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"Catastrophic" Hurricane Ian Hammers Florida As Cat 1 Storm; More Than 2 Million Customers Without Power In Florida; Governors In South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia And North Carolina Declare States Of Emergency. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired September 29, 2022 - 01:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:35]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm John Vause at the CNN Center in Atlanta. Right now, it's 1:00 a.m. in Florida where Hurricane Ian continues to move slowly North bringing record storm surges, flash flooding and it's still unknown amount of destruction.

Ian made landfall with winds just shy of a Category 5, and since weekend, and cat is a Category 1, slowly moving into Central Florida with winds around 90 miles or 145 kilometers per hour. Millions of homes and businesses have been left in the dark.

The power grid, let's say barely damaged by Ian, in some parts, there are concerns it may need to be rebuilt. The Governor of Florida has warned of the dangers which lie ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): -- overwhelmingly, it's been that surge that has been the biggest issue and the flooding that has resulted as a result of that. In some areas, we think it's hit 12 feet. This has been a big storm and it's done a lot of damage as it is. It's going to continue to move through the state of Florida.

You're going to see hurricane force winds in places in Central Florida, perhaps. It's clearly a very strong tropical storm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: A storm which is strong enough to rip roofs from homes and sweep away vehicles. Emergency crews now ready to ramp up rescue and recovery efforts once the worst of the danger has passed.

Let's find out when that will be. CNN Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has been closely tracking the storm for us all night. So Pedram, what situation are we in with, you know, the timeline here? When do we expect emergency crews to get out?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, about maybe five or six more hours here before reemergence back over the Atlantic Ocean, we're still talking about a Category 1 hurricane. Of course, it made landfall as a strong Category 4, 150 mile per hour winds. Significant storm surge threat across areas around Cayo Costa which not far away from the Sanibel Island region where the storm made landfall. But you'll notice the storm surge threats really kind of tell you how things played out here because across areas such as Fort Myers, we're talking about the storm surge valleys reaching as much as 7 feet among the highest on record for that region.

In fact, plenty of storms across the state of Florida rarely do we get one of this magnitude across this particular region of Florida on to the south and west. But right now, 90 miles per hour sustained winds sitting about 75 or so miles south of Orlando, very close moving east of Winter Haven off towards Melbourne. And we do expect it to reemerge over the Atlantic Ocean sometime about, say, 7:00 or 8:00 a.m. local time here before it pushes up possibly northward and makes another landfall around the Carolina coast.

But notice, over 2 million customers in the dark and the storm system with the intensity of the rainfall with the gusty winds that are still in place, producing winds over 100 miles per hour that our gust right now, in this region expect additional outages to continue into the overnight hours. And of course, once the sun comes up, you'll see the damage that's been left behind but the system is going to reemerge over the water here and has the potential.

Some models say this could strengthen back up very close to a Category 1 hurricane and you kind of follow the track here and see where it ends up because model guidance does bring it in somewhere near Savannah for another landfall Friday morning. And then across the Carolinas, we'll have tropical storm force winds that will continue up portions of the upstate region of South Carolina and eventually interiors of North Carolina as well.

So we're far from over from seeing the impacts of the system. And I wouldn't be surprised we see hundreds of thousands of customers in the Carolinas in the dark by Friday and Saturday as well. Notice over 35 million Americans still underneath hurricane watches, warnings and tropical storm watches and warnings as far north as Charleston, South Carolina. So this is certainly a serious storm system for a lot of people.

This map kind of plays out exactly why that is the case because, yes, tremendously strong winds have been observed across the central portion of Florida. But notice we're still talking very serious wind speeds in store here across the Carolinas and Georgia as well when we get there over the next 24 or so hours.

So could still see hurricane force gusts. These winds, these powerful thunderstorms that have been in place have prompted over 7,000 flights to be either canceled or delayed across the United States on the knock-on effect of what's happening across the state of Florida. So an incredible story playing out, and an incredible amount of rainfall.

140 plus mile stretch of land and water where rainfall estimates, John, pushing close to 20 inches in the spots. So, an incredible flash flooding potential exists into the overnight hours as well.

