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National Weather Service: "It's Time To Shelter In Place" In Florida; Category 4 Hurricane Milton Closes In On Florida; Mayor Kenneth Welch, St. Petersburg, Florida, Discusses Hurricane Milton; Mayor Teresa Heitmann, Naples, Florida, Discusses Hurricane Milton. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired October 09, 2024 - 14:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[14:30:00]

BILL WAICHULIS, GENERAL MANAGER, PINK SHELL BEACH RESORT & MARINA: I think we're going to start to see the storm surge this evening and that's our next big worry.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Yes, Bill, so one of the things that stands out to me about Fort Myers Beach specifically is that it was so heavily impacted by Hurricane Ian just a couple of years ago.

I was on the ground serving in some of the damage and it seemed like it would be very, very difficult to rebuild.

I wonder what goes through your mind knowing that that kind of damage is possible given that we're watching Hurricane Milton inch closer.

WAICHULIS: Yes, it is -- it's a kick in the gut. I mean, we're two years just after Ian and many of the residents and businesses are just kind of getting back on their feet.

To go through this again, it's going to be traumatic for all. But we're hoping for the best.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and one of the things that I noticed about the western part of Florida, at least the parts that I've been through since we arrived, was that there we're still a lot of damage from Hurricane Helene strewn about here in Tampa in the Tampa area.

Folks had gathered them into large piles. I'm wondering what it's like where you are if you sort of see a lot of that debris is still out near Fort Myers Beach.

WAICHULIS: Yes. There's still a lot of debris out and everyone just still clearing out from Helene. And, you know, unfortunately -- well, unfortunately, you're -- the damage than we got from Helene, we're probably see again with Milton. So it's -- it's a shame.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Bill, just wondering, do you feel like you have what you need? Are you staying with family through the storm?

WAICHULIS: Yes. I'm not -- I'm at home. We've got a generator. We lost power earlier from one of the tornadoes. So we're on generator power right now.

But I think all of our public officials are doing a great job in keeping everybody safe and we were just -- just waiting out the rest of the storm.

SANCHEZ: Bill Waichulis, in Myers Beach, we're hoping for the best for you and your family. And hopefully, you know, you get spared the worst of the storm.

Thanks for being with us.

WAICHULIS: Thanks, Boris. You be safe, too. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Thank you so much.

So we are continuing to monitor the situation here in Tampa Bay. Obviously, this is a very powerful storm headed to this area. It's set to make landfall in Sarasota, slightly further south.

We're talking about winds of 145 miles an hour and a massive storm surge. We're already feeling the effects of tornadoes being -- landing on the ground as far as Broward County, western Broward County. That is hundreds of miles from here.

So this is going to have, as we just heard from Victor Blackwell as well, widespread effects. We're going to be continuing to monitor conditions and we'll bring you the very latest as we get it.

Stay with CNN new NEWS CENTRAL. We're back in just moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:37:50]

SANCHEZ: We're back out live -- we're back out live here in Tampa Bay as Hurricane Milton inches closer and closer to Florida. It was moving at about 15 miles an hour northeast, headed in this direction.

It's set to make landfall in Sarasota in a few hours, packing 140- plus-mile-an-hour winds. A 15-foot storm surge. They are potentially about eight to 12 feet here in Tampa Bay.

And for many areas along the coast, that kind of storm surge is devastating. It could be a record setting as well as it is forecasted.

We want to go live now to Isabel Rosales, who's in another part of Tampa.

And, Isabel, you are familiar with this area. I'm wondering what you are seeing and what you have heard from folks that have decided to hunker down.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris, so this is the Hillsborough Bay, right? This is connected to the Tampa Bay. Folks have been warning about potentially up to 12 feet of storm surge. But what we're seeing right now, just because of the path that Milton

is taking, at the moment, what we're seeing is a reverse surge, a phenomenon that can happen as the storm approaches from the west. The easterly wind can actually push the -- the waters away from the coast.

So it's the opposite of a storm surge. We saw this dramatically back in 2022 with Hurricane Ian where parts of the seafloor were actually exposed. People walking on the Tampa Bay.

That is not happening here as of this moment. But obviously, officials warning people this is no time to give people a sign of relief over storm surge. We could still see that potential of 12 feet.

Clearly now, what I'm experiencing is this heavy rain, heavy rain, heavy wind gusts, just slapping you in the face. Yes. Yes. A big difference from two hours ago.

