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American Morning

Hurricane Ivan Pummels Gulf Coast

Aired September 16, 2004 - 07:00   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: Good morning. Hurricane Ivan pummels the Gulf coast with hour upon hour of howling wind and driving rain. A terrifying night. We'll be talking about this night for many years to come. And this storm not over by a long shot, still raging farther inland, still a force of destruction, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING, with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

Good morning. I'm Bill Hemmer, live here in Mobile, Alabama.

Welcome to our special coverage, the fallout now of Hurricane Ivan. And again, this storm is not over yet. We're just coming down to the tail end of the eye. Crossing the western edge of the eye, where we are here in Mobile, Alabama. So, the winds right now are not as fierce as they were for the past nine hours. And believe me, this was a very, very long night here in southern Alabama. The winds just howling for about seven hours running, and many times just thunderous outside of our windows here at our location in Mobile.

We will take you over the next three hours, trying to canvas the area, let you know what we can find out when the sun comes up, and again, the sun about 30 minutes away from rising, which will give us a better indication anyway as the skies start to lighten here in southern Alabama.

We were out in the street earlier today trying to survey the damage as best we could. There is not substantial flooding in this area. That's a good thing. The other very good thing here is that no fatalities have been reported to date. And certainly officials here in Mobile surveying the damage. Now further east of here in Pensacola and Panama City Beach, not nearly as lucky. It was late yesterday afternoon, into the early evening hours, when tornadoes touched down there in the panhandle of Florida. The reports we have, at least two people dead as a result.

We'll talk about the mayor in a moment here in Mobile, trying to figure out what's happening now as they go out, sending their teams out through the area.

The other thing we'll do is take you down to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, trying to figure out what Ivan is doing now.

Just about 45 minutes ago to an hour ago, this still was a very strong storm, winds upwards of 150 miles an hour, and that was inland. And now here in Mobile, we'll wait for the back side of the storm to see what happens next. The winds shifting a little bit now from the northwest, and then again to the west, as the storm starts to move around us here in Mobile.

Also, back in New York City, Heidi Collins, good morning to you, back there in New York.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Bill. Boy, what a night everybody had down there, that's for sure.

Here is what we know, in fact, about how Ivan is affecting the Gulf States at this hour now. In Florida, as Bill mentioned, two people were killed in Panama City Beach by tornadoes spawned by Ivan, and hundreds of homes destroyed there. Just north of Panama City, in Blountstown, there are reports of five tornado-related deaths, and tens of thousands of Panhandle residents without power.

To Alabama now, in the Mobile and Gulf Shore areas, ground zero for this hurricane. Nearly 200,000 residents there without power, many of them within the Mobile city limits.

Missouri power is reporting some 50,000 customers without electricity.

And in Louisiana, there were heavy winds and rains, but this morning the hurricane warning has actually been lifted for New Orleans. Flooding, though, could obviously still be a problem there.

So, boy, this thing has really just hit so many different states, and FEMA has got some issues there with trying to deliver their supplies and their (INAUDIBLE) to them.

So, we want to bring Bill back in now, as long as he can hear me.

Bill, are you there?

HEMMER: Yes, I sure am, Heidi. Thanks. A couple of reporters really canvassing the entire Gulf Coast. And if you want to get a good measure of this storm, Heidi, we're picking up damage in Panama City Beach in the east. We're picking up damage as far west as Biloxi, Mississippi. On the map, that's about 230 miles long, which is about the same size of Frances two weeks ago on the east coast of Florida.

Let's start our team coverage this morning, Kathleen Koch again live in Biloxi. Jason Bellini is further west in New Orleans.

We begin with Kathleen. Good morning, Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

They are counting their blessings here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. A few minutes ago, I spoke with a captain with Pascagoula Police Department. That's in Jackson County, Mississippi, which is just east of here, on the Alabama line, and he said, we fared very well. It could have been a lot worse. But still as can you see, we're waiting for the sun to come up to get -- to see the full extent of the damage here. Jackson County to the east hit the hardest. But throughout the coast of Mississippi, about half of the residents, some 50,000 households, are without power right now.

In Jackson County, they have a lot of damage, thousands of power lines down, businesses with their windows blown in, awnings ripped off the top of gas stations.

Here in Biloxi, top of a restaurant ripped off, part of a hospital, just hospital awning to the ambulance entrance ripped off. One little bit of good news though that we heard from the Pascagoula Police, a young woman went into labor last night at the height of the storm. The ambulances had already been brought in off the roads because of the high winds, winds at least here clocked over 65 miles an hour, even worse to the east.

So, they sent out a fire truck. They got her to Singing River Hospital in Pascagoula, and in the night, in the height of the storm, a bouncing baby girl was born. We don't know yet of whether or not she might consider naming her Ivanna.

Back to you, Bill.

HEMMER: Something tells me I doubt it.

Kathleen, thanks.

Further west in New Orleans and Jason Bellini where a lot of people have to think they're quite lucky this morning there.

Jason, good morning.

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Many of those people will be out on the streets soon, because they are lifting the curfew at 7:00 Central Time. It went into effect yesterday afternoon. They're going to wake up to some very good news. No damage here in New Orleans as far as we know. There was very little rainfall as well. The worst fears not realized. People who evacuated, the tens of thousands of people who evacuated, are getting the all-clear to come back today -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Jason, thanks for that in New Orleans. Jason Bellini now with the National Hurricane Center right now in Miami.

Rick Nabb is back with us here on AMERICAN MORNING. We talked 24 hours ago. Ivan has come ashore. There's more to come in the coming hours.

At this point inland, what is the status of Ivan, Rick.

RICK NABB, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Well, Ivan made landfall as a strong category-three hurricane, and we still believe it is maintaining that category-three intensity right now, but we expect gradual weakening. But it's going to take until the early afternoon today before it loses hurricane intensity and will probably remain a tropical storm into northern Alabama through about this time tomorrow.

HEMMER: If that is next on the list of the target list for Ivan, what do those people need to know, Rick?

NABB: Well, one of the more serious hazards of a landfalling hurricane inland is heavy rainfall, and Ivan will be no exception. In effect, right now, rainfall is occurring over the entire state of Alabama. We've got a very dangerous rain bands way out in advance of the center over northern Florida, western Georgia. So, people really need to be vigilant in not driving on the roads when they're covered with water. Turn around, don't drown. Monitor your radio for any flash flood watches or tornado warnings that go up.

Unfortunately, we expect that Ivan's going to slow down, and over the next several days it could be stalling over the southern Appalachians. So, there's a potential for a lot of rainfall during the next few days.

HEMMER: Rick, late yesterday afternoon, early evening hours, tornadoes touching down in the Panhandle, specifically, Pensacola. What happened with the storm and Ivan when that occurred, Rick?

NABB: Landfalling tropical cyclones are prone to spawning tornadoes, especially to the north and the east of where the center makes landfall, and that has been happening since yesterday; even within the last couple of hours we've had tornadoes near Tallahassee and just east of Montgomery, Alabama. This will continue to be the risk during the day today and perhaps into tomorrow.

HEMMER: Yes, bottom line, Rick, was Ivan everything you thought he would be?

NABB: It certainly looks that way. We anticipate that when the sun comes up in a little while, especially in the Pensacola area, Gulf Shores, Alabama, and a large part of the Florida Panhandle, even Alabama, that we're going to see the results of the winds, and the rain and the surge. Significant damage can be expected, and people are not going to forget this for a long time.

HEMMER: Rick, thanks for that. Rick Nabb at the National Hurricane Center.

We should get another update on the coordinates for Ivan in about an hour's time.

And Rick, we'll talk to you then in the 8:00 a.m. Eastern hour.

Meanwhile, by telephone, in Panama City Beach, the Panhandle was hit hard. Rick Sanchez by telephone this morning.

Rick, I know it's still dark there, light very soon. What do you have for us now?

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, here's what I have for you. Unfortunately, it seems at this point as if the death toll may be growing. Let me be as methodical about this as I possibly can with you. I have been on the phone this morning with folks over at the EOC in Calhoun, County. Calhoun County is located just due west of Tallahassee. I have two officials there at the EOC building who have told me by phone that the man in charge of EOC, a gentleman known as Sonny O'Brien, did confirm several hours ago -- that's did confirm several hours ago -- that as a result of a tornado in the area of Blountstown, in Calhoun County, there are five new fatalities.

