Return to Transcripts main page

Laura Coates Live

Category 4 Hurricane Helene Makes Landfall in Florida; Governor Ron DeSantis Gives Update on Hurricane Helene. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired September 26, 2024 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST AND SEVERE WEATHER EXPERT: And I say land because you can't really tell the difference between a mangrove swamp and land in this area, but we will probably get this called within, I would say, the next 15 to 20 minutes.

We're still going to have significant amounts of flooding all the way up the Appalachians. We're going to have four to six inches of rainfall that will come down tonight. The chances of flash flooding are high. Abby?

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: All right, Chad Myers, thank you very much. Our special coverage, of course, is going to continue of the storm with Laura Coates. Her show begins right now.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News.

LAURA COATES, CNN HOST AND SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: I'm Laura Coates alongside John Berman with CNN's continuing coverage of Hurricane Helene. The monster Category 4 storm set to make landfall just south of Tallahassee, Florida at any moment. Nearly a million people are already without power across Florida and also Georgia.

And the impacts, they are far reaching. This is new video tonight of rescues that are taking place in Fort Myers Beach in Southwest Florida. We've got local deputies using boats to rescue people who called for help. Streets there, turning into rivers. The warnings are dire. This is a catastrophic storm, packing winds around 140 miles per hour. And the storm surge, forecasters say will be unsurvivable 20 feet in some parts.

Helene is one of the biggest storms to ever hit the Gulf Coast. It's about 400 miles wide, absolutely massive. And making matters even worse, all of this is happening in the dead of night.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is set to hold a press conference just a few moments from right now, and he has been urging people to evacuate all day. But now, the time is running out. We'll bring you his update live as soon as it begins.

Our team of correspondents and meteorologists have been fanned out all along the storm's path all night long and are with us as we approach this historic landfall. John, we'll begin with you right in the bullseye there in Tallahassee. What's it like there right now?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: (INAUDIBLE).

COATES: John, I hear that you're -- the wind is so strong behind you. We're unable to hear you effectively right now, which just tells us just how significant it is. We're going to come right back to you. We're going to get this taken care of. Please stay safe. We'll come right back to you, John Berman, in the bullseye of the storm.

Let's go right now to CNN correspondent Carlos Suarez in St. Petersburg, Florida just southwest of Tampa. You have had to move to higher ground all throughout the night because of the flooding in the area. What are you seeing so far?

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Laura. So, we began the day out in Gulfport. That is about 20 minutes from where we are. But because of the storm surge there late this afternoon, anywhere between four to six feet of it, we had to find higher ground. And then from there, we tried to make our way back to Hillsborough, which is the Tampa area.

But because several bridges have been closed because of the storm, we decided to stay put in St. Petersburg. And the flooding here is just as bad as it was over in Gulfport. If you can kind of make out where I'm at, because much of this neighborhood is without power, you can see just how much of the bay has pushed into this one street out here.

The white stuff that you might be able to make out in some of this water here, some of this bay water, we believe to be a part of some Styrofoam, a part of a concrete dock that was broken in half that sits just behind me. But it's really difficult for you to make out just because, again, there is no power out here and it's really difficult to put a light considering the amount of flooding that is going on at that place there.

Going into the storm, the concern from emergency officials in Pinellas County was the fact that even though the hurricane was going to track north and west of us, and so this area was not going to get a direct hit, the concern was that these low-lying areas would flood no matter what.

We have pre-positioned in Pinellas County, the last 2 years in a row, to cover two other hurricanes. One hurricane was in two years ago. That hit to the south. And then last year, we were in Pinellas County to cover Hurricane Idalia, which made landfall to the north. And in both of those hurricanes, this part of Pinellas County flooded, and it flooded pretty bad.

In fact, last year during Hurricane Idalia, which again stayed off the coast, stayed to the west, went to the north, did not have a direct impact on things out here, Laura, more than 1500 homes here in Pinellas County were damaged in the flooding. Laura?

COATES: Unbelievable. We're seeing the water. We're seeing the white matter, the substance that's floating around.

[23:05:01]

Just thinking about the power to be able to break up some sort of a dock is unbelievable. And we know the winds are picking up. We just tried to talk to John Berman in Tallahassee. You could hardly hear anything he said because the winds were that strong, we're learning, up to 140 miles per hour. This is incredibly dangerous.

SUAREZ: Yeah, definitely. And look, earlier this afternoon, when we were in Gulfport, the storm was directly to the west of us when we saw the worst weather of the day. That's when we started getting those strong gusts of wind. That's when we started seeing that storm surge just pushed all of this water from the bay onto this one neighborhood where we rely from. It's also where we saw the heaviest rainfall throughout the day. And so what John is experiencing is, obviously, a magnitude that we did not see here.

