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American Morning

Hurricane Wilma Pounds Florida

Aired October 24, 2005 - 07:30   ET

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

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, I hope you're not on the beach or at least away from the beach because I know the sand there has got to be kicking up as bad as it is here.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it really is, Anderson. As a matter of fact, we have first light. Dave Albright (ph) on our camera, can you get a shot of the Gulf of Mexico there? Give people a sense of what we're seeing here. There's no more beach left here at Admiral T. Point (ph) here at Naples. And up comes that Gulf of Mexico. It's been steady. The good news for us is, we're, you know, a couple feet above the sea level here. And I think we've got some steps we can go up to if we have to do a retreat.

It's the bottom of the hour. Let's set the table for you. If you just tuned in, a monster storm is on Florida's doorstep right now. And it is giving hurricane force winds from coast-to-coast. Wilma's wrath being felt right now from Naples, to Fort Myers, to Marco Island, to Key West and all the way across the state.

On the east side, huge eye of 85 miles in diameter. Hurricane force winds extending out 150 miles in diameter. The full width of the state of Florida affected by this storm.

There had been stronger storms, but few had been this large causing so much wind damage and storm surge on such a broad scale. I'm Miles O'Brien live in Naples. You've been hearing from our correspondents. They're stationed all throughout the region to give you the most comprehensive look at this Hurricane Wilma. Let's check in with Zain in the dry confines of Time Warner Center in New York.

Zain.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: They wouldn't give me a red jacket, Miles. I don't deserve one yet. Thank you.

You know, there's always a lot of uncertainty about just how intense a storm will actually be when it makes landfall. So you have emergency managers and planners and local officials. What they really need to do is to balance that uncertainty with the human and the economic risks as well. And this is what they do when they plan for a storm, they usually plan for one category higher than what it's forecast. Wilma has come in as a category three hurricane.

Joining us now from Washington is FEMA's acting director, David Paulison.

Thank you so much for being with us. R. DAVID PAULISON, ACTING DIRECTOR, FEMA: Good morning.

VERJEE: Good morning. FEMA was overwhelmed by Katrina. How prepared is FEMA for Wilma?

PAULISON: We are ready. We are working with the state. We have preposition commodities at Home (ph) State Air Force Base and also in Jacksonville. We have urban search and rescue teams down there. We have medical teams. The state is ready. The state's prepared. They have done an outstanding job of getting not only themselves ready but their residents ready also.

VERJEE: What lessons has FEMA learned from the mistakes of Katrina that you're applying now today for Wilma?

PAULISON: I think the most important thing that we're doing is communications, to make sure that we understand what's happening on the ground and we understand what the state needs and we've got the supplies and the people there to make sure we can respond to the state when they ask for help.

VERJEE: How are you coordinating then with state and local officials?

PAULISON: Well, we have 30 people at the state EOC where the governor is. We have people in Orlando. We have people at the Hurricane Center in Miami. And we have hundreds of people scattered across the state not on cell phones but satellite phones to make sure we have good visibility and what is actually happening on the ground. We want to make sure that we understand where the damage is, where the people are and can move as quickly as possible when we're asked to.

VERJEE: Thousands of people were asked to evacuate. Thousands of people decided, we're not going to do it, we're just going to stay here, hunker down and ride it out. What's your response to that?

PAULISON: Well, I talked to the president this morning and he was very concerned about that very thing you just mentioned. We have a lot of people in the Keys did not evacuate. We have people that were in mobile homes who did not evacuate and those mobile homes do not do well in a category three storm. This is a very dangerous storm, a very big storm. It covers across almost the whole state of Florida from coast to coast. So we're very concerned about that. And that's the thing, I think, that worries me more than anything, are those people who did not evacuate.

VERJEE: How do you plan on handling those people that did not evacuate in the immediate aftermath of the storm? What are you planning, search and rescue teams to go down and check things out immediately? How are you prepared for that?

PAULISON: Well, we're going to move in with the state, with our urban search and rescue teams and the state's urban search and rescue teams.

VERJEE: How soon? PAULISON: As soon as the winds as soon as they can start moving. You know, they can't right now, they're hunkering down. They're in shelters also waiting for the winds to die down. So we'll start moving in as quickly as possible. You know we're telling people, you know, just stay inside. You know, don't go out. And if you're watching this storm, you can see how big the eye is. And people have a tendency to go outside during the eye of the storm and we ask you not to do that. So we're going to move as quickly as we can, as quickly as we can get the roads cleared and as soon as we can get helicopters up to start moving our urban search and rescue teams in to search some of those areas.

