Week long. The situation in tampa is watching and waiting. Some of the outer bands of the storm have brought some light rains compared to what is to come. And people here know that. The story, the pictures we have been watching out of miami on brickell boulevard, water just pouring down the street. Thats where we find our john berman right now. John, i mean you know, again, the people in tampa who luckily still have electricity are able to watch some of those images youve been bringing coming out of miami. Its extraordinary what they have seen. And they know that is coming here, and likely even worse. Yeah, i hope theyre watching and getting the warning that they should be inside, that they should heed the warnings, the calls to evacuate from the officials there in tampa. Anderson, im holding in my hand parts of a plastic light that just snapped off a little bit down the way there and flew at me. I thought it was glass, and thankfully its not. Its just plastic. But you can see the debris is a real concern here. Not to mention the storm surge. You saw the pictures from brickell boulevard. Feet of water now down that main drag in downtown miami. Behind me you can see the water lapping up over that dock, covering several docks here. The water has gone up several feet here right by the bay where i am standing at this point. Weve also had serious issues not just with flooding downtown but also a crane, a partial collapse of a crane on biscayne boulevard. Rosa flores has been watching it all in downtown miami. Rosa. Hey, john. Here the headlines are cracking cranes, flooding, ponding, surge, and wind tunnels. Thats what were seeing. Now, take a look around me. This is a street now turned a pond. For people who are aware of where this area is, this is the Publix Grocery store. Im about three to four blocks from the ocean. And what were seeing at this hour is the storm surge. Storm surge coming onto land, and then additional ponding because of the raining thats coming down and the streets not draining. Now, the other issue that were seeing in this area, of course, are the cracked cranes. Those cranes we were told were supposed to stain winds of up to 145 miles an hour. City officials said there was no time to remove because they needed at least two weeks to move them. Now weve seen the danger wheres, the failure of those cranes that are very close to high rises where people live. Huge concern, of course, because city officials asked those people to evacuate for that very reason. One of the other things were seeing here, people trying to walk through these streets, drive through these streets at this hour while irma is here. Thats what were seeing and thats what were experiencing. Im going to walk over here to see if we can take a look. This is closer to the ocean. And what weve seen is this water that keeps on ponding. Again, the storm surge coming onto brickell. This is the financial district in miami. Water on streets that are not supposed to be on this street of course. Ponding that is happening. And as more rain comes down, as debris comes down, these drains are being plugged and the water does not drain off. Now, miami, it needs to be drained on a normal day. So john, when we are seeing surge, when we are seeing rain and debris clog drains, a very serious issue, a very serious concern of course here in miami as we continue to get pounded by rain and as the surge continues to come onto land. John. Yeah, and the bad news there, rosa, is chad myers told us not long ago we can expect five more hours of it here in miami. Thats even before it comes up the west coast where it could be even worse. Every time i feel im suffering here in miami as the wind comes down where im standing right now, i just think of kyung lah who is out there in miami beach, which is an island just off where im standing right here whos getting it even worse than we are. Lets go to her if she can hear me. Kyung. Its pelting rain and conditions as conditions deteriorate out here at miami beach. It looks very bad. It feels very bad. But one thing we want to tell you is we just spoke with the mayor of miami beach. And he says his city is in remarkably good shape especially considering how much rain and the beating of winds that theyre getting here. What theyve seen is downed power lines, debris, some over night rescues. The city has been responding very, very well. Hes very pleased. They have not had a massive amount of flooding here. The storm surge has been remarkably forgiving. We are seeing some water come in on the beach. But generally, there hasnt been any major flooding here. The mayor says the curfew will go back into effect tonight for anyone who remains here in miami. Beach. And Something Else we do want to point out, even though clearly you cant get around in this weather, the mayor says that the bridge between miami and miami beach, those connectors, those roads are being cut off. People are not being allowed in or out out of abupdanndance of safety. John, anderson. Kyung, thank you very much. I just want to give you a sense of tampa. Were on the river walk here, and we have been watching and i want chad myers to see