70 to 75 Miles Per Hour winds. Reporter hermine intensified in the warm waters of the gulf of mexico thursday. Landfall is expected over night in floridas panhandle. From there, hermine will head up the eastern seaboard. Florida has not had a direct hit from a hurricane in 11 years. Residents along the gulf coast spent the day preparing for the worst. Sandbags, you know. Try to get everything ready, tied down, vehicles out. Reporter the ut outer bands of heavy rains have been pushing on shore since late this morning. By the time its all over, some areas could see almost two feet of rainfall. A state of emergency has been declared for more than 50 counties in florida and schools in more than 20 counties have been closed. Philip byron is using these last few hours of preparation to stack sandbags outside his newly renovated real estate office. Its just mother nature. You take it as it comes and you reporter prepared or not, florida residents are in for a long night. Don champion, cleveland 19. Romona well, Florida Health officials also are warning the storm could hamper efforts to control the mosquito population and minimize the spread of the zika virus. Mosquitoes breed in standing water and there will be plenty of that around after hermine passes by. Jeff. Jeff ramona. Weve been paying very close attention to this h it looks like the big bend area east of panama city where that report was is where we expect landfall to be made here early tomorrow morning. But look at all of this rain. And as is typical with an approaching hurricane or tropical storm, we do have a tornado watch in effect here. So you can get some of these little spinups of tornadoes. Lets go to the updated track now and were trying to do that here. So this is going to be the forecast. Early tomorrow morning the northern part of florida, its going to cross southern georgia. Most likely as a tropical storm. Here is friday evening. And it will be in the eastern part of South Carolina tracking up towards the outer banks saturday morning. Now, if you have plans to go to the carolina coast this weekend, it looks like things will be improving as saturday wears on. Because after that, this will just a big area of low pressure at this time as it tracks back out to sea by sunday. So improving conditions this weekend. But there could be a lot of flooding because a ton of rain, not only in florida, but also parts of georgia and the carolinas with hermine. All right. Im going to have our Holiday Weekend forecast as well coming up that youre going to like a lot better than what theyre seeing down here. Mark, over to you. Mark jeff, thank you. One man behind bars. A mother fighting for her life cleveland 19 reporter Denise Zarrella is live with that story. Denise. Reporter yes, mark. Police here in akron tell me that they were familiar with this couple. They answered calls for help from this couple. There was a history of Domestic Violence that they say led to this boyfriend shooting his girlfriend multiple times in front of three small children. This was the scene not long after 26yearold bianca was shot multiple times. Her young children, just 2 months old, the others 2 and 4 were there as it happened. Williams took off and left haskell bleeding at the front door of her house according to police. Luckily next door neighbors heard the shots and ran to the house to help. How is the victim doing when you went over there . Gasping for air and asking to help her. And i sat there and talked to and, like i said, i grabbed a pile of clothes off of her couch. I didnt know what to do and just started putting a holding tight. Reporter williams is being held at the Summit County jail. He faces a long list of charges, including felonious assault. Right now bianca haskell, were told by akron police, is hanging in there. But she faces a long road to recovery. Were asking questions and ge akron police department. Denise zarrella, cleveland 19. Romona denise, thank you. Dozens of superintendents from across northeast ohio joined together today to talk about the opiate epidemic and kids. The School Officials met with representatives from the dea, fbi and the u. S. Attorney. Dani carlson was there getting answers from the issue and what one district leader plans to do as a result of todays gathering. Were told, was the audience. Dozens of superintendents from all across northeast ohio who had the ability to reach thousands of kids. The devastation that this has for families and friends. You cant put it into words. Reporter but those in Law Enforcement are trying through meetings like todays and videos like this one put together by the fbi and the dea called chasing the dragon. Its a documentary aimed at teaching kids about dangerous addiction can be as superintendents watched it today. And some plan to show it and the danger to the kids in their districts. They need to understand its a mistake. If you make it once could totally change the path of your entire life. Reporter joe clark, superintendent of schools, says although hes been to many meetings like this one, each time he takes away something new. Inspired by today, clark says he plans to now bring Prescription Drug drop boxes to his schools. I think that people maybe or they dont care to think about it too much. So my goal from today coming from this meeting is to go back and make sure parents in the schools are aware of these drop boxes and take advantage of them if they can. Theres no sense hanging on to that prescription medication. They could do a lot more harm than they can do good. Reporter its a problem everywhere. There is not a community in the Northern District of ohio that has not been affected by this epidemic. Reporter we will have a link to that full chasing the dragon video on our website. And there you can also find links to previous weve done here at cleveland 19 news about kids and the opiate epidemic. Getting answers in aurora, dani carlson, cleveland 19 news. And cleveland 19 news is helping you spot the signs of heroin and opioid