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CNN Live At Daybreak
East Coast Braces for Isabel
Aired September 16, 2003 - 07:05 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Category 3, as Chad points out, right now that storm is on track, may be hitting as early as Thursday. Coastal residents are getting ready for that arrival.
Two reports to start you off this morning. Brian Cabell live in Kill Devil Hills in North Carolina, John Zarrella live in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Let's start there with Brian.
Good morning. How are conditions?
BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. Not a bad- looking day here, as a matter of fact here in the Outer Banks -- blustery winds, some good-sized waves, a few people out on the beach enjoying the last few hours they're likely to be out here.
We can tell you when we drove in last night we noticed that restaurants were closed down early, people going home. We're told, from an official standpoint as well, schools closed down today. They'll likely be closed for the rest of the week. Emergency management officials are meeting this morning, likely to call for a mandatory evacuation -- that possibly later today.
Now, we can tell you, our hotel, we checked in last night. We were told, well, you can check in last night, but you will have to move out this morning at 11:00 a.m. So, we're going to have to check out, and we don't know where we're going, frankly.
Highway 12 is one of the major evacuation routes out of here off of the Outer Banks. Not an awful lot of activity right now, but that will likely get much busier a little later this morning.
A few people were boarding up their homes last night. You can see over here there is one of the homes boarded up. We will more of that a little later on this morning and on into this afternoon.
Again, we expect to see a lot of activity out here today. But still, we're 48 hours away from the worst of it, probably 24 hours away from some pretty heavy winds. Right now, not a bad-looking day on the beach, but it's going to get worse -- Bill.
HEMMER: Brian, thank you much.
Here's John Zarrella. John -- good morning to you.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Well, much the same as far the weather conditions here -- a blustery morning, the white caps beginning to roll in here at Virginia Beach.
Already a state of emergency declared here in Virginia, although the storm is still a couple of days away. Preparations are well under way. The National Guard has been mobilized, some 200 on the standby, guards men and women; another 300 in reserve to wherever they may be needed as well. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, homeland and defense, everyone organizing so that they can get relief supplies in position in advance of the storm in case they are needed.
The United States Navy's 2nd Fleet is taking no chances at all either. At least 40 ships from the United States Navy and the Coast Guard will be getting underway today from the Navy base here, heading out to sea, because it is much easier for naval vessels to be out at sea and ride a hurricane out at sea. They can get around the worst part of this storm rather than getting beat to death up against their moorings at the docks. So, that is one area where precautions are being taken beginning today.
When we came in here last night, the stores were devoid -- the shelves were devoid of water, of flashlights, of batteries, of canned goods. People are taking this storm very, very seriously as well here in the Hampton Roads area.
The Home Depot was swamped late last night with folks coming in, buying half-inch and three-quarter inch plywood to begin the process of boarding up their windows. Many of them say they are not going to stay around. They'll board up and then head inland.
There are approximately 1.4 million people in the Hampton Roads area, 17 cities. Most of them lie on or near the water. And that is a great concern here: rising water -- Bill.
HEMMER: That it is. John, thanks. John Zarrella and Brian Cabell watching things on the East Coast for us today. We'll check in again a bit later this morning.
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 16, 2003 - 07:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Category 3, as Chad points out, right now that storm is on track, may be hitting as early as Thursday. Coastal residents are getting ready for that arrival.
Two reports to start you off this morning. Brian Cabell live in Kill Devil Hills in North Carolina, John Zarrella live in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Let's start there with Brian.
Good morning. How are conditions?
BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. Not a bad- looking day here, as a matter of fact here in the Outer Banks -- blustery winds, some good-sized waves, a few people out on the beach enjoying the last few hours they're likely to be out here.
We can tell you when we drove in last night we noticed that restaurants were closed down early, people going home. We're told, from an official standpoint as well, schools closed down today. They'll likely be closed for the rest of the week. Emergency management officials are meeting this morning, likely to call for a mandatory evacuation -- that possibly later today.
Now, we can tell you, our hotel, we checked in last night. We were told, well, you can check in last night, but you will have to move out this morning at 11:00 a.m. So, we're going to have to check out, and we don't know where we're going, frankly.
Highway 12 is one of the major evacuation routes out of here off of the Outer Banks. Not an awful lot of activity right now, but that will likely get much busier a little later this morning.
A few people were boarding up their homes last night. You can see over here there is one of the homes boarded up. We will more of that a little later on this morning and on into this afternoon.
Again, we expect to see a lot of activity out here today. But still, we're 48 hours away from the worst of it, probably 24 hours away from some pretty heavy winds. Right now, not a bad-looking day on the beach, but it's going to get worse -- Bill.
HEMMER: Brian, thank you much.
Here's John Zarrella. John -- good morning to you.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Well, much the same as far the weather conditions here -- a blustery morning, the white caps beginning to roll in here at Virginia Beach.
Already a state of emergency declared here in Virginia, although the storm is still a couple of days away. Preparations are well under way. The National Guard has been mobilized, some 200 on the standby, guards men and women; another 300 in reserve to wherever they may be needed as well. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, homeland and defense, everyone organizing so that they can get relief supplies in position in advance of the storm in case they are needed.
The United States Navy's 2nd Fleet is taking no chances at all either. At least 40 ships from the United States Navy and the Coast Guard will be getting underway today from the Navy base here, heading out to sea, because it is much easier for naval vessels to be out at sea and ride a hurricane out at sea. They can get around the worst part of this storm rather than getting beat to death up against their moorings at the docks. So, that is one area where precautions are being taken beginning today.
When we came in here last night, the stores were devoid -- the shelves were devoid of water, of flashlights, of batteries, of canned goods. People are taking this storm very, very seriously as well here in the Hampton Roads area.
The Home Depot was swamped late last night with folks coming in, buying half-inch and three-quarter inch plywood to begin the process of boarding up their windows. Many of them say they are not going to stay around. They'll board up and then head inland.
There are approximately 1.4 million people in the Hampton Roads area, 17 cities. Most of them lie on or near the water. And that is a great concern here: rising water -- Bill.
HEMMER: That it is. John, thanks. John Zarrella and Brian Cabell watching things on the East Coast for us today. We'll check in again a bit later this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
