WEBVTT - Hurricane Dorian September 6th 6:30pm. Storm on the Move

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<v Speaker 1>We're launching this podcast to give you updated headlines and

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<v Speaker 1>stories as we have them from across the Southeast in

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<v Speaker 1>this critical time. Hopefully this will be helpful to you

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<v Speaker 1>and your family. I'm Rory O'Neill. When Hurricane Dorian stalled

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<v Speaker 1>over the Bahamas for two days, it just pounded the

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<v Speaker 1>area with wind gusts over two hundred miles an hour

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<v Speaker 1>and feet of rain, And after skirting the Florida coast

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<v Speaker 1>and clipping the Carolinas, the storm is on the move

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<v Speaker 1>now moving over twenty miles an hour away from the

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<v Speaker 1>US towards Canada and finally just falling apart. But as

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<v Speaker 1>Dorian moves away, we're getting a better look at what's

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<v Speaker 1>been left behind in the Bahamas again and everybody set

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<v Speaker 1>up in the ceiling for two days of water in

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<v Speaker 1>my house. I right now I'm added into the city

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<v Speaker 1>of refuge, So keep us in the Bahamas. Everybody's like

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<v Speaker 1>in a state of shop right now. We lost everything,

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<v Speaker 1>So right now we just say, right now, one guy

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<v Speaker 1>has more experience cleaning up after a hurricane than any other,

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<v Speaker 1>Craig few Gap. He used to run emergency management for

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<v Speaker 1>the State of Florida. That was during the busy hurricane

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<v Speaker 1>seasons of two thousand four and two thousand five. Oh

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<v Speaker 1>five was the year they ran out of letters at

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<v Speaker 1>the National Hurricane Center. So after working in Tallahassee, he

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<v Speaker 1>was tapped by President Obama to be his FEMA director,

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<v Speaker 1>And there were plenty of disasters on his watch then too,

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<v Speaker 1>but few. Gate, former firefighter, is a tough love kind

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<v Speaker 1>of a guy. He'll tell it to you straight and

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<v Speaker 1>he won't sugarcoat it. People think you're gonna get everything done.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a disaster folks. Right now. We're just trying to

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<v Speaker 1>keep them a lot. They're not happy because they don't

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<v Speaker 1>have eyes. Good if they're not happy, they're breathing, they

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<v Speaker 1>have an airway, they're communicating, and they're alive. I have

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<v Speaker 1>a acomplished my primary goal. That's from a speech that

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<v Speaker 1>Fegate gave to Verizon workers. But he's been in the

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<v Speaker 1>field plenty too, in situations like Hurricane Maria, when the

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<v Speaker 1>death toll kept climbing, reaching about three thousand a quarter

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<v Speaker 1>to some reports. And I think that's the thing you

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<v Speaker 1>have to focus on, is what are we counting h

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<v Speaker 1>If you look at just direct impacts in Florida, we

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<v Speaker 1>had fewer people killed by the storms than we did

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<v Speaker 1>had dying after the storm. When you look at what

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<v Speaker 1>happened to Maria, you look at the disruption of infrastructure,

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<v Speaker 1>people cut off, running out of critical supplies, running out

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<v Speaker 1>of critical medical equipment, not being able to get access

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<v Speaker 1>to medical equipment and proper treatments. That death toll makes sense.

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<v Speaker 1>It's how we count. And I think the sematics doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>really do justice to the lives loss and more importantly,

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<v Speaker 1>why did people die? Because if we don't understand that

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<v Speaker 1>lesson of what we can do differently, we're not going

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<v Speaker 1>to change the outcome in the future. And Puerto Ricans

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<v Speaker 1>feared a repeat of Hurricane Maria as Hurricane Dorian came

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<v Speaker 1>charging towards their small island, But instead Dorian slipped by

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<v Speaker 1>hid in the island with just thirty mile winds and

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<v Speaker 1>three to four inches of rain, causing no real damage

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<v Speaker 1>at all. And that's why forecasters have that cone of uncertainty.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a way to hedge their bets in case some

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<v Speaker 1>system decides to make a quick turn to the left

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<v Speaker 1>or right, north or south. I remember back in two

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<v Speaker 1>thousand four, Hurricane Charlie was making a Bee Line towards

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<v Speaker 1>what was supposed to be Tampa Bay. I was standing

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<v Speaker 1>there waiting for the storm to arrive late at night

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<v Speaker 1>Friday of August, as a matter of fact, in St.

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<v Speaker 1>Pete Beach in the dark with some blustery winds, and

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't Charlie go and take a sudden turn to the right.

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<v Speaker 1>At the time, I had a house in Orlando. In fact,

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<v Speaker 1>I had just bought it and hadn't even made my

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<v Speaker 1>first mortgage payment. So here I am standing in St.

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<v Speaker 1>Pete Beach, drives a bone and now my house is

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<v Speaker 1>getting hit with winds of a hundred miles an hour.

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<v Speaker 1>I hadn't even taken time to bring in the grill

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<v Speaker 1>or a potted plant because the storm wasn't supposed to

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<v Speaker 1>go that way at all. So and I made the

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<v Speaker 1>harrowing drive back through the storm along Interstate four to

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<v Speaker 1>get back to my house. Sun was coming up just

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<v Speaker 1>as I got there. I remember pulling into the driveway

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<v Speaker 1>seeing shingles all over my lawn, and really I just

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<v Speaker 1>almost was in tears at that point. So as I

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<v Speaker 1>looked at those shingles on the lawn and where they

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<v Speaker 1>had hit the house and left some pock marks, and

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<v Speaker 1>scratch marks all along the paint. I noticed that the

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<v Speaker 1>tiles were brown, and then I looked up and I

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<v Speaker 1>realized the tiles on my roof were black. My roof

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<v Speaker 1>was fine. It was the neighbor's roof who was gone.

