pinellas pinellas has done a great job. it's been an all hands on deck approach to this thing.t really warms your heart to see everybody coming together at a time of need. it's the way it should be. it's the way it is and it makes me very proud to be a floridian and american. >> in st. petersburg, florida. thank you for joining us. please stay safe. we wish the best to you and those in the area who are still yet to see the worst of the storm tonight. >> thank you so much. god bless you. >>> our coverage is going to continue. we are doing this nonstop. i will stop for a little while because i see -- i am always happy to see you but sometimes more than others. >> right back at you. same sentiment. thank you for taking the last couple of hours. we will take it from here for the next couple of hours until 11:00 eastern time tonight at which our coverage just continues all night long. 8:00 here in the east. let's sum up where we have been. we have a category two storm doing what the models told us about the 36 to 48 hours ago that it would do. it is

they may have the opportunity to go back, for example pinellas county to our west, clear water, they were geting wind gusts of 50 miles an hour within the last hour or. so since that area was evacuated the sheriff said those that left will not be able to come back until given the all clear. so the bridges the causeways that would get over to that area are closed. so a lot of people are going to have to wait until a lot of emergency officials get out first and decide to say, okay, we think it's safe for you to come back and also pinellas county, they didn't have occur few t. curfew was set at excuse me 5:00. that is for folks that stayed here in tampa. it was 6:00 p.m. last night. as light comes up, that will change. again for people coming to pinellas county, they have to wait for the all clear. >> thank you. >>> let's go somewhere else in tampa as well. we have thomas on one side and sarah, give us an update from where you are, darah dallof. >> reporter: hey, guys, here in tampa on the hillsborough river, we are seeing the rains begin, now all day long yesterday, we saw the effect o

they may have the opportunity to go back, for example pinellas county to our west, clear water, they were geting wind gusts of 50 miles an hour within the last hour or. so since that area was evacuated the sheriff said those that left will not be able to come back until given the all clear. so the bridges the causeways that would get over to that area are closed. so a lot of people are going to have to wait until a lot of emergency officials get out first and decide to say, okay, we think it's safe for you to come back and also pinellas county, they didn't have occur few t. curfew was set at excuse me 5:00. that is for folks that stayed here in tampa. it was 6:00 p.m. last night. as light comes up, that will change. again for people coming to pinellas county, they have to wait for the all clear. >> thank you. >>> let's go somewhere else in tampa as well. we have thomas on one side and sarah, give us an update from where you are, darah dallof. >> reporter: hey, guys, here in tampa on the hillsborough river, we are seeing the rains begin, now all day long yesterday, we saw the effect o

for pinellas county, for example, by 8 a.m. tomorrow morning, all of you in level a need to evacuate your homes. if you are in a level a district which includes coastal residents and those in low-lying areas, especially those living in mobile homes in every part of the county k you need to get out. residents in level b must begin evacuating immediately. you talked about the shelters, many of which are full. i want to talk about shelters which allow pets because we saw in houston so many animals whose bodies are still being pulled from receding waters and a lot of the shelters that accept pets are getting filled the fastest. what is being done in order to extend further shelter for pets? anyone with a pet, please bring them with you. do not leave them at home. >> we have, as i said, the one shelter was full of pets, and it's reached its maximum -- julie: yeah, i heard that. >> they are looking at opening up some other shelters for people with pets. we have people who have been in nursing homes and assisted living facilities that

we now closed access to all of our beach communities here in pinellas county.omebody there is, they will be able to leave the beach but we are not allowing anybody else to cross over our bridges to get back on the beach until after the storm passes and we can assess the damage. molly: it seems we cover hurricanes so often and people are always weathering the storm. but it seems in this case people took the warnings to get out of dodge early. >> you hate to have to say this, but i think we saw what happened in texas and in houston. and i think people realized that a life is much more important than trying to be stubborn and staying in your home. molly: we appreciate a few moments your time tonight. we are thinking of you all and wishing you have the best luck in the coming showers and days. >> we appreciate the fact that tour news media is staying on top of this. we especially appreciate our first responders and the volunteers trying to help the people in need who have evacuated. >> thank you for sharing all the information you have. we appreciate it. still ahea

and there has been reports in pinellas county of the water coming up because of the shifting winds as the center of the storm continues to push up the middle of the state. now it's likely going to pass to our east. so we won't get in the center. >> i just want to show you again, the weather coverage channel coverage goes on 24/7. they have people dispatched across the state. and as far as we can tell, none of their employees ever sleep. if you were filming a hollywood movie about a hurricane, you would have a ladder and a big fan and buckets of water, if not a fire hose that you were fire into the fan, and it would look just like that scene. but this set to say for all the fake news advocates is so real. and it's the sign of a massive storm that is still proving its strength and vitality tonight in this endless supply of water. speaking of that, to the atlantic coast we go. the southern tip of the state of florida. maya rodriguez remains in dark and highly flooded miami. maya? >> reporter: yeah, brian. i wanted to give you sort of a sense of how that storm surge affected the downtown

