so here in the tampa bay _ the last few hours? so here in the tampa bay area — the last few hours?? so here in the tampa bay area as you _ the last few hours? so here in the tampa bay area as you see - the last few hours? so here in the tampa bay area as you see a - the last few hours? so here in the tampa bay area as you see a lot l the last few hours? so here in the| tampa bay area as you see a lot of wind that has been coming through. the winds have been up anywhere between 130 mph. first responders are responding to calls. we have a couple calls about being down but overall we haven't seen the aftermath of the storm we know we will get a lot of the rain which will get a lot of the rain which will flood a lot of the low—lying areas of the tampa bay area. since the storm has hit we know there is a lot of flooding down south which is the counties below us and of course with all of the resources we were able to prepare for we have the resources available and ready to assist the other counties down south. we are hurricane ian had a big impact on. just south. we are hurricane ian had

forecast fear a worst case scenario for people living in the tampa bay region. tampa with the very late rest. nicole? >> brian, good morning. tthe biggest concern for the tampa bay area as hurricane ian approaches is that storm surge threat we have heard reports we could be expecting anywhere from 5 to 15 feet storm surge in areas all along the water. why we are seeing hundreds of thousands # of people being asked to evacuate. begging the sheriff to listen to this warning not to try to ride this out here. no matter how long have you lived in the state of florida or how long have you been v. experienced storms here prior to. we are seeing signs people are listens. they are boarding up their homes and packing up the cars with essentials and getting ready to drive as far as inland as they can. some suggest at least 20 miles as we could start to see the impacts of hurricane ian here in the next 36 hours or so much though the hundreds of thousands of people six counties along florida's gulf coast see the impact next 24 hours. >> brian: you stay safe too. getting to d

the tampa bay area, the latest on the storm's track.nia lawmakers approving a first of its kind bill, doctors punished for misinformation. who decides what is misinformation? think he's posting about all that ancient roman coinage? no, he's seizing the moment with merrill. moving his money into his investment account in real time and that's... how you collect coins. your money never stops working for you with merrill, a bank of america company. >> bill: southwestern corner of florida, this is the southern-most point. key west florida if you've been there you know the landmark very well. the outer, outer bands of this storm, hurricane ian. want to move up to tampa. we have our drone in the air from fox weather and we can see downtown tampa. looks pretty good right now. typical. pre-storm days rolling in. this will be a very different image this time tomorrow 24 hours from now. so just wanted to share that with you as we track ian and where he goes, right? >> dana: absolutely. this happening in california. watch. >> the pandemic is over.

parts of tampa bay and clearwater included. more than 300,000 people told it's too dangerous to stay, that they should get out now. hurricane ian just upgraded to a category 2, winds 100 miles an hour. tropical storm warnings in effect for the lower keys. a hurricane warning already for tampa bay tonight. this evening, look at the size of this storm. this massive swirl seen from the international space station. the hurricane pummelling the cayman islands and on track to strike the western tip of cuba. from there, the hurricane headed straight for florida. they are beginning to come into greater alignment, looking at landfall north of tampa. how close just isn't known yet. and no matter what, it means storm surge and flash flooding are very real concerns here. across the state tonight, they are getting ready for ian to arrive. stocking up and food and supplies. shelves emptying out. and, of course, families lining up to fuel their cars. but in the areas most at risk, familying are packing up and heading to safer ground. workers

so many people here are beyond grateful this storm did not do more damage than it did for the tampa baya. i apologize, we are near tampa general hospital, i know you are hearing that helicopter make a landing, not sure where the helicopter is coming from. as we look at video across tampa bay, we know trees have gone down and power lines are down, with strength of the winds we feel in tampa bay in the late afternoon to overnight hours here and that was really where a lot of power outages for the hillsborough county have come from, about 600,000 are in this county and many are waking up in the dark trying to go through the next phase of this storm. interesting and unique, in fact, was they call reverse storm surge, which was all the water being sucked out into the bay instead of flooding many of the roads here, which is again, a better outcome for tampa bay than many prepared for initially, unfortunately, the images out of southwest, florida and fort myers, some words indescribable. people are saying their homes are gone, they have been flooded, the storm surge there catastrophic and tamp

and there is going to be flooding through out the tampa bay area. >> tampa could see search waters asy to slow down over the city. causing more rainfall and flooding. >> so we are talking not just the bay, but our rivers, our canals. every source of water is going to be flooded. >> flights halted across much of the state. dozens of residents lining up to get sandbags in tampa, and in orlando. all of florida bracing for the storm. >> the main message i have for everyone in florida, is that this is going to impact everyone. in different ways. so you need to stay focused. >> hurricane ian already leaving a path of destruction in cuba. it made landfall as a category three hurricane with winds of 125 miles per hour. knocking out power, and tearing down trees. >> now local officials here warning about historic flooding. catastrophic flooding over the next couple of days. especially in the tampa area where we are now. surrounded by rivers like the one you see behind me, canals, and the coastline. officials say they are most worried about mother water moving inland, causing damage to property

