We want people in the west to understand what is coming your way and what were experiencing here in miami beach its being viewed by the city as really dodging a major bullet here. We have not seen a storm surge. There is Hurricane Force winds. It is very strong. You can see that signs have toppled over. And i want you to take a look down the street. A major concern here is flying debris. You can see all those branches. All of that has been flying through the streets. Weve seen some of it in the form of broken street signs. O that is a major concern. But trying to stand up right is almost impossible if youre not standing next to something. So this is the reason why the Miami Beach Police department and the Fire Department say theyre no longer able to respond to calls. You physically cannot respond to calls as Emergency Personnel without putting yourselves in danger. Thats why there was a mandatory evacuation. We have heard from the police and fire. They themselves are hunkered down because they simply cannot respond to any sort of emergencies. As far as what they did over night, though, they did try to put out some fire, did try to make some immediate rescues. But we have not heard of any major injuries or iftalities here in miami beach. Just hold on one second whereby because i want to bring in john berman, who is right next door in miami. And i want to keep both of you with us right now. But berman, tell us about where you are right now . Im in the wind, jake. The wind is gusting pretty fiercely here. Im in miami close to downtown miami right now getting some pretty fierce gusts. Two things happening in downtown miami we need to tell you about. Kyung law out there in miami peach, not getting storm surge. In brickell, water waistdeep in some areas there. And starting to flood the streets. The wind just pushing the water up into the streets. And behind me i dont think if you can see right now, the jetsties. The water lapping up the dock right there. There are all these docks you cant see. And the water creeping up ever so slowly here. The other story here in downtown miami is the wind. All over getting reported wind gusts of 100 Miles Per Hour in the tops of high rises. And that now has had a consequence. This crane collapsed or cracked depending on how you want to call it at 300 boulevard. The boom has sort of fallen off the rest of the crane, appears to be resting on top of this building under construction right now. We dont know if its still attached in any way by cables or anything else. But there are dangling a cables around there. City officials telling people not to go anywhere near that area. Frankly, if you were smart in miami you would go inside. Theres no reason to be outside not with the winds blowing the way they are and not with reports of some of the storm surge on the streets here. The areas, by the way, there were mandatory evacuations because they were worried about just this type of thing, jake. John berman stay with us. I want to go to chad. We saw kyung law taking the brunt of is it and also john berman with storm surge. Whats going on . Miami going to see wind gusts probably now in excess of 15 Miles Per Hour, greater than where you are now. Big pine key, that is 120 Miles Per Hour. Miami international, 94. The higher you go up in elevation across those buildings, the higher the wind goes. Heres where the wind is right now. Right through key biscayne and into miami beach, our kyung law is there. I know it looks bad for you right there, but the winds are going up 20 Miles Per Hour here. I need you in a safe place. You heard that the. Cres, were standing next to the betsey hotel where were staying. There are some safe barriers. Theres a steel barrier im holding onto. Theres no projectile i can see thats heading our way. But what i can tell oh, my goodness, so this is incredibly. And im just going to call it. This is stupid. These two guys going out in the rain and in these storms. First of all, i dont know how theyre staying up on two wheels. Do not do that. They may be joy seekers, but that is absolutely unsafe. The Miami Beach Police and fire have said if those two guys get injured, they will absolutely not be able to help them out. They stopped responding to emergency calls. If you dial 911 here, they cant physically get to you. So if you are preparing on the west side for these Hurricane Force winds, remember youve got to make sure that you are in a safe place that you know what youre doing. Do not be riding your bicycle out here. The winds that were experiencing here, it makes it very difficult for me to stand. If i didnt have this steel railing, id be flying. What you can see happening to the trees here, theyre just blowing in the wind. When we were out here earlier, yesterday some of those trees i dont know if its those in particular, but there were trees up and down this particular street hat had coconuts on thel. Those are long gone because theyve blown in the air. The debris is a major issue. The Fire Department told us over night they had transformers blow, some fires, a gas leak. People who had to be rescued out of an elevator. They tried to respond to as much as they could, rescue as many people as they could, but then all of this started. So you just want to stay inside as much as possible. And then on the west side you see what were going through. Part of the reason is to show you and put it into perspective of whats