But the fact that we were on the western, the eastern side of the storm rather, is because -- part of the reason why we saw some of the worst weather even though it was about 100 miles to the west of us.

COATES: Uh-hmm.

SUAREZ: And the real big issue, Laura, with this storm and the other storms that we've seen the last couple of years is that what ends up happening is when all these forces and this confluence of forces kind of come together, you end up with exactly this. And what I mean by that is when the rainfall hits and then you've got the storm surge hitting, and then you add to that high tide, there's absolutely no where for this water to go. And, in fact, this does seem pretty high already. It's well a little bit below my knees here. But we're being told it's probably still got a couple more feet because high tide is around the top of the hour, and 1:00 in the morning.

So even though the storm is all the way up by the panhandle several hours from where we are, we're still not only feeling the effects of the storm surge, which again is pushing all this water in, we're still seeing some of that rainfall, we're still seeing some of that strong wind, and yet we still have to deal with the fact that we have high tide, which is going to hit tonight, which is why we don't expect a lot of this flooding to recede until tomorrow morning when low tide comes in.

COATES: Unbelievable. Carlos Juarez, please stand by. I want to go back to John Berman. He is in Tallahassee. John, what is it like for you right now?

BERMAN: Very wet. The water was getting into our wires, which is why we lost audio before and it's down now in my boots. I mean, you can't wear raingear that keeps rain out like this. I mean, it's just coming from every direction now. The winds are picking up and it is going to get progressively worse over the next several hours. Once the storm makes landfall south of here, it will really speed right over at Tallahassee.

In Tallahassee, while there have been named storms that have passed over the last several decades, none that seem like they're going to be as strong as Hurricane Helene is, with sustained hurricane force winds over this city of some 200,000 people. This city has got the beautiful live oaks everywhere. And what they're most concerned about here in Tallahassee isn't the storm surge that's going to happen 25 miles south of here. They're concerned about the winds bringing the trees down, knocking power out, closing hundreds of roads, they're concerned, over the next day or so.

And then, of course, there's the rain also. I mean, it has rained in parts of this county, eight inches already, and I don't think the worst of it is going to come down for the next hour or so. So, it's just so wet. The ground is so saturated. It's going to create major, major problems overnight. Everyone, hopefully, inside now, you're going to ride this out over the next several hours. Laura?

COATES: And again, Berman, there are colleges in Tallahassee, Florida. There are students who are probably far from home wondering how they're sheltering. And the FEMA administrator has all but begged. I mean, begged residents to take this hurricane seriously, to even seek shelter on higher ground. Have locals heeded those calls?

BERMAN: So, Florida State, you mentioned the colleges, Florida State, they evacuated several of their dorms on campus and moved students into one evacuation center. Some 750 students moved out. Many of those students are staying in a shelter. The football team got out early so they could get to their game this weekend.

So, yeah, in Tallahassee, Leon County, the evacuation orders, the mandatory orders, were only for mobile homes and manufactured homes. Those were the mandatory orders. Everyone else just told to be really, really careful. And be careful means pay attention to where the trees are near your house.

COATES: Hmm.

BERMAN: Governor DeSantis, the last time he spoke, talked about when you hear the limbs cracking, you know there's a problem. Get somewhere safe inside your home into a center room, maybe a bathroom, depending on where you live, maybe a basement, although not so many basements in this part of Florida.

[23:10:01]

But that's the main concern, and that's what you need where you need to take precautions, Laura.

COATES: Well, John Berman, I hope you heed that advice as well. Stand by. We're going to keep relying on you. Let's turn now to CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam, who is in Apalachicola, Florida. You're in that Big Bend area. What is the situation like on the ground there at this very hour?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, we're in Apalachicola, so we're roughly 50 miles or so from the center of Hurricane Helene, which is now just moments away from making landfall in Taylor County.

You know, just watching for these updates because, remember, landfall is not when the eyewall crosses land, it actually has to have 50% or more of the eye to cover to go over land. And this is important because it effectively begins the process of taking away its energy source, which is the abundantly warm, record-breaking warm ocean water. So, this is going to stop its strengthening process, which it has been doing for several days and rapidly here within the past 24 hours, two different rapid intensification cycles before its final approach to land.

So, we are just seeing what's happening and unfolding as this storm makes its imminent landfall in the Big Bend region, not only with the record-breaking storm surge coming out of Cedar Key, eclipsing Hurricane Idalia, that's happening as we speak, but there is this extreme wind warning.

