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CNN Live At Daybreak
Interview with Steve Rinard
Aired October 03, 2002 - 05:50 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 hear from Steve Rinard, who is in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Steve is the head meteorologist for the Lake Charles, Louisiana National Weather Service.
He joins us now live on the telephone.
Good morning.
STEVE RINARD, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE: Good morning to you.
COSTELLO: What are you seeing now? What are your predictions for this storm right now?
RINARD: Well, right now the, Lili has weakened considerably from the category four it was right about midnight. And this is certainly good news for coastal area. Right now it's down to about a category two. It's about 105, 515 miles an hour type thing. And still moving in kind of a northwest direction, about 17. We're expecting landfall probably within the next couple of hours right just south of Lafayette, right just a little bit west of Vermilion Bay.
COSTELLO: Could this storm pick up speed again?
RINARD: Well, it's already moving about 17, and that's pretty much what it's been doing the last 12 hours. So I don't really expect it to pick up any more.
COSTELLO: What about increasing in category again? Is that possible? Or is the worst behind us now?
RINARD: I think at this stage it's so close at shore and it's moving so fast, I think this is what it's going to make landfall at, probably about a category two type storm.
COSTELLO: And usually when hurricanes make landfall, they weaken, right?
OK, we seem to have lost Steve.
RINARD: OK, we're back.
COSTELLO: Oh, OK.
Steve, did you hear my question? Sorry about that. When hurricanes make land, do they weaken even more?
RINARD: Yes. They're going to weaken. This storm is going to rapidly move northward across the center part of Louisiana. It's going to...
COSTELLO: Steve, are you OK?
RINARD: Yes, I came back again. I keep losing you.
COSTELLO: Well, we understand it's weather conditions. And you answered my question perfectly. Storms do weaken as they hit land. And we hope they weaken even more by the time hurricane Lili gets to landfall in a couple of hours in Louisiana.
We're going to head to a break. DAYBREAK will come back right after this.
COMMERCIAL
COSTELLO: We're tracking hurricane Lili this morning. We want to head up to the weather center and check in with Jacqui Jeras -- Jacqui, we just heard from that Louisiana meteorologist that this thing has diminished to a category two. But you do not agree?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, it's a category three. Definitely a category three right now, with winds of 120 miles per hour. And we're going to be showing you some category three statistics in just a minute, but I want to get some more information out here very quickly.
We mentioned some of the tornado warnings at the top of the hour. Well, now we have a tornado warning that does include the City of New Orleans until the top of the hour. So if you live in New Orleans, you want to be taking cover immediately. Get to your basement if you have one, or an underground shelter, or get to the interior room of your house, away from doors and windows. Make sure that you take cover. Put something over the top of you or get underneath something very heavy. This is a very dangerous situation.
I want to mention the parishes included, Northern Jefferson Parish and also Western Orleans Parish in southeastern Louisiana until the top of the hour. Again, tornado warnings and the tornado watch, of course, remains in effect all across this area. It's very common to see tornadoes in a situation like this one.
And we have seen some weakening of this hurricane, but still smack dab in the middle of category three status. Category three hurricanes have winds of 111 to 130 miles per hour, storm surges typically between nine and 12 feet, and it is considered a major hurricane. Rainfall amounts vary from storm to storm, but Lili, this go around, we think, will have between six and 10 inches of rainfall.
Now, what kind of damage can a category three cause? Well, structural damage to small residences. Also, large trees can be blown over and mobile homes or other lighter structures will likely be destroyed, demolished. So a category three is nothing to take lightly. It's a major hurricane and can cause some very major damage all across the area.
We're talking about storm surges that will go in about 25 miles from the shoreline. Hurricane force winds are going out almost 50 miles an hour from the center of the storm. And we're also going to be seeing those flooding rains farther inland. It is going to weaken, continue to weaken, we think, may possibly drop down to a category two before it reaches landfall. But at this point we don't see that happening and we will get another update in from the National Hurricane Center in another hour from now and give you an update on those current wind speeds.
