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Fast Rising Water and Heart-Pounding Rescues
Aired August 19, 2007 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh no.
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TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A woman loses her grip after being plucked from a flooding river. Some say from their cars, others rescued from rooftops, even dogs are forced to swim to land. This is not Hurricane Dean, but the aftermath of Erin.
A mud slide so powerful that it pushes a house right into the middle of a highway.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As of this time, we can't allow people to go back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: What's going on in the Midwest tonight?
And this is Dean. Whipping up the seas and leaving homes in ruins in its path. Tonight, it is slamming into Jamaica, head on. Tourists can't get home and Jamaicans hold up in shelters.
Texas oil rigs are pulling their employees out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The weather's going to deteriorate pretty rapidly. The rig that I was on was right in line with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Will Dean cost you at the pump?
And unbelievable pictures. A government official runs over a crowd people with his car. What was he thinking? You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And good evening, everyone. I'm Tony Harris in for Rick Sanchez this evening. Fast rising water and heart-pounding rescues, and that's just here in the United States. From the Midwest to the Caribbean tonight, weather is what people are talking about and we're about to show you why. Hurricane Dean has now claimed at least seven lives. It spared Jamaica a direct hit, but is causing plenty of damage as it pounds the island right now. It is going to be several more hours before Dean completely clears Jamaica. And just as compelling is what's happening here at home.
Not Dean, but what's left of Hurricane Erin is being blamed for at least nine deaths tonight in the Midwest. I think that is tropical storm Erin, thank you, Jacqui. But others escape death, thanks to the heroism of rescuers. People were pulling other people from rapid sweeping flood waters today. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no. That's exactly what I did not want to see.
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HARRIS: Our hearts just stopped as we watched this helicopter rescue in Oklahoma. You hear about these attempts, but you seldom see them as they're happening. Rescuers couldn't get to enough of them, though. We have confirmed tonight at least five people are dead in Oklahoma, including three women whose van was swept off a highway. Other people are just lucky to be alive.
Towns underwater. Dramatic rescues in Oklahoma, not along Hurricane Dean's path. Look at these pictures from Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Homes flooded, boats replacing cars and trucks on roads and daring helicopter rescues, some that didn't work out exactly as planned. One moment, you're hanging from the skids of a rescue helicopter frightened yet relieved to be on your way to higher ground, and the next moment.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no.
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HARRIS: The rescue helicopter circled back and eventually got this man to safety. The same thing happened with a woman. She, too, lost her grip and fell back in. She's just fine tonight.
People stranded on rooftops literally the only part of their house not under water. Some of them using the cell phones to call for help. Blame all of this on the remnants of tropical storm Erin. Remember, Erin? While we were looking to the Caribbean and charting the twists and turns of Hurricane Dean, Erin was weakening, but not before flooding parts of Texas and even more dramatically, Oklahoma.
OK, did I mention Minnesota? About a foot of rain came down near the Wisconsin state line today. This video is from St. Charles, but the same scene is playing out in several southeastern Minnesota towns. Tonight, at least four people are dead, as rain swollen rivers continue to give way, washing out houses and roads. About 240 National Guardsmen spent the day going door to door, checking on people. They are still being evacuated tonight.
Charles Crutcher sent us this i-report from Goodview, Minnesota. He says mudslides are uprooting small trees there. Some apartment buildings have water up to the second floor. And it looks like it is starting to recede a bit. Unfortunately, there's more rain in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow.
And that same storm system that is causing all kinds of problems in Minnesota didn't spare Wisconsin. Look closely under that mudslide. There's actually a house under there. Mud pushed it off its foundation on to a highway. Roads and bridges are washed out and a train was even derailed.
Three counties are under a state of emergency at this hour. That means the Wisconsin National Guard can step into action if need be. It is something that we are going to watch, since more rain is expected. I'll say it again, more rain is expected.
Four words people in the Midwest do not want to hear tonight. I mean, look at what they've been through already today. A man rescued from his rooftop. Others rescued by jet skis. What more can they expect? For the answers, we go to Jacqui Jeras in the weather center. Jacqui, good evening.
HARRIS: Are you staying over there or are you going to join me? I just want you close.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Are I'm not afraid.
HARRIS: All right, there you go. Good to see you, Jacqui.
JERAS: Good to see you, too. Yes, just an extreme situation. They're not related to each other.
