seen an erie sight along old tampa bay. we ve seen what is known as reverse storm surge. so right now, we see the warm has receded back. on the north end of the storm, the winds have been pushing the water out of this bay. so in sam areas, negative six feet of storm surge in some cases. however, this water is all going to come rushing right on back. that will be a big concern for folks here as well as for our crew. we re going to be keeping a close eye on the water. if need be, we re going to have to get out of here. the wind is already whipping. the rain feels like knives on your face. meanwhile, florida governor ron desantis says 5,000 florida national guard troops have been deployed as 2,000 other guardsmen from across the country. 40,000 linemen and other personnel are on stand by to respond for power outages.
hurricane in fort myers. robert talked about what s going on in naples. i ve seen incredible flooding. robert talked about boats that were tossed out of the ocean in naples as well. a serious situation in that part of florida. also joining us now is max gordon from fox weather. he s in st. petersburg, florida. max, how is it with you? we were on the edge of old tampa bay. we talked about the reverse storm surge. as the storm moves towards us, we re seeing the water returning too old tampa bay and tampa bay and refilling it very quickly. we got out of there for our crew s safety. we wanted to move positions. we re further, a little higher ground here. although we re in a very
good morning to you all. i m t.j. holmes. welcome to our viewers watching us in the u.s. and around the world, as we continue to follow a category 1 storm, hurricane irene, that is threatening about 20% of the u.s. population. some 65 million people in its path. it has been hammering north carolina with heavy rains and fierce winds for past several hours. it was just a couple of hours ago that it officially made landfall in north carolina. more than 200,000 people are without power as we speak, and the path of destruction is spreading as this storm continues to move north. major northeastern cities are in its sights, cities that aren t used to being tested for their hurricane preparedness. talking about washington, d.c., boston, new york city, as well. in fact, in some low-lying areas of new york, there has been an unprecedented mandatory evacuation in several places. that evacuation order is still in place, and some of those evacuations still underway. hospital patients, res
wolf blitzer is off tonight. i m joe johns. you re in the situation room. i cannot stress this highly enough. if you are in the projected president of this hurricane, you have to take precautions now. don t wait, don t delay. we all hope for the best, but we have to be prepared for the worst. we how is it going in new york right now, mary? you just heard the president speak about this hurricane. new york had asked the president to declare emergency assistance. and the president did have an emergency declaration for new york, meaning the city and state will get federal help. but this is an unprecedented move in new york today, joe. the mayor michael bloomberg has ordered iffer the first time mandatory evac yags in low-lying areas of new york. and this encome passes areas that affect between 200 and 300,000 people. this out of caution and concern about high water and heavy winds. earlier throughout the day, there have been some evacuations taking place in hospitals and n