level that even if we have a surge, we are safe. and it s exactly what we did. anyone can go on the west side and check their elevation levels. and the news tells you that your home is going to be on elevation with a surge that you need to evacuate, then you need to do that. so, that s exactly what we did. we checked our level, and our home was safe. and that s why we stayed. so, for everybody in zone a, i believe that most people in sanibel got evacuate. and people in zone b also got evacuated. and that s it. we were in an area that later on we were told to possibly evacuate, that maybe we would see surges in certain levels. and we made sure that our home was safe. and we were safe. we didn t see any flooding whatsoever in our home. we then we don t have any damage in our home. and that s what we do in
situation for rescue and put their own folks at risk. and so we know that there are folks in the really high risk zone a, evacuations, owens who did not evacuate. some have called in and those people are being logged and there will be a response but it is likely going to take a little time for the storm to move forward. representative rainier, when you talk to first responders what are they telling you about what that response looks like and how they assess a hierarchy of need given that there will be so much need. i, alicia, i think it s a wonderful to be with you. one of the things that i actually represent st. petersburg and parts of hillsboro county that fallen zone a. it s a one, i think we have to understand first and that we have people, especially people of, color specially people who are economically challenged, who are
is not charlie. this is florida s katrina. charlie could almost fit inside the eye. the wind speeds of charlie were so significant but only in a small place. this storm has wind, surge, flooding, waves and even rainfall inside of florida of almost 20 inches over the next 48 hours. so don t be confused. when the people there say zone a, zone b, you have to go, you do. the winds are 25 gusting to around 40 but you must leave because these canal homes that are in cape coral, that are in puntagora, they will be in the six feet of water. you cannot be in that house when it s six feet. you have to be out of that home. it is time to get on the road. i have checked traffic conditions. they don t look too bad at all. no slowdowns. you should do the same thing. you should know whether you re
city of of sarasota was turned off as the area is bracing for what will be, they believe, widespread flooding. joining me now is the mayor of sarasota, eric arroyo. thank you for joining us this evening. this wasn t supposed to happen to your city, but florida was obviously under a watch. water has been shut off, but the bridges have also been closed. i m wondering, mayor, how are you feeling about all the preparations thus far. will it be enough? you know, our main priority at the city of sarasota is the safety of our residence. we called a local state of emergency and activated emergency operations center, meaning we have all the staff necessary for any type of disaster on call. we evacuated zone a, which is the barrier islands and people living on boats and mobile
16. that number has gone up. they re only 3 feet above sea level. if you surge that much, it s going to be up against their gutters or higher. are all of those people gone? reporter: that s a good question. we don t know. we understand from the officials that they evacuated zone a, the coastal communities and the barrier islands, they did say they were heeding those warnings. we were not able to get into those communities because of the evacuation orders, but from what we understand they did they did evacuate. of course, there are people who believe, you know, it s not going to be as bad as they thought. people move to florida, as you know, chad and john, to live on the water and they know what comes with it. john, this isn t maybe as bad as it gets. that would be a 10, but this is a 9. it is right there. it is the power and wind of what we had down here in 2004 with