in pinellas, which is clearwater and over in the area of st. petersburg, they had a curfew that went into effect at 5:00. here in hillsborough, they had curfews that went into effect at 6:00. now, earlier when we heard from sheriffs, they say they had no incidents to report of anybody that was breaking curfew or incidents they were responding to of a nature like we've been seeing early this morning and overnight out of miami. if i get new information on that, i'll bring it to you right away. >> i wish you would get somewhere warm and dry. we've got to get you a towel. you have been out there way too long, thomas roberts. >> reporter: from your mouth to god's ear, cynthia, i would love to get somewhere warm and dry, too. >> soon, soon thomas. >>> joining us by phone is the mayor of venice, florida, on the western side of the state, about 75 miles west of tampa. thank you for joining us. what can you tell us? >> i can tell you the storm is not totally gone. inc. we're on the other side. we lost power last night at about, oh, 8:00 where i'm stayin

miami-dade, monroe, pinella, sarasota. these counties right now if you are a citizen in those counties you can go to disaster assistance.gov to begin registering for assistance if you are received damages and are having hardship. in some cases the first line of defense is fill your insurance he when you are allowed to get back home. file your insurance not only your personal insurance but threw the nfip program, the national flad insurance program. if you are a policy holder once you are home call your private insurer to activate that begin process -- begin the process to have money flowing to help you in that regard. the other thing here is that, you know, we're also watching the continuing situation in jacksonville, overnight jacksonville and the areas around the st. john's river were heavily impacted, we're still conducting life safety missions in and around the area because of the flooding. we were very aware of it last night and continuing to support our partners there. again, this issue is passing through, there are

john's, charlotte, hillsborough, lee, manatee, miami-dade, pinellas, sarasota. these counties if your citizen in those counties you can go to disasterassistance.gov to begin registering assistance if you received damages and are having hardship in some cases the first line of defense is filed insurance when you're about to get back home, file your insurance. that only your personal insurance but also to the nfip program, the national flood insurance program if you're a policyholder. once you return home, please call your private insurer to activate a policy if you do damage and we can begin to process, begin the process of money flowing to help you in that regard. the other thing is we are also watching the continue situation in jacksonville. overnight, jacksonville and the areas around the st. john's river were heavily impacted. we are still conducting some life safety missions in and around that area because of the flooding we were very aware of it last night and continue to support our state and local partners there. again, this issue is passing through. ther

well, if you're talking about pinellas county, st.g, clearwater area, pinellas is low-lying and in hillsborough county, tampa bay, plant city, citrus and sun city, that hillsborough in a nutshell, areas that are of great concern, palmetto beach, port of tampa and palm river all in the st. pete vicinity. here is the more pressing matter, naples and collier county. the storm with maximum sustained winds is heading directly in your direction and is expected to arrive there in the next couple of hours. we will have team fox coverage from across the region right after this. ♪ depression is a tangle of multiple symptoms. ♪ that's why there's trintellix, a prescription medication for depression. trintellix may help you take a step forward in improving your depression. tell your healthcare professional right away if your depression worsens, or you have unusual changes in mood, behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens and young adults. do not take with maois. tell your healthcare professional about

and a wind alert across pinellas county, telling people to take shelter immediately. want to go to eva pilgrim right now. you just got this alert moments ago. though it seems relatively calm. >> reporter: there was a huge burst of wind that came in. and they sent out an alert on our phones, saying the wind alert, and to take shelter immediately. i just want to show you, there are these lights on this football stadium, they have been waving back and forth, swinging quite aways. we have been watching as these gusts and heavy downpours come, the lights are swinging more and more. one of the major concerns in this area, they haven't had a major hurricane hit this area in almost 100 years. some of the building codes in south florida that have made that a safer place for people to be, that doesn't exist. a lot of the homes were built before the codes were in place, and will be put to the test tonight as irma comes through. >> eva, thank you. >>> we do want to go to morgan mocha, thank you for joining us. we can see you on facetime, you're smiling, but you had a rough day. y

right here in pinellas county where i am, i was at the bay pines va center this morning. they're well prepared. our county commissioners have a, you know, given the evacuation order for the lower level areas from a and now into b. they've been very prudent, very smart, working together very, very well with the governor's office and us at the federal level. we were able to allocate funds going from more than $7 billion up to $15 billion so i think every level of government has responded well. this is a tough storm. it's a difficult situation. but you just kind of take it one day at a time. you do the right thing. and for your viewers, just stay in touch. continue to watch your reports. get the latest advisories, and do the right thing. it's just about being smart, exercising that common sense, and heeding the advice of your local officials as so what to do in your particular part of the state of florida. >> congressman charlie crist, former governor here in florida. thank you, sir, i appreciate your time. >>> the governor has said, governor rick scott has said that the eva

we evacuated our beach communities all along pinellas county yesterday and friday. and they are deserted so we have closed the beach off now. we have people in our evacuation shelters. we're just standing by for the storm to pass through. we're confident. we were looking at a category 4 or category 5 storm. there's a substantial difference between what we were thinking we were going to get and what we're going to -- what's going to happen to us. so we feel blessed even though we know we're going to get some damage. >> we were surprised and had a lump in our throats over marco island and naples earlier today. for folks not familiar, especially with the gulf shoreline in florida, you are on the outer edge, the western edge of tampa bay, the greater tampa bay. what have you been told about timing. when can you relax about the storm surge and assume if it hasn't come yet, it's not coming? >> we're not going to be able to relax until some time tomorrow afternoon, probably at the earliest. our tampa bay has -- it was -- some photos on the local media of manatees that have

