to take a direct hit from the eye of the storm, officials are still warning about the potential for deadly flooding and storm surge. reporter: that s exactly right. we are that does not mean we are out of the danger zone. we are about 45 minutes to the west of tampa bay. and it s pretty desolate here. the beach behind me is empty, and that s how officials want it. this is a mandatory evacvags zone. and the reason for that is because the danger here is the storm surge. what bill was just talking about, as that hurricane moves towards the coast, over the very warm waters of the gulf of mexico, the concern is that the storm will continue to gather more and more strength and storm