VAUSE: 20 inches of rain, that's incredible. Pedram, thank you. Appreciate the updates.

Live now to CNN's Gloria Pazmino who is in Tampa, Florida, a city which many thought would be directly in the path when Ian made landfall but they dodged that bullet. But the worst is yet to come, right, that's at least according to city officials.

[01:05:05]

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And, you know, I want to tell you, John, that even since the last time I spoke to you, conditions here have begun to improve slightly. The wind has a little bit slow down, the rain is starting to taper off. But Ian is still very much above us. And at this point, it is without question that Ian will leave a historic amount of damage in its path flooding, that storm surge, flooding into those communities and just leaving an incredible amount of damage in its way.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAZMINO (voice-over): Hurricane Ian slamming Florida's gulf coast with near Category 5 strength, causing life-threatening flooding.

DESANTIS: Overwhelmingly, it's been that surge that has been the biggest issue and the flooding.

PAZMINO (voice-over): The monster storm making landfall with winds of 150 miles per hour.

KEVIN ANDERSON, MAYOR OF FORT MYERS, FLORIDA: I've been here since the mid-70s, this is actually by far the worst storm I have ever seen. I can tell you, I'm looking at the businesses downtown that are all flooded, windows blown out.

PAZMINO (voice-over): Even before the worst of the storm hit, people in Fort Myers already seeing mass flooding.

FRANK LONI, LEAD ARCHITECT: The storm surge is very significant. We're actually seeing cars and boats float down the street.

PAZMINO (voice-over): Hurricane force winds bringing down power lines. Ahead of the storm, long lines on interstates as residents scramble to evacuate, some choosing to stay behind and ride it out.

DON COLLINS, TRAPPED IN HOME IN FORT MYERS: Well, we're 10.5 feet above sea level right now. And the water is coming into our house right now.

PAZMINO (voice-over): Governor Ron DeSantis submitting a request for a major disaster declaration for all 67 counties, which allows the federal government to send funds for cleanup.

(END VIDEOTAPE) PAZMINO: And that cleanup effort is likely not to begin for several more days as Ian continues its destructive path across the state. More than 2 million people across the state of Florida reporting power outages. Here in Hillsborough County, which is where I'm standing in Tampa, more than 450,000 people reporting power outages, several thousand people, 190,000 from the Tampa Bay area are in shelter riding out the storm as officials warned ahead of its arrival that people should try and do to get out of its way. John?

VAUSE: Gloria, we appreciate the update. Thank you being live at this hour. Gloria Pazmino there in Tampa.

Collier County which includes the city of Naples is just south of where Ian made landfall. Official say the district was hit with a 12- foot storm surge. Right now, power is out to more than 250,000 homes and businesses. A mandatory curfew has been in place for more than two hours now since 10:00 p.m. local time, and will be lifted by 6:00 a.m.

Rick LoCastro is a commissioner for Collier County. He joins us now on the line from Marco Island. Commissioner Castro, thanks for being with us.

RICK LOCASTRO, COUNTY COMMISSIONER, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA: Thanks for having me, John. It's been quite a day and we got a lot ahead of us.

VAUSE: I can imagine, is there an early assessment at this point or the extent of damage caused especially by that storm surge?

LOCASTRO: Absolutely. You know, this hurricane was all about storm surge. You know, everybody was sort of focused on where the eye was going to land. But as your previous meteorologist will tell you, a lot of people were reporting that whoever was just south of that eye sort of in that dirty part of the storm was going to get some horrific storm surge and we got every inch of it.

You know, we lived through Irma here in 2017 and a lot of storm surge was predicted. But at the last minute, that storm changed quite a bit and it lessen the storm surge. But it gave people a little bit of a false sense of security that they sort of blamed meteorologists for kind of overestimating when that wasn't the case. Well, this storm did all the wrong things, I guess maybe all the right things that caused all the wrong problems. And this storm came at us and storm surge was catastrophic.

So although we had gusty winds, and we, you know, we didn't get the winds that, you know, the folks in Fort Myers and Northward got, it was pretty gusty here, but it was all about the water. You know, Irma, back in 2017 was all about the wind and we had a lot of damage. But this storm surge was something just like your meteorologist said, unlike anything I've ever seen --

VAUSE: Yes.