this, because chad has been talking about this phenomenon. We have been watching the water being sucked out on Hillsborough River. The water has lowered while we have been standing here over the last several hours. And of course that water, once the storm surge starts to come in, all that water is going to come back. And its going to come back hard. And the potential flooding here in tampa is major concern. I just talked to the mayor a short time ago. A year ago he had warned of the effects of a cat 3 storm hitting tampa, something they hadnt seen since 1921. He had warned of a potential 15 feet of water by tampa around city hall. Chad myers, the weather center, that storm surge we can expect here in tampa, that people here in naples can expect and here in fort myers, its going to be happening most likely in the darkness. And often correct me if im wrong here, after the hours of the biggest Hurricane Force winds have come through. No question about it. The storm surge will happen when you think the storm is over. Because were on the wrong side of what we always think about hurricane landfall. Were on the west side of an island or peninsula, whatever, were typically talk about an east coast landfall and the surge comes in with the eye. The eye is going to go by, suck out all the water, and then the wind is going to get calm. And then had wind is going to blow back here at 120 miles an hour. And when it blows back, its going to blow back all that water thats now piling up offshore. Its called a very shallow area, kind of a shoal out there. But its a lot of sand. You could go on a boat for 40 miles before you actually find any depth out here. All kind of sand. That shallowness will push that water quickly back up into tampa as the storm goes by. And yes, youre thinking oh, this is finally over. But if you are by the water in tampa, it is not over. Now, lets go back to what the mayor said. A direct hit by a cat 3, what does that look like . A direct hit by a cat 3 comes in off the gulf of mexico and slams into punels county or Something Like that so the spin of the storm pushes all the water into tampa. That is plot what were seeing here. This is not a direct hit. Our storm is coming in this direction. So were going to push all the water out, then were going to push it back in. But only 5 to 8 feet. And i think thats a very good number. And the mayor was correct, if the storm was slightly off sheer, then all of a sudden we could get a bigger push back. Now, down here in naples and fort myers, 5 to 8 is not the right number. You guys especially from cape coral, punta gourda southward, youre 10. And even more youre 10. I know there are people hanging out on that island. I dont know get it. At some point in time that window is going to stop. Youre not going to be able to get off the island at all. The entire island is going to be covered in water. Theres not going to be any roadway thats not wet with saltwater. And if youre in a high rise, all your equipment down stairs is going to wet. Everything electrical, everything hvac, everything you need to be comfortable is going to be wrecked. And youre still going to be on island and not going foobe able to get off. Thats the west coast. Rights now the east coast is getting pounded. And were seeing the surge all the way up it the coast, all the way along the intercoastal waterway, thats where its getting water now. Some spots will get 6 feet, then all of a sudden theres water in everything. Chad, we want to start checking in with those reportersen the east coast of florida. Bryan todd is standing by in west palm beach. How are things there . Anderson, were getting pounded with some of the early stages of Hurricane Force winds here. Were now in the window in the next several hours where were going to get the most intense storm surge this area is going to see. The storm surge is just allowing the water of the intercoastal waterway to pound up against that walkway there. And the mayor of west palm beach, i justed to her on the phone, she told me shes really concerned about flooding. Its going to probably inundate this area where area. Shes worried about this drive, flagler drive getting flooded. And the wind intensity has really picked up in the last 145 minutes. These palm trees are really starting to get compromised. Palm fronds and coconuts are starting to become projectiles. Theyre flying all over the place here. And just below it you see street signs wobbling. And even these sturdy expansions behind me with the streetlights on them, are starting to wobble. So thats a real concern. Were basically in the window now where people call 911 and theyre not going to be able to come out and get them. He said theres a big concern about the construction cranes like the one in miami that snapped or at least cracked, theres one over here. The chief assured me these are secured, that the tops of them are pulling with the wind. So theyre supposed to do that. Theyre supposed to go around like a weather vane. They are pulling with the wind. Theyre in good shape. And i think one of the experts said that people hadnt evacuated these buildings next to the cranes. Well, some people