HARRIS: Yes.
JERAS: And we're going to start with what's going on with Erin first, because we still have some problems and some threats associated with this. The center of the system is well up to the north and the east of the Tulsa area, but there's still enough rotation with it that we've had some isolated Doppler radar-indicated tornadoes yet tonight.
The rainfall amounts have been much lighter in the past three to six hours, but we could see some isolated heavy amounts that could trigger the flooding situation. I want to show you a picture. This is from the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma. Incredible meteorologists there. Some of the best in the world. And they took this image at 4:15 local time this morning. And you look at that and you think that's a tropical storm. Well, it's over land so you wouldn't think so. But amazingly, it kind of regenerated itself a little bit earlier this morning and strengthened and probably could have been labeled back to tropical storm status because we have sustained winds between 40 and 45 miles per hour.
And look at that. It looks just like an eye. Winds in Wotanga 82 miles per hour caused quite a bit of damage there. And the rainfall totals, where the worst of it was in Kingfisher.
Here's Oklahoma City. Kingfisher to the north and west of there. Nine to 11 inches came down in a very short period of time. And when that happens, those rivers go out of their banks. But the good news is many of them already beginning to recede.
Flood watches have been extended now to the north and east of there to track the rest of what's left with Erin as it heads towards Missouri.
Now farther up to the north in the upper Midwest, completely different system here. Our jet stream very active across the northern tier of the country, which means more storms are on the way. Storm systems trapped within the jet stream. So flash flood watches have been posted, not only across southern Minnesota. It has extended now into the Ohio River Valley. And believe it or not, Tony, these two systems could be coming together.
HARRIS: Oh, come on. Don't say that.
JERAS: I know. This is moving towards the Ohio Valley. The Minnesota system is.
HARRIS: That's right yes.
JERAS: And what's left of Erin could get caught up in that and just kind of add a little extra punch. So we'll be watching the Ohio Valley especially very closely for the middle of the week.
HARRIS: OK, boy, what a mess. All right, Jacqui, appreciate that, thank you.
We have some breaking news we want to get to you right now. Take a look at these pictures out of Tokyo. This is a report from Reuters that we're bringing you now of a plane belonging to Taiwan's China Airlines caught fire at an airport in Japan's southern island of Okinawa. The Boeing 737 passenger plane had 150 -- look at these pictures. 155 passengers on board.
But can you believe this? It is said that the passengers and the pilot managed to escape the blaze. No word on how this started, but you can see just how dramatic it is. Thick, black smoke billowing from the plane. Again, this is a plane belonging to Taiwan's China Airlines Limited. It caught fire at an airport on Japan's southern island of Okinawa, 155 passengers on board.
But once again, as you look at these pictures, hard to believe, isn't it, but the initial reporting right now is that there are no injuries and that the passengers and the pilot made it away safely. We will continue to keep an eye out for developments on this story and bring you an update in just a couple of minutes here in the NEWSROOM.
Now from the flooding in the Midwest that Jacqui talked to you about just a minute ago today to the unknown tomorrow of that mighty and very dangerous hurricane plowing through the Caribbean. Hurricane Dean is certainly on the move. The enormous Category four powerhouse is raking Jamaica tonight. CNN's Susan Candiotti is in Montego Bay. And wow, I didn't expect to see quite as calm a scene as I'm seeing behind you, Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, it comes and it goes. Just a little while ago, we were getting battered by a squall coming through. And now again, it's lightened up a little bit. But that's how it's been here most of the night.
I suspect now from what we understand that we are on the back end of the storm. So we are still getting these squalls and some of these pounding winds, a little driving rain every now and again.
And they are talking about the fact that we are not totally out of the clear. And we could get Category one hurricane force winds of up to 95 miles an hour. Certainly gusts of that strength, but it is quite a study in contrasts between here and Kingston, where an official told me not long ago it's absolutely scary in his words. The winds here are very, very fierce.
There, they did get very strong winds of up to 145 miles per hour or so, even though the eye of the storm was a bit 50 miles or so south of Jamaica -- of Kingston, rather, when it passed. But they have been getting a thrashing from the storm, a surge of up to about nine feet. Some flooding, but authorities there tell me that they're more concerned about roof damage and wind damage. That's going to be a key problem when the sun comes up that they'll be looking for.
