i-4 corridor from the coastal areas through orlando, there is a lot of pine within that region, so it doesn t take much for a tornado to topple a tree and take down electricity as well. speaking of electricity, 13,000 customers without power within the state of florida, mainly in dixie county. not here. you can see clearly we have power behind us, things seem to be status quo and normal around here with the passage of this storm really just to our north and west. big bend of florida, that is where we have storm surge potential today and potential for another 4 to 8 inches. by the way, there have been reports of other a foot of rain in some localized areas as the feeder bands set up along the coastal areas of florida. so that will cause local flooding within those areas. thank you so much for that. mean team rescue crews in surfside, florida finding more and more victims at the site of that terrible condo collapse now that the entire building is down. 36 people confirmed dead, but
riding out the storm. what are the conditions like there for you? reporter: good morning, christine and laura. this is the nature of tropical storms. it changes so quickly. 20 minutes ago when we were talking i was enjoying just a warm breeze and now we had to run to the car to get our rain coat because one of these feeder bands has started to move over the tampa region. but we scoured the city before our live shots this morning, the typical areas that flood during tropical storms especially with high tide and passage of a hurricane or tropical storm, bay shore boulevard over my right shoulder, the south tampa area, none of that has flooded so that is good news. seems to be spared from the worse impacts. but regardless, there are still threats across the florida peninsula right through coastal georgia and into the carolinas today, including the threat of spinup tornados. that is also a consideration when you start moving from that
was enjoying sunshine and said the beaches were full. in tampa area they are on the edge of seeing the rain move into the area. hurricane hunters in the area a while ago gives ugh on indication we re on the verge of having a hurricane. a hurricane warning has replaced the hurricane watch. we knew it was possible before landfall. no one will know the difference between a strong tropical storm and a minimal one hurricane. the feeder bands are the big issue. as you look off into areas of the coast of miami, this will probably be the worst of it for the crews working in the operation of surfside. you see the feeder bands sliding in. this line of severe weather will lift northward. i think that will the worst for them. for the rest of the state and mainly, that gulf coastal area will be in this day and through the night until we have the landfall tomorrow morning. it downgrades into the tropical
with it. it will allow water to build up. storm surge is the threat here, two to four feet in this harbor where i m located. in tampa bay, the national weather service just with a 5:00 p.m. update, actually increased the potential of storm surge from three to five feet. so heavy rain, four to eight inches, and tropical storm-force winds starting tonight and then the storm races towards the outer banks of the carolinas. derek, as far as surfside is concerned, how much longer will they be feeling the effects of this? how much more rain? and the wind is a real concern, i imagine, for the rescue efforts. how bad could it get? reporter: john, okay, so they re displaced well from the center of this projected path. they re not even in the path from the national hurricane center with tropical storm elsa. however, it has the potential to bring these feeder bands, these outer rain bands that can change the weather so quickly. so rain can pick up, the wind can be sustained at 35 miles per hou
the same issues with the same storm surge. the tropical storm force winds are concentrated well some distance away, but the risk is not over with with the crews that are on-site right now, because the feeder bands outside where it can sustain. it s going to brush the entire gulf coast area, but surfside still has a 70% probability, and it showed itself this afternoon. in about an hour, the center will be offshore and get into those warmer waters. early this afternoon about 3:30, the band moved through. they had a severe thunderstorm warning and a tornado warning. that s all it takes. these feeder bands are going to be moving in tomorrow morning, and when they move into this area in surfside and where the crews are working, they could have a water spout on shore. it verifies the demolition of the building they had last night. as this system moves further, they re going to get a break. the worse for the crews will be