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Monster Hurricane Matthew Threatens Florida; Florida Governor: Hurricane Matthew Is A "Monster"; Road to the World Cup, Russia. Aired 1-2am ET

Aired October 07, 2016 - 01:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN BREAKING NEWS..

[01:00:21] MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, everyone. Welcome to our continuing "BREAKING NEWS" coverage of Hurricane Matthew. I'm Michael Holmes in Palm Bay near Melbourne, Florida, which is where that hurricane is headed at the moment.

[01:00:35] JOHN VAUSE, CNN NEWSROOM ANCHOR: It's now 10:00 p.m. here in Los Angeles. I'm John Vause. We'd like to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. This hurricane is expected to deliver a catastrophic damage in the State of Florida, if it makes landfall. Officials warned that if it hits, this will be the strongest storm, the area has seen in more than 100 years. The Governor has been urging millions to evacuate for their own safety.

RICK SCOTT, GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA: We are starting to see the impacts, and it's a monster. Again, our number one priority is protecting every life in this state.

VAUSE: Let's go to Michael Holmes, Palm Bay, Florida, which is expected to be hit hard in the coming hours. And Michael, there is a glimmer of good news right now. The latest forecast has Matthew moving slightly to the east, a chance that might not make landfall, but still, there is a big chance that it will bring devastation in the coming hours.

HOLMES: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, a little bit of relief, I can tell you for people here and around the Melbourne, Florida area. It certainly doesn't feel like relief, but yeah, it if jogs further to the east, it's going to reduce that wind speed and that's going to save an awful lot of grief for an awful lot of people. But as you pointed out, if it jogs a little bit to the west, it could be even more catastrophic. We're expecting an awful lot of damage here, John, in the day. In fact, we got a bulletin now from the National Weather Service here in Melbourne, and they were using some frightening language, saying that they're expecting devastation. They were saying that some areas could be uninhabitable for weeks and even months in the wake of this storm if it continues the way it has been going. We're getting gusts at the moment. I'm going to estimate, 60 miles an hour, 100 or so kilometers an hour, I suppose, and it's just been ramping up and up and up and it's going to be at its worst in probably two, three hours from now, so we're not even at the worst of it, John.

VAUSE: Shelter from the winds but you run from the storm surge, and that is one of the biggest concerns right now. Also, the possibility that, that storm surge might coincide with high tide.

HOLMES: Yeah, high tide was an hour ago here, in Florida, midnight local time, and now 1:00 a.m. So high tide has come, but that storm surge, there's been fears it could be two, even as much as three meters. Now, imagine that at high tide. And what you have here in this part of the country is, you have barrier islands that run along the coast, and then an inlet that's inside of that, and then the coast proper. What's -- the problem with those barrier islands, is that storm surge could devastate the houses there. They've been evacuating people all day, getting them out of there. But there's going to be a lot of concern about what's left there tomorrow, when this is all over. That surge can also cause a lot of problems further up the coast, you're talking Georgia and you are talking South Carolina as well, who are also under warnings. But it's right here, right now in the next few hours, where we're going to see just how bad this storm is going to be, and it's interesting to note, when you mention storm surge, you always think of the wind and the rain, when you're talking about a hurricane. More people die from water, from storm surges, than anything else in a hurricane, John.

VAUSE: Okay, Michael. We'll check in with you throughout the coming hours. We appreciate you being with us. Let's go to Derek Van Dam now, for the latest on the storm, where it's heading. He's at the CNN Weather Center. So Derek, explain to us this slight glimmer of good news as Matthew heads away from the coast, still hugging the coast, but maybe not making landfall.

[01:04:17] DEREK VAN DAM, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR: Now hugging the coast is probably the best way to describe it. The latest information from the National Hurricane Center, John, has a trajectory of the storm, really just running parallel with the coastline of Florida, and this is when really miles, matter within this particular situation. We're going to get into some hyper local detail here, because it's ever so important that we break this down for you. What I'm showing you is, Cat 3, Cat 4 forecasted winds from the previous model run. What you're looking at is the Florida coast, this black line here, you can see Daytona Beach, Melbourne, there's a space coast, Orlando is inland. A deep dark shading of red, that is extremely strong Cat 3, Cat 4 winds. But the latest computer models that we have available to us, shifted that track, ever so slightly to the east. That is a significant improvement for the potential of the devastation that we have along the east coast of Florida.

