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CNN Live At Daybreak

Outer Bands of Isabel Hit Land

Aired September 18, 2003 - 06:03   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: Chad, you said that Atlantic Beach, North Carolina might get hit with part of the eye. We want to go there right now. Jeff Flock is standing by live, and conditions are worsening, as you can see.
Jeff -- talk to us.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hey, Carol. Well, yes, (AUDIO GAP) out here. Obviously, we've still got a long way to go with this.

We've got about 90 percent of this town, we are told, has been evacuated. A curfew is now in effect for the other remaining 10 percent perhaps of the town.

And I want to take you perhaps out of the wind a little bit here, so we can talk a little more (AUDIO GAP). We'll take you down to the beach. This beach faces to the south, so we're getting the wind basically off the sound right now. And as Chad pointed out earlier, it will (AUDIO GAP). But it looks like, as he pointed out earlier, we're going to be (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for most of it.

We are (UNINTELLIGIBLE) this hurricane with this team, the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) research team, and, of course, they're the folks that are responsible for putting us pretty much in this spot. Mark Sudduth (ph) heads the team up. Sorry to get you in the middle of another interview there earlier.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just making sure it doesn't ring this time.

FLOCK: Sorry. We just talked to our man, Chad Myers...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

FLOCK: ... we look like we're going to be in part of the eye certainly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

FLOCK: So, you scored on this one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We did well, and we've got to give credit to the Hurricane Center that that track didn't waver too much between Hatteras and here. What a good forecast.

FLOCK: Yes. Now, you've got the -- is that the radar that we're looking at right there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

FLOCK: Yes, now, OK. Finally got it right. And that's showing the bands. Point out for our viewers exactly where we are on your live radar there, and you'll see what's coming at us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are at the very tip of the mouse pointed there, the fingertip. And here is that very large center of circulation. Those 105-mile-per-hour winds are right here, it looks like. These are going to be hurricane-force winds, tropical storm- force winds spreading inland into North Carolina from there.

FLOCK: I see a spec. I don't know if you can see it. The meter over there, that's your maximum gusts, is that right, 49? And that's just right here, and you had higher ones elsewhere, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly. We’re protected by the building that everyone is staying in right over there. The anemometer is shielded. But we're getting 52-mile-per-hour winds easily, and when we get out in the open a little later to get that eye wall coming on shore, we should expect to see 70, 80 maybe 100-mile-per-hour winds on the vehicle.

FLOCK: I hear you. I hear you. In fact, let's take a look at that spec, and I'll let you put your thing up there, Mark, for a second. And I want to show folks out on the beach. Do you see the anemometers up there, Syke (ph)? Are you -- we're going to have to just wipe it off, or else you're not going to see anything. That's his two masked anemometers.

We were in the last storm with Mark Sudduth (ph), and they lost one of those -- they lost one of those masks. So, hopefully this one will hold tight. He says this one is rated to 225 miles an hour, and we, of course, don't think we're going to get anywhere near that.

Hey, Syke (ph), come this way if you can, one more shot before we get away. I do want to show them that pier again, and when the sun comes up, you'll really be able to see a heck of a picture out on this pier with the breakers rolling in. This is a wood-constructed pier, and the breakers are hitting it pretty good right now, and I suspect we'll have a lot more of that before we're done.

That's it, Carol, Chad -- back to you.

COSTELLO: OK, Jeff. It's just incredible stuff you're showing us this morning. We sure appreciate it.

And we want to head up farther up the coast to Virginia Beach, Virginia. That's where Kathleen Koch is. People are bracing there as well.

Good morning -- Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Well, the feeling here in this resort town of 435,000 isn't exactly bring-it-on, but, you know, they have been watching this storm churn in their direction for days, trying to second-guess Isabel's every move. And at this point, they really feel like they've done all they can do to prepare, and let's just get this over with.

Of course, there were mandatory evacuations for folks in low- lying areas here and throughout Virginia yesterday. We did see people, though, still late into the evening putting on boards, securing their windows and doors and getting ready.

