International space station of hurricane lester. Lester could affect hawaii over the weekend. And nasa is also giving us pictures of hurricane madeleine, also in the pacific. And gaston in the atlantic. And leigh, we should be thankful they are not coming our way but a big mess of weather is. Thats right. This is the most active time for hurricane season. We still have tropical depression nine in the gulf of mexico. I am seeing a formed tropical system. As of 5 00, the Hurricane Center says it was not organized enough to become a Tropical Storm. Though that should happen quickly. We told you about this hurricane watch. A watch means you could feel hurricaneforce gusts within 48 hours. And some of that has been upgraded. This area west of 19 from citrus, hernando and pasco county, its now a Tropical Storm warning. And the difference in that is the timing frame. Could feel Tropical Stormforce winds within 36 hours. As the system gets closer to us. The watch, the Tropical Storm watch for inland citrus, hernando and pasco continues. Again, thats a 48 hour time frame. And latest forecast from the Hurricane Center, notice Tropical Storm, 2 00 tomorrow morning, about this time tomorrow, 50 Miles Per Hour winds. Pushing to the north and east, 2 00 afternoon tomorrow, 56 Miles Per Hour winds. One update, this is slower as far as midnight before it makes land fall around the big bend of florida. And notice this orange shaded area, thats the Tropical Storm warning now that goes down to pasco county. After friday morning though, it quickly heads out into the Atlantic Ocean and it will lose its effects on us. While here, seeing pockets of heavy rain which means flooding is going to be an issue. Its going to rain today, tomorrow and friday, 6 to 9 inches widespread. Locally, some spots could see strong winds, rough surf, isolated tornadoes a threat with a land falling tropical system. And right now, a on the the on the of lightning off the coast. Dont go out if that area. And then spotty rain to the south. In weather and traffic on the 8s, i will take you hourby hour through today so you can really start to plan out the next couple hours. Leslee has your commute. Thats right. You definitely want to have patience out there and slow down on your this is an accident 275, south of roosevelt past gandy. They have two lanes getting by so they have pushed it off to the right. Thats a look at weather and traffic. And now back to paul and gayle. Thank you. Our Team Coverage continues now. Places like st. Pete beach learned lessons from the Tropical Storm back in june when it caused massive flooding and sewage problems. News channel 8s mary mcguire is live from st. Petersburg. And ill tell you, its really reporter yeah, we have heard a lot of thunder rolling in and claps of lightning out here. And i want to show you something, when we got out here, none of this water was here but so far, in just the hour that we have been out here, the water levels have really risen. My boots almost completely covered by the water that is coming in. We have seen waves crashing up from the bay as the there you can see a lot of lightning out here. And this was an area that was very hard hit during Tropical Storm colin. We know there was a sewer system emergency. And residents could not use water for days because there was such you can hear the thunder and the claps of lightning. They could not use their water for days because of the sewer system emergency. But since then, the city has capacity by about 3 million gallons. The goal is to make sure that none of the raw sewage water goes into peoples homes out here. And another concern, when youre dealing with flooding, the folks that might be home bound, were told that close to 400 residents here in st. Petersburg are home bound. And they have registered with the city. So emergency crews know where they are. If they do need to rescue them in the event that we have flooding. But we will stay out here and monitor th coming down. The thunder is rolling in. And the lightning is clapping, gayle. It sounds and looks terrible. Find cover. And thank you for the update. Stay safe out there. Wow. Tracking the tropics Team Coverage continues this morning. Parts of the bay area bone to the flooding as we know and one of the worst, south tampa. The area always seems to get blasted with high water and heavy rain during severe storms. News channel 8s ryan hughes live in south tampa this morning. Im hearing that some of these drains may actually back up and if you live there, you know that that can happen. Reporter paul, good morning to you. That is a concern that has lingered for quite some time. Last year there was a fee increase that allowed for the clearing and cleaning of drains like the one you see behind me here along bay shore boulevard. And now many drains need to be replaced altogether and that will cost a lot of ne now. It shows parts of south tampa after heavy rains. Roads and parking lots and yards were submerged. City leaders insist there will be more scenes like this without an increase to pay for the replace. S and repairs. In some cases, a complete overhaul is need. Last year the assessment rose from 36 to 82 for residents to pay for cleaning and clearing as i mentioned. We spoke to one south tampa resident recently after a hard we had water up to everybodys front door. Because of clogged drains. Reporter and of course, its something residents fear today, tomorrow and into friday as this tropical depression nears this part of the state. So we will simply just have to watch and wait to see what happens here. Back here live this morning, the city council actually expected to take up this drainage issue tomorrow, paul. We will see if that meeting goes off considering the storm at the point. Yeah, that meeting could very well be postponed. Ryan hughes, thank you so much. Happening today, thousands of people are expected to attend the funeral mass for the priest. The service is scheduled to start at 11 30 a. M. At st. Lawrence catholic church. After the service, he will be laid to rest at memory religious leaders in tampa. Some big wins in our primary election. The secretary of state says there were no major problems aat the time polls. Thats the good news. Republican