An hour ago to a category 4 but a serious and deadly storm that will have the target of the West Coast of florida in its sights sometime later tonight and early tomorrow morning. Im Bill Hemmer in orlando. We do a split show today. Dana you are missed but glad youre there. This is americas newsroom, im dana perino. You have covered many of these hurricanes, bill. I think that even you are saying wow, this one is big and monster by comparison even. Bill you know, i think it is storm 21. Im back at a hotel where i was five years ago. Florida will take a wallop here. They were predicting earlier today there will be a part of the West Coast of florida that will have a Storm Surge of eight to ten feet. Think about that now. Those low lying Barrier Islands that have been so built up over the past 50 years. The Population Increase on the West Coast of florida. This is going to be a doozy. Experts describe milton as a once in a Century Storm and folks in tampa are taking heed. Very tough. We recently just got through helene in st. Petersburg and were very scared about what is going to happen with our home. I have been there eight or nine years and we just went through it two or three times. Im getting too old to stay there. So we just bailed out. I just think this time well get hit. It is really scary. Not scary right now. Scary thinking about what well find when we go back. Bill were in orlando. Drive 100 miles to the west you hit the Gulf Of Mexico. Well feel Hurricane Force winds at this time tomorrow. Britta will get it earlier and live in sarasota, florida on the coast. Britta, what do you have . Good morning. Good morning, bill. There was a Southward Jog with milton that changes the scenario for sarasota. It could be the landfall site. Were at the marina. The tough thing is this boat is not technically parked at the marina. It is on a little piece of land between the Bay And Marina and this is where the boat came from. This is the bay that takes you over to lido key, during Hurricane Helene, that boat was lifted from the bay all the way up to land. Now we have a bigger, mormons more monitor store. The weaken helps us out with wind speed. Energy does not disappear. All that energy is locked up in the water and even with the winds weakening that Storm Surge will be indicative of a category 5 hurricane because of the history of this hurricane. That energy is locked up and the power of the water will respond to that. Everything in this bay will be pushing forward. During Hurricane Helene massive damage in the Barrier Island. Downtown sarasota did not see the Storm Surge. We saw boats move here in the marina but didnt have surge downtown. That is going to change. Unfortunately, everybody that used to call this Barrier Island home is now sheltering because helene destroyed their homes are up in the high rises in sarasota and they will be surrounded by the water. Here in florida it is know your zone, know your home. The fortified builtup condos in Downtown Sarasota will be able to keep people safe from the wind and out of the water. The folks that are staying there are going to be stuck there without power. National Weather Service sharing this morning they might be out of power for more than a week. Bill wow. So britta, the Gulf Of Mexico is very different on the West Coast of florida than the Atlantic Ocean on the East Coast. That drops off several miles and a lot of storms hit that and curve to the north. The Gulf Of Mexico is different. Very shallow for a long period of time that means the Storm Surge will carry itself one on top of the other and thats really where the danger comes. When you think north of you in tampa, they have not had a direct hit in 103 years, britta. Even if we have landfall here in sarasota, Tampa Bay doesnt get an easy hand. This will to your point, this is the strongest storm we have seen in over 100 years. No one has seen what it looks like to throw ten feet of Storm Surge into this part of the gulf coast. To your point, the coastal shelf, the feature youre talking about for the Gulf Side of florida, you have a deep Gulf Of Mexico and for hundreds of miles you have a coastal shelf. All that deep Water Piling on top of that shelf shoves into the coastline. One of the most vulnerable companies lines for Storm Surge. Bill thank you. Well be with you throughout the day. Dana Fox Weather senior meteorologist january nice dean is tracking milton. That was a description of the Storm Surge. A ramp will pile this Water Inland to very vulnerable areas from tampa to Fort Myers. Were looking at a category 4 storm. 125 miles from the center of circulation. About 250 miles wide. As it weakens, it is going to expand its wind. Is storm is going to get larger and the time has run out for the storm to really weaken and make an impact. Were expecting a very strong hurricane, catastrophic landfall and probably damage all up and down the West Coast of florida. Here is the timeline and here is how wide the storm is going to get. Affecting the whole West Coast of florida. The East Coast of florida and anywhere in between. The vulnerable area will be from tampa down to Fort Myers up to 15 feet. South of bradenton right now. Tampa youre up to 12 feet. Still a record for you. You set a record Storm Surge with helene two weeks ago and then now as we go further southward anna maria, long boat key, venice, inglewood upwards of 15 feet. That will destroy this area. Thats why people have been urged to evacuate. The water will be on top of your homes. You cannot escape it. High tide we didnt talk about that. The Storm Surge will come in some cases on top of High Tide. You pile in the Storm Surge and waves, not survivable and why it is such a dire situation. I dont want you to focus on the thats just the winds and winds will impact the Coast And InlandHeavy Rain as well. Upwards of a Foot North of the center of circulation. Its the Storm Surge that is really going to cause the worst damage and the Lifethreatening Water along these vulnerable coastlines. Dana im reminded of hurricane sandy, also hitting at High Tide. A very good example. That wasnt technically a hurricane. It was a superstorm. 