About 14,000 tourists remain on the island. 20,000 were evacuated. And in the morning, they're going to be sending out damage assessment teams to see how bad things were. Tony, back to you.
HARRIS: Susan Candiotti of Montego Bay, Jamaica tonight. Let's bring in Jacqui Jeras. Jacqui, I got to tell you something. We thought for a while there this might get, the storm might bring about a direct hit on Jamaica. And then, you were telling me some point where there was at some point during the evening, where there's a little bit of a jog to the south and the west, but Kingston still getting hit.
JERAS: Yes, absolutely. And we might have had the eyewall even kind of grim across...
HARRIS: Yes.
JERAS: ...the Portland point, which is the southern most tip. And I'll show you that here on the satellite image in just a second.
But yes, there might have been just a little bit - you know, a little bit of a wobble or a little bit of jog. Happens all the time in hurricanes. Not a big deal. And it's a good thing, though, that didn't happen on up to the north and west because then this would be a little bit closer for those of you that live into western parts of Jamaica.
I'll zoom in just a little bit and show you what I'm talking about. And the observations, by the way, extremely limited coming in out of Jamaica. Where Susan is here in Montego Bay, that observation system has been out since last night. So we're only getting things in from Kingston.
But it's been reporting winds in at 99 knots, which translates to 114 miles per hour. And that was ongoing for a couple of hours yet. There you see it pushing westward. So Susan still certainly not out of the woods. She's got several hours to go. This thing is going to move towards the Cayman Islands. And there you can see them getting some of the outer bands just beginning at this time. That's going to be the big focus as we head towards tomorrow and then we'll watch what happens into the Yucatan. And no slowing down, really, in terms of strength, Tony.
HARRIS: Wow.
JERAS: Four, maybe five yet.
HARRIS: OK, Jacqui, appreciate it. Thank you.
JERAS: Sure.
HARRIS: And coming up this evening in the CNN NEWSROOM, we will continue to monitor that dramatic plane fire in Japan. It is something of a miracle that all 155 passengers managed to escape these flames without injury.
Plus - he's gotten a lot of applause over his handling of 9/11. But was he involved as he says? New allegations about presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. That is coming up in dog bone politics.
Also Hurricane Dean targets Jamaica. We will check back with our Susan Candiotti, standing by live in the path of the storm.
Plus, we talk to an oil expert, who says Dean could cause a change in the places of the gas pump.
But next, you've seen the dramatic video. We will hear from one of the men involved in this dramatic rescue. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: A woman loses her grip after being plucked from a flooding river. Some say from their cars, others rescued from rooftops. Even dogs are forced to swim to land. This is not Hurricane Dean, but the aftermath of Erin.
A mudslide so powerful that it pushes a house right into the middle of a highway.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As of this time, we can't allow people to go back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: What's going on in the Midwest tonight?
And this is Dean, whipping up the seas and leaving homes in ruins in its path. Tonight, it is slamming into Jamaica head on. Tourists can't get home and Jamaicans hold up in shelters. Texan oil rigs are pulling their employees out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Weather deteriorates pretty rapidly with the eyes on - right in line with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Will Dean cost you at the pump?
And unbelievable pictures, a government official runs over a crowd of people with his car. What was he thinking? You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
OK, not enough news for you, not enough dramatic video for you. Let's take you then to Okinawa, Japan just in to CNN a short time ago. Take a look at this scene. A plane belonging to Taiwan's China Airlines on fire at an airport there. Okinawa, Japan. The Boeing 737 passenger plane, flown from Taipei to Naha. That is Okinawa's capital. 155 passengers on board. Can you believe this in spite of those pictures and the flames and the smoke, everyone made it off the plane OK. All 155 passengers, the pilots as well. And what a dramatic scene. We will keep an eye on that situation for you and bring you any updates as we get them.
Let's take you back now to Jamaica. It isn't exactly postcard perfect right now. Tourists seem to be heeding calls to evacuate, but there is one American tourist who perhaps could have gotten out, but decided to stay put. New Jersey's Ed Romaine, yes, Ed Romaine is back. What is he thinking? Here is what he told me last night.
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HARRIS: Have you ever been in a hurricane before?
