evacuation, then we had to leave. reporter: this was all especially tough for the elderly and disabled. some sat down while others held their place in line. we migrate up ahead, they catch up. we migrate ahead, they catch up. a lot of team work. reporter: you re making friends with some good samaritans, it sounds like. it s been rough. reporte a lot of people in those shelters. we re going to take a break, but we will be back with the latest forecast on hurricane irma.
moved to florida from seattle two months ago. do you feel like you waited too long to decide? totally. i wanted to leave on monday. if it s the biggest hurricane ever, just leave. then you re not stuck. reporter: the line goes on and on and on. really, as far as the eye can see. some of these people have been waiting in this line for four, five, six hours. it first opened at 10:00 a.m. this morning, and many of them told me that the reason they came here was they saw the way that that storm shifted and that track shifted and said they ve got to get out of their homes. were you plank to evacuate? no, it was definitely a last-minute decision. i m in zone b. when the evacuation like, i was just on the edge of the monday te mandatory evacuation. i decided i should come anyway. i ve been here 30 years and ridden out other hurricanes. so yes, but when they increase the boundary for the mandatory
them before, but not seen anything quite this big. ed? hi, michael. after hurricane irma churns its way through key west and that area you just heard the reporter from the miami herald talking about, the next significant land point it will come across is this area here, naples and collier county, which is on the southwest corner of this part of the state. here everyone measures hurricanes by what happened in 2005, hurricane wilma. speaking with the mayor, he says he s not quite sure that experience will measure up to what hurricane irma will deliver here. a 10 to 15-foot storm surge expected and feared. the rain and winds beginning to pick up. we managed to make our way down south to a little island called marco island, about 24 square
many have been waiting in line for hours. reporter: jermaine arena, the last best hope for many seeking shelters from irma. this massive arena just outside ft. myers opened saturday morning, but getting inside hasn t been easy. what s the challenge here in getting inside? waiting. waiting four, five, six hours. about four hours. it s been a long wait. reporter: how do you feel about spending the night in here with a bunch of strangers? it s better than being at home getting flooded. reporter: many here brought their dogs and whatever belongings they could grab. they weren t sure what to expect once inside, but the general belief is it s safer than their own home. there s air-conditioning, water, and food. also, the national guard and florida highway patrol are here to keep it secure. are you worried at all about the conditions inside? oh, no. i m a camper from way back. i can do just fine. reporter: this couple just
we have seen this storm behave on its own. last night the interaction with cuba. tonight it weakened a little bit. what will overnight into tomorrow hold? the models are not doing a great job with this. the dirt is in the details and how that all plays out through tomorrow morning. that s why it s an hour by hour situation. now for more i want to go to msnbc s jacob who is on the ground in naples. what are you seeing? reporter: a loft people trying to get into shelters. jermaine arena had an enormous line out the door. the storm was tracking to the eastern part of florida and made the turn to the west. a lot of the people waited until the last minute and may have not have had the resources to get to a shelter. and today was a mad dash and a very, very long line. the line stretched city blocks