Could according to chad myers get that way in ft. Myers. For tampa, which is further north, expecting 5 to 8 feet of storm surge. Im on the Caloosahatchee River roogt now, probably 7 or 8 feet over the river so this little area would not be able to we wouldnt be able to stand here 24 hours from now. Chris, i imagine in the same location where you are, youre not going to be able to be there tomorrow either. No. Similar dynamics that you were identifying. Getting a little gust now. Its picked up, no question. But this is not the real deal as you rightly point out. The water ootzly overwhelmed this area when we got that first moderate band of stormtype rain here. Even though we see the shift in the path of the storm, its projected path, nothings a certainty here no ma matter how much they model. The officials on the ground have said do not come back and if you are in an evacuation zone c, the time between these bands as opportunity, do what you were told, make the choice for safety. Lets get to chad myers. Hes in the, where center. Chad, take us through what we know. Starting with what the poor people in cuba have been dealing with now for hours and what we think is to come. Krigs, the storm came just south of grand bahama into northern cuba. There is an island chain there called the cuban keys and they got destroyed, literally. Theres not much left. Everyone was evacuated from there because the entire government knew this was going to be a 160 storm. Now its down to 125. So a little bit less because so much of the storm was taken out by cuba. And the storm took out part of the island chain here. Certainly some of the lesser buildings. Category 3 going to category 4, not that far from where Anderson Cooper is. Here is another deal with this storm. Were going to have significant winds. The wind speed at key wst will be 129. Naples 137 and ft. Myers. You guys were just talking, oh, we wont be able to stand here because theres wind. Yes, theres wind, going to be water, its going to be 8 feet over your head and there will be waves on top of that. This is deerfield beach. Were already seeing 4 to 6 foot swells here and this storm is 200 miles away. So a lot of things arent going to be going on tomorrow at all. For chris, heres you, youre right downtown. All of this with a sixfoot surge will be under water. Everywhere you see blue on this google earth, that is polygon at 2 meters high so you will be able to see all that water no matter where you are in miami. Theres a lot of highrises in that area. You dent want to be in those highrises. The wind goes up, the higher you go in a hurricane. 136 in ft. Myers. 120 in tampa. Those are the maximum dpuss though that doesnt happen until late tomorrow. Heres how the storm shapes up. It comes off the cuban coast. Look for white circle, the circle of 100mileperhour winds right over the lower keys. Anywhere from big pine key to key west to maybe the tortuor t. Move the into the everglades, slightly offshore, the everglades will enhance this thing because the same thing that happened to wilma, wilma actually got stronger on the way to ft. Lauderdale because it hit the everglades and the water was so warm. That is years ago but you get the idea. Its called brown ocean because even though it looks like dirt, its not. Its water. Then you dp atlanta, awe gus tashgs macon, you will see wind gusts somewhere in the 60 to 70mileperhour range. Were expecting wind into jacksonville, savanna, charleston, all the way to myrtle, expecting coastal flooding here and all the way back across parts of southwest texas as well or west florida as well as we will begin to see this storm finally move away sometime during the day on tuesday. Anderson . Chad myers, thanks for that. If you were out this hour and obviously all throughout the day, its just crucial to try to follow this storm as closely as possible because as you saw this morning a lot of people woke up today and suddenly the storm had moved further west. That meant a lot of folks who maybe thought they had dodged the worst of it or were going to dodge the worstit in tampa, ft. Myers, in naples, they woke up today to a different reti and thats the reality a lotpeople are facing now, do i continue to stay in the area im in in my home or try to make tot a shelter nearby. Theyre opening more shelters in this county, in collier county, but there are a lotpeople waiting to get into a shelter. Drew griffin is outside the germane arena. Thats off highway i75. How many people last we talked you said just estimate, several thousand people Still Standing in line. Yeah. Isle say theres maybe ta 25 00, 3,000, still in line outside the arena. This is the front of the line. These people have been waiting on average four, five hours. Te holdup, first they have to make sure its staffed. A registration form, one for each family, register, any special needs, any kind of thing that might be made aware of, medical staff. Also have to figure out what to do with their pets, get the rules on that, but this line, anderson, as you can see, it just goes down around this arena, wraps all the way around the side of the arena and out into the parking lot. People are being patient. In fact, lets just walk ahead. This guy has an interesting story. Your whole family, right . How long have you been here . 