so even if you get out of the tampa area was there's a lot of people, 3000000 people in the tampa bay area, trying to get gas and head north where there's has definitely been a shortage. and when you do find gas, there are long lines and these people are waiting to get gas and again, truckers still trying to get into the state for your gas, but there is definitely a shortage. so that's one thing that people are running into is where do you find gas? once you leave tampa, you're headed north of the cities along the interstate or running out of gas to you know, i've got relatives in florida in north carolina. i know that the southeast is still not been able to clear debris from hurricane helene. now we're talking about milton . why are we seeing such strong hurricanes in such quick succession a well, this time of year, usually into september, the gulf of mexico and comments. ology wise is where we see the formations of hurricanes as also in error in the atlantic is, you know, we have leslie this form, but with this pharmacology, usually in september, but the water temperature is happen

. ~ . going to see in the tampa bay area, ~ ., ., ,, going to see in the tampa bay area. . . ., ,, .,g some of the live pictures from the - the live pictures from the highway. and actually cars are moving, it is not that slow, but in terms of how long this is likely to impact for any consequences, what are the authorities saying? we consequences, what are the authorities saying?- authorities saying? we are heafina authorities saying? we are hearing anywhere - authorities saying? we are hearing anywhere from - authorities saying? we are hearing anywhere from a l authorities saying? we are - hearing anywhere from a week to a couple of weeks and you try not to scare, and that is what we are focused on, we are trying to deal with facts and when you get two projections and feelings, that is when you are necessarily scare people. we want to focus on the facts. we want to focus on the facts. we know the storm surge will be best, the power outages will be here, here is the numbers for the shelters and locations for the shelters and locations for the places you can go if you get into a precario

and at the tampa bay area, we had her change. olean came through, we had 12 desks in the tampa bay area, and we saw storm searches that were up to 7.2 feet. and now this protections with hurricane built and we're looking at a storm surge as of 10 to 15 feet across the tampa bay. area just north of tampa, all the way down to sarasota saint petersburg and inglewood. so this is a pretty this powerful storm as it's been moving across the gulf of mexico. in fact, they had the 5th lowest pressure on record at $897.00, no bars, and it's winds at one time at a 180 miles per hour. we the eye replacement cycle during the overnight hours and we saw it week in just a little bit also as the past. so you can finance like the wind speeds are increasing. now that come to a 155 miles per hour. they are expecting it to get back up to a category fine, and then we can a little bit as it gets into a little bit dryer air right before nice land as well. but again, in florida, we are racing for it. and because of having the hurricane just 2 weeks ago causing the storm searches, they're only 6 to 7 feet up in t

so even if you get out of the tampa area was there's a lot of people to 3000000 people in the tampa bay area trying to get gas and head north where there's has definitely been a shortage. and when you do find gas, there are long lines as people are waiting to get gas and again, truckers still trying to get into the state for your gas, but there is definitely a shortage. so that's one thing that people are running into is where do you find gas? once you leave tampa, you're heading north of the cities along the interstate are running into a gas to or that was major ologist, cindy o quinn in gainesville, florida. this here is nobel prize in physics has been awarded to, to researchers from the us and canada. they were honored for their pioneering work on artificial intelligence and machine learning. back in the 1980s john hop field and jeffrey hampton set the stage for today's artificial intelligence by using physics to identify patterns and information. their work now allows machines to mimic learning and remembering functions that were previously thought to be the sole province of organic

and move inland acro55 the tampa bay area and move 5preading hurricane force wind gu5t5 inland a5 5preading hurricane force wind gu5t5 inland as well, including potentially the orlando metropolitan area. heavy rain, another huge threat. 10—15 inch rainfall acro55 highly populated area. tampa, 0rlando, up populated area. tampa, 0rlando, up to daytona beach. the heavie5t rainfall for the longest period, and the longe5t period, and the greatest potential for flash flooding and significant river flooding. and of course we know, after helene, rainfall is every bit of the threat that the wind and the surge are. talking about the storm surge at rates never before seen of 13 feet and heavy rain on top of that, another 12—13 inches or so, of that, another 12—13 inches or5o, how of that, another 12—13 inches or so, how does the water retreat? it comes in and then what happens? what is facing people in florida?— people in florida? sure, well the wall of — people in florida? sure, well the wall of water _ people in florida? sure, well the wall of

what are you seeing down there trying to get out of the tampa bay area and we've been hearing it all morning long. >> and also yesterday, officials pleading with millions of people that now is the time to evacuate and do so before conditions begin to deteriorate. we want to show you these live images here of traffic bumper to bumper, getting out of this tampa bay area. we know that across the state of florida tolls have been suspended on these major highways as well to assist with the evacuations and also the state is allowing for hurricane evacuees to drive on the shoulder in order to keep that traffic moving all day yesterday. casey, we saw traffic also backed up on several highways here in the tampa bay area, and it really seems like people are taking this seriously especially on the heels of hurricane helene, which caused so much devastation across the florida big bend region, specifically here as well. but another concern from officials is also all the debris that is left behind in so many neighborhoods here in the tampa bay area. when hurricane milton does make its landfall, al

