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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Gives Update On Ian; Naples Fire Department Conducts Rescue Despite Flooding In Fire Station. Aired 2- 2:30p ET

Aired September 29, 2022 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ERIC SELAGY, PRESIDENT OF FPL: Barrier Islands that will require rebuilding. There are some destructive areas that simply cannot be repaired and they will have to be rebuilt. Unfortunately, there are also homes and businesses that will simply not be able to safely take the power once it's ready. But the 20,000 plus men and women who are already here, are staging and getting out in the field currently, they will work 24/7 until we get the lights back on.

Again, as the -- as the governor said, not our first rodeo, but every storm is also different and always poses different challenges. But appreciate all the support from the state. Governor, thank you. From local law enforcement, as well as the National Guard. This is a team sport and a team effort. And we're going to all work together until we get Florida back up on her feet and where we all wanted to be. Thank you.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): And when they're -- when FPL and the other companies have crews, and the extent to which that infrastructure has remained is critical because, you know, it's a lot easier for them to reconnect an existing system than to -- than to have to rebuild it. So to see some of that that was able to withstand is encouraging. It's also just a testament. I mean, you know, some of these folks put money into the resilience of the infrastructure and this is like the ultimate test.

I mean, you got a hurricane, that's a massive hurricane coming in at 155 miles an hour producing this type of storm surge, dumping rain, causing flooding. If you can make it through that, then you probably did it -- did it pretty good. And so this is a 24/7 effort to stabilize and to restore, and so we're going to do whatever we can to assist with that effort and so I'm happy to take a few questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor, in our area on Sanibel Islands for minor speech, the images are devastating. And we know that from our local agencies that there have been confirmed deaths. We don't know exactly how many. What have you heard from the local agencies about the scope of the tragedy from that, sir?

DESANTIS: Well, Sanibel is destruction. And this is a -- for those of you who haven't been, that is a beautiful -- it's a beautiful place, really neat community. And it got hit with a really biblical storm surge and it washed away roads, it washed away structures that were not new and could withstand that. There have been a number of people that have been identified and brought off the island safely. And those efforts are ongoing, not only with the Coast Guard has been involved with that, our USAR teams and as well as local law enforcement.

I think most people have seen the images of the bridge, the causeway going out to Sanibel, where you have destruction of that. And that's something that we obviously will rebuild but that's not something that will happen overnight. And so most of what's being done to assist is air operations since you can't get there on the ground. I think Kevin will probably have more boats head over there as well.

But the important thing is I was able to speak to the mayor this morning, and she and her key staff did evacuate, and so they've been operating off more of the mainland and Lee County. And many people did leave Sanibel, and they didn't heed the call, which is good. Obviously, I think you know it's a very seasonal community. We're not quite in the high season yet but I think she made the point, hey, it's Florida, more people want to be here year-round now so you do have a contingent of people that stay there over the summer. So that's going to require a lot of effort to get that back because they took a huge, huge wall up.

And it's interesting. I mean, you can look in a span of like 40 --50 miles, you know, some places that got the storm surge versus some other Barrier Islands, you know, much less. And that's just kind of the way some of this goes about. But those were really difficult images to see especially just given that that's a place that I've been able to fortunate enough to go out and have some friends and do events there in the past and really a great part of the Southwest Florida community.

But we're committed to restoring the infrastructure as needed. That is not going to be an overnight task, that is going to be something that is going to require a lot of -- a lot of love and care. It's going to require a lot of resources. But we're going to do it because we understand how important it is.

[14:05:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going in back there, Governor, what are some of the federal and state funds available to make that happen when you speed this up?

DESANTIS: Well, in terms of infrastructure, I think -- I mean, Kevin, can -- we also have Gracia Szczech from FEMA who's here, we've gotten approved for, what 30 days, they approved us?

KEVIN GUTHRIE, FLORIDA DIVISION EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR: 30 days on Category B and A, and 100 percent.

