The surge could be the greatest danger. Multiple reports of tornados. Heres what we know right now. Category 4 storm. 130mileperhour winds. It was a weaker category 3 yesterday but gaining strength as it hits florida. More than a Million People are without power. 7 Million People in florida, georgia, South Carolina have been told to evacuate. Our Abc News Team is from the caribbean up and down florida. We begin with world news anchor david muir in naples, expecting a hard hit in just a few hours, david. In fact, just moments ago, george, the emergency manager in naples saying now we have to wait for the storm to get here. The eye is going to be extremely close to naples. And he makes a good point. It doesnt matter whether its category 3 or 4. It will bring a lot of devastation to this area. They are very concerned about the storm surge. The forecast still holds, george, anywhere again 10 to 15 feet storm surge. They will see saltwater very high in this community. For a significant amount of area inland from the water. This is one that can carry homes, lift homes off foundations. And then the winds themselves. The forecast model have winds above 100 Miles Per Hour for several hours. Sustained winds and perhaps well get one of the extreme warnings we saw this morning as Hurricane Irma hit the keys warning of tornadolike damage. It is all very possible. Im here with chief meteorologist ginger zee. You now see the hurricane has moved straight up north, all of florida in its path. All of florida. Thats the thing. The eye went over the keys. It made official landfall at cudjoe key. We got a note from Pembroke Pines, broward county, 109 Miles Per Hour, the gusts. As far east as miami, we are seeing extreme hurricane like gusts and the northern eyewall approaching naples. It is still 80 miles south of them. It will take a couple hours to approach. The storm surge will be the number one concern after we get over the tornado watch thats in place. We already have tornado warnings including port st. Lucie and fort pierce this morning. Rows lynn, sebastian in tornado warnings. Anywhere from orlando south has the potential to see tornados. George, let me take you through the track. It hugs along the coast of florida, west coast of florida of course. Making landfall potentially for a second time somewhere around cape coral or ft. Myers. That will have to be determined as it comes later this afternoon and tonight. Then eventually by tomorrow morning, around tampa early and then cedar key monday, 8 00 a. M. , eventually into georgia and then alabama. This is a far expanse. It goes wide and far north and south as far as the impact we will see more than a million out of power earlier. It will keep going up. Every major city on the west coast at risk. Miami also facing terrifying winds right now. Amy row back is there. Reporter and they are gusting so strong here, george. Its really incredible to witness the strength of Mother Nature and to see the winds whipping the water that has now flooded the streets, the parking lots and the parks. You see branches from trees floating down these rivers now that were once streets. And the wind just will not stop. It is relentless. We arent getting any breaks now. Band after band after band. And you can see what its doing. It is whipping up the water from the streets back up into the air in addition to all the rain that is falling here right now. It is very dangerous out there. Miamidade Police Telling people to shelter in place. They cannot come out and help you if you need help. Everyone needs to stay put where they are because the winds are at the worst theyve been since weve seen this storm come ashore. Its pretty remarkable that we still have power here where we are. Were on the sixth floor. I have concrete walls on either side of me and above me. Thats why im able to show you what its like. 1. 6 Million People in florida lost power. 700,000 in Miamidade County without power. That just adds to the misery of dealing with the winds and the water and the fear of the rising floods here. The storm surge over five feet, as ginger said, when you dont have power. That is something thats a very frightening thing for anyone who has been through a hurricane to have to deal with on top of the weather thats pounding you. So this is a very serious situation here in miami. We will of course continue to keep you updated throughout the day today, george. You see all that water kicking up behind you. What we saw in miami is happening even without a direct hit. Youre like to get a direct one in naples. Reporter george, yeah. This is the first nudge of Hurricane Irma. This is nothing compared to what amy and the others are seeing. Still, it is is powerful enough. We have had gusts 40, 50, 60 Miles Per Hour. It knocked down the billboard. The metal has been peeled off that large billboard. The other is at risk of coming down, which is why we are at a safe distance away. We hear alarms ringing. There are tree branches flying down the streets. They are already being snapped. Major limbs here. Nobody on the roads. Just south here with the hurricane diving in the east, people in Port Everglades told to seek shelter now. Get out of the way. Get as low as you can. Surround yourself in a concrete building. If you have to, get in a bathroom. We just saw it mounting and building in ferocity with every passing minute, george. We can tell. Matt, thanks. Gia, you had to go inside a few minutes ago because the winds were so strong. What do you see now . Reporter george, what happened is right when we got off the air with you, it turned out one of our windows cracked. We moved our operation. We noticed something we wanted to show you. This is actually what happened. Look at this window. It is just totally cracked. We spoke with building management. They said this is what these impact resistant windows are supposed to do. They will crack but not shatter. That is going to protect against the winds and anything