Once again, two EOC officials in Calhoun County have told me that Sonny O'Brien did make a statement earlier this morning that there are five new fatalities in Calhoun County.

The only reason I'm using -- and modifying this with the word new is that they are separate and apart from the two fatalities here in Bay County that, as you know, Bill, we have been reporting to you for the better part of the last 12 hours or so.

What we're hoping to do is try and touch base with Mr. O'Brien himself sometime this morning. He's expected back in his office sometime soon. He is said to be back on that scene assessing the damage, so we don't know whether figures could change somewhat, how many people were injured, how many homes were actually affected.

We're told -- according to preliminary reports, again -- that some homes were leveled, that they weren't necessarily next to each other, and that the tornado seemed to take an irregular pattern.

So, once again, Bill, that's the very latest here as we're getting it from, once again, officials at the EOC in Calhoun County. My friend, back to you.

HEMMER: All right, Rick, thanks. Rick Sanchez there, Panama City Beach by telephone. Really tough news there in the Panhandle.

Back here in Mobile, the mayor is with me now, Mike Dow. Good morning to you. At last check, no fatalities in Mobile.

MAYOR MICHAEL DOW, MOBILE, ALABAMA: No fatalities. I think we caught a bullet with our teeth.

We're in pretty good shape here. I've been driving around the city this morning. It's kind of dark, but I only found three felled trees between here and the Emergency Command Center out in West Mobile. And that's about a 12-mile shot. So, just looking at that, we're lucky.

A lot of erosion, power is out. We've got some damage -- you know, some buildings, some roofs, and that kind of stuff. But I think overall, considering the enormity of what was thought to be meant for us here, that we've dodged the big one here.

HEMMER: You said caught a bullet with your teeth.

DOW: Caught the bullet with our teeth. I think that explains what we did here. I've seen it on TV before, but never did it myself. HEMMER: There is an indication here in the final hours when Ivan was closing in on the Gulf coast that it veered east slightly, which took it just east -- at least the most intense winds just east of Mobile. Is that your assessment?

DOW: The storm surge did not result. It went east, and the water did not shove up the bay. And that's the same way Frederic did. So, we escaped that water surge up the bay, and that protected the downtown area. And I think the winds didn't quite reach the intensity here as it did to our next-door neighbors, as well.

HEMMER: We heard about 80 percent of the people here living in Mobile without power, without electricity this morning. What about further south? I know that's not your jurisdiction, but those areas are low-lying areas where a lot of people were susceptible to high water.

DOW: Well, I think we have a lot of erosion. I think we have yet to go out and assess the damage. And I think it'll be severe, but I think it'll be erosion and that kind of stuff, as opposed to felled infrastructure. You know, we don't have large buildings toppled over.

Our big crane on that building is still standing over here, and he crew's port is still here. Cut that ribbon on that puppy and get that cruise ship going October 16. So, those were my concerns.

HEMMER: How did you do last night? Where did you spend the night?

DOW: I spent the night in the Emergency Center in -- I guess I've been up about 28 hours now. So, I still probably got to stay up a while; got to figure out what's going on here.

HEMMER: Eventually, we'll all sleep. And in the meantime, Ivan is not done yet, the winds now out of the northwest.

DOW: All you guys did a good job. I think we got people out of our city and out of our low-lying estuaries. And we kept pounding away and, you know, get out of these low-lying estuaries. And I think that had a great impact.

HEMMER: Mayor, thank you for your time.

DOW: Good.

HEMMER: And thank you for spending time with us.

DOW: You have a great trip going home, OK?

HEMMER: Mike Dow is the mayor. Well, thank you very much. Eventually we will. Thanks to you.

DOW: Hope to see you on a cruise out of Mobile soon.

HEMMER: OK. I'll take you up on that at a later date. Thank you, Mayor. Let's get a break here. Much more coverage as we continue to track not just the fallout of Ivan, but also where Ivan goes next. Back in a moment live in Mobile on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "360": Well, we have seen some extraordinarily strong gusts here. These planters are probably 600 pounds or so. One of them was just whipped up and ripped off. It's down there a little bit. We think this area is a little bit more secure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: That was my colleague Anderson Cooper just about 10 hours ago. In fact, Anderson at that point was standing in this very spot. The planter he talked about is on the ground -- 600 pounds, as Anderson mentioned.

Ten hours ago, the winds were coming from the east and with -- ferocious, too. Very, very strong. In fact, they continued for about a seven-hour period.

Now, the winds are much lighter, coming from the northwest to the west as the storm continues to move around our location here.

Chad Myers tells me, here in Mobile, we're on the western edge of the eyewall, and that's why things have settled down to this point. Chad, good morning to you at the CNN Center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Yes, Chad. And again, the toughest news of all, just coming from Rick Sanchez a few moments ago, he's now reporting in Panama City Beach there are five people who have died as a result of Ivan. That is in addition, we understand, to two fatalities reported last night in Pensacola, Florida. So, between those two incidents now, it's now a total of seven in the Florida Panhandle losing their lives to this storm.

Just about sunrise now on the east coast. And at first light, which should be about 30 minutes from now, we'll have a better look at what's happening here and the damage that Ivan has done.

The sun will be up in Panama City, Florida, in about 10 minutes from now. That's 7:20 a.m. Eastern. Pensacola is at half past the hour here. Mobile, the port city bearing the brunt of the hurricane, sunrise at 7:37 a.m. Eastern time. And Biloxi, to the west of our location, about 7:41, and also further west in New Orleans at 7:46. That is when we should know, have a much better idea about this 200- mile stretch of Gulf coast as to how bad the damage has been from Ivan.

More in a moment in Mobile. Back to Heidi now in New York -- Heidi?

COLLINS: All right. Bill, thanks so much for that.

We want to check out other stories now in the news this morning.

Straight to Iraq, as well. Two Americans, believed to be among a group of hostages taken in the country early this morning. A spokesman for Iraq's interior ministry said they were abducted from their home in central Baghdad just hours ago. The third hostage is British. A neighbor says the building did not have a guard posted at the time. U.S. embassy officials are looking into the kidnapping.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan is questioning the legality of the war in Iraq. Speaking to the BBC yesterday, Annan said the decision to take action in Iraq should have been made by the Security Council and not unilaterally by the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECY.-GENERAL: I have made it -- stated clearly that it was not in conformity with the Security Council, with the U.N. charter.

QUESTION: It was illegal.

ANNAN: Yes, if you wish.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Annan also warned that security in Iraq must improve considerably if credible elections are to be held there in January.

The documents used to question President Bush's National Guard service have reportedly been traced back to a Kinko's copy shop. The details are just developing this morning. But according to a former Guardsman cited in "The Washington Post," at least one of the documents aired on CBS' "60 Minutes" had Kinko's fax imprint. CBS is vowing to get to the bottom of the controversy.

Martha Stewart says she's ready to serve time in a bid to reclaim her life. She'll voluntarily begin her five-month sentence and won't wait until her appeal is decided. She has asked to serve at the federal correctional facility in Coleman, Florida.

Now back to Bill in Mobile -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Heidi. Thanks.

Ivan leaving his mark on the Gulf coast, and we witnessed this throughout the night here. Oftentimes we're wondering how the windows were going to stay in their frame because it was just pounding away and doing it for hours on end.

Expected to leave a mark, too, on the economy. Andy has a look at that when we continue our special coverage of Hurricane Ivan on this AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Some videotape from overnight here in Mobile, Alabama, an absolutely beautiful Southern city, With so many antebellum mansions and Victorian homes here, and so many huge oak trees, too. The live oaks all over this city. And there is extensive damage in this area, but city officials are telling us that perhaps not as bad as they expected.

One official commented even a few moments ago, saying that we did OK coming through Ivan at this point. There is power out to about 80 percent of the people here in mobile. But fortunately, the silver lining in the storm today, no fatalities reported so far here in Alabama.

More in a moment in Mobile. Back to New York, again, and Heidi there -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Wow, that is excellent news for them, for sure. Hopefully they'll be able to get through the power situation though.

Bill, thanks so much for that.

I want to move on now to Andy Serwer and oil prices, rising earlier this week because of Ivan. So, how are those prices reacting as damage reports come in?

Of course we are waiting for that, Andy, "Minding Your Business" this morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: That's right. Good morning, Heidi.

