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Catastrophic Destruction Across Florida as Storm Moves North; Storm Survivor Shares Experience. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired September 29, 2022 - 06:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Berman live in Tampa. Brianna Keilar is in Washington. This is CNN's special live coverage of Ian, which is now a tropical storm heading right toward Orlando.

[05:58:08]

They're beginning to get the rain bands and feel the wind picking up, but it has been downgraded over just the last hour from a hurricane to a tropical storm. Still, much damage possible with these heavy, heavy rains.

More than 20 inches have fallen in some places. And then the winds which continue and will head into the Atlantic and into Georgia and the Carolinas to come.

Some 2 1/2 million customers in Florida are without power this morning. That gives you just a sense of some of the damage that's been done here, but you have to see the pictures and hear the cries from the Southwestern coast of Florida as this storm hit, the power with which it made landfall, 140, 150 miles per hour.

The storm surge, we're getting reports now of at least 12 feet in some places inundated well-known cities -- Naples, Fort Myers, Port Charlotte. We spoke to people on Marco Island who rode out the storm.

I spoke to a fireman who was in Naples during the storm and says he was just unnerved as the water was flowing up into his fire house, 4 to 7 feet. They couldn't get out to help people, because they were trapped inside as their building was flooding.

Only now are we beginning to get a sense of how much damage was done in this storm. Brianna, I do believe as the light does come up, we're going to see some sights we've just never seen before.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, and that is about to happen here very soon.

Ian may have weakened to a tropical storm. It's not done, though, with Florida. In fact, far from it. The storm continues to pummel parts of the state on a slow -- and this is really the issue, it is churning on this destructive crawl North.

Orlando now in the crosshairs of this historic storm that's produced record rainfall and storm surge. Power outages are a major problem, with more than 2 million customers in the dark across Florida.

Water is just everywhere in many communities. In Port Charlotte, the storm blew the roof off of a hospital, and it flooded the intensive care unit. Ahead, we're going to speak to a doctor there about how they managed still to protect patients and what the conditions are now.

Fort Myers has experienced some of the worst flooding of this storm. Torrents of water just rushing into the streets, trapping people in their homes.

Same for Naples, where officials say half of the streets aren't even passable, because high water has inundated them.

Although it's weakened, there is concern about Ian regaining strength and threatening the Southeast. The Carolinas, Georgia, Virginia all declaring emergencies in advance -- Berman.

BERMAN: Yes, as the storm was happening, we were getting different videos and reports from these different locations. Widespread damage. I want to give you a sense of just how bad it was.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN (voice-over): Water is everywhere. That's the message from the sheriff of Collier County. Hurricane Ian left the streets in Naples submerged.

Downed power lines made the roads treacherous, members of the Naples Fire Department not spared.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, we have a truck issue, and the guys are pushing the truck out of the bay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It could catch on fire.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because, why, Chief?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seemed like truck was going to catch on fire. It's smoking, and we didn't want the station to burn down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you guys OK?

BERMAN (voice-over): Rescue efforts already underway. Emergency crews helping stranded residents in chest-deep floodwaters. The Naples Fire Department even seen hitching a ride on JetSkis to get those in need.

MAYOR TERESA HEITMANN, NAPLES FLORIDA: It's a situation. We've already had several citizens that have just had to be retrieved.

BERMAN (voice-over): And in Fort Myers, water as far as the eye can see, with homes and buildings almost completely underwater. Heavy winds blew through the city. The storm surge flooded the streets, with an abandoned truck seen underwater.

This time-lapse video shows floodwaters pouring onto the city streets. CHIEF TRACY MCMILLION, FORT MYERS FIRE DEPARTMENT (via phone): We want to make sure that they do not venture out. It's not safe to go out, but we will come to them as soon as possible. But be encouraged: if they're still here, if they're able to, you know, just be able to think for a little bit and thank their lucky stars that they're still here, their family is still here, just wait for us. We're coming for you. Be encouraged. Do not go out.

BERMAN (voice-over): In Tampa, this traffic light fell to the ground during the storm.

