you ll see over there those are called aqua fences. that is the barrier. that is the last line of defense for this hospital. they re supposed to be remaining operational throughout hurricane idalia, and this is something important to remember because what we re on is an island. the only way on or off if we turn the camera back around, the only way on or off here is through these bridges. as you can tell from where i m standing right now this water quickly filling up here. i did have a chance to talk to some employees and i ask them how often do you see this? is this normal. because we know in the tampa bay area they see flooding all the time, but they said this is not something they re used to seeing. this they ve only seen a handful of times while working here. that s interesting. we know police have been keeping a close eye on this, and so i did ask around what happens if you can t access the hospital here, what happens if someone is in need of level one trauma
flooding there behind you. how will people mobilize around that to get the help they need? reporter: that s a great question. this is something they come frepaired for, they have their plans in place. what makes it tricky is the this the only way in and out of davis island. that is something unfortunately we re going to see play out. we re already trying to see people get on and off davis island and they re having to speed through what is flooded street. honestly that is something we re going to have to keep an eye on. so far it s not posed a problem but that s been something everyone s been asking, those aqua fences again put up in anticipation. they say they have this all planned out and they re prepare. i have seen we talked about how this hospital was open. i ve seen many hospital staff
majority of places in zone a are seeing the flooding. we have seen exactly why those places have been evacuated. that goes not just for here and tampa, we re talking also about the peninsula. now, i want to point out behind me over in that direction tampa general hospital. this is tampa bay s only level one trauma center. that is where people with the most serious of injuries go to. it is supposed to be operational during the hurricane. it is only accessible by those bridges. it is on an island. it s really interesting, they obviously have to put a lot of precautions in place. they have these things called aqua fences to make sure they have upwards of 15 feet of stormwater protection. that is definitely making things eaier for them. it remains to be seen what we ll find later in the day, jose. marissa parra, i thank you so very much. really appreciate it. i want to bring in the mayor of tampa. thank you very much for your time. tampa is not getting hit
prepared to sigh a huge sigh of relief in a little while because the river is about to crest. it s right up near the 37-foot stage that they came down with yesterday. as you can see behind me, it s a lovely day here, and the river just keeps on flowing along. but when you ask about the community, you know, so much work has gone into fortifying both moorhead, where i m standing, and fargo on the other side of the banks across the river from me here. 1 million sandbags and they ve got clay berms and aqua fences all over the place here trying to save their neighborhoods yet again this year from the red river. so i think that not only is there going to be a sigh of relief but a sense of job well done when this river does crest and it starts to go down. aside from that, however, alex, i think there is a building frustration amongst the people here that, you know, do we need to go through this every single springtime in this area just for