senator problems at the times. Thats the good news. Republican senator marco rubio and Patrick Murphy won their primaries. The congresswoman won her first reelection challenge for he and you can count on us at news channel 8. Log on to wfla. Com for results. A big day for republican president ial candidate donald trump. Tonight he will deliver a speech outlining his immigration policy at a unity rally in arizona but before that, he will meet with the president of mexico. Last night trump tweeted, i have accepted the invitation of president Enrique Pena Nieto of mexico and look forward to meeting him tomorrow. Area today. He will attend a fund raiser in st. Petersburg and then after that, a Campaign Rally in sarasota. Lets turn things over to leigh. Still tracking tropical depression nine in the gulf of mexico. At this point, its already wrapping up around it some showers and thunderstorms. You can see what a well defined system it is now. But look what happened along the coast, the green shade area, thats a flood watch that will start at 2 00 p. M. And let me zoom in, we have seen some reporters in rain. And look at this, heavy rain down to largo, over toward Clearwater Beach with lightning there. And heavier downpours in downtown tampa. St. Pete beach right around the loews don cesar and the northern portion of the Sunshine Skyway bridge, lightning and rain and rain as far south as manatee and sarasota as well. And no w the clouds and rain, temperatures wont warm up much. We start around 77 at 7 00. 80 at 10 00. 85 by 3 00 p. M. And the bigger story will be today. Hopefully you have the bucks rain slicker. Downpours possible. 80degrees when it starts at 8 00 p. M. And notice the rainfall potential between now and basically when the game starts, up to the an inch to 1. 5 inches widespread. Which means pockets could see more or less. But its saturating the ground for the heaviest rain thursday through friday. And thats where we could see multiple inches of rain and the potential is high. It will keep our mid80s today, tomorrow and friday. And labor day weekend, we dry out and warm up. We will check with traffic on the 8s because we know wet roads are a big problem. They are. Because they translate to crashes out there and we see more incidents when its wet. We do have an accident 275, northbound between roosevelt and gandy. Just coming away from gandy. Everything is off to the de of the roadway. At one point, ly the left lane was getting by but traffic is now moving at good speeds. Cleared northbound 275 near 22nd avenue south. And lets take a look at both of these. You can see its wet out there. And that has cleared as well. You can see the raindrops on the camera. So slick. A crash, this is at kathleen road and galloway over in polk county. That has injuries involved and its blocking part of the intersection. Allow for extra time. Thats a look at weather and traffic on the 8s. Now back to paul and gayle. Thank you so much, leslee. By a shark. We will show you where it happened and what happened for that matter coming up next. Plus, face to face with a bear. You got to check this out. This Close Encounter right here in florida. What the woman did to get away from the bear. Its very interesting. Just ahead. Certainly. This is the story. An emotional reunion, a gravely ill mother and her daughter who lives in cuba reunited for the first time in years. Everyone to tears. A historic flight to cuba. Jetblue begins flights to cuba making it the First American airline with regularly scheduled island. The first flight will take off from fort lauderdale. Jetblue one of several airlines now approved by the department of transportation for round trip flights to the island. Now an update to a story we first told you about in may. A desperate plea for help. A gravely ill womans dying wish to be reunited with her daughter seemed impossible. Red tape and the florida straits keeping them miles apart. And now as gene ramirez shows us, her daughter is in the bay was finally approved. Reporter an emotional motherdaughter reunion. Her wish came true. For the first time in yearly four years, her daughter is at her side. She doesnt let me leave for a single second, she tells us. Its been a long road for these two women. While she worked to overcome complications from kidney failure that left her partially ra to overcome legal road blocks to obtain a visa from the u. S. Government and now they are working on catching up. Im happy, happy because my daughter came she says. She could barely utter a word in may. And now her breathing tube is gone and physical therapy is helping her move again. She says her daughters hugs similar situations to never give up assuring them she understands what theyre going through. You feel trapped, in a place where others have control and decide for you. The family tell us senator marco rubios office intervened to get the non87 grant visa. And meanwhile, her medical team expects her to continue to improve. So when you want to know whats really important in life, think back to what we just watched for the minute. Family. Yeah. And being reunited like that. And props to gene ramirez because he really put in a lot of phone calls and staying on top of the story for months. So were glad to see the mother and daughter together. A 25yearold man is recovering in the hospital this morning after a shark bit him. Thats right. This happened while he was surfing off the coast. Take a look. This is his right foot right there. Can you see it . Thats where a bull shark grabbed hold and bit down hard. Water had he put the right foot down. It kind of felt like kicking a wall really hard. Or a wall kicked me. I knew what was going on. A big gray bull shark biting my foot. Oh, boy. Doctors reattached four tendons and he suffered severe cuts to the bottom of his foot. And listen here, all right, sams older brother was bit by a shark a few years ago but his injuries so both brothers survived. Wow. What are the odds . He didnt learn from his big bro. Look at this video, unbelievable. A lake mary woman was playing on her phone while standing in the garage. And this happened. Its no game. Its for real. Imagine looking up and staring into the eyes of this big ole bear. So