Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
CNN International: Floridians Race To Flee As Cat 4 Hurricane Milton Closes In; Tampa Hospital Determined To Stay Open During Hurricane Milton; Mayor Calls Treasure Island A "Ghost Town". Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired October 09, 2024 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RAHEL SOLOMON, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Good morning. I'm Rahel Solomon, live in New York.
Ahead on CNN Newsroom, historic and catastrophic, that's how experts are describing Hurricane Milton, as it barrels toward Florida. We're going to speak with the local hospital about how they're preparing for the storm and how those preparations protected them just two weeks ago. Plus, we'll look at the damage that Hurricane Milton caused in Mexico, as it grazed the Yucatan Peninsula.
Florida officials say it is the 11th hour, in other words, the last chance for people to evacuate, as Hurricane Milton, a storm that forecasters are already calling historic and catastrophic, bears down on the state. Just moments ago, a tornado spawned by the storm crossed Interchange 75 in Collier County, a major west to east crossing for those evacuating. Milton is expected to make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday, as a powerful Category 4 hurricane. Half a million homes are at risk of storm surge flooding in Milton's path, large cities like Tampa and Sarasota. But, storm will also likely have a dangerous impact across hundreds of miles, many have already heeded evacuation warnings, packing up their things, hitting the road, but that has led to clog traffic and an increasing number of empty gas pumps.
Now, for those thinking about riding out the storm, the mayor of Tampa says that the situation is dire, and she issued this blunt warning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANE CASTOR, TAMPA, FLORIDA MAYOR: You want to pick a fight with Mother Nature, she is winning 100 percent of the time. And individuals that are in these say you're in a single storey home. 12 feet is above that house. So, if you're in it, basically that's the coffin that you're in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: All right. Let's get to CNN's Isabel Rosales in Tampa. That's an area that's expected to be hit very hard by the storm. Isabel, just give us a sense of what you've seen so far in terms of preparations and how people are feeling there.
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rahel, good morning. The mood is certainly one of seriousness, right, we saw with Helene. The Hillsborough Bay right here in front of Tampa General Hospital, the region's only level one trauma center, we saw these waters go up five to six feet. It's the first time that it has actually reached the walls of the hospital. The Tampa Bay surging that much with Helene, and with Milton, we're expecting eight to 12 feet storm surge. This is extremely serious.
I just spoke with the Sheriff of Hillsborough County, Chad Chronister. He is saying that this is the 11th hour to evacuate, calling on people in these evacuation zones, a, to please, please get out of here, to listen to directions. He also wants to inform people that there is another challenge in all this that might inhibit your ability to evacuate, and that is the wind speed. Once it reaches 40 miles per hour, that is when they start shutting down the bridges, the Sunshine Skyway, the Courtney Campbell, the Howard Frankland, these things shut down. That is also around the time that he and other law enforcement leaders will not send out their officers, their deputies. So, he says that he is fearful of the situation where someone chose not to evacuate, and then will be on the phone with 911, and no help will be coming, Rahel.
SOLOMON: OK. Isabel, we're going to let you go to continue your reporting. Please be safe. We appreciate you bringing us that perspective on the ground there.
We will now talk about the hospital that I believe Isabel was just sort of standing in front of, you saw behind her. The staff at Tampa's largest hospital, they say they're determined to stay open during the storm. They have installed a flood barrier. It's known as an AquaFence, which is made to withstand storm surge up to 15 feet. That barrier protected the hospital from Hurricane Helene just two weeks ago. And there is also an on-site energy plant that is built to withstand a Category 5 hurricane.
Let's bring in Tony Venezia. He is the Senior Director of Public Safety at Tampa General Hospital. Good to have you today, sir. Let me start with the fact that Tampa General is going to remain open despite the storm, despite the fact that this sits on Davis Islands, which is a low-lying area. Talk to us a little bit about how this -- the hospital has prepared.
[11:05:00]
TONY VENEZIA, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SAFETY, TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL: Yeah. Good morning. So, it's important to -- let me say first that we understand our responsibility as the region's level one trauma center to stay open and take care of the patients and provide the care that our community needs. Some of the mitigation efforts that we've done, besides the AquaFence, we -- you talked about our central energy plant. We opened that two years ago, and really it's a state- of-the-art facility. Our generators, our boilers, our fuel are at 35 feet. Our power feed from the local power company is buried under the channel by 80 feet. We bring in supplies from a warehouse located in Central Tampa, about 300 pallets, about 10 semi-trucks full. But, that's all in place.
Our hurricane teams are here. We have the staffing we need, the physicians that we need here to continue to provide that care for our team here and the patients.
SOLOMON: Yeah. I'm sure that that is a comfort for a lot of folks who may need those services and need that care. Talk to us a little bit about the AquaFence. We sort of saw the pictures there. It's made the rounds on social media. People really curious about this. Talk to us a little bit about, one, how it works. But also, are you confident that it will be able to stand -- withstand the expected storm surge from Milton? Helene was a force in and of itself, but Milton obviously is expected to be a lot stronger.
