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CNN Live Today
Hurricane Isidore Turning Into Major Weather Event
Aired September 20, 2002 - 10:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: On the storm front, Hurricane Isidore is turning into a major weather event. Right now, the category-two storm is hammering the western end of Cuba with very heavy rains and winds topping 100 miles an hour. Where it goes from here is, well, anyone's guess.
CNN Miami bureau chief John Zarrella is at the National Hurricane Center with the view from there. You know, John, I heard you saying, the models this thing going in a number of different directions?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: That's correct, they do, but the good news the hurricane forecasters are telling us, is that at least for the time being, the models are very, very consistent, and they've done a very good job moving the storm into the southeastern gulf of Mexico over the next couple of days. The problem is that beyond the next couple, three days, it's anybody's guess exactly where the storm is going to go. Most of the models are now in agreement to bend it a little bit to the west as opposed to the northeast, but I want to give you a shot of the radar out of Havana, Cuba, is what we are looking at there, the forecasters are looking at.
You can see the center of the storm still off the western coast of Havana, but you can see those strong rain bands about to approach the western edge of Cuba, and they could get up to 20-plus inches of rain, because this is a very slow-moving storm. They are waiting, again, of course for more fixes from the Hurricane Hunter aircraft here, and probably won't have another reading from them on the barometric pressure and the wind speeds for a couple of hours before that next surveillance aircraft gets into the storm.
But the fact of the matter is, it will meander around the southeastern gulf of Mexico, well into early next week. People in all interest of the Gulf need to be prepared and pay attention to this storm. This, as the forecasters say, is the real deal. It's not one of these little tropical storms that we have seen the last couple of years, that have approached and affected the U.S. This is potentially a major hurricane, category three forecast in the next couple of days.
Along the that front, Kris, we've got a documentary this weekend that airs on Saturday and Sunday evening, "CNN PRESENTS: HURRICANE, WHEN THE BIG ONE HITS." If you live in the Gulf Coast of the United States, from Florida to Texas, it would behoove you to watch and pay attention to this documentary. It will tell you where to go for shelter, what to do, do you know where you're going to go for sheltering, what to do, do you know what you're going to do, if in fact Isidore should come your way. So it is 8:00 p.m. Saturday evening, and again, on CNN again at 7:00 p.m. Sunday and 11:00 p.m. Sunday evening, "HURRICANE, WHEN THE BIG ONE HITS." And this is a major hurricane that certainly could threaten the United States Gulf Coast some time next week. So it's important that everybody pay very close attention to this.
We should have an updated forecast on the strength of the storm in about 45 minutes or so from here at the National Hurricane Center -- Kris.
Thank you. We appreciate the breakdown.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 20, 2002 - 10:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: On the storm front, Hurricane Isidore is turning into a major weather event. Right now, the category-two storm is hammering the western end of Cuba with very heavy rains and winds topping 100 miles an hour. Where it goes from here is, well, anyone's guess.
CNN Miami bureau chief John Zarrella is at the National Hurricane Center with the view from there. You know, John, I heard you saying, the models this thing going in a number of different directions?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: That's correct, they do, but the good news the hurricane forecasters are telling us, is that at least for the time being, the models are very, very consistent, and they've done a very good job moving the storm into the southeastern gulf of Mexico over the next couple of days. The problem is that beyond the next couple, three days, it's anybody's guess exactly where the storm is going to go. Most of the models are now in agreement to bend it a little bit to the west as opposed to the northeast, but I want to give you a shot of the radar out of Havana, Cuba, is what we are looking at there, the forecasters are looking at.
You can see the center of the storm still off the western coast of Havana, but you can see those strong rain bands about to approach the western edge of Cuba, and they could get up to 20-plus inches of rain, because this is a very slow-moving storm. They are waiting, again, of course for more fixes from the Hurricane Hunter aircraft here, and probably won't have another reading from them on the barometric pressure and the wind speeds for a couple of hours before that next surveillance aircraft gets into the storm.
But the fact of the matter is, it will meander around the southeastern gulf of Mexico, well into early next week. People in all interest of the Gulf need to be prepared and pay attention to this storm. This, as the forecasters say, is the real deal. It's not one of these little tropical storms that we have seen the last couple of years, that have approached and affected the U.S. This is potentially a major hurricane, category three forecast in the next couple of days.
Along the that front, Kris, we've got a documentary this weekend that airs on Saturday and Sunday evening, "CNN PRESENTS: HURRICANE, WHEN THE BIG ONE HITS." If you live in the Gulf Coast of the United States, from Florida to Texas, it would behoove you to watch and pay attention to this documentary. It will tell you where to go for shelter, what to do, do you know where you're going to go for sheltering, what to do, do you know what you're going to do, if in fact Isidore should come your way. So it is 8:00 p.m. Saturday evening, and again, on CNN again at 7:00 p.m. Sunday and 11:00 p.m. Sunday evening, "HURRICANE, WHEN THE BIG ONE HITS." And this is a major hurricane that certainly could threaten the United States Gulf Coast some time next week. So it's important that everybody pay very close attention to this.
We should have an updated forecast on the strength of the storm in about 45 minutes or so from here at the National Hurricane Center -- Kris.
Thank you. We appreciate the breakdown.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
