Top Story with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Episode Date: August 30, 2023

Tonight's Top Story has the latest breaking news, political headlines, news from overseas and the best NBC News reporting from across the country and around the world.

Tonight, breaking news, parts of Florida bracing for a potentially catastrophic storm surge. As Hurricane Idalia, now a CAT2 storm, barrels towards the west coast. The storm already bringing flooding, rain, and high swells to the Keys and the Fort Myers area. Images from NASA showing its size as it churns in the Gulf of Mexico, fueled by those warm waters. Idalia, not done intensifying, expected to make landfall just hours from now as a monster Category 3 hurricane, winds of up to 125 miles per hour. But the major threat, that storm search, forecasted to reach up to 15 feet in some areas which could bring with it life-threatening flooding that would leave some coastal cities underwater. And as we come on the air, there's a major

race to evacuate those cities. State troopers going door-to-door in Cedar Key to get residents to higher ground. Nearly two dozen counties under evacuation, including Crystal River, where we are tonight. The mayor telling me he's concerned because his city has never been faced with a major hurricane. Florida governor Ron DeSantis also deployed 40,000 linemen in an effort to restore power as quickly as possible. Cities like Tampa also bracing for the storm's impact. One hospital setting up a so-called aqua fence in an effort to keep water out. We have team coverage across Florida tonight and are tracking this storm minute by minute. The other major headline a grad student charged with murder

after fatally shooting a professor at the University of North Carolina. The shooting prompting a lockdown at Chapel Hill campus, what one student told our team about the moment they realized they knew the suspected gunmen as shots rang out. Plus, the bloody battle between gang members and parishioners in Haiti, the church group armed with machetes and sticks, trying to force gang members out of their neighborhood. The evangelical minister who led that charge now at the center of a police investigation,

plus the protests. Subway submerged a wall of water cascading into a subway station in New York City's Fame Times Square, what officials say caused it. And hope arrives. A couple we met in Lahaina just weeks away from welcoming a baby boy when those devastating wildfires destroyed their home and all of their belongings. The update just in from them as they rebuild their life now as a family of three. Top story starts right now. Hey, good evening. Welcome to this special edition of Top Story. We are coming on the air with breaking news. Hurricane Idalia now intensifying to a category two storm as it nears Florida's Gulf Coast.

We're live tonight from Crystal River, one of the nearly two dozen cities under evacuation orders. This community, only a few feet above sea level. And with a king tie that's happening just behind us as well, this area is likely to be completely flooded. Though Florida gets hit with hurricanes nearly every year, this area, the big bend on the Gulf Coast, has never seen a major hurricane. The potential for a likely Cat 3 has people concerned up and down the coast. And this is why. Take a look. The storm less than 200 miles off the coast of Tampa, with winds of up to 100 miles per hour. It's expected to become a category 3 before slamming ashore.

A new video shows roads submerged in Fort Myers, Florida. as the outer bands of Idalia already bringing heavy rain to the coast. Intense waves lashing the Sanibel Causeway tonight, and there's concern the bridge will not be able to withstand this storm. You may remember it's still undergoing permanent repairs from Hurricane Ian, which of course happened less than half a year ago. But here's the major concern at this hour. The storm expected to bring a potentially life-threatening storm surge

up to 15 feet forecasted in cities like Cedar Key, which could nearly wipe out that small coastal town. Late today, Florida Governor Rhonda Santis saying the time to leave is now. So you really got to go now. Now's the time. If you don't, if you stay hunkered down tonight, it's going to be too nasty tomorrow morning to be able to do it. Now, if you do choose to stay in one of the evacuation zones, first responders will not be able to get you until after the storm has passed. The warning is clear there. Cities like Tampa also bracing for a storm surge of four to seven feet.

The mayor of Tampa set to join me later here in the broadcast live for more on what she's telling residents there. Bill Cairns also, our man who will be in the studio, forecasting everything, tracking this storm for us. He'll have the latest in just a few minutes. And joining me on Florida's West Coast,

Gabe Gutierrez, he's in Cedar Key tonight, and Marissa Para, she's reporting live from Tampa. We're following it all tonight as we brace for Hurricane Idalia, set to make landfall, just hours from now. Tonight, this district. destructive hurricane powering to shore, fueled by the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The eye of the storm trained directly on Florida's western coast.

I don't have a really great feeling about it. I'm hopeful, but I just think that we're about due. With Hurricane Idalia's torrential rains and forecasted gusts of up to 125 miles per hour bearing down, last-minute preps or at a fever pitch. Florida's governor mobilizing 40,000 linemen to try to keep the lights on. And that's the ultimate goal. Rapid restoration of power. This is a major hurricane. The Keys and Fort Myers Beach already seen flooding.

Crystal River is now in the crosshairs. This is somewhat new territory for you guys, right? A major hurricane hasn't come through this area, I've been told ever. Correct. We've been very fortunate from that standpoint. We have a lot of homes below the floodplain. But no, we haven't seen. anything like this in a very long time.

Idalia threatens to wash away parts of the Florida coast with record-setting storm surge. What worries you the most about this storm? The surge, that's a big thing. That's a hurricane's deadliest threat. The initial rush of water comes suddenly. Three feet is considered life-threatening. At six feet, waves cause significant damage, breaking through doors and windows. At nine feet, the floods move farther inland.

