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Post-Tropical Cyclone Ian Hitting North Carolina After Slamming South Carolina And Florida; At Least 45 Dead After Ian Ravages Florida; Recovery Efforts Underway After Ian Slams Florida, Carolinas; Coast Guard Rescues More Than 275 People In Florida; Russian Forces Retreat From Donetsk A Day After Moscow's Annexation Of The Region; Florida Power Company Says Uncertain When Electricity On State's West Coast Will Be Restored; Death Toll Jumps To At Least 64 In Florida Following Hurricane Ian. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired October 01, 2022 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[12:00:31]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST (on camera): Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta.
My colleague Boris Sanchez is in hard hit Fort Myers, Florida. We'll get you in a moment, Boris.
New today, warnings of potential new threats of flooding in Florida. Sheriff's deputies going door to door in a private community near Sarasota. A possible levee breach could push a 15 foot wall of water into the neighborhood. Sarasota is just one of the many Gulf Coast communities still dealing with severe flooding.
Hurricane Ian slamming southwest Florida as a Category 4 storm. The death toll now stands at 45. But that number could rise as crews reach areas that have been cut off because of the flooding.
Right now, the remnants of Ian, moving over the Mid-Atlantic States, following Friday's direct hit on the South Carolina coast as a Category 1 hurricane.
All right. Now, let's send it down to Boris in hard hit Fort Myers. Boris.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST (on camera): Fred, neighbors here are stunned at just the raw power of Mother Nature. I'm not sure how well you can see it behind me. But there are several vessels, at least, five of them, large, what appear to be commercial fishing charter-sized vessels that were lifted from where they were here in this marina in Fort Myers and toss onto the outside part of that bridge, just thrown around like debris.
One of many scenes that we've seen here in Fort Myers, an area of Southwest Florida that was devastated by Hurricane Ian. And it's nearly Category 5 winds, just an enormous hurricane that has affected the entire region of Florida. And as you noted, the search and recovery efforts are still ongoing, specifically in one part of Sarasota County where we understand that overnight, there was a levee that was compromised.
And we spoke to an official in that part of the state who said that, overnight, his teams were working to evacuate some 150 people. Keep in mind, this storm made landfall in Florida, days ago. And there were still folks who were out there stranded.
We want to send it over now to CNN's Nadia Romero. She is live for us in Arcadia, Florida that is very close to where this massive storm made landfall. And Nadia, we got an update from the Sheriff of North Pointe, Florida, saying that essentially, while that levee was compromised, they were able to get people out of that area in time. So, there is no immediate danger to life.
I'm wondering what updates you're getting about that levee and what you're seeing where you are?
NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Yes, I think the concern, Boris, is the aftermath of the storm. And what do you do with all this water?
And so, if you would have gotten that knock on your door in the morning, telling you that the levee had been compromised, and that they were asking people to evacuate, that sense of panic, that sense of trauma is what we've been talking to people about for the past couple of days.
You first had the storm, now, you're dealing with survival. And that's exactly what's happening here in DeSoto County -- I mean, Arcadia, Florida.
This is Highway 70 right here. Even though it definitely looks like a river behind me -- I was just speaking with a woman, her name is Linda. She's lived in this neighborhood her entire life. And she got choked up when she started talking about Hurricane Ian. Because there is that trauma that, that she's remembering, she's reliving it. Every time she sees all this water and all of this destruction.
So, to the left of your screen. Further back should be a campground. But you can see, cars and R.V.s that have been sucked out of the way, flowing now, and what is the Peace River.
This river should only be about six or seven feet, right? The locals say that they go canoeing on this very gentle river. Now, it is overtaken this major highway that the locals tell me they used to go from Sarasota to the beach. You can go from Sarasota, make your way down to Fort Myers. Now, you can't.
So, they have split this town in half. You have one side of the town where people live. The other side of town is where you'll find a Walmart, a Publix, a gas station, all of the shopping, and where people have their jobs. The only way to get there now is by boat.
And we spoke with a woman who talked to us about how difficult it's been. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOAN GODWIN, RESIDENT, ARCADIA, FLORIDA: We don't know because we can't get over the bridge. It's from what we hear, it's up to the roof of the store over there. And on 70 and 72, and -- we're stuck.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[12:05:05]
ROMERO: So, it's been so hard she says that her sister is on the other side. She is over here. All of this water isn't going anywhere anytime soon. So, you have different boats that are coming by, either by the county sheriff's office or by locals who are just helping people out. Neighbors helping neighbors, that's what we're seeing. Boris.
SANCHEZ: And that is so often. Nadia, what is inspiring and something that brings people together in the face of this kind of adversity, and the face of this kind of catastrophe. The fact that differences are set aside. Political differences, geographical differences, even folks coming together from out of state to help those who need it most, as we've seen with the Cajun Navy.