7 30. In the morning. And how many family members . Ten. And this is an interesting family. Obviously you have an ethnic pround. When we showed you on cnn we got the message from pakistan telling us we saw you on cnn. Your family in pakistan knows youre safe, knows the kids are okay. They wanted evidence an now we gave it to them, the evidence. You gave it to them that we are standing here. We wish you luck. Youre almost there, right . Almost there. 5 1 2 hours. Incredibly long wait. And just like where you are, were feeling the increased wind, there was a rumble of thunder about an hour ago, but fortunately no rain. Hopefully they can process all these people just in the next couple hours and get them inside and ready for irma. Anderson . Drew, when you first got there, you were talking to a woman in line who had been separated from her mom, her mom was 85 years old. Somehow got separated. She thought maybe she was further in the back of the line. How confusing is the situation . Are the people on loin getting information . Are folks coming out and telling them whats going on or what the delays are . I have to tell you, the staff and the Sheriffs Department and the National Guard and the state troopers have been great. Theyre all trying to deal with a situation that is quite frankly unmanageable at times because there are so many people. Ambulances have been out here attending to people who have literally, anderson, passed out in line, some of these people. And you can see this, george, if grow up the line here on the left, these are all people who are waiting for their loved ones who are basically work the line for them. So you might see this fellow here in a walker, a couple in the back in a wheelchair, and in folding chairs. They are waiting for their loved twoun catch up with them. Thats what happened to the 85yearold woman. She finally was connected with her daughter. They are going to be okay. And theyre going to be inside this shelter for Hurricane Irma. Drew, were going to go the bill weir in a second but next time we come to you, if you could while wire not on air with you, talk to some people and find out did they decide just this morning with the shift of the storm, is that what made them decide to seek shelter, previous to that, did they plan to kind of ride it out in their homes. Well come back to drew griffin in a little bit. Bill weir is in keilar fwoe. Explain where you are and the igs. We are in a part of key largo, a town this is a wellknown boat harbor here. And this is where we met the gentleman on your show on thursday night, the captain of the saltshaker who vowed to ride out irma aboard his 50foot sailboat. Thats it over there. It says western sunset. Hes actually officially changed the name. Many people concerned about that decision, his wife, his two wiener dogs, we came to check on him. Turns out he had a change of heart as irma got bigger and more pointed towards the keys so his family is now in a motel in okeechobee. They got about 150 miles north of here. But there are still some die hards, still some old salts, about five different families here in this marina who are bunking down not on their boats. We have a pretty sturdy strong structure behind us here with metal hurricane shutters. They feel good about that. And then nearbitis a dive shop thats three stories tall, all stone structures. Thats their plans b and c. But these people are real outliers. In the last 48 hours weve seen a marked shift in attitude down in the keys. These people are notorious for not leaving, for ignoring Evacuation Orders, riding thins out, being fiercely independent. That shifted last night about 6 00. Emergency managers got together and when they came out of that meeting some we had met were shaken. You could see it. And they said this is a whole different deal. At that moment they decided to evacuate the Monroe County jail on stock island that they thought could survive a category 5. Its one of the strongest structures in all of the keys. They said they felt pretty good about it. In fact, thats where their families are going to stay. Instead, they had to frantically move bus with sheriffs deputy escorts 500 prisoners up u. S. 1 to find other places to put them until irma blows over here. Theyve moved their Emergency Management operation from marathon to about 40 miles north of key west up here to key har go. For those expressing concern, we appreciate it here. We have after charting the storm decided to stay here tonight. This is the highest of the keys. Were in a very secure building. And we want to see what happens. We want to follow irma as she pounds ashore here. For everybody else out there, who has the means, please follow the heeds and get out of here if you can. Yeah. Bill weir. Well continue to check with you. Im glad that guy in that boat decided to believe his family. I was very concerned about that from the other night. I dont know if you can hear theres a police car come big with a Police Officer speaking on a loud speaker saying this is a mandatory evacuation zone, telling people to get out. Obviously mandatory means some people arent going to do it, they dont have to leave by law, but they are certainly strongly encouraged there. As soon as the police car starts to come by ill maybe have jay turn the camera around so you can see it. Just get a sense of what its like here. They have expanded the evacuation zone to zone b which previously was not an evacuation zone but they are trying to get more people go. Lets listen to this police car as it passes by. Actually, jay, you wont be able to get it. The police