VERJEE: You're dealing with the situation across the state of Florida because of Wilma. Much of Louisiana and Mississippi need help from FEMA as well. Do you think you're stretched too thin?

PAULISON: No, I don't think so. Our rescue response side of the organization has been able to get some rest, because we've been on the recovery side in Louisiana and Mississippi and Texas. So the response teams, the USAR (ph) teams, medical teams, they have been able to rest for a couple of weeks. They're ready to go. They're motivated. They're going to get on top of this and move very quickly.

VERJEE: David Paulison, the acting director of FEMA, thank you so much for joining us here on AMERICAN MORNING.

PAULISON: Thank you.

VERJEE: We want to go now back to Naples and to Miles O'Brien where the rain there is lashing.

Miles, it's pretty painful, isn't it?

O'BRIEN: Yes, it's actually painful. That's a good way to describe it, Zain. This is painful rain. Horizontal sheets of rain. Like a constant acupuncture is what I'm going through right now. Or just being, you know, pressure washed.

In any case, this is Naples. I want to show you where we are using our satellite technology and let's use the Google map. Zoom in down where I am. I'm right beside an inlet here in Naples in a condo complex which seems to be holding up pretty well. I haven't even seen so much as an awning come off of it yet. But it's built in a way which is actually very hurricane friendly.

Thirty miles to the south of me, as we go down the coast, is Marco Island. This is some of the most pricey real estate in the United States of America. The median house price here in Naples is $1.6 million. It's even more in Marco Island. So there's a lot at stake here economically. And, of course, there are lives at stake as well for people who don't listen to the warnings from public officials.

Let's check in with Anderson Cooper and John Zarrella down there.

How's it going down there, guys? COOPER: Yes, Miles, the winds are pretty steady now. Pretty steadily miserable. The sand, you know, just kicking up. You can tell by the trees, you know, there's a lot of wind in the air. We anticipated it being like this for, what, probably another 20 minutes or so?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a good 20, 30 minutes. But like Miles was saying, it's that acupuncture at our back. You just can't you can't turn your face into that. That sand is just coming right off the beach.

COOPER: Yes, and the beach is pretty much gone. We were down there a short time ago . . .

ZARRELLA: You can't see it now.

COOPER: Yes, you can't even . . .

ZARRELLA: You can't see it at all.

COOPER: It's very difficult, really, to look anywhere in a northern direction because there's so much sand in the air and that wind is just whipping, as you know, Miles. You just got to kind of, you know, keep your eyes down low.

But as you were saying, yes, this is a very pricey island. A lot of homes here are very solidly built. A lot of money has been put into this island. From what we're seeing just along the coast here, just anecdotally, the buildings seem to be holding up pretty well.

ZARRELLA: Yes, very well. It's going to be interesting to see what happens to a lot of the single family homes. And, you know, this boardwalk has been shaking a little bit as we get these big, strong gusts moving in here. I'm sure it will hold up fine. But, yes, and I really do believe that that storm surge issue down to the south is going to be a major concern from what we saw here and have seen here.

COOPER: Yes. And really the entire I don't know how it is on Naples, Miles, but I mean, for us, the beach here is pretty much gone. It is all completely under water. Is that the scene in Naples?

O'BRIEN: Yes, it is, Anderson. I'm looking at Dave Allbright, if you could show that beach line there. Right on the edge there, you can see just the top of the dunes. And I've got to point out something here about the way this is built here. You'll notice what they've done here, this condo complex is built behind the dune lines. And these dunes are going a long way to protecting this complex. I should tell you that the parking lot, which is below ground, has flooded. You wouldn't expect that.

But this is a natural barrier that mother nature provides the barrier islands. It's been left intact. And we see it time and again, places where condominiums, buildings are built in front of the dune line. The dunes are taken away. They suffer much greater damage. So mother nature's natural barrier is right there before you. Just those seaalts (ph) of those dunes are keeping that storm surge back there where it's not causing any huge problems for us.

Anderson, are you where exactly are you guys? Are you out right on the beach?