flying. This is actually what we were looking at upstairs. We are now down four stories. And you can see these whipping winds. Look at that fence right there. Can you see that, lewis . It is is ripping apart it looks like. Down here, we have niece canopies right by this cracked glass. They are also whipped apart. We are seeing very, very strong winds here in miami, george. Gio, in miami, it is coming out of hurricane andrew. We have been talking about this all morning long. They did change their building codes, and build buildings to resist storms like that. You are seeing the fruits of that right now. Reporter thats right. That is why this glass has not shattered. In fact, here you go. You can see another crack all the way up the edge of this glass. It is pretty remarkable how this glass has not completely broken through. It is really protecting us right now, george. Gio benitez, thank you very much. Up to ft. Myers with tom. Reporter hey, george. How are you . The wind is starting to pick up now as you can see and hear. I have a wind gauge. The biggest wind gust we hit so far is 55 Miles Per Hour. Even though that doesnt sound very impressive, what is impressive is the rate at which its climbing. Just about 10 minutes ago, the highest we had was 45. And it keeps going up every minute faster and faster. You can see some of the damage. The wind is bending the palms. Behind me, this marina, so far the boats and the sailboats are holding up well. We havent seen anything too dangerous yet. We are watching the water. The big concern is the storm surge in the cape coral area. Were watching some of that water rise. Thats the latest. Well send it back to you guys. To tallahassee and governor rick scott. Hurricane irma made landfall at 9 10 a. M. As a category 4 storm. The eye of this powerful storm is now 80 miles south of naples and approaching naples ft. Myers area later this afternoon. A vast majority of the state is experiencing extreme winds. It will up pact highly populated communities and leaving destruction in its wake. Our east coast, south florida is experiencing increased wind gusts, coastal flooding and dangerous seas. We will feel the impact late dont and early monday. There are areas in south florida and the keys have had up to 12 inches of rain. Across the state we can see an additional 8 to 15 inches of rain. The vast majority is under a hurricane warning. Millions of floridians are being impacted by this storm. This is a serious threat of there is a serious threat of significant storm surge flooding along the entire west coast of florida. And this has increased to 15 feet of impact above ground level in southwest florida. Tampa will see is a surge of 5 to 8 feet. The big bend area will see a surge of 4 to 6 feet. Also see an increase in flooding of rivers throughout the peninsula. We have seen tornados in central south florida and the threat will continue today and tonight. This is a life threatening situation. Remember, in southwest florida, the storm surge comes after the strongest winds. Do not think the storm is over when the wind slows down. Local officials will let you know when it is safe to go out. The storm surge will rush in and could kill you. We have Thousands National guard members and fish and wildlife on stand by to help with search and rescue when it is safe. But they cannot help you until storm has passed. You need to stay in a safe place. With the storms latest track, families in the panhandle need to be on high alert for severe weather, including Tropical Storm and Hurricane Force winds. Here in tallahassee, it is likely we will experience Hurricane Force winds and families must prepare. We are doing all we can to be prepared to respond to this storm. Today i requested a major disaster declaration from President Trump to help bring important federal resources and aid top florida. I have spoken with the president nearly every day, as well as today, and as well as our other federal partners. We are working very closely with the federal government to make sure that floridians have the resources they need for the storm. This has been a challenging week for our state. All week i traveled florida to spread the message. Take this deadly storm seriously. Stay safe, be prepared, listen to local evacuation advisories. My first duty as governor is to protect the people of florida. And the storm is here now. Advisories. My first duty as governor is to protect the people of florida. And the storm is here now. Everyones family matters. Every life matters. Please know that we will do anything and everything to protect and rescue every person and we will spare no expense in doing it. This week has demonstrated that everyone around the world that floridians care about each other. We have each others backs. Were proud to call florida home. And nothing will change that. I know we have done everything we could to prepare for this storm. We can never do enough. Ive heard from other good morning governors and other people on ways to make it through this destruction. In fact, we have received direct support from 16 states. We have received National Guard from texas. We received fish and wildlife from ohio. Colorado, Emergency Operations support team. We have taken all help and all resources that have been offered. I know florida is known for our beaches, our theme parks, and our college teams. But our most important asset is our people. Many people from all over this great country have asked me what they can do. If you would like to give, text disaster to 20222 to make a onetime 10 donation. If you would like to volunteer, volunteerflorida. Org. Pray. I dont see prayers as a last resort. They should always be a first resort. We will continue to keep you updated during this storm. But let me be very clear. We will make it through this together. [ speaking spanish ]. Govern oor rick scott in tallahassee. David muir is in naples. You started out in miami and moved west as the storm moved west. Now you