LOCASTRO: -- and the flooding here on Marco Island, Naples, you know, a big part of the district where I'm a commissioner was hit extremely hard and to levels that we have never seen before.

VAUSE: And we've just been looking at some images coming from Naples, Florida. We can see even the fire department and the -- where the ambulance services are, they've been flooded, as well. Just an idea of how extensive the flooding held from the storm surge has been.

But the county did issue a mandatory evacuation order for some coastal areas. Is there an any idea of how many residents did not follow that, how many decided to ride out the storm? And given that storm surge, are there concerns for their safety?

[01:10:01]

LOCASTRO: Well, you know, folks around here know that when we issue a mandatory evacuation, they take it seriously. But also you have a lot of seasonal people. You have people here -- I mean, I'm sure you saw some of the video footage where, you know, people are partying down on key west as the waves are crashing over the top, and they think it's sort of funny.

You know, we get a lot of those seasonal folks here that have never lived through a hurricane. And maybe initially, it doesn't seem that bad. So they think they're going to ride it out with a hurricane party or whatnot. I will say, John, that's the exception and not the rule. But those exceptions are what our first responders have to respond to when those folks realize that they're in over their heads.

And we had a lot of heroic actions today in Collier County by our first responders. And also, we were helping Lee County, as may have been reported, you know, by your staff, because when they started to become overwhelmed, and you know, we had the staff because we had a significant evacuation here. We were helping out our sister County with a lot of rescues and helping a lot of folks that stay behind and probably shouldn't have.

VAUSE: Yes, it's that, time is where everybody has to pull together. One of the biggest problems that seems right now is the power. More than 250,000 residents here in Collier County are in the dark. And equally including yourself, right?

LOCASTRO: Yes. Well, I mean, that's not unlike what happens here a lot of time. What I would tell you is, since we had such an aggressive evacuation here, yes, there's a lot of people without power, they just don't know it yet, because they've evacuated. So it's getting a handle on bringing power back to places that are priority. you know, our hospitals and, you know, places where we have a high population of people who maybe didn't evacuate or they weren't in an area that had to evacuate.

So we, you know, we really want to know the extent of the number and the time it's going to take probably until tomorrow or, you know, maybe even a couple of days.

VAUSE: Thanks to Collier County Commissioner Rick LoCastro speaking to us just a short time ago. He's also a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel, we should mention that. Well, despite mandatory evacuation orders from Florida's Governor, many have chosen to stay in their homes to ride out the storm. Don and Belinda Collins spoke with CNN's Anderson Cooper as the floodwaters started to fill their home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BELINDA COLLINS, TRAPPED IN FORT MYERS, FLORIDA: My husband was sitting -- he was sitting with his phone just doing nothing in the dark and I came out and he says there's dripping on -- something dripping on me. He got up. And at the ceiling, the family room ceiling caved in.

And we have solar panels but we have -- you know, we live in Florida, we have a cage around our booth and we think that -- we're that -- we know it's gone and we think that it just slipped up and it took a piece with it and then the water just sat there for a while and finally came in.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: So how high did the water get or how high is it?

DON COLLINS, TRAPPED IN FORT MYERS, FLORIDA: Well we're 10.5 feet above sea level right now. And the water is coming into our house right now. So I'm going to say probably 11 feet and had a little more than we're about 7 miles from the beach, maybe a little more than that.

B. COLLINS: Yes, about 7 miles.

COOPER: So you have what, a couple of inches of water on your ground floor?

B. COLLINS: But we have it from the -- where it caved in and at the front door, it's right at the cusp of coming in.

COOPER: OK.

B. COLLINS: And at the garage door coming into the laundry room, it's beginning to seep. So it's coming up those three seeps also.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: An eerie Omen from Hurricane Ian right before landfall. When we come back, beaches and shorelines drained of water. Just why and what happened next, we'll tell you when we come back

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[01:17:53]

VAUSE: Welcome back, you're looking at the moment Hurricane Ian rolled over Sanibel Island. This is time lapse video from a traffic camera, starting from around noon local time. It's about three hours we call Ian officially made landfall around Fort Myers. All of this in just 30 minutes, the heavy rain dumped by Ian left this intersection practically submerged.

