Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Ian Intensifies Back into Hurricane, Moves Closer to Carolinas; Multiple Dead, Millions Without Power Amid Destruction in Florida; Fort Myers Beach Official Says, 90 Percent of the Island is Pretty Much Gone. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired September 30, 2022 - 07:00   ET

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

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Pretty clearly had a problem, I think, to anybody who was watching that, that was gross motor instability.

[07:00:06]

And then now you add this -- what happened last night on top of that, it could have magnified that previous problem. And even if it didn't, again, as I just showed you, a significant problem to the brain those areas going to the brain stem.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, you're a practicing neurosurgeon, so we take you at your word that this is a dangerous situation. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you so much. Nice to see you this morning.

You got it.

CNN's special coverage continues right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hurricane Ian strengthening again and taking direct aim at the Carolina Coast.

I'm John Berman in Fort Myers, Florida, and the storm has intensified again, 85-mile-per-hour winds, heading towards the Carolinas, this after tearing the destructive path across Florida. It is expected to make landfall in South Carolina around midday, somewhere between Charleston and Myrtle Beach. It could produce life-threatening floods there in the Carolinas.

This is already likely the largest natural disaster in Florida's history. I'm standing in the middle of some of the just bad damage. I'm standing in a marina where the boats have just been washed up on to the shore here.

Parts of Florida have been seriously damaged. As of this morning, 19 storm-related deaths, that number will almost certainly rise. In Fort Myers Beach, some of the destruction is breathtaking. I had a chance to have an aerial view of it, take a helicopter ride over, and there were sections that were just washed away.

The pier, the large pier there, you can see it almost better from air, that's just been completely washed away. All you see left is the pylons, the concrete pylons. What was on top is gone.

As I said, I flew over Fort Myers Beach. There was a home that was washed into one of the canals there. There have been hundreds of rescues in Lee County where I am, and also surrounding counties. Floodwaters in some areas, waist, high or worse.

We have live coverage this morning across Florida and up into the Carolinas. CNN's Brian Todd is in Naples, Randi Kaye in Fort Myers. First, though, let's go to CNN's Miguel Marquez live in Charleston, South Carolina. Miguel, it's coming for you.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is coming. We don't know how much punch Ian has left, but it is already starting to pour here. They have issued a flashflood warning here in Charleston.

I want to show you what the bay looks like here. This is the area that will flood here in the city. This floods on a good day. But what they are expecting is a nine-foot tide around noon. Around noon, is also when that storm is going to sort of come into this area. They're not quite sure where it's going to hit. So, if you have a nine-foot tide, where it floods around seven feet here, on top of that, a storm surge and water coming down from the sky, you're going to have a real problem here.

There goes a police officer through roads that are starting to collect water here. Several roads have already been shut down in Charleston. They are at their highest level of alert here in the city and the county, ready for anything that Ian can throw at them. There are lots of low-lying areas along the coast here, telling people at this point to stay in place.

But, hopefully, they have sought higher ground. Low-county areas or low-country areas across the Carolinas are going to be hit by water that is coming. The question is, where will it hit and on what side of that storm will we be? If we're on the right side -- on the left side of that storm, as it comes up, that might help keep that water down on that right side, it might be pretty brutal. John?

BERMAN: Yes, the concern is the combination of the tides, the surge, and the rain. Miguel Marquez standing in the middle of it, thank you so much. We'll check back in with you in a bit.

Let's go right to Meteorologist Chad Myers, actually, and get a sense of the forecast. Miguel was talking about it, it very much matters where the storm hits for him, for Charleston. What's the latest, Chad?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The latest is that the National Weather Service is issuing a nine-foot likely surge there, a nine-foot level of the water. That is the fifth highest level Charleston Harbor has ever seen. Obviously, the highest was Hugo, but that was at 12 feet. So, we're at nine. All of a sudden, this is a major flood situation if we get it at the wrong time and if we get the onshore flow.

Right now, there's an offshore flow. That's helping. That's helping Myrtle Beach. That's helping Charleston kind of keep the water levels down for now. But I don't believe that that's going to continue all day. I certainly know it's not.

[07:05:00]

And especially to the north of that center, it's not really an eye. It's just called the center of circulation.

Myrtle Beach is going to see 39 miles per hour this hour. But as it gets closer and it turns direction, that will be the problem for Orie County, for Waccamaw River, that's the possible flooding there.