A 12-15-foot storm surge would be catastrophic for low-lying communities. for low-lying communities here in Florida. That roof line, that's about 15 feet right there. And look where the water already is at high tide, inches from the backyard. Now, a double threat from Mother Nature, a king tide expected Wednesday. That's when the sun, moon, and Earth align to produce tides one to two feet higher than normal. The view from the space station shows Idaalia's monstrous size. But her destructive power needs to be seen up close.

Look at these villages in western Cuba, submerged by rains just yesterday. Very few people can survive being in the path of major storm surge, and this storm will be deadly. First responders from Missouri, Virginia, and New Jersey already mobilized to the Sunshine State. Take it seriously and be prepared. In Tampa, all flights are grounded, and several hospitals have already been evacuated while Tampa General rolls out this aqua fence to repel the stormwater. Outside Greg Thompson's big Benbar, they're boarding up, and inside its last call. Some people want to ride it out. We're leaving.

What do you think about the people that write it out? I wouldn't do it. Too big of a storm. Too big of a storm. Nobody can come help you. Tonight the clock is ticking. Time is running out to get out. And a stretch of Florida readies for a hurricane, the strength of which they've never seen before.

I'm hoping we're going to be okay, but we're preparing for the worst. Hurricane Dahlia getting more and more dangerous by the second. So let's get right over to NBC News meteorologist, Bill Karens. Bill, as we mentioned, there's a rush to evacuate for so many Florida residents, but time is running out. I spoke to a couple people who told me they're going to wait to see how bad it gets. How late is too late? I'd say if you're in the Cedar Key area,

or the latest report was still 100 people were left in that. The community has about 7, 800 people that, you know, when these northern bands, which are only about three hours, hours to your south get to you, that's when it's going to get very difficult driving, and it's going to get extremely windy. I mean, anything is better than trying to ride it out, but I'd say, Tom, probably about midnight or so is when those people should really be trying to get out. And that's when the tropical storm forest winds arrive by about 2 a.m. or so in the Cedar Key area, that's when some hurricane gusts will arrive, and then the peak of the storm is

around 48. And Tom, that's one of the things that's kind of changed a little bit. The storm's moving fast. We're thinking landfall instead of 8 a.m., maybe more will be like 6 to 7 a.m. That's a big change there. Now, Bill, when you talk about changes in the track, we know if it wobbles a little left, a little bit right. Millions, if not hundreds of thousands of people, can be affected by that. Where are we tracking it right now? And talk to me about the storm surge,

especially on the dirty side of the storm where we are here in Crystal River. Yeah, now that we're only 12 hours from landfill, we can start looking more closely at the center red line, because to the right of that line would be where the worst storm surge would be, and for the most part, the strongest winds, too. So we talk about any city or town. Perry's got about 7,000 people that call that home. It's not on the coast. It's 37 feet. They don't have to worry about storm surge, but it will look like a tornado goes through if this center line and the center of the eye goes right over Perry. So that's very concerning for those residents there and cross city just south of there, about 1,000 residents similar for you.

As far as the storm surge goes, you know, we're going to see it to the right. That's why we still consider all of these computer models. We're waiting for any last minute tweaks. They had going a little closer to Tallahassee. Now they're coming back kind of. in the middle. The hurricane center doesn't like to jump around based on one model run. They're very conservative and wisely so. And so that's why we're still targeting this area between Perry and Cross City for that actual landfill. But that means areas far to the south, Cedar Key, from Hernando to Brooksville, the coastal areas there southwards. That's where the worst storm surge is. And the hugest concern is obviously this 10 to 15 foot area. And Tom is located right where my finger is located right about here. It is possible where he's standing that we could

see up to 10, 12 feet of water. Now, this map is for peak storm surge. That means if the storm surge hits at high tide, this is the worst case scenario possible. Notice Tampa, you were at four to seven feet. Because the storm's a little further to the west and off the coast, they just lowered that to four to six feet. Doesn't sound like a big deal, but sometimes one foot of water is the difference between going in your front door or staying just below it. So I'm sure people in Tampa were trending in a good direction. And the high tide in Tampa is at right after 4 a.m. that should be one the highest wind gusts and the heaviest rain is with you. So the highest water levels in the Tampa area are going to be early tomorrow morning around 4 to 6 a.m.

Tom, so that's what we're going to be watching for them. And then tomorrow night, our friends in Savannah, high tide 830, right at the same time. We've got the full moon going on and the storm surge. They could even have a top 10 storm surge. Bill, while I have you there and you had that breaking news that you think landfall is going to be closer, maybe between 6 and 7 a.m. What is it going to be looking like on the coast of Florida there and the big end around that time as Hurricane Idalia is making landfall? Well, it's going to look like a major category of hurricane.

But what's different is that the area that it's heading into, you know, we're not going to see reporters on the beach. There are no beaches. This is all swamp land up here. And there's very even few roads unless you go far inland by about 10 miles or so. So we're not going to see the pictures like you typically will on our coverage of a reporter on a beach or on a safe balcony or a parking. garage, you know, blowing in the 130, 140-mile-per-hour winds. But where this comes inland and moves on shore, the center, the eye, which is going to be about 20 miles wide, it's going to look like a hurricane went through. And instead of homes, it'll likely just be forest and trees that it

devastates in a narrow straight line. I mean, the National Weather Service in Tallahassee, Tom, they came out with the wording for storm surge saying it could be days, if not weeks, that some of these people will get back in their homes. And for the extreme winds, it could also be power outages disrupt to a month. So, you know, just because it's not hitting a highly populated area for those people in the way, this is a life-altering storm. And we can't say it enough for so many in this part of Florida the first time they're seeing anything ever like this. Bill Cairns, we appreciate you. We're going to see you later in the broadcast. Just around 12 hours from a possible landfall, cities are preparing for the storm and facing that uncertainty of what Idalia could bring.

