it's our best internet. powered by the next generation 10g network and with 99.9% reliability. plus one line of free mobile for an entire year. it's the mobile made free event-happening now. get started for just $49.99 a month. plus, ask how to get one free line of unlimited mobile. comcast business, powering possibilities. good morning. we start this hour with the breaking news. hurricane idalia is now a powerful category 4 hurricane. it has been a rapid intensification over the course of the last several hours from a category 3, now officially a category 4 hurricane according to the national hurricane center. catastrophic storm surge and destructive winds are nearing florida's big bend region as we speak. idalia is about 50 to 60 miles away from the shore churning with 130-mile-per-hour winds. we just got that new forecast from the national hurricane center just moments ago and i want to go straight to derek van dam who is on the ground for us in tampa. s sara sidner is with us as well. derek, you understand what these forecasts mean better than anybody. what does this tell you? >> reporter: yeah, exactly what we feared, the rapid intensification now to a category 4 major hurricane idalia. and eyeing the big bend coast. but where i'm standing now on bay shore boulevard in tampa bay is proof that you do not need to be near the center of where the storm makes landfall in order to feel its impacts. what you are looking at is storm surge from tampa bay. this is what we were forecasting. 4 to 6 feet and it is certainly being realized. this is bay shore boulevard and you can see the waves coming crashing over the seawall. we get sprayed every 30 seconds or so. here comes another push of water. remember what is happening here, we have a high tide that just occurred at 4:00 this morning. but we also have inland flooding. and that with the surge of water from the eastern gulf of mexico, all of these working in combination and almost in symphony together to create this rising water that you see below me. we are in a safe location. we have the ability to duck under cover. but we want to set the scene about why the storm is so incredibly dangerous. it is not necessarily the winds where we are, even though it is gusting tropical storm force, but it is the surge of water. and as you work your way further north into the big bend of florida, that is where we anticipate even more significant impacts than what we've experienced here. let's take you around the corner, show you this major intersection. here is bay shore boulevard and look at the houses behind me. this water is not only on bay shore boulevard, but it is also pushing inland. i saw it about one city block up from here as well. so it is knocking on the doorsteps of some of these homes threatening these homes with water and inundation. just look down this road. both sides of this beautiful, beautiful avenue are completely inundated with water. more spray coming every few sesend oigs, there is another one just surging up from the tampa bay region. that is downtown tampa bay. this is a major thoroughfare. you could call it an artery for tampa bay. and there is just no way that people will be traversing these roads today with storm surge this high. phil. >> derek, i'll take it from here. what an incredible picture you are showing everyone. i do want you to be careful, i want your crew to be careful, because you know as well as anyone that the surges there can be so extreme, sometimes you are not even expecting how strong and powerful that wind is although knowing now that we are now in a category 4. this is a major storm. when you get to category 4, you are talking about sustained winds of 130 to 156 miles per hour. which generally speaking if you look at the science behind that, usually that means that if it hits you direct, you are going to lose roofs. there is going to be some serious damage to structures, any kind of strupgctures, becau that wind is sustained. and you can see what derek is going through. i'm about 80 miles from derek. he is south of me getting those bands of wind. we're starting to get some of the bands as well here in crystal river which is a small town famous for its manatees and the ability to be very close to them and see down into the crystal clear water of the spring here. but right now the story is going to be about water. the thing that brings everyone to florida, the thing that -- reason why people live here, it is going to be about water. it is going to be about the surge that you are seeing now. derek, you talked about this before, but i don't think that it can be said enough that we are just dealing with this category 4 storm which is big and huge and dangerous in and of itself. and we're also dealing with this strange conglomeration of what is happening with our planet as opposed to the moon. tell us a little bit about this tide we're seeing. this is not a normal tide. this is going to be a king tide. why is that significant? >> reporter: during high tide, the moon gets close to the planet. but during a super moon, the moon is roughly 18,000 miles closer than it inntypically is. so that effect, it has a greater pull, a greater tug per se. and that creates greater and more exaggerated tidal swings from lower low tides to hire h higher high tides. we've just crossed a high tide here. and getting the combination of storm surge but also enhanced tide from the super moon. and the water from inland flooding all leading together in this con gglomeration of