We have the hurricane warnings in effect right now. Here's what the winds are going to look like, likely hurricane strength, making landfall, somewhere between maybe 2:00 to 4:00. But the winds will get there before the center of circulation does. So, we have to consider that too. Winds will begin to pick up and there'll be nothing you can do after about 10:00 this morning. A lot of rainfall coming down, too, John, could be 4 to 6 inches of rain in places that don't need it.

BERMAN: Yes, they don't need it one bit. Chad Myers, it's hard to believe that Ian is not done yet after everything it's done here in Florida. Thank you, Chad.

So, back here in Florida, I want to bring in Brian Todd, who's south of me, in Naples. Brian?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, John. We've come across scenes like this throughout the city of Naples and throughout this whole region of Florida. Take a look at this, a ground floor apartment here in this complex, the facade of it completely torn out. This was done by rushing water. Officials in this region telling us that it will take weeks, if not months to recover from this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Being so hard working honestly doesn't matter. It just is destroyed and it's ruined. And you have to start all over again. And, honestly, where do you start?

TODD (voice over): Florida residents assessing the devastating damage Hurricane Ian left in its path.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I knew it was going to be this bad, I would have got me and my family out ahead of time.

TODD: A vicious combination of wind, rain, and storm surge causing deaths, flooding homes, cutting off roadways and leaving millions of Floridians without power.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): There was cars floating in the middle of the water. Some of the homes were total losses.

TODD: On Sanibel Island, a causeway connecting the island to Florida's mainland was washed out.

DESANTIS: It got hit with really biblical storm surge. And it washed away roads, it washed away structures. TODD: First responders are only able to get to the island by boat.

MAYOR HOLLY SMITH, SANIBEL ISLAND, FLORIDA: There were a significant number of people that remained on the island during the catastrophic weather event that we faced. We've got boats over there and search and rescue started to go, based on the information that we had of the people that were on the island.

TODD: Fort Myers, among the hardest hit, from the waterfront to downtown, to inland neighborhoods.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lost everything we've had, been in the house since 1987, pictures, memories.

TODD: The Naples Fire Department carrying out water rescues, even though at least one of their own stations were flooded. First responders even spotted on jet skis.

DESANTIS: Some of the flooding that you're going to see in areas hundreds of miles from where this made landfall.

TODD: And it's not just the west coast, damage extending well into Central Florida. And while Ian was downgraded to a tropical storm, Jacksonville and St. Augustine still saw coastal flooding and strong winds.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: This could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida's history.

TODD: President Biden saying that the federal government will be sending funds for Florida's emergency response efforts and offering a message of unity.

BIDEN: My message to the people of Florida, to the country, in times like this, America comes together. We're going to pull together as one team, as one America.

TODD: Ian has intensified once again into a category 1 hurricane and is predicted to make landfall in South Carolina.

GOV. HENRY MCMASTER (R-SC): We know that we can handle this if we use our heads and follow the rules.

TODD: South Carolinians taking precautions, filling sandbags in anticipation of the possibility of storm surges and rising floodwaters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll see. It might be a little wet. We're going to pray for dry, and that will be what we have.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (on camera): Now, the damage assessments here are really just staggering. The city manager told us yesterday that, as far as the damage to city-owned property, that could get to about $20 million. And as far as the damage to private property like this, that could go to around $200 million. And, John, he said that was a conservative estimate.

BERMAN: Yes, it really is, Brian. And I know you've seen it all, because you've been up and down the entire coast at this point, to see the scope, the breadth of the destruction, and it is something to behold. Brian Todd, thank you to you and your team for all the work that you've been doing.

I want to bring in Randi Kaye now who's in a different location in Fort Myers. Randi, I'm standing where you were until late last night. Tell me what you're seeing this morning.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are in a community in North Fort Myers. Good morning, John. We made our way here, still pretty dark around here. So, it's good that the light is finally -- the sun is rising and the light is finally coming up, because the stoplights still aren't working, the neighborhoods don't have power. And this is the reason, right here. We're seeing this all over, power lines down, twisted pieces of metal.

[07:10:02]

And this is the culprit, what caused it, it seems, possibly. This is just a piece of a house here in this mobile home community. The tree is down.

We were here for some time yesterday. I'm going to take you over here and give you an idea of the damage and how it has spread. But we were here yesterday and all of these streets were flooded by the Caloosahatchee River. So, that is not the case anymore. So, that's good at least. People are drying out.

