National forecasters say tropical storm Idalia is on track to become a major hurricane. Life-threatening storm surges and high winds are increasingly likely for portions of Florida. Emergency officials are warning residents to prepare for power outages and to fill up their gas tanks in case they need to evacuate.
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00:00 Dangerous weather is expected to slam parts of the U.S. this week.
00:04 National forecasters say Tropical Storm Idalia is on track to become a major hurricane.
00:10 Anybody on this Gulf Coast, certainly from Tampa all the way up to places like Bay County,
00:15 you should absolutely be very vigilant right now.
00:18 You should be following the track of the storm.
00:22 Life-threatening storm surge and high winds are increasingly likely for portions of Florida.
00:27 Emergency officials are warning residents to prepare for power outages
00:31 and to fill up their gas tanks in case they need to evacuate.
00:34 The news that Idalia is going to reach major hurricane status changed everything for the people in Florida.
00:40 In Tampa, they are already filling the sandbags. That is a low-lying city.
00:44 They could get several inches of rain and could see a storm surge of three to five feet.
00:49 The governor encouraging everyone to get out and get their supplies.
00:52 Today's the last full day to do that.
00:54 People going to the stores getting generators, batteries, flashlights, non-perishable food, and of course that water.
01:00 The governor also telling people the electricity is going to go out.
01:04 He's encouraging seniors to move to shelters throughout the state.
01:07 He's also deploying the National Guard with high-water rescues.
01:11 It's been a little less than a year since Hurricane Ian rolled ashore in Fort Myers Beach,
01:16 causing widespread destruction there, killing more than 150 people, most of them from that storm surge.
01:22 Fortunately, we're not going to see that level of storm surge from this,
01:25 but up and down the Gulf Coast of Florida, we will see storm surges of up to five feet or more.
01:32 Now, where does it head? It is going to move through Cuba into the Gulf of Mexico,
01:36 and by Wednesday, early Wednesday morning, that's when it's going to get that M for major hurricane, category three or above.
01:43 And by Wednesday afternoon, it moves inland and comes close to Savannah.
01:47 It will be a land hurricane moving towards the city from behind, coming from the land instead of the water.
01:53 I'm Scripps News meteorologist Scott Withers in Panama City Beach, Florida.