car turned an. They are driving around in centennial park. The mayor of palm beach, mayor, how are things in palm beach, how are your preparations . Palm beach is this is homestead. Im sorry. How are the preparations there . Well, we kind of got ahad had of the curve and i think were well prepared. Taking care of our employees, gotten everybody situated in our new secure facilities, category 5 facilities. We listened our lesson through andrew. Were pleased its taken a bit of a jog to the west. Were ready but were hoping for, you know, less of an impact than anticipated earlier this week. And as you referenced, homestead got hit hard by andrew, so there have been a lot of changes since then in how buildings are built there. Oh, absolutely. I mean, you know, before andrew came through, you would drive through the communities and, you know, maybe 20 , 30 of the residences would have storm shutters. Its quite the difference now. Probably 90 , you know, have storm shutters and the others are putting up plywood. So, you know, i think the community really got ahead of it normally theyre real complacent about doing their preparation and boarding up and getting their supplies, but this year, i dont know if it was because of whats been what we of been seeing for the last two weeks coming out of houston maybe heightened everyones senses, but i think everybody did a really good job. The ones that got evacuated are out, the streets are pretty clean right now, not a lot of traffic. We did have a pretty good squall come through this morning and knocked some trees over and some limbs down. Weve soon a little bit of the you know, what the storm is capable of. But were really hoping for that eyewall not to, you know, come over homestead. Thats what really does the damage. Thats where andrew really got us. We certainly wish you the best and well which can if with you throughout the next several days. Thanks for being with us. Our coverage continues. Well have a lot more here from the west coast of florida. I want to toss it back to chris cuomo stand big in miami beach. Chris . Were going the take a break and be right back. This is a story about mail and packages. And its also a story about people. People who rely on us every day to deliver their dreams theyre handing us more than mail theyre handing us their business and while we make more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget. That your business is our business the United States postal service. Priority you were drowning in information. Where, in all of this, is the stuff that matters . The stakes are so high, your finances, your future. How do you solve this . You dont. You partner with a firm that advises governments and the fortune 500, and, can deliver insight person to person, on what matters to you. Morgan stanley. The whole country booking on Choice Hotels. Com. Four words, badda book. Badda boom. Let it sink in. Shouldnt we say we have the lowest price . Nope, badda book. Badda boom. Have you ever stayed with Choice Hotels . Like at a comfort inn . Yep. Free waffles, cant go wrong. I like it. Promote that guy. Get the lowest price on our rooms, guaranteed. When you book direct at choicehotels. Com. Book now. To make something original. Has grown into an enterprise. Thats why i switched to the spark cash card from capital one. Now, im earning unlimited 2 cash back on every purchase i make. Everything. Which adds up to thousands of dollars back every year. And helps keep my passion growing. In every direction. Whats in your wallet . Cnn is tracking the Storm Hurricane irma. Battering the caribbean. Hitting grand bahama, hit kug ba now, moving past, expected to strengthen in the gulf as it heads towards the florida keys and here where we are in south florida. We have dave hole stead with us. Always a pleasure. Cnn contributocontributor, form florida Emergency Management, the director. Right . Yes, sir. One of the things we can bring you is information and insight from experts who understand what is to come. We talk about gusts, sustained gusts, and sustained winds. This is not a science class. It matters because sustained winds of 90 miles an hour are a totally different animal than a gust. And theres also something in between as a dynamic that could cause real devastation. Take us through it. Well, we were talking before about obviously sustained winds. What kind of damage can that do to a building. And thats what were concerned about. Obviously those large sustained winds. However, in between as it dies down and you have gusts, which are typically maybe 30 miles an hour less than that, then you get a sustained gust thats in between those two. And as that moves back and forth, the sustained winds and the sustained gusts, thats where you get kind of that differential where if things have a weakened point, lets say a roof, say an air conditioning unit thats tied to a building, it starts bringing it up and down, starts working on it, those sustaineds winds and those long sustained gusts will work back and forth and can loosen it. A little lit like for fighting metaphoric jab, jab, cross, like the onetwo punch. Absolutely. Thats what we concern ourselves with and thats why the fortified Building Code in florida has been so important, certainly if south florida, the Building Code they implemented. As we talked about, not every building has been brought up to code. It will be interesting to see after the storm moves through both in