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Rescues in New Bern; Gas Explosion in Massachusetts; Florence Makes Landfall. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired September 14, 2018 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: As we go to break, we're getting some new pictures in -- we're getting some new pictures in from the outskirts of Wilmington, North Carolina, when I am right now. We have a roaming vehicle just outside the city getting a first look at some of the damage that has been done already, even as this storm is only beginning to wreak havoc here.

We're going to take a quick break. Our special live coverage of Hurricane Florence continues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, welcome back. John Berman in Wilmington, North Carolina. Chris Cuomo with us down in north Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

We're getting some roaming pictures now from outside this city where I am. You can see the debris littering the roadway around Wilmington. You can also see some first responders, some of the recovery groups that are starting to move in toward the city. They'll do what they can now. Primarily, though, it's a matter of staging now to be in the right place when it is safe enough to go out, which really isn't just yet. The winds still very, very fierce here in Wilmington, and the rain still falling quite hard.

[08:35:01] Some of the worst damage so far from Hurricane Florence in the area of greatest emergency has been the city of New Bern, on the Neuse River. An enormous storm surge there, six to 10 feet. It led to flooding overnight.

We just got word that there were some 200 rescues overnight with 150 people still waiting to be rescued. They're hoping to get them out by noon if they can. Why? Because the tide will come up again by noon and they could see another surge with the waters rising and the flood waters rising again. And we did get some fresh pictures of some of the homes that have been affected, in some cases destroyed, by that surge and that flooding.

But good to know there have been people rescued. Good to know they're doing what they can to get those 150 people in need out of their homes. And, Chris, you're down in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where

you're waiting for this to come your way. But you've been with me all morning. You've been on the phone with some of those people trapped inside those houses and it's a pretty tough situation.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: They're going to have a long day, John. Just as you're starting to see the worst of the wind event pass you by and now head down this way, we still have to deal with so many more hours of soaking. And it's going to compromise rescue efforts here. It's starting to pick up now.

And we just lost power. We're working off the generator. So it's going to be a very long day for folks who didn't leave here. This was a mandatory evacuation center.

The tide is just starting to come in. The wind is starting to shift. We're going to see what the surge and real wind and more rain will do after about ten hours of soaking, softening things up for it.

Up and down the coast, we'll have people positioned all day long to track Florence as she moves. Again, the big unknown, you dealt with the worst of it there, but what about the duration? What will break down with time? It's been good being with you this morning, John. It's been good to watch you give people the information they need.

BERMAN: All right, Chris. Chris Cuomo down in north Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Again, all of this -- all of this has been happening all morning where I am in Wilmington. It's headed his way. It's headed down there and Chris is there to cover it all as it heads there.

We're getting some new pictures in now, some new video, from New Bern, North Carolina. Again, New Bern on the Neuse River. This saw some serious storm surge overnight. Six to 10 feet of flooding in some places. And it came up and it came up quickly.

We told you there were some 200 rescues. We told you there were 150 people still waiting to be rescued. And now we're getting a first look at some of the water and some of the damage done.

This was serious. And it still is serious. They're in the middle of it right now. They're trying to get these 150 people out of their homes if they can. They'd love to do it by noon if they can. Why is that? Because that is when the next high tide is.

Now, tides and surge don't always walk hand in hand, but a high tide can exacerbate the problem with a storm surge. And even though the center part of the storm has moved beyond New Bern, the surge threat has not because this storm is so big, it continues to push the water up the Neuse River and into that town. And you can see the damage that has already been done.

Again, the threat from Hurricane Florence will go on for some, some time. The duration of this into Sunday in some cases, Alisyn. You know, we're told that three inches of rain falling right now in Wilmington, North Carolina. It will continue to do so. They reached their average rainfall in this city at the beginning of August. And they're expecting eight months' worth of rain, Alisyn, in just the next three days.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: John, the numbers are staggering, and the imagine of watching you being battered around by it. I mean you're doing a great job of standing up. I fear that I would not have been able to do that. I, too, have endured 100 mile-per-hour wind gusts and they're very scary, I think. And you are just dong yeoman's work out there of telling the rest of us what it's like and what it's going to be like there for days. I mean people are not coming back any time soon to their homes.