Nadia Romero, from Arcadia, Florida. Thank you so much.
We want to pivot now to a different part of Southwest Florida, Naples. And that's where we find CNN's Brian Todd, who has been tracking the aftermath of this storm soon after it made landfall.
And Brian, when we were speaking in the last hour, we were lamenting that, alongside those who come to help, also come those who, unfortunately, tried to take advantage of people at a desperate time. And you would have been hearing from someone who was directly talking to someone that might be labeled an opportunist who was trying to gouge money from someone to help with a recovery process, right?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Boris. This was a building manager just down the street here who told me that there was a contractor who came, and most of the contractors, we have to say, are honest people, they are doing good work, they're doing great work and really don't want to gouge people.
But there are some who are opportunists. And this building manager encountered someone who said, well, how many units do you have that need to be cleaned out? And he was telling them.
And then, the contractor replied, well, if there aren't enough units here, I'm just going to -- I'm not going to do it. I'm just going to go down the street where I can make more money. That's what you're running into here. It's unfortunate.
But look, in the meantime, we can kind of give you as an illustration of the degree to which the recovery process is slow, it is messy, and it is incredibly hard work. First, they've got to clear the debris like this off the streets to try to restore power, and to get to people, and to help them clear stuff out of their homes. And what I can also tell you, Boris, as we move around this pile here, these piles just like this one of people, you know, just taking their possessions, some parts of their homes. This is an apartment complex. And putting it on the street to be picked up.
These piles have grown in size almost exponentially, just since yesterday. Just in coming in here this morning in Naples, we've noticed that these piles have really built up. You've got, you know, siding from a wall, you've got like a dresser drawer set over here.
And Orlando and I are going to kind of move over here and show you some other stuff that is just being taken out and put on the street. Look, there's a toilet that had to be ripped out. Because it's no longer functional. You've got whole sets of living room furniture here. There is a chaise lounge over there. There is a lounge chair over here.
I mean, this is what people have to do, they have to just clean out their homes. And we all -- you know, my team and I and we were talking to local people about this, we try to put ourselves, at least, in our emotional sense of what it's like if it was you, who had to do this. How would you feel you? How would you know where to begin?
I'm trying to relay that sense because we're encountering a lot of people going through that, Boris. And I'm amazed continually, add how stoic they are, how brave they are, and how resilient they are here.
They're determined to just get what needs to be done, done. But a lot of the time, you look at this, and you wonder if this was me, where would I start? So, this is what people are up against here, Boris.
SANCHEZ: Yes, Brian, a lot of difficult questions that residents here find themselves asking this morning. Many of them wondering when they can return home, and ultimately, what's going to be there when they do? What did this storm, Hurricane Ian, leave behind?
Brian Todd from Naples, Florida. Thank you so much.
We want to bring in our guests now. He is the Atlantic Area Commander for the U.S. Coast Guard Vice Admiral Kevin Lunday.
Obviously, the U.S. Coast Guard continuing rescue operations days after this storm came through Southwest Florida. Vice Admiral, we're grateful to have you sharing your perspective with us. We're wondering what is the status of the search and rescue efforts right now? Where do things stand?
VICE ADM. KEVIN LUNDAY, ATLANTIC AREA COMMANDER, UNITED STATES COAST GUARD: oh, hi, Boris. It's good to be joining you this morning.
Well, our active search and rescue continues. Our highest priority remains saving lives in Southwest Florida. And then also now that Ian has made landfall in Charleston late yesterday, we're also focused on responding to calls for rescue up in Charleston and South Carolina area.
In the last few days in Florida, Coast Guard crews have saved over 100 people and 88 pets. Mostly in Lee County, in the Naples, Sanibel Island, and other areas in Southwest Florida that were greatest hit by Ian as it came ashore.
We've been doing that from helicopters and in our small flood rescue boats. You've seen the video of our crews doing that work. And for all the lives we've helped and people we've -- people we've saved, that's part of a broader effort that's in support of the state and local first responders.
[12:10:11]
Part of a FEMA-led interagency effort with other federal partners that are doing that work. We're also focused on reopening the ports that are necessary for getting life -- sustaining commerce going to the people of Florida.
As of today, this morning, all ports in Florida are reopened with the exception of Fort Myers. And that's essential for food and fuel, other commodities, and jobs in Florida.
Looking up the coast, we've had our helicopters and our flood rescue boats out and ready in South Carolina area after Ian came ashore there. And we're responding to rescue calls as they come in.