southeast florida and southwest, the buildings that able to withstand the winds. We heard from the fema director now saying after these storms harvey, irma, and god forbid what is to come after, we have to rebuild better. Thats not just pollyannish optimism. You have to meet the challenges as they are today which is different than what we saw in the past. And youre talking to a very conservative person right here, but i will tell you, Building Codes is the only way go. You cannot change anything until you change Building Codes. Yes, its mshg, yes, you ought to be able to build things where and when you want, but the problem is, you ask us to come in afterwards either through insurance or federal help and rebuild something that shouldnt have been built there in the first place or should have been built better. Now, another practical difference, dave and i are built to stand in the wind. 80, 90 miles an hour, it hits me, it wasnt really moving me. Ive been in these a lot. But it doesnt take much when the wind varies to make you feel instability. And theres an analogy in that for people, the same thing that happens to us, happens to everything else, right . Absolutely. Everything thats yoos loost in the yard, loose near a building, im looking up here and there is air conditioning units that are tied onto this building here, theyre rusted, how rustd are they, well find out when 90mileanhour sustained winds hit them and try to move them and it drops down to a sustained gust and comes back. Will that ac unit be a projectile into another building that may in fact be fortified. God forbid. Last point for right now and then well go to break. Ive been telling people when that band comes see it as a taste, only a taste of what will come some 20plus hours from now when irma is here but also to see moments like this as opportunity. If youve been told to get out, because now you can see, now you can handle things, now you can drive. Is that a fair assess p. I think its fair assessment. Im not so sure about driving. Driving will have to be tens of miles, not hundreds of miles. If off friend inland, ten, 20 miles, absolutely, take break, you see the wind bands die down, get in the kashgs git to that friends house whose home hopefully more fortified than your home. Dave, thank you very much. Well take a brek. When we come back, as weve been saying, chad myers has been watching this storm move. Dave has been an invaluable resource in explaining the different dynamics and why the caribbean got hit, why grand bahama, each place has its own vulnerabilities, thats tu truth in the key, true here, and we move up the different places of florida, different places are expozed to different risks. The you are in the zone of danger in florida, be safe and stay with cnn. I count on my dell Small Business advisor for tech advice. With one phone call, i get products that suit my needs and i get back to business. We just got to take it one game at a time. Next question. Odell can you repeat everything you just said . My livestream wont load. blows whistle technical foul wrong sport. Wrong network. See, you need unlimited on verizon. Its americas largest, most reliable 4g lte network. It wont let you down in places like this. Even in the strike zone its the red zone. Pretty sure its the strike zone. Here, use mine. All right. See you on the court, champ. Heads up vo when it really, really matters, you need the best network and the best unlimited. Now plans start at 40 per line for four lines. When only the best will do. One of a kind tempurpedic delivers. Only tempur material precisely conforms to your weight, shape and temperature. It provides up to twice as much pressure relieving power, so you wont toss and turn. And tempurpedic is the best at minimizing motion transfer from your partner. Youll wake up, feeling like a champion. Now through september 17th, save up to 500 on select adjustable sets. Find your exclusive retailer at tempurpedic. Com pcountries thatk mewe traveled,t what is your nationality and i would always answer hispanic. So when i got my ancestry dna results it was a shocker. Im everything. Im from all nations. I would look at forms now and wonder what do i mark . Because im everything. And i marked other. Discover the story only your dna can tell. Order your kit now at ancestrydna. Com. Gloria always went big. So we helped her plan a Memorial Service that no one would soon forget. This ones for you, gloria. Only a dignity memorial professional can celebrate a life like no other. Find out how at sanfranciscodignity. Com. Welcome back to our continuing coverage of Hurricane Irma. Im Anderson Cooper in ft. Myers, florida, the west coast of florida. Was in miami this morning, came over here as the storm shifted here to the west. Im going the talk to mayor here because they are now trying to open more shelters here as people who were just planning on staying in their hopes are nowing or the try to get to a shelter. Well talk to him about those efforts. First will thes which can in about the status of this storm with chad myers of the weather center. Chad, give us an update on what this is looking like. Moving offshore in cuba, great news for the people in cuba but now the storm is going to reintensify in the area, the water between cuba and florida or the florida keys, called the florida straits. 