to heed the warnings need to get out of tampa bay immediately. steve, ainsley, brian. >> steve: in the region, something like 700 miles of shoreline, 3 million residents are at risk right now, and that's why the local officials are saying particularly along low-lying areas because it is very flood prone, get out now while you can. and we saw the lines of traffic, people trying to get out of that particular region. >> ainsley: and i was talking to someone yesterday deciding what they were going to do, they have three businesses there and their house there and three kids, two dogs, they are like where are we going to go and what they were fearful of. in the traffic forever. >> steve: when the storm hits. >> ainsley: and they have to take care of the businesses after the storm goes through, but your life is more important. you need to get out. sometimes the governors will make decisions and reverse the traffic so that both sides of the interstate are going one way. >> brian: and keep in mind if you are leaving, if it looks bad, grab your iphone and

the tampa bay area.nd when we are talking about a 10-foot, 15-foot storm surge, that is going to go over top of homes and inundate cities around the area and move well inland. they haven't had a hurricane this strength in 100 years. 1921. we didn't even name them back then. so that is the biggest concern. people are urged if you live in the tampa area, you need to listen to your local officials. this is the worst case scenario if the track comes true as we are predicting it right now. let's take a look at the satellite imagery. moving over western cuba made landfall earlier this morning. the eye still intact. category 3 storm. 125 mile-per-hour winds at 130. that's a cat 4. and we are expecting that in ths very close to the west coast of florida. latest tracking worst case scenario for the tampa area that bay will be inundated. this will be like a bulldozer moving water in. and we are talking about close to 2 feet of rain in the tampa area. here is where we have our hurricane warning. want to make note f

expected. >> a storm that slows down for 24 to 48 hours, and just continuously dumps rain into the tampa bayevastating. >> hurricane ian is expected to dump at least 2 to 3 months worth of rainfall by friday. possibly as much as 24 inches of rain in tampa and west central florida. >> it only takes 18 inches of water to be a life-threatening situation. >> tampa's airport taking no chances. >> at 5 pm today, no more commercial flights. >> evacuation orders expanding since monday, with shelters open for those without other options to wait out the storm. >> i've never been in a hurricane. this is my first time. my first time at a shelter. but i feel better here than if i would be alone at home. >> those riding out the storm racing to get sandbags, facing lines for gas. >> out of water folks, no water. >> and the familiar scramble to stock up on food and water. then, hurry up and wait. randi kaye, cnn, bucha gorda, florida. >> now 30,000 power workers are on standby to restore power after hurricane ian moves into florida. the crews come from 23 states are across the u.s.. florida's largest you ca

and tampa bay and st. petersburg and pinellas in particular, some of the most susceptible areas in the nation to surge but also sea level rise. so i think most folks are getting the message if you're in that low lying area or a coastal area you, need to move now. >> because the potential of two feet of rain in 48 hours combined with the storm surge that bill weir was just laying out, what could it look like? what could that mean for your city? >> it means we'll see water in places we've never seen it before. when you talk about 10 or 15 inches of rain on top of the surge, that is unprecedented. no infrastructure is build for that. so we could be looking at impacts to our sewer system, to wastewater and so that is what folks need to understand. that we've never seen this level of surge threat before. and they need to respond to that in the way that -- that makes sense. >> so one of the concerns is -- one of the concerns with this one is just how slowly it seems to be moving or it is anticipating it will mov

it's just south of tampa bay. we thought tampa would take the brunt of the storm. they'll still see storm surge totals of six feet. the worst of the damage will be south of tampa. fort myers is one of the most vulnerable coastlines. naples, sarasota. something they've never seen in their lifetime in this region. so rain totals, yes, certainly we could see over a foot of rainfall. it is the storm surge, 12 to 18 feet and again coming at high tide and the waves on top of that, harris. if you know the region. it is low-lying beach areas and the water will come on top of homes. that's why you can hide from the winds, you have to run from the water. and as you mentioned, the time has run out and why i'm so scared and the prayers need to be said for this portion of southwest florida. >> harris: a couple of things, correction from me. it is flagler, i struggled with that. i apologize. 270,000 people in florida now without electrical power. even as the winds, the outer bands are moving in from hurricane ian, it is coming in with a fury. last quick question. you said not mu

what does that -- that storm surge look like for tampa bay? because i've heard from experts that say that a direct hit isn't even the worst case scenario. the worst case scenario is it being off shore and those areas getting uninundated. >> that is a the case. a little off shore, where the storm is bringing all of the water into tampa bay which as you know is very shallow. and so those storm surging could be anywhere from 10 to 15 feet and possibly higher as well. so that clearly will be very impactful and devastating for certain areas. so, again, we have to get our citizens, our visitors out of those particular areas an up to high ground. >> mayor, you and i well know floridians have been through a lot of storms in the past. many of us are headstrong when it comes to leaving behind our homes in the face of a storm. for those that may be more hesitant to leave, what is your message to them ahead of hurricane ian? >> well you certainly could replace personal possessions. you can't bring anyone back to life. and i think these last couple of year

