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Hurricane Milton Dumps Up to 18 Inches of Rain in Tampa Bay Area; Milton Marching Across Florida; 3 Million Plus Without Power. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired October 10, 2024 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We'll get those wraparound rain bands, which if we are learning anything from what happened on the western side of the state, some of the intense winds are actually on the north and western portions of this eye. So we are not done yet. You saw the wind gusts in the measurements we took a minute ago, 83 miles per hour in Daytona Beach. That's substantial.

Tampa Bay actually just tweeting something out from their National Weather Service there, Erica. This is a really important point to hammer home to our viewers this morning.

There is ongoing flash flooding near Tampa. A lot of downed power lines. You don't know if they're still live. And so getting out into those conditions, it's dark. It's very dangerous to go through flooded streets. My advice don't do it if you're actually riding out this storm there.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Yes, absolutely. And as we have been told, right, covering storms for so long, the one thing you never want to do is drive through that standing water for that very reason because you don't know what is in it. There could be downed power lines.

I want to stay on that issue of the flash flooding for just a moment if we could. There's been so much water that has come in. There is the flash flooding issue and then there's also the issue of where does all this water go.

And I was speaking with somebody from the Weather Service a short time ago saying that that will be a concern for days to come from some of the rivers surrounding.

VAN DAM: Well think about it, Eric. So the state of Florida, especially the coastline through the interior, the area that got the heaviest rainfall is very, very low elevation. So these rivers, the creeks, the low line elevations that have the water piling up, we're talking Orlando to Tampa, inland communities as well where that heavy swath of rain actually occurred and is still falling from the sky.

That water is working against the surge that came in with this storm on both the west coast and the east coast. So you've got inland flooding trying to drain out of the rivers, trying to drain out of the creeks. And then you've got the inland component or the incoming component from the storm surge and what happens with that type of water working against each other from the inland and from the coast? It has nowhere to go but up.

So it's going to take some time for that to drain and to be allowed to drain as well. The storm needs to get well away from the state before we see the surge component die down along the east coast and then when we start to see the water end and then the rivers start to recede.

HILL: Derek Van Dam, I appreciate it as always. Thank you.

I'm going to send it back now to my colleague Victor Blackwell who is in Orlando as Derek mentioned.

It is the north and the west side of that storm that is really a little bit stronger and that's what Victor is dealing with now as it continues to make its way through Orlando, that last little bit making its way through -- Victor.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Yes, Erica, we're still getting the wind, the gusts of wind getting pretty strong but we are getting a short break from the rain. We expect that will return as well. Derek talked about the flooding there in Tampa Bay.

I want to go to St. Petersburg and talk to Jonathan Petramala who is a storm chaser who has been of course watching Milton and following Milton. Jonathan, thanks for being with me. Let's just first start with what it's like there now as we're hearing these reports of flooding in Tampa Bay. What are you seeing?

JONATHAN PETRAMALA, JOURNALIST AND STORM CHASER (via phone): Hey, good morning. Yes, the flash flooding fortunately has receded and the rain has stopped falling here in St. Petersburg but to just get into St. Petersburg was a challenge. The bridges have been closed now for several hours since early yesterday afternoon and that's the main access, right, to get in from the south or from the east as well.

And so we had to go the long way around and it was a maze of flooded streets around Tampa. Really deep water. We had numerous cars stalled out in that deep water as well and unfortunately signs that showed the water getting into some neighborhoods as well.

So it wasn't necessarily the storm surge here in Tampa Bay but it was that freshwater flooding and the tides were just high enough, as your meteorologist mentioned, there was just nowhere for the water to go. So it just went up into people's homes and the neighborhoods and on roadways as well. So that added to the challenge of the hurricane for the Tampa Bay area at least.

But the brighter side of that again is because the storm did make landfall south of the Tampa Bay area, the catastrophic predictions of storm surge that could reach 15 or 20 feet did not occur here in the area, which is great.

BLACKWELL: Our colleague Bill Weir has been reporting on the damage to Tropicana Field. Of course we've shown that roof that was just shredded and blown off. Erica talked about it at the top of the show. We've got drone video that you shot of the stadium. Tell us what you saw, what you shot as you described your video.

PETRAMALA: And again, I live in St. Petersburg, so this is just a few minutes from my house to see Tropicana Field like that. And anyone you're going to speak to around the town, it's surreal to see the roof shredded like that.

[04:35:00]

I was able to actually get my hands on a piece of that roof to kind of feel the material and it feels just thick vinyl like you -- one of those blowup pool materials. And you could see it just had no chance against those winds of Hurricane Milton. And what was fascinating and also disturbing, they had about 10,000 cots and beds sitting in the outfield. So in those shots you could look down and you could see those cots sitting there. Those were for first responders that they were going to have come in and that's where they're going to stay as they help the area recover.

Of course now plans have to change that obviously cannot be a place where you know first responders are going to be able to stay as the dome of Tropicana Field is now completely exposed to the elements.

