northern counties around citrus and hernando where the heavy rain has been moving through. that helped to cool them down so

and portions of pinellas. now the bullseye will be up around the big bend of florida, 10 inches possible there. but 4 to 8 inches possible north of i-4 close to the coastline locally. 78degrees at 7:00 a.m. now the good news with the extra clouds and rain, it won't be so hot but just keep that umbrella with you. and we are starting to see more and more of the rain on the roads but mainly again the coast. >> right. >>> overall, we are really quiet. 4 corridor looks like. the right-hand side of the screen, that's traffic heading southbound towards downtown tampa near martin luther king this is a live view of i-75 near fowler. this tends to be a trouble spot in the morning. but not just yet. moving you over to the maps, here is the u.s. 19 corridor, that's seeing rain right now. but again, right now we are checking in accident and delay free. so good news there. and then also 301 and the 75 county, seeing rain. but also, crystal clear as far as accidents go. we will have continuing coverage of this throughout the

some sites in pinellas county will be open until sunset. we have a list of the sites with sand bags on abcactionnews.com. >>> another important road closure to tell you about right now. in st. petersburg, this road is shut down. you see it in the video. it's at 75th avenue. our crew was there right after they put the road closed signs up. city workers still left a little bit of the road open. you can see people trying to get through the area. report in that area right now. >>> and covering pasco county, no major flooding yet. but the threat is there especially if the river goes above flood stage after all of the rain. eric waxler is live with what effect that could have on hundreds of people in that area. eric. >> reporter: laura, here at mitchell park in new port richey, they have been giving out sand bags all day long. more than given out. he is helping his dad fill up the bags. no school for you tomorrow, aiden. are you happy about that? he is happy about that. the decision was made late this afternoon. people in pasco have had to deal w

bay area bridges between hillsborough and pinellas county looking good. no problems with the courtney campbell, howard bridge or gandy. you're looking at 10 minutes between drive times. another update in a few. gene and gayle back to you. >> thank you meredith. >>> zika spreads in florida . there's finally some good news about possible vaccines. now one ask headed to clinical trials. news channel 8 lindsey mastis is live from the hillsborough county health department this morning. latest vaccine if all goes according to plan they are going to start start testing it on humans by october. there's another vaccine further along. we will not see a vaccine in the immediate future and that's why health departments across the state are monitoring zika will closely. >> just to be very clear zika is unprecedented. we never before had decide that could cause a birth defect. that's why we take it so seriously. the key is to protect pregnant women. >> reporter: in miami planes are dumping insecticide and they will continue to do that for several weeks. health official

that's on pinellas point drive. two men age 25 and 29, one drove to the hospital while the other was found in the park with a gunshot wound. both are still alive. >>laura: strange development in a story that cannot get much stranger. investigators say an fsu student may have guzzled killed. police say austin herrof spent the morning with his fraternity brothers. he had a family dinner and walked three miles to his neighbors' home. they say he ingested some chemicals and then killed a woman and a man who lived at that home. when police found him, he was still biting the dead man's face. no street drugs have showed up in his system. however, more extensive tests have not come back. he is currently sedated with a >>russell: donald trump is holding a rally for the florida state fairgrounds. doors open at 10:00. event starts at 1:00. you can rsvp on his website. this will be his fourth stop in tampa this year. he came in february, june and july and there's a good chance he'll mention donations made to the clinton foundat

>> big situation in pinellas park. we'll get to that in a moment. you're going to want to hear this. >> it's not weather-relate sod we're in better shape than the last couple of days. with the downpours. if you look, at the very top left corner of the screen that is it. that is where the showers are, heaviest rain so we're now just mostly cloudy, some sunshine in the morning as well and then back to our typical afternoon here. of course it should be fall but it's not. we're in the midst of our wet season. sunrise 6:58. by pickup time you'll need umbrellas. any time this time of year despite the fact it won't rain in the morning you'll need that rain gear by the afternoon. so typical pattern setting up, 50% coverage i think for today. that will be showers and storms in the afternoon. warmer temperature. back to near 90 degrees this afternoon. some areas in fact going into the low 90s with the additional sunshine there. so finally, we're our summer pattern here which of course has been missing, some areas to the north upwards of 10 inches in the last