Now, of course, many of those people who did choose to evacuate ended up in some of the shelters in the area -- thousands in local shelters, we're told. Of course, some of those shelters, again, in local schools, which are closed today. Schools, government offices, courts, everything pretty much shut down.

And it was a very tough call for many of these residents, some of who have weathered, ridden out past storms, this time, you know, deciding whether or not to leave.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The peninsula you're standing on was formed by a hurricane back in the Colonial days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what Mother Nature deposits, she can certainly take away, and probably will one day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think we're going to leave, but my dad might stay because of the looting that went on last time they had a hurricane.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: And the federal government has marshaled a massive amount of resources here. You can see that we're getting some pretty high winds here in Virginia Beach, roughly on the area of about 40 miles an hour. They're saying that's going to double by the end of the day.

But the federal government has a lot of resources ready in case we need the help, not only in Virginia, but also in North Carolina -- the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard. They have medical teams, communication teams, urban search and rescue teams deployed in and on standby.

FEMA also has some 30 semi-trailers. They're packed with cots, food, generators, blankets, anything and everything that you might need in the aftermath of a storm like this.

Now, besides these heavy winds, I can still stand up. I’m doing OK right now. But they are saying we're going to get 6 to 10 inches of rain and a 5 to 9 foot storm surge, Carol, before Isabel bids us adieu. Back to you.

COSTELLO: Oh, well, you be careful. I know that Virginia's governor declared a state of emergency a couple of days ago, so they seem to be prepared.

May I ask where you are?

KOCH: Well, we are in Virginia Beach next to the Boardwalk. I don't know if my cameraman can pan off to the water. You really don't see much out there right now. Carol, they say the waves are up about 7 or 8 feet. It's going to be a lot higher.

But this Boardwalk was specially created to help protect Virginia Beach. They hope that that's going to give it an advantage today -- a very wide concrete Boardwalk, a taller seawall. And they added some 300 feet of beach. So, they think that will act as a buffer. They say it can handle about nine-foot seas. So, we'll cross our fingers and hope that's going to be enough.

COSTELLO: Yes, good luck. Good luck out there. Kathleen Koch live from Virginia Beach this morning.

Let's head back down the coast to North Carolina to Topsail Beach and Gary Tuchman.

Gary -- what are conditions like there?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, we're about 40 miles south of where Jeff Flock is in Atlantic Beach. It was in the last 30 minutes the conditions have started to deteriorate.

You know, we can't control Mother Nature, but we can be grateful that this will not be the category 5 storm that we saw five days ago in the Atlantic Ocean, with winds of 160 miles per hour. Now, the maximum sustained winds are 105 miles per hour, so it's lost one-third of its fury. And people have to be very grateful about that, because a category 5 is catastrophic damage. We are hoping the damage isn't so bad this time.

Here, in this edge of the storm on the west edge of the eye, we're getting -- the beach is to this side of me -- we're getting the winds coming from inland towards the beach because of the counter- clockwise swirl of the hurricane. So, the people here will probably not get a lot of flooding because the winds are blowing out into the ocean.

Here, on Topsail Island, there are about 3,000 year-round residents. Most of them are gone. This place was very abandoned when we toured it last night. However, there has not been a mandatory evacuation in effect.

The police chief here basically is telling us that if this was the heart of the tourist season when they have 30,000 or 40,000 people, they would have had a mandatory evacuation. They trust the people who live here to make the right decisions. They've been through five hurricanes in the last seven years, direct hits or near direct hits.

They are telling people, though, in one of the three towns on this island, Surf City, which is just to our south, that there is a curfew in effect until 7:00 tonight. They are telling people here if you want to stay, that's fine. But stay in your home. If you leave your home or your property and wander around, you're liable for arrest. It's very rare that we hear those words, "arrest and hurricane." Usually during mandatory evacuations people are told you just won't get help. We're not going to arrest you. But they are saying very specifically here we will arrest you if you walk up your home if you decide -- walk away from your home if you decide to stay -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I think those people are crazy, and they just don't listen. Gary Tuchman live in Topsail Beach, North Carolina.

Let's head to Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina and Brain Cabell right now.

Brian -- well, it looks kind of calm there.