I want to talk about how important that is because the National Weather Service reserves that warning for only the most extreme events such as this. And they asked the residents who decided, Laura, not to actually evacuate, that they need to treat this -- where they're under this extreme wind warning, Taylor County, for instance -- treat this as if a tornado was barreling down at your house.

COATES: Hmm.

VAN DAM: So, you need to move into the center of your home, away from windows, the sturdiest part of your home to ride out this storm. And I think it's really important to note, too, if we do have viewers that are tuning in, in and around the eye or will receive the center of Hurricane Helene as she works her way inland, this storm will go calm for a period of time. This is the nature of hurricanes, especially when they're this powerful.

And you may get curious, you may want to go check out your property, your business, your home. That is not the time to do it because what will happen on the backside of an eye will be a change in wind directions and winds just as fierce as what you were struck with on the northern side of the eyewall. So, I think it's really important that people understand that this extreme wind warning, the most intense part of Hurricane Helene right now, is not that time to go outside and check on your property. This is the time to bunker down and really just ride this storm out as best as possible.

You know, Apalachicola here, I think we've been spared the worst, but we are really going to be thinking about the people to our east who are taking the brunt of this storm. And as a meteorologist here, I'm fearful what sunrise will bring for the Big Bend area and so many other locations that are being impacted by this. You know, there's no doubt in my mind, Laura, that this will be another billion-dollar disaster to write in the history books.

COATES: My God. Derek Van Dam, thank you so much. Please stand by and thank you for those warnings to make sure people are aware. This is not the time to go and check property.

I want to bring in CNN meteorologist Chad Myers. He is at the Weather Center. The latest advisory saying that Hurricane Helene is very close, very close -- CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST AND SEVERE WEATHER EXPERT: -- to making landfall in that Florida Big Bend. And you just heard our colleague. What is your biggest concern right now?

MYERS: Certainly, that we have a 7.5 or 8-foot surge and it's only about halfway done, because now that the center of the eye has moved very close to shore or on shore, now it's going to be the west wind that pushes all that water back into Steinhatchee, into Cedar Key, and the water is just going to go up all night long.

And we talked to people earlier today that said, we're not leaving, we're going to stay, and I think that might have been the wrong answer. We're going to have to see that in the morning.

Perry, you just got a wind gust of 76, seeing some other gusts now over 90 miles per hour. Also, the threat of tornadoes on the ground tonight. When a landfalling hurricane gets into the land itself, the storms that rotate around it start to spill the friction of the land.

[23:14:59]

They begin to spin and some of those can put down tornadoes. We've already had a couple reports of some damage today.

So, there's the eye. Before I got here, just two minutes ago, I was anxiously hitting refresh as fast as I possibly could because we are right there on the edge of half of the eye being on land and the other half of the eye being still offshore. That's exactly when that center passes. That's when they call landfall. We'll still have to see. This is 140-mile-per-hour wind here in this center. That's the problem we're seeing right now.

Berman back up here in Tallahassee getting these outer bands, Derek back over here still seeing the northern bands getting pushed that water away, and then cross city, Steinhatchee toward the Cedar Key. Boy, that water could go up --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: We're going to hear for a moment -- the governor is speaking. Let's listen in.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- maximum sustained winds of 140 miles per hour. It is moving north, northeast at 24 mile per hour. Hurricane force winds are extending up to 60 miles from the center of the storm, and tropical storm force winds are extending 300 miles from the center of the storm.

I'm joined here, of course, by Kevin Guthrie, the Division of Emergency Management Executive director, as well as Dave Koerner, executive director of the Florida Highway Patrol. We have had a report of a fatality on the roadway. A car driving on I-4 near Ybor City in Tampa was hit when a sign fell onto the highway. So that just shows you that it's very dangerous conditions out there.

You need to be right now just hunkering down. Now is not the time to be going out. Not only we've seen it hit landfall here in Northern Florida, you're still seeing surge and water rising in parts of Florida, far south from the Big Bend area.

So, you look at Southwest Florida, you look at the Tampa Bay area, you're seeing really significant amounts of surge. There are going to be streets that are flooded and will continue to flood all up and down the West Coast of Florida. So, it's hazardous conditions right now. Please, do not be going outside until things settle down.

We know that travel on the roads can be hazardous and we typically -- unfortunately, we will have fatalities in every storm from that. When you are out on the roads in the middle of one of these storms, that is very, very dangerous. So, please, do not do that. Stay put.

