interests of these islands because all the real extreme wind and heaviest rain are to the northeast. we call that the dirty side of the storm. doesn t mean these islands are out of the woods but the worst of the storm is not going to be running into grand bahama like they did dorian. this is where the system currently sits, everything highlighted in yellow is tropical storm warnings so still pay attention to this system. it could have been worse was we saw tropical storms along the florida coast that have been lifted because the system is expected to stay far enough off the coast that you will see choppy surf, rip parents but some rain, but not tropical storm situation we were thinking 24 hours ago. all the storm as keep it well off the united states coast before shooting into the atlantic towards bermuda. they will need to pay attention to this by the middle of the upcoming week or late in the week. here s the forecast running
that s nothing generally speaking for a storm of this magnitude. al roker, thank you so much. gabe gutierrez is along the florida coastline. gabe, you re seeing the winds picking up there now? are people going to be evacuating? reporter: hi, andrea. well, you re now talking about that slow moving storm. for the people along the florida coast, this has been an agonizing wait. we are starting to see some of those rain bands. we ve been seeing them for 24 hours. the wind has been pretty much sustained. we re expecting it to continue throughout the afternoon. you see the choppy surf behind me. local authorities have been worried about storm sturge here, six or seven feet. that s been revised a tad down to three or four feet perhaps in this area. the local authorities are warning people to be careful here to remain vigilant. they say this is a test of
we will not respond after hits of 50 miles per hour. we evaluate it at the time but generally 50 is the limit for us as far experienced flooding during matthew or irma in the last few years, they really should the governor has asked. and most everybody else who welcome back to vels stays in town ought to hunker down and baton down the hatches and be ready. velshi & ruhle. joining us from jensen beach, nasa has been tracking dorian s florida, which is starting to path. as the category 2 storm gets closer to the florida coast, the feel the effects of dorian is flight facilities at the kennedy nbc news correspondent gabe space center are buckling down. staff at the center are gutierrez. reporter: stephanie and ali, preparing to ride out the storm the winds are starting to pick up here. as it moves closer bringing with we are getting pelted by sand it those damaging right now. over the past couple hours we ve 110-mile-an-hour winds. joining us now, public also seen these rain
port st. lucie just said this has been, quote, a test of patience. that is exactly what we re seeing. you see right here there s a choppy surf. we ve been seeing these conditions, again, for the better part of 24 hours. you can see the palm trees swing in the wind. not too significant wind here just yet but we are getting one of the other squalls and this is what we expect today, for conditions to deteriorate quite a bit. residents here in florida, they have seen over the last couple days, waiting for the storm as bill just described that has been painfully slow in getting out of the bahamas. about 85 emergency shelters are open in the state of florida and more than a million people up and down the florida coast, georgia, and the carolinas have been ordered to evacuate. over there is hutchinson island under a mandatory evacuation order. we can tell you many people here have taken this seriously. businesses are boarded up and
coastal areas like where you re at. as of now roughly 14 hupp hundred people in shelters in martin county. what are the reports about what we re hearing about some of the shelters closing later today mat more do we know about that? reporter: hi there, craig. first of all, you can see that choppy surf behind me much like you ve been experiencing today. we re starting to see some of those rain squalls. we re just getting a little bit of rain here, kind of sustained winds throughout the morning. but with those evacuations, 1400 people according to martin county authorities spent the night in sherlts last night. one of those shelters, the high school, they re planning to close a little later on today. that may be some good news as they still wait for this storm about 100 miles offshore. he this are expecting tropical storm-force wind gusts here, but there s some local officials are sayinga that th saying that they might close some of those shelters that moves further to the north through