five to ten foot storm surge in and around the tampa bay area. we're talking about an area some $30 billion of real estate among the most expensive real estate across anywhere in the state of florida that is going to be at the height, most exposure of this particular storm. notice the models for the american model and european model. want to show you the rainfall amounts. forecast up to 20 plus inches. incredible amounts of rainfall and a lot of this has to be with just how slow the storm system moves once we get into say wednesday and thursday into tampa bay we go, a storm surge threat possibly as high as 9 feet across this region. really, the worst case scenario. we know as meteorologists will always tell you, it's not the winds that a lot of people get attention to these winds as being the most destructive element of the tropical features. it accounts for about half of all lives lost with tropical systems. that's why it's so important to heed all the caution, proper warnings in advance of this feature. any time you get a storm surge that gets

but that's where tampa bay, the storm is coming into the south f it. there is another bay now in its path. this one would be closer to fort myers. the geography is a little different. a little different there. fort myers, perhaps, would be as much much is a worst-case scenario as tampa bay. you are still going to have a category 4 in an areat is prone to flooding. when you k at what storm surge look like, you still have areas that will experience 10 feet. the storm is storm is close enough now, we can see it on the radar. that is is when the storms start to take take on an ominous appearance. u are seeing the structure of the storm in the radar. if you look at the accumulation here over the next few days, regardless of of storm surge, regardless of wd speed, there is still going to be a foot of water falling on ay flood prone state. that is a whe other aspect. we have the rest of the forecast coming up in a . up in a bit. > >> still ahead on kpix 5, final preparations are underwayr fleet week. we take a look at te bay area and the rich military , includ

this is just in the tampa bay area. current cons current conditions are really mild. we are starting off the week with mild conditions across across the board but we will see see a midweek warm-up. partly cloudy skies for us today as low low pressure is still the driving factor. we are seeing cooler temperatures and an onshore flow keeping us nice and and brisk. it will be a little n in the 80s. we will see 90 is returning by friday as high pressure starts building its way way in, warming us up. that is the big weather story. is a midweek warming trend. nonetheless, we are above average for the next eight to 14 14 days, issued by the climate prediction center. as we take a look at these afternoon daytime highs, 80s are in the forecast. that is not bad. 60s along the coastline is average. even in san rafael, we are 77. this is beautiful trail walking weather. weather. you can take your bike out. we're expecting 70s through 70s through san francisco and 8s and upper 80s, where we want to highlight the friday being one of the warmest for us. we will keep you updated but

i think tampa bay will be spared. right now, the water level is going down because the winds coming out of the east and pushing the water out towards the ocean. it's interesting to see how that develops during the day. you mentioned governor ron desantis earlier this morning, he also said, if you planning to get out in this part of the state, it's already too late. take a listen. >> it's no longer possible to safely evacuate. it's time to hunker down and prepare for this storm. this is a powerful storm that should be treated like you would treat if a tornado was approaching your home. >> reporter: i think biggest threat will be the winds, the possibility of power outages more than 30,000 utility workers around the state to jump into action. i think the next 12 hours will be very telling as the governor said, it's going to be a very messy day. >> ainsley: they did have a warning. i'm surprised all the boats behind you. you think they would remove those expensive boats. thank you so much. storm chaser brett adair join u

florida's western coast from fort myers to tampa bay is at -- greatest risk for storm surges.nor has declared a state of emergency for all of florida and activated guard troops. it has -- they are warning about broad impacts. >> folks should be prepared if you're in the region that there will be an interruption of power. plan on that and understand that will happen. even if the eye of the storm does not hit your reason, you will have significant wins and it will knock over trees and cause interruptions. >> mandatory evacuations have begun in some coastal areas of florida. the governor urged residen to stock up on food and water and medicine. >> i will prepare for the hurricane. we have sandbags in quebec and we are taking in -- the back and we are taking in the furniture from our condos we went out. --rent out. >> we are doing the best we can to prepare. >> i understand the power and description -- discussion -- destruction of what hurricanes can do. the storm surge and flooding are what we have to worry about. >> our reporter is in tampa bay with the latest. >> you are dealin

tampa bay is oriented almost pey almost perfectly to allow the storm to create a significant s. of the water gets lifted up and put on sure and that is where we we can see the storm surge that will be the biggest impact, because of the way that those storm comes together in the right location. we will have much more on that. at home, things have cooled down if you are near the water. the marine layer is building back in, we are in the upper 50s for most locations. when we wake up tomorrow morning and will be gray skies for everyone, than the marine layer will melt back down into the beach. it is the gray sky at the start from a deep marine layer. we will have light mist out of this tonight and tomorrow morning. early morning commuters, if you are in in the coast, the windshield wipers may go on for a time. it would not be big rainfall totals, but, you could get mist out of that. closer in the 50s. daytime highs are right on the mark for average. all of those inland locations are average except the city and oakland will will be below average, just because this is such a strong fl

