residents are urged to stay inside. our team is on the ground, crews mobilize before sunrise and senior meteorologist is here tracking ian in new york city. todd: phil keating, where we begin our coverage in st. petersburg, we got the latest update the hurricane has been downgraded to a tropical storm, what are you seeing right now? good morning, had u.s. coast guard helicopter land across the water at tampa general, now flying off, they have a real busy day doing search and rescue operations all day, still unknown whether they have numerous people that need to be rescued or whether the day will actually be better than they feared. here in tampa right now issue most people are still sleeping after a night of heavy pounding rain and wind, but for the most part, the bulk of the storm right now, not raining here issue mostly moved east by now, slamming around orlando and the east coast along i-95 corridor and the winds here, you can see, not too blustery, only maybe in the 2
it. president joe biden canceled an appearance in florida this week ahead of the storm. brian: we have been buying that for the last two years anyway. we have fox team coverage senior meteorologist janice dean tracking ian we start with nicole valdez in tampa. nicole? good morning. we just learned nearly every county in the state of florida is now under a state of emergency that includes not only hillsborough county but the city of tampa, specifically. where i m standing is actually bayshore boulevard. this is an area notorious for flooding. especially when many of these storms make it to shore here. storm teenage mutant ninja turtle absolutely top of mind here for many who live in the tampa bay area. you will see the signs that people are taking this seriously. as you look at just the line of cars that go on for miles. this is the scene just yesterday all across tampa bay, what was a beautiful weekend turned into really getting down to work for many who know how seriousl
White truck that just went past. steve: i wonder if that s emergency services guy. ainsley: maybe. so. steve: there is a lot of water. i don t think i would go that way. let s check in with nicole valdez in tampa where we okay. and there is nicole, point out that fence behind you. tell us what that white fence is back there. well, yeah, i will paint the picture for you. in the distance is tampa bay. but it looks like i m standing along the bay, except i m actually on the road if you can believe it. it s completely under water at this point. as we are now looking at what is likely close to 4 feet of storm surge that has been pushed in from the bay on to this main road and has been this way for the last several hours, really kicking into gear overnight as the wind gusts associated with hurricane idalia really have just sent these intense impacts and packed a punch here in tampa bay despite the fact that
Through. but all night long we have really been dealing with the outer bands of this system. but, really, the outer bands, just as strong. we are still talking about significant storm surge here. the anticipation in the forecat was anywhere from 4 to 6 feet. we are looking at about 4 now. but we have got high tide coming up in just a few hours. there is a very good chance that this water will continue to rise at an alarming rate. it is not hard to imagine it going further inland and threatening a lot of the homes and businesses that line bayshore boulevard here. guys. steve: nicole in addition to hurricane and you mentioned high tide is coming, you have also got something that is known as the king tide going on and you have got a full moon. it s like everything is working against you. we do. and that s not going to make things any easier, especially for officials trying to keep those people who are waking up who may think that the worst of the storm is over likely seeing landfall m
Around tampa bay. but any time there is a big tropical storm, people do try to go out and surf. you haven t seen anybody with surf boards yet, right? thankfully the answer to that question is no this time around. i can t say that for other storms. steve: right. as you can tell i m sure that surfers might see this and think that s amazing. there is so much danger out there. you can see the water level is now flush with the road. so i mean it is so beyond dangerous, beyond words there, looking at the current and the surf out there. ainsley: all right. thank you, nicole. stay safe. let s go back to robert ray in clearwater. he is getting hammered there. this is west of tampa. things are really picking up. steve: oh my goodness. yeah, guys. these are incredible, incredible bands coming through here. idalia is throwing hay makers right now into clearwater beach. these are the winds and rain we