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Hurricane Idalia Batters Florida. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired August 30, 2023 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: And stay with CNN.

We're going to continue monitoring Hurricane Idalia as it makes its way across Florida.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Our breaking news coverage of Hurricane Idalia continues.

Moments ago, a new forecast just dropped. The now Category 1 storm continues to lash Florida with extremely dangerous 90 mile-an-hour winds, and it sets its still-catastrophic sights on Georgia and the Carolinas.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN HOST: We also have new images of the widespread, just utter devastation as the storm surge keeps rising, people carrying their belongings through waist-deep water, cars submerged, as the threat from the rising tide remains life-threatening, according to officials.

Right now, boats and canoes are really the only means of transportation to get some people to safety, as the murky water swamps roads. And brand-new video from Keaton Beach is coming in. Take a look at this, the roof completely ripped off of this home.

This is where Idalia made landfall just about three hours ago, the walls of this home now laying in splinters. In Perry, Florida, the hurricane hit as a powerful Category 3 with winds topping 120 miles per hour, this woman catching the moment, the moment a tree fell on her home.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh. No!

(SCREAMING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's OK. It's OK. It's OK. It's OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: You hear that scream of terror there, yes. SANCHEZ: Yes, it sounded like a child in that home, and her trying to

counsel them, scenes that I'm sure are playing out across that part of the state of Florida.

CNN NEWS CENTRAL anchors John Berman and Sara Sidner are leading our live coverage.

John has been getting pounded on and off by rain all morning, and Sara is a bit further south in Crystal River, as the water has crept up closer to closer to where she is. Please stand by.

The damaging winds are right now tearing through Georgia, as the water keeps rising in Florida, in all, Idalia hitting 250 miles of the southeast, a stretch of 250 miles, all at once.

We, of course, have crews staged up and down Florida's west coast ready to show you what is happening like only CNN can.

Let's get to CNN's Allison Chinchar, though. She's in the Weather Center for us right now tracking the track of the storm.

So, now, Allison Chinchar, it is a Category 1.

[11:05:03]

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. And it's in Georgia.

We have got some breaking information to give you. So, now the center of the storm has crossed over into the state of Georgia. While we're still seeing impacts in Florida, now the bulk of the concern begins to shift to the Peach State.

Again, we're going to continue to see it make its way across that state and into South Carolina. But one of the bigger concerns at the moment is the rain across this area. You have got winds around 65, 67 miles per hour in Valdosta. But the biggest concern in Valdosta is the rain.

We now have a brand-new flash flood emergency for the city of Valdosta, because they are dealing with incredibly torrential rainfall coming down across this area. You can see all of that orange and red sliding right across the downtown portion of Valdosta.

It's not the only area. You have also got heavier rain sliding into Augusta, also Charleston, South Carolina, starting to get some of those heavier rain bands. For some of these areas, you have already picked up two inches of rain. Now you're going to add an additional two to four inches on top of that.

That's where the flooding concern comes from. It's also the wind. We talked about those wind gusts up around 60 to 70 miles per hour in Valdosta. We're starting to see those power outage numbers begin to spread from Florida now into Georgia. So, combined between the two states, we are now looking at over 300,000 people without power.

That number is expected to grow likely up around at least half-a- million and could potentially get higher as the day goes on. The heaviest rain going forward is going to be from Tallahassee up through the Outer Banks. We have talked about this, widespread, at least four inches of rain and a lot of these places, but six, eight, even 10 inches is not out of the question in some of these areas.

So please take this seriously. If you get these flash flood emergencies on your phone, take them seriously. Get indoors. Get to higher ground. They're not there just to -- just to be out. They're trying to inform you to get to higher ground.

Here's a look at the flash flood threat as well. You can see we have got this moderate risk for excessive rainfall, again, not just in Florida, not just in Georgia, but this also spreads into the Carolinas because that's where this storm is going to go.

So, if you live in any one of those states, keep in mind the storm may not be to you yet, but it is on the way and will continue to spread as we go through the rest of the day -- back to you.