raisin water levels here. >> and anybody that has been to tampa, anybody who has lived in tampa, has been on that boulevard. it is beautiful when it is not in the situation that it is in now, which is inundated with water. it is completely -- when you say it is a beautiful boulevard, we know that is true. thank you so much, derek van dam for your reporting there. please, please, please stay safe you and your crew. i know things can get really dicey really quickly. and like i said, i'm in crystal river. the entire town is in a flood zone. there is about 3400 people that live in this small town but it is a destination for tourists, people who want to see the manatees, the favorite animal of florida. they are these beautiful calm sweet animals. they will be fine. they are in the water enjoying their lives. the humans however need to evacuate. they can still evacuate. it is very interesting to see the difference between -- and we're getting another one of those gusts. the difference between where derek is which looks like where the storm is hitting and where i am, i'm actually closer to the eye of the storm than derek is. but he is getting the on shore bands of wind from the outer part of the hurricane. and we have not seen a massive push just yet. this place of course hoping to avoid that. but the entire west coast of florida is feeling this in some way shape or form. and the big fear here is the water. you saw what was happening to derek and what was happening to the homes there. here they are expecting potentially 7 to 9 foot storm surge. which means the water that you are seeing behind me gets pushed up and over way over my head. and now we're starting to get the rain, starting to get one of those bands of rain and wind from hurricane idalia that is coming through here in crystal river. we have not by any means seen the worst of this storm yet as it is now a category 4 storm. phil. >> thanks, sara. we'll be continuing to watch where you are. we've seen the ebb and flow at your location. we've seen what derek has been showing as well. we will be hearing from ron desantis at 6:30 a.m. with the latest update as hurricane idalia not only reaches a category 4 but nearing landfall. and worth noting flooding not the only emergency right now. i want to bring in the fire chief at madeira beach fire department. chief, i appreciate your time. in terms of what you are seeing right now as you have ended the preparation stage and are now in the wait and see stage, what concerns you the most? >> what concerns me the most is lack of evacuations. we've probably completed ten so far and that is only since 2:00 this morning. and right now looking at our dispatch, there are seven more calls to be evacuated. and we're getting to them as quickly as we can. i've put two extra units in service in preparation for this. and, you know, the previous reporter who was at crystal river said you still have time to evacuate. for madeira beach, that subject is gone. these people are now having to be evacuated by us. >> for those people who have not evacuated that need to be evacuated by you, what is your message to them at this moment? >> you can replace your house and belongings. you have to look out for your safety and your family's safety. a lot of people especially long term florida residents, they always say that we've dealt with this before, it will they ever do anything to us. it won't hit us. well, living in madeira beach, you will be faced with the floods more than anything as opposed to the winds. the winds only got up to about 55 miles sustained here, but it is the surge and the king tide that was mentioned, it is the perfect storm for flooding here. >> and in terms of -- you make a great point. we've been talking to officials both state and local saying that there is a lot of people in this region kind of across the coastline who say we've been through this before, there have been warnings that never lived up to kind of the worst case scenario. has that made it more difficult to get people out in the moment where it wasn't entirely up to you guys to conduct those evacuations? >> yeah, some people we evacuated the neighbors and their next door neighbor didn't want to leave, they said we're not leaving, the water is halfway up their front door and they refuse to leave. you are taking responsibility for yourself at that point, you know. we can't make them. >> when it comes to your team, you said that you brought more personnel on to prepare for this moment, it is also not just that the people can't evacuate on their own, but itdifficulties fu guys. what is your ability to help people and what do you need going forward in this moment? >> absolutely. definitely hinders us. you know, with 2:30 this morning, we had a fully involved house structure fire. we could not get to it. it was very, very difficult to get to it, very time consuming to get to this property. and by the time my firefighters were able to get there, i mean, when they got the call the house was already fully involved. but by the time they got there and put it out, it was 50 minutes in to the call and normally on a normal day it would have taken us 15 minutes. but the fact that they had to stop so far away to avoid the floodwaters and then lay 1,000 feet of hose to get to the hydrant and then another thousand feet off of that to get to the actual structure, that is time coupling and manpower. and these guys have been working 24 straight hours. >> it is a remarkable effort. especially