gets in a lightly better environment. as you can see, that is going to be the story here long term. so possibly some time later thursday, up around the big bend area. most of the tampa bay area out of that window of possible movement. that area as we talked about, the stronger winds. got to go back to the news room. we have rick scott apparently about to speak to us. so, let's go ahead. >> three days of days of food. if you need medicine, make sure to have it on mind. if you need shelter know where it is. if you need a special needs shelter or a pet shelter, know where they are. don't wait until after it happens. as you know, we have in the tampa bay area, we have nontravel related case of zika. we have do do our part. we can do now and after the storm hits. our state of emergency operation center is at level 2. we have 8,000 members of the national guard ready to be mobilized if we need them. we are going to do the right thing. we have great local leadership here. we have it all across the state. if you don't have a plan, get a plan. go to flgetaplan.com. you can get to do. think about this. hopefully, we don't have a hurricane this season. knock on wood. this will hopefully be the worst weather we get. but we are going to have a storm surge and rain and flooding and we have the potential of tornadoes and we are going to have rip currents. everybody has to be prepared. everybody at the state and everybody at the county is going to be ready. >> thank you very much governor. you see members of all of the jurisdictions here today. county fire rescue sheriff david gee. tampa fire rescue. chairman of the county commission. the governor is absolutely right. at the micro level, there are a few basic things we would ask everybody to do. pay attention. don't drive into standing water. we saw what happened a year ago. we had literally hundreds of cars that drove in the standing water ended up paying thousands of dollars to get them fixed. we know where the low lying communities are. in the city of tampa, we have barricades prepositioned already in the event we need to deploy them. we are prepared. at the state level and local and rescue are all ready. we have trained for this all year around. we learned valuable lessons. this time last year. and we have built on that success and learned from those failures so we are equipped and ready to go in the event of a major rain incident. as the governor said, there will be a lot of standing water around after this event. i can't tell you because we are in the midst of not only this storm, but also, the whole situn backyards. take responsibility for our personal property. dump over any flower pots. any fountains you might have. anything that will collect standing water. we need to turn it over to make sure the larvae don't have opportunities to breed. i know mr. merril and the county are doing an excellent job with mosquito control. we are working hand in hand with them. we bought 5,000 more of the mosquito dunks that are code deploying into standing water, swailes. i know the county is doing the same. just use common sense. help us help you. be smart over the next couple of days. we don't want to come and get you. so don't put our folks at risk. don't put the county firefighters at risk. law enforcement, personnel. just use common sense. don't drive in the standing water. at the end of the storm, clean up your property. get rid of the standing water and let's take care larvae problem as well. >> governor scott, paul mueller from newschannel8. you just got off the call with emergency services all across the how prepared, honestly, is the state for this incoming storm? >> oh, the state is prepared. at the state level, we have a very good emergency management team. we are at level two. we have a national guard that is experienced. our national guard has been in and hurricanes so the national guard is prepared. if you go around the state, take hillsborough county. everybody here knows what to do. but, you have to do your part. like the mayor said. don't drive in standing water. get a plan. watch the news. watch the weather. be careful. don't go out. but we are going to have flooding. we are going to get a lot of rain. we are going to have rip currents. so, we are ready at the we are ready in the counties. we have great emergency manageable teams around the state. but everybody has to do their part. >> anybody else? >> you have been listening now to governor rick scott as well as tampa mayor bob buckhorn in downtown tampa. just quickly recapping, the governor recommending folks have three days of food, three days of water on hand in the event that this tropical both officials echoing the same sentiment that it will be a major rain event. there are 8,000 national guard members on standby in the event they need to mobilize and mayor buckhorn reiterating a common theme you hear in the storms. don't drive into standing water. they are expecting flooding in some of the common low-lying areas that see flooding any time we get a major rain event. that is expected again in the days ahead. both officials saying the localities are prepared but you should do your part. in other news this afternoon, a suspected home burglar is in the hospital with suspected gunshot wounds. the homeowner caught him in the act watching surveillance cameras live on our smartphone. jamel lanee, this kind of technology is getting to be a lot more common. >> reporter: yeah, it's a security measure that a lot of homeowners are using to protect belongings. gunfire rang out in tampa just before 10:00 this morning. >> i