VENEZIA: Sure. So, the AquaFence is actually a deployable, waterproof fence that really gives us an additional 15 foot of surge. So, that really -- that's kind of a game changer for us. And so, as you mentioned, in our last storm here, it worked exactly the way it was designed. We expect the same today in the event that we saw higher water that would maybe possibly breach over that. We've strategically placed large pumps behind the fence that we would pump the water out. We don't think that's going to happen. We expect the fence to operate and protect the facility as it was designed, but we're ready, just in case.
SOLOMON: Yeah. We certainly hope so. Tampa General, it's the region's only level one trauma center, which essentially means that it's the highest level for trauma service. Can you talk to us about what you're expecting as the storm makes landfall, not just in terms of who you are currently caring for, but also the care and the need that may be required because of Milton, and after Milton?
VENEZIA: Right. I think it's important. We've got a strong business continuity plan, and we're ready to open our doors as soon as the storm passes, not only in our main hospital. We have freestanding ERs as well, about 175 sites across the region, throughout the state, and we'll be ready for business as soon as that passes. We're going to evaluate if there is damages. But, we're going to be ready for business, and we're ready to serve the community of Tampa Bay in the region.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Tony Venezia, we appreciate your time today, and certainly appreciate the work you're doing. Thank you and be safe, of course.
VENEZIA: OK. Take care.
SOLOMON: You too.
Let's bring in now Meteorologist Derek Van Dam, who has been tracking the storm. He has the latest updates for us. Derek, what's the latest here? DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, getting some information from the National Hurricane Center with their 11:00 a.m. update. And there has been some minor weakening with Hurricane Milton, but still a powerful Category 4. And the amount of storm surge that will start to be impacting western and central portions of the coastline of Florida, this is going to be very consistent with a Category 5 landfill, and the reason I say that is because the amount of energy that has been enacted on the eastern Gulf of Mexico is significant, and it's going to push up all that water, as it makes its final approach into land, which, by the way, will take place overnight tonight. So, we're anticipating a nighttime landfall that could complicate matters for people who decided to ride out the storm at the last minute.
Even though our track here, the official track from National Hurricane Center, has a Category 3 just before landfall, there is explicit language in this 11:00 a.m. Eastern update that they are still not convinced it could be a Category 3 or Category 4. But, right there, you're splitting hairs on terms of impacts.
Here is a look at the radar, right? So, we've got a clear eye, very concentric eye wall at the moment. That's the most powerful part of the storm. But, look what's happening on the outer rain bands that have already made its way into South Central Florida. There are numerous tornado warnings that have popped up across this portion, Collier County, Miami-Dade earlier this morning, and there have been confirmations of tornadoes in fact. Hopefully, we can pull up this video of one of these tornadoes that crossed Interstate 75 in South Florida. I believe this is an Alligator Alley. And that is not a populated part of Florida, but that just goes to show you that these tornadoes can spin up at a moment's notice.
This is the tornado in Collier County that was captured by one of the travel cam -- highway cameras there, and you can just see it.
[11:10:00]
That, of course, could be hugely impactful if you're driving in a vehicle. These are the real threats that people face as even the outer rain bands are just now starting to impact South Central Florida. The tornado watch lasts through 09:00 p.m. tonight, and then it will likely be extended into the overnight hours and then moved further north, as the rain bands reach farther communities to the north, like Tampa, Orlando, Daytona Beach.
And then, I got to stress this as well, Rahel, we're going to get two to three months' worth of rain out of the system by the time we end Thursday evening. And so, the Weather Prediction Center has this high risk of flash flooding, and this is only issued four percent of the time, but this is 40 percent of the fatalities and 80 percent of the damage. So, if we can learn anything from what happened and transpired two weeks ago with Hurricane Helene, is that these storms can produce catastrophic amounts of rain. So, inland flooding will work against the incoming storm surge. The water has nowhere to go but up, and that will continue to cause that backlog of water right along the inlets in the bays that line the West Coast of Florida. Current winds right now, gusting over 30 miles per hour, and this is
critical, because a lot of these barrier islands are connected by bridges that close down when they reach hurricane or tropical storm force winds. That's 39 miles per hour sustained or more. And so, that will likely happen here in the coming hours. I mean, conditions are just going to go downhill in terms of the wind, but it's not just a coastal event. We'll feel hurricane force winds in excess of 100 miles an hour well inland.
The wind field is expanding. It's doubling in size. So, the impacts felt well outside of the center. But, we are focusing in on where that center makes landfall, because it is that Eastern right quadrant of a hurricane that is the most powerful and has the most potential to bring up that strong storm surge. And then right now, we have lowered the values in Tampa Bay, but this is still record-setting values that were set only two weeks ago from Helene, as it made more of a parallel swipe to the coastline. But, we're focusing in on Sarasota County, because this is a lot of our computer modeling, honing in on this region for that impact, the direct landfall, 10 to 15 feet, the most extreme storm surge that this storm will likely enact on the area.