ED ROMAINE, AMERICAN TOURIST IN JAMAICA: No. Looking forward to my first. I have absolutely no doubt in the world we'll be sitting in there playing pool, drinking mojitos, and watching the wind go by.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well, we know he got the wind, but what about the mojitos? Let's follow up with Ed, joining us by phone from Ojarejos (ph), Jamaica. Ed, we've been talking to you throughout the day here. What's been your experience with this storm this evening, my friend?
ROMAINE: It's -- it seems to be -- the worst seems to be over. The winds have definitely taken its toll on the vegetation on the coast. A lot of the island I know has been hit really hard. Power is out for most of it. At the plantation resort that we're at right now, they are on backup generator and life is pretty good. I'm sure the rest of the island is truly getting pounded.
HARRIS: So this kind of worked out for you. Huh? You wanted to experience a hurricane and it looks like you're coming through it pretty unscathed? Huh?
ROMAINE: I would say totally unscathed. The worst part is they're going to make me stay here until Thursday so we can get another flight out. So I'm kind of counting on a lot of sun and some extra suntan lotion, a few more mojitos.
HARRIS: A few more mojitos. How many people - it sounded like you had a little party going earlier this evening. How many people hanging out with you now, Ed?
ROMAINE: About 50, 60 people that are still here.
HARRIS: And what the heck have you been doing this evening?
ROMAINE: Playing pool, drinking mojitos. We just finished with a surf and turf dinner. It's been not rough.
HARRIS: Have you called home? Have you told everyone you're OK? Maybe inebriated but otherwise OK?
ROMAINE: I've been telling everybody I'm OK and to tune into CNN and record me.
HARRIS: Oh, no. All right. You know, we end this. All right, Ed, great to talk to you again and get home safely on Thursday, all right?
ROMAINE: Thank you very much.
HARRIS: It's been good fun. Thank you, Ed.
ROMAINE: Thank you.
HARRIS: Jet ski to safety. This was a scene in Oklahoma today, as many people are rescued by boats and helicopters. This flooding was caused by the remnants of tropical storm Erin. Five people are dead. The storm dropped 11 inches of rain in the town of Kingfisher in just a few hours, causing creeks to overflow their banks.
And we have these i-report pictures from Jamie and Robert Gallimore in Norman, Oklahoma. You can see the street is totally underwater. They tell us the water ran eight feet high in some places. And they report tropical force winds of 80 miles an hour earlier today.
Well, you have seen these amazing pictures by now. A helicopter plucking two people from a swollen creek in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Their pickup truck had been swept from the bridge today. Our affiliate KWTV spoke with the pilot and rescuer today. Have a listen.
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BRIAN STURGILL, HELICOPTER RESCUE WORKER: We've made eye contact with both the victims. And the water was rising. It was obviously a desperate moment for them. And what went through our minds was just an immediate attempt to try and rescue the people from their vehicle.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now we all saw when that person fell. Everybody was holding their breath probably. What was going through your mind at that point?
JOE HOWARD, HELICOPTER RESCUE WORKER: We knew that, you know, we were trying to give her the best, you know, trying to get her to hold on the best that she could. You know, she was really tired at the time. And she had just kind of given out on the -- let her arms go. And we knew at that time we had to come back and pick her up, get her where she could sit down on the skids and hold her up against the helicopter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was difficult position to be in for somebody that's in good shape, right?
HOWARD: It would be - you know, considering the situation, where you know, they had been in the water for a while, tired and you know, fighting the water a little bit, I'm sure they were extremely tired.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kind of set the scene for someone who may not have -- what was going on? They were in their - they were in a truck, right?
STURGILL: They were in a pickup truck. And what had happened was that we had picked up the fire chief. And we had decided we were going over there and we were going to set the fire chief in the truck. And then, we were going to come back with the rescue net. And he was going to load them in the rescue net. We would take them out one at a time.
But we had an airplane that was flying overhead. And the airplane radioed in that the water was rising and the truck was submerging quickly. So when we arrived on scene, we made a determination that we no longer had no time to do that and we didn't want to risk the fire chief by putting him in the water.
So we just made a plan between the three of us. And it was grab one at a time and try to move them to calmer water, and get them in the aircraft, and get them to safety. And that's what we did . It was a coordinated effort.
Joe Howard here, he had to tell me which way to move the aircraft. The chief, he had to hang on for dear life and hold on to the victims, something that we really - we don't train to do that. But you know, circumstances sometimes supersede your training. And it worked out. We're all happy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Sure did work out. And coming up, wind, rain and surf laps Jamaica as Hurricane Dean comes a calling. We go live to the island ten minutes from now.
