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American Morning
Ivan Moving Through Alabama; Discussion With FEMA Director Michael Brown
Aired September 16, 2004 - 08:30 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: We're watching the storm again moving north through Alabama. Still packing a punch, too, about 80 mile an hour winds clocked at last check there. It will gradually weaken as it continues to move further inland, eventually reduced to tropical storm strength. But at this point, Ivan still a pretty strong storm.
Ivan slamming Alabama, packing those winds that we talked about.
Also further west in Biloxi, Mississippi, there was an awful lot of concern in Biloxi about what would happen there with the gaming industry and all the casinos there.
But before we get to Biloxi, I want to bring in the mayor of Mobile, Alabama, Michael Dow. I talked to him about an hour ago about how his city fared here in southern Alabama.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: 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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Again, that was the mayor from last hour. The winds then were coming from the northwest. Then shifted to the west, and even to the southwest at this point. And just now, we're getting a pretty heavy gust right now. Nowhere near what we saw about 12 hours ago, but nonetheless, Ivan is still kicking here.
(WEATHER UPDATE)
HEMMER: I want to get to Rick Sanchez, again, Panama City Beach.
Rick, we talked by telephone last hour. You're live now. Day is breaking there as well.
Good morning, and really tough news out of the Panhandle already.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Bill. I presume that's you. We have been under the warning of several tornadoes here in this area for, oh, the better part of the last hour and a half. In fact, they had just reported at least one sighting in an area not far from here. That's really been the big concern here in Bay County. As you know, this is the area where there have been two confirmed deaths, and the wind has just been howling, and significantly from a different direction now. Things have kind of changed. As the hurricane itself passes through, what we seem to now be getting is the wind almost blowing from the west to east, and then in a northerly direction, which is just the opposite of what we've been getting up till now. That's why we're seeing this sudden shift.
In fact, as far as we're able to tell, gauging this thing over the last 12 hours, the winds have become significantly stronger in this particular area right off the beach.
By the way, what you see flying by me is not snow, it's foam that's actually coming from -- well, we can't show you right now -- the beach. Part of the Gulf has literally come up on to the beach.
We can show you some of the things, the proverbial show and tell, the proverbial show and tell that we often do in these situations.
You can see over here. And Michael, I think you can show some of this. We're starting to see structural damage. Typical category-one structural damage. That is to say, railings, this part of the railing here seems to be ready to snap loose. Obviously, we're on this side of it because we know the wind is pushing it in that direction.
Let me come around this way and I can she you that other parking lot. And maybe I can -- somewhat by standing behind part of the building. Directly behind me, and I don't know if you can -- just a moment. I don't know if you can see it, but you can see where the ocean or, pardon me, the Gulf has now taken over part of this parking lot. And obviously, it is nothing compared to what Opal did in '95, but it's the beginnings of what's often is referred to as that tidal surge situation that often develops -- the storm surge, pardon me.
So, that's the situation here, as it stands. The big problem for residents in Bay County, residents in Gulf County -- up around Marianna, as well -- are the threats of tornadoes, the tornado warnings, and the confirmed touchdowns that we have been getting here really throughout the course of the night.
I can also tell you that we have been in touch -- we have not yet been able to confirm the information that I had originally received from EOC over in Calhoun County, and that's from Sonny O'Brien, the head of the EOC there. He had issued a statement earlier this morning that there were five fatalities in that county. We're waiting for him to come back from the scene.
We do have a report, though, from Bay County Medical Center. They say that they have been told to get ready to receive some casualties. So, that confirmation, by the way from two people in the EOC office in Calhoun.
One other important note to tell you about taking place here, a trailer park where there was a fire. First one unit, one trailer was engulfed in flames. The fire department was not able to get there in time because of the conditions. Since then, the fire has spread to two other trailers. Three now fully engulfed.
Last word we received from one of our crews who tried to get in to check it out, but they were blocked -- they were not allowed in -- is that two were out, one may still be on fire. Of course, it's a very difficult situation, and that's one of the problems with these type of hurricanes, and that's why we tell people to be extremely careful.
If you do have an emergency in your home, it is very difficult, pardon me, for rescue officials to respond. That's the latest from here. We'll continue to monitor the situation in Panama City Beach.
I'm Rick Sanchez. Back to you.
HEMMER: All right, Rick, thanks. Rick Sanchez, east of our location in Panama City Beach, where they're still getting whacked by Ivan.
