five. late last night. the storms path moving a little bit more west now. potentially sparing miami from the worst case. still hurt. also raising the threat level for those along florida s west coast. which wasn t seeing this just a day ago. the national weather service latest update says the storms winds are about a ferocious 160 miles per hour. and warns of potential storm surges of now 12 feet. in some areas. it was ten feet before that. also here s a glimpse of what the storm looked like when it hit. leaving a trail of devastation through the caribbean islands. 23 have been confirmed dead so far. trees as you have heard and so many times sideways. back with us, meteorologist. looking at storm. we got the update 90 minutes ago. and trees sitting sideways. that will hit florida. it s unfortunate the storm is
those bridges go out and we could lose connection. this hurricane is very similar to hurricane donna in 1960, bigger and stronger and we lost some bridges then. 1935, we lost some bridges. heather: we have to wrap you up, we are going to the briefing with sarah sanders. secretary sanders: the president is constantly monitoring hurricane irma and the federal government is working closely with our state and local partners to ensure the safety of the coastal communities. in his weekly address to the nation this morning the president noted this storm has historic destructive potential and he is recommending everyone in the storms path remain vigilant. our message to the american people is this. with gratitude for our first responders and prayers to those in the storms path, we are behind you 100%. i d like to bring up the president s homeland security advisor to discuss specifics on the federal government s ongoing
the storms path for the next few days. whoever would have thought this storm would make landfall in texas not once but a few days later a second time. that they say is going to happen. stay with us.
i am uma pemmaraju. america s news headquarters starts now. again, with the first real threat of the year in the gulf of mexico. oil rigs are being evacuated as a cluster of storms forms in to what would be tropical storm debby. maria molina is standing by the fox weather center with the latest on the storms path. what can you tell us? good to see you and unfortunately, the system doesn t have a clear path or direction expected. the tropical computer models are pointing it to texas or toward florida. it is a very large cone of uncertainty now. it is not a tropical depression or storm. there have not been a close of circulation detected just yet. hurricane hunters are heading
in ocean city, maryland, on the delmarva pennsylvania, and beautiful to be in the summer but just not today. thank you, tom costello. we have ten states under emergency, most of them full of people who never experienced a hurricane before. that s it for this special edition of hardball. more updates on hurricane irene throughout the night and all through the weekend. the last word starts right now. from north carolina to new york city are trying to minimize the damages from hurricane irene, and so too are the politicians. get the hell off the beach and get out. get out of the storms path now. 65 million americans could feel the rather of irene. do not waste anymore time working on your tan. what happens next is up to