did evacuate. There were under a voluntary evacuation notice. Some of them got out, some did not. But the people who did not those living in these apartment buildings have told us theyre concerned its going to hit their apartment buildings. But right now the chief has told me right now theyre going to stay in place. Appreciate that. And places like tampa and all the cities of florida have seen such a real estate boom over the last couple of years. Right in tampa right over by the Hillsborough River, we have two cranes over here. And they werent expecting as big a storm that was going to hit tampa. Assuming those have been secured as best they can, obviously people that live around here, have stayed around here are going to continue to watch. Theyre off, above 15 feet or so, above 20 feet. They feel pretty confident. We talked to a lot of people. A lot of people Walking Around right now as one of the outer band of the storm has passed by, the rain has really stopped, its pretty calm. People are trying to walk their dogs, stretch their legs because theyve been hunkered down in their homes. Chris cuomo down in naple, we were talking about the potential storm surge, and naples really is facing that potential of 10 to 15 feet of storm surge. And that freaky phenomenon of the water getting sucked out by that counterclockwise force where on the east coast, the east part of the storm, the waters getting dumped back in. And the energys coming from the west side, the left side of the storm. We saw that here. The water level has gone out. And while i have you, that project phoenix, about what could happen in tampa bay, that is some really startling stuff about the vulnerabilities of where you are and development of water level and how the infrastructure is sold. A lot of those principles apply here. Everything has changed here, my friend. The difference in those 200 miles between the two of us right now, this is headed your way, of course, but its really different right now. Were in that snap, crackle and pop phase where the trees are starting to come down, the transformers are starting to do their thing. And youre in that eerie sequence of noises where youre trying to get a feel of where its softened up so you can calculate whats happening. I just saw a couple trees go down away from us, and then you get hit on whts goiats going o side. Yeah, the project phoenix report can which crist referenced just for our viewers not familiar with it, that was a report done kind of to predict the effects i believe it was of a cat 5 storm hitting tampa. But, again, even a cat 3 storm is not something anybody woo lives here in tampa, who grew up here in tampa, has ever seen before. 1921 was a last time a major storm like that hit directly in tampa. Chris, as you know, hurricane charlie back in 2004 was expected to come here. It turned in the last minute and really decimated punta gourda. There are a lot of concerns here, and the mayor has voiced them time and time again of the effects of flooding and the storm surge. Even with the areas around here in florida, tampa bay, they have problems with flooding. And over the years the level of tampa bay has just naturally increased. So as those higher winds come in, theres more water in tampa bay now than in previous decades, to come inland in part of that storm surge. So theres certainly a lot of concern, and its justifiable concern. We dont want to make things sound worse than theyre going to be, but this is not a storm than anyone here in tampa has seen and what it might do to this city, to clear water, to hillsborough. Youve got to keep in mind theres some 700 miles of coastline around tampa bay. Its an extraordinarily beautiful area, and a lot of homes are builtup very, very close to the water. Not very raised up, not very high elevation cross the water. So theres a lot of concern. And the mayors house on davis island, just south of hereby hillsborough bay, he said his home might be destroyed. If theres a significant storm surge, his home might be swamped. Were going to take a short break, and our coverage continues. woman when you have type 2 diabetes, theres a moment of truth. And now with victoza®, a better moment of proof. Victoza® lowers my a1c and blood sugar better than the leading branded pill, which didnt get me to my goal. Lowers my a1c better than the leading branded injectable. The one i used to take. Victoza® lowers blood sugar in three ways. And while it isnt for weight loss, victoza® may help you lose some weight. Noninsulin victoza® comes in a pen and is taken once a day. announcer victoza® is not recommended as the first medication to treat diabetes and is not for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. Do not take victoza® if you have a personal or Family History of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to victoza® or any of its ingredients. Stop taking victoza® and call your doctor right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck or if you develop any allergic symptoms including itching, rash, or difficulty breathing. Serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis, so stop taking victoza® and call