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Yes, we're in a rather benign posture at this point, because we're about five floors up. This is Kill Devil Hills you're looking at out here.

I was walking outside just a little bit ago. Frankly, it's not all that bad yet. I'd say winds are perhaps 35 to 40 miles per hour. The rain is coming down, as you can see, from the north to the south. There is some minor flooding out there.

Electricity flickered off a little while ago, came back on. That is one of the concerns out here. Of course, that electricity will go off when the winds get stronger.

But at this point, you see no activity out there whatsoever. There was a police car patrolling a little while ago. We are told they will continue up until maybe 50 or 60 mile-per-hour winds. Then, they themselves will hunker down.

But at this point, what you see is a ghost town with rain and wind, as I say, perhaps 40 miles per hour.

Now, let me switch you to the other shot we have, and this is looking out at the ocean. Let me explain what we have there. We are not actually outside on the deck. We're looking through a window, because if we open the door and look directly out at the ocean, what we would have is a lens filled with water.

So, at this point, Carol, what we have is 40-mile-per-hour winds. We expect it to get worse throughout the morning up until about 2:00 this afternoon, a 10-foot storm surge, which means these highways behind me will be flooded if there is over wash, we are told. So, we may be isolated here later on this afternoon.

But right now, not all that bad.

COSTELLO: Well, Brian, when the storm really hits -- you're five floors up -- where will you go for safety? Is there some sort of plan in place?

CABELL: The plan is we stay right here. We are five floors up. The Ramada Inn itself is 17 feet above sea level, so the storm surge is not going to even hit the bottom floor. So, we are relatively safe.

Now, our concern -- let me show you right down here, if I can. There are satellite trucks all down here. There's an army of satellite trucks. And so, they are on fairly high ground as well. We think they will be safe. They are protected by the wall of this five- story hotel. So, we think we are going to be relatively well- protected here, unless the wind shifts on us.

But, again, the problem is we may well be isolated. We may be surrounded by water. But at this point, on the fifth floor, we feel relatively safe, unless the windows start breaking.

COSTELLO: And we hope that does not happen. Brian Cabell live from Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina 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 18, 2003 - 06:03   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Chad, you said that Atlantic Beach, North Carolina might get hit with part of the eye. We want to go there right now. Jeff Flock is standing by live, and conditions are worsening, as you can see.
Jeff -- talk to us.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hey, Carol. Well, yes, (AUDIO GAP) out here. Obviously, we've still got a long way to go with this.

We've got about 90 percent of this town, we are told, has been evacuated. A curfew is now in effect for the other remaining 10 percent perhaps of the town.

And I want to take you perhaps out of the wind a little bit here, so we can talk a little more (AUDIO GAP). We'll take you down to the beach. This beach faces to the south, so we're getting the wind basically off the sound right now. And as Chad pointed out earlier, it will (AUDIO GAP). But it looks like, as he pointed out earlier, we're going to be (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for most of it.

We are (UNINTELLIGIBLE) this hurricane with this team, the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) research team, and, of course, they're the folks that are responsible for putting us pretty much in this spot. Mark Sudduth (ph) heads the team up. Sorry to get you in the middle of another interview there earlier.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just making sure it doesn't ring this time.

FLOCK: Sorry. We just talked to our man, Chad Myers...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

FLOCK: ... we look like we're going to be in part of the eye certainly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

FLOCK: So, you scored on this one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We did well, and we've got to give credit to the Hurricane Center that that track didn't waver too much between Hatteras and here. What a good forecast.

FLOCK: Yes. Now, you've got the -- is that the radar that we're looking at right there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

FLOCK: Yes, now, OK. Finally got it right. And that's showing the bands. Point out for our viewers exactly where we are on your live radar there, and you'll see what's coming at us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are at the very tip of the mouse pointed there, the fingertip. And here is that very large center of circulation. Those 105-mile-per-hour winds are right here, it looks like. These are going to be hurricane-force winds, tropical storm- force winds spreading inland into North Carolina from there.