1,000 miles wide because it was weakening and interacting with the cold front. Thats what this is doing. It will start to transition into a tropical storm. It just expands the Wind Field. It was the Storm Surge that caused so much destruction in sandy here in the northeast. Dana thank you. Well see you again soon. Bill, over to you. Bill dana, want to bring in the hillsborough county sheriff. Thank you for your time. The numbers are truly staggering when you think about the people on the move right now. Your county alone, right around the Tampa Area, how many people have said were not going the take our chances this time . I think a lot of our community. I saw the long lines at Gas Stations and grocery stores. We saw the interstates jammed and packed. Even to the point where we opened the Emergency Lane to help get those who wanted the opportunity to evacuate the opportunity to get out. We saw everyone heeding the warning. Im very happy. Bill sheriff, well hear from your governor in 20 minutes. What do you want your people to know right now . That as the conditions continue to deteriorate, were approaching the 11th Hour here. Get to where you want to be and where you will be able to shelter and do so safely. There is still time to get out if youre in evacuation zones. Other than that you better be prepared that well lose power. We have flooding with all the rain coming. There is nowhere for water to go. This debris that i think will be weaponized and obstruct some Search And Rescue efforts afterwards. Its variable with the wobble of the storm. Well see what i saw in 33 years of Law Enforcement a record Storm Surge and flooding two weeks ago. Here is 12 feet instead of seven feet. Well see catastrophic results. Bill when helene came through ten, 14 days ago, the bay of tampa literally is a bay, perfectly formed, right . It cuts into the state itself. If you give that wall of water that goes into the bay all those homes and businesses that are scattered for many dozens of miles are going to be affected by this. A friend of mine lives in the bay of tampa and a week ago he sent me pictures of his home. He was dozens and dozens of miles away from when helene came in and scraped up the northern part of florida but his home was saturated with water. Several feet, buried his basement, garage and home. I have to think, sheriff, thats a real concern right now about the amount of damage that this storm can bring on a massive scale. Thats our biggest concern. The wind, yes, it will knock some Power Lines down and inconvenienced by not having electric. Im worried about the Flash Flooding and the Storm Surge. Two weeks ago, we lost more lives because of Storm Surge here in the Tampa Area than we did where the storm went and made landfall. This wont be any different. Imagine taking a snowplow with 12 to 18 feet and just pushing it inland and this is what you are going to see. You will see the results of what Storm Surge can do. It is more deadly than any component of any storm. Bill sheriff, if you go from your town in tampa and drive 120 miles south down the coast to Fort Myers, somewhere in that Area Someone is going to get smacked and it is going to leave Lifechanging Damage for the people and the lives that they have built along the West Coast of florida. Sheriff, well stay in touch with you. Good luck. Thank you for coming on today. Thank you. Lets get back to New York and dana with more. Dana all right. Listen to this here as we are waiting for Ron Desantis to come back to the podium. It will be at 9 30 and then fema will be at the top of the hour. So well take a break quick here and watch. Bill a lot to come. The president s letter is not misinformation, would you agree . The way you are asking me the question is misinformation. It is there. Dana sweeping criticism under the rug the White House accusing critics of pedaling a false narrative on Hurricane Relief. First they got the helped of hezbollah. Now an Air Strike takes out his replacement. Condoleezza rice ahead on whether the Bidenharris Team has our allys back. And Hurricane Milton is yet to make landfall. Parts of the southeast still reeling from the destruction of helene. Right now we live with my fatherinlaw because we dont have anywhere to go. 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Veterinary professionals administering solensia who are pregnant, trying to conceive, or Breast Feeding should take extreme care to avoid selfinjection. Selfinjection could cause allergic reactions like anaphylaxis. Ask your vet about Solensia And Help get your cat back to their normal. Very dangerous, carley. People need to heed the warnings of their officials and what they should do based on the zone they are in. Weve seen utter devastation in the past. Bill Pam Bondi has a lot of experience. Born and raised in florida. This is sarasota, florida. If you have not been to this lovely, idyllic town on the West Coast of florida, you are missing out. Famed for the wringling brothers from many years ago, you have siesta key. If you were to look at sarasota, Florida Today on a Google Earth Map you can see how many homes have been built in this area. There is a reason for that. They havent taken a direct shot in a long time which means theyve gotten lucky and lived a really good life. They have found absolute beauty in places like this. You get the pure sunset every night that drops into the water and thats the reason why so many are attracted to it. But someone is going to get hit. If it is not tampa or sarasota, could be Fort Myers but well wait to see. It will not happen until at least, i would say, another 15 hours or so probably around midnight tonight. Dana thank you. Were seeing it over and over again as Hurricane Relief takes Center Stage the Bidenharris Administration brushing off criticism of its response as nothing short of misinformation, even pure fiction. People want to do disinformation, misinformation, which is dangerous. It is the height of irresponsibility and callousness. So lives are literally at stake right now. Misleads people and puts people in circumstances where they panic. I will di veers the misinformation. A lot of misinformation. I beg you to please not pay attention to it. We have a massive misinformation problem. This is something that actively harms the ability of responders to do their job. Dana joining us now is republican Arkansas