10 the 15 foot on top of land storm surge right where you are. And thats the threat right now. That number went up at the 11 00 advisory. We have hurricane warnings all the way to jacksonville. So this is now going to move up along the spine of florida. There is the center of the eye moving away from land. It is now able to breathe again. Its going to use that warm water in the florida straits to get stronger. Were going the see band after band across parts of florida. That red box right there, thats a tornado watch box. Not only will you see wind, every storm that comes in can spin. Just a watter spout coming onshore can do damage because waterspouts can be 100 Miles Per Hour. Not like well see for tomorrow. Well see the storm move right up across parts of the florida keys at 1 40. Right now, the center of the cone, because the cone is pretty close now. Were less than 20 hours away. Were probably going to be somewhere between key west and big pine key. It may go to the west of key west and that would be terrible for key west because then you would be on the wrong side, the dirty side, the worst side of the eye. The same place, anderson, that youre going to be. Look at the radar summary. This is the future radar. By 10 00 tomorrow morning the eyewall over key wst. And by later on in the afternoon, the eyewall right over you with wind speeds in excess of 130 Miles Per Hour and that storm surge being deadly, water kills more than the wind kills in a hurricane. Need to be out of that water away from the water. Chris cuomo has been talk about it all day, how its been coming up in miami because the water in the air just pouring onshore here. Well, tomorrow the water will be pouring into southwestern flori florida. Were trying to still figure out where well try to ride this thing out, whether here in ft. Myers or over in tampa. A lot of options to this point. I want to bring in the mayor of ft. Myers, randall henderson. Thanks for being with us. You have expanded the evacuation zone to zone b as well. We have expanded to zone b. We are laser focused right now. On preservation of life and we are deploy nug shelters as we speak, as best we can, the challenging part of that is staffing them, making sure we document all the human beings that are coming in, the pets and no rules and restrictions. Were urging everyone to get out of zone b, get to a shelter, were providing Public Transportation so were in full force. How long is that Public Transportation going go . I know youve told people call 211 if they need help to get to a shelter. Youve tried the number and its tough getting through. We are certainly experiencing overwhelming volume on the 211 line. We urge all citizens to continue the dial 211. We can safely deploy transportation units up to about 3 00 p. M. Today. Weve got to be concerned about safety of our drives and our first responders. So for a lot of the people who are calling 211 who are now going to the shelters today, these are people who thought they would ride it out at home and as the storm shifted that all changed. Tension is rising and rightfully so, im proud of our citizens who have taken this storm serious. This is a beast of a storm, its a very serious threat. Were worried about storm surge and were dealing with that as best we can. However, we are moving around in vehicles. We have a megaphone were alerting our neighbors to, to please evacuate. If they need assistance, let us know, well get transportation for them and get them to higher grounds. Do you have a sense of how many people are in shelters now . I know theres a couple thousand outside the germane arena right now being processed. Theyre being processed right now. Our best estimates for city of ft. Myers proper, 78,000 people, roughly a third have e vok wait and were pushing for more. Just in terms of what the city has seen before, you and i were talking about hurricane charley in 2004, a change of four degrees can make all the difference. This storm for people who are breathing a sigh of relief in other areas, this storm can change track again. It can change track again. Its not unreason to believe expect it to tilt a little bit more to the west. I can share with you in charley, charley was coming right up this Caloosahatchee River and for sake of four degrees it tilted to the north and to lit blit rated punta gorda and points beyond. I remember driving to punta gorda the next day. It was a terrible scene. Very terrible, yes. Right now yor message to people in this county. Stay vigilant. Be bold in your decisionmaking, seek higher ground. Reach out to your government, your city, your Emergency Management people. We are working in tandem to assist you. Please get in touch with us if you need help. We are working vigilantly and diligently to get to you and to help you. Really appreciate your time. I know youre incredibly bitz si. Be safe. The mayor in ft. Myers really trying to send the message, dont be lulld into a false sense of security by the weather right now. Because a it can change very quickly as we of soon with qume coom on the air, suddenly one of those outer bands of the storm comes and you get drenched and that is just an outer band of the storm, the real storm we have yet to really get a taste of it. Were going to have a lot more information on whats going to be happening and the plans being made right now in tampa, florida. Our coverage continues after a short break. Sarah is a fifthgrade teacher. When it comes to molding young minds, nobody does it better. She also builds her own fighting robots. Destroy. But when it comes to mortgages, shes less confident. Fortunately for sarah, theres Rocket Mortgage by quicken loans. Its simple, so she can understand the details and be sure shes getting the right mortgage. Apply simply. Understand fully. Mortgage confidently. Where do you want to go next . 