Let me explain a little bit more. You can't see numbers here, but the earlier model runs were potentially bringing in 120 miles per hour to the space coast, but now that it has put the strongest winds just offshore, we're only talking about Cat 1 to maximum Cat 2. So really, miles matter here. But there are some considerations that we need to keep in mind and considering what has happened in the Freeport area in the Bahamas, just off the coast of Florida. What we saw was a, kind of, a wobble with the eyewall. It actually moved to the west. Look at the trajectory, OK? You can see it moving in the north-westerly direction, but at the last moment, it shifts westward by about 15 to 20 miles. This is so crucial because if that same westward shift takes place when it reaches the Florida coastline, you can imagine the strongest winds will be on shore as well. If it shifts to the east, it brings the strongest winds offshore. So when we're talking about miles mattering here, I really mean it, because with this path, potentially running parallel with the coastline, this is really going to count.

So let's break it down hour by hour. What we're expecting already tropical to hurricane force reaching the coastline of Florida. We're starting to focus in north of the space coast, it's the Daytona Beach by early into the afternoon on Friday. Strong hurricane force winds anticipated there. Storm surge will be a major threat with extremely heavy rain moving along the coastline of Georgia and South Carolina. This is really going to wreak havoc across the entire bend area from Florida into the Carolina's, going forward. All right, that's all the latest we have from the CNN Weather Center. We're going to send it back to Michael Holmes, in the field. What do you see, Michael?

HOLMES: All right. Some good news, we hope there and we hope that continues. Yeah, and just one other update, there's a hundred thousand people in Florida now without power. We've actually been seeing transformers blowing in the distance and power going out around this part of Florida. About a hundred thousand people without power, in this county, it's called Brevard County. We just got word to the emergency services, have now said, it's too dangerous for them. They've reached the point where they're cutting off, going out and helping people. So if people who didn't go to shelters, who didn't lock themselves down in a safe place, if they're in trouble now, they're on their own. Now, what's happening here, right now, is going to be happening a little bit further north up the coast where Sara Sidner is. Sara Sidner, you're expecting this bad weather to hit you in the later hours of today. Update us on what's been going on there.

[01:08:05] SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, we are starting to get the weather now. We've had some very, very heavy bands of wind and rain. You're about 64 miles from us in Brevard County. We're in Volusia County which is where Daytona Beach is, it's a very popular spot for tourists. But of course, they have mostly evacuated out of here. The hotels have told people that they cannot stay. They must evacuate from the coastline. We've been talking to the police chief who has been very clear with everyone that at some point, just like what's happening in Brevard County, where they're saying they are no longer going to be responding to emergency calls, because it is too dangerous, that same thing is going to happen here, even though every single person on the force is activated and is working today, they're saying, "Look, there's going to come a point where we're not going to be able to save you if you did not heed that warning, you're on your own." And so, at this point, it's too -- really too late to "evacuate" and get out of the way of the storm. However, there are a few shelters that are still open, three or four, but they have very few beds now, so even that is starting to get completely full. And so, people need to realize that at this point in time, to sort of hunker down and try to get out of the area where the storm surge is going to be coming.

We have seen the storm surge come up already. Most of the beach is covered in water as it comes ashore. We are expecting it to come up and over the Broadway walk here. And so, what I can tell you though is that, it's starting to lighten up a little. So one of those bands has kind of left and every, you know, few minutes, maybe half an hour, we'll see another big one, push through. But so far, haven't had any difficulty standing. It's just kind of blowing around and we're kind of in a spot that's safe, Michael. I mean, we're -- if we push back a bit, we're in a big, huge concrete hotel and my photographer there, is showing you, where we are. Those windows that in this hotel, can sustain about 150-mile-per-hour winds, we are told. So, this is a hotel that is clearly prepared, and we do know that the Florida Power Light folks will be staying at this hotel. Some of them here already, some coming to make sure that if power does go out, which they're expecting, I think it's now up to 140,000, the last time I checked, the Floridians without light and power, but they're expecting as soon as the storm comes through, that they're going to get right on it and start restoring power as soon as they can, Michael.

HOLMES: Yeah, and it was interesting around where we are, Sara, there were obviously, the evacuations were being carried out and most people heeded the warnings, but the police were saying, they were very concerned. There were some who did not heed the warnings. Another big gust coming through here now. And in particular, in mobile home parks, there were people who live in these mobile homes, who did not want to leave, and you couldn't be in a more flimsy structure, really, in this sort of weather. Weather warnings there to evacuate where you are, by in large heeded, because there was a lot of worries that people wouldn't take it seriously.