Ian has been downgraded to a Category 1 now but it's moving slowly and doubling a huge amount of rain up to 20 inches in places and officials warn the worst is not over. CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is in Bradenton, Florida. He filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We're going close to 10 hours of tropical storm force winds. Hurricane Ian has rewritten the history books here across the southwestern Florida peninsula as one of the strongest storms to reach this shoreline. I'm in Bradenton and we are part of the nearly 2 million customers that have been plunged into darkness. That is one of my greatest concerns for people as the storm slowly marches across the states -- the state with its powerful winds and extremely heavy rain and dangerous conditions is that people will have to endure this weather, this onslaught, in the darkness of night.

Very scary moments for people here to say the least. As a meteorologist, I witnessed something I've never seen before in my entire career. It is called reverse storm surge. The wind was so intense here. Earlier this morning that it actually pushed out the water from the river in the Manatee River, that's behind me here. Some of the sailboats were actually sitting on their keels in the Bradenton harbor. Absolutely incredible.

We actually had a moment as well, where our communications in our electricity was disrupted because transformers were blowing behind us in the distance sending sparks well into the sky. We also drove down some of the city streets here and saw debris getting lofted into the air under some of these heavy violent gusts that continue to move through.

We've got another few hours of some of this intense wind. But then the major threat going forward of course is the inland flooding, with some locations already receiving 19 inches of rain. That's two to three months worth of rainfall for these locations and it's not done yet as the storm emerges off the east coast of the Florida peninsula.

I'm CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam from Bradenton, Florida.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:20:15]

VAUSE: Right now, the full extent of damage caused by Ian remains unknown. Conditions are to dangerous, rather, to venture out and it's the middle of the night anyway. But we are getting an idea of what to expect in Ian's wake.

For more, Retired Lieutenant General Jeffrey Buchanan joins us now. He led the U.S. Army response to five major hurricanes. So thank you for being with us.

LT. GENERAL JEFFREY BUCHANAN, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Thanks for having me on your program, John. VAUSE: Sure, you bet. Now we've heard some officials talking about a power grid that needs to be rebuilt in some parts, 12-foot storm surges, multiple rescues, many trapped in the attics of their homes. From what your experience has been, how bad do you think this will be in the cold light of day?

BUCHANAN: Well, I do think it'll be bad for the next three or four days. The activities of the first responders during this initial period is going to be focused on what we call search and rescue. And that's really dominated by saving people's lives. And so, everything that they can do to save lives is going to be very important.

And I would stress anybody who might be in the area who's listening to this broadcast, please follow the orders of your local leadership and your first responders because they really do have your best interests in mind. Over time, those activities will change to clearing routes, opening up roads, so that we can do better damage assessments and taking care of people and helping them rebuild and take get their feet back under them.

VAUSE: So in terms of priority, saving lives, obviously, is number one. But after that, you start picking on things like restoring electricity. Is that the top of the list?

BUCHANAN: It would be -- well, first we've got to deal with floodwaters and flood areas could stay flooded for weeks, potentially, depending on the situation. So obviously, that's very, very important. But electricity tends to be what we'd call a signal sort of problem. A lot of issues emanate from a lack of electricity.

For example, water. You know, our water pump stations operate on electricity. So when you don't have electricity, you can't get people fresh water. Without electricity, refrigerators don't work and people who need insulin, for example, medication to survive, won't have access to electricity, we're able to keep it cold.

VAUSE: You know, when we look at the power of the storm, the intensity, the size, all of it just seems unprecedented, so to the area, which is impacted across Florida. So when you look at something like this, when you look at the map, where do you start? What's the biggest need here?

BUCHANAN: Well, again, it really starts with search and rescue, and where are the areas that people need the greatest help. In this case, it's probably going to be dominated by floodwaters. People are going to be driven to their attics, as you mentioned, are up on the roofs of their houses, and will need to be rescued. So that's the first place.

But then the problems emanate out from there even from an area that may not be flooded. Powerlines will be down, streets will be blocked, trees will be down, all of that will need to be cleared. And dangerous situations such as electrical lines on the ground will need to be taken care of. But it sort of -- it starts with the where the path is, but then works out from there.

