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Rescues Continue in Hurricane Milton Aftermath. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired October 10, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:33]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Good morning to you. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Pamela Brown in Washington.

Across Central and South Florida, crews right now are scrambling to rescue people from the aftermath of Hurricane Milton. In some areas, the Category 3 hurricane dumped as much as 18 inches of rain, triggering flash floods and trapping people in their homes. Those water rescues, as you're seeing right here on your screen, continue this morning.

And Florida officials say the storm also spun off a number of tornadoes. This right here is a decimated storage facility in Fort Pierce. Look at that. Even before the hurricane arrived, it whipped up an outbreak, as we were talking about, of tornadoes.

This camera in Fort Pierce captured a tornado as it descended to the ground and ferociously shredded and tossed almost anything in its reach. Some of the deadly tornadoes also proved, as I pointed out, deadly. At least four people are confirmed dead in St. Lucie County about 150 miles from where Milton later made landfall.

High winds also stripped the roof off Tropicana Field, where the Tampa Bay Rays played baseball. Earlier this week, it was announced that the stadium would be used as a base camp for 10,000 first responders and emergency workers.

Well, we have a lot to cover today and our team is here to walk us through all the latest developments.

Let's begin with CNN's Isabel Rosales in Tampa.

And you were there at the dramatic overnight rescue of an assisted living center, and just to hear you speak to them in the last hour and all they went through actually sitting in water waiting for rescuers to arrive.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pamela, it's been a flurry of activity because this is just simply too important, what Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is doing right now.

Take a look right here. They have gotten 135 residents out of an assisted living facility, and they're here right now in their wheelchairs, using walkers, many of them barefooted. That's how quickly they had to get out, cold, wet, waiting to be loaded up onto a Hillsborough County school bus and then taken over to the Yuengling Center.

That is USF's basketball court, where I'm told by HCSO it has suddenly become a shelter for these residents. We have seen HCSO deputies and fire rescue right now giving them blankets, giving them snacks, juice, trying to help them out,many of them going through a very, very traumatic situation.

I want to introduce to you two ladies here who told me they'd be willing to talk us through what happened, what they experienced. This is Teresa (ph). She's a resident. And this is Kayla (ph), who actually works at that assisted living facility.

Teresa, can you bring me back to what happened when the floodwaters rushed in?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I was in bed, obviously, and I didn't realize it was flooded at first. Then I heard a crash. And I had a -- my -- I mean, a refrigerator in there and a microwave on top of it.

It just blew out. It's on the floor floating. I mean, it was coming up in my bed, to the edge of my bed. I mean, it got on -- oh, it was terrible.

(CROSSTALK)

ROSALES: That sounds terrifying.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the water was so cold, you know? Man, it's just -- and I'm missing a shoe, my brace shoe, and I don't know where it is, in my room floating around somewhere.

But...

ROSALES: Yes, I can see you're tearing up a bit thinking about those moments. I'm so sorry you went...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Scary. Scary. Yes. And more people moved around in the TV room, plus out the other side.

ROSALES: And how long did you guys wait in those floodwaters?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a pretty good while. We just got out maybe like, what, a couple hours ago. We were in, like, three, four feet of water.

I got woken up about 2:00 a.m. The building is starting to flood. So we had to -- I had to get up, I had to react, I had to get -- get dressed and basically make sure that all the residents were OK, including residents that are from Bradenton, because they got transported yesterday to our facility.

ROSALES: Is there a reason why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because they thought that -- they were told to evacuate.

(CROSSTALK)

ROSALES: So, what -- you actually had more residents evacuate to your facility because they thought that they'd be safe there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Manatee County told them to evacuate.

[11:05:00]

And then that's when -- to us, yes. So, Bradenton was mainly in the -- kind of like the middle and like some rooms, as much as we could really do.

ROSALES: And I did confirm with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office this is not an evacuation zone. So this is something that came sudden and unexpected.

This is not the sort of flooding you would anticipate seeing here in the University Mall area.

Can you talk real quickly, Kayla, about the medical complications of these residents?