It's just the tail end now, based on the radar and the satellite image. So, Florida, Alabama, going to have to deal with Ivan for a bit longer here.
And again, the toughest news out of Florida, the fatalities that Rick is talking about just there.
Back in a moment live in Mobile, but here's Heidi, again, in New York City now with more there.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Bill.
And the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as you would imagine, incredibly busy these days. They've dispatched thousands employees and supplies to help in the aftermath of Charley and Frances, but how will it handle Hurricane Ivan? I spoke with FEMA director Michael Brown in Birmingham, Alabama.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Michael, I know you've said in the past, this has been like a one, two, three punch with these hurricanes. Tell us what FEMA is most concentrated on right now?
MICHAEL BROWN, FEMA DIRECTOR: Life-saving and life-sustaining efforts. You know, our philosophy has been that as soon as it is safe to get rescue workers in there to start, you know, rescuing people, and getting medicine and food and things in, we're going to do that. So, that's our focus right now, is to follow in behind Ivan and start helping people.
COLLINS: But that certainly is not going to be an easy task, Michael. How do you expect to get in there and start doing your work?
BROWN: Well, we'll do it in phases. Our first and most important phase is to make certain that our medical teams and rescue teams are moving in when it's safe for them to do so. So, they'll probably start doing that today, and they'll give us, our rapid needs assessment team, will give us a picture of what things look like, and we can start moving kind of the recovery folks in, too. So, we kind of do that in stages, and we're going to start doing that as soon as daylight occurs.
COLLINS: Yes, and where do you go? I mean, This is going to be pretty tough, isn't it? Because these hurricanes have hit several different states, in particular, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida. Where will you go first?
BROWN: Well, it is a tough decision. What we have to do is make certain that we have people in all those states. We have people prepositioned all the way from Atlanta all the way over to New Orleans. And so, as these first teams get in place can let us know what's going on, how things look, those teams from all over will start moving in, so we'll start moving into Pensacola, Florida. We'll start moving into Mobile, Alabama. We'll start moving into Mississippi, all along the coast.
Then also, as Ivan continues his track inward, we will start moving people in there, too, because we're going to see a lot of floods, we're going to see a lot of tornadoes from Ivan.
COLLINS: And your thoughts now. We've been talking to you for the past couple of days about this preparedness and how you're going to make these things happen. Your thoughts now about resources that you have.
BROWN: Well, we're in good shape. Financially, we're in good shape right now. And I think in terms of the manpower and equipment, we're in very good shape. So, it's just a matter of making certain that our people are safe and they can get in. So, I'm not worried about resources yet.
COLLINS: All right. Well, that's very good news.
What about, though, the assistance to Ivan's victims? I mean, because we've been talking about this one, two, three punch -- Charley, Frances, Ivan -- what about those who suffered from the former hurricanes, or the previous hurricanes, I should say?
BROWN: Well, we're still in Florida. I committed to governor bush that we'll be there as long as it takes. The president has made the same commitment. We're going to be there. And in fact, even as we're doing our response efforts to take care of people who've not been hit by Ivan in Florida and Alabama and other places, our recovery people remain in place in Florida to help the victims of both Frances and Charley.
We haven't let up on that. We're still taking registrations. You know, we're taking upwards of 36,000 registrations a day. We've already registered 400,000 people in Florida and will continue to do so to get them their financial assistance.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: FEMA director Michael Brown talking to us from Birmingham, Alabama this morning. I want to go ahead and check on now this the news right now this morning.
U.S. embassy officials in Baghdad are at this hour now trying to confirm the whereabouts of two Americans. A spokesman for Iraq's interior ministry says the Americans and a British national were abducted from their home earlier this morning. U.S. officials are not confirming the kidnapping, but say they are indeed investigating.
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 says it will get to the bottom of the controversy.
Meanwhile, Martha Stewart wants to put the nightmare behind her by serving her time. Stewart will voluntarily begin her five-month prison sentence and won't wait for the appeal to be decided. She has asked to serve at the Federal Correctional Facility in Coleman, Florida.
For now, we go back to Florida. Actually, I should say Mobile, Alabama, but, boy, Florida is certainly one of the places that's been hit really, really hard in all of this -- Bill.
HEMMER: Yes, so true. You're right, Heidi.