So far, we've only had one rescue. That was late yesterday, as Ian was coming ashore. This was near Myrtle Beach, about five miles offshore. There was a commercial fishing boat that was disabled. A Coast Guard helicopter out of Savannah, Florida rescue swimmer, and safely hoisted four people to -- and then brought them to safety. And that storm came ashore. So, we're still responding to calls there.
As for the ports, the Port of Charleston is open this morning. Ports of Savannah and Brunswick are open. And we're working hard to get the Ports of Morehead City and Wilmington in North Carolina, open later today.
SANCHEZ: Sir, we are incredibly grateful for your work. We know that there are obviously logistical challenges with getting folks, the resources that they need to expedite the recovery process, but also obviously, just saving lives.
It's so inspiring to see and I'm always in awe of the incredible work that the Coast Guard does across the waterfronts of the United States. I'm wondering though, as someone who has seen this kind of devastation before, perhaps, not to this scale, how it makes you feel to see entire towns that appear to have just been washed away in Southwest Florida.
LUNDAY: Of course, it's heartbreaking. I mean, our hearts go out to those that have lost loved ones, or they've lost everything. As we've seen from the images that you've been -- you've been showing us, and our crews have been seeing as they conduct these operations.
And these, these storms are devastating. We try and do the best to prepare for them. And there is a lot of information to help be prepared. But sometimes people are just not able to get out of the way fast enough. And then, they're just impacted by it.
And I think for us, you know, these are communities in which our men and women, our families, these are communities in which we live and work. So, the people we're helping out, much like the other first responders, these aren't strangers, they are our neighbors, people are -- children go to school with or people that that we see in the store, or we know very well.
And so, it makes it even, even more difficult. But we know they're in need. And that's why the Coast Guard is there to help along with other first responders.
SANCHEZ: And you are so right about that, sir. The fact that this storm shifted at the last minute and intensified in a way that even those who were prognosticating, what it might do didn't totally anticipate.
For those folks that are trying to get back to their homes, the properties that they have worked some their entire lives to build up, and they see that devastation. What's your message to those who are getting back to these areas where everything is gone, where everything that they've worked for is now wiped away, and they have to start over?
LUNDAY: Boris, I know the -- that the desire to get back and check on your property and try and see what the damage might be. And I think it's very important that we listen to emergency managers at the county and local level, and in the state.
Some of these areas don't have -- many of these areas don't have -- don't have power, they don't have potable water. There is a lot of dangers in the area because of the debris, that you -- the images you've been showing.
And so, I understand the desire to get back in the areas. We have our own Coast Guard families that live in some of these areas. They're trying to get back as well. But we want to make sure that they're heeding the advice and the guidance of local emergency managers on when it's safe to go back into these areas.
SANCHEZ: Yes. So important to keep in mind that these search and rescue operations are ongoing, and that it is a very delicate and dangerous process. Vice Admiral Kevin Lundy of the U.S. Coast Guard, we appreciate your time. We know it is a busy period for us -- for you, rather.
Let us know what we can do to get the message out and help those who need it most. Thank you.
LUNDAY: Thank you, Boris.
SANCHEZ: Of course.
We do want to take a look now at where this storm is headed. Because, even though it's no longer a hurricane, it's now a post tropical cyclone. And it is going to impact the Northeast.
So, let's go to the CNN Weather Center, and CNN's Britley Ritz, who has been tracking the storm for more than a week now.
[12:15:05]
Britley, what do you seeing and what areas are going to be impacted the most by the heavy rain and the heavy wind?
BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Boris, most of it is the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions. It's a generic area of low pressure. So, what it's doing is it's meshing with the front. So, it's a typical frontal system that's riding up into New England. Most of it got torn apart. The friction of the land didn't do much justice for the system itself.
Flooding is one of the bigger concerns here. Millions are under some sort of flood alert. From West Virginia to the southwest side of West Virginia itself, under a flood watch.
But along the coastline, where we're getting rain to actually lighten up a little bit, we're dealing with more of the coastal flooding. So, it's not rain coming down that's causing the issue. It's the water that's getting pushed in from the wind. And many are under warnings.
And within the warned areas, we're talking about one to two feet of water just coming up over top of the roadway. So, don't drive through it. 12 inches of moving water is all it takes to lift your vehicle off the ground.
And that rain again continues to fall from the mid-Atlantic up into New England some of the heaviest rain now, falling on up into Long Island, right on up into Newport, Boris.
SANCHEZ: Britley Ritz from the CNN Weather Center, thank you so much for that update.
And before we send it back to Fred, I just kind of wanted to share an anecdote that one of our producers, CNN's AnneClaire Stapleton heard from a resident here, we told you about these ships behind me, at the top of the hour. These large vessels that were swept out of the Marina, and near this bridge.