Lots of lightning still associated with it, even in advance of the storm. And there are hurricane hunters that are flying around this storm, providing us and gathering us critical life-saving information, as Milton makes its final approach into southern Florida.
SOLOMON: Just incredible. You think about just the impact of Helene that those folks -- some folks are still dealing with the debris that is still on the road, and then you think about the wind, just really incredible.
Derek Van Dam, thank you.
And Florida residents are heeding evacuation orders ahead of Hurricane Milton. The memories of Helene, as we just were talking about, leaving a lot of scars on many communities. This includes Treasure Island, where, take a look at your screen. You see piles of debris left over from the last major hurricane, everything from appliances to sheet metal and cinder blocks. I've even seen mattresses. The mayor tells CNN that Treasure Island looks like a ghost town, but he also says that he is thankful that residents have evacuated.
Joining us now is John Barkley. He is the Chief of Police for the Treasure Island Police Department. Chief, good to have you today. For people who are in evacuation zones and have not left yet, how much longer do they have?
JOHN BARKLEY, CHIEF OF POLICE, TREASURE ISLAND POLICE DEPARTMENT: Right now. I mean, the winds are picking up right now. It's going to become very dangerous on the streets. We've been dealing with rain all night long. We already have standing water. Unfortunately, what we thought about this debris blocking some of the storm drains is happening, and once the water reaches a certain level in the bay, then the storm drains stop draining. So, we're going to have some water over our roadways pretty quickly now. SOLOMON: Is it too late for folks who are still home to maybe leave or evacuate? And those who decide that they want to wait it out, what's your message to them? What can they do?
BARKLEY: If anybody is waiting this out, they need to leave. This is too close to us. I mean, the eyes forecast to go just below us. But, I mean, that's what -- we are well within that margin of error. And everybody knows hurricanes wobble. It's just too dangerous to wait this out on the island. The predicted storm surges, almost twice as much as what we had with Helene, and Helene put shoulder-depth water in some people's homes on Treasure Island.
SOLOMON: Yeah. And talk to me a little bit about the debris left behind by Helene. You just made the interesting point that one of your concerns about the debris sort of blocking storm drains, I think you said, has already started to pass. But, are you also concerned about the strong wind from Milton and some of this debris perhaps becoming flying projectiles?
BARKLEY: Yes. It -- one of the first things you do as a Floridian when you're prepping your home in your area for pre-storm is to take out -- pick up anything from outside your house that may fly, lawn chairs, palm fronds, anything like that. What we have -- we just had a catastrophic event here, and people have gutted their homes. So, these debris piles, and we're talking breed piles, twice the size of a normal person with furniture, sheet rock from the walls, carpeting, you name it, you name it, it's out there, because everything got soaked.
[11:15:00]
So, people put them outside, and they tried to pick up a lot of it, but they -- it just wasn't able to get it done. I mean, the storm crept up on us in a couple of days, and they just weren't able to get it off the streets in time. So, I'm not sure what it's going to look like after the storm.
SOLOMON: Chief, what's your message to those in your community who may be watching right now? I mean, obviously, Floridians are known to be able to sort of sit through and weather through storms, but this is obviously expected to be a really catastrophic and traumatic event for the state.
BARKLEY: Yeah. If -- my message to anybody watching, if you're still on the island, leave. You still have time to leave. Get your important stuff together and go now. You should have already made that decision. For those of you who are watching that have evacuated the island, we are here for you. We are going to be here, up here until we absolutely can't be on the island safely anymore, and we would be the first ones back. All of the barrier islands will be shut down until officials are able to go and check the islands, especially Treasure Island, to make sure that's safe for people to come back.
Don't be in a hurry to come back. We don't know what the damage is going to be. We don't know about power, sewer, water, anything yet. So, wait until we tell you it is all clear to come back. SOLOMON: And then, lastly, I mean, talk to us a little bit about your preparations, as a police force, in terms of, when everyone is evacuating, it's first responders who sort of are rushing the opposite direction. Talk to us about that level of preparation for you and your men and women.
BARKLEY: We had a unique situation because we actually lost our police department during Helene. So, we're in a temporarily located in our city hall. I'm -- I think I'm the last one here. I'm on the fifth floor. You can look over my shoulder there. That's the beaches behind us. And so, it's been unique to us. We lost a lot of equipment, a lot of gear. But, I'm very, very proud of our officers. They've done an incredible job just weathering the storm, and now preparing for this one. We swung into action and went back into preparation mode. It's just what we do. It's just -- it's different for first responders, our police department, the fire department out here, the fire department staying on the island right now. We're the last ones out here.
It's a ghost town, which is good to see. That means there is not a lot of people here. But, that's what we do. Like you said, we go the opposite direction, and we're going to be here to protect the lives and property of people here.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Police Chief John Barkley, we appreciate your time today. We know it's obviously a very busy time for you. Please be safe, and thank you.
