Speaker 1: Bill Cunningham, the Great American. Welcome this Wednesday afternoon the
Speaker 1: Tri State. Great weather here, but terrible weather in southwest
Speaker 1: Florida and more. And you've heard all the weather reports.
Speaker 1: I'm obsessing over it because of the greatness of iHeartMedia
Speaker 1: and Tony Bender. They've built out for me a wonderful
Speaker 1: studio in southwest Florida, so I can do a few
Speaker 1: shows from down there, especially on Sunday night. But nonetheless,
Speaker 1: there's a panic mode going on because there's some fatigue
Speaker 1: setting and I'm ready to panic. Bill ver Dunk is
Speaker 1: one of the top one or two real estate agents,
Speaker 1: and call your county, also Lee County. He's headquartered right
Speaker 1: there in Naples, Florida. Bill ver Dunk, Welcome again to
Speaker 1: the Bill Cunningham Show. I know your wife is deep
Speaker 1: connections to the Tri State coming from northern Kentucky. But
Speaker 1: can you tell the American people this Wednesday afternoon, what's
Speaker 1: happening now in Naples, Florida, what's happening in Lee County,
Speaker 1: what's happening in Sarasota, what's happening on Cedar Key, what's
Speaker 1: happening everywhere in southwest Florida. Give us a full report.
Speaker 2: Full report. Is everyone's been prepping for this since Sunday.
Speaker 2: There's been more prep than I've ever seen for hurricanes.
Speaker 2: People are stand bag hurricane shuttered, they are moving furniture,
Speaker 2: they're putting everything on blocks. There's been a lot of
Speaker 2: prep for this storm. So it could be a big one.
Speaker 2: And you know, nobody's taking anything lately here right now.
Speaker 1: As far as what happened with Helene, there was a
Speaker 1: little bit of an effect, but I watched Fox New, CNN,
Speaker 1: the weather channels. People are going nuts. There's entire communities
Speaker 1: in the Sarasota area. Theater key wiped out completely, and
Speaker 1: now here two three weeks later a similar events taking
Speaker 1: place that might be worse. Is there a sense of
Speaker 1: hurricane fatigue happening in southwest Florida?
Speaker 2: You know, it's the price of paradise down here, if
Speaker 2: you're going to be down here. Hurricanes have been happening
Speaker 2: for thousands of years. I mean, you're not stopping them.
Speaker 2: They're going to keep coming. You know, if you live
Speaker 2: on the world and you prepared and prepared and you're
Speaker 2: in a flood zone, I mean I have customers calling me, Hey,
Speaker 2: if we get through this, I'm going to think about
Speaker 2: selling and moving a little bit inland, you know. But
Speaker 2: other people are going to move right back on the
Speaker 2: water because people like being on the coast, they like
Speaker 2: being at the beach, and you as soon as it
Speaker 2: gets cooled up north, they're coming back down.
Speaker 1: As far as you're you have deep connections to the
Speaker 1: tri State through your wife and thanks to that character.
Speaker 1: And tell the American people you live on a little
Speaker 1: tributary called the Gordon River, very close to Bears Paul.
Speaker 1: In fact, it's on the border. And the last time
Speaker 1: you had some flooding happening with Ian. Explain what happened
Speaker 1: with Ian, how it relates to Milton.
Speaker 2: Well Ian and Milton looked very very similar. It's coming
Speaker 2: in on a track north of here, and it's the backside,
Speaker 2: the dirty side of the storm that creates the surge
Speaker 2: and the river. I tell you what. Right now, the
Speaker 2: real news is it has been raining here for three
Speaker 2: days straight. Everything is super saturated most statues I've ever
Speaker 2: seen it. What happens is when the tide comes in
Speaker 2: and pushes against that river, it creates the flooding pushing outward.
Speaker 2: I mean that tributary drains about one hundred miles inland.
Speaker 2: I mean it goes all over the place and drain
Speaker 2: thousands of new communities, and it just it creates a
Speaker 2: lot of back pressure, goes into Naples Bay and then
Speaker 2: pushes out. The same thing happens in Lee County on
Speaker 2: the Clusahachie, and that's even a bigger river. And you
Speaker 2: know that's what happened to. The storm starts come in,
Speaker 2: the rivers push outward, and there's there's so much standing
Speaker 2: water right now pre hurricane. Have never seen this much water,
Speaker 2: and since I've been down here for the last twenty
Speaker 2: two years, So.
