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South Florida And Hurricane Irma; Evacuations Continue; Evacuations in Florida; Fuel Shortages in Florida; West Palm Beach to Evacuate; Miami Beach Residents Stay; Interview with Florida Gov. Rick Scott. Aired 1-1:30a ET

Aired September 08, 2017 - 13:00   ET

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

CHAD MYERS, AMS ANCHOR: Everyone in Florida will feel a hurricane- forced wind gust over the next two days. Everyone.

Now, whether that brings down power line or trees or branches, whatever, depends on close you are to the center of this.

The red line, the American model. The blue line, the European model. Right over Marathon, Florida, possibly all the way up to about World Wide Sportsman which is Islamorada.

The wind side as you push the storm and the wind, that will be Key Largo all the way up even to about, I would say, the stretch. We'll probably see significant wind damage there all the way up to Ocean Reef.

But the wind will be plowing on shore this way, Wolf, because the storm is going to track up here. So, flooding here, wind damage here and here and then flooding from this side, too.

So, because we're going to move it right up and it's as big as the state, if not wider, with hurricane force winds, everyone will see damage. I don't think there'll be any true community that doesn't lose some shingles, maybe a window.

I need you to be very careful when try to get in or out of your house if you are staying, because when the wind blows those doors slam shut. And let me tell you, I've seen it.

And people's fingers get caught in those doors because the wind's just howling through it. You don't expect it. And, bam, you're in trouble and you're trying to go to the hospital and the wind's blowing a hundred.

Please, please, be careful here.

Also, have some cash. Today is the day to get cash. When the wind blows, the power lines go down, and also the electricity goes down, credit cards don't work. And when you need something, you need cash.

Here comes the storm right around 2:00 tomorrow afternoon. Miami finally sees a 50 mile-per-hour wind gust. But then, look at this white ball. That white ball, Wolf, that's 100 miles per hour or greater right over the entire Keys, and then over the everglades. And then, because the everglades isn't really land, it's water, it gets bigger. Gets bigger again. We have winds 100 miles per hour all the way across the Florida peninsula tomorrow afternoon and into Sunday afternoon. So, this is going to be Sunday afternoon.

This is going to be a big event for everyone onshore flow up and down the east coast. Onshore flow on the west coast causing flooding there.

And, you know, 16 million people will see hurricane force gusts. How many people are going to lose power, Wolf? Two million, 3 million, 4 million people without power just by power lines and trees and limbs down alone.

It's going to take a long time to put that all back up, let alone the possible loss of life if you do the wrong things and you stay in the Keys or you stay in places where the officials have told you to leave.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, that explains, Chad, why there are all of these enormous number of evacuations in Florida from the west coast, St. Petersburg, to the east coast, in West Palm Beach and south from there. Is there any part of Florida, really, that's going to escape this?

MYERS: No. Although, I will tell you that where we were yesterday with the storm somewhere in here which is worst-case scenario for Miami and West Palm and Hollandale and Jupiter and all this.

Where over here a little bit farther, now the east coast slightly less. Probably 20 miles per hour less here, but now 20 miles per hour more here.

So, we have shifted the wind toward Naples and Tampa, Pinellas and Venice and Fort Myers. That is going to get 20 miles per hour greater than you would have received yesterday with the track that we had yesterday.

It will still rain. It won't be a rain event. It won't be a flood event. This is going to be a wind and also the surge event for you.

And I believe the eye is going to be very, very close to the Marathon Airport, Key Colony Beach, just south of Grassy Key and Duck Key. And that's going to push the water north of there. The surge will be Key Largo, Islamorada and Points Northward.

And then, you push all of that water, eventually, over Lake Surprise into Key Biscayne. And that's when you flood downtown Miami and it looks like six feet of water will do a lot of damage in that town which is at sea level.

BLITZER: Yes, it certainly will. Chad, I want you to stand by. West Palm Beach, Florida, certainly one of the areas under mandatory evacuation right now. Just under 1.5 million people live in the county, on Beach County.

CNN's Brian Todd is on the scene for us. Brian, you're in West Palm Beach right across the water over there from Palm Beach. How is the evacuation process going?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, it's a complicated process and a very anxious process. We'll show you, kind of, what it means just physically to see all this.

They're trying to get people off this barrier island. That's Palm Beach right there. It's low lying. They've got mobile homes over there. They've got a lot of vulnerable population over there.

They're trying to get them across these bridges and over here to West Palm Beach. Where we're standing, it's a slightly higher elevation. And they want them to get inland into some general population shelters if they can get them.