The Western coast of Florida saw huge waves, heavy winds, and lots and lots of rain as Hurricane Ian barreled through the region.

On Cape Coral, a lanai was seen flying from the hurricane-force winds.

On Pine Island, a storm chaser captured these huge waves hitting the island and, while driving, saw this power flash.

In Port Charlotte, a hospital flooded, leaving doctors and personnel wading through flooded hallways.

DR. BIRGIT BODINE, INTERNAL MEDICINE SPECIALIST IN PORT CHARLOTTE, FLORIDA: We have about 160 patients in-house. And our roof blew off. Part of the roof on the ICU.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God.

BODINE: The ICU.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: (AUDIO GAP)

KEILAR: Guys, let me take it. All right. So, we've lost John Berman's signal. We're going to re-establish that. I do, though, want to get first to Ryan Young, who is in Orlando, which is now experiencing some of the rain, and some of the wind coming from this storm. And it's expected to intensify there, Ryan.

What are you seeing?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna, I can tell you this is a tale of two stories. Really, there were so many people yesterday, we started in Tampa and then we drove to Orlando. We saw so many people on the road, leaving Tampa to get here, thinking they would be safe here, only to find out their homes are safe in Tampa, and now they're dealing with the effects of the storm here in Orlando.

Some of the people who are first-time Floridians, they're experiencing this storm for the first time and wanted to get their families safe. You can obviously understand that.

What we've been seeing over the last few hours is what's going on right now, just heavy rains, pouring down throughout the city. Transformers blowing in the distance. Power is out to much of the area that we're in right now.

We know of more than five streets that have completely flooded in the area. And they're starting to do their assessment. Obviously, first light doesn't come for about another hour. And those emergency crews have had to do rescues throughout this metro area.

But it's the heavy rain that hasn't stopped, and this is the area that already was full of water from the storm that was, like, two weeks ago so they were dealing with that. And now they're getting -- just being compounded with this extra rain.

As we looked at and surveyed around the area, just in terms of the streets, what we've noticed here is they're, like, ponding in localized areas.

[06:05:03]

And of course, with so many people who have just moved to the state of Florida, what they are stressing to so many folks is to not drive through these areas, because it does not take much water to float a car. And that's what they're worried about.

I've been watching local news, as well, and to see the fact that there have been rescues using heavy equipment, and they've gone up and had to rescue people out of cars in areas just outside of metro Orlando, as well.

So you understand right now what they are concerned about. Is people trying to venture out in the morning to see what the damage is. They're asking folks to stay inside. To make sure that they can let some of this water dissipate before folks start venturing out.

But right now, I mean, this rain has been constant. It's been pounding. Luckily, so far, the wind hasn't been as strong as we thought it would be at this point in the morning. So as we continue to watch this, we know the storm will intensify later on this morning.

KEILAR: Yes. Well, that's certainly good news, that the wind isn't so strong yet. That saturated ground, though, I mean, how much more can it really take at this point?

And we know that, as the sun is about to come up in Orlando, Ryan, you're going to get a sense of what is ahead, as well.

I want to go now to Carlos Suarez. He is in Tampa. Carlos, tell us what it was like overnight. Tell us what you are seeing around you now.

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, good morning.

So, well into the night, the rain really never let up. The winds picked up as Hurricane Ian, of course, made its way across Southwest Florida.

The story here in Tampa this morning are the pockets of damage in some of the neighborhoods across the city. We are in one street here where there is a rather large tree that has fallen atop of a truck.

The concern going into this storm was, of course, all of the rain and of course, the strong winds. but also the damage that we would see as this storm made its way through.

There's a power line that runs just along this street where we are live down here. And it takes you all the way up to where this tree fell. You can see it run through that grass there.

And then this is the size of the tree that fell atop this truck. You'd imagine the owner of this truck, if only he or she had imagined it would fall, that they would have moved this a little bit further up the road there.

The tree comes all the way across that truck here, and then this is where it was standing.

Tampa Police, they were out here late last night, trying to keep folks away from it. And this morning, really, we're told about 300,000 people across the city of Tampa are without power. That power line goes up to the front yard and to that house there.