heard a pow. i was just getting out of bed. >> reporter: samuel sanders lives two doors down where michael stewart was shot. >> when i came out, the neighbor, we both just trying to see where the shot came from. >> reporter: police say the homeowner saw the suspect on her surveillance camera from her cell phone. she watched as stewart went through her drawers bedroom. >> wherefore she was, she looked at her phone. saw there was someone in her house. she called her dad, her dad came by. and, confronted the intruder. >> reporter: investigators say her father, jerry king, shot stewart in the upper torso. neighbor corey thompson says after this, he is considering security cameras. >> yeah. it is scary to know that anyone can come into your place. you have cameras and technology look to do. >> reporter: king is cooperating with detectives. stewart is facing burglary charges. police believe technology should be credited with playing a major role in this case. >> something that we are seeing is people have pretty good vince video. it alerted her there was somebody in her house when she one even there. >> reporter: now, again, the father has not been charged. and again, this is the shooting still under investigation. josh? >> mel, anything else we about the suspect? >> reporter: well, police just released his name a short while ago. michael stewart, we are running a background check on him to see what priors he might have. right now, again, he is stable at the hospital. josh? >> jamel lanee live for us in tampa tonight. thanks. well, a stunning break-up of olympic proportions. >> simone biles and her long time coach are parting ways. coming up, why that's a good thing for gymnasts in the bay area. >> plus, think your dog the reason you might be onto something. >> we'll have that and more coming up. you're watching newschannel8. >> many dog lovers swear their dogs understand them. now there is some proof. researchers in hungary says the dogs understand the meaning and intonation of the words we say. they sit still in a scanner and they speak about familiar and unfamiliar sounds to the dogs in various tones. brain scans show the dogs processed and understood sounded. simone biles astounded the world in the rio games. now, her long time coach has moved to sarasota to train the next generation. now that amy boarman beginning a new journey in sarasota, she sat down with us to talk about her future. john rogers, this is exciting! >> reporter: oh, it certai has an eye for talent. she tells me from day one, it was evident there was something very special about simone biles. >> the cheer leaders have great spring floor. >> reporter: years ago, amy was running a gymnastics camp when a six-year-old girl named simone biles caught the attention of boorman's mother. >> i said i'm busy. >> you nearly discounted the greatest gymnast in the world. >> absolutely. all because of my mom. eventually saw simone for herself. she spent years guiding and training this athlete. >> she knows where she is in the air at all times. when you see all the flipping and the twisting that is something you can't teach. >> reporter: simone's secret is her joy. she knows how to have fun while competing hard and amy led her from one achievement to the xt moment person. i never bought too far into the future. we planned on what is the big meet at the end of the season. >> reporter: the pair reached incredible sights. now, boorman has embarrassed on a new mission. >> i'm sad i'm not going to see her every day. >> reporter: but she is excited to see what the future will bring. >> do you hope to find the next simone biles here? them out there. >> reporter: so, the folks are really excited about it. it is a world class facility that cater to cheer leaders. ninja warriors and gymnasts. and, amy says it is too early to tell if simone biles might pay a visit here to speak to the kids. >> what about whether or not she will speak in the next olympic ins. >> reporter: that is the $64,000 question isn't it? i did ask amy she is keeping her cards close to the vest saying simone is enjoying a well deserved break. when the time comes she will make the decision, so we will see. >> that means she knows, she knows the answer, you keep working on her. >> reporter: she's not saying it. >> john rogers, thank you. a little bit of rain is falling here in lakewood ranch. temperatures reasonable today because of the cloud cover. southeast winds at 4 miles an hour. beautiful view there in citrus county. and, the downpour here at veteran's ford along express way. a little foggy because the camera is trying to focus with the rain. good downpour we saw there about an hour ago. ennis brook is back. our camera has been down. this camera took a lightning hit. some good downpours in palm skies. bucs are playing wednesday night. bucs and the redskins, 80 degrees. tropical downpours are possible during this period of time. if you are headed out, bring the rain slicker. there could be decent wind gusts at times with the squalls passing on through. these are the showers moving from south to north across the area. most heavy across the northern sections. citrus, hernando, pasco county. much like we are seeing now. a lot of moisture in the atmosphere, so showers can regenerate. it is not like a typical summer afternoon where showers rain themselves out. that's it for the evening. in a tropical situation, we can develop more rain and more strong downpours. obviously, local flooding that goes along with it. south part of sarasota county is lifting from south to north. 