Storm chaser Connor McCrorey reported live from Bradenton, Florida, on the evening of Oct. 8, where boats remained but most people had left to find safer shelter before Milton's arrival.
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00:00Our team coverage continues right now with Swim Chaser Connor McRory.
00:07He joins us live from Bradenton, Florida with the latest there.
00:12What are the latest preparations right now?
00:16Well, it seems like most people have pretty much completed their preparations around here.
00:20I think with as much warning time as these folks have been given and considering everything that
00:24they've dealt with over the last few weeks, months, years, it really does seem like people
00:29are taking this stuff seriously. I'm out here in downtown Bradenton right now,
00:33and you can see the marina behind me. I mean, it's just so dead. There's nobody out here.
00:37There are lots of boats. Those boats aren't going to fare very well when the storm comes in.
00:41I believe AccuWeather, the last time I checked, was forecasting over 15 feet of storm surge here
00:46in Bradenton with over 110 mile per hour winds. So hopefully all the residents here have taken
00:53the precautions to get themselves to safety, but unfortunately, we're still going to see
00:57plenty of property damage regardless. You know, Connor, you're right in that zone.
01:03You're in Bradenton, and we are concerned about some high, even record, maybe shattering storm
01:12surge in these areas, something that we haven't seen in over 100 years in a few of these zones.
01:17Can you just break down what the conditions are right now ahead of this storm and why it
01:22is so important? I know you said that most people have been evacuating, and that is great,
01:26but for any last stragglers on why you should be getting out now?
01:32Well, I mean, the Gulf of Mexico, the waters are so warm right now. I mean,
01:35we had Hurricane Helene move through just a couple of weeks ago, but
01:39that didn't do too much to damper the potential for intensification for hurricanes moving through
01:43the region. It's still in a relatively light, sheer environment. That's why we've been seeing,
01:47I mean, we saw such intense, rapid intensification yesterday, like I've almost never seen before in
01:54my 15 years of storm chasing. It's incredible, and we're just starting to feel the impacts here.
01:59I don't know if you can see behind me, but we are finally starting to see some light rain. It's been
02:03dry for the past couple of days, but as this rain sets in, as the winds begin to pick up overnight
02:08and into tomorrow, it's going to really start to set in just what's heading this way.
02:12Yeah, thank you so much for that update, Connor. Thank you so much for even pointing out that
02:18right now we're in that zone that we're starting to see the beginnings of what is to come. Thank
02:24you so much for joining us right now. I'm sure we're going to try to check back in with you here
02:30as we get closer and closer towards the event. For now, though, stay safe. Of course, take those precautions.