The price of oil has been rising over the past couple days in anticipation of Ivan, now up to $44.

Let's see what's been going on. Obviously this has implications for people, gas pumps and the price they're going to be paying for gasoline. You can see here we're notching back up to $44, knocking out about one million barrels of oil per day, production in the Gulf, but that's really only about 13 percent of U.S. capacity, Heidi. Not so bad. Shut down temporarily. We expect that to get back online very quickly, in particular because a lot of the platforms are further west in the Gulf.

So, really, again, we keep saying this this morning, dodging a bullet in many ways. And we'll also be talking more about implications in other parts of the economy, the airline industry as well. And imported oil was also halted and has been disrupted with all these hurricanes.

So, the implications here are big. And We're looking at about $4 billion to $10 billion of damage from Ivan. Those are very, very preliminary estimates, comparing that to the $10 billion for Charley and then the $20 billion going back to Hurricane Andrew in '92. So, a very significant hit to the economy. COLLINS: It's just huge amounts of money, really hard to get your arms around and what all of that means. I mean, we're talking billions.

SERWER: It is, and I think the important thing, though, is that it's not catastrophic from an economic standpoint. Obviously, lives have been lost, and that's terrible news. But the economy can probably handle it at this point.

COLLINS: Which is fantastic.

SERWER: Right.

COLLINS: All right, Andy Serwer, thanks so much for that. We'll talk to you again soon.

SERWER: You're welcome.

COLLINS: And Bill standing by now in Mobile, waiting for the sun to come up there and start looking at all of the damage, right, Bill?

HEMMER: Yes, indeed, you're right, Heidi. The skies getting a little lighter here, but not light enough for us to fully gauge the situation. But it will not be long before we can get a better measure of what's happening here in southern Alabama.

More on Ivan in a moment. That monster storming ashore overnight near Gulf shores, which is about 20 miles southeast of our location, making its presence known across the entire region.

We'll go to Biloxi in a moment here. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: When he blew ashore, Ivan was at 135 miles an hour, a very strong category-three to category-four hurricane here in southern Alabama.

Welcome back to our special coverage. I'm Bill Hemmer, live in Mobile again today. We are only minutes away from getting a better look at Ivan's destruction when the sun dawns here on a new day.

Want to take you a few things right now of Ivan slamming the Alabama coast overnight, and really lasting for about seven to eight hours at a time, at 130 mile-an-hour winds, sustained, leaving hundreds of thousands without power today.

But the Florida panhandle got the brunt of that storm. At least seven reported dead to this point. And the Pensacola Hospital took a direct hit.

Now we're going to go throughout the morning here, try and gauge the reaction and the damage up and down the coast with our colleagues, Panama City, all the way to New Orleans. Want to show you one thing here. We're on the fourth floor of a hotel here in Mobile, Alabama. The swimming pool was emptied by the hotel staff two days ago. At that end of the pool is four feet. At this end of the pool is three feet. We can see water, at least 24 inches at one end, at least 28 inches at the other end. It's not scientific. Put the two together, you're talking about 20-plus inches of rain that have already come here, has already come here to the Mobile area.

What we haven't seen, though, is extensive flooding, at least in the immediate downtown area, which was a major concern yesterday and the day before. To this point it appears that that flooding did not materialize.

Some videotape from overnight. Fire crews were out throughout the town here. At least two house fires, and we are told at least one of those homes allowed to burn to the ground because the firefighters and the winds out here just too tough and too strong to extinguish those flames. A similar situation occurred two weeks ago when we were covering Frances on the east coast of Florida. At that point, firefighters fighting 85 mile-an-hour winds put out a fire and saved the entire block. They let that home go to the ground, but the entire block was saved as a result of their efforts.

Want to go further west now to Kathleen Koch, my colleague in Biloxi, Mississippi, which has put an awful lot of money into the casino industry, $3 billion in the past 12 years, and this could be a very strong financial hit.

How did they fare there, Kathleen? Good morning there.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Bill, you can safely say the Mississippi Gulf Coast dodged a bullet this time. The early reports are that when it comes to the economic engines of the coastal area, both the casinos, the 12 casinos, and the Northrop Grumman ship building, which is in Jackson County, in Pascagoula, an area that was heavier hit than the central and western part of the coast, everything seems to be fine. No reports of any serious damage.

When you look up and down the Gulf Coast, though, there are power lines down, thousands and thousands of them. They say that half of the residents on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, more than 50,000 households, are without power. We have no idea when that power will come back on. As I said, trees down, roads flooded and impassable.

We started feeling the brunt of the storm here in southern Mississippi around 2:00 a.m. this morning. The winds were gusting to 65 miles an hour. Right now the wind is still whipping around. We get some gusts, but it's nowhere near hurricane strength at this point. But we are a good mile-and-a-half from the beach. So, it could be much worse right on the coastal area.

But again, what we've heard in the way of damage here in Biloxi, we've got a roof ripped off of a restaurant, an awning of a hospital's ambulance entrance that was torn off, a shelter without power. And then, again going to the east, going to Jackson County, numerous businesses with windows blown in, awnings on gas stations toppled over, some roofs ripped off.

But as folks are saying, it could have been much, much worse. No deaths that were reported at all at this point in southern Mississippi, no injuries, and curfews are beginning to be lifted very slowly in this area.

But emergency officials are really urging residents to stay put, to hunker down. As can you see, these winds are still blowing. And With so many power lines down and trees down, roads impassable, they just don't want people out, either injuring themselves or putting themselves in the situation where emergency officials will have to come out and rescue them. They want everyone to stay in their homes and give officials time to get out, get those lines up, clear the roads before anyone ventures out into what remains of Ivan -- Bill.

HEMMER: Kathleen, thanks. Kathleen Koch in Biloxi.

Back here in mobile, the police department, the chief, Sam Cochran my guest now.

And we spoke yesterday. You said the potential for Ivan has the potential to be Frederic size, 25 years ago, did enormous amounts of damage. Did that happen to your town?

CHIEF SAM COCHRAN, MOBILE, ALABAMA POLICE DEPT.: No, it do not. It would appear that we've escaped serious damage. The storm came in, apparently hit landfall and immediately moved east and spared us from the storm surge. And it would appear we have mostly just power out, wires down, tree limbs down, some trees down, but doesn't appear to be real severe structural damage at all.

HEMMER: Yes, your mayor said you caught a bullet with your teeth last night, agree?

COCHRAN: I would think so. We absolutely did. It had the potential to be real serious. But I think some of our neighbors to the east who ended up getting brunt of it.

HEMMER: You're talking about Gulf Shores, Alabama, about 25 miles southeast of here, across the Bay. Have you had contact with them?

COCHRAN: Well, we've heard there's extensive damage down there. I don't have a direct contact right now. But we do know that there has been a lot more damage to report down there.

HEMMER: All right, that's on Gulf Shores, on the east side of the Bay.

On the west side of the Bay, I know it's out of your area of jurisdiction here, but further south here, you had a lot of people living down there in the lower-lying areas. How did they do, can you say? COCHRAN: Well, we know there was extensive flooding to the east of us and the east of Mobile Bay. The thing that benefited us is that the storm went in and went to the east of us, and so therefore, we did not get the storm surge, or the waves and all the wave action that does so much damage. They got it down in Gulf Shores, and Orange Beach and over to Pensacola.

HEMMER: Chief, thank you. I appreciate it. Sam Cochran, the police chief in Mobile.

And I want to say congratulations, or I want to say way to weather the storm. But I think Mother Nature has a way of dictating the path and the pattern, and at this point, you dodged one, right?

COCHRAN: We dodged one. We've been blessed this morning, for sure.

HEMMER: Thank you chief for your time.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Back to Heidi, again, in New York now -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, Bill, thanks so much.

You know, Hurricane Ivan has spun off deadly tornadoes as well. We've been talking about it this morning. But in Panama City Beach, Florida, two fatalities were confirmed after a tornado came through.

Mayor Lee Sullivan is back with us this morning to talk about the damage to his community. He's joining us now by telephone.

Mr. Mayor, thanks for being with us.

Just awful news that two people were killed. We also got new information this morning, five more deaths just north of your city in Blountstown from those tornadoes. Can you update us on anything else that's happening area?