BARKLEY: Thank you.
SOLOMON: Across the Gulf, Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula got a soaking, as Milton brushed past. The hurricane hit the peninsula Monday night, and although it left destruction and floods in its wake, no deaths have been reported so far. Still, though, the damage was serious enough to leave hundreds of thousands of homes in the Yucatan state without power.
All right. Still to come for us, U.S. President and Israel's Prime Minister are speaking right now for the first time in weeks. How their call could affect the trajectory of war across the Middle East? We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLOMON: Well, for the first time in weeks, U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are speaking by phone. That call taking place right now, according to Mr. Netanyahu office. Last week, Mr. Biden said that it would happen after Israel decides how to respond to Iran's unprecedented missile attack, although it's unclear if Israel's plans have been finalized. Iran is trying to rally support from its Arab neighbors to discuss efforts to stop what it caused Israel's aggression in Lebanon and Gaza. Iran's Foreign Minister is visiting Saudi Arabia today. Mr. Netanyahu, meantime, addressing the Lebanese people on Tuesday. He said that they need to, quote, "stand up to Hezbollah, or else the country would be engulfed in a war". That would mean the kind of destruction already seen in Gaza.
New clashes are reported in southern Lebanon between Israeli forces and Hezbollah. And an Israeli Minister says that soldiers have occupied one village, sharing an image of IDF troops hoisting an Israeli flag. Hezbollah, meantime, is escalating attacks on northern Israel. Israel's national emergency service says that two people were killed by rocket fire today.
Let's get more now and go to the region. We have Jeremy Diamond live for you in Tel Aviv, and Fred Pleitgen, who is in Tehran.
Jeremy, let me start with you. What do we know about this phone call between Biden and Netanyahu?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, as we understand it, that phone call is now underway between President Biden and the Israeli Prime Minister, the first phone call between the two men in nearly two months, and it comes, of course, at a critical moment, as Israel mulls its military response to that barrage of ballistic missiles fired by Iran at Israel last week. Israel, of course, has vowed to respond militarily. The question is, how big will they go, and what exactly will they strike? We know that the Israeli Prime Minister is considering a range of potential strikes, including strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. The U.S. President has made clear that he does not want to see Israel carry out strikes on nuclear facilities, and he -- the U.S. also appears to be advising, again, strikes on Iranian oil facilities as well.
This phone call will be aimed at trying to get these two partners on the same side. But, of course, whether or not that can actually be accomplished, is another matter altogether. The Israeli Prime Minister really has been thumbing his nose at U.S. advice for quite some time, going against what the U.S. would like to see, both publicly and privately. And so, whether or not they can get on the same page remains to be seen. But certainly, President Biden will be aiming in this call to rein in a potential Israeli response towards Iran, looking for something more proportional. That doesn't seem to be the direction that Netanyahu is going in right now.
SOLOMON: And Fred, happening at the same time, Iran is engaging with its neighbors for its part, I mean, the likelihood that it gets a support that it wants in the region.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it's very difficult right now for the Iranians. I think a lot of the Arab countries here in this region certainly don't want to be seen as, at least on the one side, completely taking sides with Iran. I think at the same time, all those diplomatic channels, though, Rahel, do remain open.
It's been quite interesting to see this shuttle diplomacy on the part of the Iranians, which really started after a speech by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last Friday, where he called on Arab nations to essentially take sides with Iran's, take sides with the Palestinians and with Hezbollah as well. You had the President of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, who, of course, was in Qatar recently, and now you have Abbas Araghchi, who is the Foreign Minister, who is in Saudi Arabia trying to drum up support there.
One of the interesting things that we heard from Araghchi as well, when one the one hand he said that Iran wants a diplomatic solution to the problems here in the Middle East, first and foremost, of course, to what's going on in Gaza, but then also, of course, threatening Israel and saying that if the Israelis do launch a big attack against Iran, that there would be what the Iranians call a crushing response by the Iranians, which, course of then, could up the ante once again and further destabilize this entire region.
Today, I was actually in Iranian parliament, and I was able to speak to the spokesman of the Foreign Relations and National Security Committee of Iran's parliament, and here was his message to Israel.
[11:25:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EBRAHIM REZAEI, IRANIAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER (Interpreted): We will certainly respond to Israel. In a most recent attack on Israel, we targeted only military sites. Naturally, there are other targets that we could hit, and we have the capability to do so. We have so many missiles that we can, one by one, hit these targets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: So, that was Ebrahim Rezaei. He is the Spokesman for that National Security Committee, and that's really the message that we're getting here from the Iranians, that they say that they could launch a crushing response if the Israelis do decide to mount that attack. But, at the same time, you do sense here, when you are on the ground, that there is concern among some citizens here in Tehran about not necessarily only the response that Israel could mount, the attack that Israel could mount, but certainly also all of this billowing into a wider conflict that, in the end, could put the United States and Iran directly against one another, Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Absolutely. Really, really striking a sort of message there. Thank you,
Jeremy, let me ask you, the IDF has now also ordered evacuations of hospitals in northern Gaza. What do we know?