COOPER: Yes, we're what we're doing right now is just we're well, we were about half an hour ago just to give you a just show the rest of you, come a little bit beach.

ZARRELLA: Well, like Miles was saying, you know, the dunes are protecting all those buildings back there. Not doing much for us, but certainly the building. Look at that surge. This is the worst it's been now. It's really blowing now.

COOPER: Oh! Yes, but you get a we were we were down there we were down there probably about 20 or 30 minutes ago. The entire beach now is gone. And that box was, you know, 10 feet down. That has simply floated. And but most of the buildings along the beach are built up on a dune, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. There should I don't think there's going to be a lot of flooding at some of these homes on the beach.

ZARRELLA: No, no, they're on the other side of the crest of the dune. It's really, as up in Naples where Miles was saying the same thing, they're protected by mother nature's natural barrier. You got the seaoats (ph) and seagray (ph). It's just pouring in now. I can't even look to the north because of the sand, but the water is still coming up. Water's still coming up now. Can't even . . .

COOPER: Back a little bit because it's pretty unpleasant here. But (INAUDIBLE) right on the beach, I mean, it's amazing the difference. The wind is just it really, in the last just couple of minutes as we've been speaking, the difference is noticeable.

ZARRELLA: Yes, that's that eye wall, that real strong core that Chad was talking about. Once this goes hopefully whoa that will be the the worst will be over. But this has got to be close to a hundred mile an hour winds now.

COOPER: Yes, Miles, have you seen a significant uptick in the winds where you are?

O'BRIEN: Big time. Big time. I was just going to say, I think we're getting close to three I can't I really am having a hard time standing up. But I got nothing to hang on to here. I'm going to stay near this sign. I can't even stand up. I think we got to be getting close to a hundred miles an hour here now. I don't know if Chad has that dialed up.

Chad, do you have that dialed up right now?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, I'll get another update at the top of the hour and that's still 20 minutes away. So there's no way. They're not sending really special observations where you are. That's why we give you those anemometers. What are you doing? You lost them now? They probably have blown away at this point in time? Look at that storm surge. O'BRIEN: You know what, it's not doing the job for me, Chad. We're going to talk about what kind of anemometer to get because I spent $200 this time and it's for nothing, you know what I mean?

MYERS: Yes, I think I have that exact one you have in my closet that I don't use anymore.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

MYERS: But you can see the storm surge there from John and also from Anderson.

Guys, is that water still coming up? Can you even hear me?

ZARRELLA: Yes, no, it's (INAUDIBLE).

COOPER: Yes, Chad, we hear you. It is still coming up. The water here. Let me try to turn here, if I can. Yes, the water is still significantly it's coming up.

ZARRELLA: Yes, it's coming up and so is the wind now.

COOPER: Yes.

ZARRELLA: I know it's a hundred miles an hour now. It's got to be.

COOPER: Do you think it's about a hundred?

ZARRELLA: Yes, it's got to be.

MYERS: Watching Miles struggle as well in the top right corner,. On the bottom right corner is actually a secondary picture of Anderson and John Zarrella from a different angle.

Miles, it looks like you're really having trouble standing up. Are you OK? Do you need to go someplace else?

O'BRIEN: Yes, I am. Yes, I think I'm going to be OK here. Sure. This is fine, Chad.

MYERS: Now there's no storm surge where you are, right?

O'BRIEN: Well, you know, where I'm standing, it's OK because we're not as I mentioned to you, Chad, you might want to elaborate on this. The way this place is built is really the way it should be. We've got a nice dune line. We're sitting high on the backside of the dune lines. The water is coming up significantly. There's not much beach left right now but we have the advantage of mother nature's barrier here. It's helping us quite a bit right now.

MYERS: I do have John and Anderson back on the left side of the screen. Hey, guys, I see you're back briefly at least. Are the winds tearing anything apart? You just said a hundred miles per hour. That will cause damage. COOPER: Yes, it does. (INAUDIBLE) the winds are tearing anything apart. Not here on the beach, though, we yes. I mean most of these buildings around here are very well built as you know, Miles. And there's not a lot of even plant life that seems to be going airborne. Really the only exchange here, besides the wind speed . . .

MYERS: I think we just lost . . .

O'BRIEN: Did we lose them?

MYERS: Yes, we lost them again. They're kind of coming in and out. But, boy, some great pictures coming out of you guys.

Hang with us.