cute. The quick thinking. She said the bear was so close that she could feel its breath. With a message, help me. Then she followed up with, dont make a lot of noise. Once her 66, 325pound showed up, he walked up behind her and he took one look and said, im out of here. The 300pound bear sauntered away. Do you think the bear was afraid of the son . Absolutely. Hes got 25pounds on me, got to go. And mom calls her look at that. Leigh has a bear of a forecast. Yeah, you know when youre outmatched. A flood watch goes into effect at 2 00 p. M. Today due to the fact that rain is going to be on and off all day. And its on for a lot of people right now. We have a lot of lightning strikes and rain just pushing up toward tarpon strikes. And we have seen them with the reporters out there happening with them. About 143 lightning strikes in the last 10 to 15 minutes. But heavy rain, eastern portion and down toward manatee and sarasota as well. Again the pockets of rain pushing south to north. Sky cast, going to be a cloudy one. Showers this morning. 78degrees. Storms, breezy, off and on rain, 82 at noon. 85 at 4 00 p. M. And a 70 rain chance. If its not raining on you all day, i expect it to be raining somewhere in the bay area all day. This is around 7 30. Inland areas, you will see less rain. Polk county and highlands county, you will see the rain off the gulf of this is 10 00 a. M. This is your lunch break. Again, you might be able to sneak out for the lunch break. But i would take the umbrella or the rain slicker just in case because all said and done, by the time the day is done around 6 00 p. M. , widespread 1 to 3 inches of rain possible. Tropical depression nine expected to strengthen to a Tropical Storm. This is 2 00 a. M. Tomorrow morning. This forecast from the Hurricane Center has slowed this thing down. So by 2 00 in the afternoon offshore. Not expected to comeon land until early friday morning now. And that leaves us 48 hours to be dealing with the affects from this storm. Notice the wind speeds from it, this is the yellow shaded area, the Tropical Stormforce winds. By tomorrow afternoon, still well offshore but we have the strong onshore wind ahead of it. Combined with the high tide and combined with two days of rain. And flooding is going to be an issue. And now most of the Tropical Stormforce winds will be staying to our north but there is a tropical m the coastal airs of citrus, hernando and pasco. And notice the heavy rain continues through. How about traffic on the 8s . All right, looking out here at the roadways, northbound on the super bowl. Looks like at the Sunshine Skyway bridge, looks like we do have an accident. No delays but i am watching it for you. Most accidents have cleared. Thats good news. And u. S. 19 at tampa road, im seeing delays here. With injuries and that of course out towards the palm harbor area. That can get busy very soon. So i will be looking that throughout the morning. And this accident here over in the lakeland area, kathleen road at galloway road in lanes. Hi, im Henry Winkler and im here to tell homeowners that are sixtytwo and older about a great way to live a better retirement. Free dvd and booklet with no obligation. It answers questions like. How a reverse mortgage works, how much you qualify for, the ways to receive your money. And more. Plus, when you call now, youll get this magnifier with led light absolutely free when you call the experts at one reverse mortgage today, youll learn the benefits of a governmentinsured reverse mortgage. It will eliminate your monthly mortgage payments and give you taxfree your home and heres the best part. You still own your home. Take control this morning, the big story the tropical depression nine. Prepare just in case. Thats right, news channel 8s Meredyth Censullo live right now. Your number one communication tool, the phone. Reporter i think for a lot of people, for many of us, this is how we stay connected to Important Information during a storm. So number one, of course, recommend you download the free news channel 8 weather max receive Severe Weather notifications from news channel 8 and the National Weather service. Theres also my favorite part, the live radar function. So you can see whats happening right now. And also of course now is the time to charge your phones and other devices. If you have an extra power source, charge that too. And if you dont have one, pick one up today. They are pretty cheap. And theyre great to have around at any time. Also temporarily forward land and limit your social media networking. If theres major storm damage, that will keep the network clear for Emergency Communications and it will save your battery. And also remember, in an emergency, Text Messages may go through faster than phone calls. And of course, you can stay connected with wfla 24 7 through our website, facebook and twitter. Thank you so much. Weather and traffic on the 8s is just thr vo we went to hollywood to ask if americas favorites burgers, tacos and chili could taste just as great made with turkey. Thousands stepped into the jennieo tasting booth now its your turn to make the switch. The rain is coming down this morning. Very heavy rain, lots of lightning in the Pinellas County area. This is pushing from south to north into eastern hillsborough county, manatee and sarasota. Very wet now. Drier inland areas but rainy all day, leslee. Its very wet across the in lanes. Be aware of. And delays out of downtown st. Our big story of the day, tropical depression nine. The storm is churning in the gulf of mexico now, moving closer to florida and the bay area. This morning, we have what you need to know to be ready for all that rain and good morning and welcome to news channel 8 today. Im paul mueller in for gene. Im gayle guyardo. A lot of folks are waking up this morning wondering whats going on. Leigh spann has the latest on the storms track. Yes, because you might have been awakened earlier than your alarm due to the strong, heavy rain and lots of lightning. And it is the rain circulating around what is still tropical depression nine. Even though when i look at this satellite imagery, i see a relatively well formed system
comparemela.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.