Also, if you're sheltering in place, know your surroundings in terms of trees. You are going to see trees that are going to get knocked down. I'm sure some have already been knocked down. But you have these 140-mile-an-hour winds hitting here in North Florida. This is going to extend. I mean, you're going to have hurricane force winds that are going to extend across a couple counties to the east and west of Taylor County. And that's going to cause trees to fall down. If you are in an area where you have that, please take precautions there, treat it almost like a tornado as that's going by you for there.

We have many major bridges that have been closed throughout today at various points. Most of the major bridges, of course, in places like Tampa Bay have been closed, and they will be open as soon as it's safe to reopen them. We have FDOT, they're standing by. As soon as it's safe, they're going to go in there, do the inspections and get those bridges open again.

You may -- if you're here in North Florida, you may have a period of calm when you are in the eye of the storm. Just understand that storm is not done and it's very, very hazardous to go out for there, especially with how fast this storm is moving. You're going to be putting yourself in jeopardy if you try to go out in the middle of the eyewall of the storm.

We are going to see downed power lines. Those are very hazardous as well. Please do not mess with any downed power lines in and around your home or anywhere you may come in contact with them. Also, be very careful about standing water. People get up in the morning when it's light out. There's going to be standing water in a lot of parts of the state. Don't go trudging through that. There's going to be a lot of hazards that could be in there. And please, please be mindful of that.

The storm is going to pass. And when it does pass, you're going to have -- still going to be dark outside. Do not go out in the pitch black trying to navigate any debris or anything.

[23:20:00]

That's just not going to be the safe thing to do. Wait till you get light and you can take stock of what's going on in your property and govern accordingly from there. When you're using ladders, please be safe with that. We do have fatalities involving people climbing on ladders, trying to get to their roofs and falling. That happens almost every storm. Please, just be very careful with that.

And also, of course, there's going to be an enormous amount of debris in various places, and you could have downed power lines, you could have --

COATES: We are listening to the governor, Governor Ron DeSantis. I want to break in here. Landfall has been made. The storm, Helene, has now made landfall as a Category 4. I want to go to John Berman who is in bullseye.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Let's talk to him in Tallahassee. John Berman, it has now made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, Hurricane Helene officially making landfall. What are you feeling? What are you seeing?

BERMAN: Yeah, Category 4 landfall, 140-mile-per-hour winds. Here, it made landfall about 10 miles southwest of Perry, which actually puts it east of Tallahassee and maybe on a path to skirt Tallahassee instead of going right over it, which might be a little bit of a relief for the people here. That said, this is a huge storm in terms of how wide it is. So, the hurricane force winds and the tropical storm force winds will spread over a huge part of the panhandle, the upper panhandle, and into Georgia.

But this storm made landfall with 140-mile-per-hour winds. And it's moving very quickly, which means that it will maintain its hurricane force as it moves over Northern Florida and into Georgia, and that's where it will bring the trees down, the power lines, and create even more problems.

The storm surge numbers that we are going to get from the Big Bend area in Florida, I can only imagine what they will be. If that storm made landfall with what they're saying, 140-mile-per-hour winds, it must have put so much water up into those areas. I suppose the only saving grace is there aren't too many people who live along the coast in the Big Bend area. Hopefully, most of them were able to get away. But now that the storm has made landfall, it's all about watching where it goes and the damage that it leaves behind.

Perry, which is just 10 miles north of where it made landfall, already experienced Hurricane Debbie, which was a month ago. And then last year, I was driving, trying to get through Perry, Hurricane Idalia, and you couldn't get through because there was so much tree damage there. So, it's going to be very difficult for that town over the next several hours, Laura.

COATES: John Berman, so important. We were listening to the governor talking and saying to everyone, you got to hunker down, that they were to expect not only the landfall but the surge and the water that is going to continue to rise, the hazardous conditions. Be wary of the standing water, be wary of the downed power lines, it could also be there as well, and to take precautions.

And as John was saying, to treat it as if it were a tornado with those huge force. I mean, 140-mile-per-hour winds and thinking about that eye of the storm. Don't be fooled, Governor DeSantis said, by the calm that might come. This is not the time to look around it.

I want to go to the Tallahassee mayor right because they are bracing for what we we'll call the most powerful storm to hit the city, potentially, in written history. The mayor of Tallahassee, Mayor John Dailey, joins me now. Mayor, thank you for joining us. We've just heard that landfall has happened. The governor was speaking. Tell us what Tallahassee is experiencing right now.

MAYOR JOHN DAILEY, TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA: Laura, appreciate you have me on. And you're right, the -- we just had landfall. I can hear it outside. I'm probably about four blocks from where John Berman is reporting at, I'm at city hall right now, and you could tell we have one heck of a storm going on outside right now. And, yeah, my -- I'm thinking about also all the surrounding communities outside of Tallahassee. We are all getting hit very hard.