SOLOMON: Yes, and certainly expanding beyond Florida, as Allison said, hitting Georgia and the Carolinas.

Allison, thank you.

We want to bring back in our CNN news anchors John Berman and Sara Sidner.

John, I believe we're going to start with you. You have been in Tallahassee. You have been speaking with folks. Your interview in the last hour with that motel owner who described seeing picnic tables floating, I mean, what are things like right now at this moment?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Yes, to hear those stories along the Gulf Coast, the Big Bend area, the low-lying areas like Cedar Key, to hear a woman describe what she's being told.

Everything is floating, she says. Everything is floating. The gulf has just moved in over Cedar Key, over parts of Steinhatchee, where our Bill Weir is. And we will check in with him in a little bit. As you said, the hurricane, Hurricane Idalia, is now over Georgia. It's now a storm that Georgia has to deal, with the winds, Category 1 winds and rain, devastating rain, four to 10 inches in some places.

The concern there will be trees, tree damage. You can see some of the trees here in Tallahassee, a lot of trees in this area. And we are getting reports of trees down and freshwater flooding. The roads are just going to be a mess all around Northern Florida in into Georgia and the Carolinas as well.

And even as the storm moves, bringing the wind and the rain, the concern in Florida is still very much the storm surge along the Gulf Coast. Yes, the storm has passed, but the surge continues, as the winds are still pushing the water inland toward shore, and high tide in some areas is not for several hours.

Let's go to Derek Van Dam, who is in Tampa, who's been walking along the river that is Bayshore Boulevard all morning long.

Derek, what are you seeing now?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, John, it is so important to point out that, a year ago, when Hurricane Ian came through this general area, it actually sucked the water out of Tampa Bay that's over my left shoulder, where people could walk out into the bay several hundred yards.

That's what some of the locals here have been telling me about. They remember that. This is a completely different storm. Of course, we never want to compare one hurricane to the other, because they bring their own stories, their own threats.

But it's all about the position of where that hurricane eye wall goes. So, with Ian, they were on the backside of the storm here in Tampa. With Idalia, we were on the forward, pushing, surging side of the major hurricane, so just kind of puts it into perspective what the wind direction does and how that impacts the storm surge.

This was the strongest storm, strongest hurricane to impact the Big Bend area in over 125 years. We have had three landfalling hurricanes in the past 12 months across the state of Florida.

[11:10:05]

So, Sara, the storm surge component here is a real threat because, as we go forward we have high tide approaching at 2:00 p.m. And what the mayor of Tampa is concerned about is that the water you see behind me that has, yes, receded within the past few hours, will come right back up again, because the Eastern Gulf of Mexico is still very much surging.

And that's being made worse by the fact that we have a full moon as well -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN HOST: Derek, you don't have to tell me twice that there is a major storm surge. We are seeing it in spades now here in Crystal River, Florida.

I am standing in the middle of what looks like a lake, right? No, this is US-19, the highway that goes through Crystal River, or, I should say, it was US-19. Right now, it looks like there is a lake and a river coming together here. It is flowing so quickly across all of this area.

All that you're seeing there before us get to the structures and the Best Western there, those were all parking lots that were completely dry as a duck's back. And now they're inundated with water. And it is going to get worse.

While you heard Derek Van Dam they're saying they are going to see their major high tide around 2:00 or so, we are supposed to get high tide, we are supposed to see the worst of this at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. So, what you're seeing now, this is what the forecasters promised.

They said, look, you are not going to see a whole lot at first, and then, all of a sudden, you're going to start seeing water just being pushed on to shore. That is exactly what is happening here.

Just give you a little look around. And I kind of want you to hear the sound of the water. This is Northwest Sixth Avenue in Crystal River. Anyone that is familiar with this place knows what this is, because the Best Western is here. It's very easy to find.

And the reason why they know where it is, is because this is where you go, one of the many places you go to see manatees. This is a place where a lot of tourists come to see Florida's treasure, those beautiful what they sea cows. And I have done it.