BLACKWELL: Yes we've been seeing the drone footage of just the torn roof there and you make a good point about what this stadium was supposed to be. It was supposed to offer this respite, this place for rest for the first responders as they respond to others who call in for help from Hurricane Milton.

We also had the report of the crane that came down in St. Petersburg as well. What do you know about damage beyond these two that we know? Of course the first responders are working to get out as soon as the wind dies down on that coast. I'm sure the wind has died down but what do you know about the damage in neighborhoods in communities beyond downtown?

PETRAMALA: Sorry about that. Yes, you broke up a little bit. I heard you talk about the crane we just had our eyes on that as well. Ironically, it crashed into the Tampa Bay Times building so they broke their own story there unfortunately. Doesn't appear anybody was hurt which is the best part about that.

A lot of cranes in St. Petersburg up and about because there's a massive amount of growth now up and that was the only one that appears to have collapsed under the fierce winds of Hurricane Milton.

Otherwise what you're looking at in terms of damage, damage to awnings, damage to garages, rooftops, mostly tree damage. That's really what we're seeing as we're driving around St. Petersburg.

I actually just pulled up to my house for the first time since the storm when I left yesterday. I didn't really know what I'd be coming home to and it appears my trees are still standing. There's some big branches down but I don't know I don't see any signs of major damage at my house. So it's kind of surreal to be reporting on your neighbors and your community and then also in the back of your mind always is you know what's happening at your place. But you have to just kind of step out of sight and that's why I just kind of I just took a big breath of relief on the phone with you.

BLACKWELL: Yes I feel you Jonathan. I lived and worked in north and south Florida for several years and I understand that that sensation of reporting on others in a storm and wondering how your own home is. But I'm glad that that your home fared well.

And as it relates to the trees down, we've got now more than three million customers across the state. Those trees have taken down power lines those three million customers without power so that of course will be the narrative in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.

Jonathan Petramala a storm chaser who is in St. Petersburg bringing us video bringing us reports of damage reporting on his own home and own neighborhood there as well. Thank you so much for being with us this morning.

PETRAMALA: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right Isabel Rosales is with us as well now. She is in Tampa. Isabel good morning to you. Tell us what you're seeing the situation there.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Hey, good morning to you Victor. So around 11:15 p.m. last night Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office had to suspend service due to just the unsafe situation out there for first responders the high winds all of that heavy rainfall but this is a completely different story even today right before daylight breaks.

I've seen HCSO deputies actively working out there. They've resumed full-fledged services so many ambulances going by. I've seen deputies checking in on flooded cars with the flashlight making sure that there's nobody in need of help.

And now we're getting reports of people stuck at a hotel at the Holiday Inn on I-4 in Plant City that's in the eastern side of the country -- of the county this is a very agricultural community, migrant heavy, Latino populated community and again people stuck at this hotel unable to get out due to the high flood waters.

[04:40:00]

We know that Plant City had to call HCSO for help just because they don't have the correct resources to be able to do these high water rescues.

And Victor, I actually have with me in the car right now Sheriff Chad Chronister who has just pulled up on location here. Sheriff thank you so much for joining us on this phone interview. Sir, what else can you tell us?

SHERIFF CHAD CHRONISTER, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA: Good morning we have just under 6,000 people without power and out and about. It is flooded. We're not used to seeing the high and dry areas like Plant City the eastern portions of the county this much underwater. There are a lot of downed power lines. There are a lot of downed trees. It is very unsafe out here right now.

ROSALES: And what do we know about this situation at the Holiday Inn? I know that you're about to use the SHRP amphibious vehicle to get access to these people.

CHRONISTER: Yes we were called asked for additional resources our amphibious vehicle the SHRP. We don't know how many people are staying at the hotel. We just know that we have to go rescue them. So we're on the way right now to try to make sure we can get them to higher ground and do a safer environment.

ROSALES: And how would you assess the urgency this morning to get out and how many calls you're getting for rescues?

CHRONISTER: We're getting a lot of calls, we're getting a lot of calls. Down power lines, a lot of flooding. Flooding in areas that never had flooding. And so we had to suspend service for a little bit getting up close to 97 mile per hour winds. But again, we're back in action now and we're going to get to them as quick as we can.

ROSALES: And clearly the priorities are on people in need of help in these rescue situations. Sheriff, I don't know if you've been briefed but I was hearing here with your colonel in the car on the way out here about an assisted living facility at the north end of the county reports of a hundred patients trapped there. We know that resources are going that way -- that's at North 17th Street. And of course, when you're dealing with a medical situation there's added level of complexity there. What do you know about that situation?

CHRONISTER: Yes there is and we know they're in a fragile state so that certainly takes priority. We're there, our airboats there. We'll work with county fire who also have four SHRPs and that hold 10 people at a time and we'll get them out. And again, get them to a more safer environment, get them the medical attention that they need as quick as we can now.

ROSALES: And how would you assess, Sheriff, how long this is going to take of process to get on the other side of this hurricane?