DIAMOND: Well, we are watching the mass displacement of people in Gaza happening before our eyes once again. Some 400,000 people are estimated to be living in northern Gaza, and right now, the Israeli military appears to be ordering the evacuation of the majority of that territory, and we are already witnessing thousands of people beginning to flee northern Gaza, in particular the area of Jabalia, where the Israeli military says that it is mounting a new major offensive, the fourth time that they have gone into that city since this war began just over a year ago, as Hamas regroups there and the Israeli military lacking any kind of alternative governance structure to Hamas, keeps -- having to go back into that territory.
Three hospitals now being called within the last 12 hours or so, being told to evacuate all of their patients in just 24 hours. The director at Kamal Adwan Hospital pleading for some other kind of solution, saying that this is putting patients who are in intensive care there at severe risk. And as this is happening, we are also witnessing people who have been trapped in homes and buildings, as the fighting goes on around them, also accounts from some Palestinians who were fleeing yesterday, heeding those orders from the Israeli military and then being fired upon by what several people said was one of these Israeli military quadcopter drones firing on people who appeared to be trying to flee from northern Gaza and head for safety.
And this just speaks to the horrific decisions that people are having to make, whether to take the risk and flee south, knowing that people have been fired upon, or whether to stay put and risk the bombardment and the tanks approaching in those areas. It really is a horrific choice that people are having to make, and one where it seems that there are no good options. If people do indeed make it out of northern Gaza, they are then going to this, what's been declared as a so-called humanitarian zone in western Gaza, in the Al Mawasi area. But, we know that that area is already overcrowded, under-resourced, and of course, the Israeli military has also conducted some strikes in those areas as well, saying that they will go after Hamas wherever they are. Rahel.
SOLOMON: All right. Jeremy, thank you.
Fred, let me bring you back into the conversation, because you are in Iran. I'm curious what you have been able to gather in terms of the impact and the reaction to the death, one, of course, of Hassan Nasrallah, that that was obviously big news at the end of September, but also some of the other assassinations of Hezbollah leadership. I mean, how big of a deal does that appear to be, based on your conversations and reporting?
PLEITGEN: Yeah. It's a huge deal, and something that you really see here on the ground. In fact, we've been going through several Iranian cities over the past 24 hours, but specifically here in Tehran, where the entire city is basically plastered with billboards and posters depicting Hassan Nasrallah and also speaking about Hezbollah as well. And if you look at some of the captions on there, one of them, for instance, reads that "This is the beginning of the victory of God", as they put it. So, obviously, the Iranians are saying that they are going to stay in the fight on the side of Hezbollah.
And I think one of the things that we have to keep in mind with all of this, as some of these events are unfolding, especially there in the north of Israel, in the south of Lebanon, is that there were some very close relations, personal relations between Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Hassan Nasrallah, two men who were very close on a personal level, and then obviously, as far as this conflict is concerned as well. So, certainly, this is a big deal for the supreme leader, and therefore also for the Islamic Republic of Iran.
And one thing really stood out to us today, as we were in Revolution Square here in Tehran, which is very important square here in the city, there was a giant billboard that the Iranians have put up, essentially showing their strikes, their missile strikes on Israeli territory, and that billboard read, "If you want war, we are the masters of war", obviously indicating that the Iranians are saying they remain on the side of Hezbollah and they are willing to go a very long way, Rahel.
[11:30:00]
SOLOMON: OK. We'll leave it there. Jeremy Diamond and Fred Pleitgen, thank you both.
And coming up for us, it's not just Florida's Gulf Coast that's bracing for Hurricane Milton. The storm is expected to have a huge impact on the state, from coast to coast. Coming up, we're going to speak to an official from a city more than 100 miles from where Milton is expected to make landfall, how they're preparing. Plus, Floridians forced to leave their homes, as the hurricane bears down, now face another challenge, fueling up their cars.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLOMON: Welcome back. Get out now, that's what officials are telling Floridians in mandatory evacuation zones, as Hurricane Milton zeroes in on parts of Central and South Florida. Right now, tropical storm force winds are lashing the Florida Keys. 12 million people are under a tornado watch. A twister already crossed Interstate 75 a short time ago in Broward County. This is in the southern part of the state. Milton is expected to make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday as a powerful Category 4.
Let's go to Fort Myers, Florida, and bring in CNN's Carlos Suarez. Carlos, we just talked about that tornado there on I-75. Do we know if that's affecting evacuation efforts?
CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rahel, no doubt for the folks that are still trying to make it over to the east coast of Florida, that drive across I-75 just became a bit more frightening, as you said, coming out to me. There is confirmation of one tornado that touched down in the western part of Broward County. The I-75, the Interstate 75 is -- connects to the east coast of Florida to the west coast of Florida. It's really the easiest way that you can travel from Southwest Florida over into the Fort Lauderdale and Miami area. And so, that tornado is a result of some of the early parts of this hurricane that we're now starting to see making its way into Florida.
The National Weather Service in Miami said that they were also looking into a second possible tornado that may have touched down in Clewiston, Florida. That is to the north of Broward County. It sits just below Okeechobee, but that's also another route that connects the west coast of Florida and the east coast of Florida. And so, for folks that are living in southwest Florida that were still trying to get out, you can imagine just how concerning this has become, because now this bad weather started to move in. Now, we're starting to see more of these tornadoes.
[11:35:00]
A good part of southwest Florida is right now under a tornado warning, and the conditions here in Fort Myers in the last couple of hours have clearly started to go south. The wind has picked up. We're starting to see a little bit more of that rain.
And just to give you a sense of how things are going to play out here over the next couple of hours and going into tonight, we expect that the brunt of this weather will hit southwest Florida around seven, eight, nine o'clock at night, and then the flooding will follow all of that, and a large part of the reason why that's going to happen overnight is because the storm surge and high tide and all of that rain is going to happen around midnight, and high tide is going to last until tomorrow morning.
And so, to give you a little bit of perspective of we are, this is the Caloosahatchee River. This is Fort Myers. Two years ago when Hurricane Ian made a direct landfall here, the storm surge was 10 feet. So, everything that you're taking a look at here behind me was either damaged, destroyed or underwater. The amphitheater back there had to be rebuilt after Ian. The Convention Center to my right was also had to be rebuilt after that hurricane. And the expectation, the forecast right now is calling for a storm surge of anywhere between eight to 12 feet. And right now, that storm is still tracking to make landfall to the north of us. And so, the folks out here, Rahel, are getting ready for the type of flooding that we saw during Hurricane Ian, except this time, it's a storm that's not even expected to make direct landfall here in Fort Myers. Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Carlos, that was a really helpful descriptor there with your background, just chilling.
Carlos Suarez from Fort Myers, please be safe, and thank you for the reporting.
Well, the mass exodus out of the hurricane zone, many gas stations in Florida are running out of fuel. At last report, roughly 1,700 of Florida's 7,500 gas stations have run dry. That's nearly one in four across the state. Areas facing evacuation orders, areas like Tampa and Fort Myers, they're the most heavily impacted by fuel shortages.
Let's bring in Matt Egan, who has been following us. He has a closer look at what's happening. So, obviously, it's a pretty significant strain on the gas supply in Florida, Matt. Talk us through the numbers.
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, Rahel. Well, the problem is the demand has just been through the roof, and it's happening because, yes, a lot of people are heating the orders and they are evacuating. But, the other reason why demand is so high is because of some of the people who are staying and they're filling up tanks to try to power their generators. So, at the last update at 09:30 this morning, according to GasBuddy, about 23 percent of the gas stations across Florida have no gas. Now, as you mentioned, Rahel, this is an even bigger problem in some
of those metro areas that are bracing for this hurricane. 59 percent of the gas stations in the Tampa, St Petersburg region don't have any gas, according to GasBuddy, 39 percent in Sarasota, around one in three in Fort Myers, Naples as well as Gainesville, and even in Orlando, this is a significant issue. Now, GasBuddy says that if you are looking for gas, you should be going to the major travel stops. You should be going to the large chains, because they're more likely to be supplied.
And Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, he did just address this earlier this morning during a press conference. He said that right now there is no fuel shortage, and he said that officials are doing everything they can to surge emergency fuel supplies. They're even using state troopers to escort these fuel tanker trucks to the gas stations that need it the most.
Now, remember, all of this is happening before the storm even arrives. After the storm, we're, of course, going to be paying very close attention to the damage to the infrastructure, in particular, what happens to the Port of Tampa Bay, because that is a massive source of fuel into this region. It's really the -- it's -- almost half the fuel in all of Florida comes in through that port. And so, obviously, Rahel, if there is damage to that port, there could be problems getting supplies to the state after the storm.
SOLOMON: Yeah. And I mean, to that point, Matt, I mean, you've also been doing some reporting on the potential risk to commercial buildings in the region and properties in the building. What have you learned?
EGAN: Yeah. Well, Rahel, this is obviously a major, major population center, a major center for commerce. So, Moody's has found that commercial properties valued at $1.1 trillion lie directly in this storm's path. That includes tens of thousands of retail properties, 69,000 apartment properties, industrial, office and hotels. All of them are at risk of damage because of this storm. Just staggering numbers.
And then, of course, on top of that, you have all of the homes here, right? CoreLogic has a report out. It's finding that up to 500,000 homes could be at risk of storm surge flooding because of this hurricane. That is, if the storm makes landfall as a Category 3, these homes would have a reconstruction value of $123 billion.