your doctor right away if you have severe pain in your stomach area. Tell your doctor your medical history. Taking victoza® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. The most common side effects are headache, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting. Side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. Nows the time for a better moment of proof. Ask your doctor about victoza®. The whole country booking on Choice Hotels. Com. Four words, badda book. Badda boom. Let it sink in. Shouldnt we say we have the lowest price . Nope, badda book. Badda boom. Have you ever stayed with Choice Hotels . Like at a comfort inn . Yep. Free waffles, cant go wrong. I like it. Promote that guy. Get the lowest price on our rooms, guaranteed. When you book direct at choicehotels. Com. Book now. Tech when you schedule with safelite autoglass, you get time for more life. This family wanted to keep the game going. Son hey mom, one more game . Tech with safelite, you get a text when were on our way. You can see exactly when well arrive. Mom sure. Bring it tech im micah with safelite. Mom thanks for coming, its right over here. Tech giving you a few more minutes for what matters most. Take care family bye kids singing safelite® repair, safelite® replace. Beneful grain free is so healthy. Oh farmraised chicken mmm. Thats some really good chicken. I dont think ive ever tasted chicken like this. What . Here come the accents. Blueberries and pumpkin. Wow. That was my favorite bite so far. Not even kidding. I mean that was. Oh spinach mmm. Thats like three super foods. Pretty, uh, well. Super. Now i got kind of a pumpkin, chicken thing going on. Whoop time to wrestle. avo new beneful grain free. Out with the grain, in with the farmraised chicken. Healthful. Flavorful. Beneful. All right, john berman in miami right now. Standing in the middle of Hurricane Irma, which has been striking florida now for it feels like days. Its really been since last night when we felt the force of this storm starting to come onshore. The eye wall passed over the florida keys at about 9 00 this morning, and its just been pounding the entire part of the southern peninsula now for hours. And our chad myers we can expect the Tropical Storm force winds, really Hurricane Force winds in miami for several more hours. And the impact is being felt in very, very specific and dangerous ways now. Number one, there was a crane collapse in downtown miami on biscayne boulevard 300. A crane collapsed, a boon fell down there. Theres been pictures of that. We do not know how safe that area is. Authorities have warned people not it go anywhere near it. And then,the storm surge. Brickell avenue, a lot of people know brickell avenue right now covered in water. They had predicted 3 to 6 feet of storm surge. Our chad myers says the number is at 5 1 2. That number has been enough to flood part of the downtown area right now. That part was part of the mandatory evacuation zone. So this is exactly what they feared might happen, exactly what they predicted might happen. All right, right now what i want to do is go down to the florida keys. Our bill wier has been down in the keys for days now. We have not heard from you in a couple of hours. I asked my producer to check on you. Give me a sense of whats happening there, bill . I appreciate the concern. We were finding a safer spot 3467 we were getting a little worried about where we were. We found a little better bunker on i guess the west side of key largo. This is the top of the keys, the upper keys. What were really worried about meanwhile, the winds here have sustained 60, 70 miles an hour. Were seeing 80 mile an hour gusts. What were really worried about are the lower keys. All right, bill wier in key largo. I confess, bill, i was having a hard time making out exactly what youre saying. But i take it as good news youre saying anything at all right now. The eye wall did pass the florida keys about 70 miles from where bill is right now, key largo, one of the northern most keys. The eye wall passed much further south from that. Now to rosa flores in downtown miami seeing this storm surge fir firsthand. What are you seeing . Both the storm surge is ponding is what were seeing here in brickell, which is the financial district. Just to give you a lay of the land, im right feks next to th Publix Grocery store. And were seeing a double punch. First of all, the ocean coming onto land probably about three to four streets from inocean. The ocean is to my left. Were seeing that come onto land, and then of course the ponding. Ponding on these streets because a lot of the debris thats been flying around is now blocking those drains. Now, im going to pan the camera over here so you can see what it looks like closer to the ocean. This is in the direction of the ocean. Were seeing a lot of that water come in. Before we moved to this location, there was a building whose first floor was already taking in that water, the surge. That lower floor where usually its usually a dock where they park the vehicles taking on water. Why because the ocean comes onto land in these types of conditions. Were also seeing wind