Speaker 3: Let's focus on that.
Speaker 1: I watched CNN this morning and they had the reporter
Speaker 1: standing in and around Fifth Avenue the man dragged there
Speaker 1: in which they're about ankle deep in water as we speak,
Speaker 1: because of the eight inches of rain that has fallen
Speaker 1: the past three days.
Speaker 3: Has that can you recall.
Speaker 1: Whether it was Ian or whether it was Helene, that
Speaker 1: you had large standing water in Naples and in Collier
Speaker 1: County before the hurricane.
Speaker 2: Cane never had this much standing water before the hurricane.
Speaker 2: I mean it has been raining for days straight. There
Speaker 2: is they were coming down my street yesterday with the
Speaker 2: pump truck trying to pump out the ditches to keep
Speaker 2: the sewers flowing. I mean, there there is more never
Speaker 2: I've never seen that before. There's there is more standing water.
Speaker 2: I mean, there's a lot of water coming down those
Speaker 2: rivers against the storm surge. So I mean that's the
Speaker 2: big question, is it's going to push out. And if
Speaker 2: this thing hits at high tide, which is about four
Speaker 2: oh seven in the morning's supposed to be two point
Speaker 2: at eight seven feet above mean low tide when it's hitting,
Speaker 2: it's the backside that brings the storm, and when it
Speaker 2: first hits, it typically pushes water out. But the way
Speaker 2: this is looking, it's going to push water out up
Speaker 2: in Tampa and Sarasota, and then it's gonna come in
Speaker 2: coming afterward. And it's that I'm shore wind that pushes
Speaker 2: the water out, and it's going to fight the rivers.
Speaker 2: And I'm expecting I'm expecting a major storm surge.
Speaker 1: And Bill Verdonk to hide tight as four oh seven am.
Speaker 1: What time will this morning or tonight? I guess tonight
Speaker 1: early morning. Ours is the major impact of Milton, say
Speaker 1: in Lee County, then in Sarasota County, have many friends
Speaker 1: in Sarasota that have homes there. And one of the
Speaker 1: guys that got a hold of his insurance carrier and
Speaker 1: the insurance expired on his home on October the first.
Speaker 1: And they're not writing new insurance in the state of Florida.
Speaker 1: Like a good neighbor, State Farm is not there. And
Speaker 1: State Farm said, we're not writing any new policies. Have
Speaker 1: you seen that goese of your experiences in real estate
Speaker 1: and insurance companies are now leaving Florida.
Speaker 2: Well, we've had a lot of companies lee Florida, and
Speaker 2: we've had a lot of new companies move into Florida.
Speaker 2: And so what happened is just called it hurricane in
Speaker 2: a box. Whenever there's a name storm in a box.
Speaker 2: They stopped writing new insurance. So the best advice is
Speaker 2: never let your insurance expire when there's a hurricane coming.
Speaker 2: Keep your kid. They have to renew you, but do
Speaker 2: not let it expire. All my real estate contracts have
Speaker 2: a they have a clause in them which was put
Speaker 2: in during these storms so they can't force people to
Speaker 2: close on a damaged house or without insurance that you
Speaker 2: have seven more days after insurance and stated to close
Speaker 2: on a house. So I mean, you know, if he
Speaker 2: let his insurance go or wasn't able to get it.
Speaker 2: I mean, we had this happened last We had this
Speaker 2: happened last week with Ali and they stopped writing insurance.
Speaker 2: They opened insurance up on Monday and Kylier in Lee
Speaker 2: County and they closed it. They closed it up on Friday,
Speaker 2: so there was a window to write.
Speaker 1: You got five days to ensure your million dollar property. Unbelievable, unbelievable. Hey,
Speaker 1: what about emergency. There's been an emergency declared in Lee County,
Speaker 1: Sarasota and also Charlotte and also Naples, and you're physically present.
Speaker 1: Can you explain why there's an emergency being declared yet.
