Return to Transcripts main page

Laura Coates Live

More Than 2.6 million Without Power As Hurricane Milton Slams Florida, Causes Deaths And Flooding; Coverage Of Hurricane Milton; Interview With Mayor Of Gulfport, Florida Sam Henderson; Interview With Storm Chaser Jonathan Petramala; Interview With Ret. U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired October 10, 2024 - 01:00   ET

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, there was a report we saw online earlier of a fire, and we were waiting to confirm that. And now we just made it up to the fifth floor of the hotel we are in and just, I mean, it's hard to believe what we're looking at.

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: It really is. I mean, Hurricane Milton is now a category two storm with winds of 100 miles per hour. It made landfall just south of Sarasota around 8:30 p.m. eastern as a category three hurricane at that time with 120 mile per hour winds.

Those extreme winds toppling a crane in St Petersburg, Florida, that large crane clipping a building and now laying across the street. So far, thankfully, there are no reports of any injuries, but the wind is only one of several major threats from Milton.

The storm surge and heavy rain could potentially fuel catastrophic flooding. Some parts of the coast are bracing for a surge as high as 13 feet, and Milton is spawning more than a dozen tornadoes all across the state and we already learned that several people have been killed by tornadoes in St Lucie County, Florida, that's on the east side of the state, mind you, that gives you example just how powerful this hurricane really is.

CNN team of reporters, of meteorologists, are all covering every angle of this storm all night long. I want to start with CNN's Victor Blackwell, who is in Orlando, Florida. Victor, the center of Milton is nearing you as we speak right now. What are you experiencing down there?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Laura, the winds have really picked up. What were the gusts? Maybe an hour 90 minutes ago or now, the sustained winds, they're sustained around 40 miles an hour. We recently saw a gust at the airport, about 74th miles an hour. So the worst of what is coming from Milton is coming here to Orlando.

Power outages are going up as those winds pick up as well, about 65,000 customers out here in Orlando and east toward the coast. And this, really, for Orlando, is not a story about intensity. It's more longevity, the hours and hours of rain that will come here.

The concern is about the localized flooding, much like what this area saw from Hurricane Ian in 2022. I checked in with local officials, and they've now pulled their officers and the fire rescue off the roads in just the last 45 minutes because of the sustained winds at about 40 miles per hour, it's just not safe for them to go out. But they are anticipating in many areas, the flooding around Lake Davis, the flooding around some of the retention ponds and lakes around Kissimmee as well.

I'm not far from the Orlando parks, and Lake Bryant is nearby, so there are concerns about the flooding here. But as the winds pick up, those trees will come down and give you a kind of look. Maybe you can see the wind and this rain that's now coming horizontal at some points because of the intensity.

We checked in on shelters. They're getting us a shelter report across the county that's been opened. But the rain, really here is the concern, the storm surge at the coast, but the amount of water that's coming in. The officials have been out. The crews have been out trying to clear the drains so that the storm water control systems can accommodate it. But they know, with up to 15 inches of rain forecast over the next several hours, that they will be overwhelmed.

Our weather center tells us that about three inches has fallen so far, but this is just the beginning of what's coming to Orlando. So the dog that bit the coast is now barking at Central Florida, of course, will be here throughout the night. Laura.

COATES: It's unbelievable to think about just the sheer scope and breadth of this particular storm, where you can't think about Orlando without thinking about the parks, as you mentioned. I know they were closing some today in anticipation of this very moment.

I'm seeing some power around you, but 2 million people in Florida are without. Are you seeing power outages where you are? You learning of any injuries or damages right to the area right now?

BLACKWELL: So let's start with the power. So the Orlando Utilities Commission, which covers most of Metro Atlanta, they're reporting about 25,000 outages Duke Energy that covers much of Orange County and the counties headed to the East Coast. They're reporting in this area about 40,000 customers without power.

Now, as it relates to those people coming here for the parks, I spoke with a family that came all the way from the U.K. to be here to go to Magic Kingdom, Universal. They got one day of parks in but of course, they were closed on Wednesday at about one o'clock in the afternoon, so they weren't able to go out and enjoy the rest of the time.

But the hotel where I'm staying is really a mix of those who are trying to get out or hope to get out ahead of the storms, because that family from the U.K., they've never experienced a hurricane, so they wanted to get away from the rain.

