October 9, 2024 • 5 mins
Hurricane Milton has made landfall in Florida, with winds hitting almost 200 kilometres an hour and over one million households without power.
Tampa, St Petersburg, and Clearwater have already had 150 to 300mm of rain.
U.S. correspondent Mitch McCann joins Matt Heath and Tyler Adams live from Jacksonville, Florida with the latest.
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 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from News Talk Z'B. Follow
this and our wide range of podcast now on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Crossing live to our US correspondent, Mitch McCann. As we
know more than a million Florida homes with our power.
As Hurricane Milton brings catastrophically pounds the region, the category
three storm has thrown out winds are nearly hitting two
hundred k's an hour. Mitch, how you doing this afternoon?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
I'm good. How are you guys going? Yeah, we're good.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Very calm here, mature, very carm indeed.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
I bet it is. Look.
Speaker 5 (00:41):
This storm arrived at cest Key on Florida's west coast
just after midday New Zealand time. The winds have been
registered at about one hundred and ninety kilometers an hour
and less than an hour after it made landfall. The
number of customers that don't have power in Florida is
now at one point one million so far. Also, one
(01:02):
hundred and twenty five homes have already been destroyed by
the hurricane.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
That's according to the Emergency Management.
Speaker 5 (01:08):
To Hear and Forecast has warned that the storm surge
could reach up to thirteen feet in some parts.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Of Florida, so this is quite the disaster already.
Speaker 5 (01:17):
Of course, it's very dark here, it's late at night,
so we probably won't know the full extent of the
damage until the sunrise early in the morning.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
Is there any idea if it's looking better or worse
than expected.
Speaker 5 (01:28):
At the moment, I think it is exactly what they anticipated.
I've been watching on the plane I've just arrived in Florida.
A number of news reporters standing now on the standing
on the boardwalks of.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Various towns trying not to get blown away.
Speaker 5 (01:42):
It seems like most people have actually heeded the calls
to evacuate. Millions of people have evacuated Florida, and although
I did see one man in Tampa, he's decided to
stay on his boat.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
They've called him Lieutenant Dan.
Speaker 5 (01:56):
I'm not sure if he's still alive or where he is,
but he was refusing to leave.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
And there are a couple of people like that.
Speaker 5 (02:01):
But the biggest issue in Florida since Hurrican Helene last
week and now Hurrican Milton now is misinformation and has
been a real problem for the White House.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
And it seems like Donald Trump hasn't been helping.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
How prepared are they because obviously they've just been hit recently.
Speaker 5 (02:19):
Well, I think the thing to understand, of course, is
that Florida the are very used to this sort of thing,
So some people try and stay and ride it out
because they know how to sort of deal with this
and protect their homes. But I think people have had
a huge amount of warning because there was a hurricane
a couple of weeks ago that wiped through here, really
affected North Carolina. More than two hundred and thirty people died,
(02:41):
So many people have already been away, They've already prepared
for the first hurricane. So I guess in some ways
it might make it easier because preparations have already been
in place. But it's going to be interesting tomorrow to
see how this thing washes up because Joe Biden, the President,
earlier this week told Floridians that it could be the
worst hurricane to hit this region in one hundred years.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
But we'll see how things fall tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
You mentioned their match, but of misinformation at the moment,
polytical is this thing getting this close to the US election.
Speaker 5 (03:12):
This has become hugely political. Hurricane Helene, which came in
just over a week ago, Donald Trump was one of
the first people to arrive and the disasters owned to
meet people and to talk about the emergency.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Then Joe Biden came, Then Kamala Harris came, and.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
There's been a bit of a frack har between Kamala
Harris and the Governor of Florida, Ron De Santis, because
he hasn't been picking up her phone calls, so that's
become a bit of a story as well. But he
sees the only reason she's calling is because of the election.
She's never called before when there's been a disaster. But
as I said, the biggest issue here is misinformation. So
(03:46):
the White Houses had to go on this social media
campaign to try and tell people what are falsehoods and
what aren't. They've even signed up and made their own
readit account to try and get this sort of thing
across these One Florida congress woman, or she might be
from Georgia, actually, Marjorie Taylor Green.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
You might have heard of her.
Speaker 5 (04:05):
She suggested that someone might be controlling the weather, and
another Florida congressman has said that she needs to get
her head examined. So these are the sort of things
that people are being told and in fact, you know,
we all might think it's a little bit crazy, but
people actually do believe these sort of things when that's
what they're hearing from their local representatives in a lot
of Republican states.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Yeah, huge amount of politics from both sides. How are
people actually evacuating? Are they evacuating by car? Are they
flying out of there? Because it's a huge amount of
people to move in such a short amount of time.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
It is they've had a couple of days.
Speaker 5 (04:37):
I mean, we've seen pictures of the highways absolutely clogged
over the last couple of days.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Are heading out of Florida.
Speaker 5 (04:43):
We're in Jacksonville, which is north of where the storm
has just hit now, and it is almost impossible to
find accommodation. So I think what people have done is
they've driven south, or they've driven north but stayed in
the state.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
But the difficulty is for people flying.
Speaker 5 (04:58):
Anywhere in Florida at the moment, a lot of the
flights have been canceled. Another thing to note in terms
of evacuations is that a couple of hours ago, the
governor here has said, well, there's no point you're not.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Going to get out. It's time to shelter in place.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
The time has finished for evacuating, so anyone that wants
to leave, it's too late and they'll have to hunk
it down wherever they can.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Mitch, thank you very much. Look after yourself, stay safe,
You've got a big couple of days.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Ahead of you. Thank you, fellows, appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
That is US correspondent Mitch McCann.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
For more from News Talks at b Listen live on
air or online, and keep our shows with you wherever
you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to a podcast from News Talk Z'B. Follow
this and our wide range of podcast now on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Crossing live to our US correspondent, Mitch McCann. As we
know more than a million Florida homes with our power.