, so in all, tampa bay feeling grateful this morning, they were spared from the worst of hurricanepical storm ian, those in the southwest florida area could not say the same, waking up to catastrophic storm surge, buildings downtown and on the beach are underneath inches and feet of water and will have what will likely be several days, if not weeks of incredible cleanup. the strength there will have to be massive. >> carley: nicole valdez in tampa, florida. go south to key west under coastal flood warning, saw storm surge as high as 12 feet. victoria lives there and rode out the storm at home, describe the situation in key west right now, what is it like? >> right now it is a lot better. we didn't expect the water to come up as high as it did, we did as much prep as possible based on information we were given. we are not new to a storm, we went through hurricane irma, we flooded five feet, we knew what to expect, same regard, it is a storm, it catches you off guard, it caught us off guard, we elevated our mopeds. that was our neighbor's car submerged to the windows in water, i am s

up tampa bay and inundate very low-lying areas, hospitals are there, downtown city of tampa is rightthere on the bay. a 10 foot storm surge would be completely devastating for this region. as you mentioned, the barrier islands, st. petersburg. it is speculated category 4 or five big hits directly, the peninsula will be essentially cut off as an island. i have been living on one of those islands, which is one of the reasons i evacuated because it would have been no way for me to have gotten off the iand if there habeen thikind of inundation that locallin the mpa bay aa, we e not suected -- are thiing we n'tave -- but could happen in southwest florida. there are barrier islands along lee county and sarasota county. they are in the path of this hurricane, juan. juan: the landfall is expected now around fort myers. inland from that is immokalee, where many migrate farmworkers, who often live in substandard housing, live. any since were idea what those migrant workers might be exposed to, what can of shelter or even support from the state they would be getting? >> a lot of the evacuation

tampa bay, which was looking at worst caskascaskcase scenario my be on that surge on the south facing coastlines of the bay but then you'll see the bay empty almost the water levels go down because as it circulates counter clockwise, it will dump that bay out. no, good news for them, however, they're going to be in the heavy rainfall. to the south is where we're seeing a significant difference. first into the bay. this is not what we saw yesterday. so again, those south facing areas still will see a surge. it's down to the south. it's from sarasota down towards veni venice, down toward again port charlotte where we're seeing significant increases several miles inland. of course, we'll talk more about this throughout the night. >> tom sater, thank you so much. >>> nearly 7 million people along the coast including all of tampa bay are facing the risk of life threatening storm surge and hurricane forced winds as high as 129 miles per hour. ryan young reports for us from tampa and how those in the danger zone are preparing for ian's menacing approach. >> we're coming by and letting everyb

must people are aware by now that tampa bay is pretty shallow. gonna be pushing a phenomenal amount of rain up into our bay. we're already saturated from our regular summer storms, and there's really no place for this water to go. so, the flooding, the surge is gonna be monumental. >> you just got some rain, right? we are kind of daily evening rain that you get? >> we're pretty saturated here in the tampa bay area. but that's a normal storm season for us. but to have this hurricane ivan, the prediction that it's basically going to slow down if not stall right over the tampa bay area for anywhere from 24 hours on, is something that we don't need here, without a doubt. >> listen. what should people on the line of the storm be doing right now? and how is the city preparing? >> well, we're always prepared. we prepare every year. we have exercises, we rehearsed. the last thing we want to do is be on the main stage of our hurricane island, but we have been preparing. we have called for an evacuation in zone a. we have a little over 120 miles of coastli

you look at a close-up of tampa bay, the color codes show you how high this storm surge could go. into the deep say shades of red, that is 10 feet and if you are not familiar with the way this is laid out, the city of tampa sits there and of course you've probably always heard tampa st. petersburg, this will be a major story, the storm surge will be the overriding impact from that storm, and a category for brings a whole separate set of issues, there's a lot to go over that storm for the next few days. back home for for a moment, that's the view from the top of the salesforce tower and you see the marine layer come back in, it did it yesterday, dutiful to watch that that onshore come in right over the mountain and within about te last 30 minutes now the clouds have overtaken the top of the se the salesforce tower. san jose we have no clue, but you will tonight and tomorrow morning you you will wake up to gray skies, this will be another one of those days with the marine layer layer gets everybody and we all wake up to cloudy skies on tuesday morning. you can see how how widespread