COATES: Historically, your city has been spared, sometimes the worst, when hurricanes come through the Florida Panhandle, and yet and still, you're concerned, the people in the community are concerned, those around you as well. What is your message to people who have not experienced a storm quite like this before?

DAILEY: Well, actually, none of us have experienced a Category 4 hurricane this close to Tallahassee. This is a historic storm for us. And I appreciate you reiterating right now, everyone, stay safe, shelter in place, stay home. Yes, I think we can expect a lot of damage after this storm. Significant wind event going on right now, significant rain event.

[23:24:58]

We are not a coastal community, we're about 30 miles in from the coast, so we're not as concerned with the storm surge for Tallahassee as much as we are known for our trees. We love our trees and internationally known for our natural beauty, but trees and power lines and winds do not mix. So, we are reminding the residents.

And, quite frankly, being honest, recovery is going to take a while. It is not going to be a sprint. It's going to be a marathon. But the city is prepared. And once the storm passes and it is safe, we're going to roll up our sleeves, we're going to get out and do the assessment, and begin rebuilding.

COATES: I'm glad you mentioned not only the natural beauty, but the prospect of the wind and the impact on those trees and what it could possibly bring down. The wind is not the only concern as well. The National Weather Service is warning of potentially catastrophic flash flooding that could also occur.

DAILEY: Correct.

COATES: How is the city preparing for that?

DAILEY: So, we've been preparing for the past week alone. We -- we -- the city manages all the utilities in town. One of our key utilities is not only electric, but also storm water. And the great men and women of the city of Tallahassee Utility Department have been out, cleaning out all the storm water facilities, making sure that we can capture, you know, top capacity, be able to convey the water through.

But nonetheless, we have above average rainfall in Tallahassee, we've been saturated, and when you dump this amount of rain on top of an already saturated ground, yes, you have the potential for flash floods.

It's part of the reason why Leon County, our county government, also put out a mandatory evacuation from manufactured homes for the wind event, but also for the rain event that could take place, too.

COATES: The Tallahassee, capital of Florida, I wonder how important it is for the city to get up and running as quickly as possible to manage not only what's happening there in Tallahassee, but also statewide relief efforts.

DAILEY: Of course. So, we have learned from previous storms that it's preparation, preparation, preparation. Having said that, when Mother Nature sends a Category 4 hurricane your way, you're going to have damages. But nonetheless, we have -- we put out an all call across the United States and called in our mutual aid agreements. We've had utility workers from as far away of Oklahoma traveling through the night to come help us. We have tripled our workforce prior to the storm. We stationed our assets all across the community.

Our personnel are safe all across the community, and we are fully prepared. Once the storm passes and it's safe, go out, assess, and begin the rebuilding process. We also expect more mutual aid to come in after the storm. Our goal is to increase our workforce fivefold. But, nonetheless, it is a very powerful storm that is currently moving through our area and there will be significant damage.

COATES: Mayor John Dailey, now that the touchdown and the landfall has happened, we are concerned. You're looking at your city and so many others. Please stay safe. Thank you so much.

DAILEY: Yes, ma'am. Thank you.

COATES: There is much more coverage on Hurricane Helene that has just made landfall as a Category 4. More in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES: Back now with our breaking news, Hurricane Helene making landfall in the Big Bend of Florida as a Category 4 storm. Let's go back to John Berman in Tallahassee. John, we're hearing the storm has turned deadly. Is that right? What happened?

BERMAN: Yeah. It's so interesting. Even before the storm made landfall, it turned deadly. There was a driver, Governor DeSantis just reported, who died on I-4, Interstate 4. That's down, I believe, near Pinellas and Hillsdale County, Hillsboro, which is the St. Pete, Tampa area. The driver hit by a sign that was falling or swept by the wind, and that just illustrates the danger of being out on the roads during this storm.

I don't know how much earlier that was, but you can get a sense of how dangerous it is because that was, you know, 50, 60, 70 miles from where the eye of the storm was passing. It didn't make landfall anywhere near that part of Florida. Of course, it did just make landfall southwest of Perry and it's now moving up here.

I will tell you one of the things we have started to see here is flashes and it's a little bit hard to tell whether we're seeing lightning or transformers go boom.

COATES: Hmm.

BERMAN: I'm pretty sure one of them, at least, was a transformer, which doesn't bode well for the power situation. Power will almost certainly go out in parts of Leon County where I am. But I do also think we're seeing lightning. But it is one relatively new development here. One of the things you do see when you're out in these hurricanes is you see these blue lights flashing in the sky, and those are the transformers, and sure enough, that's a sure sign that the power is about to go out, Laura.

