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Hurricane Matthew's Eyewall Within Miles of Florida Coast. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired October 07, 2016 - 06:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[05:58:42] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. To our viewers in the united states and around the world this is NEW DAY. I'm Chris Cuomo in Jacksonville. We have Alisyn Camerota in New York. And we need her there, because the shots are starting to go in and out because of the effects of Hurricane Matthew. It's now the eye of it, the outer wall, the western edge of its eye is now just a few miles off the eastern coast of central Florida.

The effects are starting to be felt more and more up and down the coast, with bands of intensity here. Gusts are picking up over 30 miles an hour. Tropical storm is 39 miles an hour. And this is just the beginning.

Jacksonville is now expected to take the most concentrated hit of this storm as it makes its way edging north and northwest up the eastern coast of Florida. But that isn't for many hours from now. So duration of effect of Hurricane Matthew is now in play.

Over 300,000 people are without power. Many of them will not have that power restored for some time, because emergency services can't get out. Winds are gusting over 70, 80, 100 miles an hour in places, specifically Cape Canaveral, so you can't get crews on the roads over 50 miles an hour.

We have local authorities worried about downed power lines and people being stranded. They're being cautioned to stay together where it's safe, to stay in contact with each other, so you can help emergency responders and first responders find where people are when they can get out.

Jennifer Gray, is in Palm Bay in Central Florida near Melbourne. Much more intense effects there. Jennifer, what's the situation now?

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Chris, the -- definitely the most intense winds that we've had throughout the entire night. Last I checked, the gusts were 64 miles per hour, but I'm willing to bet, and I would love for Chad Myers to look up and see what the gusts are now here in Melbourne, because I'm willing to bet they're 75, 80 or right around there. Because definitely stronger than where they were earlier.

Of course, we're protected by a wall here at the hotel, and we're still getting battered around and beaten up pretty good. But yes, the emergency services, like you said, completely shut off here in Brevard County. So unfortunately, if you need anything, it's going to be impossible for people to get to you. You're going to have to wait till after the storm.

We're still in the thick of it with that eyewall just to our northwest. We're starting to get on that south end. So hopefully, in the next hour or so, we'll finally start to feel conditions taper off and start to be on that back side.

Because, as you know, you have that uphill slope. You have the very strong winds. And then you still have the back side of that eyewall, and that's where just as intense winds are as on the front end.

So this storm is just off shore. I couldn't imagine if the eyewall was a little bit closer to where we are, our winds would be exponentially worse.

But it's not just the winds. You know, we focus on that so much. But it's also that storm surge and especially areas to the north, if this storm continues to jog to the northwest, and parallel that coast, or even get on the coast. It is going to be a huge problem for storm surge for areas to our north, especially concerned where you are, Chris, as well, up in Jacksonville.

But it's the storm surge, the wind and the rain. It's that trifecta with these hurricanes that makes them so dangerous and so deadly, Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Jennifer. My shot's coming in and out, and we are just getting a taste of Hurricane Matthew. It's good to know. We're going to have to move somewhere else, because the shot is not going to stay stable in any way once we start getting real winds. We're just at 35 miles an hour with gusts here, and it's supposed to get much, much worse here in Jacksonville.

Let's get down to Daytona Beach. That's where Boris Sanchez is. He's feeling heavier situations there, as well, like Jennifer Gray. Boris, how are you doing?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Chris.

We actually had to move ourselves, because things got too intense just on the corner where we were of our hotel. The wind coming in tremendous gusts, upwards of 60 miles an hour.

Now, there's a bit of calm. You can see behind me the trees are more or less standing still. Earlier they were bending pretty far. There's ton of debris all over the street, mostly from palm trees. I've seen a couple of trash cans down there. There are street signs that are flailing in the air, power lines, as well. The lights have stayed on here in Daytona, but they have flickered on and off. Our own signal has gone on and off, as well, and our cell phone service is starting to get spotty, too.

One minor note, Chris: we were actually talking to the chief of police here. He came to visit us. He was driving around with a group of journalists. And at one point when we were standing on the corner, some guy in a pickup truck started doing doughnuts in the intersection. Believe it or not, he started just swerving all over the road, almost losing control and going into a building at one point.

The chief of police cut our conversation short. He got in his car and chased that guy down. Apparently, he kept doing the same thing for blocks and blocks until they finally got to him.

So obviously, the message that officials have been trying to put out to people has not gotten through to some. Some think this is a fun time to be outside. Curiosity, maybe, gets the best of people, and they go to check out conditions. It is not a good idea.

This is a storm that has caused more than 200 fatalities in the Caribbean.