emergency flash flood warnings everywhere in the tampa bay area. bad in the tampa bay area when it comes to the storm surge, but the wind and rain has been catastrophic. you have been doing _ has been catastrophic. you have been doing this _ has been catastrophic. you have been doing this for _ has been catastrophic. you have been doing this for ten - has been catastrophic. you have been doing this for ten years. i been doing this for ten years. how does that destruction you mentioned compared to what you have seen in previous storm surges? bi; have seen in previous storm suraes? �* , ., have seen in previous storm suraes? j . ., , �*, surges? by far the worst. it's kind of ironic, _ surges? by far the worst. it's kind of ironic, because - surges? by far the worst. it's kind of ironic, because in - kind of ironic, because in tampa bay we expected a storm surge and we are actually seeing the waters recede and go back out into the bay. we will see it come back later on. but this distraction of tropicana field and seeing cranes, it's as bad as anybody

it was supposed to be making landfall in the tampa bay area. sarasota area. uh, fort myers area about like 2 am local time the in the middle of the nights of its uh, wednesday and a thursday right now. it's going to happen in one or 2 hours from now basically like in the evening, off today. and as you pointed out, the tornadoes, 17 confirmed touchdowns, $91.00 plus warnings issued the head of the storm before even made land phone. that's historic and it's all based now. we're in orlando wind gusts of picking up. you may, can see this in the back, the palm trees up spending more and more so in the course of the last 2 hours this intensified and the problem. what you probably can also see is what is hanging here before the palm trees. and these are power lines, so this is what the major concern is for people and for authorities here, those strong winds. because milton will still be category one when it hits orlando . and that's the other side of the states from where it makes actually a land fall originally will still be category one. and that means that lots o

so, right now, upwards of 15 feet for the tampa bay area. e never experienced that in their lifetime. heavily populated area of tampa bay all that water and winds just continue to move in towards the bay and inlets and that is why this is going to be so catastrophic. we can't forget our friends in fort myers where we could see upwards of 10 feet. again, that's going to cause incredible damage. all-time records were set with hurricane helene and that didn't even make a landfall in the tampa bay area but this one is -- there is no escaping it. it's going to make a landfall. the exact location still yet to be determined, but we can tell you we are going to certainly feel hurricane force winds, incincredible storm surge, tropl tornadoes and foot of rainfall in an area that has 2-foot surplus of rain right now. over to you. >> brian: thanks so much, janice. florida governor ron desantis heard all that and probably knew it already joins us live from the emergency headquarters in tallahassee. governor, you have been there quite often. what's the gre

i want to say about this is the one thing about this is that in a strange twist of fate, the tampa bay arearepared for the big one now. better than they were three weeks ago. because hurricane helene was like a practice run. it surprised hundreds of thousands of people in the tampa bay area who i think are now taking this way more seriously than they would have three weeks ago, because they only dealt with a small amount of storm surge with helene, because it was 100 miles offshore. yeah. now it has a target on the tampa bay area, and people are paying attention. that's why that live shot from tampa looks so like a ghost town. because it is. people are leaving. and final question to you. to you, chris, when, when do people come back to the tampa area they've left? do they come back sunday next week? i mean, this is a disruption in people's lives. depends on how bad it is. it depends on whether they let you back in the barrier islands. some of them, i believe they had just reopened from halloween and now they're going to be closed again because so much water had surged in so much sand, so mu

changed where you are in the tampa bay area? and let's not forget tampa bay st. petersburg area together, have a population of more than 3 million people. how those conditions change in the past hour or two concern for this area, tampa hadn't had a direct hit from a hurricane for almost 100 years. milton was threatening to do just that as of the last few forecast, the storm has shifted somewhat south so it's likely tampa bay will not get a direct hit with the high of below but it is still an extremely powerful storm. we're talking about rainfall of up to a foot on top of that eight to 12 foot storm surge for this area? and there's nowhere for that water to go. so it is very likely that we are going to see property damage. it is also likely wolf that we will see loss of life there also have been as you and i know, very dire warnings coming from tampa's mayor for those who chosen not to evacuate, what is your sense about whether people are heeding the warnings from local leaders to a lot of folks yesterday where i was in treasure island. that's a barrier island wher

and what is coming is a world of hurt and paying for all the victories from the tampa bay area. and for the people here. because when this hurricane makes land phone in the nights, wednesday and the thursday, it will move across the state, orlando, just to me area he is right into this straightened on this track and in this path. and there will be maybe still a category to category one, hurricane with sustained winds and lots and lots of rain. what is different if we do have gas stations, like you pointed out that are running out of gas, what does that mean? been for people who are trying to evacuate as yeah, that's a pain in the neck. that's a real concern for many, many thousands because he is how this works. of course you, if you keep the call for evacuation, you go, you drive, you have gas up, but highways and streets are not clogged, but very, very, very busy. yesterday they were at a standstill at times. now this has eased off a little bit, but still it is a challenge to actually get moving and get out of those areas. and now $1700.00 gas station is already in florida. here

