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Hurricane Ian To Make Landfall Again Near Charleston And Myrtle Beach; Two Million Florida Residents And Businesses Still Without Power; Large Hospital System Without Water Supply, Evacuating 1,000 Patients. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired September 30, 2022 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:33:11]

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be a little bit hairy. Six-foot surge and a six-foot tide. We're going to be at 12 feet. That's about the maximum a lot of houses out here can take on the first floor, so we'll see. It might be a little wet, we're going to pray for dry, and that'll be what we have.

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: That's a resident of Folly Beach, South Carolina near Charleston, hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.

Just hours from now, Hurricane Ian -- and it is a hurricane again -- is expected to slam into the South Carolina coast. It is a category one storm. That's what's headed toward South Carolina.

Here in Florida, at least 19 people are dead from Ian and that number could very well rise. As of this moment, more than two million people in this state remain -- two million customers remain without power.

You can see some of the flooding that really inundated so much of this state. There have been rescue missions taking place since it was safe to get out.

First, though, we're going to go to South Carolina where the storm is now headed. CNN's Nick Valencia is in Myrtle Beach. Nick, what are you seeing so far this morning?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's already cold and wet this morning, John, and we're feeling those tropical-storm-force winds come in -- gusts of 30 miles per hour at some parts of the day -- of the morning I should say.

We're right here on the beachfront and you would think it would be a ghost town but just in the last few minutes, we've seen a little bit of traffic here. These beachfront areas -- some of them -- really, these businesses didn't even take precautions, John. You see the windows aren't even boarded up. There is a business next to it where the shutters have been put up.

We talked to the managers in this bar and grill, though, and they were even talking about potentially staying open later today.

We're right on the beach here and you can see these waves are starting to really get more aggressive as the morning develops, but the worst of it isn't going to come until much later this afternoon into the early evening.

[07:35:04]

I just got off the phone with the EMS. They said they don't have any reports just yet of anything bad. There are some power outages in the northwest part of the county but that's much further inland, so they're not sure if that's storm-related or not.

At this point, though, it's just wait and see. They've activated their emergency operations center, expecting for this Myrtle Beach area to take a hit from Hurricane Ian. But really, all eyes are on Charleston where that impact is -- where the hurricane is expected to make impact initially.

Right now, though, the wind is picking up. The rain is starting to come and it is getting pretty breezy here. But the worst, though, is expected for much later today -- John.

BERMAN: Yes, you have several hours of this in store for you. Nick Valencia, in Myrtle Beach, please keep us posted. That's where Ian is going soon.

Now, where it has been is here in the Fort Myers area and Fort Myers Beach. We've been hearing stories from Fort Myers Beach, which is very hard to get to by car. They're only letting residents back in across the bridge to Fort Myers Beach.

But I was able to see it from the air. The Lee County sheriff, Carmine Marceno, took me on a helicopter ride to see how extensive the damage was.

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BERMAN: All that debris just littered everywhere. These were buildings? This was a building right there?

SHERIFF CARMINE MARCENO, LEE COUNTY, FLORIDA: There were buildings, restaurants, and what used to be the Fort Myers pier.

BERMAN: How far back does the sand go?

MARCENO: It goes straight through to the bay side. The empty spots that you see there were homes. They --

BERMAN: I'm sorry -- so these on this beach here -- there used to be homes? MARCENO: You're going to see the empty lots right here, as you see. Those lots right there -- those were homes. Those were hotels. Those were real property two, three, four, five stories high washed away.

BERMAN: The buildings just ripped off to their foundations and just swept backwards.

MARCENO: That's right. When you look to the right side here, there's actually boats thrown into the mangroves, vehicles inside the water submerged. It looks like there's a car in the canal right there, too. Can you see that? It likes a Jeep. This is like Mexico Beach.

BERMAN: Look at that. I can see the foundation of where those houses were right there.

How many rescues have you done today?

MARCENO: We've done dozens. As you can see, look to the front of our -- these are major, major boats thrown into the mangroves.

BERMAN: Where? Boats up in the mangroves right there - oh.

MARCENO: Not just one, dozens thrown everywhere.

BERMAN: How long will it take to get this back?

MARCENO: When I look at this, this is not a quick fix. This is not six months. This is long-term. This is long-term.

I mean, you're talking about not refurbishing structures, you're talking about no structure left. You're talking about foundations and concrete. You're talking about homes that were thrown into the bay.

This is a long-term fix and it's life-changing.

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BERMAN: And looking at this footage again you can see on the beach there those lines where the water just went through. It went straight through that barrier island carrying houses with it. It will take so long to rebuild there. And there is still so much need.

The Coast Guard has been trying to reach people on Sanibel Island who have been cut off from the mainland after the storm surge hit so much of that island and washed away parts of the Sanibel Causeway. So you can't drive to Sanibel anymore.

With me now is real admiral -- excuse me, Rear Admiral Brendan McPherson. He's the commander of the Seventh Coast Guard District. Admiral, thank you for being with us.