the problem is according to pinellas county sheriff a lot of people are not respecting those mandatory evacuations. he says that technically that is a crime but no sheriff's deputy will come arrest someone who is not respecting the mandatory evacuation. however, it also means no one will come and show up and save them. the deputies won't be put at risk if the deputies if someone doesn't honor the evacuation order. >> 2:00 o'clock tomorrow topical winds will arrive in the tampa area increasing the hurricane force winds around 8:00 o'clock. they will maintain the power of hurricane force winds for a good nine hours. that is why the mobile homes are mandatory evacuation. they can't put up with that kind of beating. however, it is not over when the wind dies down. behind that, the back into the store, is where the storm surges. 2:00 o'clock monday the storm surge begins to arrive in this area. it will bring a lot of water with it and it will last through to the high tide until six or 6:30 and the storm surges will last until 10:00 o'clock. all of those areas, 15 feet above sea level in bel

we have duke energy over here in pinellas county and in clearwater.till just been done duke has brought in extra people to provide service right away. but the sun has not risen yet. we are still trying to assess where we are and how bad it is. but i did not lose power where i evacuated all day. i've had reports of intermittent outages but have not heard of anything else. at least yet. mayor, can you give us an update how many of the residents in clearwater are in shelters do you have any sense of how many people stayed in their homes and did not evacuate. >> we've been very fortunate in that regard. the county gave the evacuation order how on friday and the vast majority of our people heated that order they went to visit with friends or shelters we think we head about 24,000 people in shelters across the county and they were not full. we did not had to turn anybody away. we had shelters for pets in the take care of people with special needs. we think our residents heeded the advice of our local officials in our county commissioners the storm was huge.

really been able to get out in the tampa bay area and start assessing the damage just west of here in pinellas county the sheriff's department reporting trees down, power lines down. they are seeing street signs in the road, which is why they are urging people to still stay indoors. it's not safe to be driving around. they want to assess the damage and get things cleaned up. this is the best scenario, millions without power but it could have been worse. a few hours ago we thought it was going to work its way up the coast and create a huge storm surge situation for an area vulnerable, that hasn't seen a hurricane in nearly a century. we spent the night with a family riding it out in tampa. they escaped miami area, came here thinking this is where they would be safe. they felt like irma was following them up the coast. in the end tampa ended up being a safe place to be. they are wondering if their home had any flooding. they are struggling to find answers about that. >> that's a story you hear over and over again. families moving from the east coast of florida over to the west to get away from i

pinellas county had wind gusts up to 90 miles per hour and 70% of those in pinellas county do not haveking traffic lights. minutes ago police in jacksonville told police in some evacuation zones that it's time to leave. that rika duncan is outside atlantic beach and a half mile from the ocean. there's still water there. >> reporter: that's right. this is barrier aland and now not only are we seeing a number of the neighborhoods flooded by water because of the creeks and ponds but we are seeing a lot of debris. this street has been blocked off by debris that has fallen because of the storm. you see some neighbors have put ome of the cones out to pret people from driving down this street. now, again we're in atlantic beach which is east of jacksonville which also received record storm surge. in fact, the last time they received as much storm surge was in 1964 due to hurricane dora. what's happening right now is police have allowed people to access those bridges out of atlantic beach but they are not letting folks get on this beach. they're expecting the storm surge to increase. that's be

pinellas county second only to new orleans when it comes to low land elevation and flood risk. so with each passing hour, the computer models seem to be unified, converging on a track right up the gulf coast, naples, sarasota, ft. myers, and tampa st. pete, and i'm really worried about what might happen in tampa, especially late tomorrow, and sunday night. >> paul, you showed us that graphic. let me show it to our viewers on this wall behind me and give you a sense what have that kind of storm surge is. i'm 5'10". that's what we're talking about, a storm surge that pushes in, not just the height of the wa r water, it pushes in with remarkable force and the storm surge goes back out so it's a double whammy for property, for cars, for debris, and for people, so this isn't something to take lightly, paul. we have a combination of things here. people who think about hurricanes think about the wind. if we've learned nothing from harvey and by the way from katrina it's that the wind is one part of the problem, in southeastern florida, in southwestern florida, they have in many cases

. >> pin ellis -- pinellas, we'll get it back. we'll get it back as long as people are safe, and i want them to be patient. i know they want to get outsides, but again. we got to make sure they are safe. >> congressman gus. you, your constituents, great people of florida in our thoughts and prayers. >> thank you so much. god bless you. >> you too. >> he was talking about emergency workers there, you know one thing that struck me in meet up to this, i was watching a firefighter in miami area where people were evacuated. he said we're staying here. we staying behind, in our building to help people, you just think of all those folks, those emergency responders out there risking their lives for others, what heroes they are. during these storms, and every other day as well. we're so grateful they are out there to help people. >> no question, we're coming up to anniversary of 9/11, we think first responders with that. and certainly seeing these hurricanes in florida and texas, so many heroes on front lines, saving countless lives. remar