COATES: A really big concern. Here we are in the dead of night. And, of course, as the governor was speaking, talking about what could come in the morning, be wary of the standing water you may not have anticipated. And, of course, some of that structural damage. And the downed power lines, very, very dangerous not to approach them.

I get a sense, of course, that there will be some moment of calm, as you've experienced likely before, but that is not to lull someone into a false sense of comfort.

BERMAN: No, there are really two things there, Laura. One, first, there is a moment of calm if you're in the eye of the storm. There really is. If you're in the eye of a hurricane like this one that's so big, there will be several minutes where the north wall passes over you, but then there's almost nothing, there's an eerie calm.

[23:35:03]

Don't go out in it. Now, the one nice thing is it's the middle of the night at this point almost. So, hopefully, people are sleeping. They won't even think about that. But Governor DeSantis did warn about that.

The other calm that people need to be aware of is in the morning around here, after the storm really does pass through, after you open your door and maybe walk out on your yard. All kinds of dangers will be around from the downed trees to the downed branches to the downed power lines to the standing water.

Really dangerous to drive around even tomorrow morning once the storm passes because you don't know what's under that water, you don't know how deep it is, you don't know if the roads are passable. So often, there are accidents, there are injuries, there are deaths, even the day after a storm like this passes through.

Again, this is really just the beginning for Northern Florida over the next several hours. There's going to be so much more damage that people have to be alert and aware of.

COATES: John Berman, stand by, we will come back. I mean, 140-mile- per-hour winds landing to landfall, touching down as a Category 4. This is the hour where the Florida Panhandle is experiencing the worst of Helene. And in Taylor County, Florida, the local sheriff is urging people who did not evacuate to write their names and the date of birth on their arms. That way, authorities can identify them in case the worst-case scenario develops. I can't even imagine that.

The city of Perry is in Taylor County, and Ward Ketring, the mayor of Perry, joins me now. Mayor, thank you for being here this evening. I understand you're taking shelter at an airport. What are you experiencing right now?

MAYOR WARD KETRING, PERRY, FLORIDA: Right now, the eye is actually going right over us. The wind has subsided just a little, the rain has stopped, but I want to warn everybody that it is going to pick up again once the eye actually passes us on.

If you have a radar shot, you can show on screen above what's going on right now. If you can see, the eyewall is actually moving northeast. In about another probably 20 or 30 minutes, the wind and the rain will pick up again.

And what we're experiencing right now is just an enormous amount of rain, an enormous amount of wind. And it was a very powerful storm --

COATES: Hmm.

KETRING: -- that we still got to go through.

COATES: Again, that eye of the storm, don't be fooled. All is not calm. It's temporary. And in fact, the county sheriff, I just read, issued that just scary message, very ominous, to anyone who did not evacuate. Do you have a sense of how many people decided to stay in Perry as opposed to evacuate?

KETRING: Honestly, we have no idea. We have been honest with you. We just -- we just -- we can't -- I can't even take a guess on that.

COATES: It makes you shudder to think of that warning and the worst- case scenarios, particularly as you're seeing a sense of calm, knowing that it's likely the worst is yet to come. Your city is taking a direct hit from this monster storm. It's a Category 4, mayor. How concerned are you about those who did decide to ride out this storm?

KETRING: I'm fairly concerned. I mean, I know a lot of the houses can hold up to it. Some of them can. It just depends on how they're built and so forth. But I just really hope everybody came through this okay.

COATES: Yeah.

KETRING: I mean, I really hope we don't have any -- anybody hurt or anybody otherwise over this.

COATES: I certainly hope so, too. We -- absolutely, we're all thinking about that when we see the landfall being made and the risk. I mean, how well prepared is your city to handle this kind of storm and eventually the aftermath?

KETRING: Well, we went through Adelia last year, and then just about a month ago, Debbie (ph). We got -- we have a great bunch of people working for the city of Perry and Taylor County. We've been getting prepared all week long. The power crews have been getting prepared to come in. They've been staging outside the city, you know. I mean, several like a couple hundred miles outside the city. And they're prepared to come in the morning.

The city of Perry public works, they've all been working getting generators and other things they need in place, make sure the water sewer and gas systems stay up and running. And they're doing a fantastic job of that. I really appreciate them doing that. And like I said, we were pretty well prepared.

COATES: Yeah.

KETRING: I don't know if you can ever get totally prepared for something like this, but we've definitely been through a lot in the past.

COATES: You've been watching all of this.