John and Anderson, go ahead, you're back.

COOPER: Yes, we're just saying that the only real change here is the water continues to kind of come up but it doesn't seem to be it's not going to be going over these dunes.

ZARRELLA: It's almost as if, Chad right down the beach.

COOPER: Yes, Chad, I mean, I don't know if the winds have changed a slight direction but the water does seem to be moving sort of that direction.

MYERS: Well the you both and actually all three of you now have similar situations where the water is not slowing down the wind anymore. You had the wind offshore and that let's call it friction from buildings and from trees, was slowing down the wind. Now the wind blowing down the beach and slightly on land from the water. There is no friction from the water.

Miles, how are you doing down there?

O'BRIEN: It's pretty dicey here. I've got to tell you, Chad, I've really noticed an uptick. So what you're talking about is not necessarily a strengthening of the winds, July the direction is such that we're getting walloped a little more, is that what you're saying?

MYERS: Yes, exactly, because you don't have that you don't have the slowdown effect of the buildings behind you. The wind is blowing right down the beach or slightly onshore and that is the most brisk wind. Boy, you can really see your trees there blowing in the wind.

O'BRIEN: Yes, I've got say bay right now it's . . .

MYERS: I'm going to let you go for a second, Miles, because I've lost you a little bit.

John, Anderson, are you still there?

COOPER: Yes. Do you hear us, Chad?

MYERS: Yes, I do. Go ahead.

COOPER: Let's try to walk down a little bit. Chris, I don't know Chris, let's try to walk down toward the water the storm surge.

ZARRELLA: I can see how that water is flowing down almost down the beach. (INAUDIBLE) the way the wind is blowing, as Chad was saying. We don't have the buildings to help us out any longer.

MYERS: The top right-hand picture you're seeing from Hurricane One driving through downtown Naples. On the left side of your screen, John Zarrella, Anderson Cooper at Marco Island. On the bottom, right- hand side of your picture, Miles O'Brien in Naples.

Go ahead, John.

ZARRELLA: I say, I wasn't sure we were still on the air.

MYERS: Yes.

COPPER: We are. We are.

COOPER: So what were you asking, Chad?

ZARRELLA: I was just asking Chad if he could tell that that water is blowing down. If he can see how that wind is just blowing the water now.

MYERS: I can see what you're saying. And let me go I'm going to let me take the screen just a little bit here and I'm going to update the radar position. I also want to update from southern Brevard County, a tornado warning for the cities of Grant and Barefoot Bay. And that includes the Sebastian Inlet area. Tornado warnings on the east side of this storm. And also on the north side, the wind itself part of the eye wall. And then on the backside where you guys are, clearly the western eye wall.

Are you guys all right up there?

John?

COOPER: Yes, we're fine. We're fine.

MYERS: Did we lose the cameraman there?

COOPER: He's just adjusting the camera. No, he's just adjusting. He's fine. Give us a minute or two.

MYERS: Miles, why don't you tell me how you're doing.

John and Anderson, you guys take cover for a while, all right?

O'BRIEN: Hey, Chad, can you see me now?

MYERS: I can see you in a very dark picture, Miles, but I can hear you. Go ahead.

O'BRIEN: I have made the strategic decision to move in a little bit closer to shelter here. And if you look behind me . . .

MYERS: Anderson and John, do the same thing.

O'BRIEN: Yes, it's really not safe to be out there anymore. Because we're looking at these trees right over here and, you know, I know that these palm trees are designed to, you know, handle this kind of wind. I'm not designed as well to handle it, that's for sure.

How long are we apt to get these kind of conditions, Chad?

MYERS: You're literally going to be out of it in 10 minutes. This is the worst part of the eye wall for both of you. You're actually in the same eye wall as the backside is right there all the way from Naples. The wind that you're feeling, Miles, is actually blowing directly to John and Anderson.

John, Anderson, you all right up there?

Yes, I think we lost their camera, so we probably lost their audio connection as well.

Miles, I know you can't see that but they're trying to wrestle a new camera there.

O'BRIEN: Yes. Well, it's hard keeping the things going, as you understand. I know you know how this goes. You know, we're not seeing any evidence of serious structural damage yet, though, Chad. And we're at the wind speed where you would expect to see that any minute. And that's why I'm hesitant to be out there because you never know what's going to blow off a roof.