the barrier islands on the outside of pinellas county, a lot of people are not respecting the mandatory evacuation orders. they are not going to send sheriff's deputies to arrest anyone and they won't send deputies to rescue anybody when it gets bad and they put the deputies at risk. >> in the middle of this thing we are not going out there to get them. if you want to make the bad decisions, but you also batter consequences of those bad decisions. reporter: the sunshine state bridge going across the tampa bay will close when the winds reach 40 miles an hour. the other bridges, they will make a judgment call. if you are on the other side of the bridges in the mandatory evacuation zones and the bridges get closed. you are stuck. there is nobody coming to get you. at 2:00 p.m. is when local authorities expect the winds to hit this area. the old structured will get battered for 9 hours by hurricane-force winds. the following day monday 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. is when the storm surge moves in. that will take you through 6:00 p.m. which is roughly high tide. you will have a slot of water movi

pinellas county beaches to sarasota. that will help to push the water back in. still looking at a storm surge issue. we're dry. the clouds are just to our south. you see they're moving in this direction. clouds increasing later today. it's 58 degrees in washington. manassas, 47 degrees if you're about to step outside. i think you can get away with a light jacket. 55 in 54 degrees leesburg. winchester at 43. if you're exercising this morning, it will be cool by 8:00 a.m. lunchtime, 70 degrees. by 5:00 p.m., low humidity. mid-70s. then we'll start to see the clouds moving in. here's future weather. there's the rain from irma. then the remnants of irma getting here. mainly as we go through tomorrow afternoon. not a washout of a day. we will see scattered showers through wednesday and even the case through thursday and friday. temperatures are going to be in the low 730s tomorrow. wednesday, closer to 80. thursday, closer to 80 as well. the rain chances -- so far the weekend is looking pretty decent coming up in a bit, we'll look at the extended forecast. we'll chk

as you go from pinellas county near tampa to the east coast of florida, that's 135 miles wide. let's look at irma. it's 400 miles wide. no matter where it moves into florida, it's going to be impacting both coastlines. here though, we're nice and dry. 57 degrees in washington. it's 49 in ga your day is going to shape up nicely. the bus stop, cool and dry this morning. perfect weather this afternoon. mid-70s. look at your weekend. gorgeous. we could see impacts going into next week from irma. let's check your friday morning commute. we're at the end of the week. good morning, jack taylor. >> we sure are. it's not going out like a lamb at this point if you know what i'm saying. chopper 4 into mt. airy. a structure fire along 27. right now, though, we've got massive delays. 6:20 in the morning. outer loop moving toward old georgetown road. late clearing emergency construction. at one point, only the left lane is getting by as you pass old georgetown road towards the curve. the slowdowns are back to new hampshire avenue. 27 up at penn shop road is closed because of a structure fire

in looking over the eoc in pinellas county in clearwater, st. pete, that's to our west. they're saying they're still getting wind gusts in the 40. we know that in sarasota, some of the higher wind gusts they got, that below us to our southwest, 105 miles per hour, naples airport clocking a gust of wind at 140 miles per hour, very significant wind bursts. storm surge is the big issue now as people know that these coastal communities are prone to flooding. they aren't certain what they will see from irma. as the sun comes up, we will get a much better idea that people will hurricane horeturn home. back to you. >> i thought it was interesting. i hope you can explain this once again, when you were standing next to that water where you are right now, when you first arrived, scouting out that location, it had completely receded at one point, now filling up as it normally would, now looking sort of more normal, what people are used to in tampa. when you arrived at that yeah, scout out that location, there was no water preparing for that storm surge that we have been talking abo

. >> reporter: in pinellas county dan maddux, fox news. >>> our every day heroes getting well-deservedd city. at the national liberty museum 14 awards of valor went to our first responders in our area. the honors go to police officers and firefighter firefighters an. k9 units for their acts of bravery and heroism and compassion for their communities. their stories of going above and beyond the normal call of duty are inspirational always. right? >> we've got your forecast in 15 seconds. >> it's quiet night across the delaware valley. mostly cloudy skies. down the shore in wildwood, sad sight. closed for business during the fall season. little bit early temperatures right now pretty pleasant. southerly winds with temperature of 69 in philadelphia. 63 in allentown and 55 little bit cooler in the poconos. let's take you to the remnants of irma. not a lot of moisture but it's streaming up from the south. we have the high clouds/showers moving in tomorrow and a few more of these bands will be moving up from the south. so an increase in temperature and in humidity with that moisture. due poi

on a typical summer thunderstorm, tampa bay and pinellas county. a double, triple-whammy when things get here later on. the track is focused right over where i am here. that will come at nightfall. >> hard to believe you're still hours away from the worst. tampa bay expected to get hit hard. t.j. holmes is there. you have a lot of low-lying land there. >> yeah. especially vulnerable. that's the issue here. like rob said, a good hard rain, they get flooding. this is a flood-prone area. now you're talking about storm surge? the issue here for folks. this is 700 miles of coastline. pristine coastline. people want to be here. they want to live here. they have seen the greatest population growth year after year in the tampa area. this is where they're living. this is the hillsboro river that dumps out into the bay. they're sitting on water. that's a hospital, actually, right behind me. a lot of people there could not be evacuated. they have storm windows. they have to ride it out. pan here. they have growth. they continue the build. they have a huge $3

