hurricane idalia, which is a category 2 hurricane which has just strengthened. the wind speeds are now at 105 miles per hour, and they are gaining. but it is not the wind that has people the most worried about this hurricane. it's the water. it is the storm surge, predicted to be 10 to 15 feet right where i'm standing in steinhatchee. the steinhatchee river right now sat low tide. at high tide, it's another 5, 6 feet higher than where it is. add 10 to 15 feet on top of that, and the area where i am standing right now is feared to be just completely covered in water about eight hours from now. that is the concern along the florida gulf coast. about 45 minutes south of where i am in the town of cedar key, the mayor there issued his town and his people a stern warning. >> we're here to beg our citizens to heed this warning. this storm is worse than we've ever seen. >> it is worse than we have ever seen, he said. a storm like this has not passed in this direction in over 100 years. it is why florida's governor ron desantis is telling people that if you were in these vulnerable areas, the time to leave is now. listen. >> you really got to go now. now is the time. if you don't, if you stay hunkered down tonight, it's going to be too nasty tomorrow morning to be able to do it. now, if you do choose to stay in one of the evacuation zones, first responders will not be able to get you until after the storm has passed. that's right. they're not going to be able to get there until after the storm has passed. >> if you're going to go, you need to go now. that was florida governor ron desantis. as i said, we just got a fresh update from the national hurricane center. let's go to chad myers right now. chad, what is the latest track? >> john, 105 is the wind speed going to 111, which would make it a category 3, major hurricane. track hasn't changed much. there was a wobble in the path hour or two. and if you're keeping score at home, you could see that wobble. it did try to jog toward land, but then it went right back to where it was. this happens all the time. kind of like a top that has too much weight on one side. it doesn't want to spin all the way around. and so you get those wobbles every once in a while. right now what you're seeing, john, way up here is a wind that is still offshore. so for tampa, still offshore. so you almost have a negative storm surge right now. but when you take the center of the eye and you move it over your latitude, all of the sudden the southern half is when the wind is coming in from the west and will push that water towards you. here is the center of the eye. you can almost see a little bit to the left. but then went right back to the left and back to the right. this is kind of what we're seeing now. but what is noticeable is that there is an eye. because for most of this storm, you couldn't find one. the eye means the storm is intensifying, and that is absolutely true because hurricane hunters are flying through it, and they're finding the pressure going down. haven't found the wind speed going up yet, but that will come. sometimes it takes a while after the pressure goes down, goes lower, lower pressure like the big low-pressure center, even in the wintertime. the lower the pressure, the bigger the wind. and still a category 3 at landfall. if this thing continues to intensify overnight, it could do something even higher than that. but i don't see it just yet. it's going to take more times. and this storm doesn't have that much more time. this will be onshore by about 8:00 or 9:00 tomorrow morning. that's the good news. you're not going to have another 30 hours in the water. there are the wind speeds there. st. petersburg, sarasota 30, venice, 32. st. petersburg 23. but those winds are away, toward the top of the storm where back on the bottom side, that's where you start to see the true effect of what's going to be the surge itself. now you have to be careful where you evacuate to. you don't want to evacuate to the 6-inch rainfall totals and get yourself in a flash flood warning from fresh water, from the rainfall out there. so you have to be very careful where you're going with this system. try to get away from the surge. that's the most important thing, away from the surge. and if you get yourself into some rain, you may have to deal with that in a couple of days. but surge certainly is a big story, john. >> talk to me more about the forecast for the surge, explaining why sheriff's deputies in this town in steinhatchee have been going door to door, telling people to get out. >> sure. it's the shape of the land. look, this is a catcher's mitt. this is going to catch all the water. think about if you're trying to cool off coffee in the morning, you blow on the top of your coffee and you see little waves and they all blow away to the other side of the cup. that's what's happening here. all of these waves are blowing up into this catcher's mitt. and if there was no land here, it would just keep going. but there is land that's going to stop it. and that is going to be the problem. that's why we're going see these huge amounts of storm surge, probably 10 to 12 in some spots i could see a little bit more. the shift has gone a little bit to the left over the past couple of hours. so taking away maybe some surge from newport richie, only 4 to 6 for tampa. but tampa, you're not going get your surge until this wind comes this way. and it's not doing that just yet. but it certainly, certainly will. so here is the big story about where you are. the