SIDNER: Yeah, a lot of people did go. I mean, we've been driving up and down the streets up until a certain hour, and a lot of people left. It was very quiet in the streets, but there were a few, and we talked to some of them. One of them was a business owner that's about 150 or so, or 200 yards from the ocean, who said, "I'm not leaving." not because he's got bravado, but because it's his life's work. He doesn't want to leave his business. He's boarded up - he's boarded up his home, used sandbags, and he says, "You know, I'm just going to stick it out no matter what is said." So, there was no convincing him to leave and he decided that for him, the right thing to the was to stay even though he is well aware of the warnings from the governor and from his police chief here on Daytona Beach, and they have not minced words at all. The police chief here, basically saying, 'We're not going to save you. We're not going to be able to save you when the storm comes closer, so understand that when you call 911, if it even goes through, we're not sending someone out to come and get you until it is safe for personnel and rescue teams to get to you. So you really are on your own for a few hours there."

The good news, as you mentioned, the storms moved a bit on off of shore, so we may not be getting as heavy rain and winds as we thought, but again, flooding, flooding is always the big deal here. This area has kind of a bowl shape, so as the water comes on, it will kind of go down into a bowl. This is an area that generally floods when there is a lot of rain anyway. So, we're just kind of watching and waiting to see, but so far, we've been able to sort of stand up through this and we haven't felt that sort of wind that knocks you back, yet. But we are expecting to get a bit of that as the night goes on in the next few hours. Michael?

HOLMES: Yeah, exactly. Sara, we'll check back in with you a little bit later. And Sara makes that point and well reiterated the county here. They have now shut down emergency services. Anyone here who's in trouble now, they are on their own. John, back to you.

VAUSE: Yeah, that is a message which was made loud and clear, earlier during the day, that if you decide to stay, there may not be help there if you need it. Michael Holmes there, in Palm Bay. Thank you. Let's head a little bit north of there, to Port Canaveral back to where storm chaser, Jeff Piotrowski is, right now. He is driving, so Jeff, tell us what are conditions like? What are you seeing?

[01:13:39] JEFF PIOTROWSKI, STORM CHASER: Well, right now, we're, you know, Port Canaveral here, just south of Kennedy Space Center, and the water is rising, the storm surge is coming in. It's not, you know, super high, but it's probably up about four feet. It's just below the ramp here and the water is splashing up on the road now. But the more concerning situation ongoing here, off the Melbourne Radar, is watching the winds. The winds coming ashore right now, just about 500 feet above or - above the ground here, now the winds are hurricane force, about 70, 74 miles an hour, about 500 feet. And as the heavier showers and storms coming in, and the rain will transport those winds to the ground. So we're sort of having some hurricane force winds onshore shortly. And then just about 10 miles off the coast, the winds are at 80 and about 20 miles off the coast, they're at 90, and if we go on about 45 miles, I've got winds of 128 to 135 miles an hour, just 40 miles off the coast, coming to the northwest.

The question of the day is going to be how high do those really high winds come in toward the coast? Does it stay off the coast? It's too soon to call. It's going to be a close call, but I think it's going to be -- it's going to be close. It's going to be a very close call. If those high winds come on shore, then the damage is going to escalate quite rapidly. But I'm literally watching 130-mile-an-hour winds now within 30 miles, 40 miles east of Melbourne, and then moving northwestward again, it may or may not reach over the coastline here.

VAUSE: Jeff, why is this storm so difficult to predict? Because the forecast, at least the moment, has it, you know, hugging the coastline, not making landfall. At least that is the call right now.

PIOTROWSKI: Right. Well, computer -- sorry, I mean, the science is the grid spacing of the -- of the - of the grid of the (INAUDIBLE) and how we sample the data, you know, globally, one of the things is that - one of the things that's interesting and I think I told you this earlier in the program, is that one of the things that's going to probably revolutionize -- it will revolutionize the whole weather community as a whole, globally, is what we call the (INAUDIBLE) and it was actually at Kennedy -- the NASA Kennedy Space Center here, just across the bay here from me. And it set to launch here in November, coming up here in about three or four weeks. And it's going to be able to see global lightning, instant water temperatures globally, rapid scan satellite, very high resolution. It's to study hurricanes and give us a real-time data, not just across North America but on a global scale. And it's a - and so they literally took that satellite sometime today or this morning, and in my understanding, they moved it from Kennedy Space Center and took it inland somewhere because they were so fearful that the Kennedy Space Center, some of the buildings there may be compromised and possibly damage the satellite. So, they took it away and I don't know if it's going to delay the launch, but they took it inland somewhere to a - to safety, and they're going to, you know, get ready to launch that (INAUDIBLE) about four to five weeks, and it's going to revolutionize the weather industry, going forward both with the private and government sector, globally.