are about to face the hardest hit. Reporter we are going to face this here, george. What they dont know is whether or not it will make landfall here or a little bit north of here or hug the coast all the way up and make landfall several hours later late into this evening. They simply do not know. They know all of these skphaoupbts up the coast are on that dangerous side of the hurricane, the northeastern quadrant if you will, where the winds and the storm surge are most dangerous. In fact, what you heard from governor rick scott right there is what he told me yesterday. It is what he is phoefd worrimo about. You heard the numbers. People who have is seen the flooding in miami and in south florida already should look at that and keepinmindthat is from a storm surge of 3 to 5 feet. The storm surge they are forecasting for this side of florida, the western side of florida right here in naples is anywhere between 10 and 15 feet. And in tampa, he talked about a storm surge not quite that high. Perhaps up to 8 to 10 feet. These are significant storm surges and, dreamily dangerous. He was talking to me this weekend. He said these are the kinds of things that destroy homes and can kill. In fact, he said the storm can come in and come in very quickly. The emergency manager a short time ago satalked about the possibility that the eye could be sitting right over naples. You get the false sense is of security when the winds die down. He said stay inside. Thats when the water could move in with lifethreatening consequences. So many across the state thank you very much, evacuated and are now in shelters. Victor kendall in one of those shelters right now, also in naples. Reporter inside we have lost power a number of times. We are not running off a generator. 400 people here, as well as their pets. A lot of people doing this. Talk a look right behind me. They have been watching the latest tracks and models nonstop. So many people here have the same story. They thought the storm was tracking east and they would be fine in this part of the state, the southwest part of the state. It changed friday when irma shifted. There was a mad dash to get to all open shelters. They opened up more shelters. Shelters in this part of the state at capacity. The main concern, david was talking about it, too the storm surge. Almost person here lives in a coastal community. If it was 10 feet, it would be absolutely devastating. Do the people in the shelter have everything they need right now . Reporter right now it looks like they packed up everything they could in time. They made their way over here. They are worried about their property at this point. They know the number one concern is safety. The north collier regional park, inside this Exhibition Center here. It is a very safe and secure spot. The generator is up and running. Number one, safety, and they know they have that here. Ginger zee talking about storm surge danger right now. We also have a danger of tornados. Reporter brandnew watch from vero beach, sarasota, jacksonville, brunswick, georgia. I imagine that they will extend it, and they have. Now we are concerned about onshore or waterspouts turning into tornados. Dont forget the east side. They will have plenty of threats too. This is from miami. Its tough to see. It is filling in very, very quickly. The storm surge, we have seen over five foot storm surge. We will see easily six feet in the miami area. 10 to 15, this is the number one killer. Back to the governor, rick scott, in tallahassee taking questions from reporters. Where are we now . The storm is just south of the naples area. I think its about 80 miles south or so. It will have an unbelievable impact. 10 to 15 feet of surge on ground level. It looks like a little bit less. Something close to that in ft. Myers. Weve added a lot of shelters. Weve done everything we can to open shelters. We worked to make sure people get food. We spent hours moving trying to move people it of assisted living locations, making sure they have the support they need. We still need more nurses to help our special needs patients. Right now you cant get out in many parts of the state because of the weather. But after this passes, we will need more volunteers. And i hope our people continue to volunteer because this is going to be weve got hopefully everybody survives the storm. Then we have to make sure everybody in tough shape afterwards we rescue them and start the process of restoring the state. I can tell you that im proud of everybody here at the Emergency Management team. Im proud of what the counties are doing. Im thankful the other states are offering resources. A lot of people will want to come in and help us, and i appreciate every one of them. Does that have an immediate effect or something that resolves itself . The request that went to the president today will have three components, public assistance which will assist governments at all different levels, state, local. It will assist charitable organizations, municipal and utilities. Thats going to be more some of it will have an immediate assist on debris removal and emergency action. Some will be longer term. Mitigation will allow us to harden against future storms. The one that will have the biggest impact is the individual assistance to go to individual floridians to help recover for this storm. That will be the most impactful right away. The storm hwhen the storm ha . Yes. It will take a few days. But it will be very quick. Governor, there was an 11 15 call which may have been the first time to see the first damage in miamidade and collier. New reports yet of the damage left after the storm passed by . Well, when we were on the call, clearly monroe needs a lot of support. Theyre not able to get out yet and really assess exactly what they need. There is a lot over u. S. 1. If you think what do we have to do down there. Get u. S. 1 open. Theres one road down there. Make sure all the bridges, you know, survive this. Because