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CNN Live Sunday

Florida Gets Ready as Hurricane Wilma Approaches

Aired October 23, 2005 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JEB BUSH, FLORIDA: Mandatory evacuations are currently under way for all Florida key residents. I cannot emphasize enough to the folks that live in the Florida keys, a hurricane is coming and a hurricane's a hurricane, and it has deadly force winds. And while there have been evacuations over the last 14 months and there's not been a hit, perhaps people are saying I'm going to hunker down. They shouldn't do that. They should evacuate and there's very little time left to do so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LISA SYLVESTER, ANCHOR, CNN LIVE SUNDAY: And we want to turn now to Max Mayfield. We are standing by right now for a news conference that is set to begin at the National Hurricane Weather Center. We're going to turn to him right now.

MAX MAYFIELD, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: We have a lot of data coming in from a variety of sources and it looks like Wilma has strengthened a little bit. The Air Force plane that just reported in had the pressure dropping a little bit, down to 959 millibars. That's a little bit lower than we've had all afternoon. The NOAA P-3, hurricane plane that is out there is giving us some really good surface data. It looks like the hurricane is indeed tilted. In some quadrants, the surface winds are actually stronger than they are down or at flat level. The maximum sustained winds from that NOAA plane are near 105 miles per hour. So this again has strengthened a little bit. That's still a category two hurricane. We could see a little bit of additional strengthening here overnight, but by the time it makes landfall tomorrow morning, we think that the (INAUDIBLE) shear will be increasing, so I think the wisest thing to do here is to plan on the possibility of a near-category three hurricane at landfall.

And landfall is, of course, important, but it's not the whole story. This is a large hurricane, and the hurricane-force winds extend out about 85 miles away from the center. The tropical storm force winds to the southeast and southwest actually extend out about 230 miles away from the center. So the tropical storm conditions will be impacting the lower keys here -- in fact, that first rain band that was going through the keys will likely have some sustained winds, some tropical storm force. That band will dissipate. Additional bands will continue to come in here, but conditions will start going down here through the Florida keys later tonight. The storm force winds will likely be impacting the southwest Florida coast very late tonight.

Now again, we really don't want to focus on that landfall point, but the track forecast has been quite remarkably steady here for a number of days with the landfall in the southwest Florida coast. We know very well, and I want to be sure that folks understand that it would not surprise us at all to have a little shift to the left or to the right of that track, but this is the most likely scenario at this time here. The red that you see here represents our best estimate of the hurricane-force winds. As you can see, that is over probably the lower third of the Florida peninsula. And then the tropical storm force winds at a very wide swathe over, you know, all the way up into central and even portions of the northern part of the Florida peninsula.

The hurricane warnings remain in effect for all of the Florida keys and on the Gulf coast from Longboat Key southward, on the east coast from Titusville southward. The Bahamas still have hurricane warnings up for the northwestern Bahamas and the western portions of Cuba are still under a hurricane warning as well. The hazards that we need to be very clear on the hazards here, the fact that it's intensified a little bit. We've bumped up the storm surge and we're announcing nine to 17 feet of storm surge on the Gulf coast of Florida near and to the south of where it makes landfall.

And if we had a perfect forecast, which we don't thing we're going to have, but on the current track here, that would be to the south here, between the landfall point and the Cape Sable area. Then in the Florida Keys, we're forecasting five to eight feet of storm surge. That should be good for Lake Okeechobee as well and then two to four feet on the southeast Florida coast (INAUDIBLE). The folks in the Florida keys need to understand that they'll I'm sure get some storm surge flooding from the Florida strait side, Roosevelt Boulevard I'm sure will go under water, but the most significant storm surge will likely come from -- on the back side of this hurricane, when the flow comes out of the northwest pushing in from Florida Bay and they really want to remember that wave action on top of that.