story is that there is so much land before you get any topography. you have to go three or four miles inland just to get ten feet above sea level. okay. if you're going put a 15-foot storm surge, that may take four miles to actually come all the way the a stop. then all of the sudden you got all the tree roots in water. hmm. what's going to happen if you blow an 80 miles per hour wind over tree roots in water. those trees are going to come down. then you take 4 feet, 12 feet, and all of the sudden you are miles and miles inland before you actually get that saltwater to stop. and then you've got water on roadways, low spots that aren't going to drain, and it's going to be very difficult for people to get out of there tomorrow. that's why the governor said you have to go tonight. >> you can understand, you drive in here. it's flat for miles and miles and miles. nothing to stop that water if it comes in from the gulf there. chad myers, thank you so much. please keep us posted. all that new data that chad was just going over, a lot of it is coming from these hurricane hunter aircraft that are flying in and out multiple times of hurricane idalia. right before we came to air, we spoke to someone on one of these planes, lieutenant commander josh rainenberg. lieutenant commander, i understand you have just flown through the eye wall of idalia. tell me what you saw. >> yes, sir, we just did. and right now on the north side of the storm. we're about 200 miles west of tampa. and we saw mostly what we expected. we saw an intensifying hurricane. and we were able to find the center of the storm successfully. and right now we're loitering north, getting ready to go back into the eye of the storm. >> what's it like to fly through the eye, the eye wall of a hurricane, which we all know is the most intense, most powerful part? >> it can be a little bit unpredictable. and at times scary. but as a pilot, we're trained to do certain things inside the aircraft to make it perform in the way we want it to. the unnerving part comes when you are doing these things and the aircraft is getting tossed around a little bit by the storm. our aircraft is over 120,000 pounds when we fly through the eye wall at times. when it gets pushed around like a leaf in the wind, it's a little unnerving, but it's exciting. what we're doing up here to improve the forecast is something i can really get behind. >> to me it sounds a bit more unnerving than exciting. but i do get how important it is. what is the data that you've been able to collect so far on idalia? >> oh, we have a lot of instrumentation that's running as we go through the storm. when we go through the center of the storm, we'll hunt for the center. we'll identify the exact low-pressure center, and if we do it right, we'll find the surface winds where they are exactly at zero knots, and that helps recalibrate the forecast. we also get radar data that can help feed into super computer forecast models, and that's what helps reduce the margin of error between forecast and what actually happens. and that will help not just for this storm, but for every storm in the future. >> and you said you're headed back in. how many more times will you fly through this hurricane? >> we're going fly through at least one more time, possibly two to three more times. we have some scientists on board with secretary objectives. so depending how much fuel we have and conditions of the storm, we may decide to go back in and reach some of those additional objectives. >> based on what you're seeing, is this a storm that is intensifying as it heads towards landfall? >> yes. so far the forecast has been true to that. it is intensifying, and it has been throughout our flight. >> lieutenant commander john rannenberg, thank you for the work you do, and thank you for taking time to speak to us from the sky. we really appreciate it. >> thank you. >> that is such important, such important data being given to everyone by the hurricane hunters there. now a short time ago, you heard for the mayor of cedar key in florida about 45 minutes out telling people that they will not be able to get help if they are stuck there overnight as this storm hits. and the storm in that area could very well be unsurvivable, with the storm surge of 10 to 15 feet. now many people, if not most have chosen to leave, but not everyone. joining us now is michael bobbitt, who i understand is standing outside right now as the storm begins to creep up the gulf coast. and michael, you have chosen to stay on cedar key. why? >> well, we've got some -- we've got some elderly and infirm people here on the island that just refuse to leaf. and i just felt a responsibility as their neighbor and as a person that loves this island to try to stay behind and to see what i can do to help. we've got a stone episcopal church building here that we're going to be holed up that we believe will withstand the winds, and it's at the highest point on the island. we believe even at the highest bit of storm surge we'll be okay. it's just place that i love. and i couldn't bear the thought of our neighbors that had no chance to take care of themselves getting stuck in something that i could be here to help them with. >> what's your plan if things get worse than you've anticipated? >> well, i mean, at some point the plan would be to hightail it out of here. but i believe we have a solid plan to be able to stay. we have rescue boats lined up in places staged, where we believe as soon as the storm passes that we'll be able to get on and