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I like it. Promote that guy. Get the lowest price on our rooms, guaranteed. When you book direct at choicehotels. Com. Book now. If youve got a life, you gotta swiffer beneful grain free is so healthy. Oh farmraised chicken mmm. Thats some really good chicken. I dont think ive ever tasted chicken like this. What . Here come the accents. Blueberries and pumpkin. Wow. That was my favorite bite so far. Not even kidding. I mean that was. Oh spinach mmm. Thats like three super foods. Pretty, uh, well. Super. Now i got kind of a pumpkin, chicken thing going on. Whoop time to wrestle. avo new beneful grain free. Out with the grain, in with the farmraised chicken. Healthful. Flavorful. Beneful. All right. Cnn continuing coverage of Hurricane Irma. Wee been watching her as she moves past the caribbean through grand bahama. Devastation left in her wake. People are dead, at least a couple of dozen so far, probably more. Those are early estimates. Billions of dollars in damage, like we saw with the island of barbuda, many of these places over 50 , 60 destroyed. Now we have cuba, that is just getting punished by this storm. Yes, irma went from 5 to 3 in terms of category, but that is really a distinction that only matters to a scientist. Once you get winds in excess of 100 miles an hour sustained, everything that they touch they could destroy. And the water wins every time out. Here in southern miami, southern florida, in miami, proper, were just getting a taste. Every time the wind picks up, with just a little bit of storm surge, the docks are overwhelmed. The shore is overwhelmed. The parking lot floods. The cars there get hit by water. And remember, the reason we say that the water wins is because storm surge isnt just linear. Its not like it comes just 6 feet, ten feet more up the shoir. Its how high it is. The water level itself is going to be another 6 to ten feet from what it is right now. That means tomorrow you do not see a reporter here. You do not see anyone here. Because the water is this high all the way through. This entire area. This high of water. Plus waves. And thats where the damage comes and theres why the official recommendation is to evacuate here and many of the areas in and around where we are here and there is south beach, they, too, have to deal with Evacuation Orders. They too, are very vulnerable to the storm surge that is expected here, even though the path of the storm has shifted to the west. The storm is expected to strengthen as it comes to the florida keys and to the florida mainland. It is expected to be a category 4 hurricane at this point. Damage potential catastrophic. So we are now covering the west coast, dealing with the increase in urgency, the increase in need in those areas. We have alex markhart, hes in see ys ta key, thats up on the west side of this, about an hour or so from tampa im told. You know, alex, no small irony that in a place called siesta key, siesta is a nap in spanish, nobodys resting quietly up there right now. What is the situation . No, they really arent. Youre right. This is siesta beach. Were just south of sarasota city. Just look at the scene here. The you didnt know that there was a massive hurricane barreling this way, you could never tell that anything was wrong. Look at this day we of got here. Bright blue skies, pristine beaches. The only real indication that something is wrong is how few people there are out here. There are a handful, theres a gentleman out there right now in the water. That is a handful too many for the local authorities here. They dont want anyone here. This is a mandatory evacuation zone. Once this storm hits tomorrow, theyre expecting the storm surge to come ashore around 3 to 5 feet. Now, we drove across from ft. Lauderdale across the florida peninsula this morning and as we got closer to sarasota, we saw the vast majority of homes and businesses closed and boarded up. But there were still parking lots full of boats, parks full of mobile homes. You can imagine the Staggering Amount of damage that mare is going to do once it comes ashore. But i do want to show you where we are right now. There are a lot of homes that weve soon that still have open glass, that have not been boarded up. We are right on the beach right now. Youve got all these Beautiful Homes right here. There are very few people here, but very few boards as well. I was speaking with a county commissioner earlier who was saying that she thinks that they didnt board up because initially the plan or the assumption was they were just going to get heavy rains here. Now that ma has the e has tracked to the west, people are starting to realize the full extent of the damage that is going to take place here, but it might be too late for many of these homes. Now, the people, the handful as i said of people right here enjoying themselves on the beach, they will be weathering the storm. They are confident that their buildings are safe enough, that they have the supplies they need, but that same county commissioner told me that wherever you plan to be during the storm, you should be there right now. Chris . All