This is a community where -- you know, people have lost everything. This is their living room, basically, now, just in their front yard. Things are strewn all over the place, people's personal belongings, their family photos, pieces of their lives. That's the hardest part, really, to see with so many of these families. You can see when you speak to them the anxiety on their faces, where are they going to go, what are they going to do, how do they recover from something like this.

We talked to a lot of people in this community, including a young couple who had just moved here a year ago. Their entire home is now completely ruined. It was completely soaked, thick mud all over the floor, the refrigerator on its side. They lost everything and they were just starting out. We also spoke to an older man who rode out the storm here with his three dogs and had to be rescued in a boat. We also spoke to a man who saved an 85-year-old woman. She was alone in her home here. And then we spoke with her as well. Here's part of that conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GAIL SIMS, SURVIVED HURRICANE IAN: Got clobbered with all the furniture and stuff that was floating. So, that's how I got this. I got shoved into a wall. Anyway, when I got the front door open and there was a surge, and it -- it took me to the middle of the yard, you know, and I fought to get back on the porch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: And a good neighbor, Tom Pogordni (ph), saved her and even came out in the morning to make sure that she was taken to the hospital safely. They walked through four feet of water safely to his home after he found her on the porch looking hypothermic. John, back to you.

BERMAN: What a great friend. What a great neighbor to have. And there are so many stories like that around the state. Randi Kaye, our thanks to you.

With me now is the mayor of Fort Myers, Kevin Anderson. First of all, Mayor, thanks for having us here, and thank you for everything you're doing for the people here in your city. What's the greatest need this morning?

MAYOR KEVIN ANDERSON, FORT MYERS, FLORIDA: Well, right now, probably utilities, electricity, water, just general utilities.

BERMAN: It sounds like just about everything, when you put it like that.

ANDERSON: Yes.

BERMAN: Any feeling that people are still trapped in their homes? Are there any people here in Fort Myers you haven't been able to reach?

ANDERSON: We have rescued upwards of 200 people so far. I talked to the fire chief yesterday. He feels pretty comfortable that we've gotten everybody.

BERMAN: Well, that is good news. Fatalities, is there any reliable number now on how many people may have died here?

ANDERSON: The only reliable number I have is we have no reported fatalities in the city of Fort Myers. Outside the city, I can't speak to.

BERMAN: We've been driving around in the dark. You just saw our Randi Kaye in a location not terribly far from here. And it's tough to move around. What's your message to the people in this city about what you would like to see from them in these days?

ANDERSON: What we would like to see, until we can get the roads cleared, the power lines secured, I would really love for people to stay home. It's not safe out there. There are trees still ready to fall. A lot of times, there's more deaths after the hurricane, from people -- trees falling on them, people hitting power lines, things like that.

BERMAN: You live not too far from where we're standing. But as you sit here in this marina, with these boats strewn about, what do you think of some of the sights you've seen? ANDERSON: It's -- it's horrific. You know, I think it's good for people to see this, to understand the power of a storm, so when future storms are approaching, they take it serious, they take our advisory serious. I mean, look at some of these docks. They could weigh as much as a ton and they've been thrown around like it was nothing.

BERMAN: I don't know if -- Josh, I don't if you can pull back a little bit or we can see it kind of way here. When he's talking about a dock here, there's a big cement slab just over my shoulder there. We're going to push into it. Yes, that big block of cement, that's a dock, okay? And it's not in the water. It's up here on the grass, where we are, because the storm surge ripped it from the water and brought it just up here, on to the land. So, you really can tell how powerful.

ANDERSON: Well, just -- yes. Just look at the boats. There are some large boats. And they've been thrown around like they were toys.

BERMAN: When do you think you're going to get power back?

ANDERSON: We have power back in some areas. We're probably 80 percent of the city is without power right now. FPNL is out there working tirelessly. I talked to a crew from Missouri yesterday, all the way down from Missouri, and they were getting a lot of the power restored downtown. So, hopefully, we're going to see a little bit each day.

[07:15:01]

Listen, Mayor Kevin, thanks so much for being with us. We were joking before. Red Sox play their spring training here. So, it's somewhere that I love to come. So, thanks so much for being us. I appreciate it.

ANDERSON: Thank you.

BERMAN: All right. We've seen some dramatic rescues taking place all across the state in the aftermath of Ian. One group, the Cajun Navy Relief, a nonprofit volunteer organization that specializes in supporting rescue and relief efforts, arrived overnight in Port Charlotte.

