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CNN Live At Daybreak

Hurricane Alert: Lili Takes Aim on New Iberia, Louisiana

Aired October 03, 2002 - 06:44   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're going to New Iberia, Louisiana. We want to talk to Robert Arnold of CNN affiliate KPRC.
And, Robert, I'm sure that people have heard about the big hurricane back in 1957, Audrey, that killed 500 people. And I'm sure that emergency management people told folks to get out of there and used that as an example.

ROBERT ARNOLD, KPRC-TV REPORTER: Absolutely. One of the things -- this is a very close-knit, it's very older community, you've got a lot of the buildings around here built in the '20s, '30s and '40s, and a lot of the people do have that memory fresh, even more recently from Andrew. So this town of about 24,000, there really are only very few people still left here. Those are some of the people that have taken quite a calculated risk and are going to try and ride this out. Some have at least made preparations and gotten plenty of food and water, enough for at least three or four days because they do prepare for the lights to be out, the power to be out, their phones to be out and of course not to have any running water or fresh water.

One of the things we're seeing, we're in a lull right now, but it's been intermittent. You've had some pretty strong wind gusts. We've had some pretty good bursts of rain so you're seeing some street ponding in certain areas. The river that runs right through the middle of this town is also starting to rise close to the top of its banks. And of course as Lili comes in, that is only going to swell even more.

And we are starting to also see some debris falling on some of the roadways as well. And given the fact that Lili is not even really here yet, that is a very dangerous indicator of exactly what New Iberia is in store. But at this time, you do have police officers that are out running circular patrols just making sure that everything is battened down, there's nothing inherently dangerous, as much as they can make it safe in this area.

You also have the Louisiana Air National Guard we've been talking to, and they have mobile monitoring stations. They are the first line of defense. They're all along the Louisiana coast, and including here in New Iberia, to provide I guess the specific -- with specific weather updates. Any kind of instant change in pressure, any kind of instant change in title surge or any kind of rain bursts or anything like that they provide that information straight to the emergency management officials here in Louisiana.

For CNN, I'm Robert Arnold for KPRC in New Iberia, Louisiana.

COSTELLO: Well don't leave us yet, Robert, I have a few questions for you.

ARNOLD: Sure.

COSTELLO: You know we've been talking about tornado warnings and you know many times hurricanes spawn tornadoes. There are very few basements in your area so for the people who have opted not to leave, where do they go to stay safe?

ARNOLD: Well really, I mean it'll be too late. If they wait too long, they'll have to ride it out. There's nothing they can do. One family we talked to, the Trayhan (ph) family, has about 14 people in their house, and they have taken some precautions, put up some boards on that. But again, it's like I said, they are taking a very calculated risk because if they wait too long and the roads become flooded, they have no choice, they have to wait it out through this and only hope that their home stays in tact when Lili finally really fully makes landfall in this area.

COSTELLO: All right, Robert Arnold of CNN affiliate KPRC reporting live from New Iberia, Louisiana, thank you for that report.

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 - 06:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to New Iberia, Louisiana. We want to talk to Robert Arnold of CNN affiliate KPRC.
And, Robert, I'm sure that people have heard about the big hurricane back in 1957, Audrey, that killed 500 people. And I'm sure that emergency management people told folks to get out of there and used that as an example.

ROBERT ARNOLD, KPRC-TV REPORTER: Absolutely. One of the things -- this is a very close-knit, it's very older community, you've got a lot of the buildings around here built in the '20s, '30s and '40s, and a lot of the people do have that memory fresh, even more recently from Andrew. So this town of about 24,000, there really are only very few people still left here. Those are some of the people that have taken quite a calculated risk and are going to try and ride this out. Some have at least made preparations and gotten plenty of food and water, enough for at least three or four days because they do prepare for the lights to be out, the power to be out, their phones to be out and of course not to have any running water or fresh water.

One of the things we're seeing, we're in a lull right now, but it's been intermittent. You've had some pretty strong wind gusts. We've had some pretty good bursts of rain so you're seeing some street ponding in certain areas. The river that runs right through the middle of this town is also starting to rise close to the top of its banks. And of course as Lili comes in, that is only going to swell even more.

And we are starting to also see some debris falling on some of the roadways as well. And given the fact that Lili is not even really here yet, that is a very dangerous indicator of exactly what New Iberia is in store. But at this time, you do have police officers that are out running circular patrols just making sure that everything is battened down, there's nothing inherently dangerous, as much as they can make it safe in this area.

You also have the Louisiana Air National Guard we've been talking to, and they have mobile monitoring stations. They are the first line of defense. They're all along the Louisiana coast, and including here in New Iberia, to provide I guess the specific -- with specific weather updates. Any kind of instant change in pressure, any kind of instant change in title surge or any kind of rain bursts or anything like that they provide that information straight to the emergency management officials here in Louisiana.

For CNN, I'm Robert Arnold for KPRC in New Iberia, Louisiana.

COSTELLO: Well don't leave us yet, Robert, I have a few questions for you.

ARNOLD: Sure.

COSTELLO: You know we've been talking about tornado warnings and you know many times hurricanes spawn tornadoes. There are very few basements in your area so for the people who have opted not to leave, where do they go to stay safe?

ARNOLD: Well really, I mean it'll be too late. If they wait too long, they'll have to ride it out. There's nothing they can do. One family we talked to, the Trayhan (ph) family, has about 14 people in their house, and they have taken some precautions, put up some boards on that. But again, it's like I said, they are taking a very calculated risk because if they wait too long and the roads become flooded, they have no choice, they have to wait it out through this and only hope that their home stays in tact when Lili finally really fully makes landfall in this area.

COSTELLO: All right, Robert Arnold of CNN affiliate KPRC reporting live from New Iberia, Louisiana, thank you for that report.

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