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CNN Live At Daybreak

Louisiana Braces for Lili

Aired October 03, 2002 - 06:31   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We want to head out to where the action is, so to speak.
Jeff Flock is in Morgan City, Louisiana. At last check, he was with some hurricane catchers.

Are they still around -- Jeff?

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, no, they have gone to search out the eye wall, and they think it's going to go just to the west of us. Of course, that's what you're reporting as well.

We're out here, as we said, the last time we talked, a bit of a sort of a lull spot. We came over to this construction site that's not too far from where we were standing. They were out here trying to batten some of this down, and we put a light on it. Perhaps you can see.

This is not the state you want your building in when a storm with winds of 110, 120 miles an hour is approaching. But there wasn't much they could do. They really couldn't do anything else. All of this could wind up airborne on them, so they're a little bit concerned about that.

And as we talked about, the wind from this thing -- if we look off into the distance there, and again, I've got a beam here that sort of helps illuminate it somewhat. You know, it's not real windy right now, not real rainy right now, but when this gets cooking, we could be up against it right here in Morgan City -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, but the power is still out there, we can see that.

FLOCK: You said it.

COSTELLO: OK, thank you, Jeff Flock.

Let's head to New Orleans now and check in with Chad Myers, because in New Orleans, the rain is really coming down -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, Carol.

I couldn't hear you very much, but this is what happens when you try to hold an umbrella up in about a 60-mile-per-hour wind. It doesn't do very well, and everybody that's been trying to point them into the wind are doing a little bit better than this, but one of the casualties of war there, I'm afraid. Also here, and we talked about this last time. This was in Isidore. So, remember how Isidore was such a rain-maker? We talked about Isidore and the pumps of New Orleans. You can't really see it, because it's still dark yet. But we're going to be with you for so many hours today, we'll eventually be able to show you.

Just on the other side and down this street is where the levee is, holding the Mississippi River back. In fact, if you were to take a picture of a steamer or a freighter going up or down the river, it's actually higher than I am right now, because the river is about 8 feet higher than I am right now.

So, what happens to this water that comes into New Orleans is they have to pump it up and out, and obviously, the pump is not doing a very good job right here. But folks are here, they are cleaning out the drains, because they know that's probably the most important thing at keeping the water -- in keeping the water down for most of the day.

As the rain comes in at about a half an inch an hour, the pumps can hold that. If it comes in harder than that, like it is right now, the pumps have a very hard time. And in fact, in most cases, they can't keep up. So, the harder it rains, the more the water comes up.

And we've had a nice, I'd say, a lull in the rain. The wind picked up in the past half-hour, but now, the wind is dying off a little bit, or it seemed to have been. And now, the rain is picking back up, of course. So, the water is going to start to rise again.

Carol -- back to you.

COSTELLO: And, you know, I understand Louisiana State officials have spent millions and millions of dollars trying to stop flood damage.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: They have built levees, huge levees, and they've tried to take care of the beach erosion problem as best they could.

MYERS: Well, you know, I talked to the 911 executive director yesterday, the manager there, and he said, if you're inside the levee system, you are pretty much in good shape with this system and this storm. But if you're outside the levee and you are below sea level, especially by some of the canals, you may have trouble. Those canals may, in fact, come up too far, spill the banks, and get down into those low-lying areas, the same like we saw with Isidore.

Isidore was a rain-maker. Obviously, this is more of a wind- maker, because the storm is so tightly packed together, but we are seeing our share of rain this morning. I'd say at least an inch-and- a-half so far since we've been out here at about 3:00 this morning.

COSTELLO: Yes, and it could get worse as time goes on. And, you know, the sad part is all of that damage that was caused by Isidore...

MYERS: Yes. COSTELLO: ... what, $100 million damage...

MYERS: Right.

COSTELLO: ... for like places along the Gulf Coast?

MYERS: Right. But, you know, as I was driving in yesterday in the cab, I was noticing a lot of folks really took this storm seriously. There were windows boarded up, tape on about every window. Even as we were driving along the I-10, folks were really ready for this one. They were ready for the right-hand turn.

And as you look -- well, here, I can walk over here and I can show it to you. I think my microphone will work this far away. Obviously, this building here, a national landmark, one of the Pantalba buildings here, all boarded up. They're all ready to go. They're ready for the rain.

The problem is they boarded up this side. They didn't board up this side. They just taped up this side. And this is the direction that the wind is coming from. So, you really have to pay attention to where this storm is coming from and where the wind is coming from, because, in fact, they wasted all of that board over there, all of that plywood. They're not going to see probably more than a 5 or 6- mile-per-hour wind there, and the winds over here are going to be gusting to 55 or 60, at least.

COSTELLO: Oh, well, we wish them luck. OK, Chad, thank you. We're going to get back to you in just a bit.