gusts. Were seeing wind tunnels because this is the downtown area, because there are high rises here. Now, weve also seen people who did not evacuate, even though people were told to evacuate in this area. Some of them Walking Around, others driving around. One of them speeding down the water that was right next to our live position. Not recommended according to First Responders. Now, john, there is a drainage system that is designed to drain water out here. At this hour being tested both by surge and ponding water. John. Thats right, not to mention all the debris that is clogging those drains right now. Rosa, great advice. Dont try to drive through the flooded streets. It is the worst thing you can do. You simply cannot tell how deep the water is. If you havent evacuated and chosen to stay at home, stay inside. Especially in the miami area right now, ride out this storm. And if you havent evacuated, dont try to get home. Still too dangerous. The First Responders wont even go outright now because the winds are too strong at this point. Hurricane irma battering south florida right now. Miami getting the worse of it as we stand here. This storm moving up the west coast. Very soon naples next in the target. Stay with cnns special live coverage of Hurricane Irma. Well be right back. We were in a german dance group. I wore lederhosen. So i just started poking around on ancestry. Then, i decided to have my dna tested through ancestry dna. It turns out im scottish. So, i traded in my lederhosen for a kilt. Whats going on . Oh hey thats it . Yeah. Everybody two seconds dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance. Through the Tuition Assistance program, every day mcdonalds helps more people go to college. Its part of our commitment to being americas best first job. Custom tshirts and other great products for all of lifes events. Get Free Shipping and ontime delivery guaranteed. [ all shouting, cheering ] start today at customink. Com. Im proud to make dog chow in vodavenport, iowa. An. Dog chows been a part of my familys life for over 40 years. My grandfather made it and now im making it. As a microbiologist i ensure that dog chow leads with high quality ingredients. When only the best will do. One of a kind tempurpedic delivers. Only tempur material precisely conforms to your weight, shape and temperature. It provides up to twice as much pressure relieving power, so you wont toss and turn. And tempurpedic is the best at minimizing motion transfer from your partner. Youll wake up, feeling like a champion. Now through september 17th, save up to 500 on select adjustable sets. Find your exclusive retailer at tempurpedic. Com sfx tmobile mnemonic sfx tmobile mnemonic sfx tmobile mnemonic tmobiles unlimited now includes netflix on us. Thats right, netflix on us. Get four unlimited lines for just forty bucks each. Taxes and fees included. And now, netflix included. So go ahead, binge on us. Another reason why tmobile is americas best unlimited network. Sfx tmobile mnemonic well, were dealing with an unfortunate reality here in naples, florida. Thats the west coast, the particularly vulnerable coast. Places like this already very low to the water, already spongy, cant take much flood waters, storm surge. And thats exactly what were going to get. The waters been sucking out. As those winds move counter clockwise, it gives on one side, takes away on the other. So all this water is going to come back and then some. Thats the concern here. It has picked up remarkably in the last hour. Were getting gusts here reported 70 miles an hour and in excess. And were in what we call the snap, crackle and pop phase here in naple. Branches, trees, transformers. And you start looking around to figure out where theyre coming from so you know where the danger is. Theres a lot of trees down here. Theres a lot of debris, but were worried about a higher level of damage. So lets get to chad myers right now. Chad, the simple question is what happened . We were expecting this some hours from now. And all of a sudden its pretty close to what were seeing in miami in the maine. I mean it has gotten much worse here, much snottier in a very quick time. And expected to almost double from there. I mean thats what this major hurricane means to you, chris. You just had a wind gust of 71. Wind gusts may be there at 120. Now, the force of 120 is maybe double the force of 70. It is a force that is multiplied by itself. It is wind speed squared. So you really have to expect whats going on there. The water near chris now 4 1 2 feet below where it should be, and its going to come rushing back as soon as that eye gets by. There goes the eye right through sarasota and tampa, and maybe even up through st. Marks, which i was there for ivan. The second landfall. The first one was just to the east of key west. There is the spin of the storm right there pushing the water away from naples, pushing the water away from tampa. But that will end as soon as the eye goes by. Tampa, you still have eight hours or so before the eye goes by. Significant rain and stormy weather. Thats still going to happen for the next few hours. Move you ahead three