>>> a sad day for students in pinellas county. an elementary schoolteacher died after a horrible crash. the outpouring of support for her family plus the new charges the suspected drunk driver will now face. rio where the sun is coming up on another day of competitions. a look at some of the olympic highlights going viral. >>> and technology is a big part of your child's education. this morning, we are showing you apps that can help them excel this school year. >>> well good morning, i'm gayle guyardo. >> and i'm gene ramirez. thank you for joining us here on news channel 8 today on this tuesday morning. let's get you started with a

pete to the other side of pinellas, real-time lightning flashes as you see. this is moving from east to west. this will move towards pasadena and st. pete beach in the next 10 to 15 minu so over the next several hours, this movesgh. possibility of very heavy rain, gusty winds, a lot of lightning and maybe a severe thunderstorm warning or two. we will update that in a couple minutes. >> thank you, denis. >>> more surprising details coming out day about the gruesome attack on florida's east coast where a man was found eating a person's face. we learned that suspect is a unpr 19-year-old austin is the , atsaying last night he stabbed a woman and a man to death and then started biting the man's face. it took several deputies, a k-9 officer and tasers to get him off the victim. the sheriff says they didn't shoot him because they couldn't get a good angle. deputies are trying to see if the drug bath salts rein t attacker's system. >> the abnormally strong. somebody not feeling pain, not responding to a dog bite, not responding to repeed stuns from a taser, taking t

three in pinellas county. one in hillsborough and another in sarasota county, plus one of the cases in the miami wynwood area originally believed to be nontravel related have been reclassified as travel related bringing the total number of nontravel cases to 42. the u.s. government is trying to stop the spread of the vi virus, of course, and thefork da has released new orders when it comes to testing virus. >> up until now, testing donated blood for zika is for areas affected by the virus, puerto rico and parts of florida. fox's trace gallagher tells us about the change. >> reporter: sparking a new order from the food and drugged a m friday. the fda calling on all u.s. blood banks to test for zika virus. >> we are recommending testing of donated blood in the united states and the territories. protect the blood supply. >> reporter: federal dollars to fight the zika virus are said to go dry in september. >> each day that goes by until then is a missed opportunity for the u.s. government to be doing everything po

we're still taking about 12 minutes to get from pit -- pinellas to hillsborough. i-4 starting to get back to line road to downtown. still have the problem through manatee county, a crash southbound i-75 just past the southern apex still causing there is. just now starting to see some improvement but look at that, still down to 12 miles an hour in some spots southbound on 75. >>> this morning a man accused of driving drunk and crashing into a car driven by a pinellas county school teacher heads to court. that teacher, caroline sine and her passenger sean hankins ar bayfront hospital. police arrested brice macleod, they say that he ran a red light at park boulevard around 1:00 yesterday morning and now faces two dui charges causing serious injuries. he makes his first appearance today. brice macleod is no stranger to local law enforcement though. he has two prior dui convictions in manatee county among other charges. at 9:30 -- a live report from milwaukee, wisconsin. the city erupted with violent riots over the weekend after police shot and killed a black man they

yesterday scott revealed there is a non-travel related case of zika in pinellas county. the governor is not telling us where exactly and some are calling that a mistake. jeff patterson joins us now live. i am wondering, any more information about this case? >> reporter: we have asked and asked and still have not been given a direct answer. that case could be anywhere . obviously it is a very large county. today, congressman david jolly told us that the public deserves more information. >> i put that of the second i heard. truck rick falkenstein is one of the owners of hurricane restaurant in st. pete beach. popular with locals and tourists , he wanted everyone to have information about the zika virus. he downloaded info from the cdc >> more information is better. chuck getting specific information from the state on the latest non-travel related case of zika in pinellas county is not easy. our morning anchor gene ramirez tried to get specifics from the governor today. >> pinellas county is a large county. when we find out specifically where? the governor would not give ou