The warning has been put out. Stay away from this storm. It could be devastating for these communities, especially ones along the coast like where we are now. We saw the waves creeping closer and closer yesterday. They are coming closer to the back of the hotel where we are now. It is no question that when we get closer to seeing Hurricane Matthew come to Daytona, that will likely come into these neighborhoods.

We will likely see some flooding here. A very, very dangerous situation. Hopefully there are fewer incidents like the one we saw this morning and people are staying safe, Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Boris, thank you.

Alisyn, stand by. My shot's probably not going to last very long. We have the mayor, Derrick Henry, of Daytona Beach on the phone. Sir, what is the situation there? The pictures look fairly dramatic. We're hearing that one guy was outside playing around. There's no cure for stupid. Hopefully, most people took the advisory seriously and are safe right now.

DERRICK HENRY, MAYOR, DAYTONA BEACH (via phone): Certainly, we think that most people are wiser to stay in and ARE using good judgment. That's certainly crazy.

But at this time, the situation is what it is. The winds are picking up, as your reporter just reported. But the roads are pretty much clear. And we're monitoring people that, when they see what bands of what appear to be good weather that they're not overreacting and assume that the storm is subsiding in any way because, certainly, the worst is yet to come.

[06:05:06] CUOMO: And how are you doing in terms of what you're hearing from people, in terms of distress, power outages, people who are in need that you can't get to right now until the conditions subside a little bit?

HENRY: Not hearing so much distress, but right now, you know, I think we've got about 15,000 power outages in this area. And we expect that number to continue to increase.

CUOMO: And is there anything that you need right now or did the preparations put you in a good, stable situation for now?

HENRY: We think that the preparations have put us where we expected to be. And we hope that the storm will continue to take a bend, of course, westward and away from us. But we do feel that we are where we expected to be.

But we need our residents continue to exercise prudence. Not to play with the storm in any way so as to threaten or to put our first responders in danger, compelling them to have to make life-saving measures or decisions. Go out and try to save them from silliness (ph).

CUOMO: What's your ability to respond right now, Mr. Mayor? Are you able to dispatch any emergency services?

HENRY: Right now, as far as I know, we're not doing that, because we're at a point to where that's not what we should be doing.

CUOMO: OK. And in terms of the window of impact. Right now we're looking at a live picture of what's going on in your locality. It looks pretty dramatic on camera. How long are the intense effects expected where you are?

HENRY: We expect maximum intensity in about three hours. And then, you know, about six hours after that to continue. So, we're expecting about eight or nine more hours of really intense winds.

CUOMO: All right. All right, Mr. Mayor. We're looking at these pictures right now. It looks pretty bad. And obviously, one of the components of concern is that you haven't seen anything like this in some time. Give some context to us in terms of what the experience is in the area in the last decade or so of having seen anything like this, for people to have that kind of memory of the urgency and the need to take it seriously.

HENRY: Well, that's one of your chief concerns, because as has been reported, we haven't had a major storm or any storm since 2004. So, there was a great deal of reluctance on the part of residents to heed our advice and flee the storm.

However, we feel we did a good job with that. And the reality of the storm is bearing down. And I think the governor did an excellent job of communicating the gravity of the situation, and we tried to piggyback on his intensity. And we think that the residents have responded fairly well. We just want them to continue to stay on high alert and continue to be vigilant and just make good decisions about their safety.

CUOMO: Where are you hunkered down, Mr. Mayor?

HENRY: I am at the command center at the police headquarters.

CUOMO: You know, we always talk about the need for infrastructure. It's not a sexy topic for people, but in situations like this you understand why government make -- government makes the commitments it does to have infrastructure in place for something like this. Hopefully, all the precautions hold.

We're looking at the picture, doesn't look good. You've got that X- factor of lightning there striking the ground also. That can, obviously, cause a lot of unintended consequences. As we have been saying to all the local authorities, sir, as you get information that you want to get out, come to us. We'll keep people informed, OK. Be well.

HENRY: Thank you.

CUOMO: All right. Alisyn, back to you in New York.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Chris.

On the right side of our screen, we're looking at where the storm is hitting with real ferocity. That's Daytona Beach. You can see debris flying across your screen. You can see the intense winds there, and occasionally, you can see these bursts of what looked like explosions, and those are the transformers that are exploding.

When you're covering a hurricane, those are very scary and dramatic, but to be expected, and that's what's happening in Daytona right now.

Very close to there, we find our meteorologist, Jennifer Gray. She is in Palm Bay, and she's also experiencing now this acceleration of winds. And, in fact, she was asking for Chad Myers for some information from Chad Myers just about how intense those wind gusts are and how long she'll be experiencing them. And we're going to get that for you. We're going to pull up Chad for you, Jennifer.