hours, the storm spins and the naples is in the eye. So chris cuomo will see wind at 120 going from east to west. Well wait a while and go to zero. And then itll come from the other direction at about 180 miles an hour. So whats blowing one way will get picked up and knocked around and blow the other way. For sarasota, tampa, same story. So the wind goes and does its damage, stops and comes back around. Even though theres not much wind here, theres still going to be damaging wind speeds at least 90 Miles Per Hour on the backside of that. Chris, you have a question. Yeah, the storm surge, chad, thank you for explaining that exchange of energy and that phenomenon of pulling the water out. But do me a favor, try to quantify what that return will look like in terms of how far it could go from where it usually is in shore. We talking 100 feet in, couple of blocks in . Like how far in will people have to look at standing water, and how long can it be around . Its all about the topography of where you live. If youre on a very sharp angle to water, it may only come back one or two blocks. But theres no real mountains there, nothing elevated there. It is going to spread inhand for city blocks and maybe miles before it finally stops. As the storm goes by, the wind changes direction. And this is what the weather service, the National Hurricane center has been so concerned about. In fact, they gave us a perjury phone call and said we want you to stress this. Yes, this is it. Yes, things will get knocked down by the wind, but the surge will kill people. And they want everybody to know that. This is the real deal. 10 to 15 feet on top of what should be mean sea level. Which, for chris, its already 4 feet down because winds blowing the wrong way. This is major event for marco, santa bell, punta gorda, where we were years ago, all the way through fort myers and the like. Big time places that are never seen water before. Theres storm surge, but depending on the force of the winds there can be waves on top of that, correct the. The waves will come in from the ocean off the gulf of mexico at about 100 Miles Per Hour. The backside of the eye never recovered from hitting cuba. And i guess were going to thank some stars for america, but were going to have to help cuba, because they got hit by a 160 mile per hour cat 5 that took the stuffing out of this storm. Thats why were not talking 160, were talking 125. Big difference in power, big difference in damage. The northern part of the cuban keys were really destroyed from this storm. Taking the energy from irma putting it onto cuba proper and taking that Energy Damage away from america. It finally moves up to albany and makin and the like. And well have hurricane wind gusts even here in atlanta. I know that seems ridiculous because everybody left and went to atlanta or charlotte or williamsburg or someplace like that to the north. Chad, appreciate that. Really nice to get that level of detail because that is what people all throughout this region are looking for now, trying to absorb every detail, every data point they can to help make decisions. I want to go to marquez who was there in punta gorda. He was there yesterday as well. Its so interesting to be in tampa and talk about punta gorda. Back when hurricane charlie was coming up and supposed to hit tampa, and ended upturning and hitting punta gorda and really decimating that town. What are the concerns there . What were seeing right now, youll be seeing very shortly. The winds here are about 40 Miles Per Hour. They are sustained. They are gutting up into the 50s. Were seeing some of the worst weather weve seen so far. It is shelter in place for charlotte county. And they were just talking about the wind effect on the bays and water here. I want to show you this. Two boats. You think theyre floating. Theyre not. Move in there and these are actually in mud now. You come over to the right here, you can see how much of the bay is actually exposed. And all of that is just low lying water on mud, essentially. And that is flowing across the mud. And all that water is going out. So what goes out, must come back in eventually. And they are expecting things a little bit better here. Theyre expecting the winds to top out at about 110 miles an hour in punta gorda with gusts up to 135. So a little better than we were yesterday. Theyre also expecting the storm surge to be a little bit lower. 