VAUSE: And what about logistics? I mean, it's one thing to deal with, you know, Hurricane Charley, which was a small hurricane, intensely powerful one but a small one. When you're dealing with something of this size, how do you get, you know, your men and your equipment, your supplies, that kind of stuff? How much harder is it because it's spread over such a wide area?

BUCHANAN: Thanks, John. The good news is Florida has a tremendous emergency management capability. It's well-resourced, well-rehearsed, they deal with storms, maybe not exactly like this one, but they deal with storms regularly. And so they have a really good plan and a good system of network of ship harbors of roads, railroads, and airports to be able to get supplies closest as possible to the area of need.

I'll contrast that with when I was in Puerto Rico for Hurricane Maria, you know, we're 1,000 miles from the U.S. coastline. And initially, all the airports were shut, all the ports, all the sea ports were shut. So it's much harder to get supplies to the point of need.

Florida -- I mean, it's going to be complicated situation, but Florida is actually in a good position to be able to deal with this logistic.

VAUSE: So far, especially now, there'd be no reports of fatalities at this point. But obviously, that's early days. What are you expecting?

BUCHANAN: Well, I -- you know, I'd hesitate to put a number on it but what concerns me most in a storm like this is actually the water. When we look at hurricanes, the first thing that comes to mind is wind and some people are in fact damaged by falling or hurt by falling debris and things like this. But most of the deaths actually occur because of floodwaters.

[01:25:04]

And in this case, we have a double whammy, if you will. It's a tremendous storm surge plus a very large amount of rainfall, which will cause subsequent flooding. It could be for a period of days. And again, I go back to Hurricane Florence in North and South Carolina in 2018. The damage by wind was there, but the real problem was floodwaters. And it continued to last for at least a couple of weeks after the storm had passed.

VAUSE: And very quickly, what can states further north like Georgia, the Carolinas, what can they expect?

BUCHANAN: Well, first of all, they can expect a storm surge especially on those coastal areas, Savannah, Charleston, but -- and a lot of rainfall and potential flooding. But one thing that all of these states can do is help each other and there's a great system in our country, it's -- we call it EMACs for short, but it's Emergency Management Assistance Compacts.

The governors have signed these agreements to where, if one governor needs help, fellow governors from states across the United States will chip in and send resources and supplies. So in this case, we have a presidential disaster declaration, Florida will get help from the federal government. But Florida is also already getting help from fellow states and that's all going to be needed in the coming days. VAUSE: General Jeffrey Buchanan, thank you for being with us. And clearly as we look at these images, they're going to need all that help that they can get. Thank you so. We appreciate it.

BUCHANAN: Thanks, John.

Please stay with CNN for the latest on Hurricane Ian. Just ahead, we'll find out where the storm is headed next to some of the havoc that's already hit (ph) on southern Florida.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:31:08]

VAUSE: Welcome back everyone,

This is 1:30 in the morning right now in Kissimmee, Florida. This is not far from Orlando, not far from Disney World, for people who've been there and know that.

This is the scene there right now. You're seeing some strong winds, some powerful winds and some heavy rains as well. That rain does appear to be easing up a little as you can see it down the street.

96 percent of Fort Myers, which is where Ian made landfall remains without electricity. There was a similar situation across many parts of the state. That's the scene in Kissimmee.

This is Fort Myers earlier. As the storm rolled in. We can see this time lapse image of water going in, rushing down those streets. The city's mayor, as we said, says almost the entire city is without electricity. Thousands of people are currently taking refuge in a number of shelters.

Now they say that the damage from the hurricane, they described as being very serious. Water pumps are down. Right now residents there are under a boil water order. That is in effect now until they can get those pumps working once again. Water just keeps coming in. That's the big problem right now.

Hurricane Ian continues to move slowly across Florida. Gusty powerful winds and heavy rain. This giant storm has downed trees, flooded homes and businesses, also tearing the roofs of homes.

Florida's governor says the storm surge hit 12 feet in places. Forecasters say surge levels have likely peaked but when (INAUDIBLE) falling but the levels remain high, and officials are urging caution.