one bridge out everyone is stranded. The storm is still passing there. The storm surge, well see how bad that is down there. But you can watch what you see on tv, what you are hearing from miami, there is a lot of wind. They will get that same storm surge as the storm moves north. If youre in the panhandle, the storm is taking people by surprise. Tallahassee thought it would be a near miss. Now it is is kind of in the center of the cone. What preparations are being done as of right now, especially with gas . I know there is a shortage. We have been working on getting gas into the state this entire week. Unfortunately now our ports are closed. Tampa and Port Ever Glades are the primary ports for gas. We are working with them to make sure as soon as the storm passes we can get the ports open to get fuel here. Governor rick scott in tallahassee. Down to the keys. The governor was asking questions about the impact down there. It was hit so far. The first landfall early this morning. Monroe county. Were joined on the phone by bill south from the National Weather service. We talked to you at 6 00 a. M. Just as the storm was passing into the keys. It seems like the worst has passed right now. Tell us what youve gone through and what you have been able to assess so far. Right now the assessment is very little. We were just talking to some emergency personnel, Fire Department and whatnot. We were just getting ready to assess the damage. The only information we got is a hotel in key west next to niles auto lost its roof and lots of tree damage. Tree damage in duck avenue in key west. Now we are starting to get some photos from big pine key. It looks like lots of roof damage, tree damage there. Spill water there. About three feet or more. It should begin to recede in the next hour or two. And i know that some of the crew left behind in monroe county, fire and rescue, starting to work their way up the keys. The last we heard they were in boca chica key. We just saw lots of flooding in the streets of miami. Same conditions down there in the keys . Yeah. Yeah. We were expecting worstcase scenario, 10 foot storm surge above ground level. It looks like most of the heaviest surge was concentrated in the area like just east of the eyewall whenever it made landfall around big pine key. It looks like they got the brunt of the storm surge. It is just now beginning to recede to allow people to get out safely. Whats the weather like right now . What kind of conditions are you expecting the next several hours . It should wind down here as it moves further away from the florida keys. Maybe we get some rain bands here with Tropical Storm force wind gusts to probably minor Hurricane Force wind gusts. Some of the strongest bands look to be in the upper keys the rest of the remainder of the day. So things are winding down finally in the lower and middle keys as irma moves to the north away from the island chain. Boy, it sure does sound a lot calmer than it did several hours ago down there, bill. But a big, big job ahead. Oh, yeah. Its just begun. Nobody has power. Thats going beyond the damage. That will take days to restore at least. Youll need to get your Emergency Services personnel out there to do damage assessments to make sure all the roadways are safe before they will allow anybody to come back and look at their properties. Okay. Bill south, thank you very much for joining us so often this morning. Now to madeline wright. I believe you are out in the streets of miami . Reporter yeah, george. inaudible . I know the conditions are tough. Can you try to put your mike a little bit closer to your mouth to see if we can get better reception . Reporter i was saying the water is so deep. inaudible . There is going to be a huge cleanup effort as we continue. Conditions so huff at wplg. You can see that water in the streets of miami right now. Ginger, you have to emphasize again. This is part of the state that did not get the worst hit. Right. Theyre in the outer band still. Thats what you would consider. Thats what you get, a 94mileperhour wind gust. Streets flood anything downtown miami. I think thats what helps to understand. When you talk about how far they reached the hurricane wind gusts, 80 miles from each direction in the center. West palm beach through 9 00 p. M. Tonight, george, could see 81 Miles Per Hour. 85 in forth myers. Naples around 90. This is hours upon hours of the gusty winds. One of the reporters we had earlier was showing the street sign that had been ripped and ripped and ripped. Pieces will keep flying. These things deteriorate over time because they cant handle all the wind. I was just kind of looking on my radar. Naples is 60 miles north and west of where this storm is. It is moving at 9 00 Miles Per Hour north. So we have a couple of hours before it makes it there. But i just saw a tweet from nws miami. They said the water is three and a half feet down. The surge will start in naples now. It started even before the hurricane gets there full force. We want to go back to miami. Aim where row back is there and it has been kicking up the last hour even more, amy. Reporter thats right, george. The winds have intensified. Relentless in downtown miami. We are seeing all of these streets turning into rivers. Im standing here getting pelted with rain and wind. I actually tasted saltwater on my mouth, which would go to show we are also dealing with this storm surge being put up into the streets. Seawater is in the mix here. It is swirling around, creating so much havoc here in downtown miami. People are wave act me. Theyre standing outside. It looks like their lobby is about to flood. They dont have much longer until the entire lobby will be under water. You can see why now. This flooding is happening. Its just getting worse, george. Get inside, amy. We have the mayor of ft. Myers joining us now by phone. Mayor, we have seen tom out there in ft. Myers all through the morning. They are gusting, george, 40 to 50 for