Gabe Gutierrez joins us now from one of those possible landfall sites. cedar key in one of the most vulnerable areas right now in the Gulf Coast of Florida Gabe you're a bit further up with the coast from where we are but you're still in the Big Bend area just north of here Crystal River talk to me about the situation there because you're essentially on an island there it's a very small community there and and if there were to be a direct strike it could be catastrophic yeah that's right Tom this area is actually a series of islands in the Gulf of Mexico about seven to 800 people and the mayor here says that the forecast for

this area is the worst that he's ever seen. Now, many businesses here, Tom, have already boarded up. Some others just actually emptied out their lobbies because they expect this entire area to be underwater. Now, as you mentioned, Tom, Cedar Key is, you know, a series of islands in the Gulf of Mexico. And it's seen storms before, you know, this one area here. You see this plywood, Tom? Actually, says no candy for Irma over there. Basically, these residents have reused this plywood because they've been hit so many times. But this one has the potential to bring this storm surge, potentially up to 10 to 15 feet in this area. And again, the mayor says it is potentially the worst forecast that he's ever seen. The National Hurricane Center says that

this area could be cut off because of the rising water, Tom. Yeah, you know, Gabe, we're going to remind our viewers throughout this broadcast that, again, this part of Florida, even though Florida gets a ton of hurricanes, they've never seen a hurricane from this size in this stretch of Florida here. So I know you're under an evacuation or to the people that live there in Cedar key. Officers also going door to door to get people out? Yeah, that's right, Tom. The Florida Highway Patrol today went door to door to ask people if they plan to stay or leave. As you mentioned, this is a mandatory evacuation order, but they can't actually force anyone to leave. They basically go door to door and they

warn people. Listen, if you decide to stay, we're not going to be able to help you until this storm is over. And the mayor says about 100 people so far have actually decided to stay here and right out the storm. In a last-minute warning, Tom, the mayor is urging people here to get out. Tom. And we hope people listen to that warning. Gabe Gutierrez in Cedar-Kee, a community that is so vulnerable tonight and into the morning. While Cedar Key is to the north of us, and they brace for the worst right here in Citrus County, officials are warning residents to get out why they still can. Citrus County Sheriff Mike Prendergrass joins us now live on the air here. Sheriff, thank you so much for talking to us. I know this is a very stressful time for you.

So evacuation orders are in place where we are right now, mandatory evacuation zone. Are people heating these warnings and getting out of the areas that are most dangerous in Citrus County? No, they're not, unfortunately. We're standing down here at Crump's Landing and historic Homassas, and Crumstallion's a landmark down here that a lot of folks know about when they come to Homassas, and we're still in the middle of the scallops season, as a matter of fact. So a lot of folks have picked up their boats and put them on dry land and evacuated them. But unfortunately, there's 18,000 people in Flood Zone A here in the Sykras County area, and it goes from the Barge Canal to our north, all the way down to the Chasawitzka River basin, down to my south from what we're standing right now.

We are actually at low tide, working towards low tide, and the tide is already up to a point which would be like a very high tide for this part of the river, and it's going to be that way for quite some time. So as we work towards the next high tide cycle, we're going to see some more localized flooding. And then once the storm gets further north, we're going to see an increased flood potential out there because the storm surge is potentially going to be twice the height of me as we get to the peak of the storm when Hurricane Adelia moves its way northward, passing by Citrus County. And it's going to linger for quite some time after it passes by Citrus County. So we've encouraged folks for now more than 30 hours to evacuate this zone and get to a safe place. And unfortunately, we still see folks that are out there at their homes not taking the severity of this way as seriously as they need to.

Sheriff, you know, tonight we have a drone over sections of Crystal River by the plantation resort. If you know where that hotel area is, I think you do. And we're showing some of the canals and things like that. Talk to me about what you're expecting at landfall around six or seven. or will this water start creeping up? Are you expecting to start creeping up even earlier than that before landfall and people have to be careful? I asked you because I spoke to some residents here in Crystal River

who told me they're going to see when the water starts to reach their driveway and then they're going to take off. But to me, that's way too late because it's going to be in the middle of the night. That's greatly later than what we would like, and it makes our jobs all the more difficult because by the time that happens, we're going to be evacuated from there. I'm not going to have my deputies out there in a flood zone.

because I want my deputies to be able to, one, complete their mission, but number two, go back home to their families at the end of their shift. And our vehicles simply are capable of getting onto the roadways like that. What we saw during Hurricane Irmein was devastating enough, and this is going to be twice or greater than what the devastation was from Hurricane Hermine when it passed by here back in 2016. So heed the warnings and evacuate. Don't wait until the last minute. I know some folks have four-wheel drive pickup trucks and have got other high-water capable vehicles. But by the time they leave, they might find themselves boxed in by much higher water levels that won't allow them to escape from the rising flood waters. And all the weather experts that are out there talk to us about you run from the water and you hide from the wind. And unfortunately, not enough people are eating that warning to get out of the flood zone and the surge area as the storm continues to work its way north in Tampa and it continues to pose a very significant threat to the lives of our citizens.

and the future of the citizens of our community, and their ability to come back and recover after the storm passes through here tomorrow. Sheriff, before you go, just remind our viewers in case some of your residents are watching this. At what point will your officers not be doing rescues, not be answering 911 calls because the winds are too powerful? Will that happen at some point during the storm?