in detail laid out like that, very difficult and complex moment. in this moment, as we wait for landfall as you are starting to see the initial very serious stages here, what concerns you going forward? what is your biggest concern particularly as the storm passes and maybe people think, hey, it is through, i can come out of my house or i can -- everything is fine. what would you tell them? >> i would tell them this is not even the worse of it. the worst is supposed to hit us about 10:00, 11:00 this morning. and it is just 5:30 a.m. so what we've experienced isn't even the worst of it. our fire trucks are not made to go through 4 feet of water. we do have a high water vehicle, light marine tactical vehicle. decommissioned military vehicle. we were able to get that through a state grant and even that was having issues getting to some of the evacuees. it will get to a point where we can just not get to you. >> as you note the worst is jet to yet to come. have you seen anything comparable to this in your career? >> tropical storm ida, it was just a tropical storm, but it was another perfect scenario where it was positive flood surge with incoming tide. it was just the perfect storm. and we had flooding with that. not as bad though. >> clint belk, a very difficult situation and you guys are remarkable effort up to this point and i know to your point the worst is yet to come. if you find that you need something, if you need messages that need to get out, let us know and we'll have you back anytime you need it. we appreciate your time. fire chief the madeira beach fire department, thanks so much. >> thank you. be safe. and i want to turn next to bill weir, he is fairly close to the center of where landfall is expected from what is now a category 4 hurricane. it has been intensifying. bill, up to this point, what have you been seeing? actually we'll get to bill in a moment. stay with us. a fast moving story, a lot of updates to come. bill weir will be with us when we come back. including mental alertness from one serving. to help keep me sharp. try new neuriva ultra. think bigger. yes, i need a trim. i just want to be able to cut the damage. we tried dove instead. so, still need that trim? oh my gosh! i am actually shocked i don't need a haircut. don't trim daily damage. stop it with dove. at the alzheimer's association walk to end alzheimer's, this is why we walk. ♪ they're why we walk. ♪ we walk in the alzheimer's association walk to end alzheimer's because we're getting closer to beating this disease. join us. introducing the limited edition disney collection from blendjet. nine exciting designs your whole family will adore blendjet 2 is portable, which means you can blend up nutritious smoothies, protein shakes, or frozen treats, just about anywhere! recharge quickly via usb-c. it even cleans itself. order yours now from blendjet.com and bring a little disney into your life. with 30 grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks! uuuhhhh... here, i'll take that! woohoo! ensure max protein, 30 grams of protein, 1 gram of sugar. enter the $10,000 powered by protein max challenge. ♪ ♪ we are live here in crystal river. you are looking at the path of hurricane idalia which is now a major hurricane at category 4. what is a category 4? it means sustained winds of between 130 and 156 miles per hour. a very dangerous storm. yes, the wind is dangerous, but the most dangerous thing that people need to be aware of is the storm surge, is the water. and as all officials will tell you, you should run from the water and hide from the wind. that is why there is an evacuation order in dozens of counties here in florida. i want to get to a place that is under evacuation order as well as the one i'm here in crystal river, because we are in such low lying area here. i want to get to our bill weir who is in steinhatchee, florida. tell us what you are seeing there as the outer bands of the hurricane are slapping into you. >> reporter: yeah, it is just beginning here. the winds have just started to deck up. we lost power about 20 minutes ago or so. keeping an eye on this big tree behind us. the actual steinhatchee river is just behind us here. we're about 28 feet above elevation. this is the highest spot we could find in our hotel there. so the worry is we're keeping an eye on as the sun will come up on the water shoving up that arrive. and that is in this part of the big bend, this is the nature coast, there are so much fresh water, tributaries, rivers feeding into the gulf of mexico that will become recipients of all that water as the wind shoves it up inland as well. but a lot of the folks we met here followed the evacuation orders, but there are always a few who refuse to leave. we met a couple who had done the math and thought that it would better serve their families staying here. they are worried if they leave and can't get back in, that was a bigger risk than actually riding out the storm. so we'll see. we're not anticipating the heavy winds for another hour or so before it really starts kicking in. so this is still stereotypically or sort of in a saying way as the calm before the real storm. we're expecting those 120-mile-per-hour winds to really take their toll on this place. >> hard to square what you are seeing in some of these . derek van dam in tampa not anywhere near the eye of the storm, which is about 80 miles to the south of me, and you are further north than i am. and i'm about 50 miles from where we think the hurricane