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. We had to -- there was a guy from Bradenton. He was running low on oxygen. So we had to get him an oxygen tank because he had a portable oxygen. We got that taken care of. And we also had another -- other oxygen tanks on hand as well, because that's also important for them to breathe and stay alive.

And then we had a -- we still had to pass out medications while we were in the building because their medication is important.

ROSALES: Right. So, a situation, you're not dealing with regular people just in any apartment complex...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No, no, no.

ROSALES: ... which, by the way, they're doing rescues right now at an apartment complex and nearby homes. These are people dealing with mobility issues, medication, oxygen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Like Teresa, she's in a wheelchair, so she can't mobilize herself. She can stand up, but she can't -- she can transfer and everything, but she can't physically get out of here and walk. So it's very difficult for her and some other residents as well.

ROSALES: Yes.

Kayla and Teresa, thank you so much for speaking with me. I hope you guys get shelter, get food, water, what you guys need and get out of this situation as soon as possible. Thank you both for speaking to us -- Pamela, back to you. BROWN: Our hearts just go out to them. Wow, I just -- I feel so bad

for them. And as the one resident said to you, just -- it was scary. And the way she described that, I can't imagine. Thank you for that. We will check back in with you.

Well, let's go now to CNN's Carlos Suarez in Fort Myers.

Carlos, Florida officials say they expect casualties from a number of tornadoes. What are you seeing there?

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pam, much of the damage that we have seen across Fort Myers was really brought on by the four-to- five-foot storm surge as well as these two tornadoes that we believe hit parts of Lee County.

So this one neighborhood that we're in south of downtown Fort Myers has started the cleanup effort. The folks out here are now in the process of trying to just remove all of this debris. This neighborhood is one of the two neighborhoods that we believe these two tornadoes hit.

And what you're looking at now are crews, as well as the owner of this house. They were on the roof of that one home there. And they're taking apart the portion of the roof that was torn apart by, again, this one tornado that was -- we believe hit this area yesterday.

The owner of the house is in front of that forklift there. He was saying earlier today that him and his family were inside of the house when Hurricane Milton continued to make its way north. And because of all of the plywood that they had up around their house, they could not really tell what was happening outside, but they knew that something quite powerful was taking place.

At some point, they figured out that a tornado was hitting their neighborhood, and so they sought shelter. That family is doing just OK. This one house here -- I'm going to walk a little bit, so you can see the other damage -- also had its roof torn apart.

The owners were inside earlier today taking a look at the damage there. And we're being told that all of this debris is being put out for county officials to at some point remove.

Again, Pam, the concern going into this hurricane for Southwest Florida was the storm surge. I covered Hurricane Ian two years ago, and the storm surge then was about 10 feet. Thankfully, thankfully, that number was way -- we were way under that number in yesterday's storm.

Again, downtown Fort Myers, just to the north of where we are, we saw the storm surge there about four to five feet by the end of the night. And then over on Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel, the folks there are being allowed to return to their homes this afternoon to take a look at the damage that played out there as well -- Pam.

BROWN: All right, thanks so much, Carlos.

And now to Derek in the Weather Center.

Walk us through the scale of this hurricane. It wasn't the worst-case scenario, but it was still pretty darn bad, Derek

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's right, Pamela.

So, this was the third landfalling hurricane this season in the state of Florida. It is the fifth hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico this season. And it's the first hurricane to make landfall -- I mean, the first major hurricane to make landfall within a 50-mile radius of Tampa.

This is significant because, when we talked yesterday, it was about a game of miles, where this was going to make landfall exactly, because that's where the most powerful part of the storm, where the most surge is anticipated.

It ended up being in Siesta Key, just to our south in Sarasota County, so it actually caused a reverse storm surge within Tampa Bay, kind of draining the water from Tampa Bay and limiting their impacts from storm surge. Of course, there was storm surge just to the south of where the eye made landfall.

[11:10:02]

Now Hurricane Milton is exiting the Space Coast. We have just now dropped below tropical storm status along many of these East Coast locations, Daytona Beach included, but not before the damage was done.

You can actually track the heaviest rainfall slicing through the central parts of the peninsula from Tampa all the way to Orlando. This is why we're watching these live water rescues take place and unfold right in front of our eyes this morning with Isabel's great reporting -- Pamela.