VAUSE: OK. Well, maybe, if they launched it a little earlier, things may have been easier to predict. But Jeff, we appreciate the update. We should note that, you did mention the Kennedy Space Center, which is not far from where you are, they have never experienced a major hurricane like this before. You're watching CNN's "BREAKING NEWS" coverage of Hurricane Matthew. Just ahead, how the Red Cross is working to help those hit hardest by the storm.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[01:19:32] AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Hi, I'm Amanda Davies with your CNN WORLD SPORT HEADLINES. It's been a busy night of World Cup qualifiers as the Road to Russia 2018, hots up. In the battle of the heavyweights, Italy produced a late goal to earn a draw against Spain and maintain their unbeaten World Cup qualifying record at home, and it looked as though Spain will going to get revenge for their defeat at Euro 2016 when Victor Vitolo took advantage of Gianluigi Buffon's mistake after 55 minutes, but Daniele De Rossi converted from the penalty spot to leave it 1-1. It wasn't the result Kosovo wanted in their first-ever home World Cup qualifier, having only been recognized as a country by FIFA in May this year, they hadn't managed to get their stadium up to standards in time. So actually played Croatia in Albania, but they were bluntly stuffed, 6- 0, it finished a first half hat trick from Croatia's Mario Mandzukic, finished Kosovo off even before they really got started. And a heads up, world football says -- underestimated the will to change within FIFA. Fantino told AFP TV that many at the organization were used to working in a certain way, and their will to change was quite superficial, not real. He's repeated his desire to expand the 2026 World Cup to 48 teams, but says the bidding process must be untainted by controversy. That's a look at your sports headlines, I'm Amanda Davies.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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[01:21:24] HOLMES: Hello, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes in Palm Bay, in Florida near Melbourne, Florida, where Hurricane Matthew is starting to make its presence very much felt.

[01:21:36] VAUSE: I'm John Vause in Los Angeles. This is CNN's continuing "BREAKING NEWS" coverage of Hurricane Matthew, which has already caused hundreds of deaths and massive destruction across the Caribbean, and is now impacting the Southeastern U.S. with heavy rain and strong winds. And the worst is yet to come, coastal residents in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina have been ordered to evacuate, many refused, but millions left the storm zone for safer ground. For more, let's head back now to Michael Holmes in Palm Bay, Florida. And of course, Michael, the wind is picking up, there is still this concern about a storm surge, and the issue of power, as many as 100,000 people across Florida have lost electricity.

HOLMES: Yeah. Exactly, yeah. Well over 100,000 people now, and as I said before, we've been seeing transformers pop off with regularities of a bright blue flashes sometimes, sometimes an orange flash, and then you see a whole area go dark. That's going to be a repeating pattern in the hours ahead. The storm surge you mentioned, very much of a worry, could be two, could be three meters, you know, 10, 11, 12 feet. And when you're talking about low lying barrier islands, like you have around here along the Florida Coast, you could be talking about potential devastation of the homes on those islands and others here on the mainland. Rosa Flores is in Jacksonville, Florida, and I know you've been looking there, Rosa, and a lot of the preparations you've been out and about, you've been checking out shelters. Update us.

[01:23:07] ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As, you know, officials here tell us that the next 24 hours are very critical. They're actually asking people to hunker down at this point, not to evacuate, but to hunker down. Now, I want to show you some of the dangers here. If you can take a look behind me, you'll see some cones. The cones are there for a reason. You also see a ramp behind me, that's a bridge. I want to take you over that bridge. We have the capabilities here today because we're equipped in a vehicle that has cameras all around it, so we can give you a 360 view of what's going on. So, what I'm going to do is, I'm going to hop in here, and we're going to be able to drive off and show you exactly what I'm talking about.

So, here's what officials are worried about. We know, of course, that Jacksonville is divided pretty much in half with the St. John's River, going through the middle. Now, one of their worries is storm surge. They're expecting, you know, anywhere from 3 to 12 feet, depending on where they are. Now, the other big worry, are bridges. Now, we're about to get on one of the main street bridge here, and with these cameras, we're able to kind of show you around. So these bridges have sensors, and once the sustained winds go to 40 to 45 miles an hour, these bridges, the bridge that we're actually on right now, will be closed, that's what those cones that I showed you earlier, are going to be used for, to make sure that people don't go on this bridge because, of course, it becomes very, very dangerous. Now, the water that you see under this bridge, and on bridges here over the St. John's River, you know, this is one of the areas that is expected to flood, because the storm surge comes in, the river swells. And the other thing that officials are worried about, are the tributaries that reach out from this river into the residential areas. Now, those were the areas, Michael, that we were at earlier today.