With me now is the spokesperson and communications lead from Cajun Navy Relief, Jesse Fenwick. Jesse, thank you for being with us.

I can't imagine how little sleep that you've had in the last few days. Talk to me about the situation where you are. What are you seeing?

JESSE FENWICK, SPOKESMAN AND COMMUNICATIONS LEAD, CAJUN NAVY RELIEF: Well, right now, we're actually in pretty good weather. There's not a lot of signs of the storm. We're bringing supplies in at this moment. We have a large quantity of fuel and an ambulance full of supplies.

So, here where we stand, it's actually a pretty nice morning in Central Florida, where the weather is great. We're on our way back to the Port Charlotte area, though, to start getting some relief and assistance to those that are in need down there.

BERMAN: So, what are some of the biggest challenges you've faced with this storm in the aftermath and how does it compare to other storms?

FENWICK: The unpredictability of this one has really been a challenge, and combine that with this thing holding water in Florida, which is not something Florida is used to. It's really been tricky for us to get a handle on where we can be most effective. And compared to other storms, it's -- it's -- each storm is so different, but this one really is incomparable.

The damage is just far-flung and severe, and the local reactions, though, have been great, which is the communities in south Florida have been so prepared and so on the ball, just like that last mayor that you had on, while I was listening to you. We were talking about him and how impressive he was. And I think that's been a really great indication of how great the people of Florida are for this storm.

BERMAN: Yes, he's terrific, and he's done a nice job here in Fort Myers.

The Cajun Navy, you guys can get to places that sometimes, you know, the official teams can't get to. And you receive calls and see things that others don't. How much need is there? Do you feel there are still people trapped in some areas?

FENWICK: I'm unclear on that. I don't have eyes into whether or not we're getting those I need immediate rescue from being trapped type of calls. I do know that we are still getting calls for relief and assistance, but I'm unclear under the exact nature of those, as I'm out on a supply run.

BERMAN: Yes. And that is one of the things right now, is I think people are realizing, some of the calls you might be getting are, we're out of water, we're out of food. We can't actually live in this structure anymore. So, it's not necessarily being pulled from a rooftop, but it is being taken from a home that is no longer livable. That's what I think you're going to face now.

Jesse Fenwick, as I said, thanks so much for being with us. We'll let you get back on the road and get that aide, get those supplies to the people who need it.

FENWICK: Thank you so much and thank you guys for helping us get the word out there. If anyone needs us, cajunnavyrelief.org, contact us through there and we'll do everything we can to get you everything you need.

BERMAN: You always do. Thanks, Jesse.

Ahead, the efforts being made to help people on Sanibel Island after the bridge collapse, the causeway gone, cut off from the mainland.

And new travel headaches this morning, even as some Florida airports reopen. This is CNN's special live coverage of Hurricane Ian, now heading towards the Carolinas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

The flight home was supposed to be tomorrow afternoon, but it did get cancel. They rebooked us for Saturday, and we're hoping, crossing fingers, that that will happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Yes, there are a lot of fingers crossed up and down Florida. Now up and down the east coast, travel headaches as many nationwide are dealing with the airport closures and rerouting that took place here in Florida. Thursday was the worst day for U.S. flight cancelations in the last six months, almost 2,100 cancelations, almost 3,600 delays. That's according to FlightAware.

CNN's Pete Muntean at Reagan National Airport this morning. Okay, Pete, what are we looking at?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: John, you know, we're not out of the woods just yet, those airlines and passengers, as well. The focus right now is getting those airports that close when Hurricane Ian made landfall back open understand again. So, those evacuated by air can come back in, also, so relief and help can get into some of these local communities.

We just heard overnight that Orlando International Airport, the busiest airport in the state, will reopen at 12:00 noon today. That means that 8 of the 11 airports that closed because of the storm will be reopened by the end of today.

I want you to listen now to the head of the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport. He was on the roof, able to see the roof from his office when some of the roof just came clear off. He said it peeled off like a piece of paper. That is when a rush of water came into the terminal there and he says that workers scrambled in to help, even some off-duty firefighters, to try to clean things up so the airport could get reopened once again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK PICCOLO, PRESIDENT AND CEO, SARASOTA BRADENTON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: It was a little scary because of what happened, that, you know, I knew right away that we were going to get a lot of water damage, and the fact is that I knew that the storm still had a good 12 hours to go with a lot of rain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Just check FlightAware. We've seen about 1,700 flight cancellations so far today. Yesterday -- take that back, Wednesday was the worst day for flight cancellations we have seen in the last six months. This all means that since Wednesday, we've seen more than 5,000 flight cancellations in total. There's the number, 5920. We're just shy of 6,000 flight cancellations in the U.S. because of the storm since Wednesday. Not out of the woods just yet, as this storm turns back inland, and towards some of these major hubs, we've seen Orlando at the top of the pack for the last few days, now Charlotte is going up in the rankings of flight cancellations.