and that was the really the story in the tampa bay area. most of the week, they concern, of course it was the storm surge, but since the storm made landfall just to the south of tampa bay area, that catastrophic historic storm surge didn't pan out. >> and that's great news for the tampa bay area not as good of news though for south of essentially siesta key, which is it's close to zero soda and south of there. and that's where we spent most of our night where we documented storm surge in areas like venice and port charlotte all the way down to fort myers. and there's a lot of damage most likely that's going to be caused by that storm surge in that area, similar to what we saw just a couple of weeks ago. hurricane helene, here on florida's west coast, which brought in to this point, record storm surge. so it's going to be another explain up. it's a one-two punch and you just have to feel for everyone on the conduct code that's just dealing with one after another hurricanes about this ship this summer indeed, you really do. and of course, you

storms i came ashore near sarasota, south of it's expected land fall in the heavily populated tampa bay area. it's cut power to more than $1500000.00 homes and businesses and spawn tornadoes. that left a trail of destruction. millions of people earlier told to leave their homes for safety. just 2 weeks since deadly hurricane helene struck the area or. and let's bring in some live images of what it looks like at the moment. this feeds coming to us from tampa. and as you can see, it's bringing pretty strong winds and heavy rains. the storms tornado outbreak also cause damage, and the storm surge is causing water levels along the coast to rise quickly. authorities of 12 people who did not evacuate before the storm hits to shelter in place as well. some people weren't able to leave those evacuation areas or chose to stay behind and they're now in the middle of the deadly storm dw stuff on z months is in orlando, florida to give us this assessment for people who are who, who will remain there. they're probably fighting for their lives because the stone searches for men this and this storm is abso

those people who are on the west coast of florida in the bay or tampa bay area and south is that where the left, where milton make landfall are in dia, dia trouble, and who didn't leave at q a is really gambling with their lives. everybody else evacuees or here are hunkering down. nobody's on the street. there's a curfew. we just got a, a flash slot, a warning base, tornado warnings out there. there were 17 tornadoes. it had all the land fall recorded in this past of the of the hurricane. already people lost their lives because of those printers $91.00 plus tornado warning. so sorry number. and as you see now, maybe a can hear it and see it really picking up every 5 minutes. you get a burst of massive winds. wind gusts here, increasing wind speed increasing, and the rain intensifying. so we'll have here in orlando where we are before we can head out and towards heading towards the tampa bay area. we have a flooding situation. so that's clear sense authorities, actually sex is that to happen at the coast at the coast itself and close to the coast. there is going to be water massive wate

that's the maximum nelson is expected to make landfall on wednesday in the tampa bay area. campus mayor has warrens, but anyone choosing to stay behind is likely to be killed by us. president joe biden postponed a trip to germany and in goal that because of hurricane milton she warrants, but it could be one of the worst storms to hit florida in a century current process to execute. tampa bay area can cut directly across the state east to west all way across the state. with the potential for the storm to both enter florida is a hurricane and leave florida as hurricane on the atlantic coast. this could be the worst storms as far in over a century. and god willing, it won't be, but as soon as 14. and if you're under recreation or orders, you should evacuate now. now, now you should have already evacuated as a matter of life and it's a matter of life and death. earlier i spoke to dave nussbaum, chief meter ologist at cbs 42, a tv station in birmingham, alabama. asked them how the approaching hurricane milton compares to the last hurricane. so this line, it will have a much greater impact on

the highest winds and heavy a strength, is already pushing ashore now in areas like sarasota and southern parts of the tampa bayntense rains, and there's an extreme wind warning out for much of the tampa bay area, meaning they could get winds of 100 mph over the next couple hours. so people are being advised to treat this as if it was a tornado. get inside, get to the smallest room in your house away from windows, and you'll need to be in there for a few hours because these wins could easily smash windows and cause structural damage. that's apart from the actual tornadoes that have been happening by the one or two dozen at least across southern and eastern florida. it across southern and eastern florida. , . _ , florida. if this weather system is so rare _ florida. if this weather system is so rare and _ florida. if this weather system is so rare and large, _ florida. if this weather system is so rare and large, bob, - florida. if this weather system is so rare and large, bob, canl is so rare and large, bob, can we attribute this to climate change? we attribute this to climate chance? ~ we attribute this to cli

category 5 strength, that's the maximum milton is expected to make a landfill on wednesday in the tampa bay area. campus mayor has warranty, but anyone choosing to stay behind is likely to be killed. while us president joe biden postponed a trip to germany and in goal that because of hurricane milton, he warrens that it could be one of the worst storms to hit florida in a century occurred practice to tampa bay area and cut directly across the state of east to west all way across the state with a potential for this storm to both enter florida is a hurricane and leave for it as a hurricane on the atlantic coast. this can be the worst storms as far as you know, over century. and god really, and it won't be, but as soon as looking like right. and if you're under evacuation or orders, you shouldn't evacuated now. now, now you should have already evacuated. it's a matter of life and it's a matter of life. and for more on that, let's spring, and dave nussbaum, chief meteorologist at cbs, $42.00 at tv station in birmingham, alabama. dave hurricane. milton is set to make land fall on a part of florida th