And you know, a lot of people are not heeding the warning. They're deciding to hunker down and not evacuate. Now, officials, of course, are saying now at this time, it's a little too late. It's very -- it's too late for them to evacuate because it's not safe. These bridges might be closed, other bridges might be -- might not be. And so, it's a very precarious, a very precarious situation. But, again, at this point, what officials are saying is, it's too late to evacuate. You have to hunker down because they don't know exactly what to expect as this hurricane approaches Jacksonville. Michael?

HOLMES: Indeed, Rosa. Thanks so much for that. Rosa Flores there in Jacksonville. And the weather that we're feeling here, just near Melbourne in Florida, is going to be heading that way in the hours ahead. And it's been getting worse and worse here, pretty much every minute. The rain has become torrential, the winds have become extremely strong, probably gusting upwards of 60, 70 miles an hour, well over 100 kilometers an hour, and we are still, probably two or three hours away from the worst of it. John, back to you there, in Los Angeles, in a very dry studio, no doubt.

VAUSE: Yeah, absolutely. Michael, appreciate the reporting. We'll come back to you in a moment. In the meantime, let's bring in AccuWeather Extreme Meteorologist, Reed Timmer, he is in Cocoa Beach. So Reed, the worst is still to come, but right now, what are conditions like where you are?

[01:26:42] REED TIMMER, ACCUWEATHER EXTREME METEOROLOGIST: The conditions are gradually deteriorating and the storm is still well off shore, so the worst is about to come inland. I was looking at radar just a little bit ago, and there was some lightning in the inner eyewall. The outer eye wall, there's eccentric eyewall structures right now, and the outer eyewall is actually intensifying. And it's headed in this direction. And just a little bit ago, we had a massive transformer explosion right outside of the hotel. I was this side of the hotel room, and it rattled the whole entire thing. We went outside and there were still sparks flying. And so we've seen all kinds of transformer explosions out here. The wind is definitely increasing. We had a report of a 60-mile-an-hour wind gust here, and I'm on Cocoa -

VAUSE: Looks as if we may have lost Reed's audio there, but he is on -- he is on Cocoa Beach there. And one important thing about his location, when we're talking about a storm surge, that area is particularly vulnerable, because there is the ocean on one side and there is a river on the other, and if the storm surge reaches the proportions that they're expecting, then areas like Cocoa Beach, will be extremely vulnerable. We'll take a short break. But when we come back, a lot more on our continuing coverage of Hurricane Matthew, in just a moment.

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[01:30:00]

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to our continuing breaking news coverage of the path of Hurricane Matthew, still making its way towards the Florida coastline. I'm Michael Holmes in Palm Bay.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN HOST: And I'm John Vause, here in Los Angeles.

Matthew has already taken hundreds of lives in the Caribbean and now this killer storm is lurking off the Florida coast. Officials warned those who ignored evacuation orders in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, it's now too late to get out. The only option is to hunker down and stay put. This storm could be deadly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our number one priority is protecting every life in this state. I think about my grandchildren, my daughters, my son- in-law, my wife. I want everybody to survive this. We can rebuild homes. We can rebuild businesses -- I was thinking of my own family -- we can't rebuild a life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Let's go back to Michael Holmes in Palm Bay, Florida.

And Michael, anyone who has been to those parts of Florida, they know the beaches are wide and flat. You can drive a truck down them. If there is a storm surge, there's not a lot between the water and the city.

HOLMES: Yes. Exactly, John. And that's the worry. And there are houses out on the barrier islands, too. One can't imagine what's going to be done to those in this storm, with the storm surge as well as the winds that are piling on.

And you know, I covered Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and saw the damage done to the coast, the beaches, the erosion. I saw houses that were on the beachfront that had been lifted up and carried down 100 yards away and plunked right in the middle of the road. So you can only hope that's not going to happen in this case.

But Sandy, at that point, when it hit New Jersey, was a tropical storm. This is a hurricane.

Derek Van Dam joining us now.

And Derek, where we are right now, was feared that this was the bulls- eye for Hurricane Matthew.