MAYOR LEE SULLIVAN, PANAMA CITY BEACH, FLORIDA: Well, right now, the fire and police are dealing with a multiple mobile home fire. I think it looks like, what, three or four? Three or four mobile homes are on fire. Then the challenge of getting emergency personnel to the scene has -- that amplifies that problem. But the two fatalities that we had yesterday are the only ones that have been reported.

I am -- the area to the north of us, as you spoke -- we just had a series of tornadoes yesterday afternoon and last night that decimated that area that was east of the eye of the hurricane.

So, the cold light of day, if you will, and we will try to gather it up. As I have said before, man gets put in his place when he understands that, at a particular point in time when it comes to nature, all he is is an observer.

COLLINS: Boy, isn't that the truth? Let me ask you, then, you mentioned about the emergency crews and resources coming into that area and how difficult it's going to be for obvious reasons. Is there anything you can do to help clear the way to get those supplies that are needed into the people of your area?

SULLIVAN: Yes, ma'am. The issue that we have to deal with right now is the wind load. There is a point in time where we can get people out with some degree of safety. We had, prior to the storm, stationed heavy equipment at various parts of our community so that when it came to -- or if it came to the need to clear debris off the roadway, we would be able to do that as the sun comes up or -- well, let me rephrase that.

As it gets daylight here, we are still in a wind load that is almost inhibitive of getting anybody out as far as power or road crews. So, what have you here is just the police. The fire department is not responding to this particular incident because of the safety issues for their personnel. And we have what started out as a one-trailer fire that has now engulfed three more.

COLLINS: Mayor Sullivan, before we let you go, talk to us quickly about what residents should be doing. I mean, it sounds like a pretty desperate situation there, having difficulty getting any help from anybody.

SULLIVAN: The power is marginally all but gone. People need to understand that that cannot be rectified. This is another thing people don't understand. They're used to power being out when it is out for an hour or two hours or three hours. This is going to be an extended period of time. It will come on gradually and in phases.

They need to stay in their homes. And no matter how uncomfortable it may be, it is the safest place for them at this particular time. And they need to be -- hopefully have an opportunity to have a radio so that the emergency personnel can communicate with them about what's going on in their community.

If you haven't done those things or if you're an idiot and you get out in this weather, I'm going to share with you that nothing good will happen.

COLLINS: Mayor Lee Sullivan, we certainly appreciate your insight in all of this, and of course, do wish you and your community the absolute best of luck in trying to get things together, at least on day one after the sun, as you say -- or daybreak is upon us today.

Once again, still to come on AMERICAN MORNING: the very latest on Hurricane Ivan and the path he took overnight, and now this morning as the damage assessments come in. We'll be back in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: You are looking now live at New Orleans, Louisiana -- unbelievable flooding there. You can still see how fast those waters are rushing, as well. The swells and the waves in the background there have been an unbelievable sight. Although, people there say they feel pretty lucky. Thought they were going to be hit much, much harder by this. But clearly, from Ivan, flooding will be the issue today.

A curfew imposed yesterday about 2:00 p.m., and as well as the city has banned price gouging. Apparently some gas stations trying to charge about 10 bucks a gallon there. So, we're going to keep our eye on that situation for you and talk about it here a little bit more in just a moment.

Meanwhile, we want to check on the stories now in the news this morning. U.S. officials are looking for two Americans believed to have been taken hostage in Iraq. A spokesman for Iraq's Interior Ministry said they were abducted from their home in central Baghdad just hours ago. A British national also taken from there. The identities, though, have not yet been released.

Hundreds of American troops are heading to Afghanistan now. Officials say the military is planning to increase security in that country before the October 9th election. The announcement comes as a rocket attack forced Afghanistan's Interim President Hamid Karzai to return to Kabul this morning. Karzai was out campaigning for the election.

Here in the U.S., four employees have been fired over the security scandal at the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico. They are among the 23 workers suspended earlier this summer after two classified discs vanished. Another employee will resign; one remains on leave pending further investigation.

Want to go ahead and bring in Jack Cafferty now. Good morning to you.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Heidi.

Hurricane Ivan is a natural disaster that has claimed several dozen lives, most of them in the Caribbean, and done a few billion dollars in damage. The war in Iraq is a man-made event that has lasted 18 months, cost $200 billion, and over 1,000 American lives. And today "The New York Times" reports that a classified national intelligence estimate prepared for President Bush this past July spelled out a, quote, "dark assessment of prospects for Iraq," unquote.

It outlines three possible outcomes through the end of next year -- the worst being an all-out civil war in Iraq and the best being a country with tenuous stability in political, economic, and security terms.

Also, Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, a powerful Republican from the State of Nebraska, said that the Bush administration's plans to divert $3.5 billion in reconstruction money to security needs was, quote, "an acknowledgement that we are in deep trouble in Iraq." This from a Republican Senator.

Here's the question: How optimistic are you about the future of Iraq? COLLINS: Yes, good point to make, too. Both sides talking about it for sure now. Lot of pessimism, they say. All right, Jack. Thanks so much for that.

I want to get back to Bill in Mobile, Alabama, now for the very latest. Bill, good morning once again.

HEMMER: Heidi, good morning to you. And tough news out of Florida: Seven dead reported at this point as a result of Hurricane Ivan -- still making landfall, still moving across the state of Alabama after doing damage here in southern Alabama overnight.

It is not finished yet. We'll get you back to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The latest on Ivan and where it goes next in a moment here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: That's a street scene: Live picture from Mobile, Alabama, just around the corner from our location at our hotel here. We were down on the street two hours ago. Clearly, there are lights down. There are signs down. Canvas signs have been ripped apart. And major trees, also, big trees just knocked off to their side. Broken windows in various parts, as well, popping throughout the night as Ivan moved through.

There's also a bar down there; it's called Veet's. We went inside a couple of hours ago. They were open all night long. The owner's in there, the manager's in there, and there's a guy sleeping on a cot across the room. The power never went out. The three of them played video poker throughout the entire storm. And they say later tonight they have a band. It's called "The Family Jewels." And they insist that the band will play later tonight in that very location.

And we have seen hundreds of thousands of people get out of town here in Mobile and across the Gulf coast. When the residents leave, the reporters come in. One reporter, Anderson Cooper, my colleague last night, had a front-row seat here in Mobile.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: The hope here, though, is that people have been prepared. They have evacuated, or tonight they are hunkered down, because this storm is coming and it is coming on fast.

I thought it was bad two hours ago. I thought it was bad an hour ago. It gets worse and worse and worse.

It's very almost difficult to stand at times. You really have to push yourself into the wind. And I'm parallel to the wind. If I turn perpendicular at this point, I am not sure I could actually even stand up. It is getting very nasty out here very fast.

Definitely the winds are a little bit stronger right now. I got some video to show -- man. I got some video to show you: two homes catching fire. Authorities did respond to it. There were fire trucks on the scene. We don't have any word on any injuries. We hope those homes have been evacuated. Most of the homes -- a lot the homes here, have been evacuated already.

There are a lot of police out on the streets. They're afraid of looting. But at this point, it's hard to imagine anyone looting in this kind of temperature and this kind of wind. OK, this is a big gust right now.

We're in a pretty secure location, believe it or not. I know the picture is probably pretty bad. I know my mom is probably watching; she's not all that thrilled. But it's actually -- we're very safe. We took a long time to pick this location, and so we feel pretty good about it. As long as the satellite truck stays upright, we're going to try to stay on the air.

I'm kind of looking around to see if CNN brought a boat, because it looks like -- I hope it doesn't happen, but looks like we'll have some difficulty just get around tomorrow.

One has to feel for the people who are living through it. But to see Mother Nature at its full force, it makes you feel very insignificant, I got to tell you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: I will tell you, you know, Mobile was right there in the line of the storm as that storm moved directly from south to north. And Anderson was out here about seven hours taking the heat of that storm with the gusts that were so intense and so strong.

And if you watched any of his coverage last night, oftentimes looked like Anderson was just going to be picked off his feet and carried across the platform out here at the hotel. He's OK and did great work for us here live on CNN throughout the evening last night.

In a moment, Rob Marciano, also riding out that storm. We'll talk to Rob. Right now as the storm again moves around, the winds from the west. Alabama caught the eye. We'll talk to the Governor Bob Riley in a moment about Gulf Shores, Alabama, 25 miles southeast of us here in Mobile. It took the hardest hit last night.

