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Category 4 Hurricane Milton Closes In On Florida; Now: Multiple Tornado Warnings In Effect As Milton Moves In; VP Harris Calls CNN As Hurricane Milton Hurtles Toward Florida; VP Harris Tells CNN: Misinformation Keeps People From Getting Help. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired October 09, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:00:04]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Thank you so much for joining us this afternoon on CNN NEWS CENTRAL. I'm Boris Sanchez coming live to you from Tampa Bay, Florida, where Hurricane Milton is set to make landfall not far from here in just a few hours. I'm joined by my colleague Brianna Keilar, who's live for us in the nation's capital.

Hurricane Milton is an unprecedented storm. We saw this thing go from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in just about a day. Right now, it stands at a Category 4, and it is promising 140-plus mile-an- hour winds for this region, as well as a deadly, deadly storm surge.

I want to show you what has started to happen in Tampa Bay right now. The water has started to recede. These are easterly winds that is dragging water out. Typically, the water line is much closer to this spot right here, this seawall in front of me. This recession is something you typically see with storms. At some point, this will come flying back as a potential 15-foot storm surge in some parts. It's estimated to be somewhere between 8 to 12 feet here in Tampa Bay, and that is what has officials very, very concerned.

This may be a Category 4 storm, a very powerful one, but the storm surge is a Category 5, and it is set to shatter records set by Hurricane Helene made only about two weeks ago. Some of the debris from Hurricane Helene is still out in this area. You see it here in this pier.

A police officer came by earlier in the day and told our crews that this was damage from Hurricane Helene, and you see scenes just like this one all along Florida's Gulf Coast. This storm is extremely dangerous, not only because of the wind and the storm surge and the added foot of rainfall that's coming, but also because of tornadoes.

We've seen several touchdowns throughout the region. This morning, one of them confirmed in Broward County. That is hundreds of miles from here. That is on the southeastern part of Florida.

That is extremely concerning. There is something like 18 tornado warnings for counties across this region and it could be a devastating, devastating situation once this storm barrels through not just the western part of Florida but through central Florida and past the East Coast. It is expected to maintain hurricane-force winds throughout its path.

I'm going to go live now to Elisa Raffa, who's in the CNN Weather Center for us tracking the storm.

Elisa, what's the latest?

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We are still looking at a Category 4 hurricane. It's maintaining that intensity. It's got 130-mile-per-hour winds in the center. It's booking it north and east at 16 miles per hour, sitting 120 miles south and west of Tampa.

The gusts coming into St. Petersburg right now are already up to 55 miles per hour. Winds are sustained at 37 miles per hour. Gusts are getting up to 50 miles per hour even in Naples. You could see all of the lightning as all of these outer bands work their way inland. We have also found a prolific amount of tornadoes. Tornadoes are common when a hurricane makes landfall. But we are really finding some intense tornado warnings in these outer bands that are coming through Alligator Alley, South Florida.

All of these white boxes are signifying that it's not just a tornado warning. It's a tornado warning signifying considerable damage is possible because the tornado is so large and so impactful. A lot of these have some cells, discrete cells, that are really just dropping some of these twisters across the state. The tornado threat continues through 9 o'clock this evening for that watch as we get - continue to see the outer bands rolling with the heavy rain and drop the tornadoes.

When it comes to the wind field of this, it won't impact the entire state because since yesterday, Milton's wind field has doubled. Yesterday, the wind field was a hundred miles wide. Today, 250 miles wide. That's why it's going to impact so many people. Look at the purple, 110 mph winds or greater from Tampa down to Fort Myers. Hurricane winds, though, stretch across the peninsula to the East Coast of Florida as well.

And it will take with it all of the ocean storm surge that it's been churning over, over the last couple of days. That's why we're still concerned no matter what the category is, the storm surge will still be catastrophic. Nine to 13 feet of storm surge possible from Sarasota down towards Fort Myers, eight to 12 feet in Tampa Bay.

These numbers will break what they saw with Helene just two weeks ago. Even some storm surge values up to 8 feet down towards Naples and Marco Island. And, of course, it comes with heavy rain. Could see rain totals up to a foot or more. Boris?