get the people. but i tell you, when you live here on the gulf, you get used to the natural rhythms of things. and right now you can feel the pressure dropping in your belly. and it feels like the hand of death. and i've never been an alarmist about hurricanes. i always think it's going to be just fine. but i am concerned about this place that i love so much. we haven't had anything like this since the great cedar key hurricane of 1896. and i think it's going to be three times as bad as that. so this island that we all love, i have grave concerns may not be here as we know it 48 hours from now. >> i can understand your concerns, given the gravity of the forecast, and given the storm surge of all the things that happen in a hurricane, there is really so little you can do. i do understand, you just talked about it. you've got a couple of boats. what do you plan to do with the boats? >> this is after the storm passes. and after the surge has reached its maximum height, if there are people that are stuck, we're going to get on the boat and try to find him. we've got kayaks. a 15-foot skiff tied up to a tree that even if we get the 15 foot of surge, i believe it will still be usable. i could be wrong about that. but in addition to clams and beautiful sunsets, one of the things we have in abundance here on the island is boats. so i believe we'll be able to find one to get out and see what we can to help folks. >> have you been in touch with any of your neighbors who have also chosen to stay? and what are their reasons that they have? >> have i. and i have implored them to leave. i begged them to leave. and there's just -- there's just a certain quality of folks that live and make their living here on the water. we're an individualistic type of people. and there are a certain amount of folks that aren't going to leave. i'm on my high horse preaching about leaving, yet here i sit. there is just some percentage of the folks in an island community that are going ride it out with the island. and to the extent that i can try to be as safe as i can and help my neighbors, you know, you got to draw a line in the sand somewhere in your life and say this is what matters to me and this is what i care about. for me, it's cedar key and the people i live with here. i'm going to do my best to see what i can do to help. >> and do i have it right, michael, that you're actually a playwright in that you have written a play about someone trying to ride out a storm on cedar key? that was a work of fiction, right? and i know you're going to live through it. >> it was. it's a bit of cosmic irony where a man rows a rowboat out into the storm to punch the storm in the face to try to save the island. he was obviously deranged. i think my mom and some other folks think that's probably afflicting me right now as well. but i have no intentions of going out in the storm or doing anything crazy during the tough part of the tomorrow. i'm going ride it out. and i have a novel coming out in the fall here set in the island. and i wrote a horrific hurricane scene that takes place at this very spot where i'm standing. and i'm starting to wonder that i need to put the pen down and quit because it's coming through. >> either that or writing about good weather. sunny skies and calm seas. michael bobbitt, listen, we wish you the best of luck. please, whatever you can do to stay safe over the next ten hours, do so. get to higher ground. hunker down. >> i will. >> wishing you all the best. >> all right. god speed, thank you so much. >> good luck. all right. coming up, hurricane idalia. how does it compare to other storms? we will explain to you some of the comparisons, and why frankly they are so worrying. nday ticke. 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(we did it) start today at godaddy.com ♪ ♪ ♪ life after student debt is within reach. refi at sofi.com you could save thousands and get to your goals faster. sofi. get your money right. live pictures now. what you're looking at is a buoy off of key west in florida, the southernmost play in the united states. and you can just see the wind and the waves from hurricane idalia starting to have an impact there. actually, it's having an impact as you move up the florida peninsula. that's all the way down at the bottom right now. i'm at the top where it is starting to rain some, with my rain jacket in the car, by the way. i'm all the way at the top. about halfway up the peninsula is the city of tampa. where i am right now, steinhatchee is a town of some 500 people. tampa, one of the more populous urban areas in the entire state, a thriving metropolis. and while the eye of the storm is not going to hit there, there is serious concern even in tampa about the storm surge. with us now, cnn's carlos suarez who is standing right by the seawall there, carlos. explain what you're seeing. >> yeah, so right now things are dry at this hour, though a quick look at the radar shows we are in for a strong line of thunderstorms come the top of the hour. there are two mandatory evacuations at this hour. one is here in hillsborough county, which is home to the tampa bay area. and the other is just to the west of us in pinellas county. that is home to st. pete and clearwater. as you mentioned, john, the concern going in to tomorrow is that we are going to see flooding associated with this storm. we're talking about a storm surge anywhere between 4 to 6 and 7 feet. so going into tonight, the concern from emergency officials are for the folks that live in these low-lying