But maybe some good news?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's all about the miles right now, Michael. They really matter. But trust me, I anticipate conditions to deteriorate quickly for you in the overnight period; whether or not you get a direct landfall, time will tell. These are the impacts we're anticipating; heavy rains, certainly, damaging winds, you have already seen that in our live shots. Storm surge is a major concern and flash flooding is becoming more of

a concern as we look into Georgia and South and North Carolina. More on that in a second.

Here's the latest from the National Hurricane Center. Still a cat 4, winds of 130 KPH.

I want you to notice this eye replacement that is taking place. So we no longer have that coincentric eye wall visible on our satellite. That indicates that the storm is having a fluctuation in intensity. It's possible this could drop a few miles per hour in the sustained winds and the category as well. These are the threats going forward, storm surge 7 to 11 feet above normal high tide values.

Savannah, Jacksonville southward into Melbourne and Daytona Beach, lesser impacts from the storm surge as you travel further south into West Palm Beach and Miami. Don't forget about the coastline of South Carolina as well.

So what is driving Matthew forward from day two, three, four and five?

We have an area of high pressure located across New England that will block Matthew. That won't allow it to go northward. So this will not turn into another Sandy. However, that will allow for the system to change to a northeasterly direction, kind of shift directions --

[01:35:00]

VAN DAM: -- but it will also influence what is kind of a subtropical jet stream and that will allow for it to squeeze out a lot of available moisture. That is going to bring in our next threat, which is flooding.

By the way, we had a cat 2 hurricane that's dancing around the Atlantic Ocean as well, influencing Matthew as we speak.

This is forecast for rainfall for Florida, easily 6 to 10 inches of rain. But focusing in Southeast Georgia and southern sections of South Carolina, we could top 10 to 20 inches. I foresee this being a major flooding problem for those locations.

John, back to you in the studio.

VAUSE: OK, Derek, thank you for the update.

Don Hughes (ph) is the fire chief in Satellite Beach, Florida. He joins us now on the line.

Chief, thank you for being with us. Just explain to our viewers, if you would. Satellite Beach is on a barrier island. The Atlantic Ocean, to the east, Indian River to the west, which I imagine puts you at huge risk from a storm surge, especially if it's as high as 12 feet.

DON HUGHES (PH), FLORIDA FIRE CHIEF: Yes, our particular storm surge would be 11 to 13 feet. Right now it appears to be at 8 to 9 foot but we are 2-2.5 hours before hurricane force winds actually reach the island. So we probably will see the 13-foot storm surge.

HOLMES: So how do you prepare for something like that at this point?

HUGHES (PH): The good news is we've been messaging and to the community really prepping them days in advance that the storm was coming and that they needed to prepare.

Luckily, almost 50 percent of the population did evacuate. Those who have stayed, they are really outside of the main storm surge area. And we have rescue crews on and we're just keeping an eye on it.

But right now, strong winds, a lot of rain. We just finished up one structure fire. We'll probably see a couple more tonight. But all in all, we're doing quite well.

HOLMES: When do you get to that point, when it's too dangerous for emergency crews to head out into the storm?

That is a particular interest for those who have remained behind.

HUGHES (PH): And great question. And, for us, we turn -- we make a risk independent (ph) assessment. Most likely we will not be exiting once the winds are greater than 100 miles an hour unless there is extreme life threat involved.

But I'm not even quite sure we're going to hit those numbers today. Again, I have a sneaking suspicion with the jog the eye did, we'll probably keep the winds probably below 100 miles an hour.

HOLMES: So providing this track holds true and it hugs the coast and doesn't make landfall, then you are maybe, I guess, dodging a bullet, do you think?

HUGHES (PH): We believe we are dodging a bullet and we also know that it could just take a little bit of wobble of the storm back to the west to put us right back into the 120-mile-an-hour winds.

So right now it's a dancing game. A slight relocation of the eye gives us a completely different outcome. But nonetheless, we are still going to have hurricane force winds but it just may not be as bad as originally predicted.

VAUSE: It may not be a catastrophe but there will still be devastation I think maybe, is the best way to put it at this point.

Chief, thank you so much --

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: OK, we appreciate you being with us.

Sorry, go on?

Finish your thought.

HUGHES (PH): Thank you. HOLMES: Nothing?

OK, Chief. Thank you. We'll leave it there. Thank you, sir.

Jarrett Barrios is the chief executive officer of the American Red Cross for the Los Angeles region. He joins us now with details on the relief effort.

So, Jarrett, the American Red Cross, huge response now, moving into Florida, also Georgia, South Carolina; focus clearly is on Florida for the next 24, 48 hours.

What will be the biggest need, do you think?