I did this as a kid and I did this as an adult, going and swimming with the manatees and going to see the crystalline, beautiful water as it comes out of the earth. The spring here is just stunning. But listen to this. Let me just let you listen to the sound of rushing water.

This is you US-19 right at Northwest Sixth Avenue. Listen just for a second, running water in the middle of a highway.

All right, let's go ahead to go to Michael Brennan. He is at the -- he is the head of the National Hurricane Center, an important gentlemen to be talking to at this hour.

What can you tell us about the status of this storm at this hour, Michael?

MICHAEL BRENNAN, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Well, Idalia is still a hurricane. The center is now moving into Southeast Georgia, very quickly moving north-northeastward at 20 miles per hour.

Maximum sustained winds are still around 90 miles per hour. So we're still seeing significant impacts in terms of wind, heavy rainfall spreading into portions of Southern and Southeastern Georgia. That's going to continue to spread northward. We can see the rainfall moving into South Carolina, coastal North Carolina.

We're going to see storm surge, hurricane-force winds continue. And that storm surge and tropical-storm-force wind threat is going to continue all the way up through the coast of North Carolina into tomorrow.

SIDNER: Michael, can you just give us some sense historically of just how significant how different that is, for parts of the West Coast of Florida?

This ain't normal, is it?

BRENNAN: Well, this is a hurricane landfall that we haven't really seen in portions of this sort of Big Bend, coast of Florida, where we have seen Idalia come on shore this morning, certainly had major hurricane intensity, bringing significant storm surge impacts. We expected to see 10 to maybe 15 or even 16 feet of inundation above ground level here in the Big Bend region. And then, with the fast motion of the storm, it's bringing those hurricane-force winds inland, far inland, into Georgia and then now into -- expected to reach coastal South Carolina and Georgia overnight -- or late tonight -- or late this evening and into tonight.

SIDNER: Can you give me a sense of when this event will be over?

Because, as you said, once this hurricane hits land, it starts to significantly decrease in speed and intensity. But this is still a Category 1, I think you said, storm at this point, which is incredible, because it's been on land for quite some time.

When will we sort of see the end of the storm and the cleanup start to be able to begin?

BRENNAN: Well, conditions will gradually start to improve in Florida later today.

But the water levels are going to remain elevated, especially along the Big Bend coasts down into Tampa, through much of the day today. But we expect the center of Idalia to reach up coastal South Carolina and North Carolina early tomorrow morning, and then move off shore Thursday night into Friday.

[11:15:05]

So those conditions will gradually improve after that time. But, in the meantime, we're going to see the potential for hurricane-force winds, tropical-storm-force winds, flooding and heavy rainfall through the next 24 to 36 hours.

SIDNER: Michael, we can't thank you enough.

The National Hurricane Center keeps us all informed. And because we are informed, and it has kept a lot of people safe, thousands upon thousands of people safe.

We appreciate your time. I know you have plenty of work to do as you're watching the storm continue to make its way north towards Georgia. Appreciate your time, sir.

BRENNAN: Appreciate it.

SIDNER: All right. We have -- thank you, sir.

All right, just to give you one quick look here at what we're -- we're starting to see this really surge. Would you mind just kind of giving a shot of -- there are like teeny, tiny rapids that are happening here in the middle of US-19 here in Crystal River.

Let me show you what else you're seeing. You see all these cars here? Some of those are ours. Why did we need to bring our cars here? Well, you can tell. We were parked in the parking lot. The water came up past the tires. And so, at that point, we realize we need to get to higher ground.

But this is not going to be much better in the coming hours. You do see that there are emergency vehicles. And what are they doing? The smartest thing ever. They're bringing in a boat, because they know that, at this point, the only way to go get and help people if they have stayed in this area and to survey the area is going to be by boat.

That's what's happening at this hour. And, by the way, I have now seen fish swimming on the other side of US-19. There's not supposed to be any water over there. And there's enough for fish to be swimming around in it.

But this is still a water event happening here. The surge is coming. And the next few hours, the highest tide is going to happen here. And that's where you're going to see a heck of a lot more water, and it's going to become much more dangerous to traverse -- Rahel.