FLOCK: I see a spec. I don't know if you can see it. The meter over there, that's your maximum gusts, is that right, 49? And that's just right here, and you had higher ones elsewhere, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly. We’re protected by the building that everyone is staying in right over there. The anemometer is shielded. But we're getting 52-mile-per-hour winds easily, and when we get out in the open a little later to get that eye wall coming on shore, we should expect to see 70, 80 maybe 100-mile-per-hour winds on the vehicle.

FLOCK: I hear you. I hear you. In fact, let's take a look at that spec, and I'll let you put your thing up there, Mark, for a second. And I want to show folks out on the beach. Do you see the anemometers up there, Syke (ph)? Are you -- we're going to have to just wipe it off, or else you're not going to see anything. That's his two masked anemometers.

We were in the last storm with Mark Sudduth (ph), and they lost one of those -- they lost one of those masks. So, hopefully this one will hold tight. He says this one is rated to 225 miles an hour, and we, of course, don't think we're going to get anywhere near that.

Hey, Syke (ph), come this way if you can, one more shot before we get away. I do want to show them that pier again, and when the sun comes up, you'll really be able to see a heck of a picture out on this pier with the breakers rolling in. This is a wood-constructed pier, and the breakers are hitting it pretty good right now, and I suspect we'll have a lot more of that before we're done.

That's it, Carol, Chad -- back to you.

COSTELLO: OK, Jeff. It's just incredible stuff you're showing us this morning. We sure appreciate it.

And we want to head up farther up the coast to Virginia Beach, Virginia. That's where Kathleen Koch is. People are bracing there as well.

Good morning -- Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Well, the feeling here in this resort town of 435,000 isn't exactly bring-it-on, but, you know, they have been watching this storm churn in their direction for days, trying to second-guess Isabel's every move. And at this point, they really feel like they've done all they can do to prepare, and let's just get this over with.

Of course, there were mandatory evacuations for folks in low- lying areas here and throughout Virginia yesterday. We did see people, though, still late into the evening putting on boards, securing their windows and doors and getting ready.

Now, of course, many of those people who did choose to evacuate ended up in some of the shelters in the area -- thousands in local shelters, we're told. Of course, some of those shelters, again, in local schools, which are closed today. Schools, government offices, courts, everything pretty much shut down.

And it was a very tough call for many of these residents, some of who have weathered, ridden out past storms, this time, you know, deciding whether or not to leave.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The peninsula you're standing on was formed by a hurricane back in the Colonial days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what Mother Nature deposits, she can certainly take away, and probably will one day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think we're going to leave, but my dad might stay because of the looting that went on last time they had a hurricane.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: And the federal government has marshaled a massive amount of resources here. You can see that we're getting some pretty high winds here in Virginia Beach, roughly on the area of about 40 miles an hour. They're saying that's going to double by the end of the day.

But the federal government has a lot of resources ready in case we need the help, not only in Virginia, but also in North Carolina -- the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard. They have medical teams, communication teams, urban search and rescue teams deployed in and on standby.

FEMA also has some 30 semi-trailers. They're packed with cots, food, generators, blankets, anything and everything that you might need in the aftermath of a storm like this.

Now, besides these heavy winds, I can still stand up. I’m doing OK right now. But they are saying we're going to get 6 to 10 inches of rain and a 5 to 9 foot storm surge, Carol, before Isabel bids us adieu. Back to you.

COSTELLO: Oh, well, you be careful. I know that Virginia's governor declared a state of emergency a couple of days ago, so they seem to be prepared.

May I ask where you are?

KOCH: Well, we are in Virginia Beach next to the Boardwalk. I don't know if my cameraman can pan off to the water. You really don't see much out there right now. Carol, they say the waves are up about 7 or 8 feet. It's going to be a lot higher.

But this Boardwalk was specially created to help protect Virginia Beach. They hope that that's going to give it an advantage today -- a very wide concrete Boardwalk, a taller seawall. And they added some 300 feet of beach. So, they think that will act as a buffer. They say it can handle about nine-foot seas. So, we'll cross our fingers and hope that's going to be enough.

COSTELLO: Yes, good luck. Good luck out there. Kathleen Koch live from Virginia Beach this morning.