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<v Speaker 1>But I hadn't prepared, and in the end just got

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<v Speaker 1>pretty lucky because my house wasn't damaged by Hurricane Charlie.

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<v Speaker 1>Plenty of others were like the neighbor who had to

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<v Speaker 1>get a whole new roof, and I didn't even lose

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<v Speaker 1>power in our neighborhood. I was the envy of actually

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<v Speaker 1>everyone I knew, since Hurricane Charlie knocked out power for

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<v Speaker 1>weeks to some folks had friends coming over to my

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<v Speaker 1>house just to do the laundry, and we had cookouts

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<v Speaker 1>just so they could get some refrigeration and air conditioning.

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<v Speaker 1>That's something else you don't think of when a hurricane

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<v Speaker 1>rolls around. After it knocks out the power, there you

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<v Speaker 1>are in that floorida heat, usually over at ninety degrees,

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<v Speaker 1>with humidity, no electricity, and a lot of sweat because

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<v Speaker 1>there's no air conditioning. And yes, you can groan about it,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's actually dangerous too. Just a couple of years ago.

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<v Speaker 1>It was a different hurricane that knocked out the power

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<v Speaker 1>in Fort Lauderdale. That's where a nursing home lost power

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<v Speaker 1>and fourteen people died. The medical examiner blamed twelve of

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<v Speaker 1>those deaths on the heat because there was no generator,

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<v Speaker 1>no backup, no plan B Now, for people who work

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<v Speaker 1>at that nursing home or facing criminal charges, it could

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<v Speaker 1>be well over a year before those cases actually go

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<v Speaker 1>to trial if they do. And the state did pass

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<v Speaker 1>new regulations requiring nursing homes to have backup systems, either

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<v Speaker 1>generators or plans to evacuate residents just in case the

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<v Speaker 1>power goes out and there's no more a c A

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<v Speaker 1>lot of nursing homes have complied, but others are asking

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<v Speaker 1>for a delay and many patients are still vulnerable. It's

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<v Speaker 1>something the state of Florida still grapples with. In North Carolina,

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<v Speaker 1>some of the building restrictions that were put into place

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<v Speaker 1>after earlier hurricanes are being eased. They may be having

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<v Speaker 1>second thoughts now after Hurricane Dorian clipped a patteris with

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<v Speaker 1>wind gusts around ninety miles an hour. The damage assessments

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<v Speaker 1>will be coming out in the next day or so,

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<v Speaker 1>but there will be lots of beach erosion and lots

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<v Speaker 1>of clean up to perform. Disaster planning can be complicated.

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<v Speaker 1>It's easy when it's a family of four and their

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<v Speaker 1>solid incomes. They have that SUV. They can load up

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<v Speaker 1>and go to a friend's house or book a hotel

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<v Speaker 1>a hundred miles away and be just fine. They're easy.

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<v Speaker 1>But what happens when people have extended relatives who need

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<v Speaker 1>medical care, a baby and infant, someone who's pregnant, someone

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<v Speaker 1>with diabetes or another chronic condition, maybe being on oxygen,

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<v Speaker 1>have to have electricity all the time, And what do

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<v Speaker 1>you do about the family dog, the family cat, the

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<v Speaker 1>family fish, maybe a turtle, maybe a ferret, maybe even

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<v Speaker 1>a horse. That's more common than you think. And evacuating

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<v Speaker 1>isn't always cheap. You assume a person has a car,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe they need public transportation, Maybe they have no where

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<v Speaker 1>else to go, maybe their new in town. Maybe maybe

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<v Speaker 1>maybe there are just endless possibilities. And these are endless

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<v Speaker 1>concerns faced by emergency managers at the local level every

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<v Speaker 1>time there's this warm just like Hurricane Dorian. Look at

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<v Speaker 1>the situation now in the Bahamas. Thousands of people, perhaps

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<v Speaker 1>tens of thousands of people permanently homeless. Where do they go?

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<v Speaker 1>The United States is just a short flight away, but

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<v Speaker 1>who pays? Do you let them in the country? Do

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<v Speaker 1>they even have a photo? I d And do you

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<v Speaker 1>break up a family because one member does and a

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<v Speaker 1>child does not? The point is, disasters are not one

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<v Speaker 1>size fits all, and while it's good to give a

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<v Speaker 1>case of water or donate diapers or other baby supplies,

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<v Speaker 1>that barely scratches the surface. And there are always new

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<v Speaker 1>disasters and new distractions. You may have forgotten. It was

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<v Speaker 1>only a year ago that the Florida Pamhandle was battered

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<v Speaker 1>by Hurricane Michael, another Cat five storm system. The area

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<v Speaker 1>near Mexico Beach essentially flattened and needs a total rebuild.

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<v Speaker 1>But it's not in the headlines much anymore, and next

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<v Speaker 1>week marks the peak of the hurricane season. There's a

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<v Speaker 1>lot more to go. The annual storm season runs through

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<v Speaker 1>No will continue to update this feed with stories on

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<v Speaker 1>Hurricane Dorian until then, Stay safe. I'm Rory O'Neill.