We heard from somebody who stayed in one of these vessels, the one furthest to the left. During the storm, a gentleman by the name of Tony, he and his wife stayed there during the storm, they would have left this area, they would have left the Marina. But they said that they were caught off guard by the way that the storm shifted at the last minute, and the way that it intensified.
Remember, Hurricane Ian was projected to be a Category 3, Category 4 storm. As it near this area, nearly Category 5 storm force winds as Hurricane Ian pounded into Florida. We are told that after the boat crashed onto that area during a storm surge, Tony and his wife actually climbed out of the boat and onto the bridge. So, that is how high the storm surge was. And you can see the damage it did with five large vessels.
You see the scale of it by the people that are standing nearby. Just like toys or like dice, is thrown across a landscape, haphazardly.
And Fred, we're seeing scenes just like this one all over Southwest Florida and to Central Florida as well. The damage from Hurricane Ian, not only widespread, but devastating as well.
WHITFIELD: And as harrowing as that story is of what Tony and his wife experienced. They're also very lucky that, you know, with their boat, you know, being placed somewhere else, afloat, it didn't sink with them on it, but instead got stuck in an area where they were able to walk off and be able to tell that story.
But you know, it really does underscore the variety of reasons, Boris, why some people either stayed or got stuck with this storm and it continues to pose many threats.
We'll get back to you. Thank you so much, Boris.
WHITFIELD (voice-over): So, for more information on how you might be able to help victims of Hurricane Ian, go to cnn.com/impact.
All right. Still to come this hour.
WHITFIELD (on camera): We continue our coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in southwest Florida.
WHITFIELD (voice-over): More than 1 million customers in Florida still without power and many are trying to return home. I will talk to the mayor of Sarasota straight ahead.
And later, Russian troops are retreating from a key city in eastern Ukraine after being encircled by Ukrainian forces. Why Ukrainian officials believe it is an important step in their counteroffensive against Russia?
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[12:23:18]
WHITFIELD (on camera): You have seen some of the pictures and heard some of the stories. By now, Hurricane Ian devastating parts of Southwest Florida.
WHITFIELD (voice-over): At least 45 people have died and more than 1 million residents are still in the dark.
But have you seen these before and after photos of Sanibel Island, where entire neighborhoods were simply wiped out.
In Fort Myers, crews are struggling with cleanup as roads covered in debris, create hazardous conditions for first responders.
And right now, in Sarasota County. This is a highway, underwater and a potential levee break in the nearby community could create even more chaos. Lots of worries continue there.
I want to bring in now Sarasota's mayor, Erik Arroyo. Mayor, so good to see you. So, this levee, where the concerns about the levee are in Sarasota County. But I'm wondering how it might impact your city?
ERIK ARROYO, MAYOR OF SARASOTA, FLORIDA: You know, at 3:00 a.m. there were indications of a possible levee break in what's called the hidden river community which is on the other side of the highway.
And the compromise of this levee break will only impact the homes and that side of the -- of the highway. It's very far away from the city but we will feel the impacts of it because it will -- it causing the highway to be basically blocked out -- blocked off and nobody can -- nobody can access the highway going south, which is a key area because south is where Northport is, and Fort Myers, and the areas that actually got hit worse by the -- by the hurricane.
So, it's impacting us in terms of getting them aid.
[12:25:01]
WHITFIELD: So, what is life like for you and your fellow residents in Sarasota right now?
ARROYO: You know, Fred, I mean, we are truly -- you know, we were very lucky to have avoided the direct hit of this massive hurricane. We have requested, you know, updates from our partners at Florida Power and Light. We cannot give timing updates at this time, but as of right now, as at 10:00 a.m. this morning. So, two hours ago, there were 125,420 households that were without power.
And Florida Power and Light is working, they have different shifts, they -- from my understanding, I met with the CEO yesterday, they have a day shift, and then a night shift, then they have people working just around the clock to get the grid back up and running.
I'm constantly receiving calls and e-mails of concerned citizens that don't have power. Businesses. I was just with our Senator Rick Scott, touring some, you know, looking at some businesses downtown. And yes, that mean people that don't have a home and some of them don't even can't even go to work because they don't have any power. So, it's a bad situation. Not as bad as some individuals who are just 250,000 individuals displaced in Southwest Florida that we're going to have to find a home for, or shelter, some aid, of some kind.
WHITFIELD: So, there are a variety of obstacles that you and many of your residents are facing. These power outages, you know, high water making certain roads, highways, impassable.
So, how are you getting to the most vulnerable people, you know, are in need of some sort of assistance? And of course, you've got to get to them, either or even relocate them because they don't have power, and they have medical needs that require some power.