they just had a warning for pinellas. now we have such a huge area of risk that everyone has to go to the middle of the state. i manning everyone is going on i-4 into the orlando and kissimmee areas. i'm sure those hotels are all booked up. and it could be 120-mile-an-hour winds. i lived there when hurricane charlie went through and we didn't have power for two weeks. there aren't many places that are safe in florida. if you can get to georgia or north georgia and you can get to alabama, mississippi, throws the only completely safe areas. >> he i hope people are missing. i remember when the governor of new orleans years ago with katrina was saying we'll get 90% of the people out. that's pretty good unless you're the 10%. what about people who don't have cars? people this wheel chairs. we have to encourage what can be done from the authorities down. i hope rick scott has his act together. this one hell of a challenge for everyone. this is scariest weather report i think i've ever heard. let's bring in jacob from miami beac

petersburg, my hometown on the west coast of pinellas valley. i'm in a nonevacuation zone. the conditions are not bad. it's breezy, a little bit of rain. all in all it's not that bad but we know there's a lot more to come. >> do you get the sense that your constituents have prepared adequately since the storm shifted west? >> i think there's been an incredible amount of preparation, craig. from the state, the federal, the local level, people have really worked together and cooperated extraordinarily, to be honest with you. the citizens are the best. i mean, they are helping each other out. i was visiting the v.a. center today. yesterday a special needs shelter where nurses were volunteeri volunteering. it's an incredible outpouring of support, much like we heard from the gentleman. it warms your heart to see people reaching out to help each other as they are in florida. we're very, very grateful for it. >> we heard from homeland security secretary yesterday addressing the gas crisis there. we know there are a number of stations that ran out of gas along the evacuation route

on a typical summer thunderstorm, tampa bay and pinellas county. a double, triple-whammy when things get here later on. the track is focused right over where i am here. that will come at nightfall. >> hard to believe you're still hours away from the worst. tampa bay hard. t.j. holmes is there. you have a lot of low-lying land there. >> yeah. especially vulnerable. that's the issue here. like rob said, a good hard rain, they get flooding. this is a flood-prone area. now you're talking about storm surge? the issue here for folks. this is 700 miles of coastline. pristine coastline. people want to be here. they want to live here. they have seen the greatest population growth year after year in the tampa area. this is where they're living. this is the hillsboro river that dumps out into the bay. they're sitting on water. that's a hospital, actually, right behind me. a lot of people there could not be evacuated. they have storm windows. they have to ride it out. pan here. they have growth. they continue the build. they have a huge $3 billion project just

but we are blessed here in pinellas, clearwater, st. petersburg, the storm was coming dreektly to us but shifted. our biggest problem lack of power. 70% doesn't have power. we're encouraging people to please stay indoors still until we can finish our assessments of the damage but it wasn't as great as it could have been. >> well, look, that is the best news to get. we know that not having power especially in florida is going to be a big-time inconvenience but it could have been so much worse and you're right. this is a day -- >> absolutely. >> hopefully within a couple of days we'll be back to normal. >> well, that's the best kind of news is a quick recovery and the resilience that we'll see here in irma. you're right. sometimes there are no coincidences in life and it being 9/11 today we should all have perspective just about anything can be overcome when you have people united in the same spirit of doing that. mr. mayor, the best to you up there. let us know if we can help. poppy, to you in new york and make sure we get all of the rig

this has a lot of people concerned hence different evacuation orders that we have seen for pinellas county. they are getting first big wind gusts clocked down in sarasota about 105 miles per hour. we think about the power outages that people are facing here. there are about 60,000 plus people that have lost power tonight. we know there will be energy crews and technicians trying to help restore power. a lot of people will have to be patient about that and remember to have on their radios for more information if they lose power to have their batteries ready to go. people will try to go to bed and hopefully wake up to a better day tomorrow. >> we are thinking of those people who have no power and have to ride this out all the noises, all the things that can go bump in the night including but not limited to storm shutters and windows and roof tiles coming off. >> just because we are happy to report on the lower storm surge totals because that will save properties and lives and likely not make this the horrific disaster but we still have almost an entire state that will not have power. people

we know that on pinellas county they had evacuated that part of the state and then closed the bridges so they are not letting people back in. there are some people there that did take shelter in what the state and local officials had provided. here we know there are roughly about 30,000 people in shelters. if you take into account what people in the south part of the state in miami and then over to southwest florida down in marco island and then up to where we are in tampa, the amount of power outages that people are facing right now in this state are in the millions, double digits most likely. we will have more accurate numbers about that. we were hearing from bill earlier the fact that this storm system is affecting all the way up to delaware if you think about that down the eastern shore line in the coastal portion of the peninsula of florida and back into the gulf to where we are almost to the panhandle. it is amazing to think and we are not really in the full effect of irma yet because we have to get through the eye wall and what they call the dirty side even though the fact that