is going to come to shore, kind of in the middle of it. and just like you, it can be quite calm and then all of a sudden just as you were talking, we had a band of wind, we had a band of rain. we're still seeing the wind. i do want you to give us some sense of the water level where you are. because you said that you were about 28 feet above water level. i'm atwater level right now. i'm at sea level.level right no. i'm at sea level. crystal river is a flood zone and people have been told to get out. there is still time here. what is the situation there, is there still time to evacuate? >> reporter: if someone were to leave right now and head inland, yes, they probably could find a safer harbor than here along the coast right now. but that speaks without knowing anything about trees being down or power lines. we've reached that phase now of the storm where those things are very tenuous. so i can't make any calls from our post here. we'll venture further down, get a peek at the water just for the first call we wanted to sort of at the time a survey as we're waking up and starting the broadcast day. but, yeah, we will work our way down for the next live shot for sure. >> i do want to give you a sense of what is happening. we're getting one of those bands here in crystal river. you may be able to see the rain or at least hear it as it is pushing very hard on shore. and why that is important is the rain is not the proper be right now. it is the surge. it is the pushing of all of this body of water up and over into the town that is the big worry here. the water is going to be the story. the storm surge is the thing that takes lives, the storm surge is the thing that ruins homes often, all though -- and here we go, we're getting quite a gust of wind here. so don't be plullulled into thea that just because it is calm where you are, that that is how it will be for a while because these things happen very quickly. thank you so much, bill weir. we'll be checking back with you as the storm gets closer and closer. we'll send it back to phil in the studio. >> thank you, we'll be going back and forth. you see one of those bands coming through right now. the last couple hours, it has been somewhat calm. you've been seeing the reality of things. we've been seeing derek van dam and the shear scale of the flooding that is going on in tampa bay which is more than 150 miles away from where landfall, the direct path of landfall of this now category 4 hurricane is expected to hit. we're going to have more on the forecast with allison chinchar coming up and just for context here as we talk about this storm and talk about the scale of what we're seeing here, there have been only four storms at category 4 level or higher that have made landfall in florida over the last five decades. that is what we're looking at right now and it is coming and coming soon. more when we come back. icy hot. ice works fast. ♪ heat makes it last. feel the power of contrast therapy. ♪ so you can rise from pain. icy hot. at pnc bank, you can find us in big cities and small towns across the us, where our focus is to always support the people who live and work there. because you call these communities home, and we do too. pnc bank. we're following breaking news. hurricane idalia is now a category 4 storm with winds at least 130 miles per hour. that has been a rapid intensification over the course of the last several hours. just in the last hour, named a category 4. and to give context for what that means, national hurricane center which is giving the forecasts labeled it category 4 based on the 130-mile-per-hour winds, says it could be going stronger as it continues to approach florida's gulf coast. the storm is advancing even faster in the last hour moving 18 miles per hour as it approaches the big bend region of florida. idalia is now 60 miles from cedar key, the eye of the storm is expected to hit florida's big bend region this morning resulting in potential catastrophic flooding with a storm surge and very destructive winds. more than 53,000 floridians are already without power. governor ron desantis will give a briefing from tallahassee in the next hour. i want to bring in derek van dam and sara sidner as well. sara, you had been going from calm to pretty intense to calm again and i'm seeing derek's picture as well where he has been seeing rapid intensification. sara, what are you seeing right now? >> look, winds have picked up again. like you said, just a fuf minutes ago we were being hit with pelting rain and with heavy winds. and then it dies down. and that is because this comes in waves. it comes in bands if you will. a band after band starting to come on shore. and that is also this huge storm pushing the waters up on to shore and that is what will cause the catastrophic damage and the flooding. but now that we're at a category 4 storm, derek van dam is in a place that is already seeing that storm surge, that is already flooding. and it isn't even near the eye of the storm. you are in tampa, derek, tell us what you are seeing. and we can certainly see how crazy it is and how inundated it is already where you are. >> reporter: sara, we're 125 miles southeast of the center of major hurricane idalia. and that over to your right, over my left shoulder, is an angry tampa bay. downtown tampa over my right shoulder behind me, this is bay shore boulevard. and what we have seen checking some of the storm surge readings across this area, about 15 minutes away to my south and