MYERS: Well, anything can be in the air, Miles. You don't have any eye protection with you?

O'BRIEN: Yes, I do, but I can't find it now. It might have blown away.

MYERS: Well, always just put your back to it but make sure that the cameraman is watching your back because the problem is, something blows off, even if it's as small as a palm fron (ph), a palm fron doing 80 miles an hour is going to hurt a little bit. So if you guys need to just duck out of the way, you can.

Anderson and John, I can hear you. Go ahead.

COOPER: Yes, I don't know if you're able to see us, but the winds here are probably the strongest that I've seen all morning. What kind of wind speed do you think this is?

ZARRELLA: It's clearly got to be sustained at 85, 90 miles an hour. Maybe gusting to a hundred. Maybe more.

COOPER: Yes, it is pretty intense here. Are you able to see us? MYERS: Yes, we can see you just fine. What I'm concerned about I'm concerned if that water's still coming up for you or has it level off?

COOPER: Let me try to look. It still seems to be coming up. I don't know if we're able to walk over there. Chris, do you think you'll be able to walk over there?

MYERS: Anderson, do you need to go to your fallback position?

COOPER: No, think I we're all right. I'll just give you a sense of the water here.

MYERS: I'm going to let you go, Anderson. We just lost your shot for a second.

Miles, you look like you're in a safe spot.

O'BRIEN: Yes, I found a safe spot here. I'm a little bit protected here, Chad. As you take a look at those trees, I was out in the middle of that. That's no safe place to be right now. As you can tell, we're really getting really getting battered. And as I say all this, I still have not seen any significant signs of structural damage. This condo complex we're at is holding up pretty well. There's no power here. No power really anywhere around where we are right now. About 8,000 people in shelters. There are some people who are riding it out in this building.

MYERS: I'm hearing Anderson and John for a second, Miles, we have them back.

O'BRIEN: Yes, let's listen to them. Yes, put them back on.

MYERS: Anderson. Anderson, go ahead.

COOPER: Yes. Yes, it's really bad now. I think we're probably going to go in pretty shortly.

MYERS: There you go.

COOPER: This is probably the worst that we have seen really even in the last minute or so. This is really bad. I think this is the worst it's been.

ZARRELLA: Yes, definitely. This is the worst it's been. We were just saying that this sand will just peel the skin off you it's blowing so hard.

COOPER: I just want to show you what's left of the beach. Chris, if you can come over here. This whole walkway, we were on earlier, but it is completely covered in water and you can yes, I've never seen anything like this just with the storm surge taking away this whole beach.

ZARRELLA: It's just bracing down now. The wind, coupled with the water, is just peeling that beach away. MYERS: All right, I think we've lost you guys again. I would like you guys at least to take a 10 minute break. Get yourself out of the wind, get the crew safe. Regroup. Come back when the wind's died off 10 or 15 miles per hour. Would you guys?

COOPER: Should we go in? OK, (INAUDIBLE) here, we're going to go in.

MYERS: Miles, that was a we're going to walk those guys back in. We can see them on the other camera. What are you feeling now?

O'BRIEN: Well, I've got to tell you, Chad, it feels like the wind is blowing more toward my back here. I don't know if it's shifting around some more. But just standing here, a little while ago I was protected because the wind was coming this way. Now I feel it's coming more this way. Would it be shifting that much?

MYERS: Yes, it absolutely would be. As the eye goes by you, your winds are actually going to shift 180 degrees from where they started. So the water will be to your back and so will the winds.

I've lost your shot a little bit. Are you is that just the cameraman getting yes, there it is. There you are there. A different location. Different shot. What are your winds feeling like? Are they over a hundred?

O'BRIEN: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Very much so. I think we're really getting the dose of it now. And as yo point out, as it comes straight into us, it gives us kind of a problem in finding a good place to find cover. We're going to have to work on that because we still want to be able to give you a shot. But this is triple digit stuff. We're talking, you know, I don't know what we would feel category three levels, I guess it would be right about now if we were to feel it, right?

MYERS: Yes, absolutely. You are in the eye wall which is where the category three winds would be. It appears that John and Anderson are trying to do another shot on the top left.

John, Anderson, go ahead.

COOPER: Yes, I don't know if you can see, that's the beach house that we were standing completely picked up and it's standing on its side. I was just telling them at the house there it just completely . . .