coming your way. And kyung law has been reporting all morning. First responders will not leave. So if those people like those cyclists or anyone else does get injured, sadly they will be on their own. Chad, back to you in the cnn weather center. Where is this storm headed back to point . It is headed to naples and in the everglades city. It is heading into the Everglades National park. When it parallels miami, that will be its closest approach, and what kyung law is experiencing now is closer to 80. When it gets closer it will be around 100. The problem i have with your live shot is that water will still come up 2 to 3 feet, john. Where are you going to go . Yeah, chad, were watching that very, very carefully. If the water does increase any much more we will move inland to Higher Ground. We have a route planned out. We do appreciate that. And again, the winds already Strong Enough to topple that crane, jake. All right, kyung law is standing more safely off to the side there. I dont think if you can hear us still, but feel free to stay out of the shot. No, stay out of the shot. Just tell us what you see, but theres no need to subject yourself to 80 Miles Per Hour winds. But, let me ask you the storm surge, youre saying youre witnessing it than in other parts of florida. When that comes and chad feel free waweigh in after john, when does that come gradually or like a giant wave . It comes, gradually, jake. But in some places like we saw in brickell downtown, it comes up gradually. But when it gets to barrier, it will flow in very rapid fashion. But people have been warned about this for days and days. That area, brickell boulevard is in a mandatory evacuation zone. Thats why they wanted these areas clear. They dont want you living on an island in a high rise building where you cant get down past the fist floor. So hopefully people did heed those warnings and get out. The fact it may be going up another 2 feet, weve been watching it. This was 3 feet high when we started. But weve seen it coming. And when it does move up, we will move to Higher Ground, jake. Chad myers, i know from covering previous storms, i know what 110 mile per hour wind feels like. It feels like your face is being ripped off your skull. I experienced that in a wind tunnel, not in an alcohol hurricane but to try to explain it to the public. Randy kaye did that a few days ago. That is what the winds are going to be like where john can kyung are. Sure enough. Every time a cell comes onshore, a wind band comes onshore, that wind gusts gets to 95. And here is the bay. This is biscayne bay. Before you go coral gables, again easy 90, 95. Its this open area here, heres Government Cut with the cruise ship park, this is open. All this water is pouring into key biscayne and into biscayne bay. Across the bay and across and into miami. And thats whats flooding now. This wind direction will not change for two to three more hours. And the water is going to continue to come up. Were at 3. 5 feet right now surge let me interrupt you for one second. Youre talking about that surge, and were looking at images right now from a cnn affiliate in downtown miami. And the streets look like a river. That surge has arrived. It absolutely has. Heres the map that i made three days ago. What we expect with a 6 foot surge. All of downtown miami will be covered in this blue color that you see there. Thats the water depth if the water goes to 6 feet. Right now its 5 1 2. Thats where the water is at this exact point and still going up. Berman, the water where you are obviously the water the deadliest force in all of this. As horrific as the winds are, it is the storm surge that ends up taking the most lives in hurricanes such as these. And where you are, youre seeing the water surge. Yes, youre seeing the water rise slowly, jake. And its been rising slowly over the last several hours. What chad was talking about right there is just where it over flowed some areas where it came up and rushed down onto brickell boulevard. Thats 5 1 2 feet. As chad was saying theyve been predicting as much as 6 feet of storm surge. But there are some mandatory evacuations for some 600,000 people in miami county, jake. And those people were told to evacuate because of storm surge, not the wind. Theres nothing you can do. Once the water starts coming, if you live on one of the bottom floors, the water is going to come into your participant. If you live on one of the higher floors, you wont be able to get out and First Responders wont be able to get to you. Hopefully, again, most people dist did listen to those warnings and get out. People now sheltering inland, hopefully not helping to tampa to shelter because thats a whole not world of problems youre going to get in the few hours. But it is remarkable even though the eye of this storm did hit miami, theres been concern about this storm moved west, heading towards fort myers and tampa, not the worst of the storm. But this huge, wide sform has caused and is still causing damage, jake. Let me go back to kyung law in miami. We see streets have turned to rivers, that the surge is coming. And its flooding parts of downtown miami. And i cant see that from where we are. What i can tell you is the last time i chengedded in with the miami beach Fire Department, they said as far as massive flooding, that is not something they have experienced as of yet. As chad pointed out, the stronger winds still have