Let's head back down the coast to North Carolina to Topsail Beach and Gary Tuchman.

Gary -- what are conditions like there?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, we're about 40 miles south of where Jeff Flock is in Atlantic Beach. It was in the last 30 minutes the conditions have started to deteriorate.

You know, we can't control Mother Nature, but we can be grateful that this will not be the category 5 storm that we saw five days ago in the Atlantic Ocean, with winds of 160 miles per hour. Now, the maximum sustained winds are 105 miles per hour, so it's lost one-third of its fury. And people have to be very grateful about that, because a category 5 is catastrophic damage. We are hoping the damage isn't so bad this time.

Here, in this edge of the storm on the west edge of the eye, we're getting -- the beach is to this side of me -- we're getting the winds coming from inland towards the beach because of the counter- clockwise swirl of the hurricane. So, the people here will probably not get a lot of flooding because the winds are blowing out into the ocean.

Here, on Topsail Island, there are about 3,000 year-round residents. Most of them are gone. This place was very abandoned when we toured it last night. However, there has not been a mandatory evacuation in effect.

The police chief here basically is telling us that if this was the heart of the tourist season when they have 30,000 or 40,000 people, they would have had a mandatory evacuation. They trust the people who live here to make the right decisions. They've been through five hurricanes in the last seven years, direct hits or near direct hits.

They are telling people, though, in one of the three towns on this island, Surf City, which is just to our south, that there is a curfew in effect until 7:00 tonight. They are telling people here if you want to stay, that's fine. But stay in your home. If you leave your home or your property and wander around, you're liable for arrest. It's very rare that we hear those words, "arrest and hurricane." Usually during mandatory evacuations people are told you just won't get help. We're not going to arrest you. But they are saying very specifically here we will arrest you if you walk up your home if you decide -- walk away from your home if you decide to stay -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I think those people are crazy, and they just don't listen. Gary Tuchman live in Topsail Beach, North Carolina.

Let's head to Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina and Brain Cabell right now.

Brian -- well, it looks kind of calm there.

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Yes, we're in a rather benign posture at this point, because we're about five floors up. This is Kill Devil Hills you're looking at out here.

I was walking outside just a little bit ago. Frankly, it's not all that bad yet. I'd say winds are perhaps 35 to 40 miles per hour. The rain is coming down, as you can see, from the north to the south. There is some minor flooding out there.

Electricity flickered off a little while ago, came back on. That is one of the concerns out here. Of course, that electricity will go off when the winds get stronger.

But at this point, you see no activity out there whatsoever. There was a police car patrolling a little while ago. We are told they will continue up until maybe 50 or 60 mile-per-hour winds. Then, they themselves will hunker down.

But at this point, what you see is a ghost town with rain and wind, as I say, perhaps 40 miles per hour.

Now, let me switch you to the other shot we have, and this is looking out at the ocean. Let me explain what we have there. We are not actually outside on the deck. We're looking through a window, because if we open the door and look directly out at the ocean, what we would have is a lens filled with water.

So, at this point, Carol, what we have is 40-mile-per-hour winds. We expect it to get worse throughout the morning up until about 2:00 this afternoon, a 10-foot storm surge, which means these highways behind me will be flooded if there is over wash, we are told. So, we may be isolated here later on this afternoon.

But right now, not all that bad.

COSTELLO: Well, Brian, when the storm really hits -- you're five floors up -- where will you go for safety? Is there some sort of plan in place?

CABELL: The plan is we stay right here. We are five floors up. The Ramada Inn itself is 17 feet above sea level, so the storm surge is not going to even hit the bottom floor. So, we are relatively safe.

Now, our concern -- let me show you right down here, if I can. There are satellite trucks all down here. There's an army of satellite trucks. And so, they are on fairly high ground as well. We think they will be safe. They are protected by the wall of this five- story hotel. So, we think we are going to be relatively well- protected here, unless the wind shifts on us.

But, again, the problem is we may well be isolated. We may be surrounded by water. But at this point, on the fifth floor, we feel relatively safe, unless the windows start breaking.

COSTELLO: And we hope that does not happen. Brian Cabell live from Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina 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.