areas. they want them to get to higher ground. they want them to get inland. right now we're told that a number of hurricane shelters are open across pinellas and hillsborough county. we are experiencing low tide at this hour. but come this time tomorrow, of course, things are going to change. we're expecting to see a lot more rainfall over the next couple of hours as this storm continues to make its way north. it of course is going to push all of that water into the tampa bay area, and then of course all of that at some point is going to mix in with high tide. and so you can understand, you can appreciate why emergency officials are worried that folks right now are still deciding whether or not to leave their homes. again, these emergency shelters that have opened we're told can house up to 20,000 people. john? >> all right. carlos suarez down in tampa. i'm up here in steinhatchee, which still is now beginning to get some of the outer bands of this. we are now stand manage the rain. this will continue to happen as the eye bears down here. back, though, to tampa, where carlos just was. and with us now is tampa police chief lee berkaw. thank you so much for being with us. what is your biggest concern? >> obviously where you're at is flooding. thaig that's the biggest concern. tomorrow the sun could come out and people will think they're in the clear, and that's not the case. we're going to expect a storm surge from 4 to 7 feet right there on bayshore boulevard. just because the sun is out and the storm passed does not mean we're in the clear. we do not want anybody to drive in flooded waters. don't drive in flooded waters. don't walk in flooded waters. you can ruin your car. you drown. be electrocuted. be safe. use common sense. and don't assume because the storm has passed that you're in the clear. >> so 4 to 7 feet. if it does reach those higher levels, what would that do? where would the water go? >> it would go all over the street. the street would be -- bayshore boulevard would be covered. i tell you, have i my entire police department in working, and, you know, the community has done nothing but praise our officers' efforts that are out there. they're humans too. they have family, they have lives, and they've sacrificed that to make tampa safer together. and the praise and outpouring of support for law enforcement in this area just unbelievable. it's heartwarming. and i'm glad to see that the community comes together with their law enforcement to make tampa safer together. >> do you get the sense -- obviously, i was down there a year ago for hurricane ian. and people often think hey, we've been through this before. it wasn't as bad as they said then. it won't be so bad now. to what extent are people heeding your warnings? >> well, it's a great point. and last year, if you recall, that hurricane was coming directly for us. and it was approximately six hours before where it made a hard right turn towards fort myers. if that were the case and it makes a hard right turn for us, we would be in much worse situation. so we get it. we understand it. and we know that that happened just a year ago. so that's why nobody is putting down their guard. >> what's the timing over the next 12 hours for the people of tampa? when will they know that it's okay to come back out? >> well, tomorrow when the sun is out, we're expecting the high tide to come in midday tomorrow. so we need to wait until tomorrow is done and the high tide is done and the storm surge is out before it's safe to come out. >> so your asks, to the people of tampa, your asks for tonight, for tomorrow is what exactly? >> stay inside. even if the sun comes out and the storm is passed, the storm surge, especially in the low-lying areas, in tampa specifically, the high tide is around noon tomorrow. so just because the sun is out and the storm is passed, doesn't mean that the storm surge won't affect us. and that's the forecast now. 4 to 7 feet storm surge tomorrow afternoon. >> tomorrow afternoon. and that would be serious in tampa. chief lee bercaw, thank you so much. always great to speak with you. thank you. >> thank you. >> obviously, we keep talking about this storm surge, the threat in tampa, the threat where i am in steinhatchee of 10 to 15 feet. what exactly does that mean? what's the significance? our randi kaye takes a look. >> reporter: this is what it's like in downtown new orleans right now. >> it's hard to estimate how much water that is. >> reporter: in august 2005, hurricane katrina barreled into the louisiana coast. the storm was a powerful category 3 hurricane when it made landfall with winds near 127 miles per hour. but what made katrina so deadly wasn't so much the wind as the water. >> i tried swimming to higher ground, but there was no higher ground. >> reporter: according to the national hurricane center, storm surge flooding measured 10 to 28 feet above normal tide levels. the storm surge that poured into lake pontchartrain breached the levee system, flooding most of new orleans. catastrophic flooding spread for miles inland, destroying residential neighborhoods. >> it came in so fast. it was from 1 inch to 10 feet in the matter of ten minutes. >> reporter: nearly 1400 people perished during the hurricane and the floods that followed. most of them drowned. katrina is a prime example of how deadly a storm surge can be. in 2008, hurricane ike made landfall as it swept over galveston island on the texas coast. i was a category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 110 