Page 7 - Biga Storm News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

We have been watching the water being sucked out on hillsborough river. the water has lowered while we have been standing here over the last several hours. and of course that water, once the storm surge starts to come in, all that water is going to come back. and it's going to come back hard. and the potential flooding here in tampa is major concern. i just talked to the mayor a short time ago. a year ago he had warned of the effects of a cat 3 storm hitting tampa, something they hadn't seen since 1921. he had warned of a potential 15 feet of water by tampa around city hall. chad myers, the we...

Counterclockwise. i want to bring in randi kaye. because as the storm gives storm surge on one side it's sucking energy from the other side. we're seeing the water move away from places like naples and tampa bay, but that water's coming back and when it does it's going to multiply and have power behind it, that's where the fear of storm surge comes in. randi, what are you seeing up there? >> reporter: chris, hello to you. we are on bay shore boulevard here in tampa where the rain is coming down. let me pan off me and take a look. the situation, where a lot of folks have been playing in the mud...

There could be 3 feet of water, about up to here in certain parts of charlotte county. this is the bay. you get a very good sense of just how powerful this storm is and where it's blowing. look how much of the floor of the river here has been exposed by the wind blowing this storm out. once that eye wall passes here and it starts blowing up the other way, then they'll have that storm surge here and things will get even worse. but right now very sustained winds here, and it's only going to get worse. we're about 40 miles an hour at the moment. it will get up to 90 to 110 miles an hour, gusting ...

Did not evacuate, even though people were told to evacuate in this area. some of them walking around, others driving around. one of them speeding down the water that was right next to our live position. not recommended according to first responders. now, john, there is a drainage system that is designed to drain water out here. at this hour being tested both by surge and ponding water. john. >> that's right, not to mention all the debris that is clogging those drains right now. rosa, great advice. don't try to drive through the flooded streets. it is the worst thing you can do. you simply cann...

Water quickly back up into tampa as the storm goes by. and yes, you're thinking oh, this is finally over. but if you are by the water in tampa, it is not over. now, let's go back to what the mayor said. a direct hit by a cat 3, what does that look like? a direct hit by a cat 3 comes in off the gulf of mexico and slams into punels county or something like that so the spin of the storm pushes all the water into tampa. that is plot what we're seeing here. this is not a direct hit. our storm is coming in this direction. so we're going to push all the water out, then we're going to push it back in....