DESANTIS: OK. And that's more of like the immediate --

GUTHRIE: So that's on the public assistance side. But this particular county is under an individual assistance, major disaster declaration. So we will set up the disaster recovery centers, and we'll have people be able to register for that.

DESANTIS: So that's on an individual basis. And so somebody loses their house and they may need temporary assistance of hotel accommodation, something like that, if they're going to be able to do Jimmy Patronis is here, our CFO, as part of those recovery centers, they're going to have insurance villages. If you look at what Lee County had to deal with, these are massive, massive flood events and so most of these people who have mortgages, and they're in a flood zone, probably had to have flood insurance. So they're going to have people that can help with those flood claims. You also have wind damage with the traditional homeowners insurance policy. So that's going to be important.

In terms of the overall infrastructure, obviously, we're -- we'll seek federal support for that. But we're also -- you know Florida we're well positioned financially right now to get through this. I mean, we have the largest budget surplus we've ever had. And we've worked very hard, of course, to keep the economy open and make this a state people wanted to be in. And so we were seeing historic reserves. Even as we've continued to break records with the revenue coming in with no income tax and low taxes, they revised it in August, saying, OK, Florida is getting more revenue, and then in September, we're like 300 million over what they estimated. So we have put an emphasis on infrastructure, partially because the state is growing, but we understand in a situation like this.

You know, we had a bridge knocked out with Hurricane Sally because you had a barge that was left loose, and it rammed in the bridge. So, we were able to do fix that. But it's not something that happens overnight. So to me, I think the more issue is -- we'll have resources between federal and state and local, I'm pretty confident that. But it's -- OK, this is an island that you're not going to be able to access by car until that is done. And so what's going to be the plan to do? And that's just going to be some we're going to consult with the local leaders at the city level and at the -- at the county level to try to figure out what the best is.

But you know when you deal with these things, you stabilize, you provide the help with people, but you want to get back to some semblance of normalcy as quickly as possible. And it's going to be harder in some areas than others. But I want to -- you know, let's work on Sanibel, and let's bring it back to where it was, as soon as we can.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor, for properties that were totally wiped out, how should it be determined in flood insurance or wind coverage should be appropriate, and how was that determined if you're in Mexico beach?

DESANTIS: Well, so that's kind of an age-old thing on the storms. I mean, you'll have disputes because obviously, if you have both policies and you file a flood claim, the flood is going to want you to have filed the wind claim, the wind is going to want you to file the flood claim. You know, what I would say is when you have a surge that's 10, 14 feet, when you have six feet of water in somebody's home, to me, that's a flood claim. And it doesn't mean that they may not have also suffered wind damage because as we know, it was a really significant thing but you don't -- wind alone is not going to cause the six feet of water. I mean, that's a flood event.

And it's not just in the Barrier Islands, which of course had a lot, you go in some of the places in Lee County, you know, that are close to the river and some of these inlets, you had massive, massive rising waters. And so that's just something to do. I mean, that's why it was happening with some of the folks who did not do the evacuation, they were hunkering down in their homes. I think we're totally fine to handle even a really strong wind event. The problem is if the water is rising, you're in your living room, it's a foot, two feet, three feet, they're the ones that were calling saying, hey, this is a big problem. And of course, it is.

So I think at the end of the day, in Lee County, I think most of the claims are going to be flood claims. I think in Charlotte, maybe the mix will be a little bit different because I did see, you know, some wind damage. And I think that -- and I think that those claims will be appropriate. But clearly, you know, when you're in those flood areas and you have the water rising like that into your living room, that is a flood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor, speaking of people today about the insurance, do they worry, you know, sometimes, you know insurance companies will shuffle their feet on a normal stance - on a normal situation. Now we have this where everyone's going to be flooding the insurance companies. What's your message to those people who might be worried that the insurance company might not be acting fast enough?

DESANTIS: Well, Jimmy -- where's Jimmy at? Yes. So, and I'll let him say but a part of the disaster recovery or these insurance villages. He's done a great job of leading. He's getting the carriers altogether. You know, they're going to have a footprint, and all these effected counties, people are going to be able to go in they're going to file claims.