yet to come. When my producer went onto the beach to check out the storm surge, he didnt see all that much. That the beach looked like it had been beat up, but we didnt see the massive 5 foot, 10 foot storm surge that was predicted. What we are seeing and experiencing here right now is generally more wind. There was just a tweet by the Police Department asking people to remain inside because of the severity of the winds. And i also want to tell people who are watching this is that this is not the worst area to stand in. If you walk through some of the city streets, through the commercial districts of miami beach, the wind there is unbelievable. It has created wind tunnels because of the buildings. And thats where a lot of people, some of the people who live in high rises live, people who have chosen not to heed the mandatory eiacuation order, its much worse over there. So its far more dangerous in the commercial maam beach district. And so thats why youre hearing so many why youre seeing so many tweets from the police and fire to please stay inside. Kyung law in miami beach where the winds are horrific right now and projectiles are a real risk. John berman in miami, the city proper where both the wind and the water. John, the water behind you that you say has been rising behind you over the last several hours, how close is it to ground level . Well, look, so what this is a marina right now. So it goes down to really the waters edge right now. And ill walk over. Im not going to get too close right now. After the cement, there is 2 feet to the water right now. At low tide theres probably 5 feet. So its up 3 feet. And right there, you see that rope, thats actually tied to a dock that normally is above the water right now. Its not above the water. Now its a foot under water. So you can see where the water has creeped up. Those jet skis, theyre attached also to a dock where the water is lapping over right now. We actually have seen a dock detach and into the bay here. So thats what weve seen in terms of water. As far as the winds, jake, this is as strong as ive seeb. I mean the wind has not blown like this yet here in miami. And chad says were going to see another 10 to 15 miles an hour over the next couple of hours. Thats going to be pretty strong. And we know kyung law is covering the storm from the hotel, right outside the hotel. But shes staying in that hotel, and that is where she can get to safety at a moments notice if need be. What about you . People at home are watching and wondering about you. How quickly can you get out of there and to a safe place . Talking about my mom and dad who are both watching right now, we are on slightly Higher Ground. If this water gets much closer, we will simply pick up your stuff. And our hotel is a block away, and we have another safe location going to as soon as we need to. We have a plan. There is a way to do this. Were doing it safely. And were out here so people can see the danger, so they can understand why the officials in this city and state have told them to stay inside or in some cases told to evacuate to get to Higher Ground, jake. And john, just to explain to the people at home if the winds youre speerntsing right now are somewhere in the 80 to 90 mile per hour territory, tell us what that feels like. Tell us what the experience is like, and why its dangerous even beyond the storm surge, which is the most dangerous. Well, you have to do this ridiculous dance, jake. Where youre leaning into the wind the whole time. Or some cases one way and then the wind will come in behind you and push in some more. Thats not even the real concern. The real concern is projectiles. I dont know how far i can go back here and the camera can still see me, but this right here is an awning that snapped off the building that used to be up there. And down there you can see twopieces of this metal flashing. That also has flown off this building. Thats a giant spear flying through the sky. You have to be very, very careful of that. And the rain itself, when it comes at you at 70 miles an hour or more, its not a pleasant feeling, jake, i can tell you that. No, it feels like little needles going into your face. Lets go back to chad for one second. Chad, the people in miami, not just john, the people in miami beach, not just kyung, how much longer are they going to be going through this . And this isnt even the eye of the storm or close to it. This is not the closest approach of the eye of the storm here. I would say we get this for another six hours before it oven starts to go down. And thats the real reason we dont want you ipyour home if its not a strong house. This is a long duration. This goes on and on and on. Now, i want you to just think about this for a second. Grab a cup of coffee and blow on the top of a cup of coffee and try to cool it off. The waves your breath makes will blow the coffee to the other side of the coffee cup. Thats whats happening here. The waves because of the wind is blowing the ocean on the other side of the coffee cup. And theres our kyung law rights there. Whats happening here is the water is piling up, but its going around here and piling here. So if we keep pushing the air from our coffee cup or the wind, its going to pileup here. Not so much in miami beach because its going to go around. Not so much on Fisher Island because its going to go around. Theres our john berman, this is the area thats flooding right now. Its the brickell area of miami. And were seeing those waves and storm surge numbers at about 5. 