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Hurricane Ian Blamed For At Least 104 Deaths In The U.S.; Hurricane Ian Could Be Florida's Costliest Storm Ever; Biden Speaks In Puerto Rico After Meeting With Hurricane Fiona Victims; Biden Speaks On Hurricane Recovery Efforts In Puerto Rico. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired October 03, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:01:31]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: It's the top of the hour on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Alisyn Camerota.

The death toll from Hurricane Ian has just gone up. It's now 104 lives lost, 100 of those in Florida. Search teams finding more bodies as they reach some of the hardest hit areas. More than half of those killed were in Lee County, which includes Fort Myers Beach. That city is now closed to everyone but search and rescue personnel. The mayor says there's no timeline yet for when residents can return. Lee County officials coming under some criticism for the timing of their evacuation orders.

Now dozens of miles inland in western Florida, in Arcadia, river flooding is still causing problems. This is five days after Ian hit. A CNN team on the ground says the part of the highway has disappeared under the water and many people there are trapped by the flooding.

CNN's Nadia Romero is on the ground in Arcadia, Florida for us. So Nadia, I know you're hearing from people who are panicked there. What's the situation?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, we're entering day four now of people not having electricity. So they don't have power in their homes, everything in their fridge and freezers have spoiled by now, so they need resource and supply.

So this is a welcome sign. You can see boxes here that just arrived by boat to this area because of the flooding. Boxes of MREs, of water. There's boxes of pampers and wipes and just all of the necessities. But one necessity that people say they haven't been able to get is really in contact with their loved ones.

There's one woman who says, listen, I would normally take this road, Highway 70, all the way to Port Charlotte where I can see my father who's in the hospital. But she can't reach him. She hasn't been able to talk to him for days, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TONIA WERNER, ARCADIA, FL RESIDENT: He's my father. He's the one that

raised me and I can't even describe it. I can't describe it. And I hope nobody else is going through this. And if they are I feel your pain, a hundred percent. A hundred percent. It's is awful. I mean, even in normal circumstances going through this would be awful, but to add in the hurricane and everything else is, there's no words.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: So this is part of the issue here. This is Highway 70, so you should be able to take this road, go along two bridges and make your way southwest. You can go to Fort Myers or Palm Beach.

I want to talk about this car that you see behind me. Just days ago, it was submerged under floodwaters now we saw cruise pulled this truck out. But last time we were out here just yesterday, you wouldn't have been able to walk this far on Highway 70. This car was underwater. This truck all the way to the roof. All the way up here, now they pulled it out of the deeper waters. The person who has this truck could come and get it, pick it up. But this has been such an issue for people. They want these waters to recede so they can get back to their normal lives and get connected with family and friends, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: That really helps us understand it. Nadia Romero, we see the challenges there. Thank you very much.

So the death toll in Florida now at least a hundred people, 24 of those are in Charlotte County. And joining us now is Brian Gleason. He's the spokesman for Charlotte County.

Brian, thank you so much for being here. While we've just been on the air, the death toll in your county has doubled. It was 12 a couple of hours ago and now it's 24. Do you know any of the circumstances are where those deaths were?

[15:05:03]

BRIAN GLEASON, CHARLOTTE COUNTY, FL SPOKESMAN: No, those would have been handled by the sheriff's office or the medical examiner, that's the process that's in place for non hospital deaths and they'll process those, they'll come up with a cause of death and then they'll go into the public record.

CAMEROTA: So what's the situation at this hour in Charlotte County?

GLEASON: Right now we're in recovery mode. If I could, the poor woman who had a father who was in Port Charlotte at the hospital, she can go to coedfl.org. There's a reunification function on that app. That's Community Organizations Active in a Disaster, C-O-A-D-F-L.org. She call, she go that website and someone will track down her father at the hospital to get in touch with her.

CAMEROTA: That's so helpful C-O-A-D-F-L.org, for anybody who is looking for their loved ones in that area. Thank you for that, Brian.

So what about electricity? GLEASON: Yes, we processed hundreds of those.

CAMEROTA: Yes, I bet you do.

GLEASON: Yes, electricity, we got great news yesterday from the FPL that they expect to have 95 percent of power returned to Charlotte County residents and businesses by next Sunday. And we've already seen the traffic lights to start coming on neighborhood by neighborhood. The power starts coming on. I've talked to four people today. The people behind me and my street, their power came on.

So slowly but surely we're coming back to light. But we still have to deal with the debris. We have to deal with the insurance companies. The insurance companies are starting to set up in town. There was a tent complex that was just erected today for one of the major insurance companies where people can go and get their claims processed and get the adjuster process started.