[13:05:02] The mayor of West Palm Beach says they want -- they want to try to get people off the roads by tomorrow. That mandatory evacuation for Palm Beach started this morning at 10:00 a.m., about three hours ago.

In parts of West Palm Beach, Wolf, they're still adhering to volunteer evacuations. But also parts of West Palm, they are instituting some mandatory evacuations in some low-lying areas. You've got a slightly higher elevation here, as I mentioned.

But I just heard you talking to Chad a short time ago about storm surge. Storm surge is going to happen here. They said five to 10 feet. And I'm only standing about five feet above the surf right here in the inter-coastal waterway. That means it's going to wash up here and inundate this area probably.

Storm surge meaning if you're talking five to 10 feet, you're talking about five to 10 feet above this level that you're seeing here, plus wave activity on top of that. So, that's going to inundate here.

Well, if it inundates where I'm standing, it's certainly going to inundate the lower lying areas of Palm Beach over there.

Another big complication here, Wolf, is securing and protecting the elderly during this evacuation process. Again, trying to get them off Palm Beach and into a special needs shelter over here in West Palm.

And then, elsewhere in Palm Beach County, a huge challenge. A lot of elderly people do not want to move. The ones that want to move are not easy to move.

A short time ago, I talked to the co-owner of an Alzheimer's care facility. It was run just out of a small house, not really any bigger than these houses over here.

And he's got four Alzheimer's patients there. He's probably going to move them from that facility to another one of his own facilities a little bit further inland in Palm Beach, not necessarily to a shelter. He thinks he can take care of them better himself.

But he is worried. He says they get scared. They get disoriented. They get confused. And he's only got four of them, Wolf. You're talking about a county full of elderly people that need -- a lot them need -- have special needs. We're told that if they go to a special needs' shelter, and there is one of them that is probably going to be filled to capacity.

But they have to bring their caregivers with them, because there is just not the personnel there to take care of the special needs of the elderly. And as you know, Wolf, there are hundreds of thousands of elderly people here in Palm Beach County.

BLITZER: There certainly are. Broward County, Fort Lauderdale is, Miami-Dade. A lot of retirees down there and we're worried about the elderly. Brian, we'll get back to you.

With billions and billions of dollars expected in damage, FEMA will have a major role to play in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Irma.

Joining us now from Gainesville, Florida is the former administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Craig Fugate. Craig, thanks so much for joining us.

You have a lot of experience in this issue -- on this issue. What's the number one priority for FEMA when a monstrous storm like this is barreling down on the United States?

CRAIG FUGATE, FORMER ADMINISTRATOR, FEMA: Well, as you heard Governor Scott making sure that all of the resources that his team is going to need focused on search and rescue and the immediate stabilization as Irma moves through the state. Everything from critical supplies but most importantly, additional search and rescue teams from across the nation.

BLITZER: FEMA was already stretched thin after Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana. Was there a plan in place? Is there a plan in place, for a two-storm scenario?

FUGATE: Yes. We've practiced and that's part of the reason why FEMA has a 10-region structure to move different regions around and handle the primary (INAUDIBLE.) So, region four is actually focused on this while region six is still doing Harvey.

A lot of search and rescue teams have been back, retrofitting getting ready for this hurricane. Some of those teams were actually even sent to V.I. and Puerto Rico, getting ready when Irma was threatening those places.

BLITZER: What can -- what do the authorities do to those folks who ignore these evacuation orders, especially along the coast, in the Keys, in Miami Beach let's say or in Palm Beach. And they say, we're going to ride it out.

What, if anything, can you do about that? There's nothing illegal when it comes to that, right?

FUGATE: Yes, that's a decision and we want to make sure it's an informed decision.

So, I'm going to be blunt. We talk about storm surge. We're talking about drowning. That's how you die in this event, if you don't evacuate. You, your family and anybody who didn't evacuate will drown. That's the risk.

And they're going to tell you, at a certain point, that you're going to dial 911 to get rescued. It's too dangerous for the teams to get out there. They'll mark your location. And as soon as conditions permit, they're try to get to you.

But I've been on too many of these where that turns into a recovery operation, not life-saving, because the lives were lost. This is about drowning. That's how you're going to die if that storm surge is this bad if you don't evacuate.

That's why we ask people to heed the evacuation, move to higher ground. You need to move inland. This is not something that you want to risk or second guess. Because once you go to the point where it's too late, that may be your last decision.

