it s 17% contained but the fire chief says he s optimistic they ll make progress today because the weather conditions have improved. to texas where the focus is on cleanup from harvey s destruction. now there s anxiety growing over another storm rapidly gaining strength in the and thetlantic. irma is now a powerful category 3. you guys have been watching this for a week, tom sater. how are things looking? when we introduced everybody to irma last thursday, we mentioned we need four or five days. it s only been three. the computer models are giving us more confidence and it s not looking good. it s a category 3, soon it will be a 4. hurricane watch for the lesser antilles, barbados, antigua, st. kit s, british virgin islands may be next. the national hurricane center track makes it a category 4 into monday and tuesday, keeps it at a category 4 towards the bahamas. it s trending southward.
also preparing, ready to move 35 ships at naval station norfolk out of harm s way if necessary. and not knowing what earl will do, people like these boaters are going ahead and making plans as far north as massachusetts. another threat, rip currents. red flags posted along many beaches warning about danger. about 65 people were pulled from the water in virginia beach yesterday. a hurricane couldn t come for a worst time for business that depends on tourism dollars from the labor day weekend. some travelers are starting to cancel hotel reservations ahead of the storm. before we bring in chad myers, i want to show you this video from one of our i-reporters. earl whipped up very strong winds in saint kit s, causing some boats to wash ashore. this was yesterday in saint kits. let s do what we have to do. this is your hurricane headquarters at cnn, and when there is a hurricane, chad is our man on it. chad, what have you got? ali, the problem with this storm is that it s not a