Back in a moment live in Mobile after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired September 16, 2004 - 07:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Hurricane Ivan pummels the Gulf coast with hour upon hour of howling wind and driving rain. A terrifying night. We'll be talking about this night for many years to come. And this storm not over by a long shot, still raging farther inland, still a force of destruction, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING, with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

Good morning. I'm Bill Hemmer, live here in Mobile, Alabama.

Welcome to our special coverage, the fallout now of Hurricane Ivan. And again, this storm is not over yet. We're just coming down to the tail end of the eye. Crossing the western edge of the eye, where we are here in Mobile, Alabama. So, the winds right now are not as fierce as they were for the past nine hours. And believe me, this was a very, very long night here in southern Alabama. The winds just howling for about seven hours running, and many times just thunderous outside of our windows here at our location in Mobile.

We will take you over the next three hours, trying to canvas the area, let you know what we can find out when the sun comes up, and again, the sun about 30 minutes away from rising, which will give us a better indication anyway as the skies start to lighten here in southern Alabama.

We were out in the street earlier today trying to survey the damage as best we could. There is not substantial flooding in this area. That's a good thing. The other very good thing here is that no fatalities have been reported to date. And certainly officials here in Mobile surveying the damage. Now further east of here in Pensacola and Panama City Beach, not nearly as lucky. It was late yesterday afternoon, into the early evening hours, when tornadoes touched down there in the panhandle of Florida. The reports we have, at least two people dead as a result.

We'll talk about the mayor in a moment here in Mobile, trying to figure out what's happening now as they go out, sending their teams out through the area.

The other thing we'll do is take you down to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, trying to figure out what Ivan is doing now.

Just about 45 minutes ago to an hour ago, this still was a very strong storm, winds upwards of 150 miles an hour, and that was inland. And now here in Mobile, we'll wait for the back side of the storm to see what happens next. The winds shifting a little bit now from the northwest, and then again to the west, as the storm starts to move around us here in Mobile.

Also, back in New York City, Heidi Collins, good morning to you, back there in New York.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Bill. Boy, what a night everybody had down there, that's for sure.

Here is what we know, in fact, about how Ivan is affecting the Gulf States at this hour now. In Florida, as Bill mentioned, two people were killed in Panama City Beach by tornadoes spawned by Ivan, and hundreds of homes destroyed there. Just north of Panama City, in Blountstown, there are reports of five tornado-related deaths, and tens of thousands of Panhandle residents without power.

To Alabama now, in the Mobile and Gulf Shore areas, ground zero for this hurricane. Nearly 200,000 residents there without power, many of them within the Mobile city limits.

Missouri power is reporting some 50,000 customers without electricity.

And in Louisiana, there were heavy winds and rains, but this morning the hurricane warning has actually been lifted for New Orleans. Flooding, though, could obviously still be a problem there.

So, boy, this thing has really just hit so many different states, and FEMA has got some issues there with trying to deliver their supplies and their (INAUDIBLE) to them.

So, we want to bring Bill back in now, as long as he can hear me.

Bill, are you there?

HEMMER: Yes, I sure am, Heidi. Thanks. A couple of reporters really canvassing the entire Gulf Coast. And if you want to get a good measure of this storm, Heidi, we're picking up damage in Panama City Beach in the east. We're picking up damage as far west as Biloxi, Mississippi. On the map, that's about 230 miles long, which is about the same size of Frances two weeks ago on the east coast of Florida.

Let's start our team coverage this morning, Kathleen Koch again live in Biloxi. Jason Bellini is further west in New Orleans.

We begin with Kathleen. Good morning, Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

They are counting their blessings here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. A few minutes ago, I spoke with a captain with Pascagoula Police Department. That's in Jackson County, Mississippi, which is just east of here, on the Alabama line, and he said, we fared very well. It could have been a lot worse. But still as can you see, we're waiting for the sun to come up to get -- to see the full extent of the damage here. Jackson County to the east hit the hardest. But throughout the coast of Mississippi, about half of the residents, some 50,000 households, are without power right now.

In Jackson County, they have a lot of damage, thousands of power lines down, businesses with their windows blown in, awnings ripped off the top of gas stations.

Here in Biloxi, top of a restaurant ripped off, part of a hospital, just hospital awning to the ambulance entrance ripped off. One little bit of good news though that we heard from the Pascagoula Police, a young woman went into labor last night at the height of the storm. The ambulances had already been brought in off the roads because of the high winds, winds at least here clocked over 65 miles an hour, even worse to the east.

So, they sent out a fire truck. They got her to Singing River Hospital in Pascagoula, and in the night, in the height of the storm, a bouncing baby girl was born. We don't know yet of whether or not she might consider naming her Ivanna.

Back to you, Bill.

HEMMER: Something tells me I doubt it.

Kathleen, thanks.

Further west in New Orleans and Jason Bellini where a lot of people have to think they're quite lucky this morning there.

Jason, good morning.

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Many of those people will be out on the streets soon, because they are lifting the curfew at 7:00 Central Time. It went into effect yesterday afternoon. They're going to wake up to some very good news. No damage here in New Orleans as far as we know. There was very little rainfall as well. The worst fears not realized. People who evacuated, the tens of thousands of people who evacuated, are getting the all-clear to come back today -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Jason, thanks for that in New Orleans. Jason Bellini now with the National Hurricane Center right now in Miami.

Rick Nabb is back with us here on AMERICAN MORNING. We talked 24 hours ago. Ivan has come ashore. There's more to come in the coming hours.

At this point inland, what is the status of Ivan, Rick.

RICK NABB, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Well, Ivan made landfall as a strong category-three hurricane, and we still believe it is maintaining that category-three intensity right now, but we expect gradual weakening. But it's going to take until the early afternoon today before it loses hurricane intensity and will probably remain a tropical storm into northern Alabama through about this time tomorrow.

HEMMER: If that is next on the list of the target list for Ivan, what do those people need to know, Rick?

NABB: Well, one of the more serious hazards of a landfalling hurricane inland is heavy rainfall, and Ivan will be no exception. In effect, right now, rainfall is occurring over the entire state of Alabama. We've got a very dangerous rain bands way out in advance of the center over northern Florida, western Georgia. So, people really need to be vigilant in not driving on the roads when they're covered with water. Turn around, don't drown. Monitor your radio for any flash flood watches or tornado warnings that go up.

Unfortunately, we expect that Ivan's going to slow down, and over the next several days it could be stalling over the southern Appalachians. So, there's a potential for a lot of rainfall during the next few days.

HEMMER: Rick, late yesterday afternoon, early evening hours, tornadoes touching down in the Panhandle, specifically, Pensacola. What happened with the storm and Ivan when that occurred, Rick?

NABB: Landfalling tropical cyclones are prone to spawning tornadoes, especially to the north and the east of where the center makes landfall, and that has been happening since yesterday; even within the last couple of hours we've had tornadoes near Tallahassee and just east of Montgomery, Alabama. This will continue to be the risk during the day today and perhaps into tomorrow.

HEMMER: Yes, bottom line, Rick, was Ivan everything you thought he would be?

NABB: It certainly looks that way. We anticipate that when the sun comes up in a little while, especially in the Pensacola area, Gulf Shores, Alabama, and a large part of the Florida Panhandle, even Alabama, that we're going to see the results of the winds, and the rain and the surge. Significant damage can be expected, and people are not going to forget this for a long time.

HEMMER: Rick, thanks for that. Rick Nabb at the National Hurricane Center.

We should get another update on the coordinates for Ivan in about an hour's time.

And Rick, we'll talk to you then in the 8:00 a.m. Eastern hour.

Meanwhile, by telephone, in Panama City Beach, the Panhandle was hit hard. Rick Sanchez by telephone this morning.

Rick, I know it's still dark there, light very soon. What do you have for us now?

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, here's what I have for you. Unfortunately, it seems at this point as if the death toll may be growing. Let me be as methodical about this as I possibly can with you. I have been on the phone this morning with folks over at the EOC in Calhoun, County. Calhoun County is located just due west of Tallahassee. I have two officials there at the EOC building who have told me by phone that the man in charge of EOC, a gentleman known as Sonny O'Brien, did confirm several hours ago -- that's did confirm several hours ago -- that as a result of a tornado in the area of Blountstown, in Calhoun County, there are five new fatalities.