As we watch this storm move up through Alabama, folks in the northern part of the state, folks in Georgia, Tennessee, they're going to feel Ivan very soon. The worst of Ivan may have passed in some areas. However, still some damage after a storm leaves, and a lot of it, too. Sanjay is back in a moment, how to stay safe in the aftermath, when we continue our coverage after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Hurricane Ivan is so big it is bringing a lot of rain to a huge area, and lots of flooding, of course, too. So, what are some of the risks, and what can people do to stay safe? Dr. Sanjay Gupta here now with details on this.
There's so much to think about in all this, and not a lot of it is good.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: And people focus on the eye of the storm a lot, which is understandable; it can be one of the worst parts of the storm.
But there's a lot of consequences afterwards as well, not just at the coast, but inland as well, talking about storm surges, talking about tornadoes and talking about flooding as well. As the storm slows down, the rain really starts to pour. It can be significantly bad, as far north as Birmingham, even Atlanta.
Interesting statistic, this one according to a government report. Look at all the hurricanes now between 1970 and 1999, almost 30 years with the hurricanes, and you'll find that 600 people, around that number, have died with these hurricanes. What's more interesting is that 476 of them were due to drowning, and that was after the hurricane actually passed.
An important point, for example, during Hurricane Floyd five years ago, 50 of the 57 deaths were due to drowning. Really important to keep this in mind in the aftermath of a hurricane, just because the wind has passed doesn't mean the danger is gone.
COLLINS: Yes, no kidding. I'm sure people start trying focus on, you know, cleaning up and getting through it. But what can you do to protect yourself from this?
GUPTA: Well, one thing is to be really diligent about any kind of water, especially standing water. It may look like it's not doing much; the standing water can be very problematic. It can be swiftly moving sometimes, even though it looks like it's still. You can have downed power line in this water, which could subsequently cause electrocution.
And there can be accidents. A lot of these accidents occur -- a lot of these problems occur when people are in their cars or they're getting out of their cars. So, if you are driving your car, for example, through some still -- what appears to be still water, be careful if you have to get out of the car or even get in the car in the first place.
COLLINS: Yes, no kidding. I'd just maybe try to stay out of the car, no question about that.
What can people do, though, once the waters recede and they do go back to their homes? I mean, they're going to find some pretty scary stuff there.
GUPTA: Yes, some really important stuff here with regards to the water, with regards to conditions back at the home. A lot of people didn't leave, and for those people, as well, do not assume that the water that you had now that you are drinking, that you're using is necessarily safe. Hopefully you've stocked up on supplies, including drinking bottled water.
Try and get some bottled water. Until you hear from the authorities that the water is safe, don't drink any of the water. Assume that it's contaminated, even in terms of brushing your teeth, washing dishes, preparing food -- all that sort of stuff.
There's a lot of time that has to pass before you can say that things are safe. For the most part, people will be just fine. But there are some dangers they should be careful about.
COLLINS: Yes, it's not over until it's over. I hate saying that, too. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much for that.
GUPTA: Thank you.
COLLINS: Want to go back to Mobile, Alabama, now where Bill is standing by, tracking the path of Hurricane Ivan. You can see it there in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.
Bill, basically the entire city where you are, out of power, right?
HEMMER: About 80 percent, you're right, Heidi. And further south, outside of city limits, they got whacked pretty good, too.
I can tell you, Heidi, we're in a location of Mobile, Alabama, where we still have power. Amazingly enough, the storm comes on shore at 130 miles an hour and the lights never go out. I can't say how many times that's happened in the history of hurricanes, but it happened here -- in parts of Mobile, Alabama, anyway.
And when Ivan made land here on the coast, the economic reverberations now felt thousands of miles away. Andy knows that better than anyone. We're back with Andy Serwer in a moment here, as we continue our coverage on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: The first hurricane season will likely push the cost of building materials higher. Andy Serwer is here now. He's "Minding Your Business" on his birthday.
Lousy thing when you have to work on your birthday, isn't it?.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, especially when there's a big hurricane out there wreaking havoc. But thank you, Jack.
More with -- continuing to follow the economic fallout of the big storm. Building materials already through the roof. Cost of lumber up 40 percent this year, and it's going to go higher. Plywood obviously used to board up buildings, and then used to fix roofs afterwards. Home Depot saying there's going to be shortages big time.
Here's what a spokesman said: We have hundreds of trucks bearing down on Florida from Seattle to New England, loaded with hurricane recovery supplies. We had to reach out across the country and ask our stores to give until it hurts. They're saying even in places like Portland, Maine, you're going to be running short of plywood if you're looking to buy some.