organizers say no appointment is necessary. >>> we're checking the drive in pinellas county. from bridge-to-bridge. if you're heading to the veterans expressway it's starting to slow a little, typical this time of morning, 26 minutes from 54 to 275. 21 minutes just to get from van dyke to 275. >>> captain al is flying over a crash in dover, what is happening? >> reporter: good morning. appears to be a very serious accident, perhaps a fatality on mlk, a little east of forks road, they have mlk closed both directions, i suspect it's going to be like this for a while. you it's just one thing you see. also on either side, they have the whole area blocked off. two vehicles, suv and little pickup are involved, so keep it in mind. mlk is going to be closed, either 60 or i-4. >>> much drier out there. in fact no rainfall, we're in pretty good shape until the afternoon and then we'll begin to see showers and thunderstorms developing. we're talking about the 50% chance for later today. out the door for the first day of school. >>> good morning, america. donald trump defending himself a

lynn is here from pinellas county schools. my heart is overjoyed. you have to be beside yourself. >> this is so wonderful. our kids so need these supplies. please keep them coming. we're getting everything we need. notebooks, crayons, pencils, paper, binders, glue sticks, all of whole year. please keep them coming. it's wonderful. >>charley: wide rule. >>jennifer: laura was saying that it was really tough to find wide rule. that's a big deal. a lot of students need that versus college rule. >> the wide ruled is best for the kids to be able to write on that and the loose leaf paper they go through like crazy so we need a lot of that. >>jennifer: and a bucket full of backpacks. >> that's wonderful. year. >>charley: we don't have the can filled with half of something else to make it look impressive. we don't have to because we have so much stuff. a lady came by. this is an entire box full of rulers. they had them made up for the company and there's a typo on it. so they couldn't use it for the company so she donated it to pinellas county schools. the k

on the first nontravel related case in pinellas county. the department of health ircong in the last few hours the identity of the patient. it was a tampa firefighter. they also tell us he was bitten by a mosquito. however they have not where the firefighter was bitten. that person has now tested negative for zika. everybody in the family and the station where they worked was tested for the virus and the results fortunately came back negative. >>> well, our next update on this tropical coming within the hour. and also next we're taking a look at what is being done today in pasco county specifically to prepare for all of this rain. >>> and also ahead, knowing your rights and what you can and cannot do to protect your privacy with more drones >> breaking news to bring you right now. want to give you a live view aerial images. singer chris brown's home in los angeles. you can see there are people outside there. a lot of police officers after a woman lled for help in the middle of the night near brown's home. detectives want to talk to him. the

officials said it's not clear yet how or where the person contracted the virus in pinellas county. and the governor claims the state is winning the fight, reducing the area north of miami where the virus is being spread. >> good news here as a result of education and aggressive mosquito abatement, we are able to cut the area in half. now it's less than a half square mile. >> reporter: so florida's surgeon general said yesterday that the person who contracted this non-travel related case in pinellas county was recently tested and investigators ruled out sexual transmission. so we could even be dealing with the person bit locally here. >> thank you. >>> our zika virus in your backyard coverage continues on wfla.com. cases of the virus, plus, everything you need to know about zika virus on our home page. >>> governor rick scott will attend a round table in hillsborough county to discuss the spread of the zika virus. he will join us live in-studio at 5:30 to answer our questions about the virus and the state's effort to keep it at bay. >>> with the tropics heating up, local experts are

abc action news reporter rodney dunigan live at the pinellas park police department. this case has taken a major turn. >> reporter: it certainly has. in fact the police department holding a press conference at 9:30 this morning to give us the latest details on this case. meanwhile, loved ones of those victims are simply left to deal with it all. >> we will get through this, we'll help the children get through this. >> reporter: plenty of questions, not enough answers for family, friends and co- workers of pinellas county teacher caroline sine. heart broken over her death. >> it's difficult but it's something you learn to do the more years you're in this position. you learn this is part of what you do. you become a family. you take care of each other. >> reporter: came caroline sine's boyfriend sean hankins bayfront hospital. brice macleod, the man pinellas park police say was drunk behind the wheel when he smashed into the couple in court monday given bond of $50,000. that may change with an expected upgrade in charges. his attorney says he feels for the victims as we