But at the moment, what are you seeing?

[06:10:14] GRAY: Thank you, Alisyn.

Yes, we have definitely felt the winds pick up here. It is -- it is very intense. And I wanted to ask Chad about the proximity of the eyewall to us, because when I looked at the radar before, it looked like it was heading basically just north or northwest. And so, we were basically on the southwest side of it.

Chad, have we actually gotten closer because of the track of the storm, or what's going on? You have -- you've looked at the wind gusts where I am, because it feels like they're at least 75, 80 miles per hour.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: There's the inner eye wall where the winds are in excess of 120, maybe 140. An outer eye wall, and you are in the third one right now. You are having the wind coming at you from the north and the northwest and had a just heading wind gust from the National Weather Service in Melbourne just to the north of you at a U.S. Air Force tower of 102 miles per hour. That's not the same gust that was on Cape Canaveral about an hour ago.

So you at least saw 80 miles per hour where you were as this area of intense rain comes in.

And, Alisyn, this is what's going to happen. It's going to happen to Chris and all our reporters. When the rain hits them, that brings down the wind. When you're in the lull of rain, you lose the wind and then all of a sudden, another band hits you.

So Jennifer, yes, you just felt 80 miles per hour, and the storm is at least 30 miles from you. Could you imagine if you were closer?

CAMEROTA: Yes. I mean, Chad, you know what Jennifer is asking. Basically, she's like how long will this last, and is it going to get any worse, because everybody in a hurricane, you think, my gosh, it can't get any worse. It can't get any windier.

MYERS: Sure.

CAMEROTA: But then it does. And, in fact, we were just seeing there Daytona Beach, which is getting, really, the thrust of all of this right now, and the wind looks incredible.

So, where we're seeing all the palm trees being battered around. So how long is this going to last in these areas, Chad?

MYERS: A snail's pace of 10 to 12 miles per hour keeps these winds on all of our reporters for the next 10 to 12 hours.

Now, Jennifer will get better, I would say, in the next three hours. Winds will start to die off. But we were on the air an hour and a half ago, and this center of this low doesn't look like it moved at all. This is a live radar right now. And even an hour ago, the winds were right on shore here at Cape Canaveral, and they haven't moved. That's how lumbering this is. That's how long. It's the sustained wind damage.

You lose one shingle. And then 15 minutes later you lose two more, and 15 minutes later you lose five more, and that's that long term. Unlike a tornado that just takes everything and leaves. This thing just batters your house and batters the beach and batters our reporters and our live trucks.

CAMEROTA: Chad, very quickly. What are the wind gusts that Jennifer is experiencing right now? What's the mile per hour?

MYERS: About ten miles north of her, it was 102. And so she probably saw the lighter side of that, somewhere around 80 or 85.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh. Jennifer, we want to come back to you. I don't know if it's any consolation what Chad just said. It's going to be parked around there for about three hours, and that you're experiencing something like 80 to 85 miles per hour.

GRAY: Yes, yes. I mean, you can -- when he says three hours when you're out here in conditions like this, it makes you feel like you can actually see the light.

But yes, I just confirmed what we were thinking. I mean, earlier when we first got out here, we thought it was incredibly bad at 60 miles an hour gusts. When you feel 85 or 80 compared to 65, it's definitely a difference.

And like Chad was saying, I could not imagine if that eyewall was any closer to us and we were experiencing those 100-mile-per-hour winds like they are in Cape Canaveral. I mean, that is -- that is intense.

And if that -- the storm is slowing or if it is just continuing to batter that coast, it's -- we could see widespread destruction right along Cape Canaveral. And so it's going to be a long road ahead, Alisyn, as the storm continues to push to the north and just batters the coast of Florida.

CAMEROTA: It is. It's going to be a long morning there, certainly, for people who are waking up in shelters and, God forbid, in their homes.

Jennifer, we will check back with you.

We want to go now to another place that is in the thick of it, and that is Cocoa Beach. We want to bring in Mayor Tim Tumulty.

Mayor, where do we find you this morning?

TIM TUMULTY, MAYOR OF COCOA BEACH, FLORIDA: Hey, Alisyn. I'm in Cocoa Beach. We're just -- just south of Cape Canaveral, as you were just speaking to. We are experiencing very heavy rain and heavy winds, gusting up to over -- well over 100 miles an hour, 110 miles per hour.

We're losing transformers left and right. They're popping. You can see the blue-green glow as they -- as they snap, pop. Wind seems to have shifted from due north to now coming from the north to coming from the northwest now. And even more west -- or easterly flow of wind from west to east.