forecasters say the entire tampa bay region and areas to the south are at grave risk. >> reporter rebecca castro is live tonight in tampa. let's talk about the current conditions. big difference. rebecca, would you say in just the last couple of hours where you're at? >> oh, huge difference, mike. we are expecting the worst conditions within the next hour. milton is getting closer to landfall. we're undercover, so i'm going to step out of the shot so that our photographer can zoom in and give you a better look at downtown tampa. you can see the rain is pouring down. it's really ramped up. the wind speeds have ramped up as well. we are in an area that is under mandatory evacuation orders. so the good news is you don't see any cars on the road right now. a lot of people, most people did listen to these warnings, got out of town, got to shelters. so we are reporting to you from higher ground. we are under cover at a parking garage. we would not want to be on street level right now because this is one of the neighborhoods, one of the streets that could easily be underwater within the next hou

listen, there's an extreme wind warning right now and the tampa bay area because they've had to face the eyewall. the eyewall has brought those gusts near 100 miles an hour in some locations. in addition to rainfall intensity in that area is extreme. so flash flooding and river flooding across a swath of central florida that includes from tampa all the way today, jonah can be anticipated and you've discussed the fact that there have been tornadoes at one 1.50 peak four tornado warnings issued in the state of florida, including super cell thunderstorms. that is normally something you see in kansas and texas while we saw that in florida today out ahead of hurricane milton and johnson get the storm doubling in size in 24 hours and then sort of speeding up in these final moments before it hit land. and i know so that it would have been maybe it was going to around midnight or just after just before, but suddenly now the eyewall already onshore and it's sped up. what does all of this mean on the actual ground? and we're looking here now, even at some images of the surge coming all the way

very dangerous as it makes landfall from the mouth of the tampa bay to the sarasota area so small wobblesn. the main concern will be the storm surge. it could be catastrophic especially around the tampa bay area. down south to around venice we could see as much is 15 to 20 feet of storm surge just south of where the storm makes landfall. annmarie: when will the storm make landfall and is there a chance it could weaken ahead of time. alex: we are expecting to lose wind intensity due to the fact it will be interacting with a little bit more windshear across the northern gulf coast. we are forecasting landfall to be 2:00 a.m. thursday morning eastern time right around the mouth of the tampa bay. lisa: we've heard -- dani: can you underscore the historic nature of this pre-how different this hurricane is to past ones florida has experienced? alex: the mayor was pointing out the storm surge has been the primary concern here. the storm will be coming in from the southeast gate like this ended will be shoving all the water into all of these inlets and it is a very flat continental shelf which is

has been strongest with wind up to 83 miles an hour a what's interesting about the wind in the tampa bay areaing north and east. as opposed to water from the ocean into the bay and goes into the ocean. the storm surge which was forecasted in a lot of these areas with a reverse storm surge down 3 feet but again with the rainwater coming despite the surge. it's fresh ocean water flooding tampa bay on top of this. heading further south you see the wind shift coming off the gulf of mexico pushing this ocean water and onto land of maple there's naples at four and a half singing over 5 feet high enough to be considered a major storm surge doing damage with fort myers 4.6. is probably higher further north but there aren't any gages there. we'll have to see what kind of damage it is. i will leave you with this as of the wind is strong and that is continuing to push its way across the peninsula at 15 miles per hour. it would get more intense were you are shortly. >> just wondering what's happening tonight. right with siesta key among others as well as sarasota on and on it goes. adam where's the storm

the tampa bay area directly across the the. a hurricane on the atlantic coast and it could be the worst storm in over a century. god willing it won't be but that's what it is looking like right now. emergency declarations in the second one and the work. i am calling on the airlines for as much service as possible. and last night i spoke again with and i made it clear to them as you reach out and when the storm hits. most importantly, everywhere you come to ask and if you are under evacuation orders, evacuate now. they should have already evaluated. provide 300 ambulances and healthcare facilities. florida, tennessee. it will. the impact is still there. all tens of. as you listen or missing persons in the current but will have more reason out there. >> sharing this information. it, the you and you will those who will and is facing really important will to be a little the only biden and lewis anyway. the time going this, the talking today germany and try to work that out sure this and still going on all the places. >> i said you

the tampa bay area has not had area. has not had a major hurricane make a direct landfall since 1921, over a century ago. everyone here isjust keeping a close eye on that track, even though it is currently trending south. it could still have a major impact unlike anything the tampa bay area has seen in modern history. how does that fit coming — has seen in modern history. how does that fit coming some _ has seen in modern history. how does that fit coming some soon _ has seen in modern history. how does that fit coming some soon after - that fit coming some soon after hurricane helene has passed through roughly the same general area? it’s roughly the same general area? it's actuall roughly the same general area? it�*s actually heartbreaking because you have communities that were so deeply impacted by helene. for the gulf coast, for this region of florida, helene was about 100 miles off the shore and it's still decimated certain communities. there are folks with uninhabitable homes and some destroyed. if you have that kin