[14:10:05]

There's already been things done with our insurance regulation agency you know go back 10 days, and none of those cancellations are valid, and you can't cancel going forward for another couple of months, so there's already actions being taken. But I'll let Jimmy come up and do that. And look, at the end of the day, we've had a lot of issues with property insurance but a lot of that is because of lawsuits and a lot of things that don't focus on the core business. This is the core business of paying these claims and we understand that time is of the essence.

JIMMY PATRONIS, FLORIDA CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER: Thanks, Governor.

DESANTIS: Yes. PATRONIS: So, we've got a preliminary site set up, we'll make sure it's coordinated with Kevin Guthrie's team in the county, but we'll probably pick a large spot, initially insurance carriers will come in, we'll probably have somewhere between 20 and 25 carriers come in. They'll probably set up an RVs and they will start writing checks initially, that will be living expense money. This will be the dollars just to help people go find a place to live sustenance dollars. Then you'll be signed up and adjusters will come and inspect the damage.

Now, here's the most important thing I need you to take away from this conversation. Is the predators that are going to come up, they're going to initially try to sign up construction management contracts public adjusters, they're going to come in like a bunch of locusts and they're trying to hit the neighborhoods. And people are vulnerable, right now. They're going to look for a solution. And their solution is always going to be important but that solution is not going to be knocking on the door every time.

If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Please, that first phone call that you're going to make needs to be to your agent, your carrier, or to my office at 1877-MY-FLCFO. If one of the first three phone calls you make in your house in order to get an insurance claim solved is the one of those threes, there's almost zero chance you can be taken advantage of. But Panama City was my hometown. I lived through Hurricane Michael. We did -- we did 12 Insurance villages there over a year sponsor. We're going to be here bringing the carriers back, and they will write checks on site, OK?

But when you start complicating the claim because you've allowed predators to get involved with your claim, you're going to drag it out. So the best solution is between you, your carrier, and us. The more people you bring into it, the harder it's going to be to get a settlement that's going to be fair for everybody. And look, at the end of the day, if your carrier doesn't want to work with you, that's when you will call my office and we'll take them to the task.

DESANTIS: And I think the -- in what I've asked him to do is also you know, have people with assistance for the -- for the National Flood Insurance Program claims. They obviously have their homeowner's policy, many people have both but I think the issue is, is that some people live in areas where they're told you don't need flood and so they don't do it. Well, now, they may be in a situation where that is so -- but the bottom line is those who have the flood insurance, we want them to be able to file those claims.

Take pictures of the damage of your home and have those so that you can present those and so you can get paid quicker. If you took pictures of the waterline -- if you have four feet of water, you took pictures, bring that with you. If you -- if the waters gone down, but you see where the line was, take pictures and document that so that you can go in, present it, and there's not going to be any questions. But Jimmy made a good point. You know when you start signing up, some of these people will swoop in and they want you to sign this stuff. And it just hasn't worked out well in the past in Florida. Unfortunately, when you have disasters, there's some people that want to prey on people when they're in vulnerable situations. And we do not want that.

The other thing I would also say just from looking at some of the images that we've seen on TV, there's going to be a lot of automobile insurance claims potentially. I can tell you, my wife, we lost a car and Irma, and thank God we had USAA because they literally cut us a check very quickly. So hopefully all the auto insurance are going to be able to do that. But we literally had -- we're seeing cars washed away, cars totally submerged, and so we understand that people are going to need to be able to get that claim.