[06:15:10] And it's strong. We've lost power throughout the city in various regions throughout the city. I'm currently in the fire station here in Cocoa Beach. We built this building about a year and a half ago to withstand this type of an event, and it's -- it's doing what it -- what we built it to do. We have a command center here of approximately 50 emergency personnel, a combination of police, fire and medical personnel, as well as an I.T. to keep us up and running so that we can speak to the mainland and outside world, I guess. It's incredible. Trees bending -- east of...

CAMEROTA: Mayor, I don't know if you can hear me. You're sort of coming in and out. But so you -- I know that all of you are on standby. I mean, you're all hunkered down there. As you say the emergency responders, the police, the firefighters. Have you been getting distress calls from people who maybe did not heed the evacuation warning?

TUMULTY: We are not receiving any distress calls as of yet. We are watching basically through the windows, and we cannot respond until the winds die down below 39 miles per hour. At that point, we can go out. If we tried to go out now, it's -- it would be disastrous for everyone. Not a good -- not a good situation.

CAMEROTA: Yes, why is 39 miles per hour the tipping point for when you could go out?

TUMULTY: Basically, it keeps our vehicle steady. If we tried to go out there, as well as flying debris. The vehicles we have are very big and heavy. A large profile and the wind can actually knock them over. Thirty-nine miles an hour is reasonable for that.

But more importantly it's actually flying debris, you know, for -- to keep our emergency personnel safe when they are out.

And basically, we're right now setting up here in a command center at the fire station, waiting for the storm to end, so that we are at basically ground zero to go out directly from here and assess the situation to allow folks to come back to the city.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Well, according to Chad Myers, you've got a few more hours of this, Mayor. So stay safe, hunker down there, and we will check back with you. Thanks so much for taking the call.

TUMULTY: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: OK. We're going to take a quick break here on NEW DAY. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:21:32] CUOMO: Hurricane -- Hurricane Matthew now being felt. Still not in full effect, but in parts of central and southern Florida they're getting hit and hit hard. Wind gusts recorded in excess of 100 miles an hour. The storm clocked as a Category 3 here. That means it can pack 120-mile-an-hour winds.

On your screen, we'll be showing you Daytona Beach. That is really the focus of impact right now. They're getting the big, gusting winds, heavy rain, even lightning which is an x-factor. That's where we have Boris Sanchez, trying to wait it out for us there.

I know your shot was in and out. You had to move. How are you doing now, my friend?

SANCHEZ: Chris, we just had to move, again, because the wind keeps getting stronger. We just got another band of harsh, harsh rain. And you can see right over my shoulder over there, the amount of debris that is in the street right now. The stuff is just flying all around. The palm trees swaying in the wind, bending pretty far.

We've had lights, again, flickering on and off all morning. They were out for a short while, and they'd come back on just a few moments ago. But we're dealing with just the start of Hurricane Matthew.

Wind gusts here have hit upwards of 60 miles per hour. And it's going to continue to get worse.

I mentioned earlier we were speaking with the chief of police, and he was telling us that so far things were going well. But of course, we've yet to feel really the strong winds that are being felt to the south of us.

The real concern here is that there are people that have decided to stay in their homes and to hunker down and try to wait this thing out. Specifically because we're so close to the coast.

The beach is right behind our hotel. So fortunately, we're protected from that right now. But when I looked out this morning, I saw the waves touching the very edge of our hotel, and it's likely that, as the storm gets closer and the rain starts coming down heavier and heavier, we will see some flooding here.

For folks that have decided to stay home, they're really putting their lives on the line when you consider not just the storm surge but the amount of flooding that will likely happen because of this storm and then, aside from that, again, just these winds and the amount of debris that, you know, ends up on the street and in neighborhoods. Anything can become a projectile.

We were watching a fence earlier that looked like it was about to wind up on the street, and as I'm looking behind me, I'm seeing some sparks over there. What looks like a power line is starting to show sparks. So I wouldn't be surprised if the light suddenly went off. But again, Chris, things are really just getting under way here as we feel these winds pick up. It looks like right now the band is starting to pass, but at any minute it's going to continue to get worse, Chris.

CUOMO: Yes, same situation here in terms of being between bands. People then can get a false sense of security. But then it changes, it gets ugly, quickly.

We just saw the control room is telling me the power go out at the Daytona Beach live shot. Just went black, just like that. The problem is, it's going to take a long time to restore power, because emergency services just can't get out there until the conditions calm down.

Boris, stay safe, and stay in my ear. Let me know when we need to come back to you when the situation changes.