Let's talk, Jack, about natural disasters and the cost of them in recent history. We have a chart here which shows exactly where the recent hurricanes and some of the hurricanes and other disasters have been through history.
Number one costliest natural disaster was Hurricane Andrew in 1992. This is in current dollars. Then you can see after that the earthquake in 1994. Hurricane Charley right there. Hugo in '89, number four. Frances -- and Charley, you can see there, you're over $10 billion. These are preliminary figures.
And we talked about Ivan...
CAFFERTY: Right. SERWER: ... coming in at between $4 and $10 billion.
So, you add that up, Jack, and you say the hurricane season of 2004...
CAFFERTY: Sure.
SERWER: ... could be, say, for instance, the second or third costliest natural disaster if you lump them all together like that.
CAFFERTY: Somebody said, too, that we're actually returning to a much more normal pattern. That we went through about 20 or 30 years when we didn't get very many hurricanes per year. But back 1930s, '40s, it was normal to get the kinds of storms and the numbers of storms that we're going to get this year.
SERWER: That's right. In the '60s up to '89 and Hugo, in that 20-year stretch, we didn't have a lot. And that's when a lot of the built-out on the coast, in South Carolina and Florida, occurred. And now we're seeing the implications of that.
CAFFERTY: Yes, I wonder if real estate prices will start to come down in some of those areas. Possible.
SERWER: And just one last thing: 9/11 was the costliest catastrophe -- not natural, obviously. That was $21 billion. So, that would have been at the top of the list.
CAFFERTY: All right, thanks, Andy.
SERWER: You're welcome.
CAFFERTY: Here's the "File" quickly. An update on the story we did on Tuesday. Humberto Taveras, arrested for not leaving a large enough tip at a joint in Upstate New York, Lake George -- some place called Soprano's Italian Eatery. They busted him, and he faced up to a year in jail because he and his party only left 10 percent gratuity instead of the 18 percent required for a parties of six or more.
Well, the charges were dropped. Authorities said he could not be forced to pay gratuity. What was that?
COLLINS: Special effects.
CAFFERTY: And that's the way it ought to be. The D.A. said, though, if the gratuity had been called a surcharge, he could have been prosecuted.
Study: An average working woman in America spends twice as much time as the average working man on household chores and the care of children. That's as it should be.
According to the Department of Labor, working women spend about an hour-and-a-half a day caring for other members of the family. The average man: just 50 minutes. That's as it should be. Men, in general, spend more time than women at their jobs and on leisure and sports. The average working woman also gets about an hour less sleep at night than the average stay-at-home mom.
COLLINS: I think that's very accurate.
CAFFERTY: You think it is?
COLLINS: Completely accurate and not editorial at all.
SERWER: Right.
CAFFERTY: Finally, Jayson Blair -- that guy who was fired from "The New York Times" after it was discovered that he plagiarized 20 stories -- spoke at Winston-Salem State University North Carolina yesterday. He was not a hit with the students there. They are furious that this liar was paid $3,00 by the school to appear there.
During the Q&A, one student asked him whether he was ashamed to accept the money to speak at the school after making it more difficult for black journalists to succeed in the business. Gee, I wonder who they'll invite next? Maybe Dan Rather.
SERWER: Well, that's a little harsh.
CAFFERTY: That was a little harsh.
SERWER: That was a little harsh. But I mean, it is unbelievable that they pay this guy. He should not get a dime for doing that stuff.
COLLINS: I thought maybe they invited him there because he was going to talk about being a reformed journalist or something.
SERWER: No. I don't know. I don't think so.
COLLINS: There had to have been a reason why they brought him, but apparently not.
CAFFERTY: Lying weasel.
SERWER: What does he have to say?
COLLINS: All right, guys. Thanks so much for that.
We want to turn it back over to Bill now in Mobile, Alabama. Once again, you heard those numbers from Andy. Boy, just could be an unbelievable amount -- in the billions and billions of dollars, Bill.
HEMMER: Yes, so true.
You know, Heidi, a strange thing here in Mobile, Alabama: It is not too common when the river of Mobile flows north. And that shows you the strength of Ivan as it came on shore. Literally taking the Gulf of Mexico and pushing it north up the river here. Ivan tearing through the Gulf coast, about a 200-mile stretch. Now moving north yet again. Who gets hit next? We'll go back to the National Hurricane Center.