CAMEROTA: And Brian, what will that look like? I mean, how long will it take for people to get reimbursed and start to try to rebuild their homes?

GLEASON: That's what my wife and I were talking about last night and she had just made contact with her insurance agent locally, because of all the local insurance agents who sell you the policies. Their offices are closed because they have no power. So it goes right to the national hotline. She was contacted the same day. But the answer as far as when will the adjuster come out, the person said it could be two days, it could be two weeks or more. So somebody's got to be first in line and somebody has to be last in line. That's the law of lines.

CAMEROTA: Yes. I mean, Brian, I think that you're really hitting on something. You're not just an official there, you're also a victim of the storm, as so many people that we've talked to are and everybody is in the same grim situation right now. Brian, thanks for your time. We really appreciate you giving us a snapshot of where Charlotte County is right now. We'll check back with you.

GLEASON: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: So much of Southwest Florida is seeing utter devastation and loss. CNN's Leyla Santiago is in Fort Myers. So Leyla, just tell us what you're seeing around you now.

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, just take a look behind me. You can see these boats, the destruction off of these docks right behind me. This is the area before you get to the bridge that takes you on to Fort Myers Beach. I got to tell you, it is a beach community that feels like it's turned into sort of a village of rescue teams.

We went out there this morning with FEMA's Urban Search & Rescue team, mostly out of Virginia. And as soon as we got onto the island, you could hear the alarm still going off in certain houses and buildings. You could see homes that were just ripped off with only the foundation staying there and in many cases that foundation on the ground kind of crumbled into pieces.

We went with this search and rescue team door to door, in some cases with dogs as well. They were knocking to see if anybody was still left inside, tried to get them out if they were. And we actually came across two women who said that they have lived here for dozens of years. They were trying to get off the island.

I want to introduce you to Connie Miller (ph), who we talked to. Listen to what she told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTIAGO (off camera): What made you decide today's the day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We couldn't take it anymore.

CONNIE MILLER: Yes, right. It was just - we've just been surviving and surviving. And we're getting to the point where we were running low on our water. I've loved water. I took the cart and got more water and all that, but I'm getting tired, so it's time to go. Obviously, things weren't going to get better, not for a long time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANTIAGO: And I actually, Alisyn, just checked in with Connie. She was able to make it out. She is heading to Orlando to get off of - to get on a flight up to Pennsylvania. And part of the conversation that I had with her was did she feel she had enough time to evacuate here in Lee County. And she told me she didn't place blame on any government officials, but she did say she didn't feel like she had enough time. By the time she realized that it was heading her way, all the hotel was were booked and she feared being on the road as conditions were getting worse.

[15:10:04]

Now, we did hear from the mayor as well as from the sheriff here today, they confirmed that in Lee County to just hear the death toll has risen to 54. Today, they are not giving specifics on how many reported missing persons there may be. But I can tell you, just being in there with the search and rescue teams, they are still very much hard at work.

And when you talk to people and say how long do you think this is going to last, there is no indication that this is going to be a fast recovery by any means, that they will be searching and possibly still rescuing for quite some time in there. I should also mention before we wrap up that the Mayor did say today they are closing off this area to residents. So for now, it will just be search and rescue teams so that they can safely continue their operations in there, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Okay. Leyla Santiago, thank you very much for the reporting from Fort Myers there.

So some areas in Virginia are in a state of emergency because of wind and coastal flooding. This is from the remnants of Ian and CNN's Brian Todd is in Virginia Beach. So what do you see - Brian, can you hear me, what are you seeing?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Alisyn. Sorry, we had to check out our audio here while we established our position. This is what you've got here in Norfolk. We are near Virginia Beach. We're not in Virginia Beach. We're in Norfolk where this area of the city is expected to get some fairly major flooding even - worse than what I'm standing in now.

You see this car is stranded here. A lot of cars have already been stranded. But the worst of it is not yet here, because the worst of it is going to be at high tide which is at about four o'clock, maybe a little bit after. And they're expecting just - this is a canal, they're expecting this canal with a storm surge and the high tide to push this water all the way into this neighborhood here as I walk this way.

This is called The Hague neighborhood of Norfolk, Virginia, very susceptible to flooding in events like this. But what we're told by the emergency management people is that this could be flooding the likes of which they have not seen for a good 10 years since Hurricane Sandy.