BLITZER: Well, when is it too late? Based on the forecast we have now, when this hurricane is going to hit Florida, when is it going to be too late?

[13:10:02] FUGATE: About the time we start seeing those higher tropical forced wind gusts start hitting. Now, you start running into problems, particularly coming off the barrier islands going across the bridges, of getting blown off the bridge.

And that's generally when the response teams have to stop and move into their safe locations. So, as we start seeing those tropical forced winds arriving, your window will close rapidly to the point it's too dangerous to move and it's too late to get out.

BLITZER: You and I have discussed these. We've covered these hurricanes for many, many years. Give us some perspective on Irma right now. How enormous is it, compared to some of the others that we've gone through?

FUGATE: Well, for Florida, they have not been through this since the 1920s. Anybody who's been through Andrew, unless you went through the eyewall, Hurricane Charlie eyewall, very small defined areas.

All those hurricanes in 2004, they are not going to prepare you for Irma. This is a much more dangerous state-wide threat. Past experience is not going to prepare you for this.

You need to heed evacuation orders. If you've ridden them out before, you were lucky. Don't trust your luck this time. You need to move to higher ground.

BLITZER: Good advice from Craig Fugate. Craig, thank you so much for joining us. Really appreciate it. And I hope all of our viewers in the danger zone right now are paying very close attention to what you are saying. This is a life and death decision that these folks have to make.

Thank you very much.

FUGATE: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Let's go to south Florida, the coast, right now. The very first place on the U.S. mainland that will feel Irma's wrath.

CNN's Kyung Lah is joining us from Miami right now. Kyung, if you couldn't see a radar, would you even know, right now, that a hurricane is coming your way?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You absolutely wouldn't. But you certainly heard the urgency in Mr. Fugate's voice there, as he's describing that storm surge, the risk of flooding. And, perhaps, there is no place at greater risk, at least when it comes to the storm surge and flooding, than Miami Beach.

And I want to show you exactly why this could be so costly and deadly, Wolf. If you look over my shoulder, I'm going to step out of the way here, as you take a look, this is what's the draw about Miami Beach. These beautiful high rises. They're glitzy and they're new.

This is an area that's been booming with development and this is what potentially could make Irma hurt this area so much. And that's despite the new building codes that have been in place since Hurricane Andrew.

I want you, Wolf, to take a like at this still image. It's a historical picture from 1925. This is the same place. This is Miami Beach. You can see that it is a completely different area.

Just since Hurricane Andrew, the population of Miami Beach has gone up 35 percent. Overall in central and southern Florida, the population boom has met millions more into this area since 1990. With all of these buildings, with this infrastructure change, what that means, if you have a huge wind event, more debris.

Then toss in that Irma is going to have a huge storm surge. We've seen all across Miami Beach people boarding up. They are protecting themselves, because they absolutely anticipate that there will be a massive storm surge. Despite that some people are going to say that they're going to stay in their upper high-level high rises.

But, Wolf, we cannot stress more than enough. We spoke to the city today. They are urging everyone to get out of Miami Beach -- Wolf.

BLITZER: They certainly are. And all -- many other places in Florida as well. Kyung Lah in Miami for us. Thank you.

Standing by to join us, the governor of Florida, Rick Scott. What he's telling people who refuse to leave. My interview with the governor coming up.

Plus, CNN is live right in the middle of the traffic gridlock that has developed as lots of folks in Florida are racing to escape. And a stunning picture showing how much bigger Irma is compared to the

devastating Andrew 25 years ago. You're going to hear from the first responders who are staying behind as their families leave.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you have to leave them, what do you say to them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously, the most difficult part -- you tell them you love them and hope you make it back.

[13:14:32]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:18:35] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get back to the breaking news.

There are more than 20 million people living in Florida. Nearly everyone in the state will be affected by this monster storm.

The Florida governor, Rick Scott, is joining us on the phone right now.

Governor, thanks, as usual, for joining us.

We're looking right now at some pictures of long lines in Homestead, Florida, just outside Miami. These lines are people trying to get into a shelter ahead of the storm.

What do the -- where do the evacuations stand right now?

GOV. RICK SCOTT (R), FLORIDA (via telephone): Well, we're still evacuating (INAUDIBLE) the south and that's really as we know the storm is coming up we're -- we're evacuating other parts of the state. I'm just leaving Tampa to go down to Fort Myers. We have an area of Tampa we're evacuating now.

So we have -- we're opening up shelters. I shut down all the schools in the entire state to add more shelters. I've asked for volunteers. So we're needing more volunteers every day. So we're going to open many shelters as is necessary. We're going to get everybody to safety.