And that conversation, John, that you had with the public information officer where they're trying to go out and still rescue those, whatever it was, 150 people who have called for help who now -- who didn't leave and who now need help. And I was so struck by what she told you. She said, we will get to you was her message to them, no matter the cost. It might take a while. I mean that's what volunteers are having to contend with now, as you know.

BERMAN: Yes. No, it's so interesting. That was Colleen Roberts (ph), public information officer in New Bern, giving us some of the first hard numbers we had, 200 people rescued already, 150 more in need.

And what is so interesting is just what you said, it's not just the official resources being deployed, but volunteers. And they're welcoming the help of the volunteers to go out on the boats if they want to and risk their own lives to help other people in the community. You know, it's helping friends. It's helping neighbors. And it is so much in need in New Bern. If it's safe to do it, and we hope people are doing it only if they can manage, but, again, you know, it's just the beginning of Hurricane Florence. It's moving very slowly down the coast. And we're tracking every bit of it.

[08:40:30] Our special live coverage continues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: OK. So, of course, we continue to watch Hurricane Florence pummeling the Carolinas. You can see the radar there on the left side of your screen. Florence made landfall about an hour and a half ago in Wrightsville Beach. That's about six miles east from where John Berman has been standing all morning. If you've been watching his coverage, you get a sense of the intensity of this storm.

There are 92 mile-per-hour wind gusts that have been registered and just torrential rain. That's the story, the flooding, the rainfall, the storm surge, and that is not going away any time soon. We've been cautioned and warned it could be days. And so all sorts of people are still having to be evacuated from their homes if they stayed behind. So, of course, we are watching this storm.

Florence is, at the moment, moving like molasses over the Carolina coastline. So we're keeping an eye on that. But there is another major story out of Massachusetts that we need to

get to. It's a very strange story. Last night dozens of homes caught on fire in three different towns north of Boston. One person was killed, more than a dozen others injured.

CNN's Athena Jones has the latest for us.

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

This was a frightening situation. Practically everybody either is someone or knows someone whose home is fueled in part by gas. As las check, the gas was still not off, according to authorities, who warned this incident could continue for another week or more with people unable to access their homes.

We know one person was killed and at least ten people, including a firefighter, were injured, one of them critically.

[08:45:07] (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONES (voice over): A string of violent gas explosions ripping through nearly 40 homes and businesses in three Massachusetts towns, sparking fires that stretched across dozens of blocks and forced thousands to evacuate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been in this -- in the fire service for almost 39 years, and I've never seen anything like this in my entire career. It looked like Armageddon. It really did.

JONES: One explosion collapsing this chimney on a car and killing an 18-year-old man who was inside. The authorities say an issue with gas lines may have prompted the explosions, which began shortly before 5:00 p.m.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, that smoke is crazy, bro.

JONES: Loud booms ringing out as fires erupted without warning. Firefighters and rescue workers racing to respond, answering more than 70 reports of fires, explosions and gas odors as the night pressed on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And there was state police at the top of the road, state police down here, you know, local watch police. It was mayhem pretty much.

JONES: The chaos forcing thousands of residents and workers to evacuate as smoke billowed above multiple neighborhoods.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a paralyzed father. I had to get him out of here as quickly as possible, you know. They told us to get out. Insane.

JONES: As of Thursday night, local utility company Columbia Gas was still working to shut off the gas. Authorities warning that some of the lines were over pressurized and that the threat is not over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is still very much an active scene. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you have not evacuated, you've just got to go.

Trust us, when we tell you, if you stay in your home you're going to be at risk.

JONES: Earlier in the day, before the explosions, Columbia Gas put out this news release, announcing that they were upgrading natural gas lines in towns across the state, including the neighbors impacted by the explosions. The company saying Thursday that their thoughts are with everyone affected by the incident as they work to support first responders and complete safety checks.