What you need to know in a moment here for the southeast U.S. after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired September 16, 2004 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We're watching the storm again moving north through Alabama. Still packing a punch, too, about 80 mile an hour winds clocked at last check there. It will gradually weaken as it continues to move further inland, eventually reduced to tropical storm strength. But at this point, Ivan still a pretty strong storm.
Ivan slamming Alabama, packing those winds that we talked about.
Also further west in Biloxi, Mississippi, there was an awful lot of concern in Biloxi about what would happen there with the gaming industry and all the casinos there.
But before we get to Biloxi, I want to bring in the mayor of Mobile, Alabama, Michael Dow. I talked to him about an hour ago about how his city fared here in southern Alabama.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: 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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Again, that was the mayor from last hour. The winds then were coming from the northwest. Then shifted to the west, and even to the southwest at this point. And just now, we're getting a pretty heavy gust right now. Nowhere near what we saw about 12 hours ago, but nonetheless, Ivan is still kicking here.
(WEATHER UPDATE)
HEMMER: I want to get to Rick Sanchez, again, Panama City Beach.
Rick, we talked by telephone last hour. You're live now. Day is breaking there as well.
Good morning, and really tough news out of the Panhandle already.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Bill. I presume that's you. We have been under the warning of several tornadoes here in this area for, oh, the better part of the last hour and a half. In fact, they had just reported at least one sighting in an area not far from here. That's really been the big concern here in Bay County. As you know, this is the area where there have been two confirmed deaths, and the wind has just been howling, and significantly from a different direction now. Things have kind of changed. As the hurricane itself passes through, what we seem to now be getting is the wind almost blowing from the west to east, and then in a northerly direction, which is just the opposite of what we've been getting up till now. That's why we're seeing this sudden shift.
In fact, as far as we're able to tell, gauging this thing over the last 12 hours, the winds have become significantly stronger in this particular area right off the beach.
By the way, what you see flying by me is not snow, it's foam that's actually coming from -- well, we can't show you right now -- the beach. Part of the Gulf has literally come up on to the beach.
We can show you some of the things, the proverbial show and tell, the proverbial show and tell that we often do in these situations.
You can see over here. And Michael, I think you can show some of this. We're starting to see structural damage. Typical category-one structural damage. That is to say, railings, this part of the railing here seems to be ready to snap loose. Obviously, we're on this side of it because we know the wind is pushing it in that direction.
Let me come around this way and I can she you that other parking lot. And maybe I can -- somewhat by standing behind part of the building. Directly behind me, and I don't know if you can -- just a moment. I don't know if you can see it, but you can see where the ocean or, pardon me, the Gulf has now taken over part of this parking lot. And obviously, it is nothing compared to what Opal did in '95, but it's the beginnings of what's often is referred to as that tidal surge situation that often develops -- the storm surge, pardon me.
So, that's the situation here, as it stands. The big problem for residents in Bay County, residents in Gulf County -- up around Marianna, as well -- are the threats of tornadoes, the tornado warnings, and the confirmed touchdowns that we have been getting here really throughout the course of the night.
I can also tell you that we have been in touch -- we have not yet been able to confirm the information that I had originally received from EOC over in Calhoun County, and that's from Sonny O'Brien, the head of the EOC there. He had issued a statement earlier this morning that there were five fatalities in that county. We're waiting for him to come back from the scene.
We do have a report, though, from Bay County Medical Center. They say that they have been told to get ready to receive some casualties. So, that confirmation, by the way from two people in the EOC office in Calhoun.
One other important note to tell you about taking place here, a trailer park where there was a fire. First one unit, one trailer was engulfed in flames. The fire department was not able to get there in time because of the conditions. Since then, the fire has spread to two other trailers. Three now fully engulfed.
Last word we received from one of our crews who tried to get in to check it out, but they were blocked -- they were not allowed in -- is that two were out, one may still be on fire. Of course, it's a very difficult situation, and that's one of the problems with these type of hurricanes, and that's why we tell people to be extremely careful.
If you do have an emergency in your home, it is very difficult, pardon me, for rescue officials to respond. That's the latest from here. We'll continue to monitor the situation in Panama City Beach.
I'm Rick Sanchez. Back to you.
HEMMER: All right, Rick, thanks. Rick Sanchez, east of our location in Panama City Beach, where they're still getting whacked by Ivan.