out and people in the low-lying areas get out and there's a lot of water coming in the share of pinellas county is stretching and there's going to come a point where if you don't take the advantage to get out you will be on your own. >> under the law, once the evacuation order is issued they have to do it. it creates a crime for someone not to follow the evacuation order but we are not going to door-to-door interesting people and we won't pull people off the streets. if they don't evacuate they are doing it at their own risk and their own safety is in jeopardy and at their own peril. reporter: the mandatory evacuations are in place for what they call zones anb. essentially that amounts to everything 15 feet above sea level and below. people in those areas have to get out. also, the mobile homes. you have to get out. that is because after the wind event and we expect that to start at 2:00 tomorrow and go for nine hours. on monday starting at about 2:0l move into this area pulling all that water with it. it will last through high tide till about 10:00 p.m. it will be expected to bring the

so we have shifted the wind toward naples, pinellas and fort myers, getting 20 miles per hour grauter than you would have received yesterday with the track that we had yesterday. it will still rain. it won't be a rain or flood event. this is a wind and also the surge event for you, and i believe the eye is going to be very, very close to the marathon airport, key colony beach. just south of grassy key and duck key, and that's going to push the water north of there to surge, key largo, islamorada and points northward. push all the water eventually over make surprise into key biscayne. that's when you flood downtown miami and looks like six feet of water will do a lot of damage in that town which is at sea level. >> yes. certainly will. chad, stand by. west palm beach, florida, certainly one. areas under mandatory evacuation now. just under 1.5 million people live in the county. and brian todd, cnn, is on the scene. in west palm beach across the water over there from palm beach. how is the evacuation process going? >> reporter: well, wolf, a complicated process, and very anxious process

everything 11 feet and below across tampa bay and pinellas county, put the mandatory evacuation into effect for zones a and b. that's everything 15 feet and below. they told people to get out. now, however, the authorities have changed the story, they say it's too late. if you haven't made your evacuation, now is the time to batten down the hatches, hunker down, you are in for a long couple of days. sadly means the same thing for shelters, the shelters aren't pleasant places to be, kids are going to get fussy but you can't necessarily return. we've got the big wind event coming tonight and can't return as soon as the wind event is over. you've got the flooding after that and they want the officials to have a look around, make sure it's safe for people to return to their homes, sandra? >> great point, when we spoke to the tampa mayor earlier, he stopped sending first responders, police, firemen, winds over 40, he's not sending them out. mike tobin, thank you. stay safe. reporter: got it. bill: sandra, we can feel it here as well. you're talking about the rain with adam a short time ag

they've been bang the drum about the mandatory evacuations here in tampa for zone a, across the bay in pinellasounty, zones a and b and essentially amounts to 15 feet above sea level and everything below. now given the fact they have been banging the drum, telling people to get out. that was then, this is now. the storm is on its way. the window to make a break for it is now closed. if you're one of the people who made the decision you wanted to ride out the storm in your home, you should hunker down and get ready for a long couple of days. the wind event is on its way later tonight. following that, you have the storm surge event. i'm going to take a look around as we look at the trees, a gust coming through right now and the trees are getting blown around. we've seen a little debris on the road. nothing substantial because we haven't seen the worst of the storm yet. watching the barometer that i keep with me. we've been watching the barometer drop precipitously. last look, 993 millibars, if it gets down to 980, you're into cat 1 hurricane status. you mentioned the curfew is in effect. once we'

at this point they have 17,000 people in the shelters in pinellas county. that is 60% of their shelter capacity still available. there is still a lot of room for people in these shelters. only one of their shelters is full. they are really encouraging people to get to a shelter while it's still safe. we are supposed to start to see the tropical force winds about 2:00 here. and once those winds pick up, it will then be unsafe for people to get out on the road and get to a shelter which would be a safer place to be. at that point, once the winds start to hit 40, 50 miles per hour, all of these law enforcement officers will be pulled off the street. there will be nobody to go help you if you find yourself in a situation where you need some help. they will have to wait until the wind calms down to be able to go back out to help people. and they're already thinking about what they're going to do after the storm. they are expected there will be widespread power outages in this area. they are starting to see some power outages. you heard t.j. talked about the wate

wondering what the storm's going to do there and also our friends from tallahassee, gainesville, pinellas county, into tampa, because this storm is still going to be a big blow to you, just going to occur later. >> tampa especially, a lot of folks watching these pictures very nervously and they are going to be curious to see how much circulation it still has, how much precip it still brings. >> because we're watching the wind damage of the storm, and, you know, as we've learned with harvey, harvey, the wind damage really didn't do much at all of damage in the houston area. of course, that was a disaster because of the flooding, because of the heavy rain and stalled out storm. this is not a stalled out hurricane. this is progressing about 12 miles per hour to the north. we'd like it to be faster, but that's what we have to deal with. this is a wind event and surge event that is beginning now. that's why we have the flash flood emergency for the marco island area. >> control room, show us the weather channel for a second. there our meteorologist is at ground level in naples. 88 mile an hour

pete, pinellas, all the areas up there going to see a lesser storm than if it was just slightly offshore still in the warm water of the gulf of mexico. so we take it along the west coast of florida, damage, no question about it, 100-miles-per-hour winds, all the way up the coast, all the way to the bridge which is now closed. you cannot get anywhere from sand key back down to the south. you have to go around. please do not go outside. here comes the storm right there. the center of the eye just north of marco, just north of tampa right now -- north of naples right now and that's going to continue for the rest of the day to move north at 12 miles per hour. ft. myers, port shart, you're in it next. this is what's going to get hit next. i'm still going to go with 120 miles per hour for a gust even though the hurricane center says 110 sustained. what i saw there was 130 and what the weather reporting weather vane saw at the airport said 141. we'll go still that this is a very strong storm. so from pun ta gorda to venice to sarasota, you're still going to get an offshore flow, the northern ey