5 feet. Thats enough to get over some sea walls there in downtown miami. Were going to take a very quick break. When we come back, were going to check in with some people on the west coast of florida, where the eye of the hurricane is headed. Keep in mind all of this horror that were seeing in miami and miami beach, this isnt even the eye of the storm. The eye of the storm has gone through the keys. We dont know exactly what the situation is like there, but were going to now experience the country is going to experience the eye of the storm hitting the west coast of florida. Stay with us. E music bell ringing i am totally blind. And non24 can throw my days and nights out of sync, keeping me from the things i love to do. Talk to your doctor, and call 8442142424. 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Now through september 17th, save up to 500 on select adjustable sets. Find your exclusive retailer at tempurpedic. Com so we sent that sample i doff to ancestry. I was from ethnically. My ancestry dna results are that i am 26 nigerian. I am just trying to learn as much as i can about my culture. I put the gele on my head and i looked into the mirror and i was trying not to cry. Because its a hat, but its like the most important hat ive ever owned. Discover the story only your dna can tell. Order your kit now at ancestrydna. Com. 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. Depression is a tangle of multiple symptoms. Miami beach, this isnt even the stay with us. Cnn state of the union. Were back with breaking news. Thats powerful irma hitting florida. Rosa, tell us about what youre seeing right now. What are the conditions where you are . You know, this area is really getting pounded not just by surge but as wind as you know. When it rains in miami, it usually ponds because the water has to drain out. Take a look behind me. Youll see that this area is already ponding heavily. Unfortunately, you can also see a few people trying to walk through this water. Its not recommended, of course. But for people who are familiar, this is the area where the Grocery Store publix is. Weve been trying to get the best position out here, jake, to show you the ponding and the surge. You can also see lots of water on this end. It a lot of the skyline from miami you can see also here. A lot of these residential buildings. But this is a huge problem, of course for miami because these roads are ponding. They are receiving a lot of surge from the ocean. Im about three to four blocks from the ocean, and you can see that ponding is occurring, surge is coming through. And the 16 counties in south florida have a system of about 2,100 canals, 2,000 levies that protect this city. Those structures have to work to drain all this water. Irma testing the structures here in miami and also testing the decisions made by people both by Public Officials and people who decided not to evacuate when an Evacuation Order was issued. Were also seeing these photos from our affiliate that shows a street in downtown miami basically having turned into a river. Do you know how far away that is from where you are . That is probably a few streets down. Were a few streets down from brickell avenue. Im not sure if were able to zoom in, but youll see raging water behind me, in the street thats behind me. And again, just to give people a sense of where im at, im in brickell and right next to the publix Grocery Store. This is combination of high winds, the winds pulling the water, ponding and storm surge. Thats the big issue. All these three things converge, and it creates a huge problem. The other thing, too, is that the drainage system has to work in order for the this water to come down. Theres a lot of debris. There are trees down. A lot of the time, that blocks drains. So even if those drains were working right now, theyre being stopped because of it. Now, the south florida management district, did decrease the levels of the canals, jake, that we through the 16 south florida counties that drain out into the ocean, they lowered those water levels to make sure there was capacity for those canal tuesday take a lot of the water that you see around me and flush it into the ocean. But when you combine surge, these high winds and debris that are blocking those drains, its very difficult for the system to do what its designed to do. Rosa flores, stay safe. Shes in the brickell neighborhood, the financial district. Chad, was flooding this bad expected . Yes, it was. No question about it, jake. Earlier the numbers were somewhere between 6 and 10 for miami. But thats when miami was getting a direct hit from the eye or at least a closer hit. And i would say that was about 40 to 50 miles from the east as we start to flood the other side. But whats going on right now is the wind is pushing the water into biscayne bay and over a sea wall, and into downtown miami. Thats exactly what we thought when the winds were going to blow this way for such a very long time. Now we have about a 3 foot surge in miami, but the wind is also pushing this way on the other side. We have a 4 foot inverse surge in naples. The water is down 4 feet from being sea level. And that will rush back in as the eye goes by, and then the water will rush out of miami. For now we have at least five or six more hours of miami