We're seeing gusts already across southern parts of Louisiana, about 40 to 50 miles per hour, and we'll watch those wind gusts continue to increase throughout the day.
We'll have a complete update coming for you right after the top of the six o'clock hour. We'll bring the statistics for you and give you the exact locators of where Lili is and show you the forecast track. It's all coming up in a bit, Carol.
COSTELLO: OK. But just a quick recap. You still expect the eye of the storm to hit the Gulf Coast between eight and ten o'clock this morning? That's Eastern time.
JERAS: Yes, that sounds about right, yes, this morning.
COSTELLO: And this storm surge they may experience, that's really the thing that we have to worry about.
JERAS: Right.
COSTELLO: Now, I'm not sure what it is now, but it was 18 to 20 feet. What could it be now?
JERAS: It's down a little bit, about nine to 12 foot storm surge. But that can go in 25 miles. Now, one of the nice things, actually, about this moving up towards Louisiana despite it being such a low elevation, down at sea level, some areas below sea level, a lot of the areas where we're going to be seeing this make landfall is very marshy. So that's going to kind of break the storm surge just a little bit because that area is not quite as populated. You don't see as many beach homes right there on the shoreline.
COSTELLO: But the big concern, at least for New Orleans, are these tornado warnings.
JERAS: Right.
COSTELLO: And, you know, many people don't have basements in New Orleans.
JERAS: Right.
COSTELLO: So what should they do?
JERAS: Well, interior room, as I mentioned, away from doors and windows. A bathroom is one of the best places that you can possibly be. I know it sounds silly, but go ahead and just hop yourself into the tub. If you can grab your mattress, if you have time to do that, put that over the top of you. If you don't have it, maybe a stairway. If you have a two story home, get underneath the stairway. There's usually a little closet under there. That's also a very good place to be.
COSTELLO: OK. Good advice.
Thank you, Jacqui.
We'll catch you in a couple of minutes.
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 - 05:50 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 hear from Steve Rinard, who is in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Steve is the head meteorologist for the Lake Charles, Louisiana National Weather Service.
He joins us now live on the telephone.
Good morning.
STEVE RINARD, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE: Good morning to you.
COSTELLO: What are you seeing now? What are your predictions for this storm right now?
RINARD: Well, right now the, Lili has weakened considerably from the category four it was right about midnight. And this is certainly good news for coastal area. Right now it's down to about a category two. It's about 105, 515 miles an hour type thing. And still moving in kind of a northwest direction, about 17. We're expecting landfall probably within the next couple of hours right just south of Lafayette, right just a little bit west of Vermilion Bay.
COSTELLO: Could this storm pick up speed again?
RINARD: Well, it's already moving about 17, and that's pretty much what it's been doing the last 12 hours. So I don't really expect it to pick up any more.
COSTELLO: What about increasing in category again? Is that possible? Or is the worst behind us now?
RINARD: I think at this stage it's so close at shore and it's moving so fast, I think this is what it's going to make landfall at, probably about a category two type storm.
COSTELLO: And usually when hurricanes make landfall, they weaken, right?
OK, we seem to have lost Steve.
RINARD: OK, we're back.
COSTELLO: Oh, OK.
Steve, did you hear my question? Sorry about that. When hurricanes make land, do they weaken even more?
RINARD: Yes. They're going to weaken. This storm is going to rapidly move northward across the center part of Louisiana. It's going to...
COSTELLO: Steve, are you OK?
RINARD: Yes, I came back again. I keep losing you.
COSTELLO: Well, we understand it's weather conditions. And you answered my question perfectly. Storms do weaken as they hit land. And we hope they weaken even more by the time hurricane Lili gets to landfall in a couple of hours in Louisiana.
We're going to head to a break. DAYBREAK will come back right after this.
