Transcripts For WFTS Action News At 5AM 20160831

Thinking that this will intensify enough certainly to become a Tropical Storm but by the time it approaches thursday afternoon or evening the big bend area, there is the potential for this to be a little stronger than 65, 75 would make it a hurricane. That is we still have hurricane watches that are posted along the big bend and including coastal counties of citrus, hernando and pasco. That hasnt changed. The update this morning is that along that hurricane watch we now have Tropical Storm warnings. My goodness, that is a going on. Basically heres the deal tomorrow were going to have very gusty winds upwards of 40 miles an hour plus. Were going to have coastal flooding as a result of the strong winds pushing in and we have a lot of rain to get through over the next several hours. So these are the watches and warnings that are in effect now and this is the heavy rain that has already moved in. So the event really has already started. We continue to see the pockets of very heavy rainfall there going to be impacting us throughout the day today on and off and guess what . We talked about this yesterday, going to be a little messy. I dont think the roads are going to dry out for some time so lets get used to it. Lets look at my map. We can show you where we have wet roads and motension for ponding. The ponding potential in st. Pete, the area in blue. We have a crash although its not where were seeing some of the heavier rain. Its right here in the palm harbor area, u. S. 19 at tampa road, some roadblocking reported here with some injuries. This crash happened a couple hours ago. Still seeing some delays there so you may want to yourself extra time. Hopefully they will have this cleared shortly in time for the morning commute. And checking out the drive across the bridges, its wet. This is what it looks like in you can see the roads are wet but still just 10 minutes or less to get across all three bridges. Well have traffic and weather conditions all morning long. Meanwhile governor rick scott discussing how the Tropical Weather will effect jacksonville and other parts of florida today to talk about how emergency operationses centers are bracing for impact. In pasco county theres a warning already that people may need to evacuate because of flooding. Lindsay logue is in New Port Richey now where weve seen long lines for sandbags already. Good morning. Reporter good morning. From what weve seen this weekend already people in pasco county seem to be taking the storm warnings seriously. Were in one of the locations where you can come pick up free sandbags to help protect your property and home from those rising floodwaters. Many people we talked to this week learned the hard way before. Either didnt prepare and ended up underwater. The front right quadrant of a storm is the worst. Ivan and i talked about this earlier, that is where we are. That means more spin so higher chances for tornadoes and it means more rain and thats the big problem. Even if youre in a no flood zone plan on 10 inches of rain inland. There are a number of sandbag locations in pasco county as well as other counties throughout the bay area. That entire list now is on our web site at abcactionnews. Com. Those sandbag locations today all open at 7 00. Today at 9 00 in pasco county city leaders will meet to evaluate the latest on their storm preparations as well as to talk about the latest on tv 9. We expect them today as well to make a decision on what to do about Public Schools in pasco county for were going to be at that meeting today at 9 00. Count on us to let you know what happens. Lindsay logue, abc action news. That is not the only county that were keeping an eye on now. Citrus county is also under a hurricane watch. Because of the storm freezer tiki bar has generators on standby. Other restaurants too. They are on the homosassa river. The restaurant has been in old homosassa for a long time. And one of the managers says storm. We go through this every year. And, the freezer is the freezer, when the tide gets up too high well either leave or stay and make potato salad and party. Several parks west of u. S. 19 are also going to be closed later this afternoon for everybodys safety. If you need sandbags you still have time to get them. There are two locations in the county. We have them posted on our web site now, abcactionnews. Com. 5 05. To democracy 2016 were set for the general election in november. Final numbers coming in overnight from the primaries, marco rubio won in a landslide for one of the Florida Senate seats. Received 72 of the vote. Can you commit to six years . Thank you for coming today. Can you commit to a full term senator . Can you commit to six years in the senate . Rubio wouldnt comment. President again in 2020. In a 20minute speech in kissimmee the junior senator wasted no time attacking his opponent for november. U. S. Senator patrick pat murphy. I dont want it to be hillary clinton. Shell be a disaster for america. Patrick murphy cant point to a single achievement either in his private life or four years in congress. Polls show rubio leading murphy by just six heres a look at the win margin for patrick murphy. He got 59 compared to graysons 18 . Abc action news is looking into what this race means for florida. Going forward in november, when it comes to rubio versus murphy. Our political expert says it promises to be one of the most coveted and competitive races in the country. When the u. S. Senate is in balance and