anywhere from three to six inches of flood water, but right now, we are seeing some streets flooded, but more than flooding is what we are seeing. then the storm surge is the other big concern, anywhere from one to three feet higher than the average the tide out here the high tide. so as the storm blows in, ashley, you can tell i ll having some trouble. we are seeing those stronger winds as they come here into the tampa area. definitely, do take care, george. we will continue to follow what the conditions are if your area. i also want to go to chad myers who is watching things develop and seeing them in the severe weather center. so, listen, george just said it, this is only a tropical storm. sometimes if are you there, sometimes that doesn t matter, whether it s tropical storm or hurricane status. what are these people expecting? there is still that flood warning today, that flood issue for all these areas. three to six inches of rain in florida will flood streets, will flood road
the system will cover over the state of louisiana dropping anywhere from 18-24 inches of rain after that it is still a flood issue. a lot of the area the water has nowhere to go. authorities say they have faith in the levy system. the drastic images from 2005 there is mass devastation we saw with hurricane katrina. since then the levy system has undergone a $14 billion facelift. there is more than 133 miles surrounding the city of new orleans while the number of perish parishes that protect residents they have a $550 million water pumping system. people who hunkered down feel they have faith in the levy system and believe they will be safe. hope the levees hold. appreciate elizabeth bran
for the wind damage associated with trees coming down and the like. next slide, please. if you get higher than a four foot storm surge, right now, the high surge is where it is happening. also point out the likelihood of exceeding four feet in the james river and chesapeak and the ocean and upper chesapeake on this forecast is not looking like it will have the kind of flood issue you saw with isabelle. then the winds will swing the other way. not so fortunate for delaware bay. north of dover, all the way
the wind damage that is associated with trees coming down and the like. next slide, please. this is our probability of storm surge gauge of 4 feet exceedance. if you get higher than a 4 foot storm surge out of it, right now the highest probability of storm surge as you might expect is where it s actually happening. also i want to point out the likelihood of exceeding four feet in the upper ends of the streams that come into the janes river and the chesapeake and ocean in the norfolk hampton roads area and some parts of the lower xhes peek have a chance. the upper chesapeake is not looking like it will have the kind of flood issue you saw with isabel. maybe some small ones as the storm approaches, but the winds swing the other way and you see a lowering of water levels there. not so fortunate for delaware bay. the areas from north of delaware all the way down to bethany and
good morning to you all. i m t.j. holmes. welcome to our viewers watching us in the u.s. and around the world, as we continue to follow a category 1 storm, hurricane irene, that is threatening about 20% of the u.s. population. some 65 million people in its path. it has been hammering north carolina with heavy rains and fierce winds for past several hours. it was just a couple of hours ago that it officially made landfall in north carolina. more than 200,000 people are without power as we speak, and the path of destruction is spreading as this storm continues to move north. major northeastern cities are in its sights, cities that aren t used to being tested for their hurricane preparedness. talking about washington, d.c., boston, new york city, as well. in fact, in some low-lying areas of new york, there has been an unprecedented mandatory evacuation in several places. that evacuation order is still in place, and some of those evacuations still underway. hospital patients, res