SANCHEZ: That is extremely concerning. Elisa Raffa in the CNN Weather Center, thank you so much.

I want to go now to the emergency management chief of Sarasota County, Sarah Tapfumaneyi joining us live - Sandra, I should say.

[15:05:03]

Sandra, thank you so much for being with us. What are you seeing where you are in Sarasota? It is expected to make landfall not far from where you are.

SANDRA TAPFUMANEYI, SARASOTA COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT CHIEF: Yes, so we're anticipating that landfall, you know, coming soon. Right now we're starting to see winds pick up, so we're not quite at a tropical storm. Sustained winds just under that amount, but it's starting to get windy.

We made our last call for people to evacuate just a short time ago. And we've been telling people, you know, you don't have much time. Now is your time to go if you're going to go and there's maybe about an hour or two left and then the winds are going to be too strong to safely move around.

SANCHEZ: Sandra, I wonder what your message is to folks that are not heeding those warnings to shelter in place. Because here where we are in Tampa Bay, we're seeing folks come out and take pictures in front of the storm and pose for selfies and seemingly doing reckless things that they probably shouldn't be doing.

TAPFUMANEYI: Yes, it is absolutely critical. This is not the time to be a tourist of the disaster. People have lost their lives doing that. We cannot stress enough. You need to stay inside. And if you are - we had been messaging this for days now, evacuation level A, level B and level C, this is your time to get out. You're narrowing your window of time to be safely evacuated out of that area.

We still have 11 evacuation centers that are open and still receiving people and their pets. But your time is narrowing. But, yes, going out right now, being at the beach, trying to surf, you know, even in these waves, it is reckless and it's very dangerous.

SANCHEZ: Sandra, I appreciate that you pointed out that some of those shelters are accepting pets because a lot of times, believe it or not, that is one of the things that keep people from actually evacuating. They're concerned about where they're going to take their pets, so that is an important message to put out there that that is available.

Sandra, I'm wondering, after Hurricane Helene and some of the devastation that we saw, how well you believe that Sarasota was able to rebound? Were you able to get out a significant amount of debris? Because that remains a concern for so much of the Gulf Coast area.

TAPFUMANEYI: Yes, you know, in the Sarasota County area, we have experienced three hurricanes since August. So we had Hurricane Debby even before Hurricane Helene. So it has been a busy hurricane season down here.

And as you guys were pointing out, Helene came about two weeks ago. Typically, you would get months to clean up debris before your next disaster. So we had teams here at the county, at the municipality level. We even had neighbors pitching in with their pickup trucks, helping other neighbors out. Everyone was pitching in, it was a community-wide effort to try to do as much as we can because we all know with these strong winds, that debris can become dangerous and projectiles.

So, you know, I feel that we did everything that we could with our, you know, limited resources. And we were also sharing resources with the northern part of the country, which was also impacted heavily from Helene. So it has definitely had impacts across the whole East Coast.

SANCHEZ: As a native Floridian, it warms me to hear that neighbors are helping neighbors in a situation like this. Obviously, an unprecedented storm. Sandra Tapfumaneyi ...

TAPFUMANEYI: Yes.

SANCHEZ: ... of the Sarasota County Emergency Management team, we appreciate you joining us. Please keep us updated if there's any message you want us to get out there.

TAPFUMANEYI: Okay, thank you guys so much.

SANCHEZ: Of course. I want to go now to someone who is riding out Hurricane Milton, and that is Peter Albert.

Peter, thank you so much for joining us. I understand that you also sheltered in place for Hurricane Ian that hit the southwest coast of Florida about two years ago and devastated the region, and specifically parts of Fort Myers and Fort Myers Beach. I wonder what led you to the decision to stay in and shelter in place again this time.

PETER ALBERT, OWNS VACATION HOMES IN FT. MYERS BEACH, FL: Well, where we're located, we're a little bit higher up here in Fort Myers towards Colonial. We're at nine feet flood level. We're about 25 minutes away from Fort Myers Beach. So we rode this out and didn't have an issue during Ian, so we decided to stay for this event.

