Idalia weakened to a tropical storm Wednesday evening as it trekked across the Southeast, threatening parts of Georgia and the Carolinas with strong winds and flooding after pummeling parts of
5 storm they would not get up from the couch. they wouldn t leave their homes. what s your message to folks that don t really take a category 3 like this seriously? the message is, you know, there is some complacency with floridians, as you mentioned, and these storms are unpredictable. that cone of uncertainty is just that, it s uncertain. it s up to mother nature to where are the storms going to hit and to what intensity it s going to hit. so we need to prepare for a major category 3 hurricane to hit the bay area and, you know, execute those plans and reach out to the resources that we have available locally. and, rob, for those who have not grown up in florida or who are not as familiar with hurricanes, paint a picture for us. what happens when a category 3 hurricane makes landfall and hits florida? so the biggest life threat in a hurricane event is those storm surge. so our county administration along with emergency management
is working diligently to decide next steps and we re going to protect our residents against that storm surge. the wind event is something that you shelter for and you prepare for an electrical interruption if that s the case afterwards. so if you are, you know, new to the area, go to our local resources and see where you are in the evacuation, if that s ordered. there has not been an order for anything yet, but, you know, just use the resources we have and start executing your plan. so important to point out, as you did, rob, about the cone of uncertainty. last year in the same area they were expecting hurricane ian, it wound up hitting further south and causing all sorts of devastation, rob herrin, we will be in contact. thanks so much. thank you. and coming up for us, covid cases in the u.s. are rising, but should you worry about catching the virus? why experts say there are still good reasons not to treat it casually. we will explain when we come
are already declared states of emergency, that including hillsborough county where tampa is located. joining us is the fire and rescue rob pairing. we appreciate you being with us today. what is your first priority right now? right now our message to our residents and visitors is to start executing your plans. start preparing your homes for any kind of wind event, securing any kind of anything that could become a projectile. get any important documentation in order. birth certificates, insurance information, social security cards. prepare for an electrical power interruption, post storm. cash out in case atms are down and even download your kid s favorite movie in case they need it throughout the storm. that is good advice to parents, rob. i grew up in florida and i know so many of my neighbors growing up unless it was a category 4 or