And in terms of people and what they're doing, I would say that people took it seriously, especially here in the Davis Island area.

But I want to point something out right over here. This boat right here, I met a gentleman -- his name is Jay -- kind of has become an Internet sensation on TikTok and social media, known as Lieutenant Dan.

[14:40:03]

He says he's riding out the storm. He went through cancer. He went through childhood traumas. He survived Helene here on this boat. He's refusing to leave.

We saw police officers here earlier today telling him, hey, this is dangerous, get out. But he says he doesn't want to go to a shelter. He is not leaving.

And in terms of evacuations, things have gotten more complex here in the last two hours again, because the bridges in and out of Pinellas County, Hillsborough County, Manatee County -- so this is the Sunshine Skyway, the Gandy, the Courtney Campbell.

These bridges have been closed because of this wind making for a more complex situation.

Oh, my god, you're still there. Yes, hi. Are you doing OK?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doing fine. How are you?

ROSALES: Doing great.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you?

ROSALES: Yes. You're still -- still riding this out, huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I'm drier than you are.

ROSALES: Yes, you are. You are drier than I am at this moment. So you haven't changed your mind, right? You're still staying?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ROSALES: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right here.

ROSALES: Staying here. All right. Please be safe, sir. Please be safe.

Oh, and (INAUDIBLE).

Clearly, this is not the advice that officials have for folks because it's not just storm surge, but this heavy, intense winds that could reach up to 115-miles-per-hour making for a very dangerous scenario.

Boris, I'm going to send this back to you.

SANCHEZ: Isabel Rosales, please stay safe out there. A very, very interesting decision, a potentially fatal decision by Lieutenant Dan to stay where he is with a storm surge that we're expecting with the rainfall that we're expecting.

Right now, we just got a maximum rainfall. It started at about 2:00 p.m. It is going to go through the evening.

I do want to just take a quick look.

OK. Just making sure who our next guest is.

We have Mayor Kenneth Welch of St. Petersburg, Florida, who is joining us now, live.

Mayor, thank you so much for being with us.

I wonder what goes through your mind when you see someone like Lieutenant Dan deciding to ride out the storm, the way that he's doing it.

And also when you see folks like -- I'm not sure if you could make it out. There's a gentleman behind me who's taking pictures right now of the storm here at the bay as it's barreling down.

What goes through your mind when you see stuff like that?

MAYOR KENNETH WELCH, ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA: Well, it's good to be with you. You know, I think our sheriff put it best: If you're going to take that risk, then be best to just write your name on your clothing so we can identify you.

They are literally putting their lives at risk. And at a certain point, when we get 50-mile-an-hour sustained winds, we will not be responding to emergency calls because we don't want to put our first responders at risk.

People need to take this storm seriously. We had six feet of surge during Hurricane Helene. Almost a dozen lives were lost in Pinellas County and the city of St. Petersburg.

This coming storm, Milton, has the capacity to double that storm surge. And so people are literally putting their lives at risk and we don't want them to put the lives of our public responders at risk as well.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Such an important message, as we heard from the National Hurricane Center a few moments ago, now is the time to shelter in place. Conditions are only going to get worse and worse as Milton gets closer and the hours go on.

Mayor, talk to us about some of the preparations that have been made, some of the closures, and some of the efforts to get debris from Hurricane Helene removed because I know some of that -- I saw some of it firsthand. We -- still strewn about different parts of the area.

WELCH: Well, I think the good news is that most folks in our cities, St. Petersburg and our county, have responded to the call to evacuate either out of the city, out of the county, or to higher ground within the city.

We have plenty of shelter space available. And people have really responded to that.

The benefit of that is that most of the debris is in areas that are evacuation zones. In evacuated zones A through C.

And so we -- of course, no municipality was able to clear the debris from Hurricane Helene in just a few days. We're talking six months of debris that we're trying to clean up in six days. You simply can't do that.

And so our hope is that most folks that and those evacuations have moved out. Debris will cause a hazard and will complicate the cleanup going forward.

But we are focusing now on saving lives, protecting lives. And we think we've done a good job at that. People are responding to the call to evacuate.

The debris is going to be a major issue. This has been the most impactful storm, Helene was, to date. And now on top of it, Milton will be impactful. And so we're looking at months of cleanup after this.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it is likely to be a difficult process. That is, once the storm gets through and, hopefully, folks have heeded those warnings.

[14:45:05]

Mayor Kenneth Welch, Kenneth Welch of St. Petersburg, thank you so much for being with us.