SOLOMON: Sara, I love the way you describe the fact that there are fish in the water. They are not supposed to be there where you just showed us.

Sara Sidner, thank you so much for your work out there. It has just been incredible to see.

We know tens of thousands of Floridians are without power at this moment. And so, even as the category has weakened, that does not mean the danger has necessarily subsided. There is still a lot more to come here.

SANCHEZ: Yes, no question about that.

And while Hurricane Idalia is hitting coastal areas with historic storm surge, it's also lashing inland cities with heavy rain and powerful wind.

We're going to speak with the mayor of Lake City, Florida, where the hurricane is passing as we speak.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:22:22]

SANCHEZ: This video coming into CNN from Perry, Florida.

You can see the powerful wind gusts hitting the Big Bend area of the Sunshine State, taking down this gas station, the roof of this area where you pumped gas, incredibly powerful winds. The airport in Perry actually recorded wind gusts of 85-plus miles an hour earlier. This is, again, a part of Florida that often does not see hurricanes of this magnitude.

And the process of intensification is something we need to highlight, because it was just yesterday morning that this was a tropical storm. It became a hurricane, Category 2, Category 3, even Category 4, before ultimately weakening a bit as it made landfall in Florida. Now it remains a Category 1. But even as it leaves Florida, the danger

still lurks.

SOLOMON: Absolutely.

And just to put a button on it, I mean, the last time that Big Bend area saw hurricane-force winds like this, this type of strength, was 125 years ago.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

SOLOMON: So that really just gives you a sense of just how historic the storm has been.

Let's stay in that Big Bend area, two residents who evacuated from Horseshoe Beach, which is along that same sort of Big Bend area of Florida's western coast, describing the situation at their home.

They spoke with CNN affiliate WJXT. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: When did you come here to evacuate?

JIM JOHNSON, HORSESHOE BEACH, FLORIDA, RESIDENT: Yesterday.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yesterday, when they gave us orders. The cops came door to door today.

QUESTION: Did they? Yes.

And how do you feel about that decision to evacuate?

JOHNSON: Well, we have would done it anyway.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A hundred percent. We have would done it anyway.

QUESTION: You were going to do it anyway.

JOHNSON: Yes, we already called and had the reservations here, because we weren't going to stay with nine-foot storm surge.

(CROSSTALK)

JOHNSON: And we're out by the point. So it's like, yes.

QUESTION: Yes, a smart move right there.

JOHNSON: Yes.

QUESTION: So, I know that I have seen you and some of the other residents in these coastal towns looking at their phones...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

QUESTION: ... trying to find some feeds. What do you know about Horseshoe Beach right now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's underwater.

JOHNSON: Well, right now, it's underwater.

QUESTION: Yes.

JOHNSON: So -- and we have -- there's a -- gave us a little bit of shock, because there's another person with a house very similar to ours that is 10 feet off the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we thought it was...

(CROSSTALK)

JOHNSON: And they're a little further inland. And the waves are right under that house.

QUESTION: OK.

JOHNSON: Ours is further out. So, we're just hoping that our house is isn't a houseboat when we get back.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Let's go back now to CNN's John Berman. He has been in Tallahassee, Florida.

And, John, we have been listening to you speak to people all over the impacted area, some people who say that they have seen picnic tables floating. Everything is floating, according to one woman you spoke with a little bit earlier, that motel owner.

BERMAN: Yes.

Yes, and I keep listening as you play more and more sound from different places, because these are some of the first reports we're getting in from those hard-hit areas. So, Horseshoe Beach, which is up the coast some from Cedar Key, where you were talking about the picnic benches floating by, now Horseshoe Beach, we're also understanding that the water flowing underneath some homes that are up on stilts.

[11:25:15]

So, so many different areas experiencing this devastating storm surge. I'm up here in Tallahassee, the capital, where the disaster response, the state-level disaster response, is being coordinated. Most of the storm, I think, has now finally moved through here. We still get some rain and some wind gusts, but the worst of it has passed through.