[01:05:06]

And then you have those southwest coastal families who were in the zone A evacuation areas, who came here to get away from the coast. They've evacuated to this area. So, some interesting conversations of people, you know, being grateful that they are where they are, and people are trying to get away from where they are. Here at this hotel.

The rain has actually tested this hotel roof. It's leaking in a few places. The consistency of this heavy rain is testing this building especially but as it relates to power outages, several 1000 out, the expectation is that it could be much worse over the next few hours, but the safety crews, the police, the fire, they're not going to get a look at really how bad it's going to be until first light in the morning, and especially when those winds die down.

COATES: Victor Blackwell, please stay safe. We know this might be a long one this evening. We'll continue to come back to you. Stay safe, my friend. We've got CNN's Randi Kaye, who's in Sarasota, Florida, Randi, what are you experiencing where you are?

RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are still, Laura, experiencing plenty of rain, certainly less than what we were experiencing earlier in the evening and earlier in the day, still some wind as well. Earlier we had about 102 miles per hour at Sarasota airport, which we're not very far from, but we have been up doing live shots in 7:00 a.m. this morning, and we've sort of experienced what I would call the many moods of hurricane Milton.

We had some rain earlier this morning, then it turned into heavy rains, and then very, very heavy winds, strong winds. And then we were in a very tranquil state as the eye passed over us, and we saw the frogs started coming out, the birds were out again. And then after we got through the back end of the eye, we started getting these gusts of winds again. And that's when we had that 102 mile per hour at the airport.

But we have seen plenty of damage here, around the neighborhood that we are in. It's a completely evacuated neighborhood, Laura. We haven't seen a soul here, and it's really pitch black. We lost power several hours ago. In fact, we're just running our lights now on battery power, but you can see some of the damage here.

This fence was separating the two property lines and that came down when we were seeing the worst of the winds, and then it was actually lifted up. And now it's broken into some pieces here. And I'm not sure if you can see that white cloth back there, but that was sort of a covering for what seemed like a little patio area or dining area. And when, before the eye came through, it was just whizzing like crazy with the winds. It was going that way. And then after the eye, the change -- the wind change direction, everything started blowing that way. So that's why you see it going that way.

But we, again, like many of these areas, Laura, we won't know how bad the damage is until tomorrow morning, until daylight, or until this morning, I should say until daylight, because we are about a half mile from Sarasota Bay. So we just have to see how bad the storm surge were. They were expecting about nine to 13 foot storm surge with Hurricane Helene just a couple of weeks ago, it was a seven foot storm surge, and we saw the amount of damage that did.

So, it will be very interesting to see once we get some daylight and we can go survey the damage, just how bad it is, possibly here in downtown Sarasota. Laura.

COATES: And just those numbers, those nine to 13 feet compared to what we saw just less than two weeks ago. Are you seeing a great deal of flooding right now? Where you are, I know the power is out in light of day will bring much more information. But how extensive has the flooding and the power outages been where you are?

KAYE: Yes, well, it's -- like I said, we haven't seen any lights on around this neighborhood at all. So, I am guessing that there's a fair amount of power outages here. We do have some power lines that are that are down, but as I said, the powers out, so we're not especially concerned about those.

But when earlier, when we were a little bit further away down the driveway here, the water in the road had actually started to really come up. I mean, it was up to my shin area. So, there was some, you know, some minor flooding, I would say, in the streets here, certainly more than they would like to see, more than they're used to.

But then the question is, you know, we are at a higher elevation in evacuation zone D, which was not required to evacuate. So you have A, B and C ahead of us, which are much closer to the bay. So we'll have to see exactly how bad it was for them once the daylight comes.

COATES: Waiting for that moment. Randi Kaye, thank you so much. I want to go to CNN. Bill Weir, he is in St Petersburg, Florida. Bill, you're actually by Tropicana Field. What are you seeing?

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we're just getting a glimpse of that Teflon roof that's been just completely shredded by hurricane Milton.

[01:10:03]

The Devil Rays, sorry, Devil Rays' fans don't play October baseball. Not good enough this year, for sure. So the much more painful part of this is that this stadium was going to be a staging ground for first responders and maybe a shelter for those who need it. There's 10,000 cots in Tropicana Field that were ready there. What now is not shelter at all, as you can see.