For our policy, it's 45 miles an hour of sustained winds, but out of an abundance of caution, I lower that threshold. If we get sustained winds at about 35 miles an hour, I'm going to pull all of my deputies off of the road. And really all we can afford to be out there on is a few inches of water on the roadways, which we've already had some of that localized flooding

in different areas on the west side of our county that we've reported on. And it's going to, again, it's going to get worse. And with the commercial vehicles that we buy for our fleet, we can only get through a few inches of water before the vehicles get deadline because of water intrusion. and especially in the salt water situation,

but what we're going to have when Adelia continues to push more water in the Kings Bay, more water into all of our rivers here across Citrus County, and the water's going to have nowhere to go but continue to rise and push deeper into the county as the hours unfold for the next 12 hours. Sheriff, we appreciate your time here on Top Story. Thank you for being so blunt with us, and we hope people heed your warnings tonight. We'll check back with you during the storm's progress.

And for more on storm preparation, we want to head a little further south, NBC News correspondent and my friend, Marissa Para, is in Clearwater Beach just south of us. That's about 25 miles outside of Tampa. Marissa, what are you hearing there about the biggest concerns? Obviously, the further south you go, I don't want to say it's safer, but it's not as dangerous. Obviously, if you're closer to the eye, are people listening to the warnings there and evacuating those low-line areas? Some people are. Some people aren't pretty similar to what you've seen, Tom. I have heard your reporting today.

The people who seemed to be the most concerned largely have already left. We found a lot of them yesterday. Those were the people that were flocking to the stores, getting those sandbags. What we're finding today are all the people that are left over. The ones that are unbothered, very relaxed about the storm. You might be able to see some of them behind me. We've seen people taking out their chairs, relaxing, going for a nice dip. Now to set the scene really quickly, for those who don't know, we are on a peninsula.

This is Clearwater, Clearwater Beach specifically. This is the Gulf of Mexico behind me. on the other side of this island is Tampa Bay. So the biggest concern here, Tom, is that surge. Now, I've been talking to locals here. They've been telling me that typically when we see hurricanes, when we see storms, this water goes all the way out at least a block. They saw that with Ian. They're expecting it again. And yet we still have people. I have people looking at me from their balconies. This is a zone A. This is supposed to be evacuated. It is mandatory evacuation. And I see many people on balconies around here. As we've said, we're not here to judge.

However, the difficulty is that you do have authorities that are saying, if you choose not to leave, there is going to come a point where we cannot rescue you. So it's difficult because right now you have a lot of people that are just waiting to see what happens, how this unfolds. I'll add one last thing, Tom, because I know we're out of time. The other concern here is that even though we're not in the direct path, it's not just surge, it's not just flooding concerns. It's also the tornadoes, the risk of tornadoes with those outer bands.

already seen those outer vans making their way here, Tom. Marissa Parra there on the beach in Clearwater Beach, Florida. Marissa, we appreciate all your reporting. Please stay safe with your team. We'll have much more on this major hurricane throughout the show. We do now want to move on to that deadly shooting that has rocked a college campus, a grad student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, charged with killing his academic advisor.

The suspect making his first court appearance today, NBC's Julia Ainslie, has more. tonight new video showing the desperation at the university of north carolina chapel hill students climbing out of windows monday following an alert of an active shooter the suspect tai lei chi a thirty-year-old graduate student from china making his first court appearance today on charges including first-degree murder and the shooting death of zhe de yon an associate professor in the applied sciences department who is the father of two young children we have determined that the victim and suspect new each other and the suspect went directly to the victim and then left Caudill Labs. The shooting triggering a campus lockdown. Carter Scott took a class with the suspect last year. My heart just kind of sunk, kind of just sunk to the bottom of my chest because you don't ever think you're ever going to be in an active shooting situation, let alone have any sort of connection to someone who could do something like that. He told us he never noticed any red flags. At Cheez apartment, FBI investigators combed through his belongings.

Longings. Bashar al-Hassan is visiting his son who shared an apartment wall with the suspect. He says armed agent stormed the complex during the manhunt. It's like, God, is this real? And I stepped again outside and there was an officer with heavy gear. Classes here remain canceled until Thursday, while police continued to look for the gun the suspect may have used and the motive. Meanwhile, the district attorney said he won't be seeking the death penalty.

Tom? All right, Julia, we thank you for that. Still ahead tonight, a march against violence turns deadly in Haiti. Victims' loved ones sharing their pain with us tonight. Why they say the blame falls on a pastor. Plus, it looks like a scene out of a movie, but it played out in real life. What turned one of New York's busiest subway stations into this, an absolute waterfall. We'll explain.