and still just seven minutes from pinellas to hillsborough. less than 10 minutes across the other two bridges. we are watching a crash in pasco eastbound state road 54 at the collier parkway, this is in the lutz area. reports of some roadblocking anything here slowing us down. a little bit of slowdown around u.s. 41 so give yourself extra time there. a quick check of drive times through the downtown area. >>> captain al in action air 1, good morning. >> reporter: good tuesday morning. this is what i consider the busiest stretch. 275, that traffic coming from the apex or getting on at beers and fletcher, that is usually where they come, fromp land o' lakes, and the merge with -- no problems to speak of. a lot of volume but everything is pretty much or pretty close to speed limit. back to you. >>> 6:32. updating breaking news on florida's east coast. deputies investigating a gruesome and shocking deadly martin county. a man is seen biting another man's face. deputies tried to use a stun gun and police dog to pry him away, neither worked. took mu

it is a wet night you get rain heavy this is all heading for pinellas county. can you see it developing in the gulf. rain near sarasota and in the county. we zoom in and watching us a dry

back to you. >>> we told but a crash involving a pinellas county bay. hillsborough county deputies charged giovanni mendez with dui. they say he slammed into another car after he started to drive southbound in the northbound lane of anderson road. two people were hurt but are expected to survive. >>> starting today hillsborough county begins offering early voting for the upcoming florida primary, all other bay area counties will begin early voting no later than saturday. election day is august 31st. >>> good morning. we have a serious 75, this is going to be northbound just before you get to i-4, looks like it's taking all but one lane here so looks like we're seeing a major backup here, this started about five minutes to 10 minutes ago. expect delays, northbound i-75, let's look at the map and you can see the backup starts all the way in brandon around state road 60, we're also seeing delays in the opposite direction southbound, maybe some possible onlooker delays there. delays, southbound i-75 through palmetto, you might want to try u.s. 41 or 301 ins

two cases with are reported in pinellas county. the health department is still investigating those cases. we'll pass along those findings when we finish. >>> staff members from both donald trump and hillary clinton's campaigns were at the white house yesterday for their first transition meeting. >> president obama wants to minimize any disruptions when he leaves office in january. tomorrow, clinton is expected to receive her classified intelligence briefings. trump received his last week. each major party candidate gets one. it gives the candidates a broad look at the national securi threats and challenges facing the country before he or she assumes office. >>> meanwhile, trump continued his attack on hillary clinton yesterday at a rally in new hampshire. he called the connection between her family's charitable foundation and state department "watergate all over again." clinton rolled out a new ad campaign linking trump to white supremacists. the bay area. senator marco rubio decided to run for re-election after dropping out of the

pinellas getting crushed with tore rengs rain. st. pete getting hit and along with the heavy rain frequent lightning as well. >>> good time to remind to you download our stormshield app. a weather radio for your mobile device. it sends weather warnings to your cell phone or tablet. available for android and apple. meanwhile stay tuned to abc and traffic reports are coming up. >>> a car on fire with a pregnant woman inside, who the stranger is that managed to >>> titan doppler radar showing a torrential downpours now and along with that frequent lightning. it's the kind of rain that is blinding, so take it easy out there especially on the roads on this early >>> tower cam here of i-275 near 28 and st. petersburg. topler estimates already an inch of rain falling at the beaches from pasa grill to india rocks and more on the way. slick streets, hazardous driving use caution, a complete look at traffic and weather in a moment. >>> caught on camera at 45: 5:45. a news photographer rescues a pregnant woman from her burning control and crash

