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Florida Deals with Aftermath at Irma Hits South Georgia; Southeastern Florida Dodge Irma Bullet; Bonita Springs, Florida, Inundated with Water; Massive Destruction in Florida Keys; Cuba Dealing with Aftermath of Hurricane Irma. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired September 11, 2017 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:31:58] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: South Georgia is now starting to get hit by Tropical Storm Irma. Thousands have already lost power.

Much of Florida is left with the aftermath. Millions of people were left without power. Fallen trees and downed power lines and flooded roadways across the state.

CNN has been tracking this monster storm every step of the way. Let's check in with our Meteorologist Allison Chinchar, who is live from the CNN Weather Center.

Allison, what are the big concerns right now and what's next for Irma?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The biggest concerns are here in this region here, stretching from Charleston down to Jacksonville, Florida. This is where we have high surge and very heavy rainfall, in addition strong winds. And this is where the biggest threat for tornadoes is currently located. But You have to understand where the storm came from to know what to expect going forward. Look at the amounts of rain that have been dropped in portions of Florida. Ft. Pierce with 16 inches of rain. Gainesville over nearly a foot. Naples nearly a foot of rain. In addition, look at some of the area of Georgia already. And it recently started to rain there. Kingsland, Georgia over 10 inches of rain already. Homeland about eight inches of rain. Keep in mind, for Georgia, the rain is still coming and likely will for the next several hours. The numbers are going to go up. In terms of wind speed, we will not see numbers like this going forward, but they are impressive nonetheless. Naples picking up a wind gust of over 140 miles per hour. Marcos Island at 130 miles per hour. Storm surge is still a concern for portions of Florida, mostly on the western coast of Florida. The highest north of Tampa as you push in towards the panhandle. Even around Tampa and Ft. Myers, you good be looking at two to four feet or three to five feet respectively. We are also talking about the region on the east. We talked about Charleston down to Jacksonville. We could be looking at storm surge in some of these areas of four to six feet. Again, in addition to that, we have a concern of heavy rain. That's where the heaviest rain bands are in portions of South Carolina and southeastern Georgia. These red squares are the flood emergencies we have. Flash flood threat still remains for those boxes, as well as pink indicating a tornado warning. That's going to be the case for much of the day today where we have the potential for severe weather, stretching from Wilmington, North Carolina, down to Savannah, Georgia. The main threats will be damaging winds and, yes, the potential for tornados throughout the region as the system moves north. We have an intense amount of shear in this location. On the good side, that's helping to rip Irma apart layer by layer. The downfall is, Wolf, that same shear is what's ramping up the threat for tornados for some of those states.

BLITZER: Allison, thank you very much. Allison Chinchar with the latest on Irma.

We originally feared the worst for the southeastern part of Florida. Tens of thousands fled areas like Miami and West Palm Beach expected to bear the brunt of the storm.

John Berman is live from Miami.

John, a few minutes ago, the mayor of Miami Beach told me that they didn't just dodge a bullet, they dodged a cannon. Is it a similar story in Miami where you are?

[13:35:24] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: It certainly isn't as bad as it could have been, Wolf. That doesn't mean there is no damage. We are standing at a marina in Coconut Grove. This boat, for instance, is supposed to be in the water. It was pushed up here onshore. That boat is supposed to be in the water and not tipped over. You can see that sail boat to the left. It is a mess. One thing that happened here, it appears large boats in the marina broke free and swept in with that storm surge, pushing everything up here onshore. People have been texting me, knowing I'm in Miami, saying you've got to get over to Coconut Grove if you want to see real damage from the storm. And they did have storm surge in downtown Miami as well, Wolf. Brickell, the neighborhood there, four to six feet of water in storm surge, covering that road. It's gone now. The good news is it has drained out. Miami trying to get back on its feet. Schools closed indefinitely in both Miami-Dade County and Broward County. They need to make sure they are structurally sound. Some are still being used as shelters. No word when they will be up and running. Sixty percent of power lights -- traffic lights are down. In Miami, I haven't seen one working yet. So 60 percent to me seems a pretty conservative estimate. The power has started to come back on in dribs and drabs in Miami/Dade. This morning, there were about 900,000 without power. It's come down a little bit. A few tens of thousands have had their power restored. The power company is out there trying as fast they can, Wolf, to get back up and running. The mayor of Miami Beach, Philip Levine, who you know, said they may have dodged a bullet. Dodging a bullet, if it's this bad when you dodge a bullet, imagine what would have happened had it been a direct hit from a category 4 storm, Irma, which was the fear when they ordered the mandatory evacuations of this area -- Wolf?