right, alex. Thank you very much. Obviously, as this storm comes in there, they the whole reality for the people up where alex markhart is, where Anderson Cooper is, the reality has changed for them. They were supposed to get just a bad situation but not a potentially catastrophic one. But as the storm moves so do the requirements, so do the risks and so does the need for action. So down here, i guess were out of the woods, right . Wrong. Just because its not a direct hit does not mean it wont be bad. In these areas it does not take much to make a big difference. Kyung lah is across the bay in south beach. Shes been monitoring the situation over there. Boy, did the dynamic change, the watchers gone, the ability to drive reduced to almost zero. How is it now . That was just a prelude of whats to come. Were experiencing a bit more wind. Remember, this is going to intensify at night. Heres what were seeing. You can see some of the palm trees moving about. A lot of the buildings here are boarded up. You can see this particular hotel, that entire first floor has completely been boarded up because the anticipation here, chris, is that there is going to be a significant storm surge. In lieu of that, what the city has done, the city of miami beach has just told us they of issued a curfew. There is a mandatory Evacuation Order here, but there is a curfew now in place starting at 8 00 p. M. They want to try to get everybody off the streets because starting this evening they anticipate that the storm surge, im about five feet tall, two of me, at the height of it, two of me could we could see a wall of water that could come across. That is something they are very concerned about because people here, chris, even though it is under a mandatory Evacuation Order, youre still seeing some stragglers roaming around in the streets. You see this guy on a bicycle here, a few people not really heeding the order. Generally, though, i will say that this is the place that on saturday afternoon you would normally be completely packed with people. You wouldnt be able to see anything on the beach other than people. So there are the majority of people are heeding the order. Chris . Good. And unfortunately, well all see what happens once the storm comes, who heeded the order, who did not, no who made the right choice, who did not. Whats the good news . Even if you mess up, youve got an amazing backup plan for you here with the first responders. Theyre one of the best groups in the country. They are uniquely equipped and prepared, but even say they once the sustained winds are over 40 miles an hour and weve soon close to that here already so its not that high a threshold, they cant get out. Its not safe enough for them. There are so many people, millions who may be relying on their efforts. They just cant take chances and we shouldnt take chances to put them at risk. So hopefully everybodys making the right choice for their own safety. Were going to take a break now. When kwoem back, we are waiting on pictures from cuba to see what the storm did to that island. It is a deadly hurricane. Its taken lives just about everywhere it has touched. Well take you through it. Please be safe and stay with cnn. What started as a passion to make something original. Has grown into an enterprise. Thats why i switched to the spark cash card from capital one. Now, im earning unlimited 2 cash back on every purchase i make. Everything. Which adds up to thousands of dollars back every year. And helps keep my passion growing. In every direction. Whats in your wallet . Before i hadburning,oting, pinsandneedles of diabetic nerve pain, these feet. Grew into a freewheeling kid. Loved every step of fatherhood. And made old cars good as new. But i couldnt bear my diabetic nerve pain any longer. So i talked to my doctor and he prescribed lyrica. Nerve damage from diabetes causes diabetic nerve pain. Lyrica is fda approved to treat this pain, from moderate to even severe diabetic nerve pain. Lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions, suicidal thoughts or actions. Tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worse depression, unusual changes in mood or behavior, swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling or blurry vision. Common side effects dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain, swelling of hands, legs, and feet. Dont drink alcohol while taking lyrica. Dont drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. Those whove had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. Now i have less diabetic nerve pain. And i love smoothing the road ahead for others. Ask your doctor about lyrica. And we are live in ft. Myers, florida, which is now expecting a hit directly from Hurricane Irma starting tomorrow in the Early Morning hours. There are a lot of people now trying to get to or hoping to get to evacuation centers. Theres several thousand people according to our drew griffin outside one nearby center who are being processed in order to get in. And the 211 number that the city has set up is being inundated with calls. I want you to meet ross webb with the edison saline center. Youve been worried obviously about a lot of the boats in the marina. For the last four days weve had 25 kids show up to help us take down masts, tie down boats. We moved about 25 boats to north ft. Myers in a better location. And we have a bunch of them tied, 150 of them tied down there. Still a few in the water, but