west, has set a preliminary record for storm surge of 4 feet before normally high tide. and that is really saying something because that means that the forecast that the national weather service, national hurricane center, predicted is being realized this morning. bay shore boulevard floods. this is a common occurrence. however this amount of water pushing up from tampa bay is significant. that is an angry sea. we get the taste of the saltwater coming in from the ocean here. remember, there is a combination, almost a trifecta of impacts that are coming together for this conglomeration of high tide, the super moon which we saw peek out of the clouds in between the rain bands that have come through here, and a then also the fact that we have inland flooding. so then three there's combinationsanda then also the have inland flooding. so then three there's combinations working together to raise the water levels and unfortunately the worst scenario here unfolding for this particular area. of course it gets worse the further north you travel along the coastline of the big bend and into the florida peninsula. we are in a safe position. this bay shore boulevard, i'm firmly planted. the winds aren't that strong here. but we want to give you this indication of how storm surge impacts this region and why we take it so seriously. that is a break wall behind me helping break the wave energy. but regardless, it is still an angry ocean. you can see the waves topping over that. and the water here just pushing through the boulevard to the other side of this street, and it is also -- this is important too -- it is not just bay shore boulevard. it is creeping in about one city block as well. you can see some of the homes behind me, some of the water lapping up into their front steps, their front yards. so homes here are indeed threatened because of this conglomeration of storm surge, the super moon and inland flooding all working together to bring these scenes. but i mean, this scene sets for itself. almost apocalyptic looking. w this would normally be a major a artery for downtown tampa which is over my left shoulder. but instead it is a river instead of a road. sara. >> incredible pictures. and just to give people a sense of this storm, that is nowhere near the eye of the storm, folks. that is the outer bands respect the outside of the storm. when that's of the storm hits land, it is going to bring some catastrophic flooding and some very damaging winds. derek van dam, please, please, please stay safe. please make sure that your crew is safe. i know you will. thank you so much for your reporting this morning. and i know when light comes we'll really see the impacts of this as well. i'll toss it back to phil. >> thank you, sara. extraordinary pictures with derek. and what is most fascinating, if you put the radar and track of hurricane idalia split screen that with derek, you realize tampa doesn't look like it is anywhere near where anything is happening or where landfall is expected and yet and still you are seeing what is happening on the ground. we certainly have a team across the gulf coast. we'll be seeing people more on the ground. bill weir is in steinhatchee and we'll be talking with sara and der derek. some floridians are defying evacuation orders. we'll talk to a man riding out the storm, in moments. stay with us. our ears connect us to the moments that t matter. give them the nutrients they need with lipo. it's formulated with ingredients clinically shown to protect your ears from dizziness ear ringing, and even heang loss. ner miss a moment with lipo flavonoid. i've never been healthier. shingles doesn't care. but shingrix protects. proven over 90% effective, shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone 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storm and that is hurricane idalia, now a category 4 upgraded in the last hour. rapid intensification that we've seen over the course of the last several hours. and there have been significant warnings over the course of the last 12 to 15 hours about those in the gulf coast particularly the big bend region needing to evacuate, needing to listen to state and local officials about the risks, dangers. some floridians have defied those orders those. michael bobbitt is riding out the storm in cedar key. sir, i appreciate the time. i believe that you've lost power. can you tell me what you are seeing at this point? >> sure. we're starting to see it almost apocalyptic scene here. the gulf is rising up to swallow up the boat ramp and dock street where all of the popular tourist restaurants and shops are. when we're done here, i'll send you some video to show just an unprecedented level of surge sense i've lived here. and we're only just at the precipice of it. really as the hurricane starts to make landfall, we expect the bulk of the surge to happen and already our roads are being overwhelmed, our boat ramp is being swallowed up. i stayed behind so that i could help some of the older and informed people that just refused to leave. happy to report i was able to get two of my elderly neighbors to finally leave. they made it out just before i believe it is probably too unsafe to be on the road at all now. but once the storm surge reaches its maximum height, we'll get out in boats and see who we can help. but we're only just now starting to feel the really horrific effects. and i think four hours from now cedar key will be unrecognizable. >> michael, it is a very concerning