BROWN: Yes, those water rescues are out there. Right now, they're -- it's all hands on deck because people still need to be rescued. We're going to talk to some officials very soon.

Derek, Carlos, Isabel, thank you so much.

Let's talk to one of them. Orlando is under a flood warning. Orange County officials have been out in knee-deep water since early this morning, checking each house for those needing assistance.

CNN's Brian Abel joins us now from Orlando.

Brian, what kind of damage are you seeing there?

BRIAN ABEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Pamela, you might be able to see some of the damage that we are seeing right behind me here at this intersection. This is the main thoroughfare, Orange Street, and you might be able to see Church Street.

That sign is not where it's supposed to be because that whole streetlight is down. So we have seen traffic be diverted here. Also on the sidewalk, and not sure if you can see that, but we do have branches that are in the area, and that's kind of at least downtown what we have seen.

You did mention that video of search-and-rescue crews wading in, in waist-deep water, going and checking in neighborhoods for people to make sure that they're OK. That was about 20 miles east of us at one area.

But, here, what we have experienced is the lingering effects of Milton for hours after the worst event came barreling through here as a Category 1, the wind gusts significant, the rain over a period of days here, so that flash flooding is the concern still.

Downtown, it seems to be spared a little bit, at least not with the flooding, and also we do not have power outages here, but in the Orlando area, rather, alone 88,000 people without power -- Pamela.

BROWN: Yes. All right, thanks so much. Appreciate it, Brian Abel in Orlando.

And, this morning, millions of Floridians are trying to assess the damage from Hurricane Milton, which roared ashore last night as a Category 3 storm.

The mayor of Fort Myers, Kevin B. Anderson, joins us on the phone.

Mayor Anderson, I know assessments are still under way right now. What is the level of destruction in your community?

KEVIN ANDERSON, MAYOR OF FORT MYERS, FLORIDA: Well, let me put it this way. I had a business owner tell me this morning the word of the day is thankful. They are thankful that it wasn't worse than what it was, thankful that it wasn't what it was projected to be.

BROWN: Florida officials say that there have been a number of tornadoes from this hurricane, including an outbreak that killed at least four people before landfall. What have you seen in Fort Myers?

ANDERSON: We had two tornadoes touched down, one in a commercial area, another one in a residential area. The residential area, there's homes that suffered some damage.

And the canopy over the gas pumps at a 7-Eleven was torn off.

BROWN: You spent 24 years, I believe, with the Fort Myers Police Department. How does this hurricane compare to others that you have dealt with?

ANDERSON: So, of the numerous storms I was involved with, Ian was by far the worst. However, this was one that made me more nervous, had me more concerned than any other storm.

Luckily, my concern was somewhat unfounded. This is still a pretty bad storm.

BROWN: All right, Mayor Kevin Anderson, thank you and best of luck to you as you all clean up, rebuild.

ANDERSON: Thank you.

BROWN: And CNN is getting some new video of those powerful tornadoes that swept through the eastern side of the state, the full extent of that damage, not yet entirely known.

Plus, the fire chief for St. Pete Beach will show us what he's seen just south of where Milton made landfall.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:18:56]

BROWN: Pinellas County is warning residents to stay put and not travel after Hurricane Milton left the area in shambles.

Joining us now on the phone is Chief Jim Kilpatrick with the St. Pete Beach Fire Department.

Thanks for joining us. We have all seen that crazy video of the Tropicana stadium roof being, as one of my colleagues so aptly put it, peeled off like an orange. We see it right here on the screen. How is St. Pete's faring this morning?

What's the damage like?

JIM KILPATRICK, ST. PETE BEACH, FLORIDA, SHERIFF: Well we still have the damage left over from Helene. And coupled with that is the wind damage that Milton has caused.

There wasn't much flooding, very little, but we do have many trees and wires down, lots of debris in the roadway that we still have to deal with.

BROWN: That field I was just talking about was supposed to be refuge for first responders and cleanup officials. Where did you move them to?

KILPATRICK: Currently, we're finding locations for them now. We're scrambling to put them in a local community college, a possible hotel.