[23:40:00]

And I wonder, is your city getting any calls? Are you hearing from people who are asking for help to try to evacuate or try to get to safety? Are you receiving those calls? Oh, I think we lost him for a second there, but we're watching right now this satellite image. You see the eye, you see the moving, the pace of this. Remember, it's 140- mile-per-hour that's happening right now.

Let's go back to CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam in Apalachicola, Florida. You are in the Big Bend area where the hurricane just made landfall. It's a Category 4. What are the conditions there right now?

VAN DAM: You know, the list of superlatives that are going to be used to describe the storm is going to be long, it's going to be exhaustive. And here, I think we really spared the worst because we're about 50 miles to the west of where the most powerful part of major Hurricane Helene made landfall. They're in Taylor County, again, just to my east, and they're getting the brunt of the storm, the most intense part of the storm.

Just to put it into context, give you a little bit of idea how powerful the storm was upon landfall. Hurricane Ian back in 2022 made landfall near Fort Myers Beach. We remember the devastation that came in there. COATES: Uh-hmm.

That came in at 941 millibars. Millibars, this is the central pressure of a hurricane. A lower number means a stronger hurricane. This storm came in onshore with a low pressure of 938 millibars. So, in essence, a stronger, more powerful, deeper, more intense hurricane than Ian actually was.

So, I really do fear what the daylight will bring tomorrow morning, just seeing some of these nighttime shots on social media, you know, dimly lit photos of some of the devastation that we're seeing coming out of the coastline there. Steinhatchee, Perry, you know, it is going to be quite a sight tomorrow morning, and I'm concerned about the people who are enduring these very, very moments because we here in Apalachicola were spared.

But, you know, right now, we've got this extreme wind warning, and this extends from Taylor County through Madison County northward into Georgia now. Valdosta under the extreme wind warning. I've talked about this quite a few times tonight, but it's important because these are only reserved for the most extreme moments of a storm of this magnitude.

So, you know, the National Weather Service when they talk about these extreme wind warnings, they're asking residents who decided not to evacuate to treat this as if a tornado was approaching your house, and we know how damaging tornadoes can be. So, that is really the extent of what this storm is bringing to a vast, vast area here in the Big Bend of Florida and quickly racing inland as well.

I think this part is extremely important as well for people to understand. This storm is moving at roughly 25 miles per hour inland. And yes, now it's on shore, effectively losing its energy source, which was the warm Gulf of Mexico waters. But now, it's going to move inland so quickly that before it even has time to collapse on itself, before it has time to really weaken, it's going to bring these hurricane force winds Category 2, Category 3, even up to Category 4 well inland. We're talking not 10 miles inland, not 50 miles inland, but several hundred miles inland.

I mean, just as a meteorologist watching the hurricane alerts, the tropical storm warnings and hurricane warnings that extend as far north as Macon, Georgia, the southern metropolitan of Atlanta, Georgia, I can't even recall the last time that we saw those colors of warnings on the National Weather Service maps. So, it astounds me to see that.

And take it from me, my family, who is bunkering down tonight in our home in Atlanta. We're taking this storm really seriously because that's the next chapter of this storm. As it moves inland, it's going to bring those powerful winds to large metropolitan areas. It's going to knock over trees. People need to be prepared to ride out several days without electricity.

And then we talk about the unprecedented and historic nature of the flooding that is ongoing right now across the mountains of North Carolina, South Carolina.

COATES: Hmm.

VAN DAM: There will certainly be swift water rescues. There will be extreme moments tonight. And into the early morning hours of Friday, that -- you know, we don't want anyone to have to bear witness to. But unfortunately, that's the reality of this storm. Laura, it's a sobering reminder of how powerful nature can be. And yeah, I fear what the daylight is going to bring tomorrow morning.

[23:44:55]

COATES: I'm telling you, just thinking about this, the number of states you've mentioned, the scope of this Category 4, thinking how quickly it's traveling, most storms are losing that speed and momentum, this hit at 140 miles per hour. Derek Van Dam, stand by.

We've got much more coverage on Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 moving rapidly not only from Florida, but all the way up and through places like Georgia soon. We've got more in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES: Back with the breaking news on Hurricane Helene. We're told two people died in Georgia from a tornado tied to this storm.

[23:50:00]

That's in addition to the one death reported already in Florida. And as the storm moves inland, more than a million people are now without power in Florida alone.

Joining me now on the phone, the emergency management Director for Levy County in Florida, John MacDonald. Levy County includes Cedar Key, which is facing serious storm surge. John, thank you for joining us. Cedar Key, it's a barrier island three miles off the coast of Florida. What have you heard about what's happening there right now?