sure. What kind of conditions are you facing the next several hours . Whats your biggest concern . The deterioration of our weather pattern. Were bracing for a direct hit. Were bunk erred in. We will be glad when irma moves on. The initial tracks had this storm tracking further up on the east coast. Well, thats a great question. Predictions were showing right up the middle of the peninsula. One side of the storm was into the gulf of mexico. The other into the atlantic. We were always prepared for of worstcase scenario. So you have several hours ahead. What have you told the people of ft. Myers about the next few coming up . I assume everybody is in place right now and supposed to stay there . We are at the stage where it is not recommended that movement take place at this time. In a strange turn of fate, since the storm has tilt to the west, it relieved a little concern because we can given to receive supplies from the east and the northeast more readily. Early it was worried that the storm would consume the entire peninsula and there would be a great delay getting backup, supplies and aid from the north. Mayor, i know its going to be a harrowing several hours ahead. Thanks for your time. Now to tom yanes. Reporter my hat just flew up. We spoke maybe 15 minutes ago when we were broadcasting moments ago. We just hit 65 with our wind gauge. That means it is picking up 10 Miles Per Hour, those wind gusts, in 15 minutes. It tells you we are getting closer and closer to the Hurricane Force gusts. The wind line is blowing east to west. That is how the irma Hurricane Force winds. You can see the Straight Line of palm trees and how they are moving. We are in front of the marina. There is a father of storm surge. We are 10 feet up from where the water is. You can see the angry currents under the bridge that connects ft. Myers to cape coral. You can see the strong currents, the white caps. Every hour that water is getting higher and higher. This is a ghost town where we were. People were driving around earlier. We are not seeing people out anymore. It has gotten very dangerous. They are listening to ft. Myers mayor who we heard say stay off the roads. Florida Highway Patrol are tough customers. They are pulling all their troopers off the roads until the winds die down. Things are getting very dangerous. They will get much worse. We are only at 65 Miles Per Hour on the wind gusts. And irmaing we know is much more powerful than that. So it is just getting started, george. We are seeing the winds more powerful in miami. Back to geo benitez. Reporter we told you our buildings window was cracked. We are on the other side but we are getting an unbelievable picture if here. You see this behind me . Look at all that rain and wind being pushed. That is how strong these winds are right now. Lets see. Look at that oh, look at that. We have signs down. Look at whats happening with the trees down there. Now i want to turn around to this side. Lets bring the camera around to this side. Look at this. So you can see the wind is just coming from the other side of this building. It is very, very powerful. Still it is oh, look at this. We have flying debris all over the place. Can you see that . A giant branch flying in the air. This is an incredible situation here. You cant really see too much further past these buildings here. It is just entirely white past all of those buildings there. You just cant see, george. Gio, i think youre running on a generator right there. How much of miami is without power . Do you have any sense . The last i heard was a million. My dad lost power at my grandmothers house. A lot of miami is experiencing that. Unbelievably, in our building where we are right now, even though we have awe cracked window, we have not lost power. It flickering, though. I expect a lot of people to lose power. For fpl, the Third LargestPower Company in this country. So they have a lot of homes to deal with, george. Okay, gio, thanks very much much back here with ginger. We want to put up the map right there. A lot of red all across the state of florida. The whole state of florida in a hurricane warning or Tropical Storm watch al bees it except for the panhandle. South carolina, alabama included in the Tropical Storm watches. I really want to focus on naples. This is a city we know who is in the path of this storm, right . On this date, september 10th, which happens to be the peak of hurricane season, they had donna back in 1960. Anybody that remembers that or can give some reference, thats the last time they had something to look at like this. Now they see the eyewall. Naples has an extreme wind warning. That is for 115 plus Miles Per Hour winds. That is coming for you, tphaup els and the surrounding island. Marco island and the beaches around there. Not only just the storm surge but the wind gusts. We have seen 94mileperhour winds in miami. 109s in Pembroke Pines in broward county. That center is still just south. So just a couple of hours before we get to the peak of it. It goes to ft. Myers and kicks up the winds there. In the center state where we see the sand bar, that is going to be extremely windy. I heard someone talking about the agricultural loss. And West Palm Beach up to 81. With ta extreme wind warning in naples, we will see it eventually start to reduce and weaken a little bit. But because it is hugging that coastline, it has a lot of fuel from the ocean. Its a cat 4. So it takes time for this to die down. The winds so fierce in miami. I want to go there right now. We are joined on the phone with cord on the 54th floor of a highrise in miami and you actually felt the building sway . Caller thats correct. We actually feel it swaying. And it has been a little noisy in the last few hours. We are seeing the video now of what you shot. Caller right, right. The last few hours it has been even worse with the wind. We can feel it on the 50th floor. We also do have floortoceiling windows in the bedroom. It goes all