But the -- when we did it with Irma, we got the check within like a week. They came out. They did it. They gave us a check. And you know, honestly -- you know, it's not like losing a car only is like the worst thing in the world. I mean, we were -- we were fine but I mean to be able to have that, you know what you have to do. You need to buy a new car, you need to do. So I appreciate what Jimmy's doing. I think it's important to get the carriers in to let people go you know, make these claims and let's get these things processed as quickly as possible. All right, thanks, everybody. Appreciate it.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, you've been listening there to Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida giving his state an update on where they are after the vast destruction of Hurricane Ian. I mean, basically, he was saying that there's this bridge or causeway that separates the mainland and the Isle of Sanibel and Captiva Island and that has been destroyed. And so he was saying that he doesn't think that there are many people still on Sanibel Island because they had some warning and a lot of them are not year-round residents, but it's going to take a while to restore that. We got an update from the Florida Power and Light. They said their infrastructure has mainly held which is the good news, but there is still some that will have to be rebuilt.

[14:15:03]

And basically what you heard the governor saying there was that they have a budget surplus which will allow them to recover. He also is, of course, accepting federal funds from President Biden, but he thinks that the state is in a good position to begin the herculean rebuilding process that will be required after hurricane Ian.

Meanwhile, the life and death conditions from this tropical storm continue. We've been watching people that have to be rescued still at this hour from their cars, from their roofs. Let's go to CNN's John Berman. He's been traveling through Florida covering Ian. John, I've been watching all of your reports. I know you're now in North Port, Florida. So what's the situation there?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, North Port, Florida. You know, Ron DeSantis, the governor was talking about cars by the way that had been destroyed. Here's one right here. There's another couple over there, stuck in the water trying to get through these roads, which are just covered, inundated with water right now.

And I'm 10 miles inland, Alisyn. This is the freshwater flooding. This is the rain, the 20 inches of rain that fell and just sat here on the ground and swelled to Myakka River, which is nearby here. And it's as far as the eye can see behind me, I don't know if also you can see behind me, we may have another shot of this, there are some kinds of responder crews that have been at that house. I can't get there because the water is too deep for my car or for me to walk over there. But there were a number of responders over there. I think at one of those houses dealing with someone who was perhaps stuck there. Some people just can't move in the water this deep, as much as 20 inches of rain in some places.

And, Alisyn, it really illustrates I think the three sources of enormous damage from this storm. Number one, you had the wind speed, 140, 150 miles per hour, and you've seen some of those buildings just flattened in the twisted damage from that. Then you had the storm surge, which I think we're just getting a sense of the scope of that damage. That's on the coast, Fort Myers, Naples, places like that.

But then the freshwater flooding, which is inland in over a giant part of this state, it's here 10 miles inland from some of these places that were hit by storm surge, but also in Orlando, all the way up through Jacksonville, just historic levels of flooding. So while this may not be the priority, finally we are seeing responders and rescue crews here, it just shows how much need there will be over the entire state, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Yes, John. It's incredible to know that you're 10 miles inland there. We could never tell that from your live shot and you standing in so much water. We'll check back with you, John. Thank you very much for the reporting.

Speaking of Orlando as John just was, CNN's Don Lemon is in Orlando. He's on a rescue boat. So, Don, what's the situation?

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: So, here's what happens, Alisyn. We -- they launched the rescue boats from here, which is usually not a launch, it's a street and what -- we are out with Lieutenant Fernando and Lieutenant -- say your name, please.

LIEUTENANT RETUNDY (PH): Retundy (PH).

LEMON: Retundy. And they had been going in. We're told it's been at least 150 rescues from this area for folks.

LIEUTENANT FERNANDO: Yes, at least 200, starting at about 4: 35 o'clock this morning.

LEMON: So you launch here and you don't know what's under this water, how deep it is, or what you're going to hit?

FERNANDO: Absolutely not. At the start of this morning that part of the big issues that we had is navigating these waters. Even though we know we're in a neighborhood and you know the streets, you know, dictate where we go, you -- we've got, you know, hidden mailboxes, culverts.

LEMON: The street signs right here, you can see how -- where they are.

FERNANDO: Yes, right.

LEMON: I mean, some of them are covered and others are just peeking out of the top here. So explain what -- how -- this area is prone to flooding, but it's gotten more water this time, I think the highest water level so far.