[07:25:11]

And those cancellations keep piling up. That's a big impact for so many passengers across the country. It's American Airlines' second biggest hub in the U.S., John. We're not done.

BERMAN: Yes, no, not done. It's going to take some time to unravel all of this. Pete Muntean, thank you very much.

So, the nonprofit World Central Kitchen is helping in the aftermath of Ian, serving thousands of meals to hard-hit communities. Our next guest, Sam Bloch, their director of emergency response, he took this video while flying into Sanibel Island to reach people cut off from the mainland after storm surge just washed away a section of the Sanibel Causeway. There's almost no other way to get there. Sam, thanks so much for being with us.

SAM BLOCH, DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE, WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: Yes, of course.

BERMAN: So, you've got -- you were trying to explain to me how much you've got going on in this area, and it's almost hard because you have so much going on.

BLOCH: Yes, absolutely. And all across the islands, we've got fan boats taking food out to people that are flooded in their homes, Pine Island, Sanibel Island. And then today, we're setting up quite a few different distribution points where community can -- vehicles or walk, go pick up something hot to eat.

BERMAN: Yes. Because today is the time where people will start running out, they start running out of the power bars or the canned goods or the bottled waters they may have kept to get through the storm, and there's very few ways to get food other methods.

BLOCH: Absolutely. And with the power being out, everybody has lost all the food in their fridges. So, yes, we've got quite a few different locations that people will be able to go pick up something to eat. And the best way to find them is to go just to our social media, World Central Kitchen, share that so everybody here knows and they can get food, water, fruit, something hot to eat.

BERMAN: So, Sanibel, Pine Island, they're cut off, the Causeway wiped away. Obviously, that's a specific challenge. What other are the unique challenges in the Ian aftermath?

BLOCH: Every disaster is completely different. This had the flooding, the storm surge and the winds, the loss of power, loss of communication. They're all unique and our teams are really experienced in adapting to each community's needs and each disaster's unique damage. BERMAN: And it's bad. It's bad here. Do you have a count of how many meals you've distributed?

BLOCH: Yesterday, I believe we did about 14,000. Today, we're looking at doing around 30,000 or, really, whatever is needed, as we're getting farther out into the communities that have been impacted, people that are still sheltering at home. Our multiple kitchens, restaurant partners, they all scale to whatever that need might be.

BERMAN: And in Sanibel, in these islands, there's no other way to get food unless someone is going to bring it out by boat or by helicopter.

BLOCH: Yes. And the waves are still a bit choppy yesterday to get up there by boat. So, helicopter was really the only way. And it's not just the residents out there but there's a lot of search and rescue still going on out there. So, all of those brave workers got to eat as well.

BERMAN: Now, I hope you forgive me for asking you this, but you told me during the break, and I had a hard time believing it, un the last two weeks, you personally, where have you been?

BLOCH: We were up in Alaska. I was up in Alaska with the storm surge that came there and then out in Turks and Caicos. Hurricane Fiona, we had teams in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos, Bermuda, and Nova Scotia.

BERMAN: And now you're here. I got to say, I still can't believe that. I'm a little confused because I haven't slept much. So, I had a hard time actually putting that altogether, that you've been in Alaska, Turks and Caicos, and now here in the aftermath of Ian and there is going to be a lot more need in the days ahead and maybe we'll see you in the Carolinas with the way things are going.

BLOCH: This is what we do, first to the frontlines and bringing that food and water that people need.

BERMAN: And you do it so well. Sam, thank you very much.

So, we are going to go to Myrtle Beach, get a report from there, as Hurricane Ian does head toward the Carolinas this morning.

Plus, we have amazing video of residents being hoisted out of the floodwaters and a look at Ian's damage from above.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN (voice over): All of that debris, just littered everywhere. These were buildings? This was a building right there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were buildings, restaurants, and what used to be the Fort Myers Pier.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:00]