JARRETT BARRIOS, REGIONAL CEO, RED CROSS: So right now, for folks who still have time to evacuate, that would be Georgia and South Carolina, we want them to know just because you maybe can't afford a hotel or don't have family locally, you can go to a Red Cross shelter.

We have over a hundred shelters open. We have several thousand people already in the shelters as of last night and that is probably, we think, going to double tonight.

VAUSE: So that's an important point because a lot of people are staying put because they want to protect their property but there is also that expense, too.

BARRIOS: That's right. And we -- and Red Cross shelters are always free. And we have a meal for you. Obviously people need to bring their medication and stuff they need to have with them. But we can keep them safe for the night.

For people who have decided to stay and it's too late to evacuate, we want them to be safe. Fill your bathtub with water because you may not have potable. You need to have batteries for your radio because you won't be able to charge your phone and rely on that.

The sorts of things that allow you to get real-time information about when it is safe to go out and seek a Red Cross shelter or seek other resources.

VAUSE: In terms of your response, is there anything particularly unique --

[01:40:00]

VAUSE: -- about this storm compared to other disasters?

BARRIOS: One of the things the advanced notice has given us, is much like FEMA, with their disaster declaration, we are allowed to surge their assets. We have done a surge as well. We are thousands of volunteers. We are ready to go and right now we are set up for people who are riding out the storm with us.

After the storm, there will be many people who have lost their homes and will need a place to go. And we want them to know they can come, too. We also need blood. Many blood drives were canceled. We are the source of the nation's blood supply. And for folks who aren't there and want to help, giving blood is a great way to help.

VAUSE: If you want to help, give blood, especially for everybody else who's dry, right.

BARRIOS: Precisely.

VAUSE: We have a lot more to talk about but you'll be with us next hour. I want to talk about Haiti, too, because that's an important mission right now for the Red Cross. So stay with us.

Meantime, we'll take a short break. Hurricane Matthew continues to cut a path of destruction across the Caribbean. We're looking at the damage in Haiti and the Bahamas in just a moment.

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HOLMES: Hello, everyone, I'm Michael Holmes in Palm Bay near Melbourne, Florida, as Hurricane Matthew pounds its way towards this spot in the last few minutes. In fact, one minute ago, probably, we just sort of rushed to the side as a massive gust came roaring down here.

And you can just feel pretty much minute by minute this storm getting stronger and stronger.

John, back to you in Los Angeles for now.

VAUSE: OK, Michael, stay safe out there.

Forecasters say they have not seen a storm so powerful on a track like this in living memory. Hurricane Matthew is battering the coast of Florida right now. If it makes landfall it could be the worst storm to hit the area --

[01:45:00]

VAUSE: -- in a century. It ripped apart homes and other buildings in Haiti.

And so far the death toll, 269 people, mostly in Haiti.

Matthew was a category 4 hurricane as it pummeled the Bahamas. Winds so strong they ripped a hole through this wall in this hotel in Nassau on Thursday. Heavy rain caused widespread flooding and damage to many homes as well as vacation resorts.

Let's bring in journalist Clint Watson (ph). He joins us now on the phone from Nassau, Bahamas.

Clint (ph), what is the extent of the damage there? CLINT WATSON (PH), JOURNALIST: It's extensive. I tell you, this storm really put a beating on the Bahamas, particularly the capital of the province, which has not seen this level storm like this in decades, I'm talking up to 80-something years.

So what you saw was widespread flooding, particularly on the southeastern part of the island where the storm came from. It's also the flattest portion of the province. So you saw a storm surge of up to 25 feet, coming in from the southeast. It is literally washing away homes (INAUDIBLE) on the southeast coast, just leaving widespread devastation and flooding.

You also had, because of the strong winds, a lot of roof damage and a lot of structural damage to some homes here in the capital.

Lots of trees down, major trees that have been around for decades, just throwing themselves across the streets, blocking streets. Some roofs flying as far as 100 feet, landing on other properties, even some of the hotels on Paradise Island sustaining some structural damage to their residences.

And so you can tell by the fierce winds the kind of destruction it left behind. The island is in a blackout at this point. Power was disconnected before the storm and is still out at this point.

So the National Emergency Management Agency has not been able yet to get out and get an assessment and give an all clear. So everyone is hunkered down in their homes until the all clear is given.

VAUSE: As a precaution, officials shut down power to the entire island as the storm was approaching.

And now that power is out, is there a timeline?

Do they have any idea how long it will be before electricity and other services return to some kind of normality?

