strong cat 3 winds. we get updates every three hours or so. this is the 2:00 a.m. update. it has dropped in strength by 10 miles per hour bringing to it a strong category 3. 120 miles per hour winds right around the center of circulation which by the way is becoming more defined. so this storm hasn t really lost its ability to strengthen just yet. er with, that eye wall is still over the warm ocean waters across this region which lgbt like jet fuel to help intensify and strengthen the storm. you are looking at the latest radar. i want to point out a few things. the eye wall is starting to take shape quite nice loochl it s just off the coastline of florida, just to the south and east of melbourne and the spais coast region. if we zoom in a little bit closer to this area we ll get into detail because what i m starting to notice here, see the dark shading of yellow and
and the wind passes or the rain passes and people want to come out and check out their neighborhood, i know that you have a big warning for them because just because they don t have power doesn t mean that the lines aren t still hot. what do you waurnt pent people ? bottom line is, if you see a line down, do not go near it. it could be energized. if you see flooded waters, stay away from it. there could be a power line down. again, we ve invested $2 billion since the past decade, but this is a force of mother nature that candidly we have not seen in a very, very long time. and mother nature has not done a clearing effort, either, in that time. so, we re seeing a lot of flying debris. a lot of trees down. things of that nature. so, there s no way to hurricane proof a system. we think we have a very strong and resilient system. but we re talking about a category 4 storm, category 3 now. we have a long way to go and
huge concern as we go forward with this storm and that goes without saying, of course, the wind. but as well as the rain. like we ve been saying, a lot of times it was the water. the water that takes lives in these storms, not necessarily the very strong winds, chris. you know, jennifer, it s just the question of time and how it changes in this situation. yesterday my biggest concern about the st. john river was the mullet run and now today it s almost at its cresting point right now. we still have four feet of tide to go before noon and maybe six or ten feet of surge. so, we re going to have to keep an eye on the situation here in jacksonville and also where you are. we ll check back in a little bit, my friend. boris is in daytona beach. they ve been getting hit much harder there. a struck of lightning that could cause unexpected damage. boris has had to move his shot several times. what are you seeing, boris?
you do make it through the worst of the storm that is hitting you right now. then, obviously, you ll have days and days of cleanup there. so, thank you for taking the time. hope your family stays safe. and send our regards to your son there who is helping out there. thanks so much for being with us on new day. okay. thank you. we ll take a very quick break here and then we will get more updates from chad myers and check back in with chris who is in jacksonville. new day will be right back.
we want people to remember that because we have a lot of hours left of exposure to matthew. i want to bring in chad myers. he has a question for you. chad, go ahead. hey, doctor, i want to talk to you about the storm surge in the st. john s river and also towards st. simon s island. there are a few cuts in the sandbars here all the way from daytona to jacksonville. the next true opening for the water to pour in will be the st. john s river and then on up towards the island. what will that storm surge potential be here? it s going to be very large because you don t have the water flowing out of the rivers into the ocean. the wind is going to push it up the river and in those inlets is going to push it up there and the fact that this is such a large storm with the long duration of time pushing that water ashore means that it will pile up. and i think that i ve seen the hurricane center storm surge model indicate somewhere around 10 to 11 feet of the surge.