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FEMA Briefs Press on Wilma Damage

Aired October 24, 2005 - 14:30   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS: And we're waiting, of course, for that live briefing of FEMA. Acting director David Paulison expected to step up to the microphone, tell us how it all went for Hurricane Wilma and how FEMA's so involved and resources are in certain places. He'll tell us all about, hopefully 2:30 Eastern time. We'll be right back. More LIVE FROM right after this.
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PHILLIPS: Tough and tenacious, Hurricane Wilma delivers a one- two punch to Florida. The West Coast knew this would be a tough storm, but most residents on Florida's East Coast were not expecting Wilma to have such staying power by the time it traveled across the states. Power lines down, trees snapped in two, boats flipped upside down. That's just some of the damage left in Wilma's wake.

Hurricane Wilma made close contact with the Florida Keys early this morning as it came ashore. The storm's southern eyewall brushed Key West, leaving much of it under five feet of water. No travel is impossible in or out of that city and the only highway connecting the Keys to the mainland is flooded. So is the airport. That means many people are stuck for now. Ninety percent of Florida Keys' residents ignored a mandatory evacuation order.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Acting director David Paulison stepping up to the podium. there. Let's listen in.

R. DAVID PAULISON, ACTING DIRECTOR, FEMA: ... lost some roofing tile and a screen enclosure in the back and all of my trees are down, including my prized pink grapefruit tree that we lost.

But Hurricane Wilma did make landfall this morning as Category 3. (INAUDIBLE) discussed why we continued to gear up, even though it was predicted to be a Cat 1. These things happen with hurricanes. So we're glad that we did that.

I talked to President Bush this morning. I talked to Secretary Chertoff. And I just talked to Governor Bush a few hours ago. And they are concerned about people who did not evacuate. They're concerned particularly about those who may have stayed in mobile homes. And we are searching those areas now as we speak.

The president did make a major disaster declaration for the state of Florida. We got three counties -- Collier, Lee and Monroe -- with individual assistance. And I'm sure there'll be more as we add these on, as we start doing our damage assessment. And 20 counties for public assistance.

I am receiving ongoing status reports from the field. You know, we put all the satellite telephones out there and cell phones out there, and they're reporting a lot of power outages, a lot of coastal flooding, a lot of broken windows in high-rise buildings. A lot of roofs that are going to need a lot of repair.

The state of Florida's reported there's over two million people without power, and they expect that to -- that number to rise. We have 124 shelters open, with a population of about 36,000 that are in those shelters. We had three national disaster medical teams in the Keys, and one is being airlifted from Homestead Air Force Base to the medical center in Key West to cover any type of injuries we may have down there.

We did a survey of the hospitals in Florida. Some have been damaged. Most of them are in good shape and are still able to operate, so that's good. We currently have urban search and rescue task forces in Collier County, and moving two additional task forces into Lee County, as the state has requested.

The -- what we understand from the state and from our feedback from our people in the fields, it looks like -- right now, it looks like Lee and Collier County are the most heavily damaged. There are 19 airports closed in the estate and Glades County is reporting significant damage to their mobile home parks. So we will be looking at those very carefully with our search and rescue teams.

We will be there. FEMA will be there in Florida to help the residents and to work with the state, and we'll stay there as long as it takes to recover from the storm. It's difficult, so far, to get a total picture of the damage, but we do, like I said, have a lot of people on the ground, and people need to feel very secure down there that the state and FEMA are ready to respond with all those prepositioned assets that we've been talking about.

I do want to talk about going back into homes. If you've been asked to evacuate , if you're in an evacuation zone, please, please don't go back until the (INAUDIBLE) emergency management tell you it's safe to go back. And if you did evacuate or did not evacuate, you stayed in your house, just stay inside until everything is safe, make sure the winds died down. Because, we -- you know, we get more injuries after the storm than during the storm, and we want you just to be careful.

We have a lot of accidents and injuries that are after the storm. And because of some things we do -- people driving in flooded areas when they shouldn't be because some of the roads are washed out. There's a lot of debris out there, folks. You need to be very careful.

If you move back in your home, make sure you check for gas leaks, check for water leaks, electrical damage, those types of things.

And be careful with chainsaws. I know people want to get their yards cleaned up right away.

Be careful with generators. I've got one in my house, and my wife and daughter just had to walk me through how to start it and hook it up to the refrigerator.

Be careful when you're cleaning your house up.

Get some rest.

PAULISON: Everybody's been up all night. Just take a day or so to get some rest and then start working on your yards.