Let me first ask you about the now. What are you doing now? How much need is there to reach people this morning?

REAR ADMIRAL BRENDAN MCPHERSON, COMMANDER, SEVENTH COAST GUARD DISTRICT (via Webex by Cisco): Yes, good morning, John. It was a busy day of search and rescue for the Coast Guard yesterday. We had 16 aircraft up in the air throughout the day and overnight. We were able to rescue 95 people.

And we're starting against at first light this morning. We've got our aircraft in the air this morning. We're going to get out there. We're going to find anybody else that needs assistance.

BERMAN: So, 95 rescues yesterday. And some of the places, we should note. We talked about Sanibel. The only way to get there is by helicopter. You're the only people who could reach the folks on that island.

[07:40:07]

Describe the types of rescues that were going on.

MCPHERSON: Yes, that's right, John. You know, this is an all-hands effort. We're working with the Florida National Guard and FEMA urban search and rescue teams, along with the local responders you see there.

But in some cases, like in Sanibel, Captiva, and other areas that are completely shut off, the only way to get there is by helicopter. So our Coast Guard helicopters with our aircrews are getting in there. We're lowering our rescue swimmers. We're checking on people, and if they need pulling out, we're pulling out.

Not only are we saving people, we were able to rescue 10 dogs, one cat -- eight cats, and one bird yesterday as well.

BERMAN: Ten dogs, eight cats, and one bird. Admiral, that is something.

Again, you say you're out there ready to go -- ready to help people this morning. Are there calls coming in? What is the process? Do people call, contact you, or do you just spot folks from the sky?

MCPHERSON: Yes, John, that's a great question, and it's a little bit of both.

So, first and foremost, if somebody is in distress and they need assistance, call 911. That is the best way to reach first responders. We'll get that call dispatched to us if they need a helicopter.

But we've also got ground teams there. We've got boats in the water -- shallow water boats. The Coast Guard has shallow water rescue boats working with the urban search and rescue teams. So that's the best way to do it.

But we also recognize not everybody has communications, so we're actually flying around and spotting people, and then responding to their distress.

It's really -- think of it more like a military operation. We've got the whole area gridded out and we're searching grid-to-grid, box-by- box to see if anybody needs assistance.

BERMAN: And what do you hear from the people that you do save?

MCPHERSON: Well, John, they're very grateful. Our heart goes out to all the people that are impacted by this. It's a devastating storm. You are there -- you've seen it yourself.

And so, we want to bring them comfort and safety and then we'll get to the long-term recovery. So that's what we're focused on.

But let me tell you something else we're focused on. We're ready for the second front of this two-front war. As you indicated, this Hurricane Ian is not done with us yet. She's scheduled to make landfall later today in the Charleston, South Carolina area. So we've got Coast Guard forces there, too, ready to respond should they be needed.

BERMAN: We know you're going to be there. We know you'll be wherever there is need.

Rear Admiral Brendan McPherson, thanks so much for joining us this morning.

MCPHERSON: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: You know, you heard the admiral say it's a group effort. It's all hands on deck to save people. It's the same thing to restore power to more than two million customers still in the dark from Hurricane Ian.

This is CNN's special live coverage. Stay with us.

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DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR, "DON LEMON TONIGHT": I just want you guys to see, it's -- I mean, it's unbelievable if you turn around here. Look at these cars and the mailboxes. I mean -- and there are people who are still inside of some of these homes.

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[07:47:17]

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DIANE DEBOYER, HURRICANE IAN SURVIVOR: The biggest fear is that you'll see all your personal effects just gone or all over the place -- and that's what happened.

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BERMAN: All right, more than two million customers -- about 22 percent of Florida households or businesses waking up without power this morning. Florida Power & Light, which represents the bulk of the outages, says it has crews and they've been working around the clock to restore power.

Convoys now rolling into southwestern Florida where I am. Nearly 21,000 workers from 30 states have arrived in Florida to help. They'll be here for some time.

With me now is the spokesman and chief communications officer for Florida Power & Light, Dave Reuter. Dave, we've been talking to you for days now and we do appreciate you helping us understand what you're going through and giving us a sense of where things stand.

We're hearing more than two million customers statewide still without power. I do understand only a portion of them are your customers, but is that what you're hearing?

DAVE REUTER, SPOKESMAN AND CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT COMPANY (via Webex by Cisco): Good morning, John.

That is correct -- yes. We're still hearing about two million customers across the state are without power.

I can tell you, for Florida Power & Light, in total, we had two million customers affected by Hurricane Ian and lost power. However, to date, as of this morning, we've restored more than a million of those customers. However, that does still mean that we have about 980,000 customers without power and that's the real focus that our teams are going to concentrate on today and in the days ahead.

BERMAN: What's the hardest part? I do understand there are some areas where it's going to be a complete rebuild. I think people get that. That's starting from scratch.

But aside from those areas, what are the challenges?