Speaker 2: You're still present right now? There's a tornado warning came
Speaker 2: in right before you call me, so that thenado. There's
Speaker 2: tornado setting down, there's wind. I mean, this storm, this
Speaker 2: storm is actually starting. And the crazy thing is it
Speaker 2: doesn't look any different in the last three days as
Speaker 2: it's been pouring here.
Speaker 1: As far as the status, as far as leaving, what
Speaker 1: happens if you declare a state of emergency, I know
Speaker 1: there's thousands and thousands of men and women not leaving,
Speaker 1: including mugs. I love mugs and Tony from Soprano from
Speaker 1: New Jersey.
Speaker 3: Those guys aren't leaving. You're not leaving.
Speaker 1: What happens if you have a crisis And my number one,
Speaker 1: why aren't you leaving?
Speaker 2: Well, my house is eight feet above sea level approximately,
Speaker 2: and I'd rather it's a concrete blockhouse that storm shutters.
Speaker 2: I got a boat on the side of the house.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm fifty years old. I can walk out
Speaker 2: of there if I need to. I've got a boat
Speaker 2: on the side of the house. I can drive out
Speaker 2: of there if I need to. It's set right to
Speaker 2: the house. And I'm not leaving because I don't want
Speaker 2: to go. I'd rather fight the water. I flood dams.
Speaker 2: I'll spraypone my door closed. You know, it's to stop
Speaker 2: the water. You know. I don't want to do that
Speaker 2: until I have to, and so you know, you know,
Speaker 2: and quite frankly, I like riding the storm out. I mean,
Speaker 2: I find it interesting. The state of emergency means if
Speaker 2: you're in that area, they will not come and help
Speaker 2: you until the storm is over. They put a ban
Speaker 2: on when the wind hits fifty miles an hour. They
Speaker 2: won't dispatch the emergency vehicles and they won't help you.
Speaker 2: It means you are on your own. And so if
Speaker 2: they you know, it's funny the news changes. They tell
Speaker 2: you don't have to lead. They said, at this point,
Speaker 2: you're staying, and they start issuing an entirely new set
Speaker 2: of news. It's actually very very interesting. It goes from
Speaker 2: we know you're it goes from get out of here
Speaker 2: to we know you're not leaving, and this is what
Speaker 2: you should do. And you know, hopefully you got some
Speaker 2: good neighbors and a team. But if you're older, if
Speaker 2: you have health problems, if you have issues, you should
Speaker 2: not be here.
Speaker 1: Well, I have a call coming up later with Mayor
Speaker 1: Dan Allers, who's the mayor of Fort Myers Beach, and
Speaker 1: I talked to him yesterday and the mayor told me, well,
Speaker 1: you know, Ian was terrible. We had a five or
Speaker 1: six foot storm surge went over the top of Santa Bell,
Speaker 1: went over the top of my community of Fort Myers Beach,
Speaker 1: and so we started to rebuild. It took us two years,
Speaker 1: and then two weeks ago we had Helene had two
Speaker 1: to three feet of storm surge over the top of
Speaker 1: Fort Myers Beach, over the top of the Keys, over
Speaker 1: the top of.
Speaker 3: Santa Bell.
Speaker 1: He said, Now we're anticipating an eight to twelve foot
Speaker 1: surge over the top of Fort Myers Beach. Would you
Speaker 1: buy real estate on Fort Myers Beach?
Speaker 2: You know I would buy. You know, Fort Myers Beach
Speaker 2: is tough, you know if you're in. But I have
Speaker 2: to tell you, Southwest Florida preparing for this for a
Speaker 2: long time. Most of the damage you see is an
Speaker 2: older building, you know. The new buildings, they're building them like.
Speaker 2: They're building them like piers. They're driving pilings and pouring
Speaker 2: concrete straight to the limestone. They're putting all the utilities
Speaker 2: on the roof. Like I think that every building in
Speaker 2: Fort Myers Beach, if you're to buy one, you're looking
Speaker 2: for a building that you know, you're fifteen feet high
Speaker 2: or twenty feet high, and newer construction that can handle
Speaker 2: this stuff. And most of the newer buildings were just fine.