theyre just too big to move and too bothersome. So do you try to tie them over . Sometimes you turn them over, sometimes you fill them with water and sink them so you dont have to worry about them moving too much. You were born here in ft. Myers, lived here your whole life. What does this storm from what youve seen of it coming compared to what youve lived through. Well, like charlie like this almost at this point. We didnt expect much then but i think were going to have more from this storm than we did charlie. Did you ever evacuate . No, theres too many things i can do to help people once the storm is over with and i have another business i need to help with. Theres a lot of things we can do to help here. Your home is it on ground level . Is it raised up . My homes a ground level, but its a real high spot. But im going down to my daughters six blocks away with a twostory house. So it starts getting too bad well have boats out rescue. I was going to ask if you have any boats but you have a sailing center, so if you dont have boats, nobody would. Yeah, we do, ready to go and full of gas help other people get rescued. Thats your plan you want to help other people as soon as this is done. Yeah, thats what we try to do. This community always pulls together. Yeah. Well, listen, i wish you the best. And i appreciate all youre doing for not only your family but also for other people. Thanks so much. You take care. A lot more ahead here. Our coverage obviously continues. We of course are all across florida. Down in cuba, other places in the caribbean. Well be right back. Its time for the biggest sale of the year with the new sleep number 360 smart bed. It senses and automatically adjusts on both sides. The new 360 smart bed is part of our biggest sale of the year where all beds are on sale. And right now the sleep number queen c2 mattress now only 699. Ends sunday you push yourself every day. Tempurpedic helps you recover every night. Tempur material provides up to twice as much pressure relieving power. So you wont toss and turn. Through september 17th, save up to 500 on select adjustable sets. Tempurpedic sleep is power. Tais really quite simple. Est it comes in the mail, you pull out the tube and you spit in it, which is something southern girls are taught youre not supposed to do. You seal it and send it back and then you wait for your results. Its that simple. For tech advice. Dell Small Business advisor with one phone call, i get products that suit my needs and i get back to business. We just got to take it one game at a time. Next question. Odell can you repeat everything you just said . My livestream wont load. blows whistle technical foul wrong sport. Wrong network. See, you need unlimited on verizon. Its americas largest, most reliable 4g lte network. It wont let you down in places like this. Even in the strike zone its the red zone. Pretty sure its the strike zone. Here, use mine. All right. See you on the court, champ. Heads up vo when it really, really matters, you need the best network and the best unlimited. Now plans start at 40 per line for four lines. This is cnn breaking news. Im here in ft. Myers, florida, where Hurricane Irma is headed and headed directly. Theres really no sign at this point for folks who are down here by the water watching. But theres no sign of what is to come. But everybody here knows what is coming as the storm moved westward earlier today theres great concern here and a growing concern about the safety of this area down in naples, florida, as well, even up in tampa now people are reassessing the storm surge, estimates of storm surge were raised in the 11 00 hour, 5 to 8 feet for tampa, anywhere from 10 to 15 feet for areas of ft. Myers, south of ft. Myers like naples, so a lot to cover. Chris cuomo whos standing by for us in miami beach, it is that storm surge here that a lot of people who havent been through a storm like this forget about. But, you know, for fatalities and hurricanes it is very often people drown. Yeah. Chads been telling us about it all morning, anderson. Its not the wind that kills you, its the water. Theres so many components to potential catastrophe theres lots of things that can get you. Thats why theyre pushing you from the federal level down to the local level to make the smartest choice for your own safety. If youre in an evaccent centeru have to evacuate. We heard from senator rubio, lifelong floridian, he knows storms. You have 72 hours worth of supplies, batteries, water, food, why that long . Because it may take that long to get to you. First responders can only do so much, especially in the aftermath of Something Like what is expected to be coming here right now. As the track shifts, so do the priorities. Where anderson is, thats new ground in terms of where this storm is expected to hit hardest. They worry about the keys, they still do. They worried about here. They still do. Even if youre not in the direct path, even if its not about the eye, a direct hit is not the only type of bad hit. So here this morning while we have nothing, this is nothing compared to whats supposed to be here, it was easily overwhelming when their gusts of wind came in up to about 90 miles an hour, which is no joke, but nothing compared to what well see. Just gusts. Not sustained winds with gusts far in excess to that which is what is expected over the docks, messing with the boats, in the
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