to the south. because we ve been on the northern edge of this storm, the winds actually push the water out of tampa bay it was surreal not seeing water in there. people have been walking along the bay. that s not advised. but the water many return to the bay. you know, we re going to see storm surge, a very intense storm surge, kick up in the next few hours as this hurricane moves northward. that s a big concern. we could be seeing several feet of storm surge after that negative 6-foot storm surge in the bay. so we re going to be keeping tabs on this storm, as well as the very heavy rainfall expected over the next few hours, all right here on fox news, always the fox weather app. i can t hear you. i lost my ifb, but back to you in the studio. max, stay safe there.
welcome back. hurricane ian making landfall and wreaking havoc, tampa, florida, battling a storm we ve not seen for a century. let s check with fox weather s max gorden from st. petersburg, florida. how has the situation changed, max? more than 100,000 customers without power in piniella county, and more than a million customers across florida are in the dark. help will be on the way once this storm subsides. the bucket trucks in the hotel parking lot, there are more than 33,000 utility workers from across the country, from 31 different states, here in florida right now, essentially waiting out the storm. i talked to one utility worker from indiana. he said he came here to help out along with his crew.
0 maybe it knocks something else loose that had been hanging on. that s what we re encountering a lot here on the ground. neil: hang in there. just incredible. so the storm rages on, and will, we re told, for at least another 24 hours, as it continues to slowly, and i mean slowly make its way north. that will do it here. the five is now. hello, everyone. it s 5:00 in new york city. this is the five. the worst case scenario is unfolding for millions of americans. hurricane ian making landfall about two hours ago in southwestern florida, with ferocious wind speeds clocking in at nearly 155 miles an hour, just shy of a category five. at least 2.5 million people were ordered to evacuate. more than 1 million floridaians are sitting without power. that s going to grow every second. florida governor ron desantis will bring a storm update later in this hour. we will bring it to you when this happens. rick reichmuth is in florida. how you doing down there? we re feeling the winds st