But what I tell everybody is, you cannot wait. You've got to -- if you're in an evacuation zone, you need to get out now. If you're going to leave your home, you need to get going now because as this thing gets closer, it's going to get harder to get where you want to go. And in the middle of the storm -- I care about the whole state. I love them -- but we can't put first responders' in harm's way to save you.

So, take care of your family. We all love our families and we don't want to lose one family member. So, do it now. Take your action now. Don't wait.

[13:20:08] BLITZER: We just spoke to Craig Fugate, the former FEMA administrate, who was rather blunt. If people ignore these evacuation orders from you and from other authorities, they potentially could die as a result of the storm surge. Is that the biggest fear you have?

SCOTT: I'm worried that people won't all evacuate. They'll feel like this is the same as before. Let's put it in perspective. This is much bigger than Andrew and we have -- we have storm surge risk that we didn't have with Andrew. We have storm surge risk around the state between three and ten feet. We've got a lot of rain potentially. We could have bands of rain.

But this -- water can kill you. And this -- the storm surges, when they come in, they come in powerfully and right -- and they will just -- they could cover your entire house. It's very difficult to survive that. So you've got to take this very seriously.

When there's an evacuation order, they're taking into consideration the wind and the storm surge and especially with this one the storm surge. And this is -- as you said, Wolf, this is -- it can impact the entire state. It's going coast to coast. This is a big, big, big storm.

BLITZER: I just want toing precise, governor. The emergency services, like fire, paramedics, they will be cut off during the worst of it. The emergency personnel won't be able to reach people if they get through to 911, right?

SCOTT: Well, they won't -- they won't be able to get out to you because in the middle of a -- in the middle of a storm surge coming in, they can't get to you. And so they -- we have great first responders. They will do everything in their power to keep people safe. But when you're in the middle of the storm, they can't get to you. I mean between the wind, the rain and the storm surge, it will be impossible for them to get to you. And so you've got to take care of yourself now and don't wait.

If you're going to get on the road to go somewhere, you have to get there now. If you're going to go to a friends, or family or shelter, don't wait. Do it now. We're opening up shelters around the state. Do it now. Don't wait.

I mean just think about -- think about your entire family. I love my kids. I don't want to lose them. I don't want to lose my wife. I love them. So take care of your own family.

BLITZER: So bottom line, governor, for people who decide, despite all the warnings, despite all the pleas, to stay in their homes and to so- called -- supposedly ride out this monstrous storm, what's your bottom line message to these people? SCOTT: You know, I love you. I want you to be safe. I wish you would

not try to ride this out. Please, go to a shelter. Please, go to a friend's house. Get out of harm's way. You know, clearly, we're going to do everything we can as this storm passes to help you. But, you know, you're also putting other people's lives at risk when you do that. But I'm -- I'll do everything I can to take care of people, but I would hope that everybody would evacuate right now if you're in an evacuation zone. Listen to local officials. As this moves north, we'll see more evacuation zones come up and we learn more about what the storm surge is going to be.

BLITZER: We're showing our viewers, governor, some live pictures from Marion County in Florida. You see the traffic heading north. Huge, huge numbers of cars. Very few cars heading in the other direction on the other part of this interstate. At what point do you decide, you know what, everybody's going to go one way?

SCOTT: What we're doing right now is, we don't do one-way for this reason. We have -- we need emergency vehicles to be able to go south. We're still trying to get more fuel in here. We've got -- we've got tankers coming from the panhandle to bring fuel to central Florida. One of my biggest -- my biggest focuses this week is how to get more fuel in the state because we've got to continue to get more fuel here.

So what we've done is from Wildwood to -- all the way to the Georgia line, we've done now allow people to drive on the shoulder, which (INAUDIBLE) an additional lane. So and what we have is 1,700 Florida Highway Patrol out there directing traffic, trying to get everybody moving. We've got road rangers 24/7 helping people. So we're doing everything we can to keep this traffic moving and trying to get people fuel.

So, look, if you can shelter in your own county and not -- and you don't have to go out some place far away, that's a positive. You know there will be a greater chance that you can get where you want to go. But we will do everybody we can to get everybody where they want to go. But -- oh, and, by the way, Wolf, you can go to fl511.com to see what the traffic is where you're trying to go. You can go to -- there's an app called Gas Buddy, where the gas is in the state. So it will gives you an idea of how you should do it.