with the water rushing onshore, pushing in the same direction with more water trying to drain out. Thats never going to drain because the rain is blowing from this direction so hard. And then we get up toward tampa, sarasota, this is where were going to see the significant wind damage, too. Wind 125. What were showing you on tv is like 70, 75. I know burma was still in the wind, but he was kind of sheltered. I know theres a building to protect him a little bit. But still all that debris that was blowing around berman, we had to get him out of there. So now hes in a safe place. Into atlantic beach, too. And then tampa, youre right in the middle of this thing. So many millions of people, somewhere in the ball mark of 110 to 120 mile per hour winds. With winds pushing the water out of tampa bay, tampa bay almost empty. And then the storm goes by and fills back up rather quickly. A surge coming in the other direction after the water has already left. Please dont go into any water. If the water has left, dont go onto that land where water should be, because that water will be back and higher than it was when it left. And indeed dont leave. Dont go outside. Thank you so much. I want to go to chris cuomo right now whos in napeal, one of the towns where this is headed. Chris, describe if you can for us how conditions have changed just in the last few hours. The wind is picking up. The gusts are measured in excess of 70 miles an hour, the rain has been constant. This is what the vets would call the snap crackle and pop phase of the hurricane. Youre starting to hear these eerie sounds as branches and part of the structures start to give away. You here the crackle of the transformers as they start to fail, and youre starting to hear the sounds of the trees falling around you. And its a little eerie because you have to figure out where these sounds are coming from so you can assess the risk of where theyll fall. And the real problem is as you were just hearing from chad, were still on the measuring blows phase on the west coast. The water here has been sucked out as well. Took a drive down to the south side, a few streets this way and the water has been receded significantly. And when it comes back, the energy and momentum of the storm surge, thats where this situation is going to get very serious here. The other problem is duration. This storm moving as slowly as it is, that means it stays in each area that it hits longer. Ask thats my concern here. That all of these trees that are starting to sway and all these parts of buildings that are getting hit hour after hour, what will happen when this wind almost doubles in terms of the gusts . Thats the concern here, jake. And chris, tell us how naples has prepared for this storm, have residents taken the reiac augz orders seriously . We were checking in with kyung lah in miami beach, and there were two charitable, lets call them thrill seekers riding their bikes in miami beach. And the winds were such that they were not going to be able to go out to save anybody. How are people in naples heeding the risks . No bodys going out. The First Responders cant risk it. The best of us have to be there for the rest of us. So you cant go utin these conditions because you dont know when somethings going to fall. Just over my shoulder, this huge tree just went down. And they go down unannounced. Trees only go down slowly in movies and when lumberjacks are chopping them down. In these conditions they go down very quickly. This is a little bit of a nobird place, naples. And its not as heavily populated right now. And people took early cues and got out of here. So they believe theyre significantly evacuated. And thats a good thing. But its also low lying. And it is spongy, and theres a lot of it that could get really damaged. Thats why ed laven dareo wept down to predict what were going to see with storm surge. Ed, can you hear us . Hey, chris, i can hear you. We are driving along the western edge of naples. This is an area that is under mandatory evacuation. You can see the scene here. Were about a block off the water here, and, you know, we probably wont be able to do this for much longer here as the conditions have continued to deteariator. But as we drive along this street here, you can see even on the initial stages ask the early bands of this hurricane, as they start approaching southwest florida, you look out onto the streets, this is exactly how things are quickly falling apart here on this particular street that were on. You can see the trees that have already started to come down. Theres one up ahead here on our right that were going to have to manage our way to get around here. And this is already starting to be seen all through the city of naples here. So this is a situation we wont be out here much longer. So this is a downed tree here. Weve seen several along this stretch. You can see another one off to your right as well. So, again, this is just the initial bands of this hurricane as it is several hours away from making landfall here in southwest florida. And it gives you a pretty good sense of how quickly things are going to deteriorate and how dangerous the situation out doors will be even here probably in the next seven or eight hours, chris. Please get somewhere safe. Chris cuomo, we thank you as well. Were going to squeeze in a quick break. When we come back, were watching the flooding ipmiami and the outer bands of irma as it continues to hit the west coast of florida. Stay with us. Well be right back. Thanks for loading, sweetie. Oh, burnton gravy . Gotta rinse that. Nope. No way. Nada. Really . Dish issues . Throw it all in. New cascade platinum powers through. Even burnton gravy. Nice. Cascade. I have agerelated maculare degeneration, amd, he told me to look at this grid every day. And we came up with a plan to help reduce my risk of progression, including Preservision Areds 2. My doctor said Preservision Areds 2 has the exact nutrient formula the National Eye Institute recommends to help reduce the risk of progression of moderate to advanced amd after 15 years of clinical studies. Preservision areds 2. Because my eyes are everything. 