but the idea of pocket flooding saturations of rain over the next 10 to 12 to 18 hours, what does that mean for you? right now, chris, we re in the peak of the storm. we are seeing potential rain happening around the county. we are seeing high winds, particularly on the east end. we have seen on fire island where the atlantic ocean is hitting the dunes, the dunes are holding right now. we know we re going to have an astronomical high tide. with those rains continuing throughout the day into the night and into tomorrow, we are continuing to urge caution. i know there is some sense of relief people have felt because this was downgraded from a category one to a tropical storm. remember it was just a year ago when tropical storm isias knocked out power.
going to be lagreeing with you. thank you for looking out and doing the job. not everybody is listening. this place is packed with people who want to look at the storm. if the rain comes back heavy, they ll go home. thank you very much mr. bellone, let us know how we can help. this is a sneaky storm. tom sater dropped some knowledge on people. it may seem mild. don t drop your guard. than, chris, we ll check back with you and with tom sater as well. also breaking today, the desperate push to get people out of afghanistan. cnn learning that the conditions are worsening at kabul airport. millions of vulnerable americans struggle to get reliable transportation to their medical appointments.
i had been out here since about 5:30, raining for about six hours straight which doesn t include the rain overnight last night into this morning. some of that rain, of course. the six hours straight it did rain. now even the water has calmed, chris. when i was here this morning, the surf was just the size of the waves was so remarkable. at some point about nine feet, possibly more, some folks were reporting. it s much different out here now. people are starting to come out, trying to come see the waves. the lifeguards are still keeping them back, trying to keep people off the beach because it s still not safe. even in town i just went and walked through on the other side of our hotel here. even there, some of the water we were seeing from the rain that was pooling, that has started to subside. people are trying to enjoy their sunday. i can tell you it s cool out here, but not like it was earlier when the wind was kicking up between about i
going forward. chris. derek, look, when we re not dealing with the direct aspects of the storm, it s hot. it s hot and humid. it s summer still. that s something these communities will have to deal with, especially if there is flooding. you re right, make yourself comfortable. i ll check back with you. you know how to get me. i ll come right back to you. thank you very much. you and the team stay safe. here in long island, when you go that s what s on my hat, it s long island, not a fish. at the end of long island you will see montauk. we were worried about montauk when henri made its secondary shift. it s a vulnerable area. shimon prokupecz is there and has been watching big surf and wind. how is it now? reporter: chris, this is probably the driest i ve been all day because the rain has stopped.
island of block island. a thousand san, maybe 2,500 people in season, a beautiful place. it s hard to get to. we ll be hearing stories about what happened there. you ll want to listen for that. for the rest of us, it s going to be about duration. you re going to hear about this storm and where it is, pockets of flooding and what that means for people afterwards, the vulnerable, the elderly, the heat and humidity that could last days afterwards. if there are power outages, that becomes a significant concern. for here they have different shots. this is where i live in east hampton. you have a lot of locals checking it out. thank god it s a day to observe and not hunker down and hide. the outer bands are circling in counterclockwise fashion here. there will be rain. there will be exposure in new york and in different areas for hours to come. in terms of intensity, you have