go further out in time, there is consensus, national hurricane center thinking landfall around tampa bay area, we still have, again, some uncertainty. that is why i say if you live anywhere south of the tampa area toward panama city, cedar key, you need to pay attention to a major hurricane in next 24 to 48 hours and completing your plans. if you are told to evacuate, do so now, hurricane warning for tampa territory sarasota, tropical storm warning south of that and hurricane watch toward ocala. we think the worst impact is around the tampa area, again, as we go into the next several hours, we will refine that forecast. obviously so vulner ashl coastline, officials say evacuate if you live in some of the areas. storm surge warning from south florida all the way up to tampa, means the worst of the counter clockwise winds pushing water against the coastline. here is fox forecast model, this will be worst case scenario for the tampa area, one of the worst areas in terms of storm surge this can impact and we're concerned the rain forecast, 18 to 24 inches for this region, and again, all of t

officials told people in this area of the tampa bay area you have until tonight to get out. a few folks we talked to said they are taking some precautions. they have the hurricane supplies in order but going to stay put because they feel it is a high enough area to make this through. >> biggest worry? flooding maybe. i hope it doesn't come up further than it normally does. that's the biggest worry, flooding. >> reporter: over in hillsborough county in tampa there officials ordered another 90,000 residents to go ahead and pack up the things to get out of town because they live along the coast. with two orders in tampa looking at over 370,000 people in hillsborough county. erica? >> that is a lot and so important, too, to heed the warnings. appreciate the reporting. thank you. joining us is tampa's mayor who said the city is preparing for a devastating amount of water. tampa mayor castor with us now. thank you for the time. in a briefing this morning you said it could be a worst-case scenario and could be a forecast saying it is worse. would the change in this track a little b

>> in the tampa bay area for rescue? well, i mean obviously we have enough assets and we understand this is a big, big impact that the rescue efforts are not going to be limited to one municipality or one county. you'll potentially have more. my hope is that you're not going to need massive rescue efforts the further away you are from the storm. i also have a huge amount of confidence in the folks in the tampa bay area. you look at sheriff's departments, these are very first rate operations. they have excellent ability to respond to that. kevin will be here, our folks will be here if needed, but our sense is that the further away from the storm, probably the local responders are going to be able to handle that. here in southwest florida, you're going to have all those local responders out but then you're also going to have all this support, coast guard, fwc, you're going to have national guard. i mean, this is a really, really concerted effort, and that's just the reality when you have such a significant impacted spot so

expected. >> a storm that slows down for 24 to 48 hours, and just continuously dumps rain into the tampa bay. >> hurricane ian is expected to dump at least 2 to 3 months of rainfall by friday. possibly as much as 24 inches of rain in tampa and west central florida. >> it only takes 18 inches of water to be a life-threatening situation. >> tampa's airport taking no chances. >> at 5 pm today, no more commercial flights. >> evacuation orders expanding since monday, with shelters open for those without other options to wait out the storm. >> i've never been in a hurricane. this is my first time. my first time at a shelter. but i feel better here than if i would be alone at home. >> those riding out the storm racing to get sandbags, facing lines for gas. and the familiar scramble to stock up on food and water. then, hurry up and wait. cnn, the gorda, florida. >> the house select committee invested the january six hearing has postponed its investigation because a hurricane ian. never say they're paying for the safety of everyone in florida. we are way for the hearing announced soon. it's expect to

one forecaster warning this could be the storm of a lifetime in tampa bay. cnn's pedram javaheri is in the weather center and patrick oppmann is in cuba for us. good evening to both of you. petra, i'll start with. you are looking at pictures released today by nasa, a live view of hurricane ian that can be seen from the international space station as it fights over the storm. that is massive. where is hurricane ian right now? what can we expect? >> don, we just got the advisory here. it's about 1100 miles south of the western tip of cuba. crew the brunt of the storm system is gonna be felt initially in cuba in the coming hours, don, we think this will increase to a category three possibly as early as the next three hours. beyond that, we watch what's in store here. the water temperatures across this region of the gulf of mexico are among the warmest oceanic heat content anywhere in the atlantic. you notice the model of cannons here is a bit all over the place the last couple days. really, the last 24 hours better agreement. the storm track will shift a little

. >> it's been 101 years since tampa bay has experienced a storm of this magnitude. the county administrator does not make these decisions lightly. heed the warning get your families to safety. there's nothing more important than to protect you and your family's life. >> the governor's activated about 5,000 members of the florida national guard a couple more thousand coming from out of state to help out, but local officials are warning once the water starts rising, rescue crews may not be able to reach people, so they're warning people to get out while they can. we have complete coverage tonight, juan vanegasa from cuba, valerie castro along clearwater beach first our nbc meteorologist is tracking ian somara, significant changes on places and time. >> with each update we're seeing a more definitive path for people living south of tampa the situation is growing more dire let's jump right into it hurricane ian is coming in as a category 3 hurricane 120-mile-per-hour wind gusts once we hit 130, we're in category 4 territory you can see right now it's sitting just to the