description that you layout, very visceral to some degree. how many people do you think have stayed behind particularly those that were the reason for your decision to stay behind? >> so it is hard to say, but i'd be surprised if there were fewer than 100 people on the island. i think that there are probably between 50 and 100 people here. and, you know, some of those are just the grizzled islander types that are going to stay through any storm. but some are folks that i think didn't have a real conception of how bad it was going to be and aren't in a position to take care of themselves. and those are the folks that we'll do what we can to help. i think within the next hour or two we'll be cut off. i think that the road and the bridge coming into cedar key will be impassable. the water is just continuing to rise. i'm up on one of the highest points of elevation on the island in a sturdy structure. i'm safe here. but i think the vast majority of our buildings will be completely inundated over the next hour or two. >> i understand why -- your rea rationale for staying and it is laudable given the people that you are trying to help. but what goes through your mind when you realize that the worst case scenarios that laid out in advance appear to be happening? what are you thinking, how are you preparing for what is coming in the hours ahead? >> well, again, i don't think that this was a wise decision maybe for everyone. but i am in a sturdy building above the highest point that the storm surge has been predicted. so i feel like my immediate safety is okay. but you know, like i said on your broadcast last night, there comes a point in everyone's life, it is a line in the sand moment where you have to decide what is important to you and what you stand for. and to me there is nothing more important than this island and my family and friends that live here. so i made that decision. so far i'm still -- i think i've made the right decision. when you check with me in two hours and i'm floating out in the gulf, i might disagree. but for now, we've got a foothold but it will get much, much worse. >> you can tell me when -- you were talking about when this kind of starts to pass through -- how you will engage to try to help those who weren't able to get out, when is that, do you know at what point you can start doing that? because a lot of the concern we hear from emergency responders is people think that they can go out a lot sooner than they actually can or should. down when that moment is for you? >> well, i think that we're not going to be -- i don't think that it is an issue of when is it safe to drive on the roads. i think our roads will be completely under water. i have a couple boats staged in areas where i think that i'll be able to get to them. so just as soon as the winds are down and the surge has stopped ri rising. i think a lot of folks think the surge quits as soon as the wind stops but that is not the case. we're get and onshore flow for a period of hours after the hurricane makes landfall. so it will be into the late hours of the morning before we truly get a handling on how much water the gulf is going to bring into us. but i don't see any scenario wh whereby you recognize cedar key by lunchtime today. >> you almost say it in a -- your tone doesn't make it sound as dramatic as it is when it comes to your words. you are very calm in terms of how you lay this out. but you are unequivocal for what you are seeing which is important for people to know. what is your message to others maybe further inland, 120, 130 miles away who maybe have said we've seen a number of these, these warnings never live up to the hype or never live up to the worst case scenario? >> yeah, i think anyone that knows me would probably tell you i'm not a cautious person by nature, but i definitely have had the fear of god put in me with this storm. i mean, i think when they tell you to go, you should go. it is going to get a lot worse and i'm really fearful for what we'll find in some of the low lying areas and some of the older more in-ffirmed citizens today. my heart is sick about it. >> michael bobbitt, we're thinking about you and your safety. we appreciate your time and i would extend if you still have communications and need anything, need to get any messages out, please let us know and we'll absolutely relay them as soon as we acan. >> thank you so much. have a great day. and coming up next, st. petersburg fire rescue chief giving us the latest updates. we're talking to officials and people on the ground trying to ride the storm out, those who have evacuated. we're trying to give you updates from across the gulf coast region as hurricane idalia now a category 4 storm heads towards landfall. more when we come back. unlike some others, it supports 7 brain health indicators, inclcluding mental alertness from one serving. to help keep me sharp. try new neuriva ultra. think bigger. i'm sara sidner in crystal river, florida. we're seeing finally one of those major bands from now a category 4 hurricane. sustained winds of 130 to 156 miles per hour. you are seeing the camera move because photographer adolfo is being pushed around by the winds and the rain is coming in heavy and coming in sideways. if you can see that on camera. we are standing very close to the water where a lot of people come to this area to try and see the beauty of this state. and to see the manatees. they love to come here. but right now they have been telling people this is an