FERNANDO: Yes, right. This is -- this is the highest it's ever been. It happened some five years ago. And these three lakes that -- the small lakes, they joined together by small canals, it crested sometime early this morning. And this whole area here is a super low-lying area. This one and the neighborhood we were at this morning which was all single-family dwellings completely devastated, completely underwater.

LEMON: I mean, if you look right here, this is a basketball go you know, 8, 10 feet tall and just poking out of the water here and you see the jungle gyms and swings or whatever, that just gives you an indication of how high the water is. When you're -- what are folks saying? They said that they -- I understand, Lieutenant, that the pumps went out and they said they had electricity but the pumps even went out before the electricity.

RETUNDY: I think I believe that's what it was that they failed.

FERNANDO: Yes, the pumps may have failed.

RETUNDY: Yes.

FERNANDO: This time, yes, the pumps failed.

RETUNDY: Yes.

FERNANDO: I believe so.

LEMON: And how much -- how much water do you think they've gotten in here so far?

FERNANDO: Oh, no. We're looking from -- just from looking right now, we're looking eight feet of water -- six, eight feet of water at minimum. The neighborhood that we were at this morning, single-family dwelling back here --

LEMON: I think it's right here.

FERNANDO: -- Were halfway underwater.

LEMON: Yes. I mean and look at this. This is usually a street. This -- I mean, this looks like a river you know that you're usually -- or tributary that you usually navigating through on a boat.

[14:20:05]

That's not meant to be you know a waterway. But were also told that many people decided to stay. What are they saying when they get on the boat? RETUNDY: Well, a lot of them are -- you know, they want to stay because it's their home, it means a lot to them, you know, and a lot of these people, they lost a lot. So, you know, those who do come into the boat are very thankful that we were there to aid to them, you know, give them aid and help them.

LEMON: Lieutenant, are you surprised when people don't want to leave?

RETUNDY: I am, but I can understand, you know, this is -- this is everything to them. This is their home, their belongings and, you know, it's just -- it's devastating to see, you know, what they go through. But, you know, at the same time, we have a job to do, and we have to keep that in mind. And, you know, their lives are our number one issue.

LEMON: Yes. And if you look here -- I mean, look, if -- there's the folks right here, Lieutenant, in the mailbox.

FERNANDO: Yes.

LEMON: And then the car is still in the driveway. And --

FERNANDO: Right.

LEMON: Imagine a malfunction with the battery or whatever and the lights are still on.

FERNANDO: Yes, we've run into that all day. We started -- when we started this morning, it was in the, you know pitch dark. And all the cars were just -- all of them, alarms going off, lights going on. No control at all.

LEMON: Yes.

CAMEROTA: So, Don --

RETUNDY: You can just barely see the top of the roof.

LEMON: Yes. And, Alisyn, look at this right here -- I mean, again. I mean, it's just inundated and you never know how much water I'm sure it's, you know, from one or two feet to eight or 10 feet. But go ahead, Alisyn, I hear you want to jump in here.

CAMEROTA: Yes. I did, Don, because how are they doing the rescues? Are people on their roofs, or do -- as they go by these houses, do they know if anyone's inside there? How can they figure out who to rescue?

LEMON: Well, I know that initially, the fire department went around before the storm started. And they went around with fire trucks to -- asking people to leave with bull horns.

FERNANDO: Yes.

LEMON: Saying would you leave, you should consider it, you know. But it was voluntary, right?

FERNANDO: Right.

LEMON: And a lot of people chose to stay. And they told them if you do decide to stay, then this is what you might get. What are people -- how are you rescuing people? Are they -- are they waving at you or do you --

FERNANDO: Yes.

LEMON: Are they calling you and asking you to come get them?

FERNANDO: We are going down the streets and we'll blow our whistles to see if -- you know if they don't see us or they don't hear us out here will blow our whistles they'll come out and flag us down and let us know that they want to leave.

LEMON: Yes. And what's usually behind this because I see this waterway that's next to the interstate here, what was that?