And the storm is taking a toll also on the water infrastructure of St Petersburg. We got word that there's been a water main break, and the city is shutting down main water service to sort that out. That probably means boiling water for folks who don't have enough bottled on hand right now. So that's one more headache as a result of this storm.

And like other folks, Anderson has been commenting on this. It is cold. There is this cold front that came down. Chad Myers was explaining now, normally we're sort of sweating. You don't have to worry about a chill when you're soaked covering a hurricane like this. But this is just added all the more discomfort for folks who don't have a roof or and no shelter after Helene maybe took it away from them as well. But here you go. It's really stunning. There it is. It looks -- like

it's a like Chad was explaining the wind just got under there. And then once it's once -- one piece starts ripping, and those 100 mile an hour winds are tearing at it, no match for hurricane Milton stadium roof like that one. Laura.

COATES: It's unbelievable. And of course, it then tells you the next time, and obviously we continue to see hurricanes in this world, that the new plans for this being a safe location are no more. I mean, thousands of cots that were supposed to be set up to be providing shelter and comfort. The city has to now plan for the possibility that that no longer can be a contingency plan.

WEIR: Exactly. And of course, you -- there are shades of the Superdome and Katrina which was a much more disastrous outcome that so many manmade failings in that storm. But a lot of lessons learned, and you know, a lot of disaster response textbooks were written around that storm and how you plan going forward. And stadiums are great places. They can be fantastic tools in a storm like this.

But here's one more sort of example that this is not our father's storm anymore, and this overheating planet supercharged storms, we have to rethink the way we build cities, the way we build stadiums, and obviously the way we respond to these disasters when they come.

COATES: Bill, you also -- an hour ago were talking about a crane that went down in a different area of the city, and we have seen no reports of injuries. But I mean, this is a construction crane going into a side of another building. This is substantial. Tell me what you were seeing at that time?

WEIR: Yes, there's some real wreckage less than a mile from here towards downtown there as well. There's four of these big cranes. There were enough of a concern to the city that they put something out on their website. They put out a release. It said, be aware of this. It takes weeks to disassemble these big tower 30, 40, story cranes, so much like the cleanup after Helene, not enough time between storms to even think about that.

And some of those worries were confirmed when one of those cranes came down, crossed the streets, smashed into a building across apparently. There are no injuries, thankfully. But that is more time for this city to have to clean up. It's more money involved, and could just be the tip of the damage iceberg on this storm statewide.

And this is a time, Laura, too, when the state is roiling with an insurance crisis. A number of smaller insurance have gone out of business in the last couple years because the storms have just too, too many, too many claims. The insurance of last resort in the state of Florida, is overtaxed, and legislators have been wrestling with that.

So again, these are -- we don't really connect our health, wealth and happiness to a planet in balance. We take all of those things for granted until something like this comes along and upsets so many lives. COATES: Bill Weir, thank you so much. Please stay with us and stay

safe, my friend. I want to go to CNN's Brian Todd, who is in Tampa. Brian, tell me what you're seeing. I know for a while there was all these transformers that are happening, and obviously a loss of more than 2 million people with power -- without power. What are you seeing right now in Tampa, which they thought would get the worst of it?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well a while, Laura, it really did seem to be getting the worst of it.

[01:15:02]

We were just getting hammered, really slammed with wind and rain. It was relentless for several hours. It was really, I think, the longest my team and I have endured in a lot of years of covering these types of storms. It was just relentless for several hours.

Finally, finally, in the one o'clock am Eastern Time hour, we seem to be getting a little bit of a break here. I'm still getting pelted with some wind and rain. It has died down just a little bit, but still, look this is -- these are some of the more dangerous times in the course of the, you know, where -- when a storm moves through an area like this, because people start to take for granted that, OK, maybe if it's moved away, I can go outside.

Well, you really cannot venture outside, because down power lines can, you know, can affect you. They can -- they're still very dangerous to come across. Also, you know, the power outages are affecting different things. We have 400,000 customers in Hillsborough County without power at this hour, and the utility Tampa Bay water is now telling us that that has affected water use, because some water service facilities and water treatment facilities are without power.

So they're asking customers to limit their water use in Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough counties, until they can get some of these water services back online with power. They're working on it. They hope to be able to get that back up online in the next few hours.