Police have been telling folks to please be mindful as they get their day sorted out here, just because it really wasn't too bad, compared to the impact of the storm. That said, officials are just trying to keep folks mindful of their surroundings.

There's a major boulevard that connects a good part of Tampa. The power is out there. And so Tampa Police, they've got officers at all of these traffic signals, just trying to keep cars going along the road.

Our drive in from our hotel was maybe about 10 or 15 minutes from where we are. And again, some of the damage, this was the worst of it, but what you really saw was just some downed trees, some debris on the road.

Out in Hillsborough Bay, which is where we spent the day yesterday, the water did come right back, after receding for most of the day. That part of town looks to be OK. That flooding there seems to be all right.

And so this morning, it just seems that officials are telling folks, as you go back to work, as you go back to your day, just be mindful of your surroundings. Keep a close eye for things. And if you do encounter some of this damage, just go ahead and try to drive around it or stay away from it -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, Carlos. You know, Tampa got off easy, but there are still some real dangers there. These downed power lines, just that rain saturates the ground. Entire root systems just kind of topple out of the ground, and the trees fall over. And that brings a lot of peril for people as they're heading for their commutes. Certainly, heeding those warnings, we hope, this morning.

I want to head back to Berman, also there in Tampa with more. As we're looking toward this path continuing through Florida, here, Berman.

BERMAN: Yes, let's find out where it's going to go and how hard it's going to hit. Chad Myers at the Weather Center.

Chad, what are you seeing?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: John, the storm right now is a rainmaker, as we expected. Still making winds of around 65 with gusts, but really now, we're seeing the rain event. It is still at 65 miles per hour, but it is a tropical storm. So the hurricane warnings have been dropped from parts of Florida, but hurricane watches have been posted up the coast, because this storm is going to go offshore, get into the very warm water of the Gulf Stream, and try to intensify.

It may not get to hurricane strength, according to the Hurricane Center, but 70 miles per hour. That's pretty close. That's what is going to happen with this rainfall, as well.

Still intensifying because of the warm water in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Atlantic, spinning into the storm, and making more fresh-water flooding.

The purple area here, greater than 10 inches, and I'm assuming places likely, on radar estimates, picked up 20. Twenty inches of rainfall that's already fallen. And more is still coming.

[06:10:03]

Here's the latest gust in Daytona, 62 miles per hour.

Officially, 2.49 million people now without power. And the rainfall is going to be moving up into the low country of Georgia, into South Carolina and also into North Carolina.

Some spots up here could pick up another 6 to 8 inches of rain. And with a wind gust of 60 to 70, that could make some problems.

Another thing that could make a problem, especially for Charleston, for Murrells Inlet, those very low areas there, like the Murrells Inlet Marsh, I mean, going to get surge here. We are going to get some more surge, because the wind is going to push that water up against the Atlantic coast this time. Not the Gulf Coast. We're going to watch that.

Some of these gusts that I saw yesterday were pretty insane. I mean, Cape Coral, 140 miles per hour. And then down here at the bottom, you know why it's why only 106 or 110? Because actually, the wind meters broke. That's how we got there.

This is what we're dealing with right now. This is the storm that we're dealing with. And this flashing area here from Apopka to about Daytona, these are flash flood emergencies. There is flash flooding occurring right now. And rescues are likely taking place in this flashing green and black box. That's where the weather is the worst right now -- John. BERMAN: So, Chad, you know, we hear about the storm surge. There are

warnings of up to 18 feet. Unclear that they reached that high. But do you have a sense of the measurements on the Southwestern coast?

MYERS: I looked at the Naples, and it broke at seven-foot surge. It didn't get any higher. That was only 1 or 2 p.m. yesterday afternoon. We know the rain and the wind kept going after that.

I talked to the guy on Marco Island. I'm really concerned about those areas around Marco Island area. A lot of canal homes in those areas, and the water came up quickly.

I mean, you know, you're not looking at a hill. You're looking at a three-foot dock that drops down to the Gulf Coast, right to the water. And that's the real threat, I think, are those people that are right there in Zone "A." You know, we talk about Zone "A," "B," "C." The Zone "A" people got flooded.