BLITZER: That area where you spent a lot of time on Brickell Avenue in downtown Miami, the financial area, and area well known to a lot of our viewers, it was flooded heavily but you say it's now drained but it still looks disgustingly dirty. How long will it take to clean up the area so people can feel comfortable to go out and walk around? BERMAN: What was Brickell Avenue yesterday became Brickell River.

And today, it's Brickell dirt road. It's covered with mud and debris. We got there before dawn and it was an empty ghost town. But as the day progressed, people came out to check and see how it was. There are a lot of folks right now, what the mayor referred to as hurricane tourists, disaster tourists. He doesn't want people out until they know it's safe to go home. People are very, very determined to clean that area up as quickly as they can to get it back up and running. I had people shouting to me from their car windows as they were driving by saying, hey, office is still open. Tell everyone to come to my bank. They can deposit their money here. It's all fine. So they're get back up and running soon. The floodwaters did drain out. It will be dirty, mucky clean up -- Wolf?

BLITZER: A lot of work to be done not just in Miami but all over the state.

John Berman doing excellent reporting for all of our viewers. John, thank you very much.

New pictures in of the massive destruction in the Caribbean where Irma made a direct hit, including St. Martin, where survivors say all the food is gone.

Plus, back in Florida, we are live near Ft. Myers where CNN's Brian Todd is seeing lots and lots of damage. We will go to Brian after this.

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[13:43:14] BLITZER: From Irma's path of destruction, these are the new pictures we are getting in from Bonita Springs, Florida, a community just inundated with water.

Brian Todd is on the scene for us.

Brian, tell the viewers what you are seeing.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of damage. A lot of significant flooding in this neighborhood. We went back into this area here. These streets behind me are all flooded and some of them in water as deep as I am in. This is called the Imperial Estates and a lot of mobile homes back here. They were almost all flooded out. Many of the residents were told to evacuate. When we came in about an hour or so ago, we met up with a caretaker and she and her husband are caretakers of this whole subdivision here. They were worried about an elderly couple that they couldn't get to. This couple lives about a mile away. And you have to walk through water like this to get to the mobile home. They said this couple had not left. They give us their names, Edith and ed. We walked back into the neighborhood about a mile. There was water like this. Almost every home was flooded. Most of the people evacuated and they elected not to leave. We found them inside and they were fine. They just didn't feel like they could leave. The gentleman is 93 and the wife is about 88. He has Parkinson's and diabetes. It would be difficult to move him. They refused help. The caretakers and neighbors were worried about them. Luckily, they are safe.

Again, that scene plays out throughout the area. We talked to the sheriff's department here in Bonita Springs, and they don't have an assessment of the damage yet. They do say the sheriff's deputies are out here, scouring the areas trying to find out if anybody needs help.

Again, we wake up this morning and we talk about some of these areas that are just now learning about the flooding and the damage. We are getting the scope of it here in the early afternoon after the storm. I think I heard you and John talking a little bit ago about the toxicity and the dirty water. That's a big hazard as well. We talked through the stuff to get to these people's house. There was oil all over the place and other chemical material and trash floating around. It's unhealthy here. That's something people have to contend with. And contend with this, this massive tree fell down and flipped off the power line. As this place digs out and tries to come out and everybody tries to get up and running again, crews have to come here and deal with scenes like this. Wolf, we're told, as of now, about three million customers in Florida are still without power.

[13:46:10] BLITZER: It's an awful situation with the downed power lines, the flooded streets are a prescription for potentially lots of disaster.

Brian, stay careful and we will get back to you. Brian Todd, on the scene, as he always is.

We're starting to get our first look at the massive destruction that Irma left behind in the Florida Keys.

Joining us on the phone, Monroe County commissioner, Heather Carruthers.

Heather, you evacuated the keys to Orlando, but you are involved with emergency management, and you are in close touch with folks down in the Keys. What are you hearing about the damage there? What is the worst of it and what's the latest?

HEATHER CARRUTHERS, MONROE COUNTY COMMISSIONER (via telephone): The Keys, as you know, is a long string of islands, 120 islands that we took a serious punch here. Seems like the worst of the damage seems to be in the lower and middle Keys. The eye of the storm crossed over about 20 miles east of Key West and there was a lot of storm surge in that area up through Marathon. We have no cell service in the keys, and no electricity and no water. We are just dealing with satellite phones and those land lines that work to get information out. That area of the Keys seems to be the hardest hit. Key West fared better than we thought it was going to fare. The storm surge was not as significant there. There does not seem to be any structural damage done in Key West.