miles per hour. much of the area saw devastating storm surges of 15 to 20 feet above normal tide levels. >> the ocean came through the house. it came literally came through the house. there is sludge and snakes and you name it. >> reporter: years earlier in 1995, hurricane opal made landfall near pensacola beach, florida as a category 3 storm. again, the story was the storm surge. >> totally gone. we didn't do anything but lock the door on our way out. >> reporter: with opal, the storm surge spanned about 120 miles from pensacola beach to mexico beach. that surge combined with breaking waves soaked portions of the florida panhandle's coast with water as deep as 10 to 20 feet. the maximum storm tide, which combines storm surge and regular astronomical tides was 24 feet recorded near fort walton beach. hurricane hugo made landfall as a category 4 storm in september 1989 just north of charleston, south carolina. records show sustained winds reaching 120 miles per hour in some areas. and the storm surge, it soaked the south carolina coast with maximum storm tides of 20 feet, observed in some areas. >> the wind is picking up so dramatically. >> there is no water and the eye hit. when the eye hit, it started. it was like filling up a bathtub there was no waves there was no nothing. like in about 10 minutes. >> reporter: decades ago in 1969, it was camille, a category 5 hurricane that made landfall along the mississippi coast. the winds were so fierce, they destroyed all the wind recording instruments in the area. >> what now? >> now we'll start over again. i got the clothe is got on and $22 in my pocket. >> reporter: the winds at the coast were estimated to be about 200 miles per hour. and with those winds came water, lots of it. a storm tide of 24.6 feet occurred at pass christian, mississippi according to officials. randi kaye, cnn, palm beach county, florida. >> our thanks to randi kaye. and a wonderful explanation about why these warnings are so stern, so urgent, up and down the big bend area where i'm standing right now. we are actually in a marina, a rather famous marina in steinhatchee, the sea hag marina. the people who are letting us shoot here, they are going to ride out the storm at the marina. when we come back, we'll speak to them and understand their plans. start your day wiwith nature made. the #1 pharmacist recommended vitamin and d supplement brand. our ears connect us to the moments that matter. give them the nutrients they need with lipo. it's formulated with ingredients clinically shown to protect your rs from dizziness, ear nging, and even hearing loss. they fell in love with the irresistible scent. ♪ ♪ huh, huh, so did their dog roger. ♪ ♪ gain scent beads keep even the stinkiest stuff smelling fresh. all right. welcome back to steinhatchee right on the florida gulf coast, right in the path of hurricane idalia, which is now a category 2 storm, a strengthening category 2 storm. it's got wind speeds of 105 miles per hour. it's expected to get up to 110 miles per hour, maybe 115. it will make landfall it is expected as a major hurricane. it's not the wind speed that is of the greatest concern, though, it's the storm surge expected to be 10 to 15 in some places. including right near in steinhatchee. we are lucky enough to be at a marina right now. it's dark so you can't see it. but we're standing at the docks of the sea hag marina right on the river here. with me is one of the members of the family that operates this marina, chase norwood. great to see you, chase. and also with us is our chief climate correspondent bill weir. chase, you and your family, first of all, thank you for letting us be here tonight. but you have chosen to stay, despite the warnings to leave. >> so this marina is pretty much our livelihood. and we've done all the work we probably could to prepare for the storm. so we're going to stay and monitor the surge we have tonight. and just kind of protect what we have. we've got a nice piece of property on a hill that we're really high at that we're not worried too much about getting flooded there. so like you said, we're more worried about the water coming up rather than the wind. we're hoping that the water doesn't go over our first floor in our marina. >> and just to add to the excitement, your sister is expecting any minute? >> yes, sir. my sister is in gainesville. >> okay. >> and ready for if she does go into labor. >> best wishes for her. >> you got her out of here. >> thankfully she is out. >> but i understand you helped respond to ian last year for people who lost their boats. >> yes, sir. >> even regardless where the storm hits, it adds to an insurance crisis that is crushing on people who live off the water, live near the water. explain all that. >> we got to see the destruction hurricane ian did down in fort myers. we took a crew, a team down to fort myers last year. we took a big barge down and craned boats out of people's yards, on top of people's houses. and we've seen stuff that i didn't know a storm could do. and so it was a real big eye-opener to my whole family. i think my dad is worryied wors case scenario he doesn't want to be like what happened in fort myers. with insurance stuff going on, we're all worried. that's why we're staying here to see if there is anything that we can do to protect what we have. >> chase, hurricane hermine which was a hurricane 1 storm, it did pass through here. it had a 6-foot storm surge. now we're standing down by the water. there is a bar area up here in the building which is about 