Once again, two EOC officials in Calhoun County have told me that Sonny O'Brien did make a statement earlier this morning that there are five new fatalities in Calhoun County.

The only reason I'm using -- and modifying this with the word new is that they are separate and apart from the two fatalities here in Bay County that, as you know, Bill, we have been reporting to you for the better part of the last 12 hours or so.

What we're hoping to do is try and touch base with Mr. O'Brien himself sometime this morning. He's expected back in his office sometime soon. He is said to be back on that scene assessing the damage, so we don't know whether figures could change somewhat, how many people were injured, how many homes were actually affected.

We're told -- according to preliminary reports, again -- that some homes were leveled, that they weren't necessarily next to each other, and that the tornado seemed to take an irregular pattern.

So, once again, Bill, that's the very latest here as we're getting it from, once again, officials at the EOC in Calhoun County. My friend, back to you.

HEMMER: All right, Rick, thanks. Rick Sanchez there, Panama City Beach by telephone. Really tough news there in the Panhandle.

Back here in Mobile, the mayor is with me now, Mike Dow. Good morning to you. At last check, no fatalities in Mobile.

MAYOR MICHAEL DOW, MOBILE, ALABAMA: No fatalities. I think we caught a bullet with our teeth.

We're in pretty good shape here. I've been driving around the city this morning. It's kind of dark, but I only found three felled trees between here and the Emergency Command Center out in West Mobile. And that's about a 12-mile shot. So, just looking at that, we're lucky.

A lot of erosion, power is out. We've got some damage -- you know, some buildings, some roofs, and that kind of stuff. But I think overall, considering the enormity of what was thought to be meant for us here, that we've dodged the big one here.

HEMMER: You said caught a bullet with your teeth.

DOW: Caught the bullet with our teeth. I think that explains what we did here. I've seen it on TV before, but never did it myself. HEMMER: There is an indication here in the final hours when Ivan was closing in on the Gulf coast that it veered east slightly, which took it just east -- at least the most intense winds just east of Mobile. Is that your assessment?

DOW: The storm surge did not result. It went east, and the water did not shove up the bay. And that's the same way Frederic did. So, we escaped that water surge up the bay, and that protected the downtown area. And I think the winds didn't quite reach the intensity here as it did to our next-door neighbors, as well.

HEMMER: We heard about 80 percent of the people here living in Mobile without power, without electricity this morning. What about further south? I know that's not your jurisdiction, but those areas are low-lying areas where a lot of people were susceptible to high water.

DOW: Well, I think we have a lot of erosion. I think we have yet to go out and assess the damage. And I think it'll be severe, but I think it'll be erosion and that kind of stuff, as opposed to felled infrastructure. You know, we don't have large buildings toppled over.

Our big crane on that building is still standing over here, and he crew's port is still here. Cut that ribbon on that puppy and get that cruise ship going October 16. So, those were my concerns.

HEMMER: How did you do last night? Where did you spend the night?

DOW: I spent the night in the Emergency Center in -- I guess I've been up about 28 hours now. So, I still probably got to stay up a while; got to figure out what's going on here.

HEMMER: Eventually, we'll all sleep. And in the meantime, Ivan is not done yet, the winds now out of the northwest.

DOW: All you guys did a good job. I think we got people out of our city and out of our low-lying estuaries. And we kept pounding away and, you know, get out of these low-lying estuaries. And I think that had a great impact.

HEMMER: Mayor, thank you for your time.

DOW: Good.

HEMMER: And thank you for spending time with us.

DOW: You have a great trip going home, OK?

HEMMER: Mike Dow is the mayor. Well, thank you very much. Eventually we will. Thanks to you.

DOW: Hope to see you on a cruise out of Mobile soon.

HEMMER: OK. I'll take you up on that at a later date. Thank you, Mayor. Let's get a break here. Much more coverage as we continue to track not just the fallout of Ivan, but also where Ivan goes next. Back in a moment live in Mobile on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "360": Well, we have seen some extraordinarily strong gusts here. These planters are probably 600 pounds or so. One of them was just whipped up and ripped off. It's down there a little bit. We think this area is a little bit more secure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: That was my colleague Anderson Cooper just about 10 hours ago. In fact, Anderson at that point was standing in this very spot. The planter he talked about is on the ground -- 600 pounds, as Anderson mentioned.

Ten hours ago, the winds were coming from the east and with -- ferocious, too. Very, very strong. In fact, they continued for about a seven-hour period.

Now, the winds are much lighter, coming from the northwest to the west as the storm continues to move around our location here.

Chad Myers tells me, here in Mobile, we're on the western edge of the eyewall, and that's why things have settled down to this point. Chad, good morning to you at the CNN Center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Yes, Chad. And again, the toughest news of all, just coming from Rick Sanchez a few moments ago, he's now reporting in Panama City Beach there are five people who have died as a result of Ivan. That is in addition, we understand, to two fatalities reported last night in Pensacola, Florida. So, between those two incidents now, it's now a total of seven in the Florida Panhandle losing their lives to this storm.

Just about sunrise now on the east coast. And at first light, which should be about 30 minutes from now, we'll have a better look at what's happening here and the damage that Ivan has done.

The sun will be up in Panama City, Florida, in about 10 minutes from now. That's 7:20 a.m. Eastern. Pensacola is at half past the hour here. Mobile, the port city bearing the brunt of the hurricane, sunrise at 7:37 a.m. Eastern time. And Biloxi, to the west of our location, about 7:41, and also further west in New Orleans at 7:46. That is when we should know, have a much better idea about this 200- mile stretch of Gulf coast as to how bad the damage has been from Ivan.

More in a moment in Mobile. Back to Heidi now in New York -- Heidi?

COLLINS: All right. Bill, thanks so much for that.

We want to check out other stories now in the news this morning.

Straight to Iraq, as well. Two Americans, believed to be among a group of hostages taken in the country early this morning. A spokesman for Iraq's interior ministry said they were abducted from their home in central Baghdad just hours ago. The third hostage is British. A neighbor says the building did not have a guard posted at the time. U.S. embassy officials are looking into the kidnapping.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan is questioning the legality of the war in Iraq. Speaking to the BBC yesterday, Annan said the decision to take action in Iraq should have been made by the Security Council and not unilaterally by the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECY.-GENERAL: I have made it -- stated clearly that it was not in conformity with the Security Council, with the U.N. charter.

QUESTION: It was illegal.

ANNAN: Yes, if you wish.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Annan also warned that security in Iraq must improve considerably if credible elections are to be held there in January.

The documents used to question President Bush's National Guard service have reportedly been traced back to a Kinko's copy shop. The details are just developing this morning. But according to a former Guardsman cited in "The Washington Post," at least one of the documents aired on CBS' "60 Minutes" had Kinko's fax imprint. CBS is vowing to get to the bottom of the controversy.

Martha Stewart says she's ready to serve time in a bid to reclaim her life. She'll voluntarily begin her five-month sentence and won't wait until her appeal is decided. She has asked to serve at the federal correctional facility in Coleman, Florida.

Now back to Bill in Mobile -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Heidi. Thanks.

Ivan leaving his mark on the Gulf coast, and we witnessed this throughout the night here. Oftentimes we're wondering how the windows were going to stay in their frame because it was just pounding away and doing it for hours on end.

Expected to leave a mark, too, on the economy. Andy has a look at that when we continue our special coverage of Hurricane Ivan on this AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Some videotape from overnight here in Mobile, Alabama, an absolutely beautiful Southern city, With so many antebellum mansions and Victorian homes here, and so many huge oak trees, too. The live oaks all over this city. And there is extensive damage in this area, but city officials are telling us that perhaps not as bad as they expected.

One official commented even a few moments ago, saying that we did OK coming through Ivan at this point. There is power out to about 80 percent of the people here in mobile. But fortunately, the silver lining in the storm today, no fatalities reported so far here in Alabama.

More in a moment in Mobile. Back to New York, again, and Heidi there -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Wow, that is excellent news for them, for sure. Hopefully they'll be able to get through the power situation though.

Bill, thanks so much for that.

I want to move on now to Andy Serwer and oil prices, rising earlier this week because of Ivan. So, how are those prices reacting as damage reports come in?

Of course we are waiting for that, Andy, "Minding Your Business" this morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: That's right. Good morning, Heidi.