We are so thankful for the support we have gotten from the state and federal partners. We have aircraft coming in and National Guard is already there. We have about 35 trucks coming in to help restore power and a naval carrier coming in this afternoon and three more ships coming in. The Salvation Army, Red Cross, everybody is working hard to pull us back together. We have been through storms, but this is the most significant one and the most serious storm since we settled the keys. But we will get back to it and get back up probably quicker than we had initially anticipated because of the support we have been getting.

BLITZER: We are told that there are search-and-rescue teams already on the scene in the Keys. What can you tell us about casualties or any bad news along those lines?

CARRUTHERS: Yes. There may be some loss of life. We don't have counts yet. I don't think it has been that significant because a lot of people did evacuate. But we had two fatalities in the midst of the storm. And they were in one of the shelters. And other people who tried to ride out the storm and the surge probably caught them. I don't have numbers yet but, obviously, that is a major concern for the National Guard and the Coast Guard when they start to do search and rescue.

[13:49:29] BLITZER: Certainly is a top priority.

Heather Carruthers, good luck to you and all the folks in the Keys. We will stay in close touch with all of them, as many of them as we can.

We are standing by for a fly over, getting out first look at some of the areas hit hardest in Florida. We will have that for you.

There's still a threat of storm surge along the coast in Georgia and South Carolina as Irma makes its way north right now.

This is CNN special live coverage.

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BLITZER: More help is on the way to the Caribbean after the islands took the brunt of Irma's strength. The death toll continues to rise there, now standing at 26. Here is a look at the devastation on the British Virgin Island of Tortola. You can see homes completely demolished and roofs ripped off and debris everywhere.

More French troops are being sent into St. Maarten right now. There are reports of violence breaking out in the streets as people scrounge for the last scraps of food. French President Emmanuel Macron is expected there with much-needed shipments of aid.

The Department of Defense is continuing the evacuation of U.S. citizens from St. Martin. The U.S. has sent warships, helicopters, cargo aircraft, national troops with thousands of pounds of supplies into the area. The U.S. Navy conducted medical evacuations. The Coast Guard continued its relief efforts today in St. Thomas, as well.

Cuba is also dealing with the deadly aftermath of Hurricane Irma. State television is reporting that 10 people were killed in Cuba, mostly from building collapses. The storm was a category 5 hurricane when it hit Cuba overnight on Friday.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann is based in Havana. He's joining us now.

Patrick, you were right in the middle of this. What's the damage where you are in Cuba from Irma?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Wolf. We were in Cuba when the storm hit with such force and power. And believe it or not, we are still feeling the aftereffects of Irma. It's putting up quite a show on the Havana's sea front. Just yesterday, this whole area would have been under water. The ocean came racing in and flooded the homes. And you see behind me, people taking their possessions out to dry them off. A lot of people had to go up to neighbor's homes to get through the storm because they've never seen in years of living through these storms a storm come and fill up their homes with one, two feet of water. So it was destructive even as far away as Havana. The government has been clearing debris, trying to restore electricity. And of course, had that sad news today that 10 people had died, Cubans had died in the storm. That is a lot for Cuba, a country that prides itself on its hurricane preparation. So obviously, there's a lot to learn from the way this very, very powerful storm has ravaged Cuba over the last few days. But at least now, Wolf, the sun is out and the recovery process has begun.

BLITZER: You say the recovery process, it will be an enormous amount of reconstruction, right?

[13:55:03] OPPMANN: Absolutely. And this can be a more dangerous time. The sun comes out and it dries some of these waterlogged buildings. And a lot of times, some of the buildings behind me are hundreds of years old and they've not been maintained. And after a storm, the sun comes out and dries them out and sometimes they just give way with the people inside. So it can be a very dangerous few weeks. And as one resident reminded me this morning, hurricane season is not done. And sure enough, sooner or later, Cuba will once again be in the sights of a major hurricane -- Wolf?

BLITZER: You're absolutely right.

Patrick Oppmann, on the scene for us in Havana, thank you very much.

And our special coverage will continue in just a moment. Where downtown Charleston, by the way, is getting hammered. Stay with us.

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[14:00:05] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, there. And thank you so much for being with me on this Monday afternoon. I'm Brooke Baldwin.