FERNANDO: That's the lake.

LEMON: That's the lake?

FERNANDO: That's one of the three lakes that combined together that causes an overspill of water.

LEMON: Are you stuck on something now?

FERNANDO: No.

LEMON: No? OK. I thought you were (INAUDIBLE).

FERNANDO: No, this just going easy.

LEMON: This is going easy, huh? Can we go back into the neighboring --

FERNANDO: Absolutely.

LEMON: I think we're getting to a shallow area here.

FERNANDO: Yes, we're in.

LEMON: I just want you guys to see. It's -- I mean, it's unbelievable. If you turn around here, look at these cars and the mailboxes. I mean -- and there are people who are still inside of some of these homes. And you know as I said before, I was watching the fire department try to get people to get out yesterday on their bullhorns in the fire trucks and people who just said no. There's someone inside of this home I'm being told. Is someone in this house right here?

FERNANDO: Yes.

RETUNDY: Yes.

FERNANDO: They're -- we came by and knocked on all of these doors, had crews knocking on all of these doors, and we have here we have this gentleman over here right behind you, he's in the window. LEMON: He's right here.

FERNANDO: Right.

LEMON: We'll he come out and talk to us, do you think?

FERNANDO: I don't know.

LEMON: You don't know? Sir, you're in there? Yes, here -- yes.

FERNANDO: We could -- we can go out.

LEMON: Yes. They're going to go -- they're going to walk out -- if we can stick with this for a little bit please, they're going to walk out and ask this gentleman if he will come out and speak to us if you'll just stand by a little bit here.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

LEMON: You can see the -- Emmy, (PH) he's gotten out of the -- Alisyn, he's gotten out of the boat and is going around here.

CAMEROTA: Yes. I mean, this is what it takes. This is the level --

LEMON: And then I'll ask him to come to it.

CAMEROTA: Yes. It's just incredible to see the level of rescue that these guys have to attempt. They knew that somebody was still in there and they're going to check on him now. It's --

LEMON: Yes. And it's --

CAMEROTA: It just seems so --

LEMON: It's unbelievable, Alisyn, because if you can see here we're you know trying to navigate because there are electrical lines above, there are phone lines and electrical lines here and we're trying to navigate between these poles. And you see him talking to the woman. It looks like someone is inside there. And so they went to grab and I guess they're asking him that -- I've just been interested to see why he chose to stay and what life is like for him and for his -- for his neighbors right now.

But I mean their folks, if you -- if you pan to the right there, look in the back porch are people standing on. Did you see the porch right there? There are people standing on the other side of this electrical box. There are people standing -- if you can wave there we go. We can see them. Again, that gentleman is right there.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

LEMON: I don't have my waders on it. If I did I would go over there and try to talk to him, Alisyn. You saw I think there's someone in the door there.

CAMEROTA: Yes. I mean, it doesn't seem, Don, like -- yes, I see that. If they don't want to leave, it --

LEMON: Yes.

CAMEROTA: I mean that seems apparent.

LEMON: Yes, I don't think I need to go in. Yes.

[14:25:02]

CAMEROTA: Yes. They --

LEMON: Yes. They said yes? They said yes, OK. They'll commit, they want to talk.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

LEMON: Yes, they're going to try to get it in but --

FERNANDO: Yes, I'm going to get closer.

LEMON: Yes, we'll get closer. If you guys want to take it you can but I mean this is important stuff. This is what we --

FERNANDO: Yes, I got to go around this car.

LEMON: Actually, talking to people here this is what they've been doing so we're going to try to navigate this. But there's also there are folks here who are on the back porch if you'll just stick with us. Lieutenant, thank you very much. Please be safe over there.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

LEMON: If I had my waders on I would jump out and come talk to them but --

CAMEROTA: Yes.

LEMON: Are you good?

FERNANDO: Oh yes, I'm just telling him --

CAMEROTA: Hey, Don, we're going to let you --

FERNANDO: I said we can see where to navigate this even when you're getting people out.