Speaker 2: The older ones, the stuff lower, it's you know, it's
Speaker 2: they're not built for this. So I mean, you're looking
Speaker 2: for newer construction that can handle the storm.
Speaker 1: Now I have friends like Tony Bender's got multi million
Speaker 1: dollar condos kind of on the beach, which is of course,
Speaker 1: west of US forty one. And they're on the beach.
Speaker 1: You're about a quarter of a mile from the beach.
Speaker 1: He's on the ninth or tenth floor of a multi
Speaker 1: million dollar condo project, looking left and right. Been there
Speaker 1: about ten years. It's all great. If you're a quarter
Speaker 1: of a mile from the ocean. Come tonight or tomorrow
Speaker 1: and Fort Myers or in Naples, what are you looking at.
Speaker 2: You're gonna be on an island. You're gonna see the
Speaker 2: waters surround you and you can't go anywhere, So you
Speaker 2: are stuck. I mean, nobody's coming to you and you
Speaker 2: can't go anywhere. It's a scary feeling when when the
Speaker 2: when the water surrounds you, because now you are stuck
Speaker 2: in the building. Typically in a building like that, they're
Speaker 2: going to bring the elevators up. They're going to shut
Speaker 2: the power down to the elevators. I mean, if you're
Speaker 2: on the tenth floor and you need to come down,
Speaker 2: you got to walk down eleven flight the stairs. I mean,
Speaker 2: it's a scary situation.
Speaker 1: And in the dark, and it's hot right right now.
Speaker 1: The temperats are in Naples is about eighty degrees and
Speaker 1: it's hot, and there's no electricity once that happens.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's what I'm saying. If you can't handle
Speaker 2: no electricity, if you have a medical problem, if you
Speaker 2: need to plug something in, you're in a bad spot.
Speaker 1: How long is there a sense that the condos on
Speaker 1: the beach is going to be days before electricity? How
Speaker 1: bad will it be? Tony Bender's got a big investment
Speaker 1: there and that it's called the Provence. He's got a
Speaker 1: major investment about seven floors up. How long will it be?
Speaker 2: I'll tell you what, Governor Desantas the counties here, they
Speaker 2: do a fantastic job with the power. I've never seen
Speaker 2: power out for more than four or five five days
Speaker 2: down here, and typically forty eight you know, typically forty
Speaker 2: eight hours. So and that's when the tough part comes
Speaker 2: in because now after the hurricane, the temperature goes back
Speaker 2: up to eighty five degrees and if you don't have
Speaker 2: air conditioning and you can't handle that, it's a tough one.
Speaker 1: What do you do with the alligators, the snakes and
Speaker 1: the critters, because when the water rises from the bays
Speaker 1: filled with alligators. I know some people like to wrestle them.
Speaker 1: I'm not one of them. Do you have to concern
Speaker 1: yourself with snakes, bugs, and alligators?
Speaker 2: Oh? Yeah, and oh there's one point two million alligators
Speaker 2: in the state of Florida. I mean they are everywhere, so,
Speaker 2: I mean when the water comes up, they're swimming around.
Speaker 2: The hurricane's not going to hurt them. They are built
Speaker 2: for this. They can go under the water, they can breathe,
Speaker 2: and they What happens is when their environment gets flooded,
Speaker 2: they're moving around. They're going everywhere. So you've got to
Speaker 2: be careful from the snakes and alligators.
Speaker 1: Well they're looking for lunch too, kind of like cats
Speaker 1: and dogs in Springfield, Ohio. You gotta be careful. You're
Speaker 1: not going to walk out and uh and knee deep water.
Speaker 1: You're not going to be walking around out of your
Speaker 1: palatial estate there on the Gordon River in Naples when
Speaker 1: this happens.
Speaker 3: You're not going to walk around, are you?
Speaker 2: I mean I walk around because you know I've you know,
Speaker 2: I've I've been out in the Everglades for years, you
Speaker 2: know the But you know, I don't recommend it, but
Speaker 2: I will for sure be walking around.
Speaker 3: Well, this is unbelievable.
Speaker 1: But I'll say this Bill Verdonka real estate agent, and
Speaker 1: call your county. I've said this to Tony Bender and others.
Speaker 1: It's time to panic. Does panic help ital I feel
Speaker 1: I'm in panic mode.