so here in the tampa bay area, we see a lot of wind that has been coming through.inds have been up anywhere between 30—a0 mph. the first responders are responding to calls. we have a couple fires and power lines being down but overall we haven't seen the aftermath of the storm we know we will get a lot of the rain which will flood a lot of the low—lying areas of the tampa bay area. since the storm has hit we know there is a lot of flooding down south, which is the counties below us and of course with all of the resources we were able to prepare for, we have the resources available and ready to assist the other counties down south. where hurricane ian had a big impact on. just listening to what you are describing there, how do you start to prepare for something like this? what sort of resources do you put in place? so one of the things is, of course, communicating with different partners throughout the national weather service to see what type of storm it will be and what potential damage we will face. if the eye actually came through tampa bay and we noticed that t

tampa bay's the second worst case scenario in this positioning of this storm? not necessarily the size, but it's still 33 or four is huge, not a five. but the positioning the direction that this storm is going is really going to cause massive problems , especially within tampa bay itself is that storm surge comes up through the bear faces south of storms coming in from the south. um and you can guess the rest. lots of water, potentially three ft, but it would be on the high end, but two ft to three ft. of rain as well. lot of the models are calling for so back home. of course, it's hurricane season back home. it's fire season, but this low is keeping us away from that concern, and i mean it's still concerned, but it's not red flag warning. as long as that low hangs out, we stay off the red flag warnings. we stay away from our quality issues as well. so here is the forecast for tomorrow. reminds me a lot of today and yesterday, which is fine. and then on thursday and friday, we warm up a little bit as that low translates through, but it's all just standard stuff

late wednesday into thursday, and nearly 7 million people along the coast, including really all of tampa bay, a facing the risk of a life-threatening storm surge there. and people, they are all being urged to get out of harm's way and to do it now. tampa's mayor warning residents, if you can leave, just leave now. those are his words. florida's governor, ron desantis, announcing that the tampa bay airport will be closed starting tonight at 5:00 eastern time. he also expect -- he has also expected, desantis to speak at any moment from tallahassee. we'll give you detainee on those preparations from the storm and bring you his update live in just moment. >>> we are covering this dangerous storm. the only way cnn can. let's go first to our carlos flores, who joins us in tampa. carlos, thanks for being there ahead of what is to come. the coast guard closing some key ports, as this storm approaches. >> reporter: jim and poppy, good morning. that's right. the clock is ticking for folks that live in pinellas county to get out. a second mandatory evacuation order went into effect this morning. we're

, even up towards tampa bay. making a huge difference whether the storm is here or off the map to the south. then there wouldn't be as much surge in the tampa bay but in port charlotte, fort myers, back into punta gorda where there was so much damage back in charlie, i was there with anderson cooper. i know you're trying to get away from the surge, but spots across florida with 20 inches of rainfall. so if you're in a flood-prone area you need to keep that in mind as well. not just saltwater surge, sut-of-but certainly freshwater rainfall making significant flooding across your area. >> storm surge coming in. freshwater flooding going out. a lot to worry about sitting here this morning. chad myers, thank you. much more on this ahead. >>> in just a few hours jury selection begins as five members of the oath keepers, including their leader, go on trial for seditious conspiracies stemming from the january 6th riot. the first sedition trial in years and could reveal extremist efforts to overt the 2020 election result

it is threatening the tampa bay area right now with a rare first direct hit.nd you are in "the faulkner focus." ian made landfall in cuba this morning with winds up to 125 miles per hour. people are racing to gather final supplies and that's kind of difficult. gas stations and grocery stores are alre

we were fortunate in the tampa bay area. however, our neighbors down south in the fort myers area were not as fortunate as we were . so tampa bay, we had some trees down. but very minor flooding. but we had that doc here, the emergency operations centers and ibelieve they are the gold standard in each of our counties . now again, in fort myers on the pictures and i'm going to go down there trying to help with the congressman down there. but people have lost their homes . of course, their cars. they are really destitute now and they need us now morethan ever . the disaster declaration will be very helpful. unfortunately i think the governor was right that it is a 500 year storm. in the tampa bay area we had something like this in1921 . can you imagine? we were very fortunate. our neighbors down south were not. and then of course central florida, the orlando area and all the way through again, the flooding is just horrible . and i really feel for these people, catastrophic. >> we are seeing headlines that say fort myers is gon

it will be one week at a super bowl sunday. >>> 45 seconds on a race to the finish, the tampa bay areaa potentially devastating hurricane, forecasters say that in will likely slam western cuba tomorrow as a category three, then strengthened the category for before it hits the tampa area. >>> a gunman with a swastika opens fire in central russia, killing 17 and 11 children. he then killed himself. >>> protesters are raging in iran over the death of a young iran over the death of a young woman, mahsaposia can amini, who people with died the custody of the morality police. now you know the news of this monday, september 22nd, 2022. i am sheppard smith. thank you for checking in tonight. we will see you back here tomorrow. ♪♪ don't take zeposia if you've had a heart attack, chest pain, stroke or mini-stroke, heart failure in the last 6 months, irregular or abnormal heartbeat, if you have untreated sleep apnea, or take maois. zeposia may cause serious side effects including infections that can be life-threatening and cause death, slow heart rate, liver or breathing problems, increased blood