As Hurricane Milton brings catastrophically pounds the region, the category
three storm has thrown out winds are nearly hitting two
hundred k's an hour. Mitch, how you doing this afternoon?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
I'm good. How are you guys going? Yeah, we're good.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Very calm here, mature, very carm indeed.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
I bet it is. Look.
Speaker 5 (00:41):
This storm arrived at cest Key on Florida's west coast
just after midday New Zealand time. The winds have been
registered at about one hundred and ninety kilometers an hour
and less than an hour after it made landfall. The
number of customers that don't have power in Florida is
now at one point one million so far. Also, one
(01:02):
hundred and twenty five homes have already been destroyed by
the hurricane.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
That's according to the Emergency Management.
Speaker 5 (01:08):
To Hear and Forecast has warned that the storm surge
could reach up to thirteen feet in some parts.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Of Florida, so this is quite the disaster already.
Speaker 5 (01:17):
Of course, it's very dark here, it's late at night,
so we probably won't know the full extent of the
damage until the sunrise early in the morning.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
Is there any idea if it's looking better or worse
than expected.
Speaker 5 (01:28):
At the moment, I think it is exactly what they anticipated.
I've been watching on the plane I've just arrived in Florida.
A number of news reporters standing now on the standing
on the boardwalks of.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Various towns trying not to get blown away.
Speaker 5 (01:42):
It seems like most people have actually heeded the calls
to evacuate. Millions of people have evacuated Florida, and although
I did see one man in Tampa, he's decided to
stay on his boat.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
They've called him Lieutenant Dan.
Speaker 5 (01:56):
I'm not sure if he's still alive or where he is,
but he was refusing to leave.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
And there are a couple of people like that.
Speaker 5 (02:01):
But the biggest issue in Florida since Hurrican Helene last
week and now Hurrican Milton now is misinformation and has
been a real problem for the White House.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
And it seems like Donald Trump hasn't been helping.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
How prepared are they because obviously they've just been hit recently.
Speaker 5 (02:19):
Well, I think the thing to understand, of course, is
that Florida the are very used to this sort of thing,
So some people try and stay and ride it out
because they know how to sort of deal with this
and protect their homes. But I think people have had
a huge amount of warning because there was a hurricane
a couple of weeks ago that wiped through here, really
affected North Carolina. More than two hundred and thirty people died,
(02:41):
So many people have already been away, They've already prepared
for the first hurricane. So I guess in some ways
it might make it easier because preparations have already been
in place. But it's going to be interesting tomorrow to
see how this thing washes up because Joe Biden, the President,
earlier this week told Floridians that it could be the
worst hurricane to hit this region in one hundred years.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
But we'll see how things fall tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
You mentioned their match, but of misinformation at the moment,
polytical is this thing getting this close to the US election.
Speaker 5 (03:12):
This has become hugely political. Hurricane Helene, which came in
just over a week ago, Donald Trump was one of
the first people to arrive and the disasters owned to
meet people and to talk about the emergency.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Then Joe Biden came, Then Kamala Harris came, and.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
There's been a bit of a frack har between Kamala
Harris and the Governor of Florida, Ron De Santis, because
he hasn't been picking up her phone calls, so that's
become a bit of a story as well. But he
sees the only reason she's calling is because of the election.
She's never called before when there's been a disaster. But
as I said, the biggest issue here is misinformation. So
(03:46):
the White Houses had to go on this social media
campaign to try and tell people what are falsehoods and
what aren't. They've even signed up and made their own
readit account to try and get this sort of thing
across these One Florida congress woman, or she might be
from Georgia, actually, Marjorie Taylor Green.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
You might have heard of her.
Speaker 5 (04:05):
She suggested that someone might be controlling the weather, and
another Florida congressman has said that she needs to get
her head examined. So these are the sort of things
that people are being told and in fact, you know,
we all might think it's a little bit crazy, but
people actually do believe these sort of things when that's
what they're hearing from their local representatives in a lot
of Republican states.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Yeah, huge amount of politics from both sides. How are
people actually evacuating? Are they evacuating by car? Are they
flying out of there? Because it's a huge amount of
people to move in such a short amount of time.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
It is they've had a couple of days.
Speaker 5 (04:37):
I mean, we've seen pictures of the highways absolutely clogged
over the last couple of days.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Are heading out of Florida.
Speaker 5 (04:43):
We're in Jacksonville, which is north of where the storm
has just hit now, and it is almost impossible to
find accommodation. So I think what people have done is
they've driven south, or they've driven north but stayed in
the state.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
But the difficulty is for people flying.
Speaker 5 (04:58):
Anywhere in Florida at the moment, a lot of the
flights have been canceled. Another thing to note in terms
of evacuations is that a couple of hours ago, the
governor here has said, well, there's no point you're not.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Going to get out. It's time to shelter in place.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
The time has finished for evacuating, so anyone that wants
to leave, it's too late and they'll have to hunk
it down wherever they can.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Mitch, thank you very much. Look after yourself, stay safe,
You've got a big couple of days.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Ahead of you. Thank you, fellows, appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
That is US correspondent Mitch McCann.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
For more from News Talks at b Listen live on
air or online, and keep our shows with you wherever
you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
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.