WELCH: Thank you, Boris. Be safe.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

And just in the last few moments here, as the mayor was speaking, the wind has gotten considerably stronger. We've seen branches start to come off of trees. The rain is coming down sideways and it feels like pellets.

There's also folks still out here, taking video, making the terrible decision to be out in these conditions as they get worse and worse.

We're going to continue monitoring the storm and bring you the latest as we get it.

Stay with CNN. We'll be back in a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:50:21]

SANCHEZ: We are live here in Tampa Bay where Hurricane Milton is getting closer and closer to the state of Florida. Moving at roughly 15 miles per hour, this Category 4 storm holds deadly promise for this region.

You're looking at a storm surge of up to 15 feet in some areas, 140- plus-mile-an-hour winds. About a foot of rain is expected for some areas.

Just in the last about 12 hours or so, almost 14 hours or so, the Tampa Bay area has gotten more than two inches of rain. And that rate is now coming sideways as the wind has intensified significantly over the last hour or so.

We're seeing tree branches come down. We're seeing some of the debris from Hurricane Helene that has been lingering now for weeks, shaking nearby us.

I want to go live to CNN reporter, Paul Murphy, who is monitoring the storm. He's also in a different part of Tampa.

Paul, what are you seeing where you are?

PAUL MURPHY, CNN REPORTER: Hey, Boris. So we are in old Tampa Bay. We're in Cyprus Point Park, just south behind my photojournalist, John General, is Runway 36 at Tampa International Airport.

You should be able to see Clearwater, should be able to see across this way bridges, with Highway 60 here, I-75. You can see the cranes that they're -- that they're building the new bridge with.

That bridge (INAUDIBLE) has been closed.

We spoke with people earlier today in St. Pete, in evacuation zone A, that most dangerous zone, who are not leaving. If you're (TECHNICAL PROBLEM)

SANCHEZ: It -- it looks like we're having some technical issues there with Paul. Obviously, it's very difficult to go live as a hurricane, especially one of this magnitude, is bearing down on you.

We do want to speak to another local official who is joining us now, Teresa Heitmann. She's the mayor of Naples, Florida.

Mayor, thank you so much for being with us.

I wonder what conditions are like right now in your area.

MAYOR TERESA HEITMANN, NAPLES, FLORIDA: Well, the winds are getting gusty here and howling. We've had, you know, spots of really high winds. But the things that are happening right now is that we're in a high tide. And as the surge comes and the high tide arrives, that -- we know that we're about to get hit with a major serious storm.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and I wonder what you make of the preparations for this hurricane. Obviously, it comes on the heels of Hurricane Helene just about two weeks ago.

I've heard from officials over and over again that it would be impossible to get out all of the debris from that storm in time to deal with this storm. What would you make of the preparations and Naples? How quickly were you able to rebound from Hurricane Helene?

HEITMANN: Well, our crews started last weekend. And I think we're very prepared. Our stormwater and our sewer systems have been pumped out. We've had operational garbage pickup and even debris as of yesterday.

We are no longer -- we have no one on the streets. We are getting prepared for the 4:00 curfew and the surge and the terrible winds are going to happen into the night.

And so it's -- it's concerning because, you know, this feels like Ian all over again.

SANCHEZ: Yes, Hurricane Ian obviously came in 2022 and it was a very powerful storm and remade much of that area of southwestern Florida.

Mayor, talk to us about your residents. Do you feel that folks have heeded the warnings? Do you feel that they've adequately prepared for the storm? And what's your message to them as this storm gets closer?

HEITMANN: Well, I think that they have prepared. I know a lot of people who stayed. It is very concerning to me.

I have put out a voluntary curfew on Sunday evening because I was concerned that people thought they lived through Ian, they would be OK through this storm.

However, the people I've spoken to are in very strong structures. But again, I've warned them, we have no idea, with the already high tides and the surge and the swells and the swells that emerge from that combination could be deadly.

[14:55:58]

So I hope that people are -- have left Naples and/or in higher ground. SANCHEZ: Yes, I certainly hope so, too.

Mayor Teresa Heitmann, thank you so much for joining out here.

HEITMANN: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: And again, we're experiencing very serious conditions right now. The wind is coming down even more harshly than it was just moments ago, as is the rain. It's actually painful. God, this rain hits you, it feels like B.B. pellets.

We're going to keep an eye on the situation. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. Stay with CNN.

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