SANCHEZ: I'm glad to hear that. You're not anywhere near the beach and that you made it through Hurricane Ian. I wonder, are you sticking around with your family? Who are you sheltering in place with?

ALBERT: Yes, my family is currently here with me. We are staying here. My other family, my parents, went to the East Coast. We just felt that it was important for them to leave. But again, we're hunkered down and have our generators and our water ready for the event to happen.

SANCHEZ: That is so important to be ready for a storm like this. I'm also curious about how well you did during Hurricane Helene. That was just about two weeks ago and it impacted folks for miles and miles. Were you able to get any of the debris that might have come across your area out of the way?

[15:10:05]

ALBERT: Well, yes, I manage 160 properties on Fort Myers Beach and we had to go into a very quick mode, because we had guests coming down. So between the town, my staff and subcontractors, we cleaned up as much as we could as fast as we could. In fact, the island was pretty clean as of yesterday morning when I was out there. The town had picked up a lot of the debris as well as the neighbors and the community.

SANCHEZ: Yes, I'm glad to hear that. I know it's one of the unique challenges of this storm coming so close to that last one, Hurricane Helene.

Peter Albert, we're going to leave the conversation there. We very much appreciate you joining us, sir.

ALBERT: Thank you very much.

SANCHEZ: So Hurricane Milton is now barreling toward Florida. It's moving at roughly 15 miles an hour. And as we've heard from countless officials, it is time to shelter in place. It is not a good idea to be out, as we've seen several people doing, taking photographs and as one official told me, being a tourist to the disaster.

Again, this is going to be a devastating storm. We're seeing substantial recession of water in the bay. That means that storm surge is going to be coming, and it is anticipated to shatter records that were only set a few weeks ago. We're going to take a quick break, and we'll bring you the latest on Hurricane Milton when we come back.

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[15:16:03]

SANCHEZ: There are so many potential dangers with a storm like Hurricane Milton. It's not just the foot of rainfall on top of a potential 15-foot storm surge, on top of 140-plus mile-an-hour winds. It's also the potential for tornadoes. There are something like a dozen tornado warnings spread out across the region where this storm is expected to hit.

In fact, we just got footage of a tornado, a confirmed tornado, touching down in Fort Myers. I want to play that clip for you right now.

And conditions here on the ground in Tampa Bay have gotten very, very intense and then they've slowed down. And literally, as I'm speaking, I'm starting to feel the wind pick up, but it's so fascinating how, just a few miles apart, you can sense an enormous difference in conditions and in what this massive hurricane is capable of.

I want to go live to Isabel Rosales, who's in Tampa.

And, Isabel, you had spoken to a guy who calls himself Lieutenant Dan, who's deciding to ride out the storm in arguably the worst place possible in a storm like this. I'm wondering what you're seeing where you are now and what you've heard from residents there.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, right. His name is Joseph, but he's known sort of on TikTok as Lieutenant Dan. And, yes, he's refusing to go to a shelter. He's there at his sailboat right now, right over here, just taking cover. He's refusing to go to a shelter. This is strongly against the advice, you know, of police officers who have been here throughout the day pleading with him to please, you know, get out of here, go to a shelter. But he says, hey, I did it through Helene. I'm going to do it again. So that's where he's taking cover.

And it's interesting just to see the dichotomy of how seriously people are taking the storm. You have people like that. You have people out here going on runs, even in weather like this, going out and taking pictures like you saw, Boris, right behind you. And then you have people on Davis Islands right here, a man-made island where TGH is who yesterday were taking this so seriously. They were boarding up their homes, packing up and evacuating. Good for them. That's the advice of what first responders have been saying.

Now, it's a lot harder to move around here if people still want to get out of evacuation zone A and B, as it is under a mandatory evacuation. And that's because the bridges, Boris, have been shut down. The Sunshine Skyway, the Gandy, the Courtney Campbell, these bridges that connect Pinellas County, Manatee County and Hillsborough County, because it's so windy.

