October 10, 2024 • 5 mins
Hurricane Milton has made landfall in Florida, with over 5.5 million residents told to evacuate and officials calling the conditions 'unsurvivable'.
Alison Piotrowski is Channel Nine's U.S. correspondent and she joins Francesca Rudkin live from Florida.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Right.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
Hurricane Melton has made landfall in Florida, with over five
point five million residents told to evacuate and officials calling
the conditions unsurvivable. Allison Petrowski is Channel nine's uish correspondent
on the ground in Temper, and she is with us now.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Good evening, Yeah, good evening to you, Francesca. I'm just
hiding at the moment in my hotel room in Tampa,
getting away from the back end of this storm which
is still roaring through Milton, still raining down very much
so on the Gulf coast of Florida.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
What is the latest that you can tell us from
your room.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
The latest I can tell you is that one point
five million people without power at the moment. I've sat
through a couple of blackouts on and off here in
the last hour hour or so. And look, we've seen
record rainfall. So Saint Petersburg, which is one of the
cities just to the southwest of me, about ten kilometers away,
it received sixteen inches of rain in the storm, eight
(00:58):
inches of them in two hours, which makes it a
one in one thousand year rain event. I've sat through
a few of these storms, Francesca. Here on the Gulf coast.
The wind wasn't particularly bad. It got up to about
one hundred and ninety kilometers an hour. It was a
pretty sustained Category three storm, not the worst that I've felt.
But the rain, it was relentless. It was a deluge
(01:21):
that did not stop. It is bucketed down for a
good seven or eight hours. And the backside of that
is that we wait to see what the flooding looks like,
because normally when these hurricanes passed, we see a storm
surge afterwards, and that is the big fear where I
am in Florida, in Tampa, Florida, where there were originally
storm surges forecast of up to twelve fourteen feet, so
(01:43):
you'd imagine that's higher than the first story of most buildings.
So everyone was told to kind of stay above the
second floor of whatever hotel or whatever residential towel you
were staying on, and keep an eye on and hope
for the best.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Oh, that's really interesting. Even when the winds die down
and the rain ease is a little bit, Allison, you
don't just sort of hit out and go and you know,
assist the situation. You have to be really aware of
that of that storm set yeah, Okay.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Things don't just go back to normal. Yeah, sometimes it
can take hours. In fact, I've seen that, you know,
seventy two hours later the storm sturge surge really start
to rise up. It's an interesting phenomenon. And I guess
these Floridians who ride out so many of these hurricanes,
they are very used to it. But for us Aussies
and for Kiwi's, it's definitely something that we're not used
to seeing.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
I think first responders still suspended.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
They are, and it's complicated here where I am in Tampa.
The storm has died down enough that they can get
around if need be. But when it comes to those
barrier islands along the Gulf coast, those beautiful, beautiful islands
which are removed from the mainland and only connected by road,
those bridges were shut down a good ten hours ago
(02:56):
and they are yet to reopen. And they and those residents,
al those who decided to write it out, they were warned, hey,
have enough supplies for a week, have enough food and
water for a week, because it may take us that
long to get to you. So they had that warning.
A few of them did decide to write it out
and hopefully they are not in need of aid, because, yeah,
you're right, emergency services won't be able to get through
to them until we know the extent of the damage.
(03:19):
Until the sun comes up, which is still many many
hours away, we won't really know if anyone needs help
there and the true extent of Milton's force on that
side of Florida.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Yeah, it's a waiting game, isn't it. Do you know
how many people have ignored evacuation orders?
Speaker 1 (03:35):
No, we don't have an exact number. There was an
estimate around today from Tampa officials saying that they believe
ninety eight percent of the county here hadn't successfully evacuated.
Being on the ground yesterday, I was on Treasure Island,
one of those barrier islands. I went there because it
was hit by Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago,
and because of that, most residents said to me that
(03:56):
they were a big gun shy. They didn't want to
go through a second storm this close to get that
that to them was unprecedented, no matter how many storms
they had seen, so they decided to move. I did
talk to a handful that decided to stay, A retired
firefighter who told me, hey, I've sat through every one
of these storms. I've lived here for seventy years. I'm
not leaving. I've built this house, I've got a generator.
I'll be fine. I do plan to try and get
(04:17):
to him tomorrow to see if he's okay. But that
is the kind of attitude that we tend to see
from Floridians because they are so used to these hurricanes
every single summer, absolutely hammering them along that coast.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Allison, just quickly, how do you feel about Hurricane Leslie,
which has just been tuned into a category two storm
off the coast and the ocean there hitting your way.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Well, I've purposely put my blinkers on franchise.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Okay, or one hurricane at a time.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Yes, correct, that's right, that's right. Look, I think everyone
is so swept up with what Hurricane Milton is doing
right now that Leslie is an afterthought. That sometimes is
dangerous thinking, though, because often the ones are a little
bit of small category ones, category twos, they can suddenly
ferociously explode into something much bigger. But let's leave that
(05:08):
for a problem for night, doreg.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Allison. You worry about Milton, I'll worry about Leslie for you.
Thank you so much for your time. Was Allison Petrowski.