the way out to the corner. And they should be hurricane proof up to category 3. We feel confident, though. You feel confident right now. But it must be frightening . Caller it is pretty frightening. I have never seen such bad weather before. And to see this, to see the wind blow up so much is unbelievable. Any part of you think about leaving miami . Caller im sorry . Did you think about evacuating, or were you pretty determined to see this storm through . Caller he well, we decided to stay because we received information that our building is hurricane proof. If we had a second chance, i probably would have left. We are going to stay inside the next coming days. The building has made a lockdown. So we cant come out unless its an emergency. The elevators are down. So if we need to go down, we need to take the stairs, and thats a long way. So the elevators arent working at all right now. I was wondering about that. Ive got to say as much confidence as i would have is in a building like that, i think i would head to the ground floor. Caller they have cut it down to security reasons. We do have electricity in the building. It cuts off once in a while. Okay. Thank you very much for your time. Stay safe there in miami. Ginger, we have also been talking about tornado warnings. Palm bay, at least six homes were damaged. That was palm bay. Around orlando, reports of damage. You can see the two warnings on the map that are red. Just north of daytona. Brunswick, ga about is included in this tornado watch that extends to ft. Myers and sarasota. Actually, thats the woman who saw the damage from the tornados in orlando. You are so close to the river here. Did you think it wouldnt be that bad . We didnt lose power until 10 47. I was sleeping. Thats when i woke up. I went outside to smoke and thats when i heard that sound of that train. And i knew. I said thats not the same sound. I ran screaming, through the glass door. We watched everything start to bend and slide, ran into the inside bathroom. And just im so sorry. I just feel so bad for my friends. They werent in there, were they . Theyre snowbirds. Shes in north carolina. But hes here. He had to leave. I dont know how bad it is. Do you have anywhere you can go . We have the clubhouse. We were going to go stay with a friend tonight because it wasnt supposed to come until tonight. But tornados, theres no warning. I spoke to your niece. They walked to the house. I have to go get my husband and pack some things, okay . Can i get your name so i have them. Grimes. And my husband is roger. And youre lynn . Yes. Hundreds if not thousands of stories across the state of florida. Right now so much destruction from the wind, from the rain, from the tornados, ginger. And hearing a story like that, the warnings do pop up quickly. You have a short amount of time to get to that interior bathroom. Im glad she did what she had to do. Im seen the images from that very neighborhood. What i dont like to see, actually, is that people are out there right now. Its not over you can get another outer band that pushes northward. The storm is not over for a very long time. Everyone should be interior everywhere in the state of florida all the way through today, into early tomorrow. If you take it through the timing, this is good to see. I believe she is in palm or just between there and orlando. 6 00 p. M. Tonight, they are seeing the potential for more tornados. So you dont want to be surveying any damage thats already happened. It is then north of naples after the dinner time hour getting into tampa bay. The center of it starting to really fall apart. And then cedar key to tallahassee as we start 7 00 a. M. Mop. A lot of things will be changing as far as school starting, the panhandle or up in south georgia, thats not going to happen. Heavy rains in alabama from birmingham to atlanta by monday night. And thats a drive time again. It will eventually get wrapped up with another system. We talked so much about storm surge, so much about wind, tornados. Dont forget about rain. Anyone anywhere in florida right now, stay inside. Stay indoors. And he is not inside. He is outside in naples, florida. Reporter hey, george. We talked about getting that nudge from Hurricane Irma. Now, this is like a jab. We are getting pelted with this rain and wind gusting at 50, 60 Miles Per Hour. I want you to look at something. That American Flag has been our major inaudible theres a gust right there. It is likely going to snap. See what the wind is doing to the palm trees. It is is also happening on the ground. Rain has been coming down for multiple hours now. Water is starting to pool in places. We havent started to see that storm surge forecast to be 10 to 15 feet. This is nothing of what is coming the next few hours. People south of here told take shelter now. Find concrete. If you cant, find a bathroom. The hurricanes sucking the water out of the bay. Thats what creates the storm surge. Reporter thats right. It is is whipping on the other end. Once the storm passes, that is when the biggest threat from the storm surge is going to hit. Ginger talked about it. David talked about it. You mentioned it. The biggest threat is when the winds actually subside. What ends up happening is people go out and say, oh, the worst has passed. Thats when the storm surge comes. Tonight is the biggest storm surge is forecast for dont. People may not be able to see the water encroaching. The force of trillions of gallons, quadrillions can decimate cars, the house. It is an unstoppable object, george. A few hours from now you will not be able to be in these streets. Thanks very much. Ginger, we have the entire day ahead. And then weeks, if not months, of recovery in the state of florida. Right. Bill south was saying, a couple of days. A lot of Power Companies have been saying not with this type of wind. And not because we have such a large area that can be affected. It could be weeks before people get powerback. The water tkreupbs