We're getting these gusts of wind that are too dangerous to keep these bridges operational. And the same goes with first responders. Once you start getting into these wind speeds, these first responders are just not going to be able to come out and answer 911 calls. I heard that directly from Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister, who said, hey, I fear for the person who's decided not to evacuate. And they're going to be in that situation calling 911, and we can't get out to them. Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it's so important to keep that in mind. We heard that from Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nunez just a short while ago, who's essentially saying that people should not be risking the lives of emergency responders because they made a poor decision. It is going to be impossible to respond to emergency calls in a storm like this. Isabel Rosales, thank you so much live for us in another part of Tampa.

I want to go live now to Paul Murphy, who has been tracking the storm not far from the Tampa airport. Paul, what are you seeing where you are?

[15:20:05]

PAUL MURPHY, CNN REPORTER: So what we're seeing in the last 20 minutes, this - the winds and the rain have really ramped up. You should be able to see the I-275 Bridge. That is the - that's one of the bridges Isabel talked about that is now closed. You should be able to see clear water. You should be able to see Highway 60, another bridge across Old Tampa Bay. They're all closed.

The tide, you were talking about that low tide was just after 2 PM. We should see some of that water coming back in. We're not seeing that here. That tide continues to stay out. The water continues to stay out. Boris, you mentioned that you're a Florida native. I am, too. I don't know why people are here. We see the steady stream here in Cypress Point Park. We saw people earlier swimming in the water. I don't know why they're here when there is beer and not run home. The conditions here continue to get worse. Every 10 minutes, we see those winds keep getting worse and worse. We keep seeing that rain continue. Back to you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Paul Murphy, thank you so much for that update.

One of the things Paul noted I'm a Florida native. One of the things that has struck me about Hurricane Milton, aside from the way that it rapidly intensified in the Gulf, the threat that it poses from the perspective of storm surge, is the way that I've heard people discussing this storm and the sort of distrust about what this storm actually is, the threat that it poses, and how the federal government can help people respond.

I was actually speaking to a couple of residents yesterday at a massive debris pile at a dump that a local municipality organized in the area of Pinellas County to help folks get rid of stuff that had broken down during Hurricane Helene, to help get rid of trash, effectively. And I spoke to an elderly woman who told me that she believed that this hurricane was geo-engineered.

This is the kind of disinformation, dangerous disinformation, that's being put out there, even by elected officials, including Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene who earlier put out on social media that she believed that someone was controlling the weather. Not sure exactly what that means, but my colleague Dana Bash asked Vice President Kamala Harris, who was on CNN earlier today, about that kind of disinformation. Here's the Vice President's response.

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KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have spoken with local officials who have been struck, for example, by Hurricane Helene, and they are doing an extraordinary job in trying to combat the misinformation. I'm talking about sheriffs, I'm talking about mayors, I'm talking about local officials. I don't even know their party affiliation, by the way, but leaders on the ground who know that it is not in the best interest of the people living in those areas to not know their rights, not to know what they're entitled to and to be afraid of seeking help.

It is dangerous, it is unconscionable, frankly, that anyone who would consider themselves a leader would mislead desperate people to the point that those desperate people would not receive the aid to which they are entitled. And that's why I call it dangerous, and we all know it's dangerous, and the gamesmanship has to stop.

At some point, the politics have to end, especially in a moment of crisis, and the crises that we've been seeing affect so many people. And they've - I've met people who have lost family members to Hurricane Helene. We know the desperation and the fear that the folks who are attempting to evacuate Florida are experiencing. The last thing that they deserve is to have a so-called leader, make them more afraid than they already are.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: We have been fact- checking. In fact, just before you came on, we did so. My colleague, Brianna Keilar, along with Daniel Dale and Priscilla Alvarez are doing that and we're continuing to do it.

One of my sort of follow-up questions to that is about - we know what Republicans - many Republicans are saying that are - that is just not true. One of the things that came out of the fire in Hawaii last year was that a lot of the misinformation was reportedly being stirred by foreign adversaries. Do you have any indication that that is happening right now?

HARRIS: I do not. No, I do not. But whatever the source, Dana, just so we're clear, it hurts the American people and it's got to stop.

BASH: Madam Vice President, I also just want to ask a little bit more about the federal response. One of the Republican senators from North Carolina, Thom Tillis, who I should say is not critical of the federal response, he says he believes that President Biden should appoint an active-duty commander to lead the federal response to these storms.