ZARRELLA: Yes, it's tipped over now. It's the wind has changed a little coming out of it's coming out you can see the way the trees have changed direction from the way they're moving.

COOPER: Yes, we've retreated off the beach because of all the sand in the air. So we're now on this boardwalk at the hotel that we're staying.

MYERS: We can see you on two different cameras there and both of them are breaking up because of the satellite link. It's just gone down a little bit. I do have Miles on a good link.

Miles, your winds are also shifting. Is this going to put you in any danger? Do I need to get you out of there?

O'BRIEN: Well, right now, we're OK, but we may have a situation where if it blows straight toward Dave, we might have a problem. I don't know if we're going to be able to we'll have to rethink our protective situation here. We may have to go to the other side of the condo in a minute. We'll let you know.

MYERS: Just let me know right away. Just go ahead and break right off because we have other places that we can go, including Gary Tuchman and also Jeanne Meserve. We can also go to the east side. I'm also concerned about the east side of Florida where the winds now have picked up in Miami to almost 80 miles per hour.

John and Anderson, I see your shot. You're kind of in and out. What can you tell me?

Looks like they're pick up their gear and walking in. That's actually that's great news because I did want them off of that causeway there. That little walkway didn't seem all that safe considering how far they were out there on to the beach. Anything could get picked up and thrown at them.

Miles, do you need to go? Do you need to get behind another condo?

O'BRIEN: I think we're going to be OK.

Dave, what do you think? You OK? We're OK for now.

He's actually a little more protected than I am. I'm kind of in the middle ground. And you don't want to be out there right now. You know, I was out there, Chad, I was amazed at how salty the rain is. A lot of it is sea water, a lot of it is rain. It's all mixed in together. It's almost brackish (ph).

MYERS: Yes.

O'BRIEN: And then that is what you know, after a hurricane, so often you see the vegetation gets killed by just that salty rain.

MYERS: Yes, it turns into a burnt brown because the salt water doesn't go very well with the fresh water plants. Some plants can do better. Let's say, a sea grate (ph) can actually grow almost in complete salt water. So, obviously, can other plants along the Florida Keys.

But, Miles, do you see anybody else out there like looking out their condo windows or is your place a ghost town?

O'BRIEN: No. It's neither fit for man nor beast. We had made some arrangements with some people to come by and talk to us here and no one's come by. And, you know what, I'm glad they aren't here. I would feel bad if they showed up on our account. MYERS: Miles, your winds still off the ocean, is that correct? Or are they still turning even more off the Gulf of Mexico?

O'BRIEN: Yes, I think the wind is turning kind of straight in from the Gulf is what we're getting right now, Chad.

MYERS: Yes. And that's because of the direction and the location of the eye. That is now sucking the water in. And in many areas, especially to your south, this is when the highest storm surge is going to occur. And if you still have power and you're still watching CNN, you need to be very careful with that surge because that water could still be going up.

Deerfield Beach on the top left-hand screen top left of your screen, see the folks struggling with their live shot there. Bottom right-hand screen, wind speeds there at least 80 to 90 miles per hour. And Miles O'Brien in the top right-hand screen top right of your screen in Naples, Florida, all night long, winds have been offshore, blowing away from land, not really scouring the land like it is now where the winds are onshore and the winds now gusting to what Miles calls triple digits.

Miles, go ahead.

O'BRIEN: You know, Chad, it's truly an amazing sight to see this. When you look at these trees, I don't know how they stay upright with this winds coming through here. Having said all that, right around the corner here, there's an awning. The awning is still intact. And I don't know how that is still there. It's very at this point, we have not seen a lot of structural damage and that's surprising to me. How about you?

MYERS: It really is surprising to me considering the whipping rain that I'm seeing in the other two screens near you and behind you. At times, weather instruments can actually be confused and, at times, I have seen in a hurricane the weather instruments report snow because the droplets are so broken apart by the wind that the automated weather machines don't even know that it's raining. They think it's snowing because the temperature and the rain are two independent two independent meters.

Guys, tell me what's on the bottom right-hand side of the screen there. Can you?

O'BRIEN: Are you talking to me, Chad?

MYERS: That is Marco Island. That's our second shot with Anderson and John. I see Anderson, go ahead. I see you up on top. Are you OK? I had you, Anderson, for just a moment. I heard you.

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