And I really want to send a message to the marine community. Almost every hurricane it seems like we have a lot of people that try to ride out a hurricane on their boat. I'm convinced that some people love their boat more than they love their spouse, but a boat is not a place to be in any hurricane, period. Please don't do that. The rainfall for the south Florida keys, four to eight inches for the most part because of this rapid motion. Some isolated amounts will likely be up to 12 inches, a very good chance of some isolated tornadoes over south and central Florida. So just repeating, it's staying on the track here. It's about 210 miles west-southwest of Key West at the present time. The motion for the northeast is coming up about 14 miles per hour. That will gradually accelerate during the night. And when it gets near Florida, it's just going to take off like a rocket racing out here into the Atlantic. So the good news here is it's not going to be a very prolonged event, but the bad news is it has strengthened a little bit and is now a very strong category two hurricane. One of the areas of greatest concern, of course, is the Florida keys and I'm going to toss it over to the senior emergency management director from Monroe County, Mr. Billy Wagner. BILLY WAGNER, MONROE COUNTY, FL: Thank you Max and good afternoon everyone. Evacuation to the mainland is getting very close to being cut off. We have had very few people take advantage of heeding the warnings that we have and have chosen to ride this one out in the keys. All of our hospitals are now closed. We have a very limited emergency service capabilities. The highway is still open, but we have very light traffic throughout the keys. You still have time to make it to the mainland if you choose. No shelters in the keys will be open. I've designated hurricane shelter for Monroe County residents is here in Miami at FIU, Florida International University.

All of our airports are closed effective this afternoon. Shortly in the keys we'll be inundated with the storm surge in various sections of our highway, which will definitely cut off the transport of any kind of supplies or the evacuation process. We plan on opening refuges of last resort. These will be made available through the media. These are structures which we have chosen that are least susceptible to storm surge and wind effects, but I can assure you we can't guarantee your safety utilizing these. Heavy feeder bands are affecting the keys right now. We ask everyone in the keys to play very, very close attention to our last-minute protective active recommendations. Information regarding our post -- excuse me -- our activities that have been postponed can be found on the web at Florida or flakeys.com. Thank you, Max.

MAYFIELD: OK and we'll be glad to take some questions if you have some. Lonnie?

SYLVESTER: We've been listening in to an update from the National Hurricane Center. Just to recap that hurricane Wilma is now moving at about 14 miles per hour. Storm surges are expected to reach anywhere from nine to 17 feet. And right now the winds are reaching a maximum of 105 miles per hour. Right now we continue our live coverage from the predicted path of Wilma in Naples, Florida and standing by live for us CNN's Jeanne Meserve. Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lisa, if there's one sure sign that a hurricane is on its way, it's the surfers. They're out there today trying to take advantage of the waves, which at this point are not that big. In fact, all up and down this part of the Florida coast, there are preparations being made by both creatures and people.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE (voice-over): An alligator came into a marina basin Sunday seeking shelter from the oncoming storm, but not everyone was getting out of Wilma's way. At Speedy's Airboats in Everglade City, they were putting plywood on the windows when Deputy Eddie Atkins stopped by.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it gets worse, a category three before it gets here, then we'll leave.

MESERVE: No hard sell, despite a mandatory evacuation order, Atkins just wants to know who will be here and how to reach them. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These people are pretty experienced with these hurricanes, so that they have their attitude about how they're going to deal with it.

MESERVE: Speedy Johnson's choice, stay right here with his business.

EDDIE ATKINS, FLORIDA RESIDENT: I'm going to take care of it. It's my livelihood I'm looking at right here.

MESERVE: His nine $30,000 airboats have been tied down and partially filled with water to keep them from floating away. Johnson just hopes the storm surge doesn't rise as high as their motors.

ATKINS: If (INAUDIBLE) we're in big trouble because you can't go down the street and go buy one of these. This is my shop.

MESERVE: In here, a brand-new airboat motor and some expensive tools are being hoisted out of harm's way. But there is more to protect than equipment. Staying with Johnson, his wife Margaret and their 20-month-old granddaughter Candace. Are they scared?

MARGARET JOHNSON, FLORIDA RESIDENT: No, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't safe to be here.

MESERVE: The average elevation in Everglade City, three feet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: The elevation here in Naples a bit higher than that, closer to 11 feet. You'll see some people still down here on the beach, some of them swimming, some of them playing (INAUDIBLE) around town. A lot of people still in town. A lot said they wanted to know more about the forecast. Maybe those latest words from the hurricane center have changed their minds. Lisa, back to you.