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. Welcome back to cnns breaking News Coverage of hur cabe irma. The extremely dangerous core of this storm is headed for the southwest florida coast. It made landfall through the florida keys a little over four hours ago. Its a category 4 storm. It has 140 mile per hour sustained winds, and now expected to track up floridas west coast. Among cities facing the greatest danger, tampa, florida. And thats where we find cnns Anderson Cooper. Weve seen the outer bands of this hurricane hit miami. Chris cuomo is in naples and starting to feel some of that as well. What about where you are in tampa . People have been watching the coverage here in tampa, seeing it in brickell whers, incredibl pictures of that water rushing down the street. This is a city has grown so fast over the years. And they have not experienced a storm of this magnitude, a cat 3 storm, which is what its expect today be when it hits tampa, since 1921. It was not a very developed city. There were not a lot of People Living here. There was one fatality. This is hillsborough river. This water is moving out towards tampa bay. And weve been watching the water actually go down over the last couple of hours. On the river, you can see a sandy embankment. We cannot see that where when we first came out here a couple hours ago p. And as chad pointed out, all that water thats going out, thats going to rush back in along with that storm surge. It was expected to be 5 to 8 feet yesterday. We still have no idea how much water thats going to be. Its a huge question in the even in the best of times in tampa with heavy rainfall theyve had problemwise flooding and getting rid of that water in st. Petersburg and surrounding areas. Theres 700 miles of coastline on tampa bay. With all that water, the damage could be extreme. I want to go to the mayor. You have been raising flags about this. I think it was last year you were standing on the steps of city hall and you said if a category 3 starm directly hit tampa, that area would be under more than 3 feet of water. How concerned are you about the flooding in tampa . Im hugely concerned. That is our worst nightmare. What we really fear more than anything is that storm surge. That area where you are standing, anderson, will be under water. My office, if that storm hits will lee likely flooded. My house will probably be damaged as well. This is a serious storm. And for those folks that are watching that have not moved to Higher Ground, they need to get to Higher Ground quickly. Mayor, i just want to bring in chad myers as well because i know he has a question for you. Chad. Mr. Mayor, you are watching zone a, zone b, hillsborough. Now that the storm should travel right over tampa bay, are there any changes in the evacuation zones from what we knew 24 hours ago . No, theres not, chad. It is still a zone a ezackuation. The issue in zone a will be the amount of the surge and the height of the surge. Unfortunately, this will take place at a time when the high tide is at its highest, which will be tomorrow morning. So all those houses on davis island, downtown tampa, will be affected by the high tide as well. Mayor, jake tapper here. Im sorry, anderson. Weve heard Different Things about the kind of threat tampa wassed under. The latest information obviously that tampa might not get a direct hit, but it might actually be worse because the storm surge will be that much worse for tampa. What is the latest information as far as you understand it about what tampa is facing, and what is your message to any citizens in tampa or the surrounding area right now . Well, jake, what we are concerned about is herwhether t storm continues to move to the west or not. If we remain on the good side of the storm, the backside of the storm, the surge will be less. If the storm continue tuesday move more to the west and were on the bad side of the storm, thats going to be the problem. So my message is really simple. If you havent taken the appropriate steps to get to a level c, b, d, or e you only have a few hours to do it. If it starts blowing consistently, 40 miles an hour or more, i cannot send tampa fire rescue to come get you. Do the right thing. If you dont hunker down, find a space in your house and ride this thing out. Were going to get through this together. Mayor there in tampa. Were going to squeeze in another quick break. Well be back with more coverage of Hurricane Irma. I am totally blind. And non24 can make me show up too early. Or too late. Or make me feel like im not really there. Talk to your doctor, and call 8442342424. Booking a flight doesnt have to be expensive. Just go to priceline. Its the best place to book a flight a few days before my trip and still save up to 40 . Just tap and go. For the best savings on flights, go to priceline. Year with the new sleep number 360 smart bed. It senses and automatically adjusts on both sides. 