hours away from feeling the hurricane s full force. good evening, omar. reporter: good evening. we are starting to see some rain here in north central florida, but for residents who stayed behind, the citrus county sheriff just told me that once sustained winds reach 45 miles per hour, his deputies cannot safely go out, so for resident has a problem, they are going to have to wait until after the storm passes. idalia s initial impact was felt from the florida keys up to tampa. high winds, heavy rains, and some flooding. the eye of the storm is taking aim at the big bend region of florida s gulf coast, which is bracing for hurricane-force winds of at least 111 miles per hour. authorities urgently telling residents in mobile homes and areas prone to flooding to get out now. the one consistent response from everyone who made the decision to stay is that i will never do that again. so, understand, that
finding slightly higher. the european model much farther south than the american model. dangerously close to miami-dade on the european model where the gfs or the american model closer to the space coast at landfall. it is a storm that s gathering strength. it isn t that circular saw blade that you sometimes see. there s a little bit of dry air coming up into the storm right there from the south. i suspect that that will stop and this will become that major hurricane that is forecast for sure. dana. thank you so much for that, chad. and communities from the florida keys up to southeast georgia are keeping a very close eye on the storm and preparing. ben mallick is the mayor of cocoa beach and joins me live now. mayor, your community has been hit before, just a couple of years ago hurricane irma. what is your prehurricane checklist for dorian?
the sparks flew and the wing huge amounts of rain. touched the runway. steady rain from the keys back reports say the national through miami and all the way transportation safety board is almost to melbourne. now investigating that jet. this is the case right on through the carolinas. it s a crj 900 which apparently is isn t associated with td-16 has a longer list of landing but tropical moisture and after gear issues. four other incidents over the over a foot of rain in past two years. wilmington, north carolina, they two the nose gear wouldn t come could see four to eight. down. right now, flash flood warnings two where the left wheels for wilmington and getting jammed. well, south florida could hammered there in north carolina take a big hit from a new severe and the forecast for heavier weather system. this was tropical depression 16, rain will be right up the but expected to become tropical eastern coastline. west of there, looking storm nicole some time today. relatively dry an