Police report receiving calls of help from residents trapped in their homes, some in the attic by the rising water.

State governors in the southeastern U.S. states have declared states of emergency ahead of Ian's arrival. All flights on Thursday to Florida's Jacksonville Airport have been canceled because of the dangers posed by Hurricane Ian.

Let's go now to meteorologist Pedram who's been doing the yeoman's like work for us this evening. Many, many hours ahead of you, Pedram.

What is it right now for where Ian is, and you know, what's the situation on where it's 0heading?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, we've got a few more hours over land, John, incredible to think north of ten hours now that the storm system still maintaining Category 1 intensity. Of course, back at around 3:00 p.m. Wednesday afternoon it made landfall with 150 mile per hour winds. Came ashore as the single strongest hurricane to ever impact the western Florida peninsula since 2004 when Hurricane Charlie had 150 mile per hour winds when it made landfall across this region.

And again incredible perspective to share with you here because it really speaks to just how rare and unusual it is to get a storm of this magnitude because you look at places such as Fort Myers, the storm surge shattering essentially doubling, any previous storm surge on record.

So we know the devastation is going to be significant. We often talk about billion dollar weather disasters. Well in 2022, this particular one almost a sure bet here we're going to have a billion dollars worth of damage left behind in the path of the storm system.

And again, still a few more hours left, we think maybe 7:00, maybe 8:00 a.m. local time the system reemerges, over the space coast of Florida, mot far from Melbourne. And then eventually has potential, once it does weaken, we think it will weaken down to a tropical storm but has potential to try to restrengthen back up very close to a hurricane before making a third landfall across the Georgia-Carolina border.

But notice over 2 million customers across the state of Florida, still in the dark with the storm system, and more intensity left before it is all said and done. In fact, the thunderstorms that have been present, you kind of notice there is a center of circulation just east of Orlando at about 8:00 in the morning, local time and follow the track because it'll eventually want to end up somewhere near Savannah, Georgia -- landfall between Savannah and Charleston as a strong tropical storm on Friday morning.

Look at that tropical storm force, wind field (ph) that extends well over 100 miles away from the center, so you know the power outages you're seeing down here in Florida, you are going to expect those in and around places such as Savannah, Charleston, Columbia, South Carolina, possibly even as far north as Charlotte, and of course, fall foliage still as the autumn leaves have not fallen down, so essentially have a lot of sail through a lot of these trees, to bend and come down once the storm system arrives in areas where there is no longer that much in the way of palm trees but just leaves that are going to -- a lot of trees could really bend and break.

[01:35:00]

JAVAHERI: And yes, we are expecting that third landfall to occur sometime again Friday morning. Notice, upwards of 30 plus million Americans, from Florida into the Carolinas into Georgia underneath tropical storm watches, warnings, and hurricane watches and warnings as well.

So hurricane conditions are really far from over for these areas, and this kind of gives you a sense of scale. 100 plus mile per hour winds, still possible in the areas highlighted in pink. You get into the reds, you could see some gusts pushing to 110 miles an hour and eventually as you get up towards the Carolinas, wind gust between say 55 to 75 miles per hour possible.

And of course John, you look at the flight disruptions across the country. The knock-on effect of what's happening down there in Florida. Over 7,000 flights, either delayed or canceled in the United States in the past 24 hours.

VAUSE: Best to stay put for a while, huh.

JAVAHERI: Yes.

VAUSE: Thanks, Pedram.

CNN's Randi Kaye was in Punta Gorda on Wednesday, and the back side of the hurricane ripped (ph) through with incredible ferocity. Here's her report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I am on the first floor of this parking garage. We came downstairs just to show you what it's like out here. I see a stop sign that has been pushed over.

I'm hearing myself in my ear but I'll do the best to describe here what I'm hearing. The wind is -- incredible out here right now. We did have the eye pass over, and it was very calm, there was no rain.

But right now, we are getting the worst that we have seen. If you look down the street, if you can over here, Jerry. Look down here, you can see there is a little bit of -- the metal is wrapped around the power line there. There is a tree down.