The price of oil has been rising over the past couple days in anticipation of Ivan, now up to $44.

Let's see what's been going on. Obviously this has implications for people, gas pumps and the price they're going to be paying for gasoline. You can see here we're notching back up to $44, knocking out about one million barrels of oil per day, production in the Gulf, but that's really only about 13 percent of U.S. capacity, Heidi. Not so bad. Shut down temporarily. We expect that to get back online very quickly, in particular because a lot of the platforms are further west in the Gulf.

So, really, again, we keep saying this this morning, dodging a bullet in many ways. And we'll also be talking more about implications in other parts of the economy, the airline industry as well. And imported oil was also halted and has been disrupted with all these hurricanes.

So, the implications here are big. And We're looking at about $4 billion to $10 billion of damage from Ivan. Those are very, very preliminary estimates, comparing that to the $10 billion for Charley and then the $20 billion going back to Hurricane Andrew in '92. So, a very significant hit to the economy. COLLINS: It's just huge amounts of money, really hard to get your arms around and what all of that means. I mean, we're talking billions.

SERWER: It is, and I think the important thing, though, is that it's not catastrophic from an economic standpoint. Obviously, lives have been lost, and that's terrible news. But the economy can probably handle it at this point.

COLLINS: Which is fantastic.

SERWER: Right.

COLLINS: All right, Andy Serwer, thanks so much for that. We'll talk to you again soon.

SERWER: You're welcome.

COLLINS: And Bill standing by now in Mobile, waiting for the sun to come up there and start looking at all of the damage, right, Bill?

HEMMER: Yes, indeed, you're right, Heidi. The skies getting a little lighter here, but not light enough for us to fully gauge the situation. But it will not be long before we can get a better measure of what's happening here in southern Alabama.

More on Ivan in a moment. That monster storming ashore overnight near Gulf shores, which is about 20 miles southeast of our location, making its presence known across the entire region.

We'll go to Biloxi in a moment here. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: When he blew ashore, Ivan was at 135 miles an hour, a very strong category-three to category-four hurricane here in southern Alabama.

Welcome back to our special coverage. I'm Bill Hemmer, live in Mobile again today. We are only minutes away from getting a better look at Ivan's destruction when the sun dawns here on a new day.

Want to take you a few things right now of Ivan slamming the Alabama coast overnight, and really lasting for about seven to eight hours at a time, at 130 mile-an-hour winds, sustained, leaving hundreds of thousands without power today.

But the Florida panhandle got the brunt of that storm. At least seven reported dead to this point. And the Pensacola Hospital took a direct hit.

Now we're going to go throughout the morning here, try and gauge the reaction and the damage up and down the coast with our colleagues, Panama City, all the way to New Orleans. Want to show you one thing here. We're on the fourth floor of a hotel here in Mobile, Alabama. The swimming pool was emptied by the hotel staff two days ago. At that end of the pool is four feet. At this end of the pool is three feet. We can see water, at least 24 inches at one end, at least 28 inches at the other end. It's not scientific. Put the two together, you're talking about 20-plus inches of rain that have already come here, has already come here to the Mobile area.

What we haven't seen, though, is extensive flooding, at least in the immediate downtown area, which was a major concern yesterday and the day before. To this point it appears that that flooding did not materialize.

Some videotape from overnight. Fire crews were out throughout the town here. At least two house fires, and we are told at least one of those homes allowed to burn to the ground because the firefighters and the winds out here just too tough and too strong to extinguish those flames. A similar situation occurred two weeks ago when we were covering Frances on the east coast of Florida. At that point, firefighters fighting 85 mile-an-hour winds put out a fire and saved the entire block. They let that home go to the ground, but the entire block was saved as a result of their efforts.

Want to go further west now to Kathleen Koch, my colleague in Biloxi, Mississippi, which has put an awful lot of money into the casino industry, $3 billion in the past 12 years, and this could be a very strong financial hit.

How did they fare there, Kathleen? Good morning there.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Bill, you can safely say the Mississippi Gulf Coast dodged a bullet this time. The early reports are that when it comes to the economic engines of the coastal area, both the casinos, the 12 casinos, and the Northrop Grumman ship building, which is in Jackson County, in Pascagoula, an area that was heavier hit than the central and western part of the coast, everything seems to be fine. No reports of any serious damage.

When you look up and down the Gulf Coast, though, there are power lines down, thousands and thousands of them. They say that half of the residents on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, more than 50,000 households, are without power. We have no idea when that power will come back on. As I said, trees down, roads flooded and impassable.

We started feeling the brunt of the storm here in southern Mississippi around 2:00 a.m. this morning. The winds were gusting to 65 miles an hour. Right now the wind is still whipping around. We get some gusts, but it's nowhere near hurricane strength at this point. But we are a good mile-and-a-half from the beach. So, it could be much worse right on the coastal area.

But again, what we've heard in the way of damage here in Biloxi, we've got a roof ripped off of a restaurant, an awning of a hospital's ambulance entrance that was torn off, a shelter without power. And then, again going to the east, going to Jackson County, numerous businesses with windows blown in, awnings on gas stations toppled over, some roofs ripped off.

But as folks are saying, it could have been much, much worse. No deaths that were reported at all at this point in southern Mississippi, no injuries, and curfews are beginning to be lifted very slowly in this area.

But emergency officials are really urging residents to stay put, to hunker down. As can you see, these winds are still blowing. And With so many power lines down and trees down, roads impassable, they just don't want people out, either injuring themselves or putting themselves in the situation where emergency officials will have to come out and rescue them. They want everyone to stay in their homes and give officials time to get out, get those lines up, clear the roads before anyone ventures out into what remains of Ivan -- Bill.

HEMMER: Kathleen, thanks. Kathleen Koch in Biloxi.

Back here in mobile, the police department, the chief, Sam Cochran my guest now.

And we spoke yesterday. You said the potential for Ivan has the potential to be Frederic size, 25 years ago, did enormous amounts of damage. Did that happen to your town?

CHIEF SAM COCHRAN, MOBILE, ALABAMA POLICE DEPT.: No, it do not. It would appear that we've escaped serious damage. The storm came in, apparently hit landfall and immediately moved east and spared us from the storm surge. And it would appear we have mostly just power out, wires down, tree limbs down, some trees down, but doesn't appear to be real severe structural damage at all.

HEMMER: Yes, your mayor said you caught a bullet with your teeth last night, agree?

COCHRAN: I would think so. We absolutely did. It had the potential to be real serious. But I think some of our neighbors to the east who ended up getting brunt of it.

HEMMER: You're talking about Gulf Shores, Alabama, about 25 miles southeast of here, across the Bay. Have you had contact with them?

COCHRAN: Well, we've heard there's extensive damage down there. I don't have a direct contact right now. But we do know that there has been a lot more damage to report down there.

HEMMER: All right, that's on Gulf Shores, on the east side of the Bay.

On the west side of the Bay, I know it's out of your area of jurisdiction here, but further south here, you had a lot of people living down there in the lower-lying areas. How did they do, can you say? COCHRAN: Well, we know there was extensive flooding to the east of us and the east of Mobile Bay. The thing that benefited us is that the storm went in and went to the east of us, and so therefore, we did not get the storm surge, or the waves and all the wave action that does so much damage. They got it down in Gulf Shores, and Orange Beach and over to Pensacola.

HEMMER: Chief, thank you. I appreciate it. Sam Cochran, the police chief in Mobile.

And I want to say congratulations, or I want to say way to weather the storm. But I think Mother Nature has a way of dictating the path and the pattern, and at this point, you dodged one, right?

COCHRAN: We dodged one. We've been blessed this morning, for sure.

HEMMER: Thank you chief for your time.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Back to Heidi, again, in New York now -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, Bill, thanks so much.

You know, Hurricane Ivan has spun off deadly tornadoes as well. We've been talking about it this morning. But in Panama City Beach, Florida, two fatalities were confirmed after a tornado came through.

Mayor Lee Sullivan is back with us this morning to talk about the damage to his community. He's joining us now by telephone.

Mr. Mayor, thanks for being with us.

Just awful news that two people were killed. We also got new information this morning, five more deaths just north of your city in Blountstown from those tornadoes. Can you update us on anything else that's happening area?