tampa bay area, here in bradenton, we were really worried about that 10, 15 foot storm surge potential. but then it just shifted a little further to the south, just enough to spare this area from that inundation of water that is being pushed on shore. instead, the water was pushed off shore, so it really helped with the flooding. but because it was a category 3 storm, you know, you naturally have those very gusty winds. so we did end up with that instead of both. because if that didn't wobble, the way it did, then we would have been dealing with the wind damage and the storm surge on top of that. >> dylan dreyer, thank you so much, so great seeing you, appreciate it. chase, you're on the other side of florida. the flooding has been substantial. what are you seeing there this morning? >> reporter: jose, a couple of things. we just talked to the volusia county sheriff. they had three deaths here in volusia county adding to the total from the storm. the other thing i want to reference what we're seeing here behind me is yet another vehicle getting caught and stuck in these flooded waters

and one of the things that i've been kind of fretting about was the particular area that it's targeting. tampa bay has not suffered this kind of blow in over 100 years. and considerably more people have moved into that area than 100 years ago. and it's coming on the back of another storm. that is a worst case scenario in emergency management. it's not one big event, but two events close together. anyway, milton is lining all those things up. okay? >> the fact that, like you said, you know, it's been over 100 years, so people can they get a sense of complacency. like, i can ride out this one as well. and, you know, what do you encourage people to think about when they're making that decision? as to staying or going, or at least going to a shelter nearby? >> oh, i always encourage people, go, go, go. i think if strangely, perhaps with helene, we're seeing a little bit more action than we normally would from the population, which is wonderful. i mean, i know everybody who is stuck on i-75 yesterday that that was, you know, terribly, terribly stressful. but that was a remarkable amount of people that

>> no so the tampa bay area is the area of concern, though only silver lining to any of this is last week with hurricane helene, that whole market learned that the stove was hot and hopefully they realized that they touch it again. >> they'll get burned. >> but perfect example, my cousin and my aunt beside the state in clearwater, i'm very concerned for their safety but my aunts elderly. she doesn't want to leave. and unfortunately, there could be bad outcomes and those areas and the barrier islands and just hopefully they hear the warnings as millions of floridians brace for the storm farm, either at their homes or in shelters overnight. what are the most critical actions being taken right now to ensure their safety so we have got 1,400 urban search and rescue first responders from as far as washington state, nevada, california, virginia, texas, alabama massachusetts, that oh, pre-staged all over the state of florida. >> so the preparations are there. >> these men and women will literally travel through pockets of the storm in order to be able to get to those areas impact. >> as soo

in orlando and that's 100100 something miles from where the store will make landfall from the tampa bay area sarasota area and that will rip this off . it's coming down here significantly more because you can see this here, we're really getting trench. the wind is picking up. we can see that at the palm. trees are bending now and where i'll be brand. we are in a, not a neighborhood. this is a rental. um, uh, a home the neighborhood, so to speak, like a little resort and it's packed with they've activities who are coming here and trying to flee from the track of milton, which will be a massive, massive, massive storm tearing disaster, really a lot of hurt and pain flow for audience, not just now, not just in a few hours, not just tomorrow, but 4 weeks to come. when all this fair through this form carries storm surges of up to 15 feet. yeah, yeah it's, it's incredible and it seems you have to drive hundreds of miles if you want to really get away from this storm. have most people followed the evacuation orders issued by authorities i would say yes, i think the federal fed, federal government a

tampa bay is. the prediction early in the models earlier showed might be a little north of tampa bay. had it been there the storm surge would have been in the tampa bay areaduplication of what had happened with hurricane hellion. became a little south of the storm making a landfall and as a result the storm surge will tended to be south of tampa bay meaning sarasota and fort myers and even far south west on the gulf coast in naples in florida. we continue to monitor all of this. we do have robert back in bradenton obviously the weather is rough there. i can tell wind is pretty bad where you are, are you okay? >> when you're in a situation the equipment takes a beating. what i was saying before do you know you're great viewers as we were in the west bradenton had a tree collapse because of the wind gust here but we had to get off of the manatee river just basically one cyber tampa bay is as we experience the van flow of these incredible hurricanes. >> sean: his microphone is cutting in and out in the power outages are sporadic here they go in and out just like this microphone right now unfortunately. what is amazing though his first responders cannot be ou

the eye is expected to make landfall somewhere in the tampa bay area. of course, this will still wobble a bit in these final hours, set to slam ashore late tomorrow night, right into the early hours of the morning. with a record storm surge as high as 15 feet. it could be the first direct hit in tampa from a major hurricane in more than 100 years. but landfall, as i mentioned, could shift right up until the last minute, and much of the state remains on high alert tonight. a team of hurricane hunters witnessing the force of hilton first-hand, flying into the eye wall to cleblgtollect data. and then, the warnings today. police in treasure island driving through neighborhoods with emergency warnings, urging people to evacuate now. and look at this tonight. bumper to bumper traffic for miles on i-75. this is near naples, right here, the outer bands of the hurricane arrive tomorrow afternoon. the storm surge right there in naples could be as high as eight feet. again, up to 15 feet possible in tampa, which would be a record. long lines tonight at gas station