And then on the other side, there is that stop sign that has completely fallen. But these winds we are told they're on the other side. They came on the other side of the eye. So we are experiencing this. We are told this is going to last for several hours --

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: We'll take a short break, when we come back, much of Florida now facing a long and difficult recovery after one of the state's most powerful storms in the state's history.

A report from the most hard-hit Naples, when we come back.

[01:37:06]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Over the years, Florida has had its share of destructive hurricanes but over and over again, most there say they have never seen anything like Hurricane Ian.

In Naples, the fire station was flooded by a massive storm surge, but has since reopened as the water receded. But this disaster is far from over. Ian remains a category one nearly 11 hours after making landfall.

Listen to this report from affiliate WINK in Naples just south of where Ian came ashore.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAYLOR WIRTZ, REPORTER, WINK NEWS: Honestly, I'm just trying to wrap my mind around what is going on right now. Because it is so unbelievable.

If you take a look behind me, this whole bay, there is a dumpster, just floating by like a log, through the water. You can see the roof about it -- about to be ripped off.

There are several boats -- I don't know if you can see any of those -- just floating off in the distance. These boats that we showed you yesterday were tied up probably at least five feet above the pier. There are just floating. No one on them just floating aimlessly through the water.

There is a whole rack of kayaks that washed up and paddle boards. Have no idea where it came from -- another resort, another home. And it is just been bobbing up and down right in front of us.

Our news cars that we drove to get here are completely underwater. They are buried. So this situation -- we have all been sitting inside just trying to compartmentalize.

And I honestly think that's the only way. You just have to right now be concerned about your immediate safety because you cannot even begin to look around you and process what's going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Our special coverage of Hurricane Ian continues in the hours ahead. But for now major developments and other stores that we've been watching.

Ukrainian forces are making further gains in the Donetsk region. (INAUDIBLE) social media videos showing proof, raising the national flag in a small town near Lyman (ph). Pro Russian forces still control a small pocket of territory in that area. But the Ukrainians are closing in on them from three sides.

CNN is the first TV crew with access to the area around Lyman, where fierce fighting has left (ph) little standing.

Here is Nick Paton Walsh.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hidden but unstoppable. Ukraine's not bragged much about its march south from Kharkiv towards the prize of Donetsk, but every rooftop or tree line suggest they've just been too busy advancing day-by-day, reducing how much of occupied Ukraine, Moscow is about to forcefully declare Russian territory.

With the ultimate goal, encircling the vital railway town of Lyman close, no quarter given, all the way through the forest to the monastery town of Sviatohirsk (ph).

The drive to this point, probably the most depressing two hours you spend on the road for the whole six months of this war just laying bare the utter ferocity of the fighting and also too the speed of Ukraine's advance to this town which itself, is shocking.

Eight years ago at the start of the conflict, I lived on/off here for six months and just learned to appreciate its normality, its peace, amid all the pines here. And that's just gone.

It is the most fragile who remained when Russia moved in. Anna is one of nine people left in her block. She almost didn't make it.

ANNA, SVIATOHIRSK RESIDENT (through translator): The scariest was when the Russians one night were in a firefight in my courtyard, I was in the doorway and trying to hold the steel door shut. But a soldier pulled at the door, so I jumped down and fell in the basement. He tore open the door, shot his gun into the darkness, and missed me.

WALSH: Some seek survival in their gods here whose monastery looks down on the mess. Luba asked me if they will come back. The Russians, they made such a mess of their new post office, she says.

[01:45:01]

WALSH: On her shirt, a lock of hair from her local beloved priest killed by shelling in June.

"I attached it as a protective amulet," she says. Tell me, can I leave here now?

Even the carcasses here still rocked by shelling. But the church bells finally rang again two days ago. They brought the miller to tears.

"It rang and I heard it," she says, "and I listened and it got louder."

They are now out of the church basement, where they hid from the bombs and still tried to live.

You're saying it's cold down here and you can feel that seven months underground. Anxious to not show their faces, their plight down here is their private tragedy one says whose disabled son was injured in the shelling and taken to hospital, she tells me. She last saw him alive but that is all she knows down here.

There is little salvation here. Only ruins turning to rust. There is no letup in Ukraine's advances or of Moscow's imminent annexation -- the absurd claim this land is now actually Russian territory.

