Kplept Point News Today

Enough of a push. it almost feels like youre on the motorcycle going as fast as you can with the jacket blowing but it doesnt stop and you add the rain its just amazing with the power that it has at this point, anderson. >> and its so interesting, how you know, the bands of this storm kind of push you back for a little bit and then theyll dissipate and you kind of feel like oh, its going to be calm for a while and then another one just comes along and the wind keeps switching the droek itire its...

Raised to 26. thats the death toll we know of for the island. so mf of those islands have been decima decimated. he is in clearwater just west of here. in this darkness its so dangerous out there for people. it is a surreal feeling to be in the dark and not know what is coming at you. >> thats an kplept point. you talked about the idea of being in a vortex. were under a large concrete overhang. they make sure that the camera is protected and safe because sometimes it acts like a sail

Punta gorda here in tampa is a big issue but again the uncertainty is frankly frightening at this point. wed like to have a better handle on exactly the formation of this storm and exactly the movement of this storm. as tom said it is moving at a good clip. i think he said it was in the 12 to 14-mile-an-hour range. yesterday it was about 8 miles an hour, 6 to 8 miles an hour, very slow moving. the fact that its moving quicker is also certainly good news, but that uncertainty, that is the headlin...

Strength somewhat that force wrapping around the eye of the storm isnt as great but youre still going to have a surge no matter what and its still completely dangerous. its almost splitting hairs at this point. its just trying to get a handle on where this thing is going and how much longer it will contain this strength. anderson? >> all right, tom, thank you. i appreciate that detail. i want to go to drew griffin in ft. myers. drew, i dont know if you were able to hear tom giving a sense of whe...

Now it is swirling all around us and of course it is dark in most places so what youre really seeing here is the wind whipping us around. my photographer is standing next to a concrete post, why hes able to stand straight up to get this shot but sometimes you stand with a wide base and the wind whips through you and the other times it comes back and circulates around you. weve been talking to folks first responders who are here at the hotel where were staying and they talked about the idea that ...

Arent just gusts. it is sustained at this point that were seeing. it hasnt been this bad for much of the time. everyone else is getting hit. now daytona beach is feeling it. i want to mention to you how far away we are and have been from the eye, were about 225 miles from any semblance of an eye that is left for this hurricane that is now at a category 2, and yet it is so powerful, and so big that all the way on the other coast here on the east coast way up on the coast we are still feeling thes...

60, 70 miles per hour. it is not clear theyll get to the 100, 110-mile-per-hour winds the emergency operations folks were expecting. anderson? >> which is certainly good news but still 110 miles, 100 miles an hour winds, 90, 80-mile-an-hour winds can do a lot of damage and that storm surge seems to be the biggest concern at this point. >> reporter: oh yeah. >> for to you move around, is there debris in the streets or are things pretty clear? >> reporter: there is not a lot of debris in the stree...

Are around the street lamps, those are coming crashing down onto the street so that is just a big globe of glass, just crashing, and weve heard it several times tonight, especially when i left, where its really wind tunnels through downtown orlando. i was going to say i havent seen many people out but of course i just saw those people running, and its terrifying because there are moments when were getting this major wind gusts and right over here to my right is actually a construction site, and ...

>> reporter: we moved to a different location because one it was dark and two we werent sure when the storm surge would come. we are athey the worst in punta gorda. they are expecting 110-mile-per-hour winds at this time in punta gorda until we get to the eye and things change course. it is completely dark here. one building down the street that clearly has a generator on, but all the water you see standing in front of us is just the rain water, what were expecting still is that surge. theyre sa...

Obviously the big concern here in tampa, in clearwater, where ryan young has been reporting, but i want to go to brian todd in west palm beach where i think a lot of people felt like the east coast given this was predominantly a west coast storm would at this point be seen a lot reduced winds and rain but youre still getting hit. >> reporter: were getting very hard. moments ago we saw another transformer blow to my left, to your right, a large kind of blue concussive blast that reflected on the ...