CAMEROTA: Hey, Don, if you can hear me we're going to let you navigate this --

FERNANDO: We tried to do -- what we tried to do, we tried to put our boats as close to the water as possible just to see if we can keep them out of the water.

LEMON: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Don, we'll check back with you. Well, Don, we'll check back with you.

LEMON: Yes.

CAMEROTA: We're going to talk to a fire chief right now. We'll come back and see how the person in that house right there is doing.

LEMON: OK.

CAMEROTA: We'll check back with you, Don. Thank you very much. We're going to go to Naples, Florida now because flooding from Hurricane Ian has disabled even rescue equipment there. Some fire trucks are completely inoperable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the storm surge that we talked about but we weren't sure about. When we ask you guys to stay off the road, we're not kidding.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: OK. But even that did not stop the fire department from rescuing people in danger. It forced them to get creative. They had to use other types of equipment to patrol the area searching for signs of trouble. This video we're about to show you here shows the moment that crews saved a woman from a car that was almost completely submerged. Emergency official in Collier County, which includes the city of Naples, says their goal is to have search and rescue completed by dark tonight.

Naples' Fire and Rescue Chief Pete DiMaria joins us now. Chief, thank you so much. I know how busy you are. Just tell us what happened at -- with that moment where your fire station was submerged in water. And could you get the fire truck and the other emergency vehicles to work?

PETE DIMARIA, CHIEF, NAPLES FIRE-RESCUE DEPARTMENT: That moment came up, you know, we preached about the storm surge. And you know none of us have really lived through it. It's kind of a unique phenomenon and when it -- when it really comes off and it got us quick. We couldn't get our vehicles out of the station fast enough. And we had the shelter in place for a little while.

The -- one of the apparatus is still not working but we've got the rest of them up and running so we're certainly back out on the streets and we're serving our community right now. We've completed the majority of our rescues that got backed up from the storm. And right now, we're working on some road close -- road closures and checking areas for further flooding.

CAMEROTA: Gosh, that's incredible, Chief. And so that sheltering in place when you had to do that because your own, you know the station was overwhelmed with water, I heard you say that that was very unnerving because you guys couldn't get out of the firehouse. What were those moments like?

DIMARIA: Oh, they were -- they were really stressful. You know, we all do this job to help our community, and when we're here in a -- people that needed our assistance and not being able to get there. Even though we warned them that if you stayed in the evacuation area, we might not be able to get there, it still pulls that us because we really want to get there.

CAMEROTA: Oh, I can imagine you guys just hearing the emergency calls and you yourselves being trapped in your fire station. That does sound awful. And so what are there? -- are you still doing rescues? I mean, what's the situation in Naples right now?

DIMARIA: Well, right now, the surge has receded so we're in good shape. There are still a lot of flooded areas in the city of Naples right now but we've cleared most of the roads, the ones that we haven't completely cleared, we partially cleared and we're able to travel up and down all the roads. We've made a complete sweep of the community and checked all the welfare checks that we have listed from throughout the storm. So we're in a good place now. We have a long, long, long way to go. But we're working really hard to get some of those goals accomplished.

CAMEROTA: We can see that. Chief Pete DeMaria, God bless you. Thank you so much for all the work you're doing for your community, and for taking time to talk to us. We really appreciate it. We'll check back with you.

And we want to go now back to CNN's Don Lemon. He's on a water rescue boat so, Don, what's the situation there?

LEMON: So Alex White (PH) is here, Alisyn, and she chose to stay - with your daughter?

ALEX WHITE, FLOOD VICTIM: Yes.

LEMON: Is your daughter Ella, Stella?

WHITE: This is Stella.

LEMON: Stella.

WHITE: Yes.

LEMON: How old?

WHITE: She's seven years old.

LEMON: Seven. Alex, why do you decide -- why did you decide to stay?

WHITE: A lot of it had to do with -- there weren't many places like I know the shelters were open and they're relatively close by but there wasn't many places we could go with our stuff.