6 feet higher than us. how high up on your body did the water get? with a six-foot storm surge for hurricane hermine? >> it was chest high in our store, which is about 50 feet from our river. so i remember on for that storm, it was kind of up in the air that if it was going to turn into a hurricane, and we didn't prepare that much at all for hurricane hermine, and so we boarded up the doors that time for that hurricane. but i remember it was going to hit in the middle of the night. similar kind of like how this one is going the hit with the high tide in the middle of the night. but i had my -- my dad is y'all go down there to check to see how high the water level is. i remember seeing it was foot over our little deck right here. man, we better go get my dad up and have him come down here. our house is literally right across the street. we get him up and walk him down here, and it's knee-deep in our store. and the water came in like a flash. >> and that was six feet. that was six feet. they're expecting 10 to 15 feet this time. that could be a lot worse. >> yeah. so if this double of what hurricane hermine was, it's going to be tragic for our area. and we're hoping that that's not the case. but, you know, we're prepared for that case. we moved everything from our first floor up. we moved pretty much everything that is ground level up on higher ground, at least 15 feet elevated. so we'll have to see. if it's more than 10 feet of a surge, i mean, it's going to be bad. >> listen, chase norwood, i wish you the best of luck to you and your family. thank you for letting us be here. thank you for what you do to the community. i know this is a landmark that people come to for safety and security. thank you. bill, we're going to be hearing a lot more from you in the coming hours. >> oh, yeah, just beginning. >> we're going to have more obviously on the storm coverage with hurricane idalia due to hit overnight here. but there is other news, including the funeral for the wagner mercenary chief who died mysteriously in that plane crash, yevgeny prigozhin. get nfl sunday ticket t from youtubetv on us. a $449 value. plus, get a freeee samsung galaxy z flip5. only on verizon.n. 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[ engine revving ] ♪ ♪ made it! mom! leave running behind, behind. the new turbocharged volkswagen atlas. does life beautifully. i'm john berman in steinhatchee in florida right on the big bend, right in the path of hurricane idalia, which will make landfall late, late tonight, really early tomorrow morning, right around dawn. wind speeds right now at 105 miles per hour. they are expected to strengthen north of 110, which would make it a major hurricane at landfall. now there is other news, including the funeral for wagner chief yevgeny prigozhin. we want to take a moment now to mark that. it comes six days after he and nine others died aboard a still unsolved plane crash in russia, and more than two months after the short-lived rebellion against the russian military and by connection vladimir putin. our matthew chance in russia tonight where even prigozhin's funeral site is shrouded in secrecy. >> don't believe the evidence of your own eye. not in russia. police checkpoints and metal detectors at the main cemetery gates are merely a diversion it seems to confuse. and hide the wagner leader's actual funeral from public view. both the kremlin and state media have been tight-lipped. >> well, talk about secrecy. we've just heard that actually yevgeny prigozhin has already been buried. but not at the cemetery we were at, but somewhere else way outside st. petersburg. so we're on our way now there. so in this heavy traffic, to try and get to the actual grave site. but i have to say, it's extraordinary the lengths to which the authorities seem to have gone to mask the actual location of the ceremony. and it's not just for prigozhin. the funerals of the wagner deputies killed alongside him in last wednesday's plane crash are also shrouded in secrecy amid rumors and misinformation that seem almost choreographed. these aren't just burials, quipped one russian commentator. but a special funeral operation, designed to mislead. well, we come to the cemetery where prigozhin is actually been buried. you can see. look at all the security around. these are people from russia's national guard, essentially. and if you come over here, there is more police back there. you come over here, you've got armed members of the interior ministry guarding the entrance. is it possible to go and see the place where prigozhin lies there. can i go? >> no. >> no? >> closed. >> closed. why? okay. but we can't go. we can't go. all right. okay. but we can look. thank you. they're down there, look, another soldier. and all along here, look. there are people standing at guard, sort of 5 meter intervals, all the way up there, look, right the way through across the boundary, the perimeter of the cemetery. and this is what they don't want us to see. shielded first by a complex deception, and now by a military cordon designed to keep the public away. but it is -- it's unbelievable, isn't it? the security that they put in place here. but come over here because you can see why. if you just look through the branches here, you got a pretty good view of yevgeny prigozhin's grave site. you can see some flowers there. a russian flag. there is a very simple wooden cross as well. but because of this security presence, this is as close as we're going to get. >> and matthew chance joins us now from