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CNN Live At Daybreak
Hurricane Alert: Lili Takes Aim
Aired October 03, 2002 - 06:14 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: To get more on Hurricane Lili, it's easy, just log on to CNN.com. There you can find an eight-hour satellite animation of the storm as well as an interactive map giving you the latest information on the status of Lili as it moves across the Gulf State.
You know just across the Louisiana state line there are also worries about what Hurricane Lili might do.
CNN's Kimberly Osias is in Port Arthur, Texas where it looks pretty nasty, too -- Kimberly.
Well, it's so nasty we don't have audio. I think that's called rain fade when the rain literally washes our signal away.
Where are we going next?
OK, we're going to Kimberly Curth of our affiliate WKRG. Kimberly is live in the city of Alabama Port on Mobile Bay -- good morning.
KIMBERLY CURTH, WKRG-TV REPORTER: Good morning.
We are standing here at the last stretch of mainland before you actually get to Dolphin Island near Alabama Port. And I tell you, this area looks more like a ghost town than what is usually a thriving beach community and that is because the Alabama Department of Transportation has closed the Dolphin Island Bridge because of dangerous conditions like this storm surge you will see behind me here, flooding and debris.
Now there have been voluntary evacuations here. No mandatory evacuations, so that means there are still people on the island. But at this point, no one is getting on or off the island.
Now we have had reports of flooding, we have seen some debris in this area. And I'll tell you, the only people out here right now that we are seeing are the police and us. But we will continue to keep a watchful eye on this storm.
But for now, reporting from Dolphin Island Parkway, Kimberly Curth.
Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: All right, thank you very much, Kimberly.
And we do have Kimberly Osias back. As I said before, she's in Port Arthur, Texas.
Good morning, can you hear me now or I should ask...
KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I certainly can. The question is really, Carol, can you hear us? Of course with all this rain, rain fade happens. You know of course there are natural disasters, we do what we can, but you know you can tell the rain has definitely been coming down here.
And unlike Isidore, Carol, last week where the big concern was for rain accumulation and flooding, that is not the big issue here in Texas on the coast. The concern is actually for wind damage and a possible storm surge. And we're looking at a category three. We're talking about wind gusts possibly upwards of 111, possibly up to 135 miles per hour. Possible damage could be very extensive.
And, Carol, we are along the coast here in Texas. I'm going to show you, if you can take a look in here, there are a lot of boats here in this marina. Needless to say, nobody is going anywhere today. Certainly didn't yesterday.
And behind us a little ways, one of the big areas of commerce is oil refineries. There are a number of oil refineries here and some authorities are actually concerned with these winds gusting in that we could have some oil spills. And that is one concern. And of course losing any kind of commerce in a down economy is definitely an issue, of course. Any other damage issues would be -- would be issues as well.
Now in Louisiana, in parts of Louisiana there were mandatory evacuations. Here in Texas people -- it has been voluntary. And we are told some 250,000 or so folks have availed themselves of that, sought higher ground. And it was bumper to bumper, Carol, as we were coming in. We definitely saw a lot of people doing that, heading out to dryer territory and to friends -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Got you. Well I'm glad at least some people opted to leave. It's amazing to me always how many people decide to stay and wait these dangerous storms out.
OSIAS: You're exactly right. I spoke to one woman who was from California, and she actually, believe it or not, said she was excited to watch and see what happened. I mean there are a lot of storm chasers and people that just want to see, but of course you've got to take this stuff seriously.
COSTELLO: Oh yes, they have their home video cameras and the whole deal.
OSIAS: That's exactly right (ph).
COSTELLO: OK, Kimberly Osias, reporting live from Port Arthur, Texas, thank you.
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 - 06:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: To get more on Hurricane Lili, it's easy, just log on to CNN.com. There you can find an eight-hour satellite animation of the storm as well as an interactive map giving you the latest information on the status of Lili as it moves across the Gulf State.
You know just across the Louisiana state line there are also worries about what Hurricane Lili might do.
CNN's Kimberly Osias is in Port Arthur, Texas where it looks pretty nasty, too -- Kimberly.
Well, it's so nasty we don't have audio. I think that's called rain fade when the rain literally washes our signal away.
Where are we going next?
OK, we're going to Kimberly Curth of our affiliate WKRG. Kimberly is live in the city of Alabama Port on Mobile Bay -- good morning.
KIMBERLY CURTH, WKRG-TV REPORTER: Good morning.
We are standing here at the last stretch of mainland before you actually get to Dolphin Island near Alabama Port. And I tell you, this area looks more like a ghost town than what is usually a thriving beach community and that is because the Alabama Department of Transportation has closed the Dolphin Island Bridge because of dangerous conditions like this storm surge you will see behind me here, flooding and debris.
Now there have been voluntary evacuations here. No mandatory evacuations, so that means there are still people on the island. But at this point, no one is getting on or off the island.
Now we have had reports of flooding, we have seen some debris in this area. And I'll tell you, the only people out here right now that we are seeing are the police and us. But we will continue to keep a watchful eye on this storm.
But for now, reporting from Dolphin Island Parkway, Kimberly Curth.
Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: All right, thank you very much, Kimberly.
And we do have Kimberly Osias back. As I said before, she's in Port Arthur, Texas.
Good morning, can you hear me now or I should ask...
KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I certainly can. The question is really, Carol, can you hear us? Of course with all this rain, rain fade happens. You know of course there are natural disasters, we do what we can, but you know you can tell the rain has definitely been coming down here.
And unlike Isidore, Carol, last week where the big concern was for rain accumulation and flooding, that is not the big issue here in Texas on the coast. The concern is actually for wind damage and a possible storm surge. And we're looking at a category three. We're talking about wind gusts possibly upwards of 111, possibly up to 135 miles per hour. Possible damage could be very extensive.
And, Carol, we are along the coast here in Texas. I'm going to show you, if you can take a look in here, there are a lot of boats here in this marina. Needless to say, nobody is going anywhere today. Certainly didn't yesterday.
And behind us a little ways, one of the big areas of commerce is oil refineries. There are a number of oil refineries here and some authorities are actually concerned with these winds gusting in that we could have some oil spills. And that is one concern. And of course losing any kind of commerce in a down economy is definitely an issue, of course. Any other damage issues would be -- would be issues as well.
Now in Louisiana, in parts of Louisiana there were mandatory evacuations. Here in Texas people -- it has been voluntary. And we are told some 250,000 or so folks have availed themselves of that, sought higher ground. And it was bumper to bumper, Carol, as we were coming in. We definitely saw a lot of people doing that, heading out to dryer territory and to friends -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Got you. Well I'm glad at least some people opted to leave. It's amazing to me always how many people decide to stay and wait these dangerous storms out.
OSIAS: You're exactly right. I spoke to one woman who was from California, and she actually, believe it or not, said she was excited to watch and see what happened. I mean there are a lot of storm chasers and people that just want to see, but of course you've got to take this stuff seriously.
COSTELLO: Oh yes, they have their home video cameras and the whole deal.
OSIAS: That's exactly right (ph).
COSTELLO: OK, Kimberly Osias, reporting live from Port Arthur, Texas, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