we were talking about zone one, pinellas, and hills prborohills listening to your local officials there because we may have to raise the zone from a to b around parts of tampa if it looks like the surge may get into tampa bay. right now it's 5 to 10. you know what, anderson, this just a bad flashback. you and me standing in tampa waiting for charley, a category 4, strong storm and it turned right into punta gorda and we had to chase it to the south. that was 13 years or so ago. the same thing can happen today. i have a wind gust possible in punta gorda, florida, tomorrow, of 150 miles per hour. the storm is still expected to grow as it gets into the warm water. this is serious and it's the real deal. >> yeah. and people in ft. myers know this is the real deal. chad was talk about possible expansion of evacuation zones in tampa. that has now happened here in ft. myers. the mayor's office, now they've expanded the evacuation zone to zone b as well, which is in the downtown west and south down river, and that is obviously of great concern. there are a lot of people frankly who came from mi

if they get a mandatory evacuation, we have one here in pinellas county, st. pete, clearwater area. for those in the low-lying areas that is. you need to listen to those and do the right thing and get out when it's safe. he's right. if you have to go to i-75 or the interstate on the other side of the state if that applies to you, if these winds are still so high, that's going to create a dangerous situation. you don't want to be involved in something like that. so listen to your local officials. make sure that you heed the warnings that are given. and just do the right thing and be prepared and be smart and stay calm. as the storm comes to us. >> we know the president is getting a briefing as well. but what we've seen is an extraordinary response now in the capital here in d.c. where you've had bipartisan support, the house has now voted that legislation is completed the fema money is going to the president for his signature. so this is bringing people together as the president has said. >> there's no question about it in a time of need that's what we need to be doing. i hear all th

john's, charlotte, collier, hillsboro, lee, miami-dade, sarasota, pinellas. if you're a citizen in those counties go to disasterassistance.gov to begin registering for assistance if you received damage and are experiencing hardship. first line of defense is file your insurance when you're allowed to get back home. not only your personal insurance but also through the nfip program, national flood insurance program if you're a policy holder. once you return home, please call your private insurer to activate that policy if you have had damage. we can begin to process -- begin the process to have money flowing to help you in that regard. the other thing here is that, you know, we're also watching the continuing situation in jacksonville overnight. jacksonville and the areas around the st. john's river were heavily impacted. we're still conducting life safety missions in and around that area because of the flooding. we were very aware of it last night and continuing to support our state and local partners there. again, this issue is passing through. there's large-

generally know where it's going but there are three options, if it goes a little east and goes above pinellas and above tampa this is a population area that floods very quickly. if it goes off course all of this area getting a lot of wind but we could have dodged the worst of it if it stays offshore. >> it's the cone that you want to focus on. that's what got some people in trouble earlier on in the weekend, it's the cone. it could be anywhere in this blob and that is where we will see the catastrophic impacts either way there's no easy way out of this. >> right. >> it looks like a lot of water piling up and hopefully that solution doesn't happen. that's a category 3 off of tampa coming up here later tonight and early tomorrow morning. >> we are talking about 100, 115 mile per hour winds. i think it's important, thank you, steve, to remember you don't have to have winds near that level to cause destruction, not only wind destruction, but storm surges and when you are in the miami area in southeast florida you're talking about flooding streets. mariano has seen that because she lives there. th

across the bay, pinellas county, zone a and zone b, mandatory evacuation.he last couple days we've been talking about how the timing was right to get out while the getting was good. authorities are now saying if you didn't heed the orders to get out of the low-lying rares, now is the the time to hung e down. -- hunker down. shelters are very full. those people are in for a long couple of days as well. you can see right now you cough tropical storm force winds -- tropical storm dpoirs winds blowing in here. the barometer's been dropping. as i look across the road, you can see some of these beautiful houses, some of them have the windows boarded up. a lot of them, it appears as though they've gone hurricane grade glass, and they just left it. very quiet out here. the curfew goes into effect in exactly eight minutes. people are supposed to be off the road at that point, media being the exception in this case. by and large, the authorities want people to heed that cur true after the wind event, after the storm surge event and until the authorities can get out,

available to the counties that have met the requirement, charlotte, colyer, hills borough, lee, monroe, pinellas and sarasota county are now available for assistance. this doesn't change the fact that there has been a declaration that has allowed the national guard to get out there, but, chris, so you're in a temporary respite at the moment. you will get the other side of this very shortly. anything obvious to you, around you, in terms of damage that you're seeing? >> you know, the palm trees are sort of a miracle of engineering and they evolved for precisely that reason and even that, there are a bunch of palm trees down and palm fronts down. it is going to hold which is that the winds were very intense and they were 110 miles an hour, but a lot of things that were built here have been built fairly recently. the ratings that were required after hurricane andrew here for a category 2 were above winds and the construction were rated even higher. on the whole, the wind damage isn't going to be the worst part of this and the worst part of of this is that there are hundreds of millions of dollars of