SYLVESTER: Jeanne Meserve tracking the storm from Naples, Florida, thank you very much.

Despite the calls to evacuate thousands of people in the Florida keys, they appear to be staying put. The option to leave is also rapidly running out. We want to go live now to Key West and that's where CNN's Kareen Wynter (ph) is standing by. Kareen.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there Lisa. We do have some new information to pass along. The mayor of Key West has been saying all along that he would not impose a curfew here. He didn't want to put any restrictions on the community. Well, it seems as if the city has had a change of heart. I just learned from the police chief that beginning tonight at 10:00 until 7:00 in the morning, that they will indeed enact a curfew because of the all the traffic you can see around me, people who just continue to fill the streets of Key West.

We're going to pan up a bit and show you the skies have been cleared within just the last hour or so, the last time we checked in with you, we had some of the outer bands really pounding the area in terms of heavy rain and it's cleared up and it's brought more people out. We're not sure they went anywhere. They probably just went inside a bit to dodge the rain, but they're back out again.

Key West residents Lisa are also looking to a higher power to help spirit their island. There's a saying here regarding the grotto and that's basically a shrine that was built inside a Catholic Church by a nun back in 1992 just about three years after this area took a direct hit. So people were showing their support earlier this morning, praying, lighting candles, and trying to basically have some positive energy here in terms of sparing their island once again and so the saying is Lisa, that if this grotto stays intact, that this area will be spared. We'll have to see if that indeed happens. Lisa.

SYLVESTER: We'll be praying for the Florida keys as well. Thank you very much, Kareen Wynter, thank you for that report.

Mexico and the U.S. aren't the only nations on Wilma's hit list. Portions of Cuba are also feeling the damaging effects of the storm's heavy rains and high winds. We'll have a live update from Havana next.

And still to come, they lost their homes during last year's hurricane season, but this time around, some residents of Punta Gorda, Florida, say they're ready for what Wilma will dish out. We'll explain why at the bottom of the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SYLVESTER: Hurricane Wilma is now a strong category two storm. For the very latest on the weather update, let's check in with Jacqui Jeras in the CNN weather center. Jacqi.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Lisa, the storm has been slowly gaining some strength over the last three to six hours, still a category two, but the winds are up and the pressure is down. The lower the pressure goes, the stronger the storm becomes and we've got a decent window here for the storm to continue to intensify as it's moving over what we call a very warm loop current.

We're already feeling the effects across much of south Florida. Showers and thunderstorms are now getting pretty heavy over the Florida keys. You can see a tornado watch has been issued. That will be in effect until 1:00 a.m. and there you can see some of those outer bands. And we just got a report of a wind gust now at Key West of 40 miles per hour. So those are tropical storm force wind gusts and we do expect the winds to steadily increase as the storm accelerates to the north and east, we're expecting landfall tomorrow morning hurricane-force winds expected before dawn. Lisa?

SYLVESTER: OK Jacqui, we'll check back with you in a little bit.

At this hour though, parts of western Cuba are getting a glancing blow from the storm. Taking no chances, the Cuban government evacuated hundreds of thousands of people in advance. Joining us live now is CNN's Lucia Newman by telephone from Havana. Lucia.

LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon Lisa. Right now there are nearly half a million people still evacuated on this island, mainly in the western part of the island (INAUDIBLE) province and also Havana province and even parts of the city of Havana. The wind is blowing very strongly, but it's been raining only on and off. When it does, though, it feels like a huge downpour. There have been reports also of some flooding on the southwestern coast of the island as well as on the western tip of Cuba. And when this -- in the next hour or two, we're expecting the wind to change from the south to the north and then we should be seeing some pretty important storm surges on the northern coast there's expected to be flooding, even here in some parts of the city of Havana. Lisa.

SYLVESTER: Lucia Newman reporting from Havana, Cuba. We appreciate that report.