But again, just because this storm, the brunt of it, has moved through here, does not mean this area is out of danger yet. And one of the things we can talk about also is the reverse storm surge that has taken place in Tampa Bay, just a few blocks from where I am. We got some video of that, a really extraordinary event where it looked where basically most of the water was pushed out of Tampa Bay.

We got some video our colleague, Dugald McConnell, we pulled up, our team pulled up near Tampa Bay, but at that hour that we did that, the wind and the rain were just so relentless and the flooding was so bad that we could not pull up right to the railing.

So Dugald, my colleague, Dugald McConnell, ventured to the railing, real risk to his own safety, got some video of that reverse storm surge in Tampa Bay. The water completely pushed out of the bay. It looked like a dry riverbed in there, which is really rare and very extraordinary. It's when reverse storm surge happens. It's just what the name says. The water is pushed out of the bay, and then hours later, the water is being pushed back into the bay.

I'm not sure if that's actually happening now, but it will be happening very soon, if it hasn't happened yet. So when it pushes back into the bay, you're going to get some more storm surge, although it should not reach dangerous levels when that happens.

Also, we got, you know, our team witnessed several transformers blowing, you know, these things just kind of arced out, sparks flew, and then you heard booms. You saw kind of like red blue flashes of light in the air, looking like blue lightning that happened repeatedly where we are, and that preceded the power going out on this block and throughout this section of Tampa.

So a very dramatic and dangerous evening in a lot of respects, Laura. And again, I can't emphasize enough, just because maybe the brunt of the storm has passed. And as you can see, I'm getting hit with another burst of it right now, another burst of wind and rain.

So again, it still is not over here in Tampa, I saw a colleague, Victor, reporting there from Orlando, where they're getting kind of a pretty nasty burst of this thing, but it is not done here, and people should not be venturing out. Laura.

COATES: Brian Todd, thank you so much. I want to get right to CNN meteorologist Chad Myers, because Chad, we are seeing this ebb and flow of this storm. It's now a category one, but as you've heard from all of our correspondents across Florida, they're getting different versions of this same storm. What can you tell us?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I can tell you that a category one with 90-mile per hour sustained can still have a gust to 100 205, it just does. So yes, and this is the problem we've had, really from north to south. Venice, your biggest problem is that your wind was from the West, that west wind was pushing the surge to you. We know there's flooding in Venice. We know there's flooding in Naples. We know there's flooding in Punta Gorda, and all the way up toward Port Charlotte. We know there's water that shouldn't be where it is.

And then if you get down to the other side, where the wind was blowing offshore Tampa, that's why you blew all the water out of Tampa Bay, just like Brian Todd was talking about. But in the meantime, it was raining, and in St Petersburg, they picked up 16 inches of rain today alone. Up toward Lakeland, more than 10 inches of rain has already fallen.

And look at this stripe of purple. I want you to notice that the purple is 10 inches of rain or more, and there's Orlando, maybe Orlando executive right there, all the way back to Tampa. Now, if we ever get a white part in there, that will be 20 inches of rain or more, just in 24 hours so far, so good on that.

But I mean, you know, I mean, 10 to 12 is plenty, and the problem is, it's not 10 to 12 in a neighborhood that can run off.

[01:20:00] It's 10 to 12 over an entire county. Where is it going to go? Just to the low spots. And that's where the problem is, and that's why we have those flash flood emergencies going on right now. The heaviest rain is, according to Orlando, toward Daytona, toward New Smyrna Beach. That's where most of the heaviest rain is.

Why we still have wind in Tampa, is because this is the backside of what was the secondary eye. Big storms like this can have more than one eye wall, and when the inner one gets so small that the outer one takes over, you get an eye wall replacement cycle, and the whole storm kind of goes down in wind speed.

Well, this is one of the outer bands. This is still coming in, bringing wind speeds in the 60 to 70-mile per hour range. When this comes in and actually turns a little bit farther toward from the west to the east, that's when the water is going to blow back into Tampa Bay.

You don't want to be down there. Authorities have already said, Please don't go down there. Do not go in just because it's drying out. It won't be dry for long. So yes, it is now a 90-mile per hour storm, but it still holds an awful lot of power.

This is still going to be a hurricane when it exits the East Coast and gets back into the Atlantic Ocean. That's how strong this storm was. It made it all the way across the land and didn't die enough to just be a top tropical storm.