only here in pinellas county evacuation zones a and b -- shepard: so that's st. springs, that whole area just to the west of tampa, eventually, that will get the brunt of this storm as well. our live coverage continues, top of the hour headlines are next on fox news channel.r it's the only leading brand clinically proven to soothe, moisturize, and freshen breath. try biotène®. grandma's. aunt stacy's. what are the reasons you care for your heart? qunol coq10 with 3x better absorption has the #1 cardiologist recommended form of coq10 ... how do we say that this fall, our guests can earn a free night when they book at choicehotels.com and stay with us just two times? fall time. badda book. badda boom. pumpkin spice cookie? i'm good. book now at choicehotels.com can make anyone slow downt and pull up a seat to the table. that's why she takes the time to season her turkey to perfection, and make stuffing from scratch. so that you can spend time on what really matters. marie callender's. it's time to savor. >> it's 9:00 a.m. in south florida this is fox news channel '

it's gusts. 100 mile-per-hour gusts right over fort myers, sarasota, pinellas and through hillsborough county, going to get bump in the night kind of wind. things will be flying around because it's going to be dark. you're going to hear it but won't know what it hit. you won't know if it hit your window or not. stay on the side of your home that's not facing the wind. especially if you don't have storm shutters up, because that's going to be the safest side. shingles will fly off roofs today and they're going to break windows. you don't want to be anywhere near that flying glass. there will be some flooding, but that's not truly the issue. the issue is wind on the west side and flooding on the south side. there it is making landfall in the south keys, lower keys, earlier this morning, about 9:00, and now making landfall as a 120 mile-per-hour storm. the latest radar. marco island. naples, here, zoom in. a better shot what's going on. the eyewall itself. hard to see. marco island, the word, got in the way. naples next. fort myers after that, port charlotte and all the like. the area tha

pinellas county took in some 2,000 people and pets. we got look at a shelter in st.temporary new reality. the classroom of hall ways of john hopkins are holding people who are waiting for hurricane irma to pass. >> i've been in many tornados but not hurricanes. i was scared. >> reporter: most are elderly, some needed place to stay with their pets. >> we have a little maltese shih tzu little dog and we wanted him to come with us. >> donnell rogers and his ug the gym but they're positive. >> what's it like? >> it's actually been really good because most of the people are nice and they've been helping one another, yes, it's actually very happy being here. >> reporter: their dog joined over 300 other pets at this school in st. petersburg. >> this is my service dog, rocky. >> the scariest part for me with this storm is howmany people could go home and have no place to live. so that's scary. >> reporter: 89-year-old irma who we met and that is her name, she showed us her license, is one of the most memorable people we met down here. she lives alone in a wooden house. that'

i was with the sheriff at pinellas county at the emergency operations center and that came up. they issued an evacuation order for the lowest lying ground in st. petersburg-clearwater area. his point, the sheriff's point, this was a mandatory evacuation order. that was going out on local television, trying to make the point, to seniors and all others that this is not a joke. we have to take it seriously. we have to be, you know, smart in how we handle this and heed the warnings of local officials because safety is the most important thing. it is all about safety first and you know, whenever the warnings go out they're only being made to keep people safe. neil: how do you prepare, there will be some destruction, we don't know how much, the straight made great inroads after andrew 25 years ago, in 1992. >> yeah. neil: there is nothing assure as you know hurricane-proof construction but more hurricane resistant. as governor, you were championing that cause. others have as well since. >> yes. neil: i'm wondering, if there is a great deal of destruction, an even buildings and homes

i represent pasco county and pinellas county as well. those counties are on the coast. side of u.s. 19. so, this is scary storm, but, got to keep calm and follow directions, and, when the first-responders say evacuate, we've got to evacuate. again -- stuart: have people been told -- >> we will get through this together, we really well. stuart: have people in the tampa area been told to evacuate? >> parts of the tampa area, the tampa bay area. stuart: okay. >> the west coast, the coastal areas have been told to mandatory evacuate. of course we have voluntary evacuations as well. stuart: sure. >> if you have a question, if our constituents have a question, you know, err on the side of safety. that is my message. stuart: you got everything you need? >> we have got everything you need. we're getting appropriations. i'm going to make sure it comes to the tampa bay area as well. we want to take care of the whole state. we're taking care of harvey as you know. stuart: i know, sir, you will leave us, going to help with first-responders directly. we won't hold you up. congressma

there was tremendous coordination between federal, state and local officials on the ground here in pinellas county. it was extraordinary. they did a great job, the sheriff's office. the governor's office. everybody really was working together well. senator nelson was everywhere. you know, i'm just so pleased that we had that kind of coordination. that's what you need. but the people even more so, to tell you the truth. and i think, you know, we've been through a lot of these things in florida. that goes without saying, but in addition, having just witnessed what happened over in texas with harvey, that was a warning signal to us, too, to take this thing seriously. and everybody, thank god did. and we're much better off as a result of it. >> well, we wish you all the best with the cleanup. we hope those casualties and lack thereof hold up throughout the day. congressman charlie crist, we appreciate your time. >> thank you, womenlillie. >>> you're now be looking at ground zero, the commemoration of that day begins in just a moment when president trump and the first lady lead a moment of silen