MYERS: All right.

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 October 3, 2002 - 06:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We want to head out to where the action is, so to speak.
Jeff Flock is in Morgan City, Louisiana. At last check, he was with some hurricane catchers.

Are they still around -- Jeff?

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, no, they have gone to search out the eye wall, and they think it's going to go just to the west of us. Of course, that's what you're reporting as well.

We're out here, as we said, the last time we talked, a bit of a sort of a lull spot. We came over to this construction site that's not too far from where we were standing. They were out here trying to batten some of this down, and we put a light on it. Perhaps you can see.

This is not the state you want your building in when a storm with winds of 110, 120 miles an hour is approaching. But there wasn't much they could do. They really couldn't do anything else. All of this could wind up airborne on them, so they're a little bit concerned about that.

And as we talked about, the wind from this thing -- if we look off into the distance there, and again, I've got a beam here that sort of helps illuminate it somewhat. You know, it's not real windy right now, not real rainy right now, but when this gets cooking, we could be up against it right here in Morgan City -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, but the power is still out there, we can see that.

FLOCK: You said it.

COSTELLO: OK, thank you, Jeff Flock.

Let's head to New Orleans now and check in with Chad Myers, because in New Orleans, the rain is really coming down -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, Carol.

I couldn't hear you very much, but this is what happens when you try to hold an umbrella up in about a 60-mile-per-hour wind. It doesn't do very well, and everybody that's been trying to point them into the wind are doing a little bit better than this, but one of the casualties of war there, I'm afraid. Also here, and we talked about this last time. This was in Isidore. So, remember how Isidore was such a rain-maker? We talked about Isidore and the pumps of New Orleans. You can't really see it, because it's still dark yet. But we're going to be with you for so many hours today, we'll eventually be able to show you.

Just on the other side and down this street is where the levee is, holding the Mississippi River back. In fact, if you were to take a picture of a steamer or a freighter going up or down the river, it's actually higher than I am right now, because the river is about 8 feet higher than I am right now.

So, what happens to this water that comes into New Orleans is they have to pump it up and out, and obviously, the pump is not doing a very good job right here. But folks are here, they are cleaning out the drains, because they know that's probably the most important thing at keeping the water -- in keeping the water down for most of the day.

As the rain comes in at about a half an inch an hour, the pumps can hold that. If it comes in harder than that, like it is right now, the pumps have a very hard time. And in fact, in most cases, they can't keep up. So, the harder it rains, the more the water comes up.

And we've had a nice, I'd say, a lull in the rain. The wind picked up in the past half-hour, but now, the wind is dying off a little bit, or it seemed to have been. And now, the rain is picking back up, of course. So, the water is going to start to rise again.

Carol -- back to you.

COSTELLO: And, you know, I understand Louisiana State officials have spent millions and millions of dollars trying to stop flood damage.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: They have built levees, huge levees, and they've tried to take care of the beach erosion problem as best they could.

MYERS: Well, you know, I talked to the 911 executive director yesterday, the manager there, and he said, if you're inside the levee system, you are pretty much in good shape with this system and this storm. But if you're outside the levee and you are below sea level, especially by some of the canals, you may have trouble. Those canals may, in fact, come up too far, spill the banks, and get down into those low-lying areas, the same like we saw with Isidore.

Isidore was a rain-maker. Obviously, this is more of a wind- maker, because the storm is so tightly packed together, but we are seeing our share of rain this morning. I'd say at least an inch-and- a-half so far since we've been out here at about 3:00 this morning.

COSTELLO: Yes, and it could get worse as time goes on. And, you know, the sad part is all of that damage that was caused by Isidore...

MYERS: Yes. COSTELLO: ... what, $100 million damage...

MYERS: Right.

COSTELLO: ... for like places along the Gulf Coast?

MYERS: Right. But, you know, as I was driving in yesterday in the cab, I was noticing a lot of folks really took this storm seriously. There were windows boarded up, tape on about every window. Even as we were driving along the I-10, folks were really ready for this one. They were ready for the right-hand turn.

And as you look -- well, here, I can walk over here and I can show it to you. I think my microphone will work this far away. Obviously, this building here, a national landmark, one of the Pantalba buildings here, all boarded up. They're all ready to go. They're ready for the rain.

The problem is they boarded up this side. They didn't board up this side. They just taped up this side. And this is the direction that the wind is coming from. So, you really have to pay attention to where this storm is coming from and where the wind is coming from, because, in fact, they wasted all of that board over there, all of that plywood. They're not going to see probably more than a 5 or 6- mile-per-hour wind there, and the winds over here are going to be gusting to 55 or 60, at least.

COSTELLO: Oh, well, we wish them luck. OK, Chad, thank you. We're going to get back to you in just a bit.

MYERS: All right.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.