But Brian Todd, who's on the other end of town, Brian, you have been digging around, speaking to officials to try to get an assessment of the situation. What are you hearing?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, John.

We just spoke to an emergency management official here in Leon County, who did tell us that there are some roads blocked in the county. There are some people who have had their homes damaged. They are starting to fan out and assess that, as we will be shortly.

Just now is to the -- we're to the point you mentioned that maybe, maybe we're kind of getting over the hump. Here in Leon County, we're just now to the point where we may be able to venture out. But, still, there are some perils remain.

And, John, you know from being here over the past 24 hours here's a unique feature, kind of the trees here in this area. This branch just kind of flew off a tree right near us. A branch like this can be dangerous enough, in and of itself. But, look, it's got all the Spanish moss hanging on it. It makes it about twice as heavy as it normally would be.

So, when these branches start to fly off the trees, as this one just did near us, it can be very, very dangerous. And, also, you have got -- look, all these trees -- this large, live oak tree behind me still in some peril, because the ground is saturated behind it. Officials here are always worried about these trees being uprooted and coming down.

And, again, we're just getting reports of some roadblocks here in Leon County. There's also the proximity, of course. Look at the power lines and how close they are to this tree. That's going to be an issue as these emergency crews start to fan out and assess the damage.

But we do have some good news to report from a county not far away, we Wakulla County, where the town of St. Mary's is. I just spoke to an emergency management official there. That town, St. Mary's, very susceptible to storm surge. It is really low to the water. They say that town gets flooded really at the drop of a hat in a normal storm.

They expected it to be flooded. This official just told me they think they have come out of it with minimal flooding. And, right now, they're just kind of starting to assess it, but maybe some good news for the town of St. Mark's -- John.

BERMAN: Yes, that is good news.

So much depends on the topography. So much depends on where a storm makes landfall and the tide. So, a situation in St. Mark's, that can be good, whereas in Steinhatchee and Cedar Key, which we have seen the situation quite dire, and not necessarily improving very quickly.

Brian Todd on the other end of Tallahassee, thank you for the update on the roads. I'm sure you and I are going to be in touch in the coming hours as we assess where we can and can't get to around this part of the state.

Let's go back down to Tampa. We talk about the storm surge in the areas, in the Big Bend area. Well, there's a serious storm surge issue in Tampa, in the Tampa Bay area as well. And, Carlos, I understand you're speaking to the police there. What

are they telling you?

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, John.

So, right now, Tampa police in this one neighborhood are going essentially street by street just making sure that anyone that might be in their homes and can't get out, if they need anything, if they need any help, if they need any supplies.

And so what they're doing right now is, they're just driving around this part of Tampa making sure that folks are OK. Part of the reason why is, you're taking a look at it right here. There is a good amount of flooding in a lot of these neighborhoods.

Just to the west of where Derek Van Dam has been live along the river there, you really get a sense of just the situation just by driving around about. Two blocks to the south of here, we saw a number of other homes that have also been flooded out. This one house here to my right, you can see they put up about a dozen sandbags, and you can see the waterline, just how high things got.

No doubt that home was flooded. Now, a few minutes ago, I was able to talk to the mayor of Gulfport. That is a city across the bay in Pinellas County. He tells me that, right now, they're still dealing with significant flooding. They're still dealing with what's left of low tide, and that, at some point this afternoon, they're hoping to be able to get out around town to see exactly how much damage there is.

But, again, right now the story, at least where we are live right now, which is just off of Westshore Boulevard, again, to the west of where Derek is, is the flooding, because just on the other side of that block over there is the bay itself. To my right over here is a pond, which you can see has flooded, and a lot of this water is still being pushed out as a result of all of this rain that we have also been experiencing the last several hours -- John.

BERMAN: All right, Carlos Suarez in Tampa describing the situation.

These next few hours are going to be so tenuous. People are going to see the skies brighten a little bit, although, as soon as I say that, it starts to rain harder here, and they're going to think it's OK to go out.

But you just have to wait. You have to wait for authorities to assess the conditions on the road and make sure it's OK.

[11:30:00]