It's just the tail end now, based on the radar and the satellite image. So, Florida, Alabama, going to have to deal with Ivan for a bit longer here.
And again, the toughest news out of Florida, the fatalities that Rick is talking about just there.
Back in a moment live in Mobile, but here's Heidi, again, in New York City now with more there.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Bill.
And the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as you would imagine, incredibly busy these days. They've dispatched thousands employees and supplies to help in the aftermath of Charley and Frances, but how will it handle Hurricane Ivan? I spoke with FEMA director Michael Brown in Birmingham, Alabama.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Michael, I know you've said in the past, this has been like a one, two, three punch with these hurricanes. Tell us what FEMA is most concentrated on right now?
MICHAEL BROWN, FEMA DIRECTOR: Life-saving and life-sustaining efforts. You know, our philosophy has been that as soon as it is safe to get rescue workers in there to start, you know, rescuing people, and getting medicine and food and things in, we're going to do that. So, that's our focus right now, is to follow in behind Ivan and start helping people.
COLLINS: But that certainly is not going to be an easy task, Michael. How do you expect to get in there and start doing your work?
BROWN: Well, we'll do it in phases. Our first and most important phase is to make certain that our medical teams and rescue teams are moving in when it's safe for them to do so. So, they'll probably start doing that today, and they'll give us, our rapid needs assessment team, will give us a picture of what things look like, and we can start moving kind of the recovery folks in, too. So, we kind of do that in stages, and we're going to start doing that as soon as daylight occurs.
COLLINS: Yes, and where do you go? I mean, This is going to be pretty tough, isn't it? Because these hurricanes have hit several different states, in particular, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida. Where will you go first?
BROWN: Well, it is a tough decision. What we have to do is make certain that we have people in all those states. We have people prepositioned all the way from Atlanta all the way over to New Orleans. And so, as these first teams get in place can let us know what's going on, how things look, those teams from all over will start moving in, so we'll start moving into Pensacola, Florida. We'll start moving into Mobile, Alabama. We'll start moving into Mississippi, all along the coast.
Then also, as Ivan continues his track inward, we will start moving people in there, too, because we're going to see a lot of floods, we're going to see a lot of tornadoes from Ivan.
COLLINS: And your thoughts now. We've been talking to you for the past couple of days about this preparedness and how you're going to make these things happen. Your thoughts now about resources that you have.
BROWN: Well, we're in good shape. Financially, we're in good shape right now. And I think in terms of the manpower and equipment, we're in very good shape. So, it's just a matter of making certain that our people are safe and they can get in. So, I'm not worried about resources yet.
COLLINS: All right. Well, that's very good news.
What about, though, the assistance to Ivan's victims? I mean, because we've been talking about this one, two, three punch -- Charley, Frances, Ivan -- what about those who suffered from the former hurricanes, or the previous hurricanes, I should say?
BROWN: Well, we're still in Florida. I committed to governor bush that we'll be there as long as it takes. The president has made the same commitment. We're going to be there. And in fact, even as we're doing our response efforts to take care of people who've not been hit by Ivan in Florida and Alabama and other places, our recovery people remain in place in Florida to help the victims of both Frances and Charley.
We haven't let up on that. We're still taking registrations. You know, we're taking upwards of 36,000 registrations a day. We've already registered 400,000 people in Florida and will continue to do so to get them their financial assistance.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: FEMA director Michael Brown talking to us from Birmingham, Alabama this morning. I want to go ahead and check on now this the news right now this morning.
U.S. embassy officials in Baghdad are at this hour now trying to confirm the whereabouts of two Americans. A spokesman for Iraq's interior ministry says the Americans and a British national were abducted from their home earlier this morning. U.S. officials are not confirming the kidnapping, but say they are indeed investigating.
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 says it will get to the bottom of the controversy.
Meanwhile, Martha Stewart wants to put the nightmare behind her by serving her time. Stewart will voluntarily begin her five-month prison sentence and won't wait for the appeal to be decided. She has asked to serve at the Federal Correctional Facility in Coleman, Florida.
For now, we go back to Florida. Actually, I should say Mobile, Alabama, but, boy, Florida is certainly one of the places that's been hit really, really hard in all of this -- Bill.
HEMMER: Yes, so true. You're right, Heidi.