And we're tracking all of Hurricane Idalia's movements, the major storm, Growing in Strength and Taking Aim at Florida. We'll talk to local leaders about how their communities are preparing. We're live on this special edition of Top Story from Crystal River, an area under evacuation, getting ready for something they have never, ever seen before, likely a Cat 3 hurricane. Stay with us. We're back now from Crystal River, Florida, and here's a look at the latest track of Hurricane Idalia. In the last 30 minutes, we've learned the storm, is expected to make

landfall earlier than previously reported. Now it could come ashore as early as six tomorrow morning. We're going to have much more on Idalia later in the broadcast. But we want to turn now to some other news that's ongoing. And we head to Haiti, some ongoing violence there, ongoing. We've been following it tonight. Police in Haiti are investigating a religious leader after an anti-gang march turned deadly in the outskirts of Porta Prince. NBC News correspondent Ellison Barber this one. As bullets whizzed by, the streets of Kenan Haiti echoed with the screams of terrified residents sprinting for cover.

This man says he was shot. He heard the gunfire jumped on a motorcycle to flee, then saw blood running down his feet and realized that he was wounded. This time the targets and the person allegedly leading them shocked the community. community. Witnesses say this was not a fight between warring gangs, but a fight between a powerful gang and a group of churchgoers. Some of them armed with machetes and sticks who were hoping to force gang members out of this neighborhood as they marched behind an evangelical minister known as Pastor Marco. If you are a pastor, this man says, you should have your Bible in hand. For a pastor, his Bible should be his weapons. Pastor Marco told a local radio station. And he stands by his decision to lead the anti-gang protest. But his community is furious.

At the gates of his church, people came to show their displeasure. And now Haiti's national police say they are investigating his role in the bloodshed. This drama is multiple. People were killed by the bandits. The police opened an investigation into responsibility for this tragedy. as they were to identify and recover the victims. Ellison Barber joins us live from our studio in New York. Ellison, Haiti's issues with gangs is well documented, but I mean, this is something that I have never heard of.

Churchgoers armed with machetes, going after gang members. Do people feel like they have to lead marches like this? They have to fight like this because police can't control the violence? Yeah, I mean, some do, Tommy. Look at this country and they have a population of over 11 million people, but their police force is only about 10,000. The United Nations says that they are seeing more and more vigilante-like groups try to fight back against the gangs in Haiti.

And since mid-April, according to the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees, civilians have lenged more than 300 alleged gang members as part of a vigilante movement known as the Boa Kali movement. Gang-related violence, as you have reported on this show, extensively, is not abnormal in Haiti. Gangs are estimated to control more than. 80% of the country's capital. But what this one did that is so different than anything we've seen is that it involved a religious group, not just that, but according to witnesses on

the scene, they were led and encouraged to take up arms and march into this gang-controlled territory to try and fight back on their own. We tried to speak to the man who was allegedly leading all of these people, who's known as Pastor Marco. But so far, Tom, we have not heard back from him. We've seen a lot of wild stories out of Haiti, Ellison, but that is one of the craziest we have reported on recently. We thank you for bringing that to us. Coming up, we continue our coverage on Hurricane Idalia.

This is a live look at the Sanibel Causeway near Fort Myers as Idalia's outer bands begin to hit the Florida coast. We'll have the latest on the storm, plus the mayor of Tampa joins Top Story Live. Next, stay with us. All right, we're back to. tonight with our coverage of what is expected to be a historic hurricane here in Florida. Hurricane Idalia already at Category 2 and its wrath just beginning across the Sunshine State.

The outer bands bringing strong winds and heavy rain to Key West. You see it right here. In Tampa, roads turning into rivers in some parts of that city. And in Cedar Key, residents boarding up homes and businesses bracing for the worst, that island city especially vulnerable, now under a mandatory evacuation order. Life-threatening storm search expected to reach 15 feet there with rainfall totals nearing a foot in some areas. I want to get back to Bill Karens. Bill, you came on the air earlier in the broadcast with that breaking news that landfall could possibly happen a little earlier. Walk our viewers through that scenario, and where exactly Hurricane Dalia is headed now.

All right, so this is our future radar. So this shows you the bands of rain. These are the thunderstorms we see the bright red. You can see the eye right here, the center of the storm. So let's track that and take that towards the coast. What you want to avoid in any hurricane is what we call the core. That is this area right here. That's where you get the extreme damage.

These bands can do minor damage, power outages, isolated tornado, something like that. But it's the core you want to avoid. So this is at 4 a.m. in the morning. Notice that the core is starting to head inland towards the coast. The eye is still offshore at 4 a.m. And then this core will be heading into areas around the Big Bend, including around Cedar Key. Notice at the same time, these tropical storm bands are in Tampa. I think the worst weather in the Tampa area would be between about 11 p.m. tonight and about 6 a.m.

morning. That's when the strongest winds and the gustiest rain and the heaviest rain will be maybe isolated tornadoes and also the highest water. So as the day goes on tomorrow, things like to be improving in Tampa. So that's at 4 a.m. Now let's take the eye. You can see it clearly right here, this little circle. That's the eye moving inland. This is at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning. That would be in between Perry and Cross City with this computer simulation. But really anything from Cross City to Perry or even just west of there is still in the realm of possibility. Cedar Key at this time would be getting the strongest storm surge. south of the eye here. And then the heaviest rains all to the north here, Tom. That'll be at

7 a.m. So, you know, if you were to say, like, when is most of the damage going to be done? It'll likely be between about 4 a.m. and about noon tomorrow. Yeah, a crazy time where in some parts, obviously, it's going to be darkness and then daylight at some point, but it's probably just going to be so wild out there. Anybody who is in those evacuation areas, we are praying for them if they did not get out. Bill, we appreciate your update for more on Hurricane Dahlia and the preparation underway in Tampa. I do want to bring in now the mayor of Tampa, Jane Castor. Mayor, thank you for joining us. I know this is an incredibly stressful time for you, but you do have to get the word out to all of your residents.