Maybe not Punta Gorda. That's good news, because it was further South than that. And we did expect Punta Gorda to take some -- to take some water. And it doesn't look like that likely happened.

We are going to see the areas here around the surge, the new surge, be up to the North now. So Savannah, Jacksonville, 4 to 6 feet for surge. I'm very familiar with the Myrtle Beach area. And Murrells and all the way down Tybee. This is very low country. I mean, these marshes and people put homes that are 2 to 3 feet above sea level. And you get a surge of 4 to 6, the surge flooding is not over.

BERMAN: No and I have to say, after what we saw in Naples, in Fort Myers, the storm surge there, I think people along the Southeastern coast of the United States will take it, or should take it very, very seriously.

Chad Myers, thank you very much.

As we said, Ian not done. Heading to Orlando as a tropical storm. Much more rain to come in areas that have seen 20 inches of rain already along the coast.

The sun coming up shortly. Getting reports of the intensive damage there. We're going to try to speak to someone in Fort Myers that was hit so hard. You saw the water flowing down the street. Someone essentially trapped in his home this morning.

Stay with us. Our special live coverage continues, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:17:39]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The rain is actually painful as it hits you. I'm glad nobody else is out on the street here. Whoa. Oh, boy. Huge gust. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That was Randi Kaye in Punta Gorda as Ian was bearing down on her and her team. Such strong winds yesterday as it came ashore.

I'm John Berman live in Tampa.

Ian is now a tropical storm heading toward Orlando. It will hit that city in force in the next few hours.

One of the areas that was hardest hit, the Fort Myers area. We were seeing pictures yesterday of water, very high water, right down the middle of those streets and into buildings. The damage so severe, the water like really nothing people have seen before, inside that city.

I'm joined now by Scott Carlos, who rode out the storm in his condo there and is still there this morning. Scott, how are things this morning?

SCOTT CARLOS, RODE OUT STORM IN CONDO (via phone): It's kind of eerily quiet right now. It's pretty dark. We're kind of waiting for day to break to see what's going on out there.

BERMAN: Have you looked outside at all?

CARLOS: Yes, we did. I mean, the whole parking lot is completely destroyed. All of the water has gone back, though, for the most part. I am right on the beach, and I can see on both sides in front and behind me, the water's gone back pretty far.

But yesterday, it was well over 10 foot high, reaching the houses across the street from me to the roof line.

BERMAN: So the water has moved out. Anything left behind? I mean, is -- what is on what was the beach and the street?

CARLOS: So yes. There's sand everywhere. We actually went walking around 10:30, 11 p.m. last night, when the winds had died down just a bit. And there was debris everywhere. Everybody's garages basically just gave out. And everything in the garages. Cars are everywhere. Smashed up in the street.

Most of them actually across the street, on the East side of the street. But there's debris everywhere. Things are just chaotic.

BERMAN: Debris everywhere. Cars everywhere. Scott, when you said ten feet of water, I glossed over that. Ten feet of water where you were? What was that like?

CARLOS: Correct. Yes, so, we were watching from -- luckily, I'm four stories up. So we were watching from the balconies on the East side. And just watching the waves crash into houses across the street. And then blowing through the roof, the roof tiles and the roof shingles as the waves crashed -- crashed into them.

But it was at least ten foot high on the East side of us, which is right across the street from the beach.

[06:20:20]

BERMAN: Did you believe what you were seeing?

CARLOS: It was, you know, it was pretty wild. I mean, we actually came down here to, you know, take care of some loose ends. And from there, that's when we realized that things got a little bit more crazy than we thought.

BERMAN: Scott, have you heard from anyone that might be trapped? Do you know the people around you are OK?

CARLOS: So, we think everybody's OK. We did see an older lady in her condo a few doors down from us, and there was a family, actually, here, as well, a gentleman and I think I saw his younger daughter there. I'm not sure who else is with them. But they seem OK as of right now.

But we have no running water. Obviously, there's no power anywhere. And just the flooding alone -- I mean, we actually had water coming into my fourth story condo, just from the spray and stuff from the waves crashing at the building. And every time a wave hit the building, we felt that. We actually felt the building move or shake a little bit and vibrate. It was pretty wild.

