scott goldberg has the latest. >> reporter: all along florida's gulf coast the problem is no one knows what debby is going to do. for now the tropical storm is sitting there 90 miles from florida's panhandle not moving in any particular direction spawning a massive waterspout visible from the beaches and a if few tornadoes arm the tampa st. petersburg area. >> we were in our bedroom. >> reporter: this man said a tree fell on his house another almost fell on him during a tv interview. south of tampa authorities fond a woman dead in her home in orange beach, alabama mat waves swept a 32-year-old man out to sea. >> the currents were pulling him so far west he couldn't get there in time. >> reporter: until debby decides where she is going people are more worried about water than wind. 12 inches of rain fell in tampa this weekend another two feet could follow. in pinellas county florida police evacuated a mobile home park. >> it got higher. >> reporter: in sar so roads turned into an obstacle course. >> winds picked up all the trees were turned ways. debris was flying through the air. >> re

scott goldberg, abc news, new york. >>> this thing is drifting not moving, we are looking at incomingystem that if going to move in and out providing clouds now comfortable but we will be looking at mist and drizzle. i'll explain, coming up. >>> nice break for commuters. we'll show you the relief at the gas pump. >>> you think you are too old to try something daring? don't tell this nice lady. we'll introduce you to the before copd... i took my son fishing every year. we had a great spot, not easy to find, but worth it. but with copd making it hard to breathe, i thought those days might be over. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function starting within five minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better. and that means...fish on! symbicort is for copd including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or

abc's scott goldberg has details. good morning, scott. >> reporter: hi rob and paula. the day, the 1700s to be exact, astronomers used the transit of venus to calculate the earth's distance from the sun. nowadays, it's just kind of cool. the last time this happened, it was 2004. the transit of venus. the celestial wonder happens only twice a century. two transits, eight years apart. >> it was awesome. >> once in a lifetime event. >> it was incredible. i didn't know what to expect. it looked awesome. >> reporter: during the transit, venus looks like a tiny dot pacm pacman'ing across the sun. venus passes so perfectly between here and there. >> it's a rare event having a planet course across the sun but it's very important that the eyes pror tected while viewing these types of solar events. >> reporter: the six-hour transit started just after 6:00 eastern time and had people strapping on protective eyewear and staring through special telescopes all around the world. last month it was a ring of fire eclipse. >> it almost looks like an apple that someone has taken a bite o

now the latest from scott goldberg. >> all along the florida gulf coast, the problem is no one knows what is going to do. for now a tropical storm is sitting there about 90 miles from the panhandle, not moving in any particular direction. spawning a massive waterspout visible from the beaches and a few tornadoes around tampa and st. petersburg. >> my wife and i were in our bedroom. >> a tree fell on this man's house and another almost fell on him during a tv interview. south of tampa authorities found a woman dead in her home. alabama in orange beach, a 32- year-old man was swept out to sea. >> occurrence or falli>> occurrence were pulling. >> 12 inches of rain fell on tampa this weekend and another two feet could follow. it could be thursday or friday. the storm is still producing heavy rain from panama city to apalachicola and it towards tampa. >> police evacuated a mobile home park in florida. >> it got higher and higher and we started grabbing our stuff. >> in sarasota, an obstacle course. >> all the trees were turned sideways. debris was flying. what's all this makes it feel lik

with more on the extreme weather, here's abc's scott goldberg. >> it rained 15 inches in pensacola, florida there's more to come. floodwaters from the record rainfalls have damaged homes and closed roads all over the florida panhandle and all the way to mobile, alabama. >> it's been deep here. real deep. it's deeper than i thought. >> reporter: stranded residents are spending the night in emergency shelters. more than five feet of water rushed into the bottom floors of the escambia county jail, leaving the prison facility without power, forcing prison officials to think about releasing nonviolent offenders. >> at this point, nothing is definite that anybody is going to be released. it's just an avenue to reduce the jail population because of the damage done because we don't have any power. >> reporter: out west, wildfires are spreading quickly. strong winds grounded aircraft fighting a huge blaze in new mexico. wildfires also turned around. destroying homes that had been spared the first time the firewall rushed by them. >> even the house still standing last night is still -- is gone now. >

on the bracelets they now both wear. >> be a buddy not a bully. >> that's right. >> reporter: scott goldberg>> in case you wondered what kids were saying, they were making fun of her weight, making fun of the fact that her son committed suicide. we say cruel, we mean cruel. it had a happy ending. >> it kind of has parallels of robin robert's story, turning a mess into a message. and look what is coming o of it. >> amen to that. robert's story, turning a mess into a message. [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare? that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and save you up to thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs. call today to request a free decision guide to help you better understand what medicare is all about. and which aarp medicare supplement plan works best for you. with these types of plans, you'll be