florida is one of the key five states that can race, not only in florida but nationally. Rubio murphy matchup will also result in millions of dollars being spent on political ads in florida. Look for clinton to hold rallies for murphy and even donald trump to share a stage with his onetime nemesis marco rubio as both sides try to claim the claim the tight race. David jolly now will face former Florida Governor Charlie Crist in the general election. We found out more people cast ballots in Hillsborough County for this primary compared to years past. Most not in person. Most chose to vote early or send in mailin ballots. In total more than 150,000 ballots were cast, that is 18 voter turnout countywide. One unusually heatedded race, clerk of the circuit court. Incumbent pat frink defeating campaign that saw a lot of mud slinking. To have a contentious race was not comfortable. Im just hoping that people who supported him will join hands with me. Frank now faces republican eric seidel. A few other races to know about. Former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wassermanschultz beat her challenger. Tim canova, a law professor that was beat by bernie sanders. It was the first time she faced a primary opponent district. She was dragged down by the recent forced resignation of the Democratic National committee after the leaked e mails. Senator john mccain wins the right to seek a sixth term in november. He easily defeated former state senator kelly ward and two other republicans on the ballot. However the victory doesnt clear the way for a smooth re election for mccain. Hes facing a tough democratic challenge in the november general election in congressman 5 09. Clearwater fire investigators are offering 5,000 if you know who this woman is. They say on saturday morning the Surveillance Video captured sticking rags of flammable liquid into the honda gas tank setting it on fire. The flames begin to rise and she appears to be tempting to help them spread through the trunk. Thomas jennings owns that car but has no idea why this woman would want to do such a thing. Everything was gone. I mean, from diving equipment. Im a chef. I lost 1,000 knife kit. If you or anyone else has any information youre asked to call clearwater fire department. The heavy rain has already begun and we have lightning across pinellas, skyway getting hit now. All this will continue to move southtonorth throughout off as the system approaches. Ill show you more watches and warnings coming up. Phones ringing off the hook with emotional calls like that one after the mass shooting began at pulse nightclub in orlando. Coming up next, hear more desperate attempts to get help for the people inside. Chris brown goes to jail after a long standoff with police. What one woman claims she did to set him off. Of theses good morning. Were waking up to slick roads. This is a crash were following on 275 in the northbound lanes around roosevelt in the st. Pete area. This is where were seeing the heaviest rain that passed through so most of the wet roads are right there. Well have a live report coming up. 5 14. We are hearing some 911 calls from the pulse nightclub shooting and the sounds of loved ones desperate for help. In one call a frustrated man is asking his girlfriend who he was hiding in the club. He says he called five times giving the same information and he says nobody is helping. Dispatchers trying to calm callers telling them that there are lots of deputies on scene. The Orange County Sheriffs Office just released the phone calls. The Orlando Police department calls though has yet to release its calls. The massacre on june 12th killed 49 people, wounded more than 50 others. Police killed the gunman omar mateen during a shootout. Florida not the only state dealing with tropical systems. Youre looking live at hilo on the big island of haii hurricane madeline could be coming and schools on the island will be closed today or tomorrow. If it doesnt bring landfall its expected to bring heavy rain and big surf and strong winds to the island. Sound familiar . It does. Its what were talking about. We dont need an exact direct hit over tampa to get nasty weather. Would love to talk about madeline but we have a lot to get through here including flood watches that have been posted here. Theres our depression, will become a Tropical Storm but winds. 35, tropical depression 40 is a Tropical Storm. Were expecting it to strengthen before it makes landfall. In fact 65 mileperhour winds and perhaps even a little stronger whichies we have a hurricane watch. Lets break it down, the track hasnt changed that much. The wind a little bit, less so than we had yesterday when we had 70. So down to 65 as far as the forecast. Lets zoom in locally and show what you is happening, theres a lot. What we have in the yellow is a Tropical Storm the watch basically means those conditions are possible. A warning means they are likely. When we have a warning, its along the immediate coast from pasco, hernando to citrus, along the coast, Tropical Storm warnings. Winds over 40 Miles Per Hour likely for tomorrow. Along that we also have a hurricane watch which means that conditions of 74 mileper hour winds or above possible. I really dont think that is going to happen. I think our biggest threat would be 40, 50 mileperhour winds which is bad enough, then continue to move in and and then along the coast the additional threat of coastal flooding weve been talking about especially at times of high tide tomorrow. Watch for inland