ARROYO: I mean, we -- the region has big issues that cannot be resolved just by one county or city. So, we're all going to come together and kind of pool our resources. But we -- to the extent that we can, we're going to -- we're not going to lend a hand when it comes to getting people in shelters.
And we are going to get people the resources they need when it comes to FEMA funds, and guide them through that process, which sometimes you get -- can get kicked back, and you don't even know got kicked back. So, we have to make sure that we follow through.
We're going to help people keep keeping them informed for the Power and Light, as to when the water comes on. We have been receiving help. And from people wanting to provide services for free.
I have been contacted by mayors from all throughout the state of Florida, including Delray Beach. The mayor called us and she said, I -- we have hundreds of generators. We're willing to donate or to lend, you know, during this crisis.
So, we can help the most vulnerable in so many different ways. But it's going to boil down to us coming together, working with the different agencies, working with the federal government, and ensuring that the right people get the right services at to meet their needs. SBA has many programs for businesses, and it's just navigating all this.
And meant -- from for many of us, it's the first time we've had to do this.
WHITFIELD: Sure. I mean, this has been devastating. It has been a fatal storm. And the last numbers that we received was 45 confirmed deaths, mostly there in Southwest Florida. Are you getting an update on deaths or on recoveries, on missing persons, and how that is impacting the numbers?
ARROYO: There, we have received the latest numbers show that there were two deaths in Sarasota County. And those were due to the fact that it wasn't -- a couple that was on, on breathing ventilators. And that were -- that were connected to the grid that were electric. And when the power went out, they were -- they were taken off that assistance.
And so, but as of right now, no other casualties are reported in the city of the -- in the city or county of Sarasota to my knowledge.
WHITFIELD: Yes. And those are the kinds of circumstances I'm talking about in terms of those who are particularly vulnerable when you have power outages. And obviously, without power for some time, restoring is going to take some time but you've got some communities who -- I mean, it's life and death, you know, to rely on power and what you may have in place or what you're about to institute in order to get to those people.
ARROYO: Yes. I mean, we -- we're doing all we can. And -- but, we urge everyone to reach out to us.
[12:29:59]
If anyone would like to volunteer, go to Floridadisaster.org and volunteerflorida.org, which are the governor's websites and you can sign up and you can donate monetarily, you can donate items, you can sign up and be of service if you have a special skill. And moving forward, we know that many of these accounts are going to need new electricians to help the power back up because some of the grid will need to be rebuilt entirely.
And because of that, we're getting ahead of the curb in the city of Sarasota. We've asked our staff to look at ways of expediting electrical contractor permitting, and seeing how we can have some possible crossover with other states. So that because there's going to come up -- there's going to be a time very soon where we're going to be backed up and there won't be enough electrical contractors in our state, so we need to, we're going to need to pull from other states and we need to have be ready for when that happens.
WHITFIELD: Yes, it's an gargantuan undertaking. Sarasota Mayor, Eric Arroyo, thank you so much, and all the best to you.
All right, coming up, a big setback for Russia. In eastern Ukraine, Russian troops have withdrawn from the town of Lyman, an important rail network hub in Donetsk and we'll have a live report from Ukraine next.
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[12:35:59]
WHITFIELD: It's being considered one of the most significant gains for Ukraine since the successful counter offensive reclaiming key Russian occupied territories last month. Russian forces are retreating from a strategic Donetsk city one day after Moscow's annexation of the region. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in nearby Kramatorsk, Ukraine. So Nick, this is one of the most important developments in some time.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes, I mean, you couldn't have a stark difference, frankly, between the lofty claims made in Moscow by Russian President Vladimir Putin about annexing a place where I'm standing in that is still controlled by Ukraine and Ukraine and what's really happening on the battlefield here, really exposed today by the Russian Ministry of Defense saying that they have withdrawn from the town of Lyman.
Now that is vitally important to Russia's presence in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, both of which claimed by Russia during the lengthy ceremony in the Kremlin is now part of their territory, forcely, I should add. We essentially seen over the past days, Ukrainian forces encircled that town of Lyman, it's a railway hub, it's been vital to Russia's presence in Donetsk and Luhansk. And the big concern is that if it did fall, it might trigger a knock on effect across both of those regions for Russia's presence. What we've seen today is that encirclement continue, and possibly hundreds, if not thousands of Russian troops trapped inside of Lyman that then followed a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense, basically, a low key points in one of his daily bulletin saying that we pulled out because it didn't like particularly favorable positions for us to a better place. That is a remarkable admission, frankly, given the focus over the past days on retaking Lyman from Ukraine.