[15:25:04]

Is that a good idea? Should he do that?

HARRIS: I mean, Dana, we're looking at the - we've already, as part of the briefing heard just minutes ago that tornadoes have actually already hit the area. So now is not the time to necessarily think about restructuring as much as it is to get boots on the ground and the support directly that is needed as a matter of urgency. And certainly all good ideas are welcome. But right now, let's let FEMA, let's let the folks who are on the ground do the work they need to do right now in real time.

That's about assisting with evacuations, getting correct information out, battling, sadly, the misinformation and putting in place the resources that can hopefully mitigate against the predictable damage. Including, for example, we heard a very good briefing from the commandant of the Coast Guard, the work that needs to happen around being concerned about potential damage to the port in Tampa. That kind of work needs to happen urgently and that's where my focus is.

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SANCHEZ: That was Vice President Kamala Harris speaking with my colleague Dana Bash.

We want to get a reaction now from an official with FEMA, Keith Turi, joins us now live.

Keith, thank you so much for sharing part of your afternoon with us.

I'm wondering what you make of the amount of disinformation about this storm and the government's response to this storm and others that is out there, and how folks here on the ground in Tampa, some of them that I've spoken to, seem to think that this is a conspiracy.

KEITH TURI, FEMA ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR, RECOVERY: Yes, the environment's been very tough the last couple of weeks with all of the information that we've been - misinformation that we've been seeing. It's difficult to operate when we don't have trust and trust in those institutions that are built in there to protect people. And so we need to continue to push forward on getting that accurate information out there. That's what we've been doing.

We have a rumor response page on the FEMA website that folks can go to, to get the real information. We've been partnering with our state and local officials. We've got some great partnership from many of them to help also push accurate information out there.

But it's critically important that people trust what they're hearing about this storm. This is a very dangerous storm. It's going to bring a range of hazards across the entire Florida Peninsula, and it is something that people really need to take seriously, and we need that message to get across.

SANCHEZ: Keith, to that point about a range of hazards, which concerns you most? Because obviously here in areas close to the coast, you're talking about a powerful storm surge. But even as far away as Broward County, a few hundred miles from here, we had a confirmed tornado this morning. Which aspect of this storm concerns you most for residents? Which one do you think they should know most about?

TURI: Well, it all depends on where you are, obviously. The hazards are going to play out in different places across the entire state of Florida. If you're in that storm surge area and you've been ordered to evacuate, hopefully folks have done that at this point. That time is running out. Storm surge is one of the most fatal portions of the hazards and one of the greatest risks to life and safety.

But as you mentioned, tornadoes can be a significant risk. We're going to see major river flooding from this storm, where areas that may not have flooded before are going to flood because of the extensive rainfall and the fact that the storm surge is going to come up and block those rivers from draining. So it's hard to pick a particular hazard. I think we want everyone to pay attention to the specific hazards where they are. The best way to do that is to listen to the local officials who can help you understand your risks in your area.

SANCHEZ: Keith, there's been a lot of questions to the point earlier about misinformation and questions about preparedness, about FEMA funding, and what the federal government is able to offer folks in situations like this. What would you say to those who are doubtful about the government's capacity to respond, not only to a hurricane like Milton, but a hurricane like Milton coming just two weeks after a hurricane like Helene, two very powerful storms back-to-back?

TURI: Yes. I can just say we absolutely have the resources that we need to respond. FEMA is a - the primary coordinator for all of the federal response. We work with our state and local officials, but we bring in resources from across the entire federal government. That includes our partners at Health and Human Services, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Defense who have been a big supporter of our efforts overall.

We plan for this. It's not a surprise that multiple hurricanes can hit back-to-back. We understand that's a reality. We plan for it. We have ways to surge. No one needs to be concerned that FEMA doesn't have the resources to respond.

SANCHEZ: Keith Turi with FEMA, thank you so much for coming on and sharing those details with us.

TURI: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: We still have plenty more news to come on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, conversations with local officials as well as residents while Hurricane Milton gets closer and closer to the Gulf Coast with deadly promise.

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Stay with CNN.

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