Now the latest forecast from the National Weather Service does deliver them a little bit better news that the flood levels could be one to two feet lower than originally anticipated today. But still it's going to be bad, especially in the four o'clock hour with that particular high tide. Apparently, it's what we're told by weather experts. And the emergency management people here, Alisyn, is that it's the high tide, it is the storm surge and a part of a nor'easter in addition to remnants of Hurricane Ian all combining at that hour in the four o'clock hour (inaudible) up here. So that's what the problem is going to be starting in the four o'clock hour.

Now, how bad it will be, that has kind of wavered as far as forecasts are concerned. The latest we got is deliver some better news for people here that it could be one to two feet lower of storm surge and high tide waters than they originally expected. So we're going to be here, we're going to be kind of patrolling around the streets to see if that is the case.

But you can see how vulnerable it is here with the low water. I mean with the low lying areas and the high tides from the canal here. At least 10 localities here have declared states of emergency. They've closed schools and they're just anticipating this to be some kind of - it's going to be bad flooding here, but maybe not quite as badly as they expected in the next hour or two. And again, it's kind of this perfect combination of nor'easter, the remnants of Ian, storm surge and high tide coming up in less than an hour, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Brian, it's just incredible to see the breadth of the destruction from Ian. We just were in Fort Myers and now there you are in Norfolk and just how wide a path it has caused of destruction. Thank you very much for the reporting there.

So joining us now is Craig Fugate. He is a former FEMA Administrator. Craig, thanks so much for your time. I don't know if you were just listening. But we just had a spokesman

on from Charlotte County, Florida who was just talking about the conversations he's having with his wife about how all of their local insurance offices, the adjusters are all closed. They're destroyed, so they can't get any answers. They're calling the national number and they're telling them it could be days, it could be weeks, it could be a long time to get any help and relief.

I mean, in your vast experience with these disasters, how long do people have to wait before they can start getting reimbursed and start trying to rebuild?

CRAIG FUGATE, FORMER FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: Yes. It depends upon the insurance company. Some of them, especially the large companies will search a lot of people in there, but as you're pointing out, this is not an easy place to get even more people in there because a lot of this is still search and rescue. It's hard to get into certain areas.

And so I think as you get the flooding comes down, as debris gets picked up, that's going to make it easier for the insurance companies to get in there.

[15:15:02]

And I know - take FEMA - FEMA realizes they can't get to people the service or flood insurance, so they're putting online people that have flood insurance and have losses to start applying, get some partial assistance, knowing that they may not be able to get back to their homes or inspector to get out there for the full settlement, but at least start the process to get them some initial financial assistance.

Other insurance companies do similar things. So it's company by company, but FEMA, at least on the National Flood Insurance Program, is encouraging people to go ahead and start filing and they are prepared to take the information and start providing some partial assistance to people.

CAMEROTA: Okay. Craig, thank you very much for all that information. And we're sorry to cut you off, but President Biden is in Puerto Rico now, speaking about the federal aid there.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... who do so much for your community and are going to make such a big difference as Puerto Rico rebuilds.

Thank you, Governor, for your partnership as we work together to help rebuild Puerto Rico. And I mean rebuild it all and rebuild it in a resilient way so you don't - when the storms come again, which they will, they're not having the damage they caused before.

And I want to thank the members of Congress and local officials, community leaders that have joined us today.

Ever since the hurricane struck, Jill and I have had people in Puerto Rico on our minds and in our prayers. We came here in person to show that we're with you. All of America is with you as you receive and recover and rebuild.

I'm confident to - I'm confident we're going to be able to do all you want, Governor, and I'm committed to this island.

Puerto Rico has been through so much in recent years: Hurricane Maria five years ago; a 6.4 magnitude earthquake two years ago. The folks slept outside for days worried about their homes would collapse on them if they went in. Then, COVID-19 and then Fiona.

And yes, Puerto Rico is a strong place, and Puerto Ricans are strong people. But even so, you have had to bear so much and more than need be, and you haven't gotten the help in a timely way.

And this latest storm dealt a serious blow to all the hard work, the - that have been done since Maria. Roads and bridges built out after Maria have been washed away again. Families who spent their savings to build new homes after losing their last ones have seen them flooded away. Crops decimated. Farms destroyed. Here in Ponce and communities nearby have hit - they've been hit the hardest.

And in days - for days, people live without power, without water. Some still in that circumstance - no idea when it'll be back again.

And for everyone - everyone who survived Maria, Fiona, it must have been an all-too-familiar nightmare.

You know better than anyone that, over time, these losses add up. And so, Puerto Ricans have lost loved ones in the storm and in the perilous disasters.