You heard Bill there forecasting 11 o'clock tonight till about 6 o'clock in the morning. What are you worried about most for your city and your residents? Well, our prayers go out to, you know, the northern area and the nature coast. For us, we are going to see the gust hurricane speed gust here, but really what we're concerned about is the storm surge that's going to be associated with that. We have the high tide that we're going to see later this evening, but then tomorrow we're going to have a high tide as well with the four to six foot surge, tidal surge, on top of that. And so we're very concerned about those individuals that are in the lower line.

areas and just making sure that everyone is informed and we don't have people that are thinking the coast is clear and they go out and about just as this water is rushing into our community. Mayor, I do want to ask you about shutting down the airport and the decision that was made to close down Tampa's airport today. Was that a smart decision with so many people in this region, you know, the Big Bend area and then south into the Tampa Bay area wanting to get out? Yes. It was a good decision. I actually sit on the airport board as part of my duties as mayor. And we have a very collaborative region here, everybody working together. So we had a conference in town 400 individuals who mostly had flown in. And so we worked with the hotel to bring in buses and take those individuals to Orlando. So we have other modes.

of getting individuals out of here. We just didn't want to have planes in the air when we may be experiencing high winds. And, you know, those decisions, everybody's, you know, 20-20 after the fact, but we made decisions based on the information we had at that time. I hear you, Mayor. You know, we've been talking about Santa Bella,

some of those communities that aren't too far from Tampa and the destruction that was caused by Hurricane Ian. What's changed in the last year in the way you got ready for Hurricane Dahlia? There really hasn't been, there haven't been many changes. We sent a lot of our personnel down south to help out, as we do in every instance throughout the southeastern United States. And we bring our lessons back from that, you know, positive lessons we can incorporate

and mistakes that may have been done or areas that we could do better. So we are always evolving in our approach. example of that is evacuations. We used to tell everybody, you know, just get out of town and now it is hide from the wind and run from the water. If you're in those low-lying coastal areas, just go sometimes 10, 15, 20 miles inland where you can be safe. You don't have to go to another state. So we've made adjustments as necessary. But I think that it was quite a lesson for our community as we were in the crosshairs for Hurricane Ian to see that devastation down in the Fort Myers region. And really, that could have been us. And Fort Myers got very

little notice. You can't predict these storms with 100% accuracy, and there can always be changes. So you have to be ready for the worst. It's a great point. You really do. Mayor Castro, we see that you're there at the Emergency Operations Center in Tampa. We appreciate your time, and good luck tonight. I know it's going to be a very long night and even longer morning. Up next here on Top Story, the tense moments inside the Tennessee House, why a pair of lawmakers need to be separated. We'll show you.

And as we head to break, another look at Category 2 Hurricane Idalia, inching closer to the Florida coast, effects already being felt across the state, and the storm is only getting bigger and stronger. Stay with us. We'll be right back. Back now with the latest on Hurricane Idalia, which could be less than 12 hours away from making landfall on Florida's West Coast. Officials urging residents on the states in the state's Big Bend area. They're expected to see a storm surge of up to 15 feet to follow evacuation orders because rescuers may not be able to reach them if they stay.

But we also want to turn out at Top Stories, other big news, and our news feed. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise is receiving treatment for blood cancer. The Louisiana Republican says he underwent tests this month. after not feeling like himself. Doctors diagnosed the 57-year-old with multiple myeloma, which is considered very treatable. The congressman says he doesn't plan to stay away from Washington for long. As you may remember, Scalia suffered serious injuries

after being shot in 2017. A special legislative session in Tennessee erupting into chaos today. Take a look. The House session focusing on public safety adjourned without passing any gun control measures as lawmakers filed out, Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Democratic, Democratic representative Justin Pearson seemed to have a brief confrontation.

Sexton appeared to point a finger in Pearson's face. The two had to be separated. Pearson was one of the lawmakers expelled from the Tennessee House. You may remember earlier this year. The first GOP presidential candidate is out of the race. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is ending his bid. Suarez failed to qualify for the first Republican primary debate after missing the polling requirement. He struggled to gain momentum, barely registering in most polls.

In a statement, Suarez called running for president, quote, one of the greatest honors of my life. And a 127-year-old Water Main created a mess at one of the busiest places in New York City and the world. Take a look at these images from inside Times Square and the subway station there. Water rushing down from the ceiling and onto the subway tracks, almost like a movie.

Water also bubbled up into the streets, shutting down traffic. Cruz had to dig a massive hole at the intersection of 40th and 7th Avenue. No word yet on what caused this break. We want to turn now to the latest on our ongoing coverage out of Maui in the wake of that devastating wildfire. Many business owners in the area lost everything. While Lahaina's expansive tourism industry will take years to rebuild, government leaders are still urging people to visit Maui

and support all of their islands. Sam Brock has the details. In the magical waters of Maui, the surfboards blind, the snorkeling masks, stay at the ready, and the rush of adventures. still beckons. But this portrait of paradise has changed drastically for business owners like Gamsay Smith, who captured these photos of Lahaina after the fires, residents hugging and processing

their pain. Only weeks earlier, she was snapping pictures of breathtaking wedding bliss and family portraits. Those accounts vanishing almost instantly. How immediate was the impact on business for you? Literally day two, 48 hours after I had two cancellations and then which is continue to cancel. So for the year of 2023, 90% of my photoshoes got canceled. Smith says it's at least $30,000 lost.