abuse. You can log on to cleveland19. Com and click on the your health tab for information to help a loved one struggling with addiction. In the key swing state of ohio stumping for Hillary Clinton today. The event is scheduled to start just before 6 00 in parma and thats where we find Sarah Goldenberg here this evening. Hey, sarah. Reporter hey, mark. Vice President Joe Biden is slated to speak here at the United Auto Workers union in parma. If you take a look over here, you can see that a line of people have been bussed in from a parking lot just down the road. All supporters here waiting to hear from the vice president. Now, were on chevrolet boulevard off of brookpark road. This is a heavily industrial area, and were expecting biden to speak today about his working class roots. Earlier this morning, he was in the youngstown area and he compared that to scranton, pennsylvania, where he grew up and spoke about why Hillary Clinton is the best candidate for working class voters. So, again, we are out here today. We will be heading inside shortly and bring you some live updates at 5 00 and 6 00. Sarah goldenberg, cleveland 19 news. Romona thanks, sarah. Now were going to talk about our browns. They face the Chicago Bears tonight at first energy stadium. Thats where we find tony zarrella. Tony, i sure hope theyre going to look better tonight than they did last week . Tony yeah, ro, i agree with you. If they are, they have to do it early. Its always interesting to me, and i fall victim to this too calling the fourth preseason game meaningless. Its not meaningless to the guys fighting the browns have to cut 22 more. Its not meaningless to josh gordon who after a few reps is going to shut it down and serve that suspension. Its not meaningless to rgiii. As you point out, we have watched them plaued through the preseason here with inconsistencies on offense and one thing they do well and we love it is throw the ball deep. Rg and Terrelle Pryor have a rhythm going and they hooked up for a touchdown. They have to do more than that. Starters if only for a short time tonight. He needs to see some development. I think run better offense. And i know your meaning. We do need to move the ball around a bit. I think Everybody Knows we can throw it down the field. Theres a lot of other things we can do too. We just have to continue to keep improving. We have to be more consistent. The only way to try to score is to try to score and thats what we do every time we go out there. We have guys that can make big plays but those same guys can make the plays that will keep drives going. And it starts with me. I have to be more consistent to allow us to do those things. Tony ramona, last season they ranked 30th in points score. Its preseason, new coach, new quarterback. Right now they ranked 30th in points scored and defensively they cant stop anybody. So its a major issue. Need the work quite frankly. Romona i have so much i want to talk about. But my producer has said to save all of that until 4 40 p. M. Right here and then we can talk about this team, tony. [ laughing ] tony tell melody i will be ready. [ laughing ] romona all right. You heard it. Moms and dads, breathing a little easier today after some crossing guard changes. And team android users. An alert about that Samsung Galaxy note 7. Why its being top toys ranked by the people who know them best. Kids, of course. How theyre already preparing for the holidays. And pizza equals productivity. Live from clevelands news center, driven by Don Joseph Toyota in kent, this is cleveland 19 news. Samsung taking a hit now after its galaxy note 7 batteries reportedly catch fire. It could be a major blow to south korean companys device. Samsung was counting on the galaxy note 7 to compete against apples new iphone which will be revealed next week. It retails for nearly 900 bucks in south korea. Its not even labor day, but walmart is thinking christmas. The retailer is opening its lay away program tomorrow and its also out with its list of the 25 hottest toys for the holidays as picked by kids, of course. Dan deroos is at the answer yes. Some high tech toys again this year. And you would expect that. And, boy, what a novel approach having kids from 1 and a half to 12 actually play with these toys and then come up with a list. Lets take a look so far. Here are some of the big ones. You may want to go out now so that theyre not gone. My life as a food truck. Thats a doll line. You can see the doll gets to serve the food. We didnt even know what they were when they were kids. Then you have this one. This will be a big sell. The teenage mutant ninja turtle play set. Thats going to be a huge sell. This one, wow, talk about high tech. This is the sky vipir streaming zone. You have the phone and you connect it and as youre flying it around, youre seeing live pictures right to your phone as youre flying it. Wow. Thats really incredible. High tech. This one here star wars. Remember, theres going to be a new star wars movie coming out. The electronic r2 d2 tour. Its completely Remote Control and does sound effects as you would expect. Last but not least, the numb numbs lip gloss truck. Jeff is getting this for christmas this year. Its a little Ice Cream Truck and the little ice cream that you serve. Those are actually lip gloss so the girls get two toys. That will be jeffs favorite again this year. Except he always goes with the chia pet. Were going to have to listen through that joke yet again t year. [ laughing ] always watching, always tracking. Now your first alert forecast. Jeff it works every time. Thats the key. All right. We got 15 Miles Per Hour wind in cleveland. 16 in elyria. Look at the direction that its coming in off of. The north coming right in off of the lake there. So its windy along the lakeshore. And that has led we have this one shower that rolled through avon now approaching elyria. And this was a good day for a few water spouts out there, reports as of yet. Yes, that big change. 