quickly here. It doesnt come from down street. Youre not going to have 50 inches like harvey. But wul have a couple of days where its dangerous to even get outdoors. The power line shown earlier. Those are live for 24 hours until officials can get out there. Then including all the hurricane warnings and the storm surge warnings that cover and smother the state of florida. Its not over with once it is past tampa. You will still have heavy rains. Jacksonville floods very easily you. I was there for Tropical Storm beryl five years or so again. That took only a couple of inches of rain. They had major issues from that. Savannah, back to atlanta and the Tropical Storm watch and warnings. This is a large storm. We talked about the breadth of it. The winds go 160 miles across. That is a large force of Hurricane Force winds. That is 74 plus. We know plus in this case means up to 120 and even 130. Which is why we have heard from official after official, florida has never seen anything quite like this. David muir in naples. Reporter hey, george. You can see the winds are really picking up in naples right now. I just got off the phone myself with gingers weather team in new york talking about the pacing of this. They expect ferocious winds to get here even sooner than earlier predicted. Just the sound of it. I dont know if you can hear it from a microphone. The National Weather service put out a warning. I tweeted it for those of you following us on twitter. As of noon today a negative surge. This is something we have been talking about in our coverage all day long. When this hurricane gets closer and theyre not sure if the eye will be directly over naples but it will be very close. The water will get pulled out. A three and a half foot negative surge at first. And then once that water comes rushing back in, it could be anywhere between 10 and 15 feet above ground. That is the real concern here. The governor told me repeatedly that is most concerned about. We carried it live. We are talking to all the people, particularly on this western coast to take this very seriously. The eyewall is coming so close to naples that they talked about that notion that when the eye is over you, it all of a sudden feels as though its very calm and that it might be clear to go back outside. What they know everyone to know not to go outside if that is the case. Thats when the water can come rushing in and can be most dangerous. As you know, ginger has been telling us the surge can happen with two waves as the hurricane hits. The incredible thing is when we compare this to harvey, its moving faster through the state. It is not sitting stationary, a multiday event. For the people here in naples, ft. Myers, tampa, sarasota, and over inside this arena, the people who evacuated, it reminds me of katrina and i was in the superdome and the top of the superdome began to peel off in the winds. I was there with all of these families who brought their belongings, the few things they could carry. I feel for the people who will spend hours of enduring these winds of 100 Miles Per Hour or more. That is expected. The last advisory we received was 115 Miles Per Hour, gusting perhaps even higher than that once irma gets closer. And you can see behind me here we are broadcasting as many have broadcast throughout the day from a building. We are up a safe distance from any surge that would be below us and surrounded for the most part by these concrete walls here. Obviously once the winds get up to 110, 125 Miles Per Hour, we might be talking to george from a telephone inside a stairwell inside this building. We talked the entire crew through these safety procedures. Obviously we dont want to put anyone at risk. Were here to inform. But if it gets to be as bad as theyre telling us, we might have to take precautions here. No unnecessary risks. Thank you very much. Up the coast now to tampa. T. J. Holmes is there. I was talking to senator marco rubio earlier this morning and this afternoon and he said this is the worst kaecase scenario tampa. If it looks okay right now, just wait a few hours. It looks okay now. But it is going to be a few hours away from getting the worst of it. We have had some of the heaviest rain we have seen in the past half hour. Some of the worst we have seen all day. The winds are starting to pick up a bit. Strangely enough, you know what else is pigging up . Traffic. They have been telling people to be off the road. They told them at noon, you dont need to be at the road. I have seen more foot traffic. People walking up and down. Just had a family come by and say, yeah, we live on the six account floor. Were just going to ride it out. They are encouraging people to get where you are going to be and stay there. No more. The message is stay put. David was just talking about this. This negative surge. This is an illustration of it. If you can zoom in on that corner of sand. You can see a little sand. It is dry at the top and the wet on the rest of the sand. All the water was up at the top just a few hours ago. Weve lost that much. This is the Hillsboro River here. It dumps by. You talk about the water being sucked out. We have watched it literally happen the last few hours. Give people some perspective on why the anxiety is what it is here in tampa and the whole tampa bay area. It is going to hit the east coast, the east side of florida. They woke up saturday to this new reality. Oh, i need to prepare . I need to evacuate. That was one part of it. The other part is this area is prone to flood anyway. It is ranked one of the top places in the world that is prone to flooding. Yes, the tampa bay area. And the third thing now, george, is they have had to sit and watch for hours whats happening to their brethren down south florida. They are sitting here and waiting for their turn. So miami, other places south that are taking the type of hit that tampa is going to take. They are having to sit and wait and watch. Is that going to happen