WATSON: Assessments are expected to take place in the morning; as you can imagine with no power on the island and at nighttime, it's difficult to conduct any assessment.

So at first light the officials will assess the streets of the capital, which is covered with debris and the first focus will be to try and clear the roads so people can begin to assess their properties.

Right now it's impassable. And then to move the wires which are down, we have a lot of poles which the electricity is connected to that are down. So there has to be an assessment to take place first and make sure that happens. Now electricity will take a while to be restored to this island. You're talking, in some cases, perhaps weeks before electricity can be restored because a lot of these poles have to be replanted.

They have been snapped in half across the roads. And they have to now be removed and replanted. It is going to take a valiant effort from outside sources to come into the capital. In the past, when other islands in the Bahamas were hit, the capital would the one to respond because we've never had a hurricane in decades.

Now it's the capital that is vulnerable now. And so there is no source here to assist with the repairs. So it's going to have to come from outside to assist with the recovery.

VAUSE: But we should note, no fatalities at least reported at this stage.

Clint Watson there in the Bahamas, thank you for the update.

In Haiti, though the death toll from Hurricane Matthew is well over 250. Matthew made landfall there as a category 4 on Tuesday, triggering flooding and landslides and took out a major bridge to the southern peninsula, where whole villages were left flattened.

An estimated 350,000 people have been affected. UNICEF says the country is facing its worst humanitarian crisis since the 2010 earthquake, which killed 220,000 people.

A short break, but when we come back, Hurricane Matthew could be one of the most damaging storms in U.S. history. Up next, why some people chose to ride it out.

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HOLMES: Welcome back to our continuing coverage of Hurricane Matthew. We are here near Melbourne in Florida, which, at one point, was the bull's-eye for this hurricane before it shifted a little bit. It jumped a little bit further to the east.

Is that good news?

Time will tell. I can tell you though, that in the last few minutes, the sustained winds here have gotten a lot stronger and the gusts even more so. Some rather severe gusts whipping through here in the last five or 10 minutes or so.

More than 100,000 people are without power and it has gotten the point where emergency services say they will no longer go out if people call 9-1-1. Those people are on their own if their have not taken shelter in a safe place. They're going to have to ride this storm out.

And we are still at least two to three hours away from the worst of it -- John Vause in Los Angeles.

VAUSE: OK, Michael Holmes there, we appreciate the update.

With that in mind about those who've decided to ride out this storm, let's go to Anthony Hose. He lives in Deland, Florida. He also happens to be my father-in-law. We were talking to him earlier today. We advised him to leave. He decided not to.

So I hope you guys are OK.

What are conditions like right now?

Are you worried about the next couple of hours?

ANTHONY HOSE, DELAND, FLA., RESIDENT: Certainly worried, John, but it's very much the calm before the storm. Deland is about just 23 miles inland from Daytona Beach and simply at the moment we have persistent rain. People locally, most of whom that I know, have decided to stay, are still concerned because this is going to be, according to all forecasts, the biggest storm since --

[01:55:00]

HOSE: -- records began here in 1851. We were around 11 years ago and saw that when four storms hit this county, Volusia County.

But at the moment it's simply persistent rain and it's very much a feeling of the calm before the storm. And I think that we're likely to see the peak of this at around 9:00 to 10:00 am this morning. That's, of course, Eastern time.

VAUSE: Of course. Just explain your decision, why you decided to stay, despite all the warnings from your son-in-law, your daughter and of course officials there in Florida.

HOSE: Yes, well we took the decision earlier than today to stay. And by the time we were talking about it, what was it, probably seven or eight hours ago, we were thinking the last time that we had a large storm here, we did leave.

I had pre-booked a hotel up in the Panhandle and then another one in Alabama and then another in Valdosta, Georgia, just to keep away from that particular hurricane. But I do recall that the hotels were absolutely full. And had I not pre-booked, I think we would have had quite a job chasing a place to stay.

So I thought the house that we live in was built a year after Hurricane Andrew hit Miami. That was in '92. And the way that it's actually built is supposedly hurricane proof or at least to a degree hurricane proof. So we're going to find that out, I guess, in the next 12 hours.

VAUSE: Well, good luck and stay safe. Anthony Hose there on the line from Deland, thanks for being with us, Anthony.

You're been watching CNN's breaking news coverage of Hurricane Matthew. I'm John Vause in Los Angeles.

HOLMES: And I'm Michael Holmes in Palm Bay near Melbourne in Florida, as Hurricane Matthew barrels towards us. We'll be right back with more.