surge and what s expected to be the surge area, will first responders still be able to get to them? no. once the winds reach a certain level and then once the tide especially cedar key because cedar key has one way in and one way out. it s a state highway that runs through there. once that becomes unpassable, yes, they will not be able to get out there on rescue boats, winds and all that. so once those winds reach that 45-mile-an-hour sustained, they pull all the emergency vehicles off the road. so they re in it for the long haul. and those that stayed during hermine then called and wanted to be evacuated and all that and we couldn t get to them, they really need to take heed of this. it s a stark warning. john mcdonald, we are thinking of all of you all tonight. we know you ve got a long few days ahead of you. thank you for taking the time to join me tonight. yeah, thank you. we have much more to come as idalia is bearing down on florida. we are going to be joined by a forme
people here on the island that just refuse to leaf. and i just felt a responsibility as their neighbor and as a person that loves this island to try to stay behind and to see what i can do to help. we ve got a stone episcopal church building here that we re going to be holed up that we believe will withstand the winds, and it s at the highest point on the island. we believe even at the highest bit of storm surge we ll be okay. it s just place that i love. and i couldn t bear the thought of our neighbors that had no chance to take care of themselves getting stuck in something that i could be here to help them with. what s your plan if things get worse than you ve anticipated? well, i mean, at some point the plan would be to hightail it out of here. but i believe we have a solid plan to be able to stay. we have rescue boats lined up in places staged, where we believe as soon as the storm passes that we ll be able to get on and get the people. but i tell you, when you live here on the
Residents in St. Petersburg’s Shore Acres neighborhood aren’t strangers to flooding — yet Idalia, they said, was different. The punishing Category 3 hurricane brought storm surge rushing through Tampa Bay before it made landfall and pummeled the coast along Florida’s Big Bend. The storm stayed more than 100 miles offshore, as it passed the Tampa Bay region, but low-lying areas, like Shore .
with over 80 miles per hour, and that is the inland communities as well. the swath is moving inland to the georgia/florida border wednesday and into thursday and this is also important, because remember, this storm is not just a florida storm, and we are talking about georgia and into the carolinas thursday and friday. so many states at play here across the southeast. boris. stunning to see, derek, just how rapid the storm is intensifying with the warmer water, and warmer than in years past. derek van dam from clearwater, florida. 5 million people under hurricane warnings, rahel. and five dozen counties. and people are racing to prepare as hurricane idalia approaches, and the officials are also getting ready. this morning the coast guard was positioning rescue boats ahead of any rescuing, and also position aircraft. sara sidner, you is been there