And it shows essentially, Russia is struggling to get his positions back together in this area. What it has done, remarkably, is cause public infighting between the Moscow elite on social media. And one of the leaders of Russia's Republics, Chechen in the south, Ramzan Kadyrov, a very outsized figure on Instagram who has fights in the battlefield here, he went on to telegram and publicly named and shamed the commander of this, fair to say now, failed Russian bid to hang on to Lyman.
And he talks about how he wasn't sure that Vladimir Putin knew how badly this had been handled, and how the commanders were 150 kilometers away in the nearby city of Luhansk. But he also said, what we need to do now is to declare martial law in Russia's border areas and use low yield nuclear weapons.
Now, he's echoing a lot of threats we've heard from lower level Russian officials over the past weeks or so. And he doesn't decide policy. But we have this extraordinary moment where dissent inside Putin's elite is breaking into the open and moments of extraordinary territorial loss for Russia just 24 hours after Russia tried to claim these areas are all part of its territory. And with that, is the backdrop still of the nuclear threat. Fred?
WHITFIELD: And then Nick, you've been traveling through the area, and I'm wondering what are residents telling you about how this annexation has impacted them?
WALSH: Well, it hasn't really a tool to be honest, if you're in areas held by Ukraine, if you're in areas that have been held by Russia, then it's highly likely that Russia's bid to try and absorb those areas into Russia proper has already done the best that it can to make local residents feel that and that has led some people to be asked or requested or forced to have Russian citizenship.
We've seen Russian bids to take what they refer to as aid. The problem about so many of these areas occupied by Russia is in the Russia's ferocious and at times indiscriminate bids to blast into these areas, they've done significant damage to civilian infrastructure and killed thousands of civilians as well.
And so yes, there hasn't been enormous change. I think it's fair to say on either side of the front line since Vladimir Putin and the four leaders of the areas of Ukraine that he claims a part of Russia stood on the stage and signed together, papers together. Nothing's really changed. And I think the hard thing for the Kremlin now is to square the extraordinary difference between what they've been very publicly telling their domestic audience after weeks of failure and partial mobilization of their own civilians, and on the frontlines here too. [12:40:12]
Their message was, we will win. We know what we're doing. And day later, it's absolutely clear that they don't. And they're being reminded of that by members of their own inner elite. Back to you.
WHITFIELD: And then Nick, you just described how Ukrainian forces have surrounded some of the Russian troops, and then the Russian troops are retreating. But is there a squeezing in of the Russian troops? Or is it a more of a realization that they are surrounded and so they retreat?
WALSH: I think it's very hard to tell. And we'll find out in the hours and days ahead exactly how many Russians were essentially left behind in Lyman by their own forces. We know that some of the roads or the access routes may have been damaged by Russians as they retreated to defend their more backup positions.
We don't know how many Russians were left behind. We know that Russia's slogan is, nobody is left behind. But it appears from videos we're seeing that certainly dozens if not hundreds of Russians prisoners of war were left behind in Lyman. Back to you.
WHITFIELD: All right, Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much in Ukraine, we'll check back with you.
Coming up, we'll go live to North Myrtle Beach back in this country where a local landmark built in the 50s has fallen partially into the city.
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[12:45:34]
SANCHEZ: Welcome back live to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Boris Sanchez in Fort Myers, Florida. A state in which search and rescue efforts are still underway, where tens if not hundreds of thousands of people are still without power. And where residents are getting for the first time in some areas a look at the destruction wrought by Hurricane Ian with near category five storm force winds.
We are expecting to hear from Deanne Criswell, the FEMA Administrator at any moment. We are going to bring you her remarks live. But right now I want to speak to a resident here in Fort Myers. Lora Brooks is with us. She actually rode out the storm on her boat and from what we can see here, it appears as though it's intact. Notably right next to it, the vessel next to it is tipped over, damaged perhaps irreparably. Lora, I think a lot of folks at home are wondering what made you decide to stay and ride out the storm here.
LORA BROOKS, RODE OUT THE HURRICANE IN FORT MYERS, FLORIDA: Well, I didn't stay on the boat the whole time, actually, on Tuesday, around 6:00 or 6:30, I guess, for -- just before it got dark, I pretty much centered my boat, tied it as good as I could and centered it. And then I took my cats and got my car, put all my stuff in my car, and we thought it would be, you know, I have only experienced Irma before so I thought maybe it'll be like that.
So I thought, well, I'll stay in the ladies bathroom there. You know, it wasn't fun before. But, you know, it was OK. So but then Tuesday night, everything was fine. It was stormy and everything. But then Wednesday, it was just a nightmare the whole day, the whole night. What made me stay, it's -- because a lot of people, I guess it's our home, you know. I mean, I guess I couldn't say I don't have anywhere else to go. There are people that I would feel kind of imposing on them, you know, I don't know.
