That away one hurricane. the folks of the midlands of south carolina. coastal areas could see severe flooding. strong tropical storm. lots going on with this system. we will keep you updated at the top of the hour. karen mcinnis, we will keep an eye out for. that coming up, thousands without power and prosecute. after pounding the western part of the island nation. we will have a report from havana in just a few moments.
An hour. it s gaining strength as it moves close to the florida shoreline. despite the grim warnings of a once-in-a-lifetime storm. some people are going officials piece to evacuate. emergency services have been stopped. those who stay behind might be on their own for hours. before moved into the gulf of mexico, it pounded parts of cuba. cuban officials say the storm dumped more than four inches of rain on the west edge of the island. flooding homes and businesses, knocking out power to more than half of the westernmost province. cnn s patrick oppmann has more from havana. hurricane vidalia might have it with only a glancing blow but it still caused quite a bit of pain. it moved across western cuba as a tropical storm. and then turned into a category one hurricane. even though it skirted the farthest western point of key but we still have heavy rains here in havana. at this, point there are still
gloria pazmino, live in clearwater florida, thank you. let s take a look at the wider area. now we are bringing in meteorologist karen mcinnis who s been tracking this storm for us. karen, what are you seeing. again, it has been hovering on the potential major hurricane status. we are waiting to see how that. goes what is the latest on your aunt? yes, fortunately we are getting updates that the national hurricane center at the top of every are. which is good news. however that is not going to stop this train from rolling on into this big bend area. i want to point out just how large this hurricane system is. all the way coming across tallahassee. all the way down towards southwest florida. this entire zone right here is seeing heavy rainfall. but worse than that, if this storm surge is the big killer. now, we have also got a tornado watch. there is potential for tornadic activity. it would not be surprising to see. we will get another update probably coming up the next 20
Once-in-a-lifetime storm. an earthquake also striking the region at the same time. in moments i ll talk with the mayor of palm springs about how her city is holding up. in the state of washington, a state of emergency as raging wildfires burn thousands of acres and destroy hundreds of structures, just as president biden is set to visit fire-devastated hawaii today with more than 800 people still missing. homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas will join us straight ahead. it s a big week for the former president. donald trump has until friday to surrender to authorities in georgia. polls showing he s still dominating the republican field. . so glad to be with you. it s 10:00 eastern. i m ana cabrera reporting from new york. this morning, flood warnings