[11:20:05]

We're just reaching out and trying to find resources now to have them bed down at.

BROWN: And tell us about the rescues taking place and the challenges that rescuers are facing as you're trying to also figure out all these logistics.

KILPATRICK: Yes, these -- some of these wires are still active. We have been dealing with those one by one with the assistance of our local power provider and working through the National Guard for road clearing, as well as our local resources, public works within our city, county officials, state officials. And I can't say enough for FEMA and what they provided to us, the resources that they added.

BROWN: Tell us about a little bit more about what FEMA has done to assist you all.

KILPATRICK: Well, we're a small community of less than 10,000 people. And we put an immediate request for an incident management team.

And they provided the incident management team to give us guidance as far as our operations, as well as paperwork and the whole process. So, they have resourced one team that they stayed with us for almost two weeks, and another team was at it.

They're with us now, and they're going to be with us throughout the event.

BROWN: Do you have any update for us on a death toll?

KILPATRICK: I don't have any information on death toll.

BROWN: OK.

And officials there are warning for folks to stay put right now. Tell us why that is so important for residents to stay where they are.

KILPATRICK: There's just so much debris on the road. And, as I mentioned, the live, active power lines. There's -- it's just not safe out there to be traveling around.

To stay in place would be my advice, to protect in place, and not be...

BROWN: OK.

Last question for you. Do you think your area was prepared for Milton and now do you feel prepared to rebuild and recover?

KILPATRICK: I think the profile of the community is going to change from these two events. I don't think you can ever be prepared enough. And with the impact of Helene, we were on -- we weren't on solid footing after that, and then the second event occurred.

So we will rebuild, we will come back better. I know this community, and they love this place. And they all want to get back to their homes. And with the help of the assistance that I mentioned prior with FEMA, Florida Department of Emergency Management and those other partners, I think we can get back quicker and better.

BROWN: Yes.

Well, I just want to follow up. What do you mean you think that the profile of the community will change as a result of this? Tell us a little bit more about that.

KILPATRICK: Well, some of these historic homes, some of these homes that have been here since the beginning of the city are destroyed, and they won't be able to be rebuilt. So they're going to be demolished and new homes are going to be put in their place.

Families are displaced, and they may not come back. So I think the profile of the community is going to change some, and we will see what that turns out to be after all this is over.

BROWN: That's very sad.

All right, Chief Jim Kilpatrick, thank you.

And still ahead this hour: Milton was forecasted to bring 15-foot storm surge and record wind speeds. I'm going to speak with the director of the National Hurricane Center about what they clocked overnight and what comes next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:28:25]

BROWN: All right, we're getting some new pictures in to CNN just showing the devastation. I believe this is in Palm Beach Gardens. You can see the roof caving in. There were tornadoes all over Palm Beach.

So, presumably, some of what we're seeing is from that tornado damage. And folks in -- all over Florida are waking up to a new reality, as one official I just spoke to said look, this community, it was St. Pete's, this is -- the profile of this community will change as a result.

And there are also right now as we speak water rescues that are going on. There's one in an apartment complex in Clearwater, Florida, where residents are trapped inside the building due to flooding from Milton.

CNN anchor and correspondent Boris Sanchez is in Clearwater.

Boris, what more can you tell us about these rescues?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Yes, Pamela, it appears that right now the rescues are on pause here at this apartment complex in Clearwater.

We heard from the public information officer for Clearwater that this was one of the hardest-hit parts of the city, one that saw upwards of 12 inches of rain in a matter of hours.

I'm going to step out of the way to set the scene for some of what we saw earlier today. Folks -- it looks like there's actually a briefing ongoing right now with law enforcement, I should point out.

Pamela, folks that were living in this building got out. Some of them told me that they ran out at about 1:00 a.m. because they started experiencing severe flooding, which -- as you can see, the water level has gone down since we have been here, but that is still several feet high.

One resident named Anne telling me that the water got up close to the numbers on her door. That's several feet up. She says that she ran out and ran up to the second floor of her complex. And a neighbor was able to take her in. Others I spoke to said that they fled with nothing but their clothes on their bodies.