And the number can feel abstract sometimes when you hear a number, but every number is a person. Every life lived. We read the obituaries and remembrances, and they all feel like people we knew: doting grandparents, devoted parents, christened (ph) children, longtime neighbors - people who cared about their community and made a difference. And they will not be forgotten.

And then, through these disasters, so many people have been displaced from their homes, lost their jobs and savings or suffered injuries - often unseen, but many times seen.

Yet somehow, the people of Puerto Rico keep getting back up with resilience and determination. Quite frankly, it's pretty extraordinary, when you look at it from afar. And you deserve every bit of help your country can give you.

That's what I'm determined to do, and that's what I promise you.

After Maria, Congress approved billions of dollars for Puerto Rico, much of it not having gotten here, initially. We're going to make sure you get every single dollar promised. And I'm determined to help Puerto Rico build faster than in the past and stronger and better prepared for the future.

And that's why I approved the emergency declaration in Puerto Rico before the hurricane - Governor, you remember my calling you - before the hurricane made landfall, to deliver immediate federal funding to shelter people and provide a sense of support.

Just a few days later, I approved an expedited major disaster declaration. That means the federal government will cover a hundred percent of the cost to clear debris and carry out search and rescue and continue to shelter people.

It also means homeowners, renters, business owners are eligible to apply for federal help to recover damage, losses caused by Hurricane Fiona.

The federal government is going to provide individual assistance for up to $37,900 for essential home repairs and another $37,900 for lost property, as the law calls for, like a car or a refrigerator.

[15:20:02]

Additionally, we've deployed more than 1,200 personnel from FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency. They include search and rescue teams to assist survivors and power restoration experts.

Power is now back, as you pointed out, Governor, 92 percent of the island, and water is back in 95 percent of the island, thanks in part to the dedicated IBEW workers and federal support staff. And now we have to get to a hundred percent.

And here at this facility, you can see some of the generators from FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers that we're transporting to places that still don't have power. Here they're loaded onto trucks and brought to locations in hospitals and shelters, paired with fuel trucks so generators can be gassed up on site.

My administration is also providing financial assistance to help families and individuals right away. Many families are scrambling to pay their bills right now, to fill up their gas tank, to put food on the table. They can register at FEMA for cash assistance for 700 bucks to help cover the essentials for just a little while.

So far, nearly 200,000 households across Puerto Rico have received this cash assistance. Seven hundred dollars won't replace what you lost - not even close - but it can help take care of some of the little basics while you catch your breath and get back on your feet.

And FEMA has made crisis counselors available when you're - whether you're a survivor or a first responder. If you need help or just someone to talk to, people are here for you.

The hotline number is 800-981-0023. I'll say it again: 800-981-0023.

Don't be embarrassed to call. Whether you're Spanish or English- speaking, counselors will be standing by to help you.

And in times like these, Americans come together, and I'm grateful for our personnel at FEMA and other agencies for the hard work these past few weeks. Many of our FEMA staff, as been pointed out, are from Puerto Rico or are Puerto Rican. They've been working 24/7 to get help to people across the island while also scrambling to help their own families and neighbors.

I want to recognize the local first responders, including Puerto Rican National Guard who have been working around the clock - and I mean it, literally - around the clock. They've been through a lot the past five years.

I want to applaud the Red Cross volunteers who came as far - from as far away as California, Louisiana, Minnesota, Texas to help however they can. And New York sent not only a congresswoman (inaudible) congresswoman in the Congress, but state troopers and emergency responders.

I don't think you're going to be staying the whole time, are you?

Anyway, all kidding aside, New Jersey sent their All-Hazards Incident Management Teams trained for hurricane responses. These states are home to two of the largest Puerto Rican populations in the United States: New York and New Jersey. And their sisters and brothers in Puerto Rico needed them, and they answered the call.

Most of all, I want to recognize the heroism and selflessness of so many people across Puerto Rico. The main story that has been reported is the storm. But there's another story: what ordinary people did when the storm hit.

Literally, the day after the hurricane - the day after, churches and community organizations opened a network of kitchens across the island to cook hot food for anyone who needed it. Folks delivered food to the elderly who were housebound. They started their generators with - they shared their generators with neighbors who had medicine that needed to be refrigerated. They organized activities for kids to give their exhausted parents a break.

They arranged canvases (ph) to bring food, water, and other supplies and commodities to communities cut short as a consequence of landslide and flooding that couldn't be reached.

And during the storm, when the waters were rising, people went to extraordinary lengths to help each other - help each other survive.

We've seen people using a raft and a boat tied to a rope to brave the raging waters and rescue neighbors trapped in their homes.