Let's go now to Jason Foster. He is a storm chaser. He's broadcasting from his vehicle. Tell us where you are and what the situation is.

JASON FOSTER, STORM CHASER: Well, I'm in Cape Canaveral. I've been coming up from Stewart all day long, just making my way along the route, trying to keep up with the eye as it kind of comes. First, it started out ahead of time and then just kind of parallel with it at the coast.

Right now I'm seeing some of the worst conditions so far, just like Boris was talking about. Winds are really kicking up, getting real strong. Just off to my left I'm getting a lot of power flashes. The traffic signals are really swaying really good. So it's really kicking up good now. [06:25:16] CUOMO: Jason, do me a favor. If you can -- use your

camera, if you can, and show us what you're seeing.

FOSTER: So, there -- this is just one of the intersections. So -- and from time to time you'll see a power flash. But the signals there on the left of the screen are really moving around a lot. Little calm at the moment. But sometimes when these gusts come through, that really powerful, those signals can become sideways.

And an intersection, too, down the street, one had already come off the mountings and is just laying [SIC] in the middle of the street, almost hard to see, especially when the lights do go out, which they often will go out with some of the power flashes. And then sometimes they come back on slowly.

But, yes, you've really got to watch what's in the road, and the debris that's flying at you and all kinds of things. And it's around.

CUOMO: What are you dealing with in terms of flooding on the street and any storm surge?

FOSTER: I haven't seen any storm surge as of yet. I have mostly been thinking to U.S. 1 through a lot of my travels and also through A1A further south. I'm just getting into Cape Canaveral, so I haven't explored this area fully. But so far, not so bad. The main roads OK. How long that lasts, I don't know.

CUOMO: What are you seeing in terms of people who have decided the reckless route of staying behind and waiting it out or, even worst of all, obviously, the people who are playing to their own curiosity?

FOSTER: You know, earlier on in the day when I was further south, I was surprised how many parents, for instance, had their kids out and those kind of things. And I just, you know, it was like, OK. You know I get the curiosity and such; and there was probably still time -- you know, some time to evacuate, especially if you were only going inland a little, little distance.

But now-- now I would say I have not seen probably since mid- to late afternoon. I've hardly seen anyone on the street. So there's nobody moving around. Those who stayed behind, while they probably got lucky for some, especially, again, further south, where the eye did not come onshore, you know, that's just a lucky call. I don't know if that was necessarily the best decision. Just luck this time and then, of course, further up the coast, we still don't know yet.

CUOMO: And you don't get a lot of time to adjust in a hurricane, and it takes a long time for someone to come and get you.

Jason Foster, stay safe and stay in touch. We'll be back to you in a little bit.

Alisyn, we're in between bands here now, but it's starting to pick up a little bit. That means the shot is going to get sketchy. So why don't we do this together and get to Chad Myers and get the latest on what's going on with the path. CAMEROTA: Let's bring in Chad. Chad, are you with us?

MYERS: I am. I was just looking at Jason's location here. He is right there on the cape on Route 1, not that far from A1A. Here's what's going on, guys, and here's what we're talking. I just heard the Cocoa Beach mayor talk about how the winds are shifting.

The wind in this hurricane is going that way up here, going that way over here. Going this way across here down here. And going to the north over here.

So, as the eye moves to the north, you will feel the wind shift direction. That's a real problem for our live trucks. Because we will put the live truck behind a building, protecting it from a wind here, and then all of a sudden the wind shifts, and then our satellite dish is blowing in the wind. That's why we will lose live shots every once in a while.

The eye of the outer band is definitely on Cape Canaveral at this hour without a doubt. The winds there are over 100 miles per hour. Melbourne proper, 62 miles per hour. But the closer you get to that eye, the higher the winds are.

And like Chris was talking about, every time a band comes through, the winds pick up. The rain actually transports the wind from aloft and pushes it to the ground. And if it's not raining, you get a nice break.

And, Chris, you're going to get a decent break for a while. There will probably still be another band 45 minutes from now, but, for now, your live shot is in good shape. Good, safe shape. Daytona Beach, not so much. Many, many bands coming at Daytona. New Smyrna all the way up the Palm Coast, Cinnamon Beach. You are in the middle of it right now.

I think the best thing I can say, guys, is that this entire coast right here, all the way in Cape Canaveral, is an uninhabited coast. It's where Cape Canaveral is. No one lives there. That's an entirely unused beach. We don't really get people. We don't get buildings until right about there on the south end of New Smyrna as you get down toward Cape Canaveral. So right now, the worst wind is where nobody is.