The land here testimony to how the collision between this right and that wrong shreds the very thing both covet.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN -- Sviatohirsk, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: The case appears to be building that Russia may be involved in possible sabotage of two Nord Stream pipelines. Three sources now tell CNN European officials observed a Russian navy ships in the area where the pipelines have been leaking natural gas since Monday. It's unclear if those vessels had anything to do with two explosions and believed responsible for damaging the lines.

The Kremlin is dismissing any suggestion that it sabotaged its own pipelines as quote, "stupid and absurd".

The U.S. Embassy in Moscow is urging Americans to leave Russia immediately while there are still options to do so. The security alert comes after President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization of Russian men to fight in Ukraine.

The alert warns that Russian authorities have arrested U.S. citizens who have participated in demonstrations and may conscript dual nationals for military services.

Get out now.

Stay with CNN for continuing coverage of Hurricane Ian.

We will have more on the devastating effects of the powerful storm on the Sunshine State's west coast.

More when we come back. You're watching CNN.

[01:47:27]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Nine minutes before the top of the hour.

Welcome back.

Despite being downgraded to a category one, states emergency have been declared by governors of North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia ahead of Hurricane Ian. The storm has overwhelmed the electrical grid across Florida, more than 2 million people are without electricity across the region.

Most (INAUDIBLE) in western Florida, Ian has produced record storm surges in a number of locations. Well now, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is set to visit the

Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea later today. She's in the region after leading the American delegation to attend the state funeral of former prime minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo.

Harris met earlier with South Korea's president as well as a group of female industry leaders.

Live now to Seoul and CNN's Paula Hancocks is standing by. Let me guess, Pyongyang will not be pleased?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Probably not, John. And to be honest, they haven't been pleased in recent days, either. We saw a couple of missile launches from North Korea -- one just on Wednesday evening. Unusual for them to do a launch in the evening, but potentially on the eve of the vice president of United States, arriving here, that was some kind of message. And then also on Sunday. They carried out a missile launch. So Kamala Harris is on her way at the moment to the DMZ, the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea, where she will have a tour and we are being told that it is -- this is really about key messaging, of the defense of the iron clad commitment, we are being told, between these allies. This is one of the reason that she is wanting to visit the DMZ.

As you say, she had earlier this morning met with President Yoon Suk- seol, -- a very wide-ranging discussion. We understand it was to be talking about China, talking about Taiwan, economic and technology relationships. And also of course talking about North Korea and gender equality.

Now she did do an interview with the "New York Times" and was asked about her message to Kim Jong-un bearing in mind he has been firing missiles recently saying that we believe his recent activity has been destabilizing and in many ways provocative. We stand with our allies.

And with all the briefings, we are being told that this is why she decided she needed to come to South Korea after having been in Tokyo as well and with these meetings and the visit to the DMZ, to show the defense commitment that the United States has for its allies, John.

VAUSE: We appreciate the update, Paula Hancocks live for us in Seoul. Thank you.

Grammy winning rapper and actor Coolio known for his 90s hit, "Gangsta's Paradise" and "Fantastic Voyage" has died. He was 59, according to his friend and manager. No cause of death so far, Coolio was born Artis Ivey Jr., rose to fame in the Los Angeles rap scene and his chart topping hits were staples on 90s radio as well as MTV.

Gangsta's Paradise became one of the most popular rap songs of all time. Number one single in the U.S. in 1995. This past July, (INAUDIBLE) one billion views on YouTube.

Well, thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. CNN NEWSROOM continues with my friend and colleague Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. She'll have all the very latest in the coverage coming from Florida and Hurricane Ian.

See you back here tomorrow.

[01:54:45]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.

And I'm Kristie Lu Stout.

[01:59:43]

STOUT: Now widespread flooding and property damage are tormenting Florida 11 hours after Hurricane Ian crashed to shore as a high end Category 4 storm. It has since been downgraded to Cat 1 as it crawls across the center of the state with winds around 90 miles or 145 kilometers miles per hour.

But Ian remains a violent, dangerous, life-threatening hurricane, one of the strongest to ever hit Florida's West Coast.