9:00 p.m., 80 degrees. a few remaining showers. it is possible overnight as well. we can't rule out a shower now throughout the next and beyond with the presence of a tropical depression in the gulf of mexico. potentially a tropical storm long term. 83 degrees, current temperature. 85 degrees in saint pete. very humid. even though the temperatures are just a little bit lower. that's the tampa bay area. the radar is close enough to pick up on the shower activity. outside of the area, we can see what the satellite can pick up. most of the thunderstorms have been on the southern portion of the center of the system itself. is controlled by this tropical system. they really are dominant once they exist. these tropical systems where they depressions, storms, or hurricanes. there's the location moving on shore. a little focused further to the north. major computer models went a little further north. they shifted that track just a little bit so the timing on that would be later thursday for potential landfall. but with the southerly flow, that could be a bay flooding. have to watch the high tides for the high water in some of these areas. 35 miles an hour winds. the enhancements show the thunderstorm is relatively south of the area. this is one computer model opinion throughout the event here through friday. four to five inches of rain. these change with every computer model run. these are fairly realistic. add up a couple of days and kit really produce a lot of rain and local flooding. add to that, the run-off into an already flooded bay with the obviously, the moisture is colored here in green. and the wind shear that has been hindering the strength and growth of this system itself which we are very pleased about. over the next 24 hours, the computer models have pushed this to the coastal areas. the high tide, 2:41 in the afternoon on thursday. just a heads up there. tropical storm force winds, a better chance of that closer to the center of it, itself. that hurricane watch, citrus, hernando, pasco. 70% chance of 80% chance for thursday. some strong wind gusts possible as well as watching that high tide. coastal flooding that we mentioned. possibly some strong storm surge close tore the center of the system itself. which we see as kind of moved a little further to the north. coastline has to watch for the effects of this system. >> as the governor and the mayor said, it is time to get prepared. thanks steve. some promising research in the fight against zika. researchers at florida state already existing drug compounds shown to fight the virus. they have only been conducted in petrie dishes. the drugs are currently used to treat cancer, hepatitis c, and parasitic infections. >> some scary moments on a new york highway. >> and the ten car pileup is all captured on dash cam video. the brave actions of bystander to rescue one of the drivers. >> and remember, you can join jenn holloway and me on newschannel8 on great 38 every night from 8:00 to >> now to what's making headlines across america. a pileup on a new york highway. check it out. you ca crash. one of the cars bursting into flames. watch for it. bystanders eventually jump into action. extinguishing the flames. the driver only suffered minor cuts and bruises. taylor swift was swiftly dismissed from jury duty in nashville. duty but the judge dismissed swift when she explained her concerns over hearing a case of that nature citing her own upcoming trial in denver over allegations she herself was groped at a fan meet and greet. >> newschannel8 at 6:00 is up next. >> stacie is keith are here with what we are working on. >> dozens of chickens taking over a bay area home. >> the shocki investigators discovered. >> that storm churning out in the gulf is causing concern all along the gulf coast. team coverage of tropical depression 9 and its impact on tampa bay. >> pasco county is preparing for the tropical system along the way. we will tell you what you need to know to prepare. >> 26 million and what do you get? a half built high-rise open to the element withs a big storm on the way. protecting the investment you paid for tonight at 6:00. sports. >> right now on newschannel8 at 6:00. >> the gulf coast getting ready for a tropical depression. how and when this storm might impact the bay area. >> plus, water worries in flood prone areas. what they are doing to prepare. >> and how a multimillion dollars development that you paid for is threatened by this incoming storm. good evening. i'm stacie schaible. >> i'm keith cate. thank you for joining us tonight. right now, tropical depression 9 is swirling in the gulf. >> we have live team coverage as tampa bay braces for the storm. we are beginning with our chief meteorologist steve jerve. he is in the forecast center. the very latest. >> the good news is it has not strengthened into a tropical storm. the longer it goes, it would be better for us keeping the intensity of the system down. let's look at what is happening. as of 5:00 from the national hurricane center, tropical depression number 9, 35 miles an hour winds. forecast to move to the northwest for the short term, but by most computer models, there is agreement to turn it back to the northeast. the 5:00 advisory has it thursday at potentially strengthening. thursday evening perhaps, coming on shore, somewhere in the big bend area. this puts most of tampa bay out of the cone of air which is good news for us. we can feel the effects far off to the center. heavy rain, stronger wind gusts. certainly coastal flooding with those areas. as a result, the hurricane watch in effect citrus, hernando, pasco county