So but like I said, I was there before, and it worked out, OK. But during the night, or during late evening, I kind of lost track of time. I was getting worried, though, I noticed water started coming in the bathroom, which didn't happen before, you know. And so I picked up stuff off the floor and kind of hung it out and set it on the vanity and my cat's carrier and stuff and put them in it.
And the water just kept rising and rising and finally got to write about my knees. And I was calling 911, although I didn't think there was anything they could do. Because if it was that high there, then I didn't think they could do anything but at least they would know, you know.
And I called my boyfriend know that I don't know what's going to happen. But if I die, here's my best friend's phone number. You know, you keep in touch. Because anyway, so, but during that night, it was just horrible winds, you look outside. I mean, I did take some pictures and some video and post it. People were coming in off of boats that were wrecked. I saw my car just floating away getting banged up. And, you know, it was really bad, really, really bad. It's the worst thing, worst thing ever happened to me like this.
And people were --
SANCHEZ: Lora, we're so grateful that you're OK, you were saying people were -- what was happening as that was going on?
BROOKS: They were coming off of their boats. Some of them had to jump in the water. A couple of three people came in. I opened the door to see what was going on. And three people came in. They were like, we just jumped off of our boat.
We jumped into the water. And so they were soaked, you know, and I just can't even imagine how scary that had to family with boats being crashed against each other. You know, big boats, big beautiful boats crushed on top of each other, you know. Everything flying, the wind so bad.
SANCHEZ: We could see some of those vessels behind us now and I'm wondering, as you take a look around and you see that that your vessel is in pretty good shape compared to the rest of them, you must feel really lucky.
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BROOKS: Oh, my God, I prayed. And I mean I'm not saying I never pray before but I, yes, I'm truly blessed and thankful, you know, yes, I feel very, very blessed, yes, definitely.
SANCHEZ: So just context for our viewers, the marina here has sort of an outpost where there are restrooms, and it's not far from your boats. So that's where you essentially spent the hurricane. When you're there with your cats and your huddled and you're putting your belongings over to get them out of the water to hang them up. What's going through your mind? What are you telling yourself? What --
BROOKS: Well, I wasn't sure if it was going to keep rising, or how high it was going to rise because I've never experienced that before. And I thought we might die.
SANCHEZ: You laugh about it, but at the time, it was -- it must have been terrifying.
BROOKS: I did, yes, it was absolutely. I definitely thought we, you know, I didn't -- you don't know if it's going to stop rising. And you don't know because, you know, how high it's going to go up in that bathroom. And if you go outside, it's even worse. So they're -- you just don't know.
SANCHEZ: You're almost trapped at that point. So, Lora, you mentioned you had gone through Irma, but nothing like this ever -- I don't -- I'm assuming you're not from this area. You haven't been here for a whole lot of time in Florida.
BROOKS: I've been here since 2016 but I grew up -- I lived in Fort Lauderdale when I was a kid.
SANCHEZ: Yes, anything, any storm that you had been through before that kind of gave you an idea of what was coming.
BROOKS: Irma was the worst weather I ever experienced. I've never experienced bad weather. I mean, snow storms and stuff but nothing, nothing bad.
SANCHEZ: Any chance that this storm might dissuade you from living in sunny Florida?
BROOKS: No.
SANCHEZ: You love it here.
BROOKS: Yes, that's my home. I came here and I'm not going anywhere. I love it here. This is my home. Even if it weren't on a boat, this is my home. This is a beautiful state. Like I said, I lived here as a kid. And it's -- I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
SANCHEZ: You wouldn't want to be anywhere else even after a nearly category five storm.
BROOKS: Yes. You're looking at the boats all crashed even after not having any power or water and not knowing when we're going to get it. Even after sleeping in the dark and the hot, you know.
SANCHEZ: Even after praying for your life. BROOKS: Yes. It's beautiful. I love it here. You know, every place has its challenges. But I love looking out on the water. I mean, some of this didn't have to happen. You know, this is an old Marina. It was built in the 30s, you know, and it should have had better main maintenance. Some of the dock cleats popped, it wouldn't have caused some of this damage that I know the docks are crumbling, they should have been taking care of, this as a money making entity.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Lora.
BROOKS: This could have been better.
SANCHEZ: I'm sure there are going to be investigations into what could have been done differently right now. We appreciate you sharing your story with us. Fred, I'm going to go ahead and toss it back to you because I understand the FEMA administrator is about to deliver some remarks.
WHITFIELD: Exactly. We're going to go to that right now, Deanne Criswell, FEMA Administrator speaking now.