As we watch this storm move up through Alabama, folks in the northern part of the state, folks in Georgia, Tennessee, they're going to feel Ivan very soon. The worst of Ivan may have passed in some areas. However, still some damage after a storm leaves, and a lot of it, too. Sanjay is back in a moment, how to stay safe in the aftermath, when we continue our coverage after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Hurricane Ivan is so big it is bringing a lot of rain to a huge area, and lots of flooding, of course, too. So, what are some of the risks, and what can people do to stay safe? Dr. Sanjay Gupta here now with details on this.
There's so much to think about in all this, and not a lot of it is good.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: And people focus on the eye of the storm a lot, which is understandable; it can be one of the worst parts of the storm.
But there's a lot of consequences afterwards as well, not just at the coast, but inland as well, talking about storm surges, talking about tornadoes and talking about flooding as well. As the storm slows down, the rain really starts to pour. It can be significantly bad, as far north as Birmingham, even Atlanta.
Interesting statistic, this one according to a government report. Look at all the hurricanes now between 1970 and 1999, almost 30 years with the hurricanes, and you'll find that 600 people, around that number, have died with these hurricanes. What's more interesting is that 476 of them were due to drowning, and that was after the hurricane actually passed.
An important point, for example, during Hurricane Floyd five years ago, 50 of the 57 deaths were due to drowning. Really important to keep this in mind in the aftermath of a hurricane, just because the wind has passed doesn't mean the danger is gone.
COLLINS: Yes, no kidding. I'm sure people start trying focus on, you know, cleaning up and getting through it. But what can you do to protect yourself from this?
GUPTA: Well, one thing is to be really diligent about any kind of water, especially standing water. It may look like it's not doing much; the standing water can be very problematic. It can be swiftly moving sometimes, even though it looks like it's still. You can have downed power line in this water, which could subsequently cause electrocution.
And there can be accidents. A lot of these accidents occur -- a lot of these problems occur when people are in their cars or they're getting out of their cars. So, if you are driving your car, for example, through some still -- what appears to be still water, be careful if you have to get out of the car or even get in the car in the first place.
COLLINS: Yes, no kidding. I'd just maybe try to stay out of the car, no question about that.
What can people do, though, once the waters recede and they do go back to their homes? I mean, they're going to find some pretty scary stuff there.
GUPTA: Yes, some really important stuff here with regards to the water, with regards to conditions back at the home. A lot of people didn't leave, and for those people, as well, do not assume that the water that you had now that you are drinking, that you're using is necessarily safe. Hopefully you've stocked up on supplies, including drinking bottled water.
Try and get some bottled water. Until you hear from the authorities that the water is safe, don't drink any of the water. Assume that it's contaminated, even in terms of brushing your teeth, washing dishes, preparing food -- all that sort of stuff.
There's a lot of time that has to pass before you can say that things are safe. For the most part, people will be just fine. But there are some dangers they should be careful about.
COLLINS: Yes, it's not over until it's over. I hate saying that, too. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much for that.
GUPTA: Thank you.
COLLINS: Want to go back to Mobile, Alabama, now where Bill is standing by, tracking the path of Hurricane Ivan. You can see it there in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.
Bill, basically the entire city where you are, out of power, right?
HEMMER: About 80 percent, you're right, Heidi. And further south, outside of city limits, they got whacked pretty good, too.
I can tell you, Heidi, we're in a location of Mobile, Alabama, where we still have power. Amazingly enough, the storm comes on shore at 130 miles an hour and the lights never go out. I can't say how many times that's happened in the history of hurricanes, but it happened here -- in parts of Mobile, Alabama, anyway.
And when Ivan made land here on the coast, the economic reverberations now felt thousands of miles away. Andy knows that better than anyone. We're back with Andy Serwer in a moment here, as we continue our coverage on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: The first hurricane season will likely push the cost of building materials higher. Andy Serwer is here now. He's "Minding Your Business" on his birthday.
Lousy thing when you have to work on your birthday, isn't it?.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, especially when there's a big hurricane out there wreaking havoc. But thank you, Jack.
More with -- continuing to follow the economic fallout of the big storm. Building materials already through the roof. Cost of lumber up 40 percent this year, and it's going to go higher. Plywood obviously used to board up buildings, and then used to fix roofs afterwards. Home Depot saying there's going to be shortages big time.
Here's what a spokesman said: We have hundreds of trucks bearing down on Florida from Seattle to New England, loaded with hurricane recovery supplies. We had to reach out across the country and ask our stores to give until it hurts. They're saying even in places like Portland, Maine, you're going to be running short of plywood if you're looking to buy some.