COATES: Chad Myers, thank you. We're watching this so closely. I know we can rely on you as well. Next, we'll speak to the mayor of hard hit Fort Myers and how his city is handling this devastating storm. We back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:26:00]

COATES: Well, we've got a lot going on right now. Back with following what's happening in hurricane Milton. Fort Myers is now the location. We know, of course, it's further south, but it's been facing some of Milton's strongest impacts.

Joining me now the mayor of Fort Myers, Kevin B Anderson. Mayor, thank you so much for joining us. We are watching what's happening and what's unfolding all across Florida. What are you seeing right now where you are?

KEVIN ANDERSON, FORT MYERS, FLORIDA MAYOR: Well, we're finally starting to see the winds die down, but with that, we're also seeing the water that has come in from the river.

COATES: Mayor, our correspondent, Carlos Suarez is in Fort Myers and said a couple of hours ago that the flooding, the flooding was the worst that he had seen all night. Do you have a sense of what it's like right now in terms of the flooding and potential damage? ANDERSON: I was out there about two hours ago, and it wasn't -- it was a little bit worse than Helene, but it wasn't quite as bad as Ian. So I'm estimating that probably down along the river about three feet. And as you get away from the river, it dies down.

COATES: That is significant. Just as you mentioned, Hurricane Helene, not even two weeks ago right now, a town has to brace for now both and in tornadoes, I understand. What about the tornadoes? I think that some have touched down in Fort Myers?

ANDERSON: Yes, I believe we had at least two of them touched down. One of them took some pool enclosures and street lights and trees. The other one ripped the covering of the gas pumps at a (inaudible).

COATES: My goodness, thinking about that, we're seeing images right now of Fort Myers while you and I are talking, and the strength of that wind is unbelievable. You mentioned that what you're seeing now is perhaps not as bad as Helene, a little worse than Helene, but not as bad as Ian. Those two reference points are very significant.

How is what you're seeing right now comparing to what we witnessed in Helene just a few weeks ago?

ANDERSON: Well, like I said, we've got a stronger winds and a little bit more water. The good thing about this storm is that our downtown businesses prepared for it. They didn't prepare for Helene or Ian, but this time they did.

COATES: Likely because that happened, which is one that perhaps, if you could find a silver lining in preparedness, but the tornadoes at a whole different level. I mean, tornado warnings must impact a response to the hurricane. How does it make the response more challenging for your community?

ANDERSON: Well, first of all, you know, we were concerned about the debris the tornado created. We were able to get some crews out there and get most of it picked up. You know, the thing with the tornado is because it's so unexpected, and it's people can't plan for that.

COATES: Speaking of the plan, I mean, just remind our audience how challenging the recovery had been, even from Hurricane Ian, let alone now two back to back hurricanes.

ANDERSON: Well, we're used to it. If you can get used to it, I should say. Right now that are just waiting for the storm to pass so they can get out there, start clearing the roads, and our response teams can get out there and start handling the calls for service.

COATES: Mayor Kevin Anderson, thank you so much for joining us. We're thinking about your community and hoping that the light of day does not bring the destruction anticipated. Thank you so much.

ANDERSON: Thank you.

COATES: I do want to bring in the mayor of Gulfport, Florida, Sam Henderson, is with us now. Mayor, we have you on the line. Tell us what's happening in Gulfport. What have you been experiencing in your community tonight?

[01:30:02]

SAM HENDERSON, GULFPORT, FLORIDA MAYOR: Well, these are definitely the most significant winds that I've seen since -- since I've been in Florida.

And folks I've talked to who have lived here their whole lives, you know, saying similar things.

So this just shows you the real difference you can have from storm to storm. Whereas with Helene, we had incredible storm surge, but not so much in terms of wind and rain. This one was an incredible amount of wind and rain and we're -- you know, it's going to take us until the light of day to fully assess, but we think at this point much less storm surge than what we saw with Helene.

But again, that's going to -- that's going to require us assessing that at dawn.

COATES: Mayor, are you hearing about any emergency calls?

HENDERSON: Yes. For sure, we always have them. I mean, no matter no matter what weather event we have, where there's going to be some. We don't have any specifics on those yet, but of course, our guys and our ladies and gentlemen of our emergency response have been out all night, taking care of those things.