[11:40:00]
So, obviously, there is a lot of homes here at stake, and those numbers would go even higher if this storm ends up making landfall as potentially a Category 4 storm. So, obviously, first and foremost, it's the human life that we are paying most attention to, and that we're most concerned about. But, there is also an economic impact here, Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, certainly, as you say, the human life and you sort of start to think about the impacts in terms of insurance premiums, which we know have already gotten so expensive in Florida.
Matt Egan, thank you.
EGAN: Thanks, Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah. We know that the most severe impacts from Hurricane Milton will happen in Central Florida along the west coast, but virtually no part of the state will escape unscathed. The entire east coast of Florida is under tropical storm warnings and hurricane warnings and watches. Tornadoes are also a threat. And as you saw earlier, at least one has already touched down today in South Florida.
I want to now bring in Chris Graham. He is the Community Information Manager for the City of DeLand, near Florida's east coast, between Orlando and Daytona Beach. Sir, we appreciate your time today. We saw in our meteorologist's report, and we heard President Biden say the same yesterday, that Milton could both enter and exit Florida as a hurricane. That's how strong this storm is. What's your biggest concern right now, where you are?
CHRIS GRAHAM, COMMUNITY INFORMATION MGR., CITY OF DELAND, FLORIDA: Right. For us, it's really flooding and wind. Depending on the track of the storm, it could wobble north, it could wobble south, and that could really make the difference in what we see in terms of weather. Right now, we're looking at perhaps eight to 12 inches of rain, maybe even more in some spots. But also, the land is known for its trees. We have a lot of old trees dating back to our founding, and they haven't really been tested since Hurricane Irma.
So, it's been seven years since we've had a really strong hurricane come through. And so, we're probably going to see a lot of downed trees, a lot of downed power lines. But, we're going to get through this together. We're prepared. Our city has been getting ready for the past few days and make sure your preparations are done by now, and now is the time to just stay at home and wait it out.
SOLOMON: Yeah. And talk to me a little bit about that. For folks who are watching, who may be close to where you are, closer to the Orlando region, what's the message for them right now? What can they do? What should they be doing?
GRAHAM: Right. I mean, your preparations should be done. The weather is going to deteriorate throughout the afternoon and into the evening hours. And we're just trying to tell people, look, you don't need to be outside. There is nothing to see. I know there is a lot of people that are curious about whether -- what the weather is going to look like. But, the best thing to do is to stay inside. At the end of the day, we want people to make the best decisions for themselves. Our goal here is to make it through the storm and then we start the recovery process. So, people just need to stay at home and hunker down and wait it out, and let the professionals get out there.
Volusia County is under a curfew later today. It's probably going to extend through Thursday. So, people just need to stay off the roads and let the professionals get to work and start the recovery process. SOLOMON: And what about after the storm has passed? I mean, we've heard in hurricanes before that often it's after the storm passes that you see the most fatalities that can be the most dangerous. Obviously, this is a storm of a different level in terms of its ferociousness. But, how long should people sort of prepare to be kind of hunkered down, do you think?
GRAHAM: Right. We've been told it's going to be several days, probably, before we -- power is going to be out for several days. Trees are going to be down. So, it's going to take a few days to return to some sense of normalcy. I know when Irma hit, myself, I was out of power for about five days. So, I think we're probably going to see something like that.
As Governor DeSantis did say earlier today, they've staged quite a few linemen. It's quite incredible they've been able to amass that amount of people here just with Hurricane Helene recovery going on right now. So, I think you're going to see several days, maybe a couple of weeks, before we get to some sense of normalcy. But, we just want people to be patient. We're going to get through this. Things will come back to normal, and we'll move on. That's what we do here in Florida. We've been through this before, and we'll get through it.
SOLOMON: Yeah. We appreciate your time today, Chris Graham. We know it's a busy day, and we certainly are thinking about you and the entire state of Florida, as you prepare. Thank you.
GRAHAM: Thank you.
SOLOMON: And still to come for us, hurricanes Helene and Milton sparking a political fight over misinformation. Hear what Vice President Kamala Harris has to say about Donald Trump's false claims. Plus, with Hurricane Milton now just hours from the Florida coastline, more information about how to stay safe, is coming out.
[11:45:00]
We'll tell you what Apple is now recommending.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLOMON: Welcome back. The National Hurricane Center says that Milton is still a powerful Category 4 hurricane. Right now, the Florida National Guard is prepping for what could be, could turn out to be the largest search and rescue effort in history. That is according to Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis. Milton's tropical storm force gusts have reached the Florida Keys and is forecast to make landfall overnight on Wednesday.