DEANNE CRISWELL, FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: We need to get an update from both Orange County and the heroic efforts that they took over the last few days to help make sure that they were the saving lives within their community. And one of the things that I thought was amazing was the amount of preparedness that went into this and making sure that they reached out to those that were the most vulnerable to make sure that they gotten out of harm's way. And I think it's made a tremendous difference.
And so to everybody here, it's just a remarkable effort across both the county and the city to make sure that they were protecting everybody here. We know that we're going to have a long road to recovery ahead of us. I have brought with me, members from my response and recovery team at headquarters to make sure that they are also understanding what the impacts are. And we have already started the planning efforts for what it's going to take to rebuild these communities and recover from the storm but also recover in a way that makes them more resilient against some of the impacts from these storms in the future.
I think that we have a great team here on the ground. And I also just want to take a minute to introduce and I brought with me here today, our U.S. Fire Administrator, Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell, who has been traveling with me as well to look at what the impact has been to our first responders and communities and give her an opportunity to say a few words as well. Dr. Moore-Merrell?
DR. LORI MOORE-MERRELL, U.S. FIRE ADMINISTRATOR: Thank you, Madam Administrator. Good afternoon. As the administrator said we are here on the ground as FEMA's mission is to look out for certainly the community. It is the mission of the USFA to check in on our first responders. And as you all know their nature is to respond in spite of their own families being in peril in spite of their own health and safety many times. And so we are here to check on them to make sure that they have the
health and safety needs, they have the basic human needs that they need, while they are continuing to respond in the aftermath and the ongoing chaos and the risk that even escalate even now, as Hurricane Ian has moved on.
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One of those is certainly their behavior health impact. And so we're making sure and checking that they have behavioral health resources that are checking in with them periodically as well. So we'll continue to monitor those resources.
JERRY DEMINGS, ORANGE COUNTY MAYOR: I also want to acknowledge the tremendous assistance that we have received from the Federal Emergency Management Association. All of you know that Orange County was also recently declared one of the eligible areas for FEMA reimbursement.
What that means for us here within our community is that it provides 100 percent federal funding for debris removal and emergency life saving measures for the next 30 days. If you want more information as residents to see about eligibility there, you can go to disasterassistance.gov.
We are very, very appreciative for sending Charles Williams, to assist us here within our Emergency Operations Center. He has been a tremendous help and assistance to those of us within the county as we've been responding to the emergency. At this time, I'm going to ask Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer to come forward and then we'll have Sheriff John Mina come forth in the comments, and then we'll open it up for any questions that you may have.
BUDDY DYER, ORLANDO MAYOR: Thank you, Mayor. And I want to also thank President Biden and the director for including us in the emergency declaration. It's important as we respond to this historic storm event that we're collaborating at the federal level, the state level, and the local government level. We know a lot of our citizens have been impacted. A lot are still being impacted by having water intrusion into their homes and floods, no power.
At least in the city of Orlando, we are now down from 95,000 customers without power to somewhere around 7,000, I know you see is working very hard to reduce that number as well. But I want to especially thank the men and women of the Orlando Police Department, Orlando Fire Department, public works, parks, rec, forestry, all that have been out on the first line helping and responding to citizens, many of whom have had extended periods of time and have worked extremely hard to try to restore our community to where we need to be and administrator, thank you for being here.
SHERIFF JOHN MINA, ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: Thank you Mayor. Good afternoon. So I'll be brief. But I do want to again, talk about the just the great collaboration and partnerships that all of us have. We all been working together for decades. And, you know, we trained together, we prepare together, and then we respond together. So I think our central Florida community is in great hands. I do want to thank the administrator for coming. And it's one thing to
hear about FEMA coming, but to actually have the administrator here and talk to her about our concerns and the fact that she cared about, you know, we have many employees who, while they're out there saving lives and rescuing folks, their own homes were flooded. So she asked about that. We really appreciate that. Thank you.
DEMINGS: Good. And I'll just echo the words of Mayor Dyer with all of the men and women who have been working across the various disciplines to keep our community safe during this period of time, we know the work has not concluded and we still have much work to do as we are now in the recovery phase. What we will do at this point is open it up for any questions that you may have for the administrator or any of the other persons who have joined us at this time. OK. Any questions? All right, here we go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE). I have a question for Mayor Demings.
DEMINGS: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of cities have set curfews in place for our emergency personnel to work and provide assistance. Is there a set curfew in place for Orange County?
DEMINGS: There is no curfew in place at this time for Orange County and we have based it upon the recommendation of our law enforcement personnel led by the sheriff. We're fortunate that we're not seeing widespread lawlessness occurring within our community. And as a result of that, if that needs to change at some point in the future, then we'll make that modification.
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WHITFIELD: Hello again everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta.