across the gulf, experts warn this time tampa could be in the bulls-eye. >> large portions of the tampa bay area are going to be uninhabitable. you're note going to have power. you may not have other essentials. >> reporter: according to one report, tampa is one of the most vulnerable places in the country when it comes to storm surge. and the national hurricane center warns milton could bring a wall of water up to 15 feet. >> i've never seen a hurricane with that trajectory before. so it kind of spooked a lot of people. >> is this make you want the stay in tampa? >> i'd like to say no, but it could be. >> reporter: jared moskowitz says models have shown a category 5 hurricane hitting tampa would be the worst disaster the state could possibly face. >> the director of emergency management and the national hurricane center is talking what the worst case scenario for florida. it is that. it is the black swan of a category 5 storm coming into tampa. >> reporter: researchers say the underwater depth off the coast and the funnel shape of the bay mean the right powerful storm could trap an enormous bui

what we're asking you to do you're going to die i worder i lived here for several years in the tampa bay area. i have never heard such blunt language from tampa mayor ever before, and i've covered many storms they're telling people to get out, please heed our warnings. debris. that's also a huge concern. getting it out of the neighborhoods. you're looking at gusts up to 115 miles per hour here in tampa. those are become flying projectiles extremely dangerous. but then you have tampa general hospital where i'm at right now, davis islands. that's a neighborhood of tampa. this is the region's only level one trauma center. they cannot evacuate their too big, too specialized the patients that they have are too sick. so what do they do they put millions of dollars and tools like this. this is the opil fence that they have bolted down to the ground. it can withstand storm surge in different parts different heights up to 15 feet high, or anticipating ten to 15 feet here in the tampa bay. but look at this. this is why it's so serious. they're on an man-made island will get this. i could throw a rock r

the real take away here, harris, is the tampa bay area needs to brace for catastrophic storm surge. that is the push of the ocean in towards these bays and inlets, tampa bay is the most susceptible city in the u.s. to with stand that storm surge. >> harris: two things. i look for rays of hope in all of this. yesterday the 180 cat 5, it will weaken. we won't go from a cat 4 to a cat five. >> hurricane katrina 20 years ago was a category 5 and made landfall with a 3 with a 30-foot storm surge. don't pay attention to the category. it was a very strong storm in the gulf of mexico but it carries with it a devastating storm surge. that does not change as the category goes down. >> harris: quick question. from what we just saw with helene, i'm looking for the reason why it stayed on land and stayed so powerful for so long. was that because it was a bigger storm when it hit? what are they looking for here? you said it will remain a cat 3 and could cross the state. >> it will cross the state. it will still be a hurricane. but i was listening to governor desantis earlier "fox & friends." the s

we have had a lot of people stage in the tampa bay area for utilities and other things. this one right here is really good. i am not saying ocala is not going to have any impacts but we fully anticipate being able to move people where they need to go quickly once the storm passes and we have different partners the state contracts with should they have personnel as you see. they camp out here. this is where they are and they are able to respond. we have massive amounts of equipment here. land, air, sea vehicles. bucket trucks. you name it. this stuff is here. this is one of many sites that are ready to go. the reason why we do state of emergency, we did it over the weekend on saturday. we knew the storm was not likely to hit until middle of the week at the earliest. you want to start amassing these resources. i think it has been really important. on this property you have over 2000 pieces of equipment including a lot of pumps, a lot of generators, display boards, restroom trailers, laundry trailers. air condition units, electrical equipment, water hoses, blowback trucks.

you're there on treasure it's her island which is in the tampa bay area. boris, tell us what you're seeing. we see so much debris around there yeah. >> briana as if this massive storm, milton coming this way with about ten to 15 foot storm surge an extra nearly a foot of rain, and 125 plus it's mile an hour winds anticipated landfall wasn't enough residents here also dealing with immense piles of trash from hurricane helene. we're standing just outside the ai beach resort. this is an area of florida that folks flock to. this is a small community fewer than about 8,000 folks live here, but it is a tourist destination. and this resort was decimated by helene. you see cinder blocks, you see old mattresses chairs, tables, a microwave. there's a television here that appears to still be in the box that it came in and when we get a chance to glance into this resort, you see that flooding had a serious impact here. and the problem is, as you look through these doors, you see on the other side that is the beach. this is a waterfront property and you're talking abou

william: milton is expected to the lash the tampa bay area by thursday morning with a catastrophic stormf up to 15 feet, torrents of rain, and fierce winds. it would be the first major hurricane to directly hit the area in more than a century. last night, tampa's mayor jane castor gave a dire warning to those who have been ordered to evacuate. >> i can say this without any dramatization whatsoever. if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you are going to die. william: many seem to be listening, cars clogged the main highways north and east as people fled the coast. >> it's a matter of life and death, and that's not hyperbole, it's a matter of life and death. william: president biden delivered a similar message today, and announced that he's canceling a trip to germany and africa because of the storm. pres. biden: i just don't think i can be out of the country at this time. william: the white house also announced it will launch an account on the social media platform reddit to keep people informed on disaster response, and to combat misinformation. many are facing another

