Milton's storm surge could reach record-breaking levels. Here's what that looks like
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00:00One of the biggest concerns with Hurricane Milton is storm surge.
00:03The National Weather Service forecasting life-threatening storm surge levels here.
00:07So the basics.
00:08A storm surge is a rapid rise in water levels caused by strong winds pushing water onshore.
00:13In parts of Florida, we're talking 12 to 15 feet of water from this storm in a surge.
00:20And I want to give you an idea of what that really means beyond just the numbers.
00:25This shows you a storm surge of about two feet.
00:28At this level, low-lying coastal roads would be inundated with water.
00:33The next stage would be a surge of five to eight feet.
00:36This is enough to submerge cars.
00:39But remember, Milton is expected to bring much worse.
00:42Storm surge of 10 plus feet in places.
00:47And this is taller than a city bus.
00:50The average first floor of a commercial building is typically around 14 feet high.
00:55And Milton storm surge could reach a foot higher than that.
00:59So it is impossible to know with certainty at this point where this is all going to hit
01:04and when.
01:06But the places that are facing these catastrophic levels of surge are from Tampa on south.
01:11We're talking Sarasota, Venice, Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda.
01:15This is how high it could get there.
01:18And when you see the surge, this surge in relation to just an average human in a normal
01:25sized room, it is clear why officials are saying get out now.
01:30Yeah.
01:31And Kate, even with warnings like that and demonstrations like that, there are some people
01:36who are choosing to ride out the storm.
01:39With us now is Bridget Stone-Budd, who lives on Sanibel Island.
01:44And we should note, Sanibel was cut off from Hurricane Ian.
01:46I mean, you've been through things like this before, yet you were choosing to stay with
01:51storm surges that could reach well over 10 feet.
01:54Why did you make that decision?
01:59We don't.
02:00We don't really make a decision each time.
02:02It's just we just don't leave.
02:04We just don't leave our home.
02:07Why not?
02:08We haven't on any of them, Charlie, Irma, Helene, Ian.
02:17Why do you choose to stay?
02:19Why is it important for you to stay?
02:25I think the most important thing is that we know we won't be able to get back.
02:31That's the number one reason.
02:34Number two is for us, we would rather withstand the storm than live in an arena with 100 or
02:481,000 people or in motels, hotels with three dogs.
02:55It's just something that we've never...
02:57I don't want to say we don't fear the storm.
02:59We certainly fear the storms and the hurricanes.
03:04We just choose to ride it out.
03:10We just do.
03:12We've been through...
03:16Charlie was the first one I went through in 2004, and then Ian was definitely the worst
03:21because of the surge that we had never gotten before.
03:25We at this point had the highest of a 12-foot surge.
03:32I know that our house can withstand it.
03:35It's just a matter of when I finish up with you today, I've got to finish bringing everything
03:39up to our upper level.
03:42Talk to me about that.
03:43Where are you sitting right now?
03:4412 feet of storm surge.
03:47Would that come up to where you are?
03:49How do you prepare for something like this?
03:54Everything goes in my house, into the living room.
03:57I've got lots of product, et cetera, downstairs.
04:03Our porch that my husband built, we live out here on the porch.
04:12We have a house inside.
04:14The water with Ian came up to where our feet are on here.
04:21The surge came all the way up to the bottom of our porch.
04:28Our home, we got the spray and that kind of damage, but we didn't get the surge in
04:35our home up here.
04:37It could come in even higher this time.
04:39What does worry you the most?
04:44What worries me the most?
04:51I think what worries me the most, even though I don't think it will happen, but what worries
04:55me the most is losing a pylon because I look at what has happened for Helene, those houses
05:03that got swept away down rushing waters.
05:07I feel safe up here on our stilted home, but if we were to lose a pylon and the house wasn't
05:18sturdy, that scares me the most.
05:20What used to scare me the most was the surge.
05:24Listen, Bridgestone Bud, we do wish you the best.
05:27I know that you try to help out with others who stayed.
05:31You did after Ian, you know, again, just wish you the best.
05:34Please stay safe over the next 24 hours.
05:37Moments ago, Orlando International Airport has suspended all commercial operations.
05:42It is the latest in what has now become a long list of Florida airports to have to shut
05:47down as Hurricane Milton is barreling towards the state.
05:51People planning to ride out the storm now only have hours to gather any last supplies
05:55and they really need to hunker down no matter where they are.
05:58Let's get over to CNN's Victor Blackwell.
06:01He's he's in Orlando, where also conditions seem to be deteriorating.
06:06What do you see and what are you hearing from people there?
06:08Yeah, Kate, there's been some steady rain here for several hours and the steady stream
06:16of people coming to this Home Depot right off I-4 to get the last minute supplies.
06:20The flashlights, the plywood, the battery generators.
06:23I spoke with the manager of this store just a couple of minutes ago and he says that they
06:27have not run out of those supplies.
06:30But this store will be closing at 3 p.m. as the worst of Milton comes ashore.
06:34And this really is an interesting place in Florida where you have both people who are
06:39trying to get away from this part of the state, tourists from all over the world are here
06:44for the parks, but also evacuees who've come here from those Zone A evacuation spaces,
06:50the Tampas, the St. Pete, to get away from the storm surge.
06:54Now, in Orlando, storm surge really is not the major concern.
06:57There will be hurricane force winds here, so there will be downed trees and power outages
07:03are certainly expected.
07:04It is the flooding.
07:05It's the rain.
07:06And so central Florida can handle a rainy day maybe better than other parts of the state,
07:12but it's the amount of rain.
07:13Up to 15 inches forecast for this area.
07:17And the storm water control systems, the streams, Lake Davis, which flooded heavily in isolated
07:23communities in Ian in 2022, just cannot accommodate that.
07:27So city workers have been out trying to clear the drains, prepare for all this rain.
07:33We know that Orange County has opened several high schools and elementary schools for shelters.
07:39They've had sandbag operations for several days, although those have ended now.
07:45We know that Mayor Buddy Dyer will be working at the top of the hour, meeting with the emergency
07:50operations managers to make sure that the city is prepared for the worst of the storm.
07:57That's the EOC is going to be opening at four o'clock and they'll be around the clock ready
08:02to respond to any of those emergencies.
08:04Fire and rescue.
08:05Once those winds get too strong, about 40 miles per hour, consistent and stained wind
08:10winds, they will not be able to go out and respond to some of those emergencies.
08:15So they're standing by preparing.
08:17This is a choreographed dance that they do, but not for a storm of this size and strength
08:24in a very long time.
08:26Kate.
08:27Yeah.
08:28Victor, thank you so much for being there.