Speaker 2: I think you need to be you know, when stuff
Speaker 2: gets crazy, you've got to be calm and you need
Speaker 2: to make smart decisions. I can't trouble.
Speaker 1: I can't, I can't, I can't well.
Speaker 2: At the end of day, you just you got to
Speaker 2: keep on trucking. And if you're going to stay, you
Speaker 2: got to ride this out. If you're if you're not
Speaker 2: going to stay it is, and if you're worried or
Speaker 2: any issues or the authority. If you're in a velocity zone,
Speaker 2: if you're right on the beach, there's something called the
Speaker 2: eighty flood zone. If you're in that velocity zone, I
Speaker 2: think you should evacuate. The shelters open everywhere. You know,
Speaker 2: you're better off in your car in lends. You know,
Speaker 2: you don't need to be right where that is hitting
Speaker 2: where we are up the Gordon River, we're in Zone B.
Speaker 2: That's and so that that's a little bit safer. Zone
Speaker 2: A and the velocit zone. I mean that's a trouble
Speaker 2: factor right now. They're evacuating A and B And just
Speaker 2: like I said, any problems, they're not coming to help you.
Speaker 3: Bill Verdunk, you're on your own. See what happens.
Speaker 1: Watch out for the alligators, watch out for the snakes
Speaker 1: and the bugs.
Speaker 3: All hell is going to break loose.
Speaker 1: And with your permission, I may check in with you
Speaker 1: tomorrow to see what other crises have happened. But just
Speaker 1: keep an eye on the golf course. Make sure the
Speaker 1: golf course cart path only for a few days.
Speaker 3: Is that correct? Cart path only?
Speaker 2: Carpath car path only bearsball recovers. Well, they're going to
Speaker 2: get the gypsum in there, they're gonna get the degree
Speaker 2: and the grass green. After the storm. Cars at their
Speaker 2: course rolling in about a week after the last the
Speaker 2: last time it flooded.
Speaker 1: Car path only, car path only, all right, death only,
Speaker 1: all right, Bill Verdunk, Say hi to your wife for me.
Speaker 1: You're a great American. With your permission, all checking with
Speaker 1: you tomorrow if we can, if you're still alive.
Speaker 2: Do you fear death?
Speaker 3: Do you fear death tonight?
Speaker 2: I'm a little nervous, quite frankly, I'm a little nervous
Speaker 2: a anxiety's setting in, but man, I'm gonna fight it.
Speaker 1: Good Bill Verdunk of the Verdunk Report, Thank you well.
Speaker 1: Checking with you tomorrow if you're still alive. Thank you,
Speaker 1: Thank you, sir, Thank you. Bill Verdunk. Real estate agent
Speaker 1: Tony Bender's multi million dollar condo overlooking the ocean might
Speaker 1: be he might be in trouble. In darkness, up and down,
Speaker 1: no light, no refrigerator, no electricity alligators and snakes and
Speaker 1: bugs everywhere.
Speaker 3: Good luck.
Speaker 1: We continue coming up later. We've scheduled an interview with
Speaker 1: the mayor of Fort Myers Beach, Dan Allers. We'll see
Speaker 1: what happens later on on news radio seven hundred WLW.
Speaker 4: In the Enchanted Forest, Eddie and Rocky are dressed in
Speaker 4: tights with bows and arrows over their shoulders.
Speaker 3: So we met up with this guy named Robin Hood.
Speaker 3: Seems pretty cool, so we agreed to join us.
Speaker 4: Mary Moore, what about your radio show Millions Count on
Speaker 4: you two for an afternoon of laughs.
Speaker 3: Yeah, But Robin's all about helping the working man.
Speaker 4: He gives them money by stealing it. That's why the
Speaker 4: Sheriff of Nottingham has a price on his head. And
Speaker 4: anyone who helps him.
Speaker 3: You know, I gotta say these tights are kind of
Speaker 3: itchy and smelling.
Speaker 4: Screw this, Eddie and Rocky this
Speaker 1: Afternoon at three on seven hundred ww Bengals fans, when
Speaker 1: you line up Chevy's family of SUVs, you get the
Speaker 1: ultimate victory formation of vict