per hour, charleston, 71 miles per hour. these numbers are isolated power outages, a lot of trees down, coastal flooding, but places like savannah and charleston, you re going to deal with storm surge and we re expecting anywhere from 2 to 5 feet. if you think that s nothing compared to what they dealt with, places like charleston could potentially end up in the top ten of water levels on record for that high tide time is happening around 8:24 p.m. tonight. unfortunately we re also going to see some of the worst storm surge potential at the same time as the system gets closer to folks in that area. savannah, 7:37 is the high tide time. both time frames are crucial when it comes to the storm surge people are dealing with in those locations and up and down the coast. we have a tornado watch. this has been in effect all morning long. that s going to last until 3:00 p.m. parts of florida, extending into southern portions of georgia, but what you see from savannah
about really, really significant storm surge potential. i mean, this is similar, 10, 12 plus feet of storm surge, could happen, in some of those areas, and the storm surge is not something, you re not going to win that battle, if you decide to stay. stay behind for that. you run away from the water. and then you hide from the wind. and so in florida, if you get away from where the surge is going to hit, you know, most of the structures that we have particularly things that have been built until the last 20, 30 years, you know, those are going to be fine for a category 3 storm. and so you can hunker down there on higher ground where the storm surge isn t going to be a threat, but if you re putting yourself, hunkering down in an area that could get hit by 10, 12 feet of storm surge, you know, that is a life threatening situation, and we saw that with hurr hurricane ian, just how massive the storm surge was. you are going to see parts of the coast, probably in the big bend area that is go
going to be impacts that are going to be outside whatever the national hurricane center says is the path of the storm. there have been evacuation orders issued for people on coastal areas, barrier islands, low lying areas. you still have time particularly if in the northern part of the state, you have time to be able to evacuate. you don t need to drive hundreds of miles. don t need to try to outrun the storm. just get to higher ground. get into a safe structure. ride out the storm then you can go back to your place. but in some of these areas like a cedar key, some of these others along the big bend, you re talking about really, really significant storm surge potential. i mean, this is similar ten, 12 plus feet of storm surge could happen in some of those areas. and the storm surge is not something you re not going to win that battle. if you decide to stay behind for that. you run away from the water.
really significant storm surge potential. this is similar, 10, 12 plus feet of storm surge that could happen in some of those areas. the storm surge is not something you re not going to win that battle if you decide to stay, stayed behind for that. you heard the governor talking about cedar key. we ll talk to two residents that have decided for the time being to stay put. first to steve harrigan. he s live for us in dunedin, florida. steve? that s, people lining up to make sand bags, scrambling in the last hours to try to protect their homes. that storm is a category one. winds of 80 miles per hour. it s expected to increase in strength over the warm water in the gulf and get to a category three. that is a lot of numbers. when you re talking about 120
during what was called an extreme wind warning. they reserved those words for very specific moments when winds are very dangerous to life and property and they certainly were at that particular moment in time. here is the storm, a large mass of orange and the definitive eye has closed in and still 140-mile-per-hour winds along the eye wall. we can t see it as the moment because quite frankly, the radar has been knocked out. we have 16 inches of rain already recorded in some locations and it s incredible. that s why flash flood warnings are in place and more rainfall to come, another five to seven i inches and the storm surge potential not as high, but it is the western coastlines that will feel most vulnerable to the storm. an important clarification, not an eye wall landfall, an eye wall landscape. appreciate it? there you go. you learn something new every