Plus, how will Dean impact prices at the gas pump this week? You'll want to stick around for the answer.
But first, dog bone politics, including an icy feud between presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Political beef next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK, just want to show you these pictures again one more time, maybe a few more times this evening. This is out of Okinawa, Japan. And this amazing view of this plane, this China Airlines plane, this 737 passenger plane on fire.
We understand that one of the engines actually burst into flames about three minutes after the plane landed. And earlier we had been telling you that miraculously, all of the passengers on board -- all 155 passengers along with the pilots had managed to escape the blaze.
But now we're getting some conflicting information. You know how this goes. There is the initial reporting. And then there is the reporting that happens subsequent to that initial set of reports.
Now we're getting word that there might be as many as four people who have suffered injuries and additional reporting to suggest those people might actually still be on the aircraft.
And you can see the scene now. This is after fire crews were successful in putting out the flames, but you can still see that that plane is still very much smoldering. We will keep an eye on this and try to clear up some of the conflicting information that we're getting and some of the reporting here, but just a devastating scene there in Okinawa, Japan. We will continue to follow this for you.
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here we go. Hurricane Dean. Make no mistake about it. This storm is not playing around. It is a Category 4, packing 145-mile-per-hour winds, and it will push a huge storm surge into whatever land is unlucky enough to be dead in its path.
This is the capital of the Dominican Republic, Santa Domingo, where people are, boy, heaving a sigh of relief now that the eye of the hurricane passed well south. They got a ton of rain, though, along with downed trees and wave damage, but they were bracing for much, much worse.
Jamaica, though, is a different story. Hurricane Dean makes a near-direct hit on the island. It is happening right now, and CNN's Susan Candiotti is in Montego Bay.
Susan, you've been through your share of these. How is this one measuring up?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not as strong as some of the ones I've been to in the past; for example, Hurricane Wilma hitting Cancun in 2005 which was a Cat 4 storm at that time.
What I wanted to give you a feel for, Tony, to start off with is to try to explain how eerie it is because electricity has been cut off to the entire island. So the bay, Montego Bay, is out in this direction, and it's just pitch black out there. We're blanketed in darkness aside from an occasional sign on a store, for example -- and they must be powered by generators -- or out on a mountainside, you see occasionally a house where the lights are on. But other than that, we have a generator here, and that's how we're able to crank up some lights here for you.
But right now in Montego Bay on the north end of the island, we're on the back end of the storm, and we're getting driving rain and squalls. They're taking about wind gusts of up to 95 miles an hour occasionally as the night goes on and the storm continues to pass us by.
But in Kingston, they really bore the brunt of the storm, and they really don't know how bad it was, and they won't until the sun comes up in the morning. We're talking about driving winds and rains there. They think most of the damage will be from the winds there.
Three thousand people were in shelters throughout the day and evening, and they're going to be sending out assessment teams in the morning to see how well or how badly Jamaica fairs.
Back to you, Tony.
HARRIS: Susan Candiotti for us is again, Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Susan, thank you.
Taking no chances in Texas, these are oil rig workers off the shore from Galveston. They're beginning to head for dry land just in case Hurricane Dean swirls into the Gulf of Mexico where there's -- well, there are about 4,000 oil and gas platforms. Texas Governor Rick Derry has already requested and received an emergency disaster declaration from the president.
Delays and potential damage involving these rigs could potentially hit consumers in the pockets due to higher gas prices.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
PETER BEUTEL, AUTHOR, SURVIVING ENERGY PRICES: It will probably be close to the five or 10 cents, you know, as a precautionary measure, but, again, it -- we have to wait and see exactly what happens. But probably a nickel or a dime. And then, of course, if it does threaten, it could be a lot more. So it probably does make sense to take some preventative action here and fill one's tank.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Yes. It makes sense.
All right. Let's bring in Jacqui Jeras once again. Let's find out where Dean is headed.
Let's talk about that, that track again, the intensity of the storm, where it's headed.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: This storm just does not want to die down at all, although that said, we haven't seen it ramp up either.
We're looking at a solid 24 hours that's it's been holding maximum sustained winds at 145 miles per hour, and now you can see the worst condition approaching in here on western parts of Jamaica, though we're still getting extreme winds in Kingston, about a Category 3 in strength, 114 miles per hour.