There's vast majority of Pinellas County without power. There was a water main break and so most of south -- or a good chunk of south Pinellas is without water at this point.

But the worst of it has passed us by, the winds are subsiding, we're still getting substantial gusts, but we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

COATES: So many people in your community had lost so much just from Hurricane Helene. Just, you know, really in this moment days ago, less than two weeks. Do you think most of the residents in your city evacuated?

HENDERSON: Yes. And honestly, you know, you heard the -- the mayor of Fort Myers talking about that as well.

I think the fact that we had Debby and then fairly close on the heels of Debby, we had Helene. I think that was a real wake-up call for a lot of people.

And so I think this time we've had a pretty significant change in the response of people keeping those evacuations and getting out of the way, which is -- which is hugely helpful for us because, of course, you don't want to send emergency responders into dangerous situations because someone made a poor choice.

So I'm expecting to hear that -- that we did pretty well. And when we finally get in in the morning and are able to assess everything and, you know, go over the specifics of the storm.

COATES: Now, Mayor, you also teach courses on the environment at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg. And you just mentioned consecutive storms. What do you think people ought to know about the frequency of what's happening now?

HENDERSON: I think it's going to be, you know, the term gets thrown around a lot, but it's going to be the new normal, you know, where we're seeing some very different trends.

I mean, it's -- you know having one come across the entire gulf moving from west to east through the Gulf of Mexico is fairly unusual.

The fact that we see them intensify so rapidly, the fact that they've started to move relatively slowly. This in conjunction with the fact that were seeing rising sea levels and more intense coastal flooding, even with just regular precipitation events.

I think is really kind of telling of what we should expect. You know, from here to Asheville. I think Helene was a great lesson and what we can come to expect as a normal as opposed to what --

COATES: Mayor Sam Henderson. Thank you so much. We hope the light of day will reveal less destruction than anticipated. Thank you so much.

We have much more on Hilton in just a moment.

[01:33:31]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES: We're following Hurricane Milton, now a category one storm making its way across Florida after slamming into the state's West Coast a few hours ago.

I want to right to Victor Blackwell, who has been in Orlando, Florida. Victor, the storm is now passing right over you. How is it where you are?

BLACKWELL: We have just a moment and just as I said that -- that there was a moment of a break from the winds, it picked up and the rain is coming back a little heavier.

And that's what it's been since I spoke with you about 30 minutes ago, there are moments of the heavy downpours and stronger wind gusts and then it dies off for just a few moments. That's just kind of the pattern of a hurricane in these types of storms.

What's remarkable is that Milton has kept the strength of being a hurricane although dropped -- although dropped a couple of categories as it has crossed the state.

And again, the story here is not the intensity from moment to moment. It's that since I've been here, at least I'm reporting on this very early this morning, there's been the consistent rain.

12 hours ago there was a flood warning and there was just another one issued.

So the saturated ground that we were seeing and experiencing in the morning hours in the very early afternoon hours when you bring on the 12 or more hours that came with the storm as it came ashore, now we're seeing the flooding.

Now we're seeing some of those localized concerns around bodies of water. I checked in with Orange County and Osceola County, which is right to the south where Kissimmee is and their shelters there in Osceola are at capacity. And those are not major concerns about winds or falling trees. It's being around those bodies of water, those canals, the retention ponds, the creeks that overflow. What they saw in Ian in 2022.

[01:39:51]

BLACKWELL: You know, it's been 20 years since those four storms came through Florida in six weeks -- Charlie, Francis, Ivan, Jean -- so they've got some institutional memory about how storms back-to-back can really wreak havoc on a community.

Here in Orange County you got about 2,600 people in shelters. Again, it's to get away from the water, the rising water and the flood.

So as the wind ebbs and flows and kind of gusts here, that's less of a concern. It is causing some power outages for about 65,000. But when you look at the larger number of outages across the state, it's kind of a smaller number.

I mean, it doesn't really matter how many people if it's your house that you're out of power, you feel that pretty intimately.

But here it's the water. And so we'll continue to wait for those reports. The first responders, the police, the fire rescue here in Orange County, locally in Orlando, in Osceola to the south they've been pulled from the streets because of those gusts that get above 40 miles-per-hour. It's just not safe.