COMMERCIAL
COSTELLO: We're tracking hurricane Lili this morning. We want to head up to the weather center and check in with Jacqui Jeras -- Jacqui, we just heard from that Louisiana meteorologist that this thing has diminished to a category two. But you do not agree?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, it's a category three. Definitely a category three right now, with winds of 120 miles per hour. And we're going to be showing you some category three statistics in just a minute, but I want to get some more information out here very quickly.
We mentioned some of the tornado warnings at the top of the hour. Well, now we have a tornado warning that does include the City of New Orleans until the top of the hour. So if you live in New Orleans, you want to be taking cover immediately. Get to your basement if you have one, or an underground shelter, or get to the interior room of your house, away from doors and windows. Make sure that you take cover. Put something over the top of you or get underneath something very heavy. This is a very dangerous situation.
I want to mention the parishes included, Northern Jefferson Parish and also Western Orleans Parish in southeastern Louisiana until the top of the hour. Again, tornado warnings and the tornado watch, of course, remains in effect all across this area. It's very common to see tornadoes in a situation like this one.
And we have seen some weakening of this hurricane, but still smack dab in the middle of category three status. Category three hurricanes have winds of 111 to 130 miles per hour, storm surges typically between nine and 12 feet, and it is considered a major hurricane. Rainfall amounts vary from storm to storm, but Lili, this go around, we think, will have between six and 10 inches of rainfall.
Now, what kind of damage can a category three cause? Well, structural damage to small residences. Also, large trees can be blown over and mobile homes or other lighter structures will likely be destroyed, demolished. So a category three is nothing to take lightly. It's a major hurricane and can cause some very major damage all across the area.
We're talking about storm surges that will go in about 25 miles from the shoreline. Hurricane force winds are going out almost 50 miles an hour from the center of the storm. And we're also going to be seeing those flooding rains farther inland. It is going to weaken, continue to weaken, we think, may possibly drop down to a category two before it reaches landfall. But at this point we don't see that happening and we will get another update in from the National Hurricane Center in another hour from now and give you an update on those current wind speeds.
We're seeing gusts already across southern parts of Louisiana, about 40 to 50 miles per hour, and we'll watch those wind gusts continue to increase throughout the day.
We'll have a complete update coming for you right after the top of the six o'clock hour. We'll bring the statistics for you and give you the exact locators of where Lili is and show you the forecast track. It's all coming up in a bit, Carol.
COSTELLO: OK. But just a quick recap. You still expect the eye of the storm to hit the Gulf Coast between eight and ten o'clock this morning? That's Eastern time.
JERAS: Yes, that sounds about right, yes, this morning.
COSTELLO: And this storm surge they may experience, that's really the thing that we have to worry about.
JERAS: Right.
COSTELLO: Now, I'm not sure what it is now, but it was 18 to 20 feet. What could it be now?
JERAS: It's down a little bit, about nine to 12 foot storm surge. But that can go in 25 miles. Now, one of the nice things, actually, about this moving up towards Louisiana despite it being such a low elevation, down at sea level, some areas below sea level, a lot of the areas where we're going to be seeing this make landfall is very marshy. So that's going to kind of break the storm surge just a little bit because that area is not quite as populated. You don't see as many beach homes right there on the shoreline.
COSTELLO: But the big concern, at least for New Orleans, are these tornado warnings.
JERAS: Right.
COSTELLO: And, you know, many people don't have basements in New Orleans.
JERAS: Right.
COSTELLO: So what should they do?
JERAS: Well, interior room, as I mentioned, away from doors and windows. A bathroom is one of the best places that you can possibly be. I know it sounds silly, but go ahead and just hop yourself into the tub. If you can grab your mattress, if you have time to do that, put that over the top of you. If you don't have it, maybe a stairway. If you have a two story home, get underneath the stairway. There's usually a little closet under there. That's also a very good place to be.
COSTELLO: OK. Good advice.
Thank you, Jacqui.
We'll catch you in a couple of minutes.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