MAYOR LEE SULLIVAN, PANAMA CITY BEACH, FLORIDA: Well, right now, the fire and police are dealing with a multiple mobile home fire. I think it looks like, what, three or four? Three or four mobile homes are on fire. Then the challenge of getting emergency personnel to the scene has -- that amplifies that problem. But the two fatalities that we had yesterday are the only ones that have been reported.

I am -- the area to the north of us, as you spoke -- we just had a series of tornadoes yesterday afternoon and last night that decimated that area that was east of the eye of the hurricane.

So, the cold light of day, if you will, and we will try to gather it up. As I have said before, man gets put in his place when he understands that, at a particular point in time when it comes to nature, all he is is an observer.

COLLINS: Boy, isn't that the truth? Let me ask you, then, you mentioned about the emergency crews and resources coming into that area and how difficult it's going to be for obvious reasons. Is there anything you can do to help clear the way to get those supplies that are needed into the people of your area?

SULLIVAN: Yes, ma'am. The issue that we have to deal with right now is the wind load. There is a point in time where we can get people out with some degree of safety. We had, prior to the storm, stationed heavy equipment at various parts of our community so that when it came to -- or if it came to the need to clear debris off the roadway, we would be able to do that as the sun comes up or -- well, let me rephrase that.

As it gets daylight here, we are still in a wind load that is almost inhibitive of getting anybody out as far as power or road crews. So, what have you here is just the police. The fire department is not responding to this particular incident because of the safety issues for their personnel. And we have what started out as a one-trailer fire that has now engulfed three more.

COLLINS: Mayor Sullivan, before we let you go, talk to us quickly about what residents should be doing. I mean, it sounds like a pretty desperate situation there, having difficulty getting any help from anybody.

SULLIVAN: The power is marginally all but gone. People need to understand that that cannot be rectified. This is another thing people don't understand. They're used to power being out when it is out for an hour or two hours or three hours. This is going to be an extended period of time. It will come on gradually and in phases.

They need to stay in their homes. And no matter how uncomfortable it may be, it is the safest place for them at this particular time. And they need to be -- hopefully have an opportunity to have a radio so that the emergency personnel can communicate with them about what's going on in their community.

If you haven't done those things or if you're an idiot and you get out in this weather, I'm going to share with you that nothing good will happen.

COLLINS: Mayor Lee Sullivan, we certainly appreciate your insight in all of this, and of course, do wish you and your community the absolute best of luck in trying to get things together, at least on day one after the sun, as you say -- or daybreak is upon us today.

Once again, still to come on AMERICAN MORNING: the very latest on Hurricane Ivan and the path he took overnight, and now this morning as the damage assessments come in. We'll be back in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: You are looking now live at New Orleans, Louisiana -- unbelievable flooding there. You can still see how fast those waters are rushing, as well. The swells and the waves in the background there have been an unbelievable sight. Although, people there say they feel pretty lucky. Thought they were going to be hit much, much harder by this. But clearly, from Ivan, flooding will be the issue today.

A curfew imposed yesterday about 2:00 p.m., and as well as the city has banned price gouging. Apparently some gas stations trying to charge about 10 bucks a gallon there. So, we're going to keep our eye on that situation for you and talk about it here a little bit more in just a moment.

Meanwhile, we want to check on the stories now in the news this morning. U.S. officials are looking for two Americans believed to have been taken hostage in Iraq. A spokesman for Iraq's Interior Ministry said they were abducted from their home in central Baghdad just hours ago. A British national also taken from there. The identities, though, have not yet been released.

Hundreds of American troops are heading to Afghanistan now. Officials say the military is planning to increase security in that country before the October 9th election. The announcement comes as a rocket attack forced Afghanistan's Interim President Hamid Karzai to return to Kabul this morning. Karzai was out campaigning for the election.

Here in the U.S., four employees have been fired over the security scandal at the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico. They are among the 23 workers suspended earlier this summer after two classified discs vanished. Another employee will resign; one remains on leave pending further investigation.

Want to go ahead and bring in Jack Cafferty now. Good morning to you.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Heidi.

Hurricane Ivan is a natural disaster that has claimed several dozen lives, most of them in the Caribbean, and done a few billion dollars in damage. The war in Iraq is a man-made event that has lasted 18 months, cost $200 billion, and over 1,000 American lives. And today "The New York Times" reports that a classified national intelligence estimate prepared for President Bush this past July spelled out a, quote, "dark assessment of prospects for Iraq," unquote.

It outlines three possible outcomes through the end of next year -- the worst being an all-out civil war in Iraq and the best being a country with tenuous stability in political, economic, and security terms.

Also, Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, a powerful Republican from the State of Nebraska, said that the Bush administration's plans to divert $3.5 billion in reconstruction money to security needs was, quote, "an acknowledgement that we are in deep trouble in Iraq." This from a Republican Senator.

Here's the question: How optimistic are you about the future of Iraq? COLLINS: Yes, good point to make, too. Both sides talking about it for sure now. Lot of pessimism, they say. All right, Jack. Thanks so much for that.

I want to get back to Bill in Mobile, Alabama, now for the very latest. Bill, good morning once again.

HEMMER: Heidi, good morning to you. And tough news out of Florida: Seven dead reported at this point as a result of Hurricane Ivan -- still making landfall, still moving across the state of Alabama after doing damage here in southern Alabama overnight.

It is not finished yet. We'll get you back to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The latest on Ivan and where it goes next in a moment here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: That's a street scene: Live picture from Mobile, Alabama, just around the corner from our location at our hotel here. We were down on the street two hours ago. Clearly, there are lights down. There are signs down. Canvas signs have been ripped apart. And major trees, also, big trees just knocked off to their side. Broken windows in various parts, as well, popping throughout the night as Ivan moved through.

There's also a bar down there; it's called Veet's. We went inside a couple of hours ago. They were open all night long. The owner's in there, the manager's in there, and there's a guy sleeping on a cot across the room. The power never went out. The three of them played video poker throughout the entire storm. And they say later tonight they have a band. It's called "The Family Jewels." And they insist that the band will play later tonight in that very location.

And we have seen hundreds of thousands of people get out of town here in Mobile and across the Gulf coast. When the residents leave, the reporters come in. One reporter, Anderson Cooper, my colleague last night, had a front-row seat here in Mobile.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: The hope here, though, is that people have been prepared. They have evacuated, or tonight they are hunkered down, because this storm is coming and it is coming on fast.

I thought it was bad two hours ago. I thought it was bad an hour ago. It gets worse and worse and worse.

It's very almost difficult to stand at times. You really have to push yourself into the wind. And I'm parallel to the wind. If I turn perpendicular at this point, I am not sure I could actually even stand up. It is getting very nasty out here very fast.

Definitely the winds are a little bit stronger right now. I got some video to show -- man. I got some video to show you: two homes catching fire. Authorities did respond to it. There were fire trucks on the scene. We don't have any word on any injuries. We hope those homes have been evacuated. Most of the homes -- a lot the homes here, have been evacuated already.

There are a lot of police out on the streets. They're afraid of looting. But at this point, it's hard to imagine anyone looting in this kind of temperature and this kind of wind. OK, this is a big gust right now.

We're in a pretty secure location, believe it or not. I know the picture is probably pretty bad. I know my mom is probably watching; she's not all that thrilled. But it's actually -- we're very safe. We took a long time to pick this location, and so we feel pretty good about it. As long as the satellite truck stays upright, we're going to try to stay on the air.

I'm kind of looking around to see if CNN brought a boat, because it looks like -- I hope it doesn't happen, but looks like we'll have some difficulty just get around tomorrow.

One has to feel for the people who are living through it. But to see Mother Nature at its full force, it makes you feel very insignificant, I got to tell you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: I will tell you, you know, Mobile was right there in the line of the storm as that storm moved directly from south to north. And Anderson was out here about seven hours taking the heat of that storm with the gusts that were so intense and so strong.

And if you watched any of his coverage last night, oftentimes looked like Anderson was just going to be picked off his feet and carried across the platform out here at the hotel. He's OK and did great work for us here live on CNN throughout the evening last night.

In a moment, Rob Marciano, also riding out that storm. We'll talk to Rob. Right now as the storm again moves around, the winds from the west. Alabama caught the eye. We'll talk to the Governor Bob Riley in a moment about Gulf Shores, Alabama, 25 miles southeast of us here in Mobile. It took the hardest hit last night.

Back in a moment live in Mobile after this.

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