And for her friend, Lopaka Wilson, a 10th generation native Hawaiian, an owner of a fishing store and hunting business right off Front Street, now destroyed. The bottom line was also crushing. I only make money when they spend the money. But for my guiding business,

I've refunded about $20,000. A lot of people book their vacations and well in advance. This is a once-in-a-lifetime destination. It's now a once-in-a-lifetime problem for the people who call Maui home. Hawaii Governor Josh Green speaking to us last week, addressing the mixed messaging about whether visitors are welcome during this trying time. It's really important that I share this with you. Travelers should still come to the other parts of Maui for their holidays and their

honeymoons and their vacations because because their investments. their investment in Hawaii will be life-sustaining for those families who have been displaced and suffered. The message comes as passengers per day is dropped from 7,000 before the fires to 2,000 after. Best represented by empty stacked chairs on famed Kana Pali Beach, sea charter boats with no tourists on them, and also just a sea of rental cars. The overflow lot at Maui's airport hasn't been this full since COVID. Cars as far as the eye can see. I am a dot right now in this field of hundreds of vehicles.

And the reality is it is all because of a lack of demand right now. But there is hope, even for owners like Jesus Rodriguez, who lost one of his family-owned Amigos restaurants, now has 25 former employees without work. Not only the job, you know, their houses, they're living, their income. He's been supported since by a wave of locals. All my customers from Lahaina, they came as like, hey, thank you. You know, they say hi to me. They stay here.

And I'm really happy and helpful today. Now, these hardworking Hawaii residents say many others can do the same. There are people in the island. Their jobs depend on tourists and their businesses are getting affected. And those people still have to pay mortgages, still have to buy groceries. So we do need tourists. But we just want respectful tourists. We want them to respect the island, respect what happened here.

A way for many to give back to an island and culture that's given so much to others. Sam Brock joins us tonight from Lahaina. So Sam, as we know, it will take once even years for Lahaina to rebuild. How are the residents who rely so heavily on tourism going to survive? Because one of the reasons why I wanted to do this story is because I was hearing from so many people in Maui, Sam. I know you're hearing from the same. Maui is a massive island, right? There's so many different parts to it.

And there are people in different parts of Maui that's saying, we're still open, but nobody wants to come. And we saw that there in that car rental lot, which was completely bonkers. It's shocking, and, Tom, to give you some context, 70% of the revenues that are generated on Maui are coming from tourists. As far as how it's affecting people before the wildfires ever happened, there was still a tight crunch on available housing. Now consider the fact that 2,000 structures have been destroyed,

Many of those residential, and we're talking to folks like Jesus Rodriguez, that restaurant owner who says he might go back to Mexico. Another woman says she might move to Las Vegas, where there's a large native Hawaiian population, but the reality is many folks can't afford to live here anymore, and there is enough rental capacity to actually house them. Yeah, and a lot of people are asking how they can help Maui and Lahaina. One way can actually be traveling there, spending money, obviously respecting what happened in Lahaina, staying away from those areas, but trying to pump some money into that economy because they need it so much. I do want to transition out of what's happening in Lahaina still because we know the numbers and the amount of people that died, which is still so shocking to sort of wrap our heads around. It's been going up and down and the number of people identified, the number of people missing. Do we have any more information on the search and recovery efforts there? We do, actually.

There was just a briefing, Tom, within the last hour or so, actually really 30 minutes. We were told that the recovery efforts by land are over at this point. They have not found any human remains. since all these law enforcement officials and FBI officials got on the ground. There are still operations going on by water. They think there are some sensitive areas, possibly places, where boats are stacked on top of one another, where there could be people, but there is not a lot of optimism at this point, Tom.

And we got another number, a credible list number from the police chief here, who says it's now 110 people where there have been formal police reports filed. They say more than 50 of those are active cases. But again, hope is dwindling. Tom. All right, Sam Brock, with a very grim update from Maui tonight. We appreciate all your rapporting. We do want to stay there in Maui because we care so much about the people there and this story and what's happened there.

Tonight we have a story of survival, one couple from Lahaina counting their blessings tonight after giving birth to a healthy baby boy, cherishing their bundle of joy. It's a rare glimmer of hope in a place so full of loss. Tasha Anderson and her fiance, Kevin Campbell, never thought this day would come. Giving birth to a healthy baby. Amid the devastation and loss of their precious town of Lahaina. She killed it and worked so hard to bring him into the world and he's healthy and happy and we're kind of just starting the new chapter of starting over with with our baby. We met Tasha and Kevin two weeks ago. The couple telling us at the time of the fires, they didn't know if they would make it out. What was going through your head?

I was thinking if the fire doesn't get us, the smoke and the lack of oxygen. You're seeing if the fire didn't get you, the smoke was going to kill you. Yeah, it just looked like it was, we had to get away. Tasha, a mama bear at heart, staying as long as she could to protect the safe space they had built for their baby to be, hand-painted by their neighbor. I just didn't want to leave, like, where we had built the nursery, where we, like, we're going to bring our baby home to. Finally, forced to flee as the raging flames and whipping winds inch closer. This is long right now? Yeah, it's on the way out.