And another update on hurricane Wilma is just minutes away and we will be taking you to Cancun, Mexico, to show you what it looks like there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SYLVESTER: Hurricane Wilma now a strong category two. It's gaining intensity and speed, a speed of 14 miles per hour. It's expected to make landfall tomorrow morning in southwest Florida. We will continue to update that story.

At last report, people in the hard-hit resort of Cancun were wading through the streets looking for food, as Mexican troops arrived at the scene to try to help out. The State Department tells CNN about 10,000 U.S. tourists were in the region hit by Wilma. The current plan is to take them by bus farther inland as the U.S. officials work with the airlines to try to get them out. The State Department says no American citizens were seriously hurt. CNN's Susan Candiotti is in Cancun and she sent us this report just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Mexican government ordered that thousands and thousands of people who had been staying in hotels along the white sandy beaches of Cancun get out of there before the storm hit and many of them were brought to this school. It's a complex of many buildings, but some of them didn't make out very well during the storm. That building in particular lost its roof. However, a lot of the hotel staff also came out here, along with the hotel guests to try to cook for them, to try to give them water and take care of them as best they can, but the conditions, of course not entirely perfect. Do you want to tell me what it's been like for you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been very comforting, really, because the people here have been taking really good care of us. They're doing all they can do to provide us food, water, just excellent for the conditions and the situation, I think.

CANDIOTTI: Can you tell me ma'am, what was it like when the storm hit? Describe it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very frightening. You couldn't see outside. You could hear the wind blowing. You could hear things hitting the building, but basically we were pretty safe inside.

CANDIOTTI: All right, let's walk up a little farther here and show you. They've got some buses over here where people were not only brought here, but they've been trying to bring in extra water, extra food to make sure that they can try to take care of these guests as best as as possible. Where are you folks from over here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: St. Louis, Missouri.

CANDIOTTI: St. Louis. What was it like to ride through the storm?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was terrible. It was very frightening. It just continued, just constantly. It was like no, I mean, for like seven, eight hours, just the pounding and the wind and it was very terrifying, very frightening.

CANDIOTTI: And of course no one has anyone idea, right, ma'am, of when you're going to get out?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No clue. We don't know anything. As far as we know, the airports are all down. There's no communication and nobody's got any cells going and basically we're just on a waiting game.

CANDIOTTI: Here you can see there is a table with soft drinks, with fruit drinks, with some kind of provisions to try to keep things as normal as is possible, to keep people hydrated. And of course sleeping quarters -- well, this is a school, so people are sleeping on desks. People are sleeping on the floor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On chairs. We were styling on the chairs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're just happy that we're alive and that, you know, we didn't get killed and we're happy to be alive.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We haven't taken showers since Thursday, about four days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But these folks have been absolutely fantastic, couldn't have done it without them.

CANDIOTTI: Certainly understandable that no one's been able to take a bath in four days because of course as the hurricane came through, power shut down, obviously water. There isn't any to be had for bathing, but it usually takes three days. This is what happens and people did have to evacuate the hotels that are located on the beach. Those are uninhabitable at this time, so of course some of the remaining questions, when will the airport be able to open so some of these tourists can get out? How will residents do? There's a lot of cleanup to be done, but people here say there is hope and it will happen and they do plan on bringing Cancun back eventually. Susan Candiotti, CNN, Cancun, Mexico.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SYLVESTER: Hurricane Wilma is miles away from the Florida coast, but the storm's effects are already being felt in some parts of the sunshine state. Up next, we'll bring you the latest on Wilma's projected path, plus this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now the house is all is (INAUDIBLE) concrete structure, so I guess the walls are supposed to withstand like a category five hurricane easily.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SYLVESTER: How some home owners learned their lessons from last year's hurricane season.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SYLVESTER: A quick update on hurricane Wilma. The storm is turning away from the Yucatan Peninsula at 14 miles per hour and it's expected to accelerate through the evening. It is now a category two, a strong category two with sustained winds of more than 100 miles per hour. Forecasters say it will strengthen as it approaches Florida.

Wilma is blamed for at least four deaths in Mexico. The storm stalled near Cancun for two days, causing major wind and water damage across the region. An estimated 10,000 U.S. tourists are in shelter but no Americans have been reported injured.

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