They are monitoring calls. So far Orange County says they've gotten about five calls in. Nothing remarkable yet. Any rescue calls that they're getting us details about, that we're waiting to get the latest about what those were.

But here in the city of Orlando they're watching the rain, Laura.

COATES: Victor, there are areas we're hearing from our colleagues, Brian Todd, also from Bill Weir about water main breaks and water quality issues now coming into view. Are you hearing anything like that where you are?

BLACKWELL: No. Not hearing any concerns or reports yet of water main breaks. Fortunately, what we're hearing from the local emergency management operators and they're on that level one, preparing, waiting is that so far nothing, I wouldn't say major because the storm is still going on, but they are crossing their fingers and what they're seeing on the West Coast fortunately, they're not seeing here yet. So no reports of water main breaks yet here in -- I shouldn't say "yet" -- no reports of water main breaks or those major concerns that you're seeing from the other reporters there on the southwest coast of Florida but they are watching closely those bodies of water.

COATES: We're watching you as well. Victor Blackwell, stay safe. Keep us informed as you always do.

Joining me now is storm chaser Jonathan Petramala. Jonathan, I understand you are driving from Tampa to St. Pete's. What are you seeing along the way?

JONATHAN PETRAMALA, STORM CHASER: Well, we've skipped up all the way from Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda up to Venice. That was probably the biggest impacts we saw, which would be -- which would make sense.

It was just south where the storm made landfall in Siesta Key. So you have the biggest impact which is the storm surge. So 6, 7 feet worth of storm surge that we can at least get to.

Of course, there might be totals that are higher and again, we just can't reach it right now and it's dark. So that was the biggest impact there.

There were a lot of power outages, of course, transformers blowing and popping, the lights were flickering on and off. The sky looked like it was a staccato of lightning. There was just so many flashes all around from the strong winds, especially on the backside of Hurricane Milton.

Unfortunately mobile homes, trailer homes, they were being shredded. And again, that's why even if those homes aren't in evacuation zones necessarily, those low-lying areas were still susceptible to storm surge and flooding. Officials still evacuate those homes because they're not built to withstand hurricane force winds.

And this was a perfect example of that. They were shredded roofs, ripped-away awnings, garages just scrap metal at this point. So that was the biggest impacts there.

And then we came up to Tampa. Interstate-75, some trees are down. There are some signs that are blown across, power lines as well. And you get into the city of Tampa, mostly -- and here comes the car that's just sitting in the middle of the road which is really odd.

Bumpers, so they must have hit some floodwater. So yes, that's another real big impact. I'd say right now, the biggest impact that people are seeing, at least in the Tampa Bay area, is going to be flash flooding.

So not the storm surge since the storm passed to the south, this was a rain event. And so you had the freshwater from the sky falling and there are a lot of areas that are flooded, very difficult to get around. Many roads flooded.

We're just passing this church here in Clearwater, that is flooded as well. So buildings are definitely going to be impacted. Neighborhoods are going to be impacted. It's just so difficult to get a grasp on the scale of what Hurricane Milton has done to the West Coast of Florida because it is such a large storm, impacts such a large area and it happens at night.

[01:44:48]

PETRAMALA: So it's going to be a few hours before we really get a kind of a handle on it. But from what we're seeing, you know, is it the catastrophe that we were fearing a couple of days ago? Maybe not.

But I can't say that for sure at least not until dawn comes in a few hours they can really get a grasp and a handle of what happened to the Barrier Islands and certain neighborhoods here as well in Pinellas County.

COATES: I mean Jonathan, you're a native to that area as well and just thinking about a storm just a few weeks ago -- not even a few weeks ago -- less than two weeks ago, Hurricane Helene.

You've had a number of hurricanes in recent memory for all of us. How does this storm compare with the numbers you're seeing and the damage that you have witnessed already.

PETRAMALA: It's so hard to really go storm to storm and compare. Hurricane Helene was just such a blow, the biggest blow that the Tampa Bay area has had in at least a century just because that storm surge was so impactful where you had 20,000 homes and businesses majorly- damaged.

And it was crushing to see just the stacks and stacks of debris that you've seen on the video. The sand that was brought in that covered the beach towns. People commenting, saying, you know, this looks like a blizzard.