BERMAN: I can't imagine what that was like. Scott Carlos, I'm glad you're OK this morning. You know, I'm wishing you the best going forward. Please let us know if there's anything we can do.

CARLOS: All right. I appreciate that. Thank you.

BERMAN: All right. As we said, that's what Ian did yesterday when it made landfall as a Category 4 storm. Fort Myers, 10-foot-high water. Cars strewn about the streets this morning. We'll get a better sense as the sun coming up there.

Meanwhile, Ian heading toward Orlando as a tropical storm. Twenty inches of rain have already fallen in some of those areas. I'm not sure they can handle much more.

This is CNN's special live coverage. We'll go to Orlando, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:26:18]

BERMAN: All right. I'm John Berman live in Tampa. This is CNN's special live coverage.

Let's bring you up to speed on what Ian has done and is doing. It is now Tropical Storm Ian, heading toward Orlando with still very strong winds.

More than 20 inches of rain have fallen in some parts of the state. Many parts, in fact. It can't handle much more water. That's what's heading toward Orlando.

As for what it has done already, some 2.5 million customers without power on the Florida Peninsula. You can expect that number to go up as the storm impacts more people.

And the storm surge. As it made landfall, in the Southwestern coast. So much devastation in Naples, Fort Myers, Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda. Hundred and forty, 150-mile-per-hour winds.

We just spoke to a man in fort Myers who rode out the storm in his four-story condo. He saw 10-foot water rushing down the street. Ten feet of water rushing down the street. Cars swept away, swept across. He said the water was splashing from the road into his fourth story apartment.

A fireman in Naples told us that he was unnerved in his firehouse as the water was rising seven feet in his building. They weren't able to get out and do rescues as the sun was hitting. They're hoping to get out this morning as the sun begun -- begins to come up.

So that's what Ian already did. I told you I want to focus now on what Ian is doing. Let's go to Orlando where it is hitting as a tropical storm. Our Ryan Young is there.

Good morning to you, Ryan.

YOUNG: Yes. Good morning, John.

Of course, we're waiting to see what happens next. This rain has been unrelenting for hours at this point. The heavy winds have been on and off, and I can tell you, it's been picking up in the last 15 minutes or so.

But so many people tried to make that decision, like we did yesterday, to leave Tampa and drive across the state to Orlando. The reason why is because they wanted to keep their family safe.

At this point, so many people trying to prepare for the storm when we first arrive here in Orlando yesterday, they thought they were going to dodge the bullet. When we talked to so many folks outside of the grocery store, they were concerned about trying to get those last- minute preparations, because they thought they were going to skip this.

In fact, some people were talking about having a hurricane party, because they said, hey, it missed us. Now, that's been completely changed. And the rain is falling so hard in so many different places, it's changing where streets normally flood.

One of the things about Orlando, there are so many lakes and ponds throughout the city which makes it really beautiful. But with all this extra water, 20 inches expected in this area, you can understand, there are streets that normally don't flood, flooding at this point.

We know near the hospital here in downtown, they have dealt with some flooding. More than five streets have been considered unpassable at this point. And that's before first light. where we know the reports will get a little better.

Take a listen to the sound, to two men who decided to move their families away from Tampa to Orlando to try to avoid the storm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live in Zone "A," so storm surge is an issue. And, you know, I have a 7-year-old and 5-year-old girls. So, we definitely had to get out of Dodge. And Orlando seemed like it was a good fit. And then, of course, all of a sudden, it just, you know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seemed like Orlando was not going to get hit as hard as Tampa was. And I'm new to Tampa, so this is my first storm. And safety first. You can't put a price on your safety.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: John, so many people into the hotels throughout the area are from the Tampa area. So now they're experiencing this.

I can tell you as a Floridian, so many people believe in patterns. So so many people believed that it was not going to hit the Tampa area. It did take that turn, and now they're dealing with water that they've never seen before.

So history is not really holding up at this point, because this water surge, this constant rain, is something like they've never seen before.

[06:30:00]