REUTER: Well, the biggest challenge right now is just even getting in to assess the damage in some of those west counties. I was out there personally yesterday. You -- and I've been watching your broadcasts. The imagery is just terrible.

And so, our number-one focus right now is to get our drone teams out and put some eyes in the sky and be able to get into the areas that we haven't been able to see visuals of yet. And be able to assess exactly where the damage is and then be able to assess how long it's going to take us to get every single customer's power back on.

BERMAN: So you use drones. That's interesting. I hadn't heard that before. Talk to me about that operation and how that helps you.

REUTER: Well, certainly, in areas where you just physically can't get to and can't get to quickly that may still be flooded, we put drone teams up. We're able to fly the drones. We're able to use artificial intelligence and camera technology on the drones that allow us to assess where lines are down, where substations may be flooded -- where we're going to have the biggest challenges.

[07:50:04] It also gets a head start on our understanding exactly what supplies we're going to need to be ready when we can get into those areas and restore power.

However, one of the silver linings that we did find in the first 48 hours has been the fact that our transmission grid held up in the west counties. So we did not have a single transmission structure damaged, which is a huge benefit to us in terms of being able -- once we're able to get into those other areas and get down to the grid level that we will be able to restore that power. If the transmission structures had been destroyed or if we'd had some gaps there, it would have just delayed us even longer.

BERMAN: I'll never forget after Superstorm Sandy -- I live in New York. It was a lineman from Ohio who was working outside my house who helped us get power restored.

So it really is something to see. Everyone pouring in -- the thousands and thousands of people pouring in to help do what you need to do to get power restored to the millions of customers here.

Dave Reuter, thank you so much, again, for communicating to us what you're all doing.

REUTER: Thank you, John, and thank you for everything you're doing.

BERMAN: So, we are waiting for new information -- the latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center that is due to be released in just a few minutes. We're going to bring that to you as it happens.

We also have breaking news on two fronts overseas. Dozens of people, mostly young girls, dead after an attack on an education center in Afghanistan. Plus, in just moments, Vladimir Putin escalating his war in a major way. He's about to illegally annex Ukrainian territories seized by Russian forces. Stay with us.

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[07:55:52]

BERMAN: So, a large hospital system here in Lee County, Florida is evacuating more than 1,000 patients because it doesn't have water and it's not clear when that water supply will be restored.

Joining me now is Mary Mayhew, president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association. Mary, thanks so much for being with us.

MARY MAYHEW, PRESIDENT AND CEO, FLORIDA HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION (via Skype): Thank you.

BERMAN: How many patients evacuated and where will they go?

MAYHEW: Right now, the hospital has been working closely with local officials. Governor DeSantis brought in the Army Corps yesterday. So there are efforts underway to quickly restore water to those hospitals. There are still plans to evacuate some of the hospitals.

And gratefully, all of the hospitals around the state are coming together to support Lee Health, to support their patients, to coordinate that evacuation and those transfers. That is happening around the clock. And again, the state is also helping to coordinate the transport -- the air transport, the ground transport, and then obviously, leveraging other private resources to support that.

BERMAN: How do you accommodate care without water in a hospital?

MAYHEW: Again, we often take a lot of things for granted that we are very accustomed to having. And certainly, we all know and understand how essential access to 24/7 hospital services are. Hospitals clearly depend on water to run their hospitals. This is -- right now, water is being trucked in. But certainly, in the next few days, this becomes an increasing problem for those hospitals. So that's why evacuations have been occurring.

But again, local officials are working alongside all of the resources that are being brought to bear to restore the water. Those hospitals need to be operational not just for the patients that are there today but certainly, as a result of the search and rescue operations that are underway, there clearly will be individuals who will need hospital care.

BERMAN: Mary Mayhew, thank you for being with us. We wish you the best of luck. We hope you get that water quickly.

MAYHEW: Thank you.

BERMAN: All right, that's just one of the problems people are dealing with now as Hurricane Ian moves toward the Carolinas.

Our special live coverage continues right now.

So, Ian now a revived category one hurricane with 85-mile-per-hour winds heading straight for South Carolina.

I'm John Berman in Fort Myers, Florida this morning. And the storm is expected to make landfall again around midday somewhere between Charleston and Myrtle Beach. It could produce life-threatening floods there in the Carolinas after what it did here in Florida.

As of this morning, there are 19 storm-related deaths reported. That number, we do expect, will rise. This storm could be the largest natural disaster in Florida's history.

I had a chance to fly over Fort Myers, Beach in a helicopter and get a look at it from the sky. That's really the only way to see the scope. You can see just buildings flattened there, debris everywhere. Those were homes and businesses. Now it just looks like beach.

A town councilman who spoke to us earlier described it as total catastrophic devastation and he asked if anyone in Washington -- if anyone in Washington that could hear him to send help. There have been hundreds of rescues in some of the areas hardest hit by the storm. The Coast Guard has been out in force pulling people from flooded homes and neighborhoods as well.

Our Bill Weir is live in Punta Gorda, Florida.