[13:25:01] But, by the way, we will -- we will make sure, if you want to get out, and we can't do it in the middle of the storm, but if you want to get out, we'll do everything we can to help you get out.

BLITZER: All right.

SCOTT: Call, 1-800-342-3557. We will do whatever we can to get you out. If you're looking for a shelter, go to floridadisaster.org/shelter. We will do everything we can to get you to safety. I -- my most -- I will spare no expense to keep people safe.

BLITZER: Very quickly, Chad Myers, our meteorologist, has a question for you, governor.

Go ahead, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Really, it was about --

SCOTT: Hi, Chad.

MYERS: Hi, governor.

It was about the gasoline. And we see these people, and I've been watching tweets, people saying I'm running out of gas. We don't have gas on I-75. We don't have gas on the turnpike. Is gas on the way? Are those regulations that you changed yesterday, are those regulations working, and the people that are almost out of gas, are they -- and listening on cnnxm.com, can they be assured that there will be gasoline when they get to places?

SCOTT: Chad, I'm doing everything I can. Everybody is. I've got the regulations waived. We've got more tankers that have come in. We are getting fuel from the panhandle down. The amount of gas that's being purchased right now is astronomical. So we're doing everything we can to get as much fuel as we can get here. And I will do everything I can to make sure everybody that is on our roads gets to safety.

But, you know, you -- you need to look -- go to fl511.com, see what the roads are like, see how much gas you have. If you can shelter at places that doesn't take as much gas, there's less risk. And we're opening shelters everywhere. So you should -- you can -- we will do everything we can to make sure there's a shelter for you. And you can't do it in the storm. But in the meantime, if you need -- if you don't have enough gas to get someplace, you know, call our hotline, 1- 800-342-3557. We will do everything we can to get you to a shelter.

BLITZER: Governor, thank you so much for joining us. We will clearly stay in very close touch with you. We're grateful to what you and all the federal, state and local authorities are doing right now to prevent what clearly is a disaster that is about to unfold.

Thank you, governor. We'll get back in touch with you. Good luck.

I want to quickly go to Brian Todd. He's in West Palm Beach for us right now.

Brian, you're getting new information. Police are telling families right now they must leave.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. Take a listen here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are in a mandatory evacuation zone. Please evacuate.

TODD: This really captures the urgency, Wolf, of the -- of the situation where police squad cars are now going door to door telling people to evacuate. This is now a mandatory evacuation zone. We're in West Palm Beach on South Flagla (ph) Drive and they're going door to door.

A lot of people here telling us they're going to ride it out. This is the final plea for them not to do that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are in a mandatory evacuation zone. Please evacuate.

TODD: And a lot of these houses here, Wolf, have pretty solid structures and people think they can ride it out, but these guys are telling them, don't take that chance. Going door to doing here. They want people off the roads by tomorrow. So they're trying to get them on the roads now.

And just doing it on the loud speaker. You can -- I'll let you listen to them again as they go door to door and sometimes they'll actually stop and talk to people who happen to be -- you know, happening to be out and who might stop and ask them questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Attention! Attention! Attention! You are under a mandatory evacuation. Please evacuate.

TODD: So, Wolf, I mean, again, the urgency here, officials have been saying this for days, but this is the point where they feel they have got to actually physically go to people's houses, go along their streets and tell them, get out now.

And we're on the actual safe side of the intercostal waterway. Relatively safe. Palm Beach is over there. It's a barrier island. They're trying to get everybody off there now. But this part of West Palm Beach, even though it's a slightly higher elevation, they feel like this has to be mandatory at this point, too.

One thing you have to clarify about mandatory evacuations. They can't force people from their homes. It is mandatory. But that is to express the real urgency and the need for you to get out. But they cannot physically go in and force people from their homes.

Wolf, this is about as close as they can come to doing that.

BLITZER: All right, Brian. A pretty dramatic development unfolding in West Palm Beach, where police are driving through the streets there telling folks to get out while they still can.

I want to go to John Berman. He's in Miami Beach for us right now.

John, you've been speaking to some people who simply won't leave, even though there is an evacuation order where you are in Miami Beach.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, listening to those warnings where Brian Todd is, up north of me in Palm Beach, so interesting to hear. Palm Beach, where Miami Beach was maybe a day, a day and a half ago, with people told to get out.

[13:30:02] But you're right, Wolf. I talked to a man this morning. A father of two kids, one four-year-old, one one-year-old. He's going to ride it out inside his high-rise. He's on the eleventh floor. He thinks he'll be safe. But there's a lot of problems with that.