but tampa bay would really luck out if the center of the hurricane made landfall south of their area. that would be really bad news for sarasota, fort meyers and cape coral. but for tampa, that offshore broez instead of the on shore breeze would make a world of difference. >> you're dm in part of tampa that you're in an evacuation order. what are you yo hearing from people there? >> that's right. in hillsborough county, what's known as zone a, is under mandatory evacuation orders. this gas station here is one of the first stops that a lot of people are making before they continue their journey more inland. we spoke to one man this morning who said he lived in tampa for over a decade. he said he's never evacuated in the past. but this time from watching the models, hearing the warnings, he decided to pack up and go. listen. >> i have never left before. they are showing this one is movering slow so they are predicting a lot of water. i live south of tampa. >> this one feels different. >> yes. >> reporter: there are mandatory tack vags orders in seven counties. you said it earlier. you c

the tampa bay area preparing for what could be their first direct hit in a century. >>> plus, escape from russia. vladimir putin's new military draft fueling chaos and a massive exodus. more than 250,000 fleeing. >> i think this does speak to the domestic political problem that putin faces through this mobilization. >> others are staying, taking to the streets in protest. violence erupting at recruitment centers. >>> and sporty spice. ♪ tell me what you want, what you really, really want ♪ >> we all wanted girl power. >> the group, the soundtrack for generations. and could we soon see a spice girls reunion? >> i really hope so. we talk about it constantly. >>> plus, asteroid strike. nasa's daring mission to save planet earth. >> three, two, one. >> oh, wow. >> the unprecedented dress rehearsal. >> fantastic! >> "nightline" will be right back. ♪♪ dry skin is sensitive skin, too. and it's natural. that's why aveeno® daily moisture lotion and body wash are formulated to be gentle on dry skin. with nourishing prebiotic oat and rich, soothing emollients. together this duo locks in moistur

incredible amount of rain over the next several hours here, kayleigh. >> kayleigh: nicole, i'm from the tampa baya. i have video coming in to me from friends and family right out of the bay, literally sucked out of their backyards. docs where there are normally boats, jet skis, now it is just sand. you can walk on it. in fact, i have a video of that. my question for you is, this is rare. tampa hasn't seen this. but we have this area, punta gorda, fort myers, seeing a category 4 hit before in the form of hurricane charley. a lot of people making that comparison. but this is also a slower moving storm. >> right, and that's why think the concern for rain comes in. the more rainfall we'll see over a period of time. we'll see these continues demott conditions continue. yes, the comparison is definitely going to be made as we have watched at that track shift over the last several days, and it's tough or emergency officials to give people an idea of where they will see that direct hit. you mention that, because of how large and how massive hurricane ian is, it truly does not matter if your community and

now, earlier today we saw a pretty interesting phenomenon in tampa bay. now, instead of a storm surge, we saw a retreat of the water out of tampa bay. in some areas we had negative 1. essentially what happened there is we had northerly winds pushing that water out of the bay. now, that water is now moving back in, and we should have somewhat of a storm surge later tonight. again, we are not necessaryingly out of the woods here in the tampa bay/st. pete area, 195,000 customers are without power. as you mentioned earlier in the show, more than a million customers are without power. there are linemen here to work, more than 33,000 of them, but they can't go up in the bucket trucks in the winds calm down. tucker, back to you. >> tucker: max gorden for us tonight, thank you. >> tucker: we've got continuous coverage of this hurricane. you can get it, if you download the fox weather app, stream the coverage. so jackie walorski represented a state, and died in a car accident. at the time joe biden made tribute. jill and i are shocked and saddened by her death, bi

that got tampa bay. got it. act track >> yeah, i know this really is going to be a system that tampa bay itself has not seen in quite some time. that 5 to 10 feet of storm surge will be devastating likely for some areas, especially if the track falls. what projections show it will right now. it's a category 3 storm with 125 miles per hour. winds. the storm will intensify to category 4 status as it makes its way into those warm gulf waters. peaking just before it makes landfall just west of tampa itself. it will weaken beyond that point and move its way up into central florida. the biggest risk here is those strong winds as well as the storm surge. once it moves inland, a lot of water and also the risk of tornadoes along with that eventually pushing back pass jacksonville on up into southeastern georgia. as for us on the west coast, a much different situation after a month that brought us record-breaking heat in some early showers. we're kind of in a holding pattern now. we do have this storm system to the north