evacuation zone and the entire city could be flooded with an enormous amount of water, something they haven't seen in more than 100 years. we're talking about potential of 7 to 9 feet of storm surge. we are seeing these bands coming and they are going to keep coming and keep coming and that is what authorities are worried about. they are worried that all of this town which is under a flood zone, all of it could be flooded by the time this hurricane passes through and actually ends up hitting just north of us about 50 miles north of us. but we're in the midst of it. hurricane idalia is bringing all of the power of a category 4 storm. i wouldn't to get to our fire chief who is in st. petersburg. james, can you hear me and can you tell me what it is that you have been doing to try to prepare for this? >> yes , good morning. what we've taken, we've staged a lot of personnel and high water vehicles, you know, prior to last evening, we were set and ready. and the evening was actually rather quiet for us. but now this morning we're finding the flooding that you have been talking about, we're finding that that is the biggest concern and we're starting to deploy our high water vehicles out into the areas. we've had some calls from a mobile home park that is flooded. we're going to have to go as these people wake up and find that they are kind of stranded by the water, we'll be going out and effecting the rescues throughout the morning. that is what we anticipate. the this morning storm has been different than earlier. it is way past us but yet we're getting this push, we're on the bad side of the storm and we're getting this push into the bay area. it is -- you know, you've shown scenes of bay shore boulevard in tampa and we're eseeing the sam thing here in the low areas and some of the mobile home parks. we have bridges closed. so we're limited on access right now. the howard franklin is closed, skyway is closed. but like i say, i think that we did a good job of preparing. we did a lot of going out in the neighborhoods, the p.a. systems and getting -- using social media to encourage people in these low lying areas to evacuate. we're hoping that they followed that. we have about over 600 in our shelters and we're hoping a lot of people, you know, had other places to go. but as the morning comes and the high tide ended around 3:20 this morning approximately, and instead of going, you know, down, it continues to seem to rise. and then of course as was mentioned, we have the king tide that is going to come later on this afternoon. so if people wake up and the sun is shining, that is not necessarily meaning that the issue is over. we'll have to deal with this all day long as far as the main issue being the high water. >> james, thank you for letting us know the situation there and the fact that you have about 600 people who have gone into shelters. good for them because i know that you have been telling people and all the emergency management folks from the mayor to the governor have been saying if you are in a low lying area like where we are, you need to get to higher ground. thank you so much for your time. wi we'll be checking back in with you. please stay safe and thank you for all the work you do to keep the citizens safe. we'll be checking back this with you in a bit. i want to give you a look at where we are and what is happening. this is the first time we've seen this kind of wind and this kind of rain. i'll have adolfo kind of walk with me here a bit and try to get a -- so to my right is where you see, we're in crystal river, florida, where you see boats would normally go into the water here to see the manatees. look at the home that is there. people love to live on the water here in florida. it is a beautiful place. but this home is up on stilts and covered with concrete. i do not think anyone is home there. we've checked to see if there is anyone home. but if you look across this field, you can see other homes. and this is extremely low lying area. the entire city of 3400 or so people in crystal river that live in this town are in a flood zone. this whole place. which is why authorities are saying if you haven't already left, you have a little bit of a chance. i know this looks wild and crazy, but you could still potentially get out and get to higher ground. you do not have to go far, but you definitely need to get away from the waters because it is not just the rain that will cause the flooding. it is the pushing of all of that water from the ocean up on to shore. we're talking about -- i'm 5'9". we're talking about nearly double my height in water that could inundate right where i'm standing and all the way into the rest of crystal river. we will check back with you. we're in the midst of one of these major bands from now a category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 130 to 156 miles per hour around that very center of the storm which is going to make landfall today. we'll be right back. here. because you callll these communities home, and we do too. pnc bank. for too long, big oil companies have bought off politicians so they can get away with ripping us off. that's changing now. joe biden passed a plan to jumpstart clean energy production in america. it's creating good jobs that can't be outsourced and will lower energy costs. $1800. that's how much a new report says the inflation reduction act could save just the average american family on energy costs. 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