CHRONISTER: Yes, this isn't going to be the, hey listen, relax for a day and then we're all we're all going to dinner on a Friday night. This is this is going to take some time to heal and recover. This is going to take some time to even get those who are in positions where they don't want to be.

Again, this assisted living facility is not in a flood zone. They're not an evacuation zone. They never thought in a million years they would have this kind of water. So now they're in too deep. We need to focus on those people first, getting them the drier land, getting them the medical attention they need, then we'll worry about opening up roadways and some of those ancillary problems that trying to get people back to some type of sense of normalcy. ROSALES: Sheriff I appreciate your time. Thank you, sir. I know we're going to have a busy day ahead and we're going to witness these rescue operations in person -- Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right, Isabel Rosales with that interview with the sheriff there. Thanks so much. And the report of people who were stuck in a Holiday Inn because of the flood water, the flood waters there, of course, that's going to be a priority to get those people to some safety.

We just got an update that the eye of Milton has just exited the east coast of Florida. So the hurricane is now off into the Atlantic. But as you're hearing, the aftermath we're just getting a full appreciation of the damage that it's created across the state.

You can see that the winds are still blowing here in central Florida. I saw just a few minutes ago while Isabel was speaking with the sheriff, another bluish green flash which typically means a transformer has blown. Our last check of the utilities here in Orange County of roughly 60,000 customers of the more than three million across the state without power. We'll of course be watching that as well.

But the work now begins to assess the damage, to get to those who need help and to recover. Of course, Helene was just two weeks ago so that work has been going on here across Florida for some time.

Our special live coverage of Hurricane Milton, now off into the Atlantic, continues.

[04:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell live here in Orlando as Hurricane Milton, the eye has now moved off the east coast of Florida, but we're still seeing the wind and we're just starting to get a look at some of the damage. I can't show you because, you know, it's dark here and we don't obviously have the lights to light the sky, but the clouds are racing across the sky here as this storm is moving east. It's actually quite beautiful here.

We on the ground though, we'll see something not so beautiful as we assess the damage and potentially the flooding here.

I want to go to Makenna Caskey. She actually saw the crane in St. Petersburg that came down several hours ago, pretty early on in this storm. McKenna, I know it's windy here. I hope you can hear me. If you can tell me, just tell me the story. What did you see?

MAKENNA CASKEY, ST. PETERSBURG RESIDENT: Hi, Victor. Yes, I live in an apartment complex about a block over from where the crane fell.

I was at home. I decided to shelter in place with my aunt, with my dog. And around, I would say about 10 o'clock at night, we heard a really loud, thunderous metal clanging boom that sounded like a train wreck. And with it came a massive earthquake-style rumbling of the building that we're in.

It shook the plates, the furniture, any drinks that we had nearby. It both viscerally startled myself and my aunt. And the first thing that came to mind, per the mayor's warning earlier in the day, were those cranes.

We had thought that we were a safe enough distance away that we wouldn't be impacted if they fell. And thankfully, our building was not. And after the winds died down, about an hour later, I was able to go check them out for myself.

Through my building's Facebook group page, there was a couple videos floating around from different perspectives of possibly the crane coming down when it was on fire. And then when I was able to, between breaks and the gusts of the wind.

BLACKWELL: All right, Makenna Caskey, you're breaking up just a bit there. You mentioned fire.

[04:50:00]

And I hope we can get you back on to finish that story, because I've got plenty of questions about that fire and the damage.

But Makenna Caskey was just with us describing what happened around and what she saw and actually felt when that crane came down in St. Petersburg.

We'll take a quick break. We'll try to fix those communications issues. We'll continue our coverage in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell live in Orlando as we continue our special live coverage of Hurricane Milton. The eye of the storm is now off into the Atlantic and now begins the work of assessing the damage.

In just the last hour we got a report from Port St. Lucie which is on the east coast of Florida that a tornado hit a mobile home senior community. They're waiting for the winds to die down there to get out and assess the damage there.

We know from the west coast that the Tropicana Field roof was torn off early in the storm. A crane fell off of a building. And also we heard from the city manager of Longboat Key a bridge there to the barrier island. That was damaged. They're still waiting to assess just how badly.

[04:55:02]

Flooding is also a concern across the central part of the state as it typically is. There have been calls in Orange County where I am for trees down and flooding.

They're also just getting their vehicles back out to assess just how bad the flooding is. What we know though is that more than three million customers across this state are without power and that will take some time to restore in part because of the number but also because many of the crews that typically respond are in the Carolinas after Hurricane Helene. So that work will continue for some time here.

We're waiting for the sun to come up and for the winds to die down to really get an understanding of just how bad the damage is.

Now we're seeing a break from the rain here in central Florida. They're still getting some of that rain and some of that bad weather out east. That really has been the greatest concern of the latter part of the morning as we get closer to sunrise with more reports of those tornadoes touching down.

The Port St. Lucie assistant city manager told us that they had several reports of EF3s touching down there as well. So again we're waiting to get the latest there.

So we will now take a quick break and move on to the next hour of CNN special coverage of Hurricane Milton. Stay with us.