counties and then we have the Tropical Storm warning, that is the new advisory this morning from New Port Richey to Crystal River and along that with the hurricane watch. Again that is all through the next 24 to 36 hours. Look at this. Were already raining buckets across pinellas. This is the issue, weve already started raining, we rained yesterday. Were going very heavy rain on and off throughout today. Tonight and through tomorrow too. So the accumulations will be significant. Upwards of 9 inches not out of the question. In fact the National Weather service putting out the flood watch now for 9 to 12 inches of rainfall where we have the flood watches. Well watch the bands as they continue to move in. The more dangerous weather i think for us tomorrow, because by then well combine not just the heavy rainfall but also the very gusty winds that will be accompanying the rain as well in two forms. With the heavy rain that will accumulate and also as the water gets pushed in from the gulf. That is your storm surge, 1 to 2 feet what is im expecting. Gusty winds with us tomorrow, 40 mileperhour winds, we could have higher gusts. With any landfall a Tropical Cyclone and the spin you get a threat of tornadoes. Probably a watch tomorrow. So well be very busy the next couple of days. Theres the tropical moisture as it continues to stream in, tomorrow will be the nastiest of the weather through the morning and into the midday makes landfall, up into the big bend, late through the day and into tomorrow. On and off rain for today. That will continue, as far as the accumulations, again upwards of nine inches along the coast but further inland youre really going to fall off dramatically, only three to five, its a lot but we can take it certainly across our area. Then there are all the flood watches in effect as we head through the day today and into tomorrow and into friday. By then well begin to wind down and the weekend by the mid and upper 80s and just afternoon summer thunderstorms. So basically the system already started, roads are going to be wet and that will continue throughout the day. You merchtioned the st. Pete area. That is where were seeing a lot of the wet roads and following two crashes now both on 275 in the northbound lanes. The first one here just south of roosevelt. You can see some flashing lights. Looks like theyve already pushed that crash off to the side. We also have a crash here at 22nd avenue south. Again you can see some flashing lights. Looks like ts the side as well. Not really seeing any delays for the st. Pete area on 275, you can go ahead and check average speeds on 275. Not too bad, again the roads are wet so use caution but were still in the green, 66 the average speed northbound from the Sunshine Skyway all the way down to the Howard Frankland and 64 the average speed in the opposite direction. Were following developing news now, Singer Chris Brown is already out of jail, he was is facing Assault Charges after an hourslong standoff with police yesterday. Brown allegedly threatened a woman with a gun at his l. A. Home. Police are saying the woman called early yesterday morning from his property needing help. The woman who called police says brown pointed a gun at her face after he saw her admiring another mans diamond necklace. Brown posted a video on his Instagram Account denying everything. Hell be back in court next month. Caught on camera, Central Florida woma encounter with a huge black bear in her driveway. The bear comes up, sniffs her knee, then her face, and turns around and finally walks off. Florida fish and wildlife warning residents not to allow bears to get this close. Bears be unpredictable. They believe this one must have lost its fear of humans and knows food is nearby. Still ahead a flight you have not been able to hop is back. Where this plane is headed later today and also making history at the same time. First at 5 21 google moving in on ubers turf in San Francisco. Is a big tech battle brewing . Heres Kendis Gibson and diane macedo. Reporter in todays tech bytes google may be challenging uber it has started sort of a Ridesharing Service in San Francisco available through itsways app. Waze app. No word outside the bay area. The two companies are also racing to develop driverless cars. Next month, a major change in your headphones no major jack a whether you tooth audio adapter Bluetooth Audio adapter. Price about 20. Its a dream come true for couch potatoes. A new papa johns app lets you order pizzas directly from your has v a similar system but papa johns is offering a 25 were a few hours away from the first commercial flight from u. S. To cuba in more than a half century. 9 45 a jetblue flight is lauderdale to cuba. Its part of president obamas plan to normalize relation was the island nation. The last commercial flight appears to have happened after cuba banned incoming flight during the 1962 cuban missile crisis. Vlad peer putin is facing Vladimir Putin is facing criminal charges in south florida. Not the russian president but this guy. A man was scam employees. Police say that mans name is Vladimir Putin. At least thats the name he gave them. Officers now charge him with trespassing and resisting arrest without violence. Putin is due back in court in september. Its a wet day as the effects of tropical depression 9 pick up in the bay area. Ivan will show us which spots could be most at risk for flooding. Were watching the roads, a roosevelt is off to the side. Well talk about the other one right now at 5 30 as