. >> reporter: scott goldberg, abc news, new york. >>> of course, the gma team is covering the latest on all of this. fires and floods. what a weekend. they'll have some live updates coming up later today on "good morning america." >>> a southern california water agency director has resigned his elected post, and he is under arrest after a shocking video that has surfaced online. anthony sanchez faces felony child abuse charges after he was seen on video hitting his stepson with a belt apparently because the boy dropped a baseball during a game of backyard catch. a lawyer for sanchez admits the video is disturbing. it is, but says all the facts of the case have yet to be revealed. >> hard to believe. what is going on. >>> bizarre story here this, too. in the last month, five people have been hurt by bombs hidden in flashlights. all this taking place in the phoenix area. mysterious and random attacks have led authorities to take the unusual step of putting warnings up on more than 20 billboards like that one to warn residents about discarded flashlights. authorities say there's no link

and abc's scott goldberg begins our coverage. reporter: good morning, rob, paula. it's hard to say when debby is going to make landfall. she really doesn't have to make her presence known by staying in more or less the same position out at sea she is keeping storm clouds in place over millions of people who live along florida's gulf coast. debby has been hovering several miles offshore. but storm clouds on the edge of her system are soaking the coast. and forcing this rescue by the coast guard, swooping in to hoist away a family stranded in a vacation home on dog island near the florida panhandle. this cell phone video provided to abc affiliate wfts captures one of two dozen twisters debby spawned. >> holy cow! >> reporter: forecasters are warning there could be more isolated tornadoes and more rain while debby plod as long unpredictably. >> everybody needs to be very, very, very cautious. don't take anything for granted. really take care of your family. watch out for friends. >> reporter: authorities found a woman's body in a hom

scott goldberg, abc news, new york. >> all right, thank you a lot, scott.oving at a snail's pace across florida at this hour. >> let's find out when the storm will finally blow over. coverage continues with meteorologist jim dickey at accuweather. good morning, jim. >> good morning, rob, paula. debbyd ed td to tropical depression. it crawls its way eastward. we have seen a foot of rainfall in spots across northern florida, jacksonville area. 4 to 8 inches on top of that. continue to see significant flooding across the region. good news we'll be moving offshore. we head through the morning. drifts its way eastward. re-strengthening. and the rainfall will be coming to an end. rob, paula. back to you. >> sam champion said on world news yesterday, last night. 30 inches of rain in some places. florida is so flat there is not anywhere for the rain to go. >> they had so much rain. it was saturated. >> a double whammy. >> for sure. at long last, a major game change coming to college football. the one that most fans, including this guy have been clamoring for years.

abc's scott goldberg has the latest now. >> debbie's slow dance across the gulf means another day ofoaking rain. in florida. authorities had to close off long stretches of interstate 10, a tea connecting to jacksonville. inland problem is rain. debbie moving slowly, storm clouds are staying in place. >> there is water rising quickly. i've been here 30 minute autos around tampa and st. petersburg authorities had to shut down major routes and bridge eyes never thought the route would be paddling up ask down in. >> tornadoes are blamed for one death. by the time it's done there could be three feet of rain in places. florida's governor declared a state of emergency. the concern is people in hurricane country might not take a weak storm serious lie if you see water standing you don't drive through it. as for season, the south may just be getting started. there have been four storms this year and there is last time it turned out to be the worst on record and there is the storm is go tg get weaker now. the national weather service says the threat of flooding remain autos we have the latest

scott goldberg, abc news, new york. >> all right, thanks a lot, scott.t this hour. >> let's find out when the storm will finally blow over. coverage continues with meteorologist jim dickey at accuweather. good morning, jim. >> good morning, rob, paula. debby moved onshore late tuesday, then downgraded to a tropical depression but still producing heavy rainfall through the day today as it crawled its way eastward. we've already seen a foot of rainfall in many spots across northern florida, including the jacksonville area. put 4 to 8 inches on top of that. continue to see significant flooding across the region. good news we'll be moving offshore. we head through the morning. drifts its way eastward. restrengthening to a tropical storm but the rainfall will be coming to an end. rob and paula, back to you. >> thanks a lot, jim. heard sam champion say on "world news" yesterday, last night, 30 inches of rain in places by the time this moves on because florida so is flat, there's not anywhere for all that water to go. >> they had so much rain. it was saturated.

we'll check out scott goldberg with more. >> reporter: good morning.he verdict he hugged his daughter cate, then his parents and then stepped outside the courtroom to thank his family and the jury saying, thank goodness we live in a country that has the kind of system we have. all of the drama ended about as well as it could for john edwards. the jury finding him not guilty on one count of violating campaign finance laws and u.s. district judge kathryn eagles declaring a mistrial on the other five charges he was facing. >> why i do not believe i did anything illegal or ever thought i was doing anything illegal, i did an awful, awful lot that was wrong. and there is no one else responsible for my sins. >> reporter: the jury could only agree unanimously that edwards is not guilty of accepting campaign contributions in excess of the legal limit from wealthy donor bunny mellon. that charge carried a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. the jury was hung on three other charges edwards violated campaign finance laws. one charge of