pinellas county, could cut way down on d-u-i's.((jen)) the ordinance could leave your car at clubs, after you've had too many, and get a safe ride home... without being towed. and fox-13's josh cascio tells us: it could save ?money... and ?lives. in a unanimous vote... county commissionersa making significant changes to the towing laws throughout pinellas county. the most significantaprovi des protection for bar patrons ..who leave their car overnight on bar propertya&after a night of drinking. the spirit would be reduce the incentive for someone to drive under the influence and their car would be safe overnight till the following day at noon.your car still could be towed, but it would take written authorization first. the ordinance basically provides more protection between the hours of 9pm till noon the streets it would be a success at that point. predatory towing in pinellas county has been bad for a long time especially downtownjeff connor - is the man behind coastal towing pinellas a&despite the fact that the new rules could p

bridges, up here in pinellas county. orange street at pinellas avenue. vehicle caught fire here. and you might see activity but no delays at pinellas avenue also known as alternate 19. that's a look at weather and traffic. back to gene and gayle. >> thank you. >>> right now, a bay area elementary school is preparing for a very difficult day ahead. a popular music teacher hospitalized following a car crash died. caroline sign and a passenger were hit by a suspected drunk driver in and last night, sign passed away. news channel 8's ryan hughes is live at sexton elementary school, a sad day for students and teachers there, ryan. >> reporter: gene, good morning to you. they are in disbelief that their beloved teacher here died at the beginning of the school year. the secretary here explained what this woman meant to the school community. she's get-going, she's just got a lot of love that pours out of her. >> reporter: caroline sign was driving with fellow music teacher sean hawkins who works at another elementary school in hillsborough when the car was hit by a suspected drunker driv

and pinellas dropped to 481. and then hillsborough, manatee and sarasota counties rounded out the bottom. >> what's going up in pasco? >> i would like to know. >> and it's not that busy up there. >> well, not as many people in pasco county than pinellas or are flying by. i don't know. they need to fix it. the pasco county friends need to keep an eye out for that. >> and be ware because you don't know when the kid will dart in front of you. >> exactly right. >>> let's get a check on the weather with leigh spann. >> first glances of daylight. the lake club in lakewood ranch there. are clouds around. you can see them here. 78degrees at that location. we will keep a few clouds, 79 degrees at 8:00 a.m. d lunchtime, 88 degrees. dry at noon. and then 40% of showers and thunderstorms at 4:00 p.m. with a high of 92. bartow, kids heading back to school. in pasco county, be careful with the buses, 79 degrees in tampa. 79 in bradenton. and my weather watcher dora in inverness says it's 73 at her house. and we have been focus

the pinellas county sheriff is talking about the case right now and we want to listen in briefly here. >> we fast forward to this past monday august 8, 11:00 monday morning. steele took the baby to a pediatrician office. she claimed the baby was not we speak with the pediatrician and he found nothing medically wrong with the baby. but importantly, in the physician's examination of the baby 11:00 a.m. monday morning, he states there was no sign of trauma to the baby. the baby's skull was intact and there was no bruising on the baby's face. after leaveing the pediatrician's office, frankie, the six-year-old, dropped his mom's cell phone the screen. they went to a business called cpr cell phone repair in saint petersburg and dropped the phone off. after going to a restaurant in saint pete, they returned to the cell phone repair shop at 1:50 p.m. where steele left baby kathlene, six-year-old frankie, and three-year-old phillip in the vehicle alone. and this was a van type vehicle frankie and phillip could get out of their seats, stand up and move around. baby kathlene was in the car seat.

((dave)) in pinellas county: one man will spend more than six ?years in prison... just for buying a new car. that's because he paid fo identity. on monday, terrell brown was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison. detectives say he used a stranger's information to buy a 100-thousand-dollar "escalade" from a cadillac dealer in clearwater. when he was arrested... investigators say he had numerous counterfeit drivers' licenses, v-a i-d's and credit cards. in addition to the prison sentence, he also has to pay back the money he used on the s-u-v. the man behind a major the next ?decade in prison. (walter/ 62-year old robert wyche is accused of trafficking at least seven women in a prostitution and drug ring. on monday he agreed to a plea agreement of 10 years in prison, followed by 10 years probation and a lifetime registered as a sex offender. but before he begins his sentence...one of his victims took to the stand to send him off with a chilling farewell. we are not showing her face, but that victim says she's been sober for the past three years and now ha