The deadliest wildfire in modern U.S. history destroying the fishing boat they worked on and leveling their home. What did you find it at your place where your property was? Our house was this tall. The roof is on the ground. The fire was so hot that there's nothing left at all. As hundreds remain unaccounted for, Tasha began receiving donations. Little baby shirts. Praying for a safe delivery as the stress of the ordeal took its toll. My due date isn't until the very end of this month.

And whenever we went to the doctor, he said, like, within those, within that one week, because I'm going every week, that he's just dropped so much. And I've just had a lot more contractions and things happening. And he was like, I mean, it's hard to tell someone to not be stressed during this, for sure. Now, settling into a new normal, feeling grateful to have found a temporary home for their first few months with Little Kade. It is a rental. It's a converted garage. It's a small one bedroom. And we're just, we're just, lucky to have it. With so much of that stress behind them, the happy couple is cherishing every moment. I think that honestly we're really blessed. I mean, I know going through this being nine and a half months pregnant and like dealing with a newborn is already

so stressful, but doing this after going through such tragedy has just been such a light in our life. The new family of three determined to keep at least some of the plans they had for this new chapter. We still want to raise Cade on Maui and we want to be on the west side. We want to be a part of rebuilding. We want to be able to move back and we miss our community. So happy for Tasha and Kevin and Little Cade, welcome to the world. When we come back, one last check of the preps for Adalia here on the Gulf Coast of Florida, the warnings in this community, Crystal River, where there could be extensive damage. The mayor joins us live next. Finally tonight, we are back here in Crystal.

River, Florida, one of the spots here in Florida's Gulf Coast, the Big Bend area where Hurricane Idalia is expected to hit the hardest. Joining us live now is Mayor Joe Meek. He's the Mayor of Crystal River where we are tonight. Mayor, thanks so much for talking to us. I had a chance to speak to you earlier in the day. The forecast has changed a little bit, but what concerns Crystal River and what concerns you hasn't changed, the storm search. Do me a favor. I want you to take a look just behind you. Here we have a canal in Crystal River. It's probably a freshwater canal. You were explaining to me. Feeds out to the Gulf. That water, we can see it's pretty high now.

Where do you expect that water to go? Well, God willing, it doesn't come up too much more than what it is right now. But unfortunately, what we're going to see with our projected surge is anywhere from 7 to 12 feet is what they're telling us right now. That all depends upon, obviously, the direction of the storm, the time of the ties, and all of that. But our primary concern still remains the surge. Right now, we're probably at about five foot elevation. So if we're looking at anywhere from 7 to 12 foot, we'd be, you know, underwater right now. So our concern and our message to our residents is now is the opportunity.

If you haven't gotten out and if you're in a low-lying zone A evacuation area, take the time, be smart, do the right thing. We've seen some people in homes out here. I mean, they might be evacuating. They might be staying put. Should they be out of here by now? Yes, they should. A lot of people are finalizing their preparations right now, and I understand that. something that we've been pushing over the last few days.

What's the sense? You get a sense that people have listened to the orders and they're getting out, or people kind of try to be tough and write it out. You know, it's a mixed bag, really, from both. But I can tell you, I think people in Crystal River, they get the severity of what we're looking at right now. They understand that this is the real deal. And I'm hoping that they heed the warnings. You know, we've got a great community, a very resilient place. And so I'm confident that, you know, we're going to do the right thing and get through it.

So walk me through what you're doing from now up until 7-8. AM, 8 a.m. When landfall happens. Sure. Well, we're monitoring, obviously, storm location, tides where we're looking at, where the storm is going to be coming in at, and also continuing to get that message out through emergency alerts, our EOC with our sheriff's office, getting the message out of, now's the opportunity, be smart, please evacuate it if you're in that low-lying area. But really, we're monitoring the situation right now and hoping for the best. We've seen a little westerly tract of the storm that's good from winds. We don't know about surge yet. We're hoping for the best, but we're preparing for the worst.

Has there been an issue trying to get some of the boats that people have just docked in the middle of sort of the channels, like either they're for sale or they're living on those boats? Have you had issues trying to get those people out to move those boats? And that's a constant issue here in Kings Bay where folks more of their boat in the middle of the bay. Because those become projectiles. They do. They do. So the sheriff's office has made it a point over the last few days to either contact those folks, go out to those boats, do everything we legally can to make them aware and then have them move if they if they can. So that is a concern that we have, obviously, is the moored boats in the bay.

But while some have come in, a lot have left. Mayor, finally, if you could just look into the camera and tell your residents that are watching this tonight, what's your last message as we're heading to nightfall? Sure. It's better to be, you know, it's best to be safe. Okay, so take this opportunity right now. You have a chance to get out. I would encourage folks to do that. Better to be safe than I'm sorry. So, God bless. We're praying for the best, but please heed the warnings. Okay, Mayor Joe Meek, we appreciate your time. I know this is so busy for you. Obviously, Crystal River, a special part of Florida in Florida's history. We hope this community can

withhold all the winds and rain and surge from Hurricane Adelaia, but we're going to be here reporting on it. Thank you, sir. We take pride in the gym of the nature coast. Okay. Mayor, thank you for your time. And we thank you for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yamis in Crystal River, Florida, where we are tracking Hurricane Idalia. Stay right there. much more news on the way.