Idalia dangerously close to being a major category 3. now within about 100 miles of the florida gulf coast where some areas of florida s big bend could get catastrophic 15-foot storm surge. matt finn is live in saint pete, florida as it idalia closes intricate is beginning to look bad where you are. trace, the wind and rain has been very consistent for several hours now. the beach where we are is a barrier island to the tampa bay area. only about a 20 minute drive rest up tampa bay. this is considered zoned a of evacuation area. this is under a mandatory evacuation because of how low-lying this area is. fema and the national weather service in pinellas county officials have been warning that this area could see a 7 to 10-foot storm surge. anybody who remains here at this hour now perhaps faces that storm surge. governor desantis has warned that if you have not evacuated