5 to 8 feet, but theyre saying there could be 3 feet of water, about up to here in certain parts of charlotte county. This is the bay. You get a very good sense of just how powerful this storm is and where its blowing. Look how much of the floor of the river here has been exposed by the wind blowing this storm out. Once that eye wall passes here and it starts blowing up the other way, then theyll have that storm surge here and things will get even worse. But right now very sustained winds here, and its only going to get worse. Were about 40 miles an hour at the moment. It will get up to 90 to 110 miles an hour, gusting up to 135 in this area. So we are now hunkering down for the duration. Anderson. Miguel, were going to check in with you. Be careful out there. And for people a little bit north of where miguel is in punta gorda and where chris cuomo is in tampa and elsewhere, a lot of that storm surge may be coming in the darkness, late at night, which makes it all the more scary. You dont get a sense of whats coming. Its hard to see whats coming and especially those Hurricane Force winds whipping at that time of night. Were going to take a short break. And our special coverage continues in a moment. If youre 50 or over, what comes to mind when you think about healthcare . Understanding your options . Or, if youre getting the care you need . At aarpadvantages. Com, you can find helpful information about healthcare options. Leaving you more time to think about more important things. Like not having to think about healthcare at all. Surround yourself with healthy advantages at aarpadvantages. Com health. Our coverage of Hurricane Irma continues. Im here in tampa. Chris cuomo is in naples. Chris, obviously the weather system that you are getting as you were saying it may be moving up here to tampa shortly. Its pretty slow moving at this point. But folks in tampa really have not seen the kind of weather that youre getting right now and obviously have not seen anything close to what people in miami have been experiencing so far, chris. Well, and as chad explained, things have changed. I mean weve just been getting so much rain for so long, and then it intensified about an hour ago. Literally the weather equipment failed. The jacket i had on it was just all it was was extra weight. It it was no longer holding out any moisture. So looking for a little bit of an upgrade, trying to get one of the producers to be generous and make a swap. No takers yet. But what were seeing here is the gusts are getting close door what theyre seeing in miami. And the skern theres a lot more to come here with irma and what will happen with things becoming vulnerable. Weve seen some trees and different parts of structures being tested and weakened. So what will happen when the storm surge comes back. And you heard him say, anderson, he believes the effect of the force of the winds in a few hours will be twice of what were getting now. Thats the big concern. Yeah, i want to go to miami where peter, a business owner. Im wondering, a, how are things for you and what youve been see ing your area in miami. Well, anderson, i can tell you rights now in the streets and im in downtown miami a good thousand feet or 2,000 feet from biscayne bay. On the actual street level its probably about 2 feet deep or so. Its well past the grill of a traditional automobile. And in terms of the winds, youre getting bursts. And a lot of there trees are bending and have been bending for quite some time. The location youre in, is it a new construction . Because one of the things weve been talking about is in the wake of andrew, building codes were really upgraded particularly for any new construction in south florida. It is a brand new building. It was constructed in 2013, came online. A developer had the foresight to go forward and actually build it. So its almost as if youre starting from the second floor. For the most part for visitors youre going to be on that second floor. So i think what youre going to see in the keys effectively that ground floor is dedicated towards parking. And they also put in place some pretty strong stringent glass panes. And so far they seem to be holding up, but im not sure if itll continue. But im here. And people have been told to have three days worth. I assume youve stocked up . Fortunately, i went vegetarian and have a lot of beans and rice. I tend to cook that up, throw spice in there. Im worried about, probably, gaining weight. Well, if thats your only concern youre in very good shape. Obviously, here in tampa, which has not seen this level of storm in nearly 100 years. 1921, the storm which decimated this area. Obviously the city back then wasnt klaus to the development weve seen now, but theres real concern about the buildings, their ability to deal with the level of flooding that may occur here. Peter, appreciate talking to you in miami. Certainly wish you the best in the days ahead. Our coverage continues from points all across southern florida, from the west coast to the east coast. Were going to take a short break and well be right back. Tech when you schedule with safelite autoglass, you get time for more life. This family wanted to keep the game going. Son hey mom, one more game . Tech with safelite, you get a text when were on our way. You can see exactly when well arrive. Mom sure. Bring it tech im micah with safelite. Mom thanks for coming, its right over here. Tech giving you a few more minutes for what matters most. Take care family bye kids singing safelite® repair, safelite® replace. The whole country booking on Choice Hotels. Com. Four words, badda book. Badda boom. Let it sink in. Shouldnt we say we have the lowest price . Nope, badda book. Badda boom. Have you ever stayed with Choice Hotels . Like at a comfort inn . Yep. Free waffles, cant go wrong. I like it. Promote that guy. Get the lowest price on our rooms, guaranteed. When you