So what I'd like to do right now is just answer any questions you might have with the information that I have.

QUESTION: With so many Category 3 and 4 hurricanes, is this starting to stretch FEMA's resources?

PAULISON: Well, we're tired of hurricanes, I can tell you that.

But, no, the people are -- we had meetings yesterday, we had meetings today with staff, and they're up, they're motivated, the response side of FEMA has gotten a couple weeks of rest and they're moving real rapidly.

The urban search and rescue teams, the medical teams, our teams on the ground in the field are moving very quickly and are rested and ready to go.

So, yes, we're tired of hurricanes. And, yes, we're all stressed out a little bit, but we're prepared to handle this one, also.

QUESTION: With a month left in hurricane season, does FEMA reach a point where supplies start running out or other assets or other resources besides precious manpower?

PAULISON: Actually, we've been doing very well with our supplies. We put millions of meals down there and a lot of food and water and ice. And all that ice we got criticized for storing is now being used. So we're doing really well on supplies.

MREs are limited, so we're looking at other things like food kitchens and things like that. So we're going to be in good shape, I believe.

And the state of Florida has a lot of supplies also. So between the two of us, I think we're going to be in good shape with our supplies.

QUESTION: Did you do anything in terms of doing pre-bidding for contracts for this particular storm?

PAULISON: No, we have not done that.

All the pre-bidding stuff will be for next hurricane season. We'll put all those things in place as we go along for the next year, because those are big contracts and they take more than a couple of weeks to put together to do them right.

QUESTION: How many people are in shelters?

PAULISON: I think 36,000, right in that number there. And that may increase or decrease depending on where the damage is.

PAULISON: As we get into some of these areas where people did not evacuate, maybe they have to move into the shelters.

So that'll change on a regular basis.

QUESTION: What things are FEMA doing differently this time compared to, say, Katrina or Rita? You mentioned the satellite phones, I guess. Anything other than that that is being done that's (INAUDIBLE)? Can you describe the amount of communication -- you're new, but perhaps that you're having with the president directly or with Homeland Security?

PAULISON: The satellite phones are a piece of what we're doing differently. We have a very robust communications system with the state. We're working in partnership with them. We're putting our teams together so when we go out we go out as a family, so to speak.

We want to make sure that we know what's going on the ground. We want to make sure that we're aware of what the state's needs are, what the hurricane center is saying and what are the issues out there.

So I think that's the biggest difference that I see right now. We are going to have total situation awareness of what the needs are so we can move our stuff in as quickly as the state asks for it.

QUESTION: How is it that you know more about what is going on on the ground in this storm than in past hurricanes?

PAULISON: I think it's the number of people we have on the ground. I think it's the fact that we have communications out there. I think it's the fact that we have people in the governor's office and in the state Emergency Management Center. We had people in the hurricane center. We've got them scattered around throughout the state and we have teams out all over the place actually doing damage assessment.

So we have a good handle of what's going on.

QUESTION: Can you describe what individual assistance (INAUDIBLE)? How they go about (INAUDIBLE)?

PAULISON: The 1-800 FEMA line is 1-800-621-FEMA. If they can call that line, that's how they get registered. And again, we'll probably be adding more counties as we do more damage assessments than the initial three. Those were just the three that got hit right away.

And I'll take one more question.

QUESTION: Any move at this point to declare Wilma an incident of national significance or to ramp up some of the... PAULISON: That has been done with the major disaster declaration. And so that allows us work with the state and give them the resources they need to do their job.

QUESTION: But doesn't that make the federal government the principal responding...

PAULISON: No. The state is the principal -- actually, the locals are the principal responders.

We work through the state. We do not go in and take over. That is not our job. Our job is to make sure that we can assist the state in handling these type of disasters. And that's what FEMA's role is.

QUESTION: But the INS has been declared at this point?

PAULISON: Yes.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) you say there would be additional counties...

PAULISON: More than likely, with the damage that we saw. I just know that the county that my home is in, Broward County, received a lot of damage. Maybe Dade, Palm Beach County.

So as we go through this process of doing damage assessment, the state will apply to add more counties to that, and we'll look at those very carefully.

Folks, thank you very much, as we move along, and hopefully tomorrow we'll have actually more information for you. Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Acting FEMA Director David Paulison briefing reporters there. One thing that caught my attention, he said we are all tired of these hurricanes.

He actually started off on a personal level talking about his own home being affected, losing his favorite grapefruit tree, but then went on to talk about briefing the president, also Michael Chertoff, the head of homeland security and that right now they're searching areas where the people didn't evacuate.