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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®. Were back with breaking news and our coverage of devastating Hurricane Irma as it begins to plow through florida. Strong, dangerous winds continue to increase over all of southern florida. Streets of downtown miami are now flooding. Ryan todd is enduring the wind of one of the outer bands of the hurricane. Hes in West Palm Beach on the east coast of florida. Bryan, what are you going through there . Well, jake, were inside the window now of one of the most intense Hurricane Force activity we were probably going to get for the next several hours. And were also getting pop up tornadic activity. If you look behind me, the intensy of the wind. It looks like that palm could come down. The palm fronds along with the coconuts have become projectiles. And were going to walk a little bit. These street signs really wobbling. And now were getting pelted with a really heavy rainfall. I just talked to the mayor of West Palm Beach. She is fearful this street is going to get flooded. We see some water on the street now, but were just now getting to the beginning of the wind activity and the storm surge on the intercoastal waterway, which is just over here. Were really getting nailed here with some intense wind and rain. Also, jake, i just talked to one of the top fire chiefs of West Palm Beach. I asked him about the construction cranes that are right near here. You might be able to get a glimpse of one over my left shoulder, people have been very concerned about that especially since we reported that crane cracking in miami. The fire chief tells us they have just done a survey of these cranes. Theyre okay for now. Theyre monitoring them closely, but there are apartment buildings right next to these cranes some of whom in these apartments have evacuated. Others have not. Were going to be looking at these cranes very closely. And let me bring in the past president of the meteorlogical society. What goes through your mind when youre watching this hurricane, Hurricane Irma. Youve covered dozens of hurricanes. Is this one more frightening than previous . I think with the population on the florida coast and also the number of people who have never experienced Something Like that, thats the danger. Weve heard all the authorities taking the proper steps for prepation. But you cant prepare for something thats once in your lifetime. Folks that have gone through this or going this will probably never take a second chance. And what is it about irma that makes it a once in a lifetime storm . Just the magnitude of it . I think the mayor said it was the size of arizona. This is monster, which is actually continuing to draw in moisture from cuba and the gulf of mexico. Thats why the east side, chad talked about the east side is so dangerous and thats why miami is getting it so bad. But the eye wall, the heart of that storm has still yet to go into marco island and on the west coast. So its going to be a long day and a long night. Yeah, as devastating as this is, this is just the beginning. And let me show you these pictures if we can put those pictures back on the west side of the screen of downtown miami, flooding in those streets. It looks like a river. And its 100 miles away, but those east to southeasterly winds continue to pile it up. And if the core goes just to the west of tampa, once those winds shift around, it could be like almost a tidal wave of water coming in later tonight and unfortunately, 2 00, 3 00, 5 00 in the morning when its dark. Any attempts at rescue will be just terrible. And its a really intense storm, and were starting to see the start of it as its barrelling towards the west side of florida. It is also affecting the east. Our breaking News Coverage of Hurricane Irma continues as the storm roors through florida. Stay with us. Get the most out of every one of them. Only proprietary tempur material precisely conforms to your body. You get 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 sleep deeply. And wake up, feeling powerful. Now through september 17th, save up to 500 on select adjustable sets. Find your exclusive retailer at tempurpedic. Com im living that yacht life, life, life top speed fifty knots life on the caribbean seas its a champagne and models potpourri on my yacht made of cuban mahogany, gany, gany, gany, gany watch this dont get mad bell mnemonic get e trade and get invested pcountries thatk mewe traveled,t what is your nationality and i would always answer hispanic. So when i got my ancestry dna results it was a shocker. Im everything. Im from all nations. 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If hed taken tylenol, hed be stopping for more pills right now. Only aleve has the strength to stop tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. Aleve. All day strong. This is cnn breaking news. Im Anderson Cooper in tampa. This is crist cuomo in naples, florida. Im john berman in miami. Im victor blackual reporting from orlando. In miami beach, im kyung lah. Im bryan todd in West Palm Beach. And im Anderson Cooper here in tampa. Our coverage continues as it has been literally for