book direct at choicehotels. Com. Book now. Returning to our coverage of Hurricane Irma. Im Chris Christie in naples, florida, on the western coast. One of the areas of particular vulnerability that became a big concern when the storm path shifted. We also have anderson cooper, whos up closer to tampa bay. That area. It has never seen a storm of the magnitude that might come that way. John berman in miami. Dave been getting hit consistently for hours and cnn people are everywhere the storm has been, is now and will go. One of the big concerns about the west coast here is about the Energy Exchange of irma. She is a huge storm, and the way that the storm works in basic fashion is the winds are moving counterclockwise. I want to bring in randi kaye. Because as the storm gives storm surge on one side its sucking energy from the other side. Were seeing the water move away from places like naples and tampa bay, but that waters coming back and when it does its going to multiply and have power behind it, thats where the fear of storm surge comes in. Randi, what are you seeing up there . Reporter chris, hello to you. We are on bay shore boulevard here in tampa where the rain is coming down. Let me pan off me and take a look. The situation, where a lot of folks have been playing in the mud, because the water has receded. You could probably hear police trying to keep people out of here all day as the storm starts to make its way in, but youre looking at 700 miles of beautiful shoreline here in tampa. And now with such a low tide and the water is being pulled out to sea before the storm actually hits, people have sort of been going out there in the mud and taking selfies, lots of pictures of themselves, including these two folks im xroined by here. This is brian and felix. You were out there. What made you go out there today . Well, i mean, this is kind of a once in a lifetime event. The last time a hurricane of this size came through tampa, i wasnt even born yet, not even a twinkle in somebodys eye at that point. Reporter what was it like out there . Muddy. Kind of smells like the bay, but otherwise, everything is really calm. Reporter were you nervous out there . No. I really wasnt. Its just the wind. Some, picked up and then we kind of had to get out of there, because the rain was starting to sting a little bit. Reporter felix, how old are you . 10. Reporter are you concerned about the hurricane . Youve certainly never lived through a hurricane this size . No. Never a hurricane this size, but with my mom, im not too concerned about it. Reporter a good protector . Yes. Reporter what about your dog . Your dog simba. Thats not my dog. Reporter thats not your dog. Hes your dog . Yeah. Reporter riding it out with you. Youre going to be okay where you are . Were at much higher ground. In between flood zone c and d and not under evacuation odor es but decided to come down and take a look. Reporter and anderson, back to you. Randi, interesting that youre down by the bay. I want to show you the Hillsborough River where we are along the riv per walk. Watching the last couple hours. Talk about the water in tampa bay sushged out. Hillsborough river is draining into the bay connected obviously to tampa bay. The last several hours weve watched the water go down and pointing out that sandy bank across the river. You couldnt see that when we first got here. Again, importantly, as chad myers has been talking about all of this water will come back in here. Coming back in fast. Probably in the latenight hours. Even after some of the worst winds may have gone through. I want to go to alex marquardt, 50 miles south in sarasota. Alex, how are things there . Reporter anderson, the wind and rains have started up, you can see. This pales in comparison to what well see in the next few hours. Winds around 5 00 or 6 00 p. M. Told by officials. In about three hours go up to 75 to 95 miles an hour, gusts up to 115 miles an hour. The message from local officials is shelter in place. They have been heeding instructions. People here, residents of sarasota, have been heeding instructions of local officials to either stay in place, hunker down at their homes if they feel comfortable or get to shelters. There are ten shelters in sarasota county. Some 16,000 people have gone to find shelter. We are here. One of them now. This is Brookside Middle School and unlike some of the other shelters weve seen, we saw drew grichen in ft. Myers. This is a school. People are sheltering in bla classrooms run by the red cross. Classrooms for elderly and 350 dogs and cats are here at brookside who have gotten their own rooms. One of the main reasons a lot of the families come here. We just met the brady steve and lori with pups stella and monty. You got it. Reporter how are you doing . Doing well right now. Reporter you live not far away and not in an evacuation but still decided to come to the shelter . Honestly, we got here at 7 30 yesterday morning. We hadnt really heard of sarasota as a full evacuation area in sarasota or not. But we got here, because we just wanted to make sure we were going to be as safe as possible. Reporter the evacuation area in