paris olympics? announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. good evening, everyone, and welcome. floridians have seen this movie before. anxiously watching the development of a hurricane. hoping it will defy predictions, weaken and go somewhere else. but tonight idalia is staying on script, starting this day as a tropical storm but expected to strike florida s big bend as a major hurricane as soon as wednesday morning. tonight 13 million people across florida are under tropical storm or hurricane alerts. governor ron desantis declaring emergency executive orders in 46 counties and warning the storm could bring life-threatening storm surges. at mid-afternoon today it was still a tropical storm with 70-mile-per-hour winds, but expected to rapidly intensify. in preparation tampa international airport planning to cease operations overnight. al roker is here to start us off.
Transcripts for KNTV NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt 20240604 23:00:30 archive.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archive.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
mandatory evacuation where you are tonight. reporter: that s right, lester. windows here are boarded up. the sandbags are in place. as residents are wasing to get out by tomorrow s 4:00 p.m. deadline. tonight florida s gulf coast taking no chances when it comes to tropical storm idalia. i got the bags that i need and they loaded it in my car. reporter: idalia could become the strongest hurricane to hit florida s big bend since 1950. in cedar key tammy wilkes is preparing to evacuate and bracing for the worst. how bad do you think the storm is going to be? it looks like it s going to be a big one. even some of our old locals are pretty concerned at this point. reporter: several counties under a state of emergency. mandatory evacuations and school closures along the coast already issued. we want everybody to make the best decisions they can for themselves and their families. reporter: tampa international airport closing at midnight.