rapidly intensifying storm now a category 1. taking aim at florida s gulf coast and with life threatening storm surge and extreme winds, impact could be devastating. plus a calculated risk. president trump s former chief of staff mark meadows taking the stand. but will his testimony convince a jury to move his trial to federal court. and classes are canceled today at unc chapel hill after a faculty member was shot and killed. what we re learning about the suspect in custody. those major stories and more all coming in right now on cnn news central. right now, idalia pounding parts of western cuba as a hurricane while florida prepares for impact. idalia is expected to make lawful in florida s big bend region early tomorrow morning
trajectory towards the big bend, but again, we talk about the oneles with these strengthening storms. any deviation for the west or any deviation to the east has major implications for such large population densities including tampa bay. don t let your guard down. important piece of advice. that rapid intensification. we saw it with hurricane ian last year. the cone of uncertainty leaving the hurricane to move in an unexpected direction. derek van dam, thanks so much. and evacuation orders have been issued for at least 22 florida counties. but officials are telling people in low lying areas or mobile homes to also consider leaving. i m worried a little bit about the rain. we live in mine the wind. we live in a mobile home. but out of all the years i ve been in florida, which is all my years, never really had much
that would be double the side of derek himself where he is standing. water coming up that high and coming at you fast. it is an absolutely imperative that you try and get your things together, get your pets ready, and get to higher ground. authorities have been saying that you don t have to travel hundreds of miles. make sure that you fill that gas tank up. but you don t have to go hundreds of miles or to another state. you just have to get out of the low lying areas. areas that you are seeing right there. the beach, it is flat. when these waters get pushed up on to the beach, they come at you very, very quickly. you do not want to be anywhere near there when that happens, when the first bands start coming in. we know that people have been preparing. we know this is extremely frustrating and unsettling for people who love where they live. they love their home. they don t want to see anything happen to it. but you don t want to be in that home and dealing with all this because the emerg
businesses as well. and we re a very, you know, small community that relies heavily on our coastal communities with their shrimping and crabbing and fishing and our timber. and so if the track stays the same and we see the storm surge that they are predicting, it would be very devastating for our little county and the surrounding counties around us. so mandy, what do you need residents to know right now? what is your message to them? absolutely need them to pay attention and don t take this lightly. we had a lot of people slowly starting to move into dixie county the past couple year which is we love, but for those that may not have been through something like this before, definitely listen to your neighbors that has lived in florida, has been through hurricanes and can give the best advice on what they seen in this area with how storm surge happens especially with the high tides. and we did just order that
essentially. saying if you want to evacuate, you need to do that now. he said that you have time this morning to make final preparations, you don t have to go hundreds of miles but go to a different county, go to a friend s house, a hotel. and saying this will be a major storm and uncommon one. he made the point that hurricane directly hitting the big bend area of florida is not something that the sunshine state has seen since the 1800s. and a significant storm at that. it is tracking to land potentially as a category 3 storm as well. let s take you live to clearwater with derek van dam. he has been tracking idalia since it formed. it is sunny right now, but that will change in a matter of a few hours and soon that storm surge also is going to be a serious concern. yeah, we talk about the hazards affecting this area. and we are in clearwater beach and this is pinellas county, one