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CNN Live At Daybreak
Washington Virtually Shutting Down Today
Aired September 18, 2003 - 06:53 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: Washington is virtually shutting down today due to Hurricane Isabel. Federal offices closed for the day. Subways and buses will stop running later this morning.
For more on the D.C. disruption, let's go live to D.C. and Jennifer Coggiola -- it's kind of a ghost town there this morning, isn't it?
JENNIFER COGGIOLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. A little eerie quiet, and it should be even quieter throughout the rest of the afternoon. Like you said, government buildings, federal buildings all shut down. Those folks getting to sleep in. The schools and businesses closed. Even the animals at the National Zoo have all been brought inside for safety. All as the city prepares for Hurricane Isabel.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COGGIOLA (voice-over): The nation's capital has no plans to take Hurricane Isabel sitting down. It'll do it mainly by staying home.
SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Because the Washington, D.C. area, the Virginia area, Alexandria, Arlington, could be hit very hard with rain and wind.
COGGIOLA: D.C., bracing for up to six inches of rain and winds up to 70 miles an hour on downtown streets, will shut down its mass transit buses and subway systems later this morning. Amtrak has canceled all trains running south of the city and the federal government plans to shut down. About 350,000 workers told to stay home.
Even the White House is preparing, like any other home might, securing the grounds.
MCCLELLAN: This could include flags. It could include the awnings around the complex.
COGGIOLA: For neighboring towns on the Potomac, like Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, no stranger to flooding...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know what we're doing.
COGGIOLA: Isabel is expected to hit at high tide. So residents are doing all they can to get ready, hoping the sand bags the city distributed will help a little. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just trying to keep the water, you know, out of the building and hopefully it's not going to come up that height.
COGGIOLA: Now, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and D.C. have all been declared in a state of emergency. And here in D.C., police officers have been told to prepare for three to four days of power outages, possible looting and shifts that could be as long as 96 hours long.
I'm Jennifer Coggiola live in Washington -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Ninety-six hours? Wow.
COGGIOLA: I know.
COSTELLO: But President Bush is safe and sound. He's already at Camp David, which is up in Maryland and probably won't be too affected there, anyway.
All right, Jennifer Coggiola, live from Washington, D.C. 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 - 06:53 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Washington is virtually shutting down today due to Hurricane Isabel. Federal offices closed for the day. Subways and buses will stop running later this morning.
For more on the D.C. disruption, let's go live to D.C. and Jennifer Coggiola -- it's kind of a ghost town there this morning, isn't it?
JENNIFER COGGIOLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. A little eerie quiet, and it should be even quieter throughout the rest of the afternoon. Like you said, government buildings, federal buildings all shut down. Those folks getting to sleep in. The schools and businesses closed. Even the animals at the National Zoo have all been brought inside for safety. All as the city prepares for Hurricane Isabel.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COGGIOLA (voice-over): The nation's capital has no plans to take Hurricane Isabel sitting down. It'll do it mainly by staying home.
SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Because the Washington, D.C. area, the Virginia area, Alexandria, Arlington, could be hit very hard with rain and wind.
COGGIOLA: D.C., bracing for up to six inches of rain and winds up to 70 miles an hour on downtown streets, will shut down its mass transit buses and subway systems later this morning. Amtrak has canceled all trains running south of the city and the federal government plans to shut down. About 350,000 workers told to stay home.
Even the White House is preparing, like any other home might, securing the grounds.
MCCLELLAN: This could include flags. It could include the awnings around the complex.
COGGIOLA: For neighboring towns on the Potomac, like Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, no stranger to flooding...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know what we're doing.
COGGIOLA: Isabel is expected to hit at high tide. So residents are doing all they can to get ready, hoping the sand bags the city distributed will help a little. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just trying to keep the water, you know, out of the building and hopefully it's not going to come up that height.
COGGIOLA: Now, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and D.C. have all been declared in a state of emergency. And here in D.C., police officers have been told to prepare for three to four days of power outages, possible looting and shifts that could be as long as 96 hours long.
I'm Jennifer Coggiola live in Washington -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Ninety-six hours? Wow.
COGGIOLA: I know.
COSTELLO: But President Bush is safe and sound. He's already at Camp David, which is up in Maryland and probably won't be too affected there, anyway.
All right, Jennifer Coggiola, live from Washington, D.C. 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