They aren't paratroopers or search-and-rescue professionals; they're neighbors. They just regular folks ready and willing to do whatever they could do when their help was needed, when the neighbor was in trouble.

And thanks to them, all the people of Puerto Rico, this recovery from Fiona is underway.

I'm encouraged by all the stories that they're opening up the hospitals that they kept running, the supply chains that held steady. And the debris has already begun to be cleared on roads across the island. And we will continue the debris coverage.

Still, we have to do more. We have to ensure that when the next hurricane strikes, Puerto Rico is ready.

[15:25:00]

Today, I'm announcing more than $60 million in funding to help coastal areas in Puerto Rico - become better prepared for the storm.

For example, we can create a flood warning system to help shore up levees and floodwalls. In addition, there's nearly $700 million in infrastructure investments in Puerto Rico that have already been announced since I signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law last November.

For example, we've awarded $90 million to upgrade PR-2 highway. And we've announced $163 million to begin construction on a canal to restore - help me with the pronunciation.

GOVERNOR PIERLUISI: Martin Pena. Martin Pena.

BIDEN: Martin Pena - that entire ecosystem. And we're going to clean up polluted waters and restore mitigation habit - mangrove habitat - mangrove habitats and bring back marine life.

And you're going to see investments like these increasing significantly in the months ahead. We're investing in Puerto Rico's roads, bridges, public transit, ports, airports, water safety and high-speed Internet.

We know that the climate crisis and more extreme weather are going to continue to hit this island and hit the United States overall. And as we rebuild, we have to ensure that we build it to last. We're particularly focused on the power grid.

This year, today, Puerto Rico has received $4 million to help make the power grid more resilient. That number is going to go up.

As we conveyed to the governor, I'm ready to deploy and expedite more resources from the Department of Energy and other federal agencies, not just - I don't usually talk this fast - but it looks like it's moving quickly - to help transform the entire system so Puerto Rico - the Puerto Rican people can get clean, reliable, affordable power they need and the power stays in homes and hospitals when storms like Fiona strike.

That includes mini grids, which you can begin to deploy soon so we are less dependent on transmission lines across long distances and more redundancy when the storms hit. The goal is lower energy bills and more reliable power for Puerto Rican households.

Additionally, I've asked the Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, who was a first-rate person, to lead a supercharged effort across the entire federal government.

She is going to be put in - she's going to put in place the Puerto Rican Grid Recovery and Modernization team to bring to bear all the federal resources and technical assistance and additional support for Puerto Rico. And we'll help as you work to repair your grid quickly and drive

decisive progress on the game plan for Puerto Rico's clean energy transformation.

I also know many people in Puerto Rico have many family friends and friends in Florida. Your hearts are with them right now, and their hearts are with you.

Jill and I will be in Florida on Wednesday. And as I've made clear: At times like these, our nation comes together, put aside our difference - our political differences and get to work. We show up when we're needed. Because if we lost our home, if we lost a loved one, we'd hope that people would show up for us as well.

And I want the people of Puerto Rico to know I'm committed, my entire administration is committed to standing with you every step of the way as long as it takes.

At the White House reception honoring Hispanic History Month, a U.S. Army chaplain, a Catholic priest, proud son of Puerto Rico, offered a prayer for all those who suffered through the hurricane, including Puerto Rico. Here's what he said. He said, "Give us generous hearts that we may continue to use our gifts to support them."

Well, the people of Puerto Rico have generous hearts. And that's what they get through this. We're returning generosity. And that's the generous hearts that the rest of the country are going to make sure we continue to provide.

But I want to say it again: We are not leaving here, as long as I'm President, until everything - I mean this sincerely - until every single thing that we can do is done.

God bless you all and for - and all of you who are hurting. And may God protect our troops and all those brave souls that risked their lives to help others survive this tragedy.

And I usually don't quite talk this fast, but looks like we made it. Thank you very much.

Let me - I'll bring up the - do you mind, Gov? I was up in New York with the Mayor and with the Governor. And what they wanted to talk to me about? They wanted to talk to me about Puerto Rico.

REP. NYDIA VELAZQUEZ (D-NY): Ah, you see?

BIDEN: No, remember we sat there?

CAMEROTA: We've been listening there to President Biden. He's in Ponce, Puerto Rico, talking about his commitment to Puerto Rico and basically saying that he and the First Lady went there to show that they're with the Puerto Ricans and that their commitment to help them rebuild is basically never ending, particularly after Hurricane Maria - Hurricane Fiona and an earthquake in between.

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