Let's talk, Jack, about natural disasters and the cost of them in recent history. We have a chart here which shows exactly where the recent hurricanes and some of the hurricanes and other disasters have been through history.
Number one costliest natural disaster was Hurricane Andrew in 1992. This is in current dollars. Then you can see after that the earthquake in 1994. Hurricane Charley right there. Hugo in '89, number four. Frances -- and Charley, you can see there, you're over $10 billion. These are preliminary figures.
And we talked about Ivan...
CAFFERTY: Right. SERWER: ... coming in at between $4 and $10 billion.
So, you add that up, Jack, and you say the hurricane season of 2004...
CAFFERTY: Sure.
SERWER: ... could be, say, for instance, the second or third costliest natural disaster if you lump them all together like that.
CAFFERTY: Somebody said, too, that we're actually returning to a much more normal pattern. That we went through about 20 or 30 years when we didn't get very many hurricanes per year. But back 1930s, '40s, it was normal to get the kinds of storms and the numbers of storms that we're going to get this year.
SERWER: That's right. In the '60s up to '89 and Hugo, in that 20-year stretch, we didn't have a lot. And that's when a lot of the built-out on the coast, in South Carolina and Florida, occurred. And now we're seeing the implications of that.
CAFFERTY: Yes, I wonder if real estate prices will start to come down in some of those areas. Possible.
SERWER: And just one last thing: 9/11 was the costliest catastrophe -- not natural, obviously. That was $21 billion. So, that would have been at the top of the list.
CAFFERTY: All right, thanks, Andy.
SERWER: You're welcome.
CAFFERTY: Here's the "File" quickly. An update on the story we did on Tuesday. Humberto Taveras, arrested for not leaving a large enough tip at a joint in Upstate New York, Lake George -- some place called Soprano's Italian Eatery. They busted him, and he faced up to a year in jail because he and his party only left 10 percent gratuity instead of the 18 percent required for a parties of six or more.
Well, the charges were dropped. Authorities said he could not be forced to pay gratuity. What was that?
COLLINS: Special effects.
CAFFERTY: And that's the way it ought to be. The D.A. said, though, if the gratuity had been called a surcharge, he could have been prosecuted.
Study: An average working woman in America spends twice as much time as the average working man on household chores and the care of children. That's as it should be.
According to the Department of Labor, working women spend about an hour-and-a-half a day caring for other members of the family. The average man: just 50 minutes. That's as it should be. Men, in general, spend more time than women at their jobs and on leisure and sports. The average working woman also gets about an hour less sleep at night than the average stay-at-home mom.
COLLINS: I think that's very accurate.
CAFFERTY: You think it is?
COLLINS: Completely accurate and not editorial at all.
SERWER: Right.
CAFFERTY: Finally, Jayson Blair -- that guy who was fired from "The New York Times" after it was discovered that he plagiarized 20 stories -- spoke at Winston-Salem State University North Carolina yesterday. He was not a hit with the students there. They are furious that this liar was paid $3,00 by the school to appear there.
During the Q&A, one student asked him whether he was ashamed to accept the money to speak at the school after making it more difficult for black journalists to succeed in the business. Gee, I wonder who they'll invite next? Maybe Dan Rather.
SERWER: Well, that's a little harsh.
CAFFERTY: That was a little harsh.
SERWER: That was a little harsh. But I mean, it is unbelievable that they pay this guy. He should not get a dime for doing that stuff.
COLLINS: I thought maybe they invited him there because he was going to talk about being a reformed journalist or something.
SERWER: No. I don't know. I don't think so.
COLLINS: There had to have been a reason why they brought him, but apparently not.
CAFFERTY: Lying weasel.
SERWER: What does he have to say?
COLLINS: All right, guys. Thanks so much for that.
We want to turn it back over to Bill now in Mobile, Alabama. Once again, you heard those numbers from Andy. Boy, just could be an unbelievable amount -- in the billions and billions of dollars, Bill.
HEMMER: Yes, so true.
You know, Heidi, a strange thing here in Mobile, Alabama: It is not too common when the river of Mobile flows north. And that shows you the strength of Ivan as it came on shore. Literally taking the Gulf of Mexico and pushing it north up the river here. Ivan tearing through the Gulf coast, about a 200-mile stretch. Now moving north yet again. Who gets hit next? We'll go back to the National Hurricane Center.
What you need to know in a moment here for the southeast U.S. after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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