st. petersburg. matthew, what's the significance of this funeral being hidden? >> i think it's pretty significant. i mean, look, first of all it was mavis covert operation that involved security services from all sort of different branches putting up metal detectors, trying to distract people. and to make sure that this did not become a rallying point for supporters of prigozhin and his very outspoken views, for instance, about the conduct of the war in ukraine. i think it also speaks to the kremlin's insecurity about the blame that's being leveled. of course, they've said it's absolute lies, these allegations that it was involved in the plane crash last wednesday that killed prigozhin and nine other people. but despite those denials, many russians simply don't believe it. they think there was some involvement of the state. and some are very angry about that. and that's something that concerns the kremlin. john? >> all right. matthew chance in st. petersburg. matthew, thank you very much. and we do have another funeral to mark tonight in the region, this one in ukraine for a well-known perhaps the most well-known ukrainian pilot, sort of the face of the ukrainian air force, known by his call sign juice. he was laid to rest in kyiv today, four days after he and two others died during a mid-air collision on a combat mission. his rell name is andre pilshkov. known as the ghost of kyiv that defended the capital. he helped ukraine survive the first terrible days of the invasion. in the early days of the invasion, right after russia invaded, he was on "360," and he was talking to anderson in full helmet and gear to hide his identity and only going by the call sign, his call sign, which is juice. listen to what he said. >> so our people, including me, we are ready to fight russians, and we are ready to defend our country, to defend our people in absolutely anyways. >> now we also explained how he got his call sign juice. he trained with the california air national guard, and when they would all go to bars after training, he wouldn't order alcohol. he would order juice. hence the nickname. may his memory be a blessing. when we come back, we're going to have much more from here from the florida gulf coast, from the big bend area, which is expected to bear the brunt of hurricane katrina in just a few hours. storm surge of 10 to 15 feet. why officials are so nervous and giving such stern warnings, ahead. . at farmers, , we offer both quality insurance and great savings. 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[ cheers ] yeah! woho! running up and down that field looks tough. it's a pitch. get way more into what you're into when you stream on the xfinity 10g network. live pictures from indian rocks beach in florida, well south of where i am. people checking out the waves and the wind and seeing how hurricane idalia is affecting things. now, never a good idea, by the way, to go that close to the water when a hurricane is bearing down. needless to say where i'm standing in steinhatchee, all along the steinhatchee river, you will not be able to stand here a few hours from now. where i am will be covered in water. if the forecasts are correct the water would be well over where my head is right now. we've seen the effects of storm surge in florida. last year hurricane ian, the storm surge devastated fort myers beach in punta gorda. not too far from there is clearwater beach which is where gloria pazmino is tonight. gloria, what are you seeing? >> john, i was speaking to people who were walking along the beach just about two hours ago as the sun was coming down, they were walking, taking in the scene, taking in the waves that were coming in. and they told me that they were riding out the storm right here in clearwater beach even though this is a mandatory evacuation zone. they said they live about five miles inland and that was giving them a little bit of comfort about what might happen in the next several hours. now, you talked about the storm surge. you are about 200 miles north of where we are. we are to your south right now. so the storm is moving in your direction. and here we are starting to feel -- it's raining steadily now. the wind is starting to increase. but we are expecting conditions to deteriorate here significantly over the next several hours. now, we have spoken to residents who told us that they were staying put and riding out the storm while others as we understand have actually heeded those warnings. this is an area where there are a lot of resorts and a lot of hotels and people were told to evacuate as of 11:00 this morning. they've done so for the most part. it is very desolate here, and that is exactly what officials want as that storm surge comes in. it could be catastrophic, as you said. four to seven feet of water forecast for this area here. that could do a lot of damage. john? >> yeah, seven feet. when ruhr talking about the 10 to 15 feet where i am it doesn't sound like much. but seven feet could be absolutely devastating, which is why the people do need to heed those warnings. i like the fact that the people say they live five miles inland. but they weren't inland. they were walking on the beach and checking out the waves. gloria pazmino, great to have you on. thank you very much. well, much more from steinhatchee. the storm bearing down. in just a moment. 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"the source" with kaitlan collins starts right now. tonight, straight from the source, hurricane idalia just hours away from landfall.