74. Cooler air has arrived. And, you know, if youre going to the browns game there, 72 at kickoff. 68 for the second half. And some clouds around. So it is going to be a comfortable night there at first energy stadium. North wind 15 to 20 knots, though, early this evening. Small craft advisory is in feet. Look at the low. 59. Love the month of september. Although its not going to stay this way. We do have a warmup in the extended forecast. Parly cloudy cool in akroncanton. 56 tomorrow. Windy, cool. 74 northeast to north wind. So with that 74, 64 at 8 00 a. M. 71 at 11 00. Low to mid 70s at 2 00 and 5 00. Sunshine saturday. Sunshine on sunday. Near 80. And on labor day right around 80 degrees. After that it does warm back into the mid 80s tuesday and wednesday. And the humidity starts to creep back up as well. He asked questions and he wants answers. Its orlo wants to know. Mothers and fathers in some Cleveland School zones got answers that allow them to breathe a little easier after crossing guard changes in the wake of a investigation. Paul orlousky has now gotten answers about how the city has begun to get more coverage out of its current guards while continuing to search for more. We showed you cars zooming through school zones at high rates of speed. Cool zones with no crossing guards or no flashing school zone lights. Thats a problem. The same is true here but this is a Neighborhood School. A Neighborhood School where people walk their kids to school. They live nearby. The cars slow down for people crossing the street. The point is some school zones this one at 98th and madison do and dont have one. 44. Same true here on euclid avenue where weve learned changes happened after our series of reports. Two additional guards are now here making a total of three. One at the east end of the school zone. One at the west end of the school zone. And likely the most important one right in front of the school. With complaints of calls from applicants not being returned by the Safety Department and 20 people currently being vetted, where did they come from . The city told us theyre doing double duty. For example, doing one crossing at a school that lets out at 2 30 and another as close as possible that lets out at 3 30 or 4 00. It makes parents like scott white feel better. F but for now, hes still bringing his daughter to school. They dont have any school a crossing guard all year, including last year. Reporter make no mistake, when the guard is on duty, the crossing Guard Program works very, very well. Despite criticisms. However, after ending last school year with a lot of opening and opening this school year with even more, there is room for improvement. Getting answers, paul orlousky, cleveland 19. Mark orlo, thank you. Weve made a request to talk to those in charge of deploying cross guards and learn more about what is in the works for filling the dozens of positions still open. Weve heard nothing back. If you call the number to t city to get the list with ultimately more information on the job, you still get an answering machine. Ramona. Whats trending today at 4 00 . Why its mark nolan at the great Geauga County fair. Why hes a little chicken. Plus a congressman lets loose. And you remember that beautiful song by the blackeyed peas where is the love. Well, its getting a remake more than a decade later. Romona the group is calling for an end to violence with a new spin on their anthem. Check it out. . Children hurt and crying . . If you practice what you preach . The millennials are powerful. I dont think they realize just how powerful they are. You have to whatever capacity because youre representing your generation. Mark i would have liked to see a little fergie in there. The cameos are star studded. Congressman john lewis isnt afraid to get up close and personal with the people. How about this. Romona the 76yearold politician crowd sure fd last night on the late show with stephen colbert. I saw this. Yourself. The civil rights activist did a little practicing before being hoisted into the crowd and passed overhead. The stunt closed out the show. Mark i love it. Romona wow. Had an awesome time hosting the chicken flying contest at the fair today. Jen picciano stepped up as camera operator for Facebook Live there for a full 40 minutes. Medusa won for the hens. Medusa won for the whole fly off. Girl power there. The fair runs through labor day righhe burton, ohio. My former home town. I get all sad. Romona thats so nice. You visited my home town, so you know we raise chickens. Mark absolutely. Romona the things i used to have to do on the farm. The fall pumpkin spiced latte is back at starbucks, but you have to use your psl fan pass to get one, at least until it officially launches on tuesday. And free pizza is a great motivator. Yep. Found it even speaks louder than cold, hard cash. Study participants received bonus if they assembled a certain amount of computer chips in a day. Well, it turns out the pizza group made the most computer chips. Romona making me hungry. Mark thats what they give to the people in the focus group. So you want to kill a wednesday night and eat pizza romona just for you. Mark this is fantastic. Romona and she brought some plates with it. Mark thank you. Romona thats Melissa Watson executive producer. Thank you. [ laughing ] mark her government name got on the air too. Okay. What is art . Romona you go right ahead and read. Mark apparently it lives in cleveland. What it listed as best museums in the country coming up next. Are you really going after this stuff. Lets get digital. How doing what will help you with your physical. Welcome back. Our top story here today. Hurricane hermine, its spoke r soaking floridas gulf coast and going to likely make landfall over night in florida. Live pictures there. The surf line at panama city, florida. Ominous pictures to say the least. But theyre saying the storm surge could be pretty wicked there, right. Jeff not so much in panama city. Mark it would be drawing it out. Jeff let me show you the radar here.