tampa bay between 11:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m.. you can see it clearly right there from space. conner hanson is in tampa. more than 3 million people live in the tampa bay areaer: hi, stuart, we know a lot are leaving especially people that live along the coast and especially closer to the gulf and there are also a lot of people staying but in total, around 6 million people who live along the gulf coast of florida live in mandatory evacuation zones and they're expected to leave or have already left. here in tampa, of course, people are bracing for the potential of some of the worst impacts of the storm. we're standing on the water front where there could be as high as a 15-foot storm surge and where i'm standing now could be under water. we'll go somewhere much safer well before the landfall. in an earlier segment, we're standing just across the water from tampa general hospital where it's on an area -- island that deal withs a lot of flooding and put up fencing, a specific aqua fence and have their own power supply. they plan to stay open with their patients inside the hospital throughout this storm. another big problem in the tampa area and out in the clea

the worst of the winds are coming into the tampa bay area as we speak. t happens here we have it just to the north of sarasota, that means this area from venice to sarasota, that's where we are going to look, nine to 13 feet that we have been expecting good news if you are in saint pete, you are probably going to escape the worst, doesn't look like it's going to come onshore anywhere in the tampa bay mouth, unfortunately for folks, sarasota and south is going to deal with the worst of that, it will maintain across the state and then we will have other implications on the backside of this with storm surge potential for places like jacksonville. that starts one fold here as we get into tomorrow. this is only going to get worse here as we get closer to 5:00 a.m., 6:00 a.m. is high tide, fort myers already above three feet, four feet for naples, some of these places saw 13 to 14 feet. likely these barrier islands places that were essentially washed away two years ago, we are going to see a similar situation. the wind going out of the bay, it pulls the water o

now the castle greet 5 storm is currently over the gulf of mexico, its heading for the tampa bay area. and it is expected to we can is it makes land full, but it will grow in size and bring sustained wind gulf of over 300 kilometers per hour. and joining us now from sarasota in western florida is meteorologist matthew, compute she hi, matthew. what is the latest that your hearing? well, there's some good news, not much good news, but a little bit of good news was a category 5. now standard category for, for a couple reasons. number one, there are some harsh upper level wins trying to knock it off, filter and number 2, dry air is trying to sneak into circulation, but unfortunately, that doesn't really, really change the impacts we'll have here in slower. we're going to have very strong winds, but also a lot of storm servers as we push water against the coast line. one concern i have is that as it weakens a little bit, the whitfield will grow so much bigger and brighter and result only. that's going to be so much more efficient in pushing water against the coast. the other thing too, is

. >> reporter: storm surge could reach as high as 12 feet in parts of the tampa bay area. another problem with debris, clocking up storm drains making flooding even worse. >> we're going to board up, bag up and leave. >> reporter: residents are lining up for miles to fill sandbags and their gas tanks. >> everybody's now starting to start filling up, but it's been hectic. >> reporter: it's an exhausting effort that's becoming too frequent for some. >> i mean i have to admit there is a moment where i said how many more times am i going to live through this? i think every islander did. >> reporter: milton would be the first major hurricane to make direct landfall in the tampa bay area since 1921. >> paul, we had helene and now we have milton, back-to-back hurricanes. you have to think climate change has some part in this. >> the rapid intensification is what's really remarkable because 24 hours ago it was a tropical storm, wasn't even a hurricane yet. now it's at the top of the scale, a category 5 hurricane with 180-mile-an-hour sustained winds. we'll start by talking about h

tampa bay area in a century. officials warning an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation. as expected, milton's intensity has fluctuated, right now back to a category 5, which were we begin tonight with al roker landfa some time wean and some new tracking updates. what's the latest, al? >> lester, we are watching this system intensifying now. 165-mile-per-hour winds, category 5, moving northeast at night. the track brings it a little south of tampa, so they may be spared the worst of that storm surge, but it's still going to be bad when we make landfall some time between 12:00 and 3:00 a.m., maybe an hour or so on either side of that. now the storm surge is a big deal, 10 to 15 feet south of tampa going towards fort myers and sarasota. 5 to 8 feet as you get farther south. but as the hurricane exits, it could see a storm surge on the eastern end of florida. and we're also looking at a high risk of flooding, anywhere from ocala, orlando, sarasota. heavy rain, 18 inches or more, that's going to cause ca

tampa. it is of course in the middle of the night there. this is what they are dealing with in the area. this was the moment the storm made landfall. the entire tampa bayegion, and areas to the south, are at greatest risk of the storm, which is carrying winds of more than 200 kilometres an hour. the state governor, ron desantis, said that the time for safe evacuation had passed. he warned people left behind against going outside until officials told them it was safe to do so. bridges have been closed because of fears of a four—metre—high storm surge. before the hurricane made landfall, strong winds ripped up trees, damaged mobile homes and left hundreds of thousands without power. at least ten tornadoes were reported and millions of people fled the areas most at risk, but some have chosen to stay behind. this was the florida governor a short time ago. stay inside and stay off the roads. flood waters and rushing storm surges are very dangerous, even more so storm surges are very dangerous, even more so in spite of everything the state did to help these local communities hit by helene and they removed a lot of debris over the last 72 hours, but new debri