I thought it was snow that's why I clicked on this video and instead it was actually the sand that was covering the roads and into homes and businesses along some of the barrier islands around St. Petersburg and St. Pete Beach.

So it was a very impactful storm in a way that people, I don't think, necessarily believed could ever happen here just because it's been so long since this area has really seen a direct impact. And that was 100 miles away, Hurricane Helene.

This one is directly impacting us. It's the first major hurricane we've had in 103 years. And it's going to be a shock to people's system when they -- when they do get back in the area. Fortunately I would say the vast majority of people in the Tampa Bay area that were in the affected areas, they left.

Hurricane Helene scared them straight. And so they listened to those evacuation orders. They didn't try to say, oh, I'm a Floridian, I can stay. And they did get out because they did see the reality of what a storm surge could do.

And so I'm glad that that happened, I'm obviously worried to see what my home is going to look like tomorrow. Not only just my personal home but also the homes of my neighbors and my community. You know, you don't want to see that ever happened to your neighbors.

And so it's kind of a surreal feeling as someone who's covered disasters all over the world and, you know, you see this in other people's homes and you have the empathy to go through it because you always know in the back of your mind where you live is as vulnerable as where they live.

And so at this point, you just realize that you have a price to pay where you live. And this -- that's my price to paradise and all of our prices of living in paradise here in Florida are these hurricanes. And Hurricane Milton is calling that due today.

COATES: Jonathan Petramala, thank you so much. We are like you, waiting for light of day to see the full extent of what home may look like for so many. Thank you so much.

PETRAMALA: Thank you.

COATES: How and, of course, when will emergency crews be able to get to people who may very well be stranded as we speak.

We'll talk to the man who helped with the recovery after the Hurricane Katrina, General Russel Honore next.

[01:48:15]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES: We continue to follow the coverage of Hurricane Milton. There has been, as you know, two major hurricanes in as many weeks and it's just lashing all over Florida. It has reduced in the category but the amount of damage, we still don't know until the light of day.

Joining me now, retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Russel Honore. He served as commander of Joint Task Force Katrina following the 2005 hurricane that devastated -- devastated the Gulf Coast. He's also the author of "Leadership in the New Normal".

General, thank you so much for being here. That phrase, "the new normal", it seems to be consistently normal now that we've had several hurricanes in recent weeks. This one, a monster. Dangerous wind gusts above 100 miles-per-hour, rain and storm surge and tornadoes.

What is your top concern at this very hour?

LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Well, the continuous destruction that this storm is doing in central Florida. The coast line much of what government officials are seeing, they are watching your -- your reporters on the streets, Laura.

I did Hurricane Harvey, Irma and Maria, deployed with CNN during these storms and much of the time when I was in the military our initial reports on what things look like on the streets was from your reporters.

But it won't be until daylight and until the winds go down, until the first responders can get out and do assessments. But I would suspect we got a lot of damaged homes. The last report saw maybe a couple of million people without power.

And the impact of the rain water, I think we just saw probably one of the biggest rain producers we have seen in recent history. And I think this will end up being a historical storm.

With all the first responders standing by to come in, we've got to wait until the storm passed and that won't be until sometime tomorrow once we clear the coast of Florida and the winds go down.

[01:54:51]

HONORE: But at daylight, we should have a pretty good assessment -- initial assessment when they get the drones and the helicopters up to see the damage, Laura.

COATES: And yet, the first responders in planning -- they can't wait necessarily to start planning until light of day. They're probably doing a lot of things right now to get ready for what the possibilities are.

HONORE: Yes, they actually -- they're watching your reporters on the street. They're watching the streets, the breaking news reporters.

That's the way I watched what happened in Katrina to get our initial assessment because that's how we'll figure out what the potential damage was in the city of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.

So those initial reports are actually coming through news media people, the storm trackers that are out on the streets showing infrastructure damage.

Many of those reports came in first from the media into the newsrooms because CCTV cameras go down sometimes.

So if we gather -- they've been gathering information to get a perception of what the problem is, but it won't be until daylight and they start getting the calls in for people to be rescued that we'll actually know what the situation is.

But this is a terrible storm, I think this will be a historic storm.

COATES: Lieutenant General Russel Honore, thank you so much. We also wait for that moment for the light of day.

CNN's live special coverage of Hurricane Milton continues in just a moment.

[01:56:22]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)