They were very disappointed that a lot of people didn't evacuate so they have got search and rescue teams out looking for those individuals. Meanwhile, they are continuing their damage assessment saying that Lee and Collier County were the hardest hit.

We'll continue to update you, of course, every time he steps up to the mic and lets us know any new information besides what we're covering here on CNN. Of course, our live coverage of Wilma continues.

We're going to get an update on conditions in Mexico where thousands of American tourists have been stranded because of that storm. We're going to take a quick break more LIFE FROM right after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We just got some pretty amazing security video in straight from Baghdad regarding those explosions we've been telling you about all day. Take a look at this.

The three explosions that rocked the hotels housing international journalists today, the explosions actually caught right there on security tape. You're actually seeing where that explosion went off, those suicide car bombs police telling us not far from Fardus Square, otherwise known as Paradise Square.

You'll remember that is where the statue of Saddam Hussein once stood. Marines went in there and tore it down, as you remember, when they entered Baghdad alongside with the fellow soldiers.

But, this is a different angle from what we've been able to show you previously and you can actually see right there where the explosions take off.

What we know is there were three explosions that rocked the capital, sunset time, today in Baghdad near the two hotels housing the international journalists and contractors. At least ten people reported killed. Another 22 injured. Police say that those blasts were caused by suicide bombers, using two car bombs and one cement mixer truck. As, you know, we had videotape, security video, of that cement mixer truck backing up and backing up, trying to make entry into the secured area near the hotels. We caught that on tape also.

The video is from a rooftop vantage point, clearly showing the explosions near the Palestine Hotel. And then the other hotel was next to the -- it was the Sheraton Hotel, where that other blast took place. Initial reports said that the first two explosions had lured police to that area and then that third one, apparently designed to harm those first responders.

At this point right now, we can tell you from what we see in this security tape, at least three explosions rocking the capital. This explosion right next to Fardus Square, where that Saddam statue once stood. We'll continue to monitor this as we get more pieces of the videotape from various angles and bring you more information on those ten that were killed, and also another 22 wounded in those two hotels, the Palestine Hotel and Sheraton Hotel there in Baghdad.

Well, as fast as Wilma is moving now, that wasn't the case in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Mexican officials blame four deaths on Hurricane Wilma, which lingered for more than two days. After touring the hard-hit resort town of Cancun, Mexican President Vicente Fox said it was clear that more resources, rather, of every kind will be needed to rebuild this area. Many local residents have to start all over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Everything fell, and we lost everything. Beds, equipment, everything. (END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now, troops and federal police are moving into parts of Cancun that was ravaged by Hurricane Wilma. They're trying to control the looting at stores and shopping centers there. Some people, residents and tourists, also raided hotel minibars and dragged away furniture. State officials are trying to clear airstrips in so that planes can land with aid. Cancun's airport is scheduled to re- open tomorrow. That comes as welcome news to the more than 10,000 American vacationers that have been left stranded there, but for the most part, many tourists feel lucky just to have escaped with their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was pretty rough, but we were very well taken care of by the hotel management here. So we've been well-fed (INAUDIBLE), we were dry. I think we were very lucky being here. And I hope for the local people that they -- that the damage is not too bad and they will be fine after a couple of weeks of repair.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Stay with us. More news after a quick break.

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PHILLIPS: Well, Hurricane Wilma is now moving into the Atlantic Ocean. It's expected to make more news and possibly more trouble later in the week. But for now, a recap of Wilma's destructive march across Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: This is probably the worst that we have seen, really even in the last minute or so. This is really bad. I mean, this is the worst it's been.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, definitely, this is the worst it's been. We were just saying this sand will just peel the skin off you (INAUDIBLE).

COOPER: I just want to show you what is left of the beach. Chris, if you can come over here. This whole walkway we were on earlier, but it is completely covered in water.

GOV. JEB BUSH, FLORIDA: I urge people to please hunker down, to stay in their homes until the storm has passed. Hurricane Wilma made landfall near Cape Romano in southern Collier County at a Category 3 force.

There are reports of significant flooding from storm surge and portions of Florida Keys. There have been reports of several tornado touchdowns in central Florida since last night.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at all this water. This down here was driveways and roadways and now it is a river. You know, you have heard the term rushing like a river? Well, this is it. This is really it. And look at these trees, just collapsing under this wind. They're down all over the place. You can just see how the whole roof system has come right up out of this ground.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, that wraps up this Monday edition of LIVE FROM. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN Center in Atlanta. Now, Wolf Blitzer, live in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

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