We've been reporting that for two hours in a row now from an aviation site here, METAR, as we call them, reporting there, and with some gusts even stronger than that. It's pushing westerly, so we have a good six hours yet to endure these conditions before we start to see just a little bit of relief.
Now where is it going? The Cayman Islands. This is what we're going to be watching yet, and these are those spaghetti maps that I showed you last night at 10:00 if you happened to see us then, and that's where the computer miles are predicting them to be, to the south of Georgetown. This is Grand Cayman Island. There you can see Little Cayman. But it will be close enough that we're probably going to be seeing it as some hurricane force wind gusts at a minimum.
OK. Let's move on. We'll zoom a little farther on over to the west and show you the Yucatan Peninsula. There you can see we've got a greater spread, so a little bit more uncertainty as we approach here. Likely going to weaken as it moves over the peninsula and then into the Bay of Campeche.
We want to show you a relation where those oil rigs and those platforms are. Most of them are up here along Louisiana and Texas coastal areas here, and we're expecting the storm to be down here.
But a couple little stray models, Tony, bringing it close to south Texas. So it must be why they're making those precautions.
HARRIS: Look at that. OK. All right, Jacqui. Appreciate it. We'll check back with you in just a couple of minutes.
JERAS: OK. HARRIS: Thanks, Jacqui.
Hurricane Dean's next landfall possibly a direct hit, as Jacqui mentioned, on the three islands that make up the Caymans.
On the phone with me now from Grand Cayman, Donovan Ebanks, chairman of island's hurricane committee.
Mr. Ebanks, are you there with us this evening?
DONOVAN EBANKS, NATIONAL HURRICANE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: I am. Thanks for having me.
HARRIS: Good to talk to you.
If you would, talk to us about your preparations. I guess the basic question here is: Are you ready?
EBANKS: Oh, we're starting to feel we are. We started getting our act together from Thursday. We have a very comprehensive hurricane plan, and we've been working very feverishly since. The community's taking it very seriously, and the National Hurricane Committee has worked with its various agencies and the tourism industry, our airlift capacity, and we're very much prepared.
HARRIS: Mr. Ebanks, when you talk about preparations and making those preparations at least beginning on Thursday, talk us through what you've actually done physically, A, in terms of setting up shelters and, B, informing your population that this is a very, very strong and deadly storm.
EBANKS: Well, one of the advantages I guess we have is we have a very educated population, thanks to Ivan three years ago, and so our people take this -- these situations very seriously. We started getting the word out on Thursday and Friday, and people have very much prepared their properties.
We have a network of about 19 shelters which we operate, some which serve as medical facilities. Those have all been stocked and prepared, and they're being occupied today. We expect we'll have close to about 4,000 people in those shelters.
And another big emphasis for us is to allow people to get off the island. We had close to 7,000 visitors on the island back on Friday morning. As of tonight, we're down to only 60 tourists who were not able to get off island. We've arranged accommodations for those people.
So we've accomplished quite a bit, we think, in the last two days, and we feel quite prepared.
HARRIS: Sounds good. All right, Donovan Ebanks. And we appreciate your time. Thanks for checking in with us this evening.
EBANKS: My pleasure.
HARRIS: Dean is the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, and if most informed predictions come true, it won't be the last.
Here's what federal storm watchers expect: a very good chance for an above-normal hurricane season. They predict as many as 16 named storms. That's up from last year when there were just 10. Of those named storms, seven to nine are forecast to gain hurricane strength with some of them in the higher, more powerful and deadly categories.
And coming up next in the CNN Newsroom, if you play baseball long enough, then you'll get hit by a pitch. But let's hope you take it better than this minor leaguer. It is a story that will make you say you've got to be kidding.
But coming up, we will check in on flood-ravaged Oklahoma. That is next in the CNN Newsroom.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Two states, a similar picture -- lots of water, flooded homes, rescues and deaths.
In Minnesota, the National Guard has been sent out, and the governor has declared a state of emergency in six counties. As much as a foot of rain fell overnight in the state. At least four people were trapped and killed in their cars.
In Oklahoma, the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin soaked parts of the state, causing creeks and homes to flood and washing out roads. People are being rescued by boat and helicopter. About five people have been killed in that state.
And joining me now by phone, Michaelann Ooten from the Oklahoma Emergency