And as thousands evacuate Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton, Vice President Kamala Harris is urging people across the southeast not to believe misinformation about federal hurricane response efforts. Here is part of her message on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S., (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE:
To all of those folks in North Carolina and Georgia, please know that FEMA and the people on the ground are there to help you. You are entitled to help. There is a lot of misinformation. And I beseech you. I beg you to please not pay attention to it, because there are a whole lot of folks who are there to give you help and aid in terms of the immediate aftermath and what people need to do in terms of getting through the height of this emergency and this crisis, but also in terms of long-term help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: In her Tuesday appearance on ABC's "The View", Harris said that she thinks former President Donald Trump has no empathy for others, as he continues to spread misinformation about the federal response in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
Let's bring in now our White House Correspondent Arlette Saenz, who is tracking the story from Washington. Arlette, the White House has its own plans to try to combat hurricane misinformation. Tell us more. What do we know?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rahel, the White House right now is really confronting this hurricane response on several fronts. First, they are trying to get the resources needed to those devastated communities in the wake of Hurricane Helene, and now as they prepare for Hurricane Milton. But, at the same time, they are also battling misinformation that has spread about the federal government's response. Now, President Biden, in an interview that was released today, said that he is most concerned about the misinformation that has been spreading. Officials have warned that it is making it more difficult for officials on the ground in these communities to simply do their jobs, to try to get the resources in that these people need.
Now, one way that the White House is trying to combat some of this misinformation is by launching a Reddit account. They are posting various information regarding to their federal response, including in states like North Carolina and Georgia. They also, in just the recent hours, have specifically tried to rebut some of the false claims that have been spreading about the federal government's response relating to checks that people can get, relating to how FEMA money is being spent. They specifically have made a post on that very subject, hoping that it will spread to people on that Reddit community and into the communities themselves.
It really comes at a time when Hurricane Helene has become a political flashpoint, as former President Donald Trump has been among those who have been spreading some of these false narratives about the hurricane response.
[11:50:00]
Now, at the same time, the White House is very focused on Hurricane Milton, which is currently barreling towards the Florida coast. In just a few minutes, we are expecting to hear from President Biden. He and Vice President Harris will receive a briefing on the response efforts, not just to Helene, but also to Milton. And then later this evening, the President will deliver remarks, as the storm approaches even closer. It all really highlights the emphasis and stress that the administration is putting in this moment to try to respond to this misinformation, try to respond to the needs that the people will need in these communities, especially as Hurricane Milton has the potential to have very devastating consequences for the state of Florida.
SOLOMON: Yeah. All right. Arlette Saenz live for us at the White House. Arlette, thank you.
There is a lot of information coming out about how people in the path of the hurricane can try and stay safe. Apple is talking about upgrading iPhones to iOS 18 if you're in the danger zone. People using an iPhone 14 or a later model will be able to send messages via satellite, and that's important if your area loses cellular or Wi-Fi access, because with a satellite connection, you can still send iMessage and SMS texts, emojis and reactions.
Let's bring in CNN's Clare Duffy, who joins us from New York. So, Clare, explain to us a little bit about how this new feature could be really crucial right now as Hurricane Milton heads towards Florida.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yeah. Rahel, this is huge, because, as you said, often, these storms will wipe out cell networks and Wi- Fi, internet systems for weeks on end. And so, it's really important that people are aware of this satellite messaging feature that could help them reach friends and family and emergency services. So, if you're in the path of the storm and you have an iPhone 14 or later, this should be part of your prep today for the storm. You should make sure that your iPhone is updated to iOS 18, and then when you go into your settings, you can actually do a demo of this satellite messaging feature so that you know how it works if and when you need to use it.
To use it, you actually just hold your phone. You need to be outside with the view of the sky and the horizon, and you should know that it may take a little bit longer than usual for messages to go through, but they will go through. However, and this is a really important but, if you are in an actual emergency, a medical emergency, rather than using the regular satellite messaging feature on iPhone, you should use Emergency SOS, which still works via satellite, but it will also send emergency first responders the medical information you have saved in your iPhone and your emergency contact so that you should make sure that those things are updated as well, Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah, really important to sort of consider it and think about it today as part of your preparations.
Clare Duffy, thank you.
We are going to take a short break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLOMON: Welcome back. The winners have been announced for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The announcement was made earlier today in Sweden. A tree of scientists, two from the U.S., one from Britain, won for their work on decoding the structure of proteins and creating new ones. The committee called the potential from their discoveries enormous. They use AI and an AI model to predict the structures of proteins, the chemical tools of life.
And before we go, one more thing. You are looking at a swarm of western towed tadpoles in a lake on Canada's Vancouver Island. This photo just won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition for 2024.
[11:55:00]
This is for photojournalist Shane Gross. The annual contest organized by London's Natural History Museum attracted 59,000 entries this year. And how about this one? The award for the Young Wildlife Photographer, well, that went to Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas, creator of this photo, which he called "Life Under Dead Wood". Maybe not that one, maybe that one. I don't think that one, but you get the gist. Beautiful.
I'm Rahel Solomon in New York. Stick with CNN for the latest developments on Hurricane Milton, as well as the phone call that, we have just now heard, has just ended between President Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu. The White House expected to provide details, coming up very soon. In the meantime, One World is coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