GOV. CHARLIE BAKER (R), MASSACHUSETTS: At this time the focus remains on insuring the public safety. Once that's complete, we'll work with federal government and others to investigate how this occurred and to hold the appropriate parties accountable for their actions.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: Now, the National Transportation Safety Board is sending in a team to investigate. And we're still awaiting more information about the extent of the damage. Shelters are open and an emergency operation center is up and running.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, our thanks to Athena Jones there.

Meanwhile, I want to call your attention to the lower left quadrant of your TV screen. That is the flooding that is already happening in New Bern, North Carolina. We just spoke to the public information officer there. Her name was Colleen Roberts (ph). And she said that 200 people in New Bern have already had to be rescued this morning, 150 more are still trapped in these flood waters. One hundred and fifty calls have come into their police department and their fire department and people are executing rescues as we speak. What her quote was, and it was so striking, she said that she wanted people to know, we will get to you no matter the cost. It might just take a while.

So volunteers are going out in their own personal crafts. The town is going out. Lots of people are still stranded in New Bern, North Carolina, in these flood waters that you're seeing on your screen.

So CNN's coverage of Hurricane Florence continues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:52:41] BERMAN: All right, welcome back to Wilmington, North Carolina, which has seen two hours of very fierce winds, category one level hurricane, 90-mile-an-hour winds gusts, one measured in 92, which we were told in Wilmington was the strongest they've had since 1960.

You've seen it all here. You have seen me getting blown around here. And as fierce as this wind looks here, the real threat of this storm, and the real danger when talking about this all morning long, Alisyn, is this storm surge. We were on the phone with officials from New Bern, about 80 miles from here. There are rescues underway there in that city. They want to get people out of their homes by noon if they can because the storm surge there could come back. High tide is at noon and they want to get as many people as they can get out before that.

CAMEROTA: Yes, listen, John, there is -- it's no surprise the technology is suffering with 92-mile-per-hour wind gusts and the torrential rain that you've been experiencing there for the past six hours that you have been on live television, just doing an incredible job for us and for all of our viewers, showing them what is happening in Wilmington, North Carolina, and up and down the coastline there.

And, of course, our thoughts are with all the people in New Bern and all of the people who are in any of these towns where the flooding is starting and people are quite worried, including Chad Myers, who's been telling us for days about this storm surge. It's predicted to be somewhere between seven and 11 feet. That is not going to be survivable for many people. And the thought that so many people are trapped right now on their upper floors or their roofs waiting for people to come rescue them is really scary and heart-breaking. And so we're just waiting for updates for authorities, John, on the ground to make sure that those 150 people that you heard from the public information officer that are trapped, as we speak, are going to be able to get to safety.

BERMAN: And they're counting on volunteers in some cases to reach them. And we're hoping -- we're hoping that they can. We have heard of some rescues there already. Some of the people we spoke to on the phone that were trapped in their attics, they have been rescued.

What people are going to need is patience. Do not go out in this yet. Don't go out. The winds, obviously, still blowing in some cases. But there are other threats as well. The debris on the ground. The flood waters. The standing water in some cases. You don't know what is beneath that water. You don't know if the water is electrified. There are still so many threats and we've heard from one official after the other, that you just need to be patient, Alisyn, because your life depends on it.

[08:55:12] CAMEROTA: And, John, these conditions are going to last for days. This is not a storm that is just passing overhead. This is a storm that you have said is moving at a glacial pace over the coastline. So it is going to be dangerous there for weeks, John.

BERMAN: And CNN's special live coverage of Hurricane Florence will continue throughout the rest of the day into tomorrow, into Sunday, because the effects of this storm will be felt for some time to come.

Stay with CNN. Our special live coverage of Hurricane Florence right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:00:00] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CUOMO: All right, welcome to our continuing coverage of Hurricane Florence.

The storm has made landfall just outside Wilmington, North Carolina.