myers and eventually up into the tampa bay area. interestingly enough, if we watch the track from the national hurricane center, it takes it up to a category four with 130 mile-per-hour winds. landfall as a category three. probably some sometime or as a category four, i should say. sometime in the afternoon or evening. look at how slowly it's moving. by 8:00 a.m. even with orlando and moving up and along the coast and reemerges off the atlantic by thursday morning as a tropical storm. then eventually becomes a low-pressure system into the weekend. if we look at the futurecast here, watch all of this water getting pushed out of tampa bay. that is why they have less of a concern for flooding for storm surge. instead, it's on the other side by ft. myers where you're going to be seeing the worst storm surge, the worst flooding rain, though, to the west side. this is a storm about the water both coming from the sea and from the sky. >> wow. david, thank you very much. >> sure thing. >>> ahead on "cbs mornings," we're going to be talking

we have suspended tolls on the roads in tampa bay. visit florida is working with expedia to provide hotel rooms and options for people leaving evacuation zones. you can go to expedia.com/florida to do that. the most significant number of vacancies are in northern or that from -- northern florida from tallahassee to pensacola. there are vacancies in other parts of florida but those have the most vacancies at the current time. there is a number of airbnb's available, and similar to hotels, most availability is in southeast florida as well as the big bend and panhandle region. we think it is very important that you don't leave pets behind. bring your pets with you, they need you during this time. we have asked the hotels to relax their pet policies, and to advertise their relaxed pet policies on their website and expedia. the good news is many of them have done that, and are allowing pets when they might not do that. and we thank them because we understand how important it is. people are evacuating for their own safety,, for family membe

businesses along the coast. >> janice: absolutely, when you talk about tampa, one of the most vulnerable areas, the coastline, bay area, the water coming up into low-lying regions, if you have nine foot, 12-foot storm surge, that will inundate this area. the forecast looks like cape coral and that would spare tampa, anywhere along the coast, be prepared for impact. >> carley: people in cape coral need to be worried, of course. because of janice dean said, florida businesses are providing essentials like gas, sand bags and food while inflation still takes a major toll. >> todd: peggy davenport just outside tampa joins us now, peggy what have you done to prepare? >> good morning, how are you? yes, we have prepared as much as we can, we've gotten our food sources ready, shopped early and got ready and waiting to see like the extent of the damage. i'm concerned about the flooding and i'm concerned about power outages, obviously power outages, we will not be cooking for our customers. we are taking it day-by-day or minute by minute to get ready for the storm. >> carley: you own a meal delivery service and many people

the ground in tampa bay saturated.e course of the next several hours, we are gonna completely saturate the ground even more. we four hands on deck, all the city departments working. we are encouraging to stay safe and stay secure. i just read this out right now. >> policing in america, we hear a lot about crime. police departments want to search, protect public safety and whatever the community needs. we walk us through what the department and officers are doing. as you mentioned, a coordination with first responders and the time are public safety in a very real sense so paramount in florida. >> we have a multifaceted approach. obviously as you are saying, protecting and serving a tampa bay area. does have a significant homeless population. they are extremely vulnerable. we have been utilizing it has been shelled in our homeless population, local shelters. we have been doing significant outreach with them. for public safety standpoint, there are people that will take advantage of the vulnerability. people have left the

it's moving on shore right now, taking aim at the fort myers area just south of tampa bay.his was fort lauderdale earlier. all the way down in south florida. winds were reaching -- very high winds. the storm itself is now reaching 155 miles per hour and you can see the wind speed, 155. the movement, that's of such concern. the movement is at 9 miles per hour. the wind gusts, 190 miles per hour. and we're here in the bradenton area. you're seeing right behind me, this is sarasota bay. and then behind sarasota bay is the gulf of mexico. we've been experiencing some very, very intense wind gusts and the rain has been nonstop. but, but take a look at that radar image. it's showing you the most intense part of the storm and yet to arrive to florida. it is a potentially life-threatening storm. and as you can see, the eye is hitting right in fort myers. julia ainsley is with us this morning. i want to kind of go over what federal officials have been preparing for and what it is they're going right now. >> we just heard from deanne criswell as they look at this life-threatening sto

we're tracking hurricane ian tonight and what it can mean for the low lying areas surrounding tampa bays now expected to make land fall in just a

you had been watching closely where we are right now, tampa bay.n of catastrophic historic storm surge here. now it has moved south, that concern, but it's very much the same situation. why are they anticipating something that could be so devastating? >> well, again, these winds are unprecedented in anyone's memory here. when the west coast of florida is very broad and shallow and when you get very strong winds blowing toward the coastline, it drags the water towards shore and once the water gets to shore, it has no place to go up except to pile up on land. that's why we have the potential to get these massive storm surges. in tampa bay we're on the opposite side of the eye wall and we're getting actually lower than normal, probably by 10 to 12 feet lower than we would expect. >> well, again, that's good news for here. very dire news potentially south of here. and one of the concerns has been is had the storm surge concern been where i am here on the hillsborough river, initially they were 10 to 15 feet that, could have been lapping over the edge h