She is the Channel nine reporter in Florida. It is
twelve past five.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
For more from Hither Douplassy Allen Drive, listen live to
news talks it'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
Right.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
Hurricane Melton has made landfall in Florida, with over five
point five million residents told to evacuate and officials calling
the conditions unsurvivable. Allison Petrowski is Channel nine's uish correspondent
on the ground in Temper, and she is with us now.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Good evening, Yeah, good evening to you, Francesca. I'm just
hiding at the moment in my hotel room in Tampa,
getting away from the back end of this storm which
is still roaring through Milton, still raining down very much
so on the Gulf coast of Florida.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
What is the latest that you can tell us from
your room.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
The latest I can tell you is that one point
five million people without power at the moment. I've sat
through a couple of blackouts on and off here in
the last hour hour or so. And look, we've seen
record rainfall. So Saint Petersburg, which is one of the
cities just to the southwest of me, about ten kilometers away,
it received sixteen inches of rain in the storm, eight
(00:58):
inches of them in two hours, which makes it a
one in one thousand year rain event. I've sat through
a few of these storms, Francesca. Here on the Gulf coast.
The wind wasn't particularly bad. It got up to about
one hundred and ninety kilometers an hour. It was a
pretty sustained Category three storm, not the worst that I've felt.
But the rain, it was relentless. It was a deluge
(01:21):
that did not stop. It is bucketed down for a
good seven or eight hours. And the backside of that
is that we wait to see what the flooding looks like,
because normally when these hurricanes passed, we see a storm
surge afterwards, and that is the big fear where I
am in Florida, in Tampa, Florida, where there were originally
storm surges forecast of up to twelve fourteen feet, so
(01:43):
you'd imagine that's higher than the first story of most buildings.
So everyone was told to kind of stay above the
second floor of whatever hotel or whatever residential towel you
were staying on, and keep an eye on and hope
for the best.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Oh, that's really interesting. Even when the winds die down
and the rain ease is a little bit, Allison, you
don't just sort of hit out and go and you know,
assist the situation. You have to be really aware of
that of that storm set yeah, Okay.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Things don't just go back to normal. Yeah, sometimes it
can take hours. In fact, I've seen that, you know,
seventy two hours later the storm sturge surge really start
to rise up. It's an interesting phenomenon. And I guess
these Floridians who ride out so many of these hurricanes,
they are very used to it. But for us Aussies
and for Kiwi's, it's definitely something that we're not used
to seeing.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
I think first responders still suspended.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
They are, and it's complicated here where I am in Tampa.
The storm has died down enough that they can get
around if need be. But when it comes to those
barrier islands along the Gulf coast, those beautiful, beautiful islands
which are removed from the mainland and only connected by road,
those bridges were shut down a good ten hours ago
(02:56):
and they are yet to reopen. And they and those residents,
al those who decided to write it out, they were warned, hey,
have enough supplies for a week, have enough food and
water for a week, because it may take us that
long to get to you. So they had that warning.
A few of them did decide to write it out
and hopefully they are not in need of aid, because, yeah,
you're right, emergency services won't be able to get through
to them until we know the extent of the damage.
(03:19):
Until the sun comes up, which is still many many
hours away, we won't really know if anyone needs help
there and the true extent of Milton's force on that
side of Florida.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Yeah, it's a waiting game, isn't it. Do you know
how many people have ignored evacuation orders?
Speaker 1 (03:35):
No, we don't have an exact number. There was an
estimate around today from Tampa officials saying that they believe
ninety eight percent of the county here hadn't successfully evacuated.
Being on the ground yesterday, I was on Treasure Island,
one of those barrier islands. I went there because it
was hit by Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago,
and because of that, most residents said to me that
(03:56):
they were a big gun shy. They didn't want to
go through a second storm this close to get that
that to them was unprecedented, no matter how many storms
they had seen, so they decided to move. I did
talk to a handful that decided to stay, A retired
firefighter who told me, hey, I've sat through every one
of these storms. I've lived here for seventy years. I'm
not leaving. I've built this house, I've got a generator.
I'll be fine. I do plan to try and get
(04:17):
to him tomorrow to see if he's okay. But that
is the kind of attitude that we tend to see
from Floridians because they are so used to these hurricanes
every single summer, absolutely hammering them along that coast.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Allison, just quickly, how do you feel about Hurricane Leslie,
which has just been tuned into a category two storm
off the coast and the ocean there hitting your way.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Well, I've purposely put my blinkers on franchise.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Okay, or one hurricane at a time.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Yes, correct, that's right, that's right. Look, I think everyone
is so swept up with what Hurricane Milton is doing
right now that Leslie is an afterthought. That sometimes is
dangerous thinking, though, because often the ones are a little
bit of small category ones, category twos, they can suddenly
ferociously explode into something much bigger. But let's leave that
(05:08):
for a problem for night, doreg.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Allison. You worry about Milton, I'll worry about Leslie for you.
Thank you so much for your time. Was Allison Petrowski.
She is the Channel nine reporter in Florida. It is
twelve past five.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
For more from Hither Douplassy Allen Drive, listen live to
news talks it'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
Popular Podcasts
40s and Free Agents: NFL Draft Season
Daniel Jeremiah of Move the Sticks and Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Daily join forces to break down every team's needs this offseason.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.