JOHN MACDONALD, EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR, LEVY COUNTY, FLORIDA (via telephone): Yeah, well, they've got the storm surges coming in for it there. We've already -- the last number that I got on my measurements on my tide gauges and all that stuff, they're right at about 10-foot AGL. That is the high storm surge record for them. The old storm of the century back in '93, that low pressure system, that was a little under nine. So, this is actually the highest surge I've ever seen. It's still going to be going up. So, I would expect them to be somewhere maybe around 11, 12 by the time this is done.

COATES: The highest you've ever seen, 10 feet. That's unbelievable to think about, the height of what that surge would look like. Have you heard reports about people being stranded, John?

MACDONALD (via telephone): We had about -- we did -- the ones that didn't evacuate, we got the addresses and all that, so we know where those folks are located at until conditions get to where it's safe to go out there and go around and go door to door and make sure those folks are alright on the island itself. Actually, everybody on our coastline, we've got about 117 people that didn't evacuate.

COATES: A hundred and seventeen. A resident from -- who lives in Cedar Key or on Cedar Key and is riding out the storm, likely one of those 117, he told our own Anderson Cooper that he doesn't even know if Cedar Key will exist come morning. Are you worried about how bad the damage could be?

MACDONALD (via telephone): Uh, not so much. I mean, they've got a big hill out there. So, that hill is about probably 35 feet, um, up to the top of it. So, they -- they have an elevated place they can go when that surge started coming in. Um, so I'm sure most of those probably collected up at the community center or the city hall up at the top of the hill.

But, yeah, I mean, there are structures and a lot of stuff there. They're going to be lucky to see if any of the structures are still there, especially someone closer out to the Dock Street. But that 117 number, that was the whole coastline coastal community. We've got another small coastal community called Yankeetown, which is on the south end of Levy County on the way to Withlacoochee River. That one is most mostly residential. But out of that 117, about 25 of them were in that neighborhood.

COATES: Hmm. I wonder, just given that whole coastline, how soon would you be able to even get emergency services out there?

MACDONALD (via telephone): Well, we already have things pre-staged in place out there to go. So, as soon as it's not too dangerous to get out there, we'll start making attempt with some search and rescue teams and all that out there. What we'll do is we'll go hit those addresses where we know where those individuals were.

COATES: John MacDonald, thank you so much. We wish you all the best and safety. We certainly hope everyone will be safe there. Thank you so much. I want to bring in Alan Clendenin, a councilman at large in Tampa Bay, Florida. Councilman, thank you for joining us. I mean, you have been riding out the storm with your family. What are you experiencing right now?

ALAN CLENDENIN, COUNCILMAN AT LARGE, TAMPA, FLORIDA (via telephone): You know, it's crazy to see a storm of this magnitude come up the coast, be so far away from us, and still see the kind of devastation that we're witnessing in Tampa. Widespread flooding. I'm sure, tomorrow, we're going to wake up to catastrophic property damage. What would normally be a road looks more like an ocean now. There's water rising all over the city and continues to rise. I'm getting reports from across the city of devastating flooding.

COATES: What has it been like for your family knowing that this is happening? I mean, roads turned to oceans or ports of damage. It must be very, very scary.

CLENDENIN (via telephone): Well, you know, I think we being in Florida and, of course, I grew up in Florida where we kind of trained for this our whole lives, but I've lived in Tampa now for over 40 years, and I've never seen anything quite like this. This is -- this is one of those what they tell you is going to happen, and then it happens. It's kind of -- it's shocking to see it firsthand, to see the kind of rapid water rise and the type of damage that we see around the city.

COATES: What type of damage are you seeing or hearing about?

CLENDENIN (via telephone): A lot of widespread flooding of homes on where people are having three, four feet of water inside their houses, furniture floating. You know, you're seeing a lot of -- the typical stuff that you see in a normal storm. But the storm surge was nothing to mess with. It was exactly what they told us was coming. It is not every bit of the expectations. They told us what was coming in. It showed up.

[23:55:00]

COATES: Ahh, this is certainly not an incident of people crying wolf, and I certainly hope everyone will be safe. Councilman Alan Clendenin, thank you for joining us. We'll keep an eye out. Please stay safe.

More on this massive category storm Hurricane Helene, which just made landfall. You've heard from people. What they said was coming, it arrived. There's more in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This CNN Breaking News.

COATES: It's midnight on the East Coast as we continue our breaking new coverage of Hurricane Helene. It just made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm, and it has already turned deadly.

[00:00:05]

We just learned that at least three people have been killed, one in Florida --