area? and ripping the roof off of the tampa bay rays baseball stadium in punta gorda, florida, a storm surge flooding the city, storm chaser, aaron jayjack standing in the downtown area as water poured in above sea level the surge is probably about seven, right water dozens of tornadoes also touching down in the state, including along the state's at atlantic coast in st. lucie county, the sheriff says a tornado outbreak has caused multiple deaths let's go live now to sarasota, florida with jamie carson, the director of communications for sarasota county jamie, thank you very much for being with us. >> this morning. i just want to start simply with your message to residents here as daylight approaches. >> kasie, you were talking about how vital that daylight is. we want our community to know that our tactical first in teams are out there in the community right now, assessing our major arteries our roadways, our major infrastructure we're asking our community to please stay put. we know that there are dangerous. we know they're down power lines what were 300,000 of our community members are wi

milton could still wobble a bit before landfall, but the eye is expected somewhere in the tampa bay area, which hasn't seen a direct hit from a hurricane in more than 100 years. jacqueline lee abc news, tampa. >> and this thing is really bad. let's bring in abc seven news meteorologist sandhya patel with a look at the dangerous forecast for this storm as you track it. sandhya. >> yeah, dan, this is one for the record books. this is a category five hurricane. milton, look at the eye on this storm as it is moving away from the yucatan peninsula. it is a monster storm headed towards the gulf coast of florida. landfall is expected sometime tomorrow night, so right now, packing winds of 160 miles an hour, it is starting to pick up speed northeast at 12 miles an hour and as it continues to inch closer to the west coast of florida, expected to be a category four tomorrow night, and as it approaches, there are going to be a number of life threatening situations in that vicinity. it is expected to weaken to a category one as it moves out over the atlantic, eventually to a depression. so let's tal

still life-threatening and the tampa bay area and down towards sarasota. whether it's a cat 4 or 3, either way the big push of water will not change. we are still going to get historic storm surge and 10 to 15 feet some the highest there. the high tide is peaking for tampa bay around 6:00 in the morning, 7:00 in the morning on thursday. that is not going to make a big difference when you see the landfall overall night but it makes some difference when it comes to that push of water adding on to the massive amounts of water shoved against the shore. here is what we see as far as storm surge. this is our most concerning situation and what kills the most amount of people in situations like this. you can see the st. petersburg area. if this track goes across the sunshine skyway bridge along 275 from st. pete to bradenton up to 6 to 9 to 15 feet. if it takes a southern track and goes a little farther south where the right side, that right front quadrant of the system is impacting bradenton the worst of the storm surge will be there. we are splitting hairs and w

right now that potential for that first zone of impact will be the tampa bay area. ut there's already warnings in place for storm surge and evacuations extending all the way from tallahassee down through parts of fort myers and miami. now, tampa has not been hit with a direct impact since the 1920s from a hurricane. max wind speeds might reach by the time they get to land 125mph. still rain 3 to 15in, but that storm surge range is going to be the biggest threats, potentially 3 to 15ft. so folks in this area please just continue to follow guidance of officials and of course, your local mets and the national hurricane center will keep you updated. keep in mind, they also want you to not focus on the category size of this hurricane. we're still seeing this grow in size. there is still a potential for change no matter what. this is expected to make landfall as a hurricane for sure into the upcoming hours. all right, let's get a check of how those roads are doing with mike. all right. vianey, we have a problem over here. nothing compared to that. but we do have slowing in

milton could still wobble a bit before landfall, but the eye is expected somewhere in the tampa bay area, which hasn't seen a direct hit from a hurricane in more than 100 years. jacqueline lee abc news, tampa. >> and this thing is really bad. let's bring in abc seven news meteorologist sandhya patel with a look at the dangerous forecast for this storm as you track it. sandhya. >> yeah, dan, this is one for the record books. this is a category five hurricane. milton, look at the eye on this storm as it is moving away from the yucatan peninsula. it is a monster storm headed towards the gulf coast of florida. landfall is expected sometime tomorrow night, so right now, packing winds of 160 miles an hour, it is starting to pick up speed northeast at 12 miles an hour and as it continues to inch closer to the west coast of florida, expected to be a category four tomorrow night, and as it approaches, there are going to be a number of life threatening situations in that vicinity. it is expected to weaken to a category one as it moves out over the atlantic, eventually to a depression. so let's tal

now, with this storm, with milton some here in the tampa bay area are wondering, is this the storm that they have been dreading for decades? it could come right here to the tampa bay area, will know soon enough as those tracks can continued to shift. and that's normal as we get closer to this thing. but what we have seen is major concern about the figures of storm surge, right because with helene that was five to eight feet of storm surge around the tampa bay. well, with milton, we're looking at double that potentially we're looking at ten to 15 feet that is unsurvivable conditions. this is why people have been so concerned. let me also show you a hidden danger here. this house that looks totally charred, burned down. well, neighbors pointed me to this house. they told me that an ev caught fire here and burn this to a crisp. we confirm with the tampa fire fire the rescue who told us here and davis island home did go down. they couldn't confirm the exact address because of an electric vehicle. so as people are evacuating, if they're leaving behind electric vehicles were there hunkering d