to us . Were going to get worse hit than that. That is just increasing the anxiety around these parts. And, again, i dont know exactly where these folks might be going. Nobody was on the streets earlier. Strangely enough, traffic has picked up. Thats exactly what they have been telling people what to do. You need to be where you are going to be and stay there. A lot of people sending things out and trying to get to a safe place. They may be stir crazy but it seems strange to be outside. Earlier i was speaking with the former fema administrator. One of the things he was saying, t. J. , places like tampa will have to rethink what they do, what kind of buildings they have after a storm like this just like miami did after hurricane andrew. Caller what do you do there, george . When this is a beautiful area on most days. Everybody wants to live here. It is densely populated. It is booming. You know construction is going on. There was a 3 billion project approved not too long ago that is going to come out in phases the next 10 years. They are adding 9 million square feet of commercial and r residential space. You know where it will be . Right here on the water. They havent had a major category 3 plus store in 100 years. We talked about people having amnesia. You dont even know what happened it happened so long ago. Look around. Its on the water. Restaurants, hotel. Swing behind me, joe. Thats a hospital right there. You swing around here, those are condos. What are you supposed to do . What plan are you supposed to have . You cannot throw a sandbag at your door when your door is 10 feet from a body of water. Its not going to save you. So you talk about rethinking. I dont know how you rethink that when so many people want to live in an area thats beautiful and for the last 100 years hasnt had anything like theyre going to get today. In just a few hours. In st. Petersburg. You were telling us some were thinking about staying in boats in that marina there. Reporter yeah. Some of them were evacuating. There were several people still trying to decide whether it was worth evacuating. Sheriffs had to tell a father that they were going to take his 10yearold son. He could stay on the boat but the kid had to go with them. He either had to let his son go or stay on the boat alone. He did go with the sheriffs deputies to a shelter. They are getting them to evacuate. Youre in a mandatory evacuation zone. Theyre not enforcing it. They want people to leave because its not on safe. So one of the things they have been doing is going around, encouraging them to leave. At this point they have 17,000 people in the shelters in pinellas county. That is 60 of their shelter capacity still available. There is still a lot of room for people in these shelters. Only one of their shelters is full. They are really encouraging people to get to a shelter while its still safe. We are supposed to start to see the Tropical Force Winds about 2 00 here. And once those winds pick up, it will then be unsafe for people to get out on the road and get to a shelter which would be a safer place to be. At that point, once the winds start to hit 40, 50 Miles Per Hour, all of these Law Enforcement officers will be pulled off the street. There will be nobody to go help you if you find yourself in a situation where you need some help. They will have to wait until the wind calms down to be able to go back out to help people. And theyre already thinking about what theyre going to do after the storm. They are expected there will be widespread Power Outages in this area. They are starting to see some Power Outages. You heard t. J. Talked about the water being sucked out of the bay into the gulf. We were seeing that here in the marina just a short time ago. The bridge we had to cross was completely dry underneath. The water was gone. Some of the boats were almost on dry land or on dry land right near the bridge. You could literally see the water has disappeared and is being sucked out. But that water is going to be coming back in. They are encouraging people to not get too comfortable with this idea that flooding isnt an issue because you are seeing the water go away right now. The water is a risk as it comes back in. They are expecting the storm surge for 12 hours. We are starting to feel the Hurricane Force winds at 7 00. They really want people to listen. They have been begging people the last 24 hours, do the smart thing. Get to a safe place. This is not something that you want to risk riding out in the wrong place, george. Thanks very much. 40mileperhour winds, ginger, are the trigger for all police and Law Enforcement to go inside. Some have faced higher than that. Its not going to stop. Its going to go up to 120 or 130. Thats why we have that extreme wind warning. Now we have the area highlighted in hot pink there. Thats for 115 plus. So that lightning filled outer wall is now approaching. And less than 50 miles from naples at my last little distance calculator. Marco island will get it first to bonita springs, and cape coral. We will stay with your coverage all day long on abc news. You can download the app for breaking news alerts. We will have a special edition of world news tonight and 20 20 at 7 00 eastern. In just a minute we will take a quick break. Some of our stations will leave us. Our coverage here of Hurricane Irma will continue on abc news. Were back now. Coverage of Hurricane Irma here on abc news. So much destrictive capacity with this storm. The entire state of florida is at risk now. Were now seeing the hurricane move Straight North heading towards the west coast. We wont see a new path for it until 5 00 p. M. We can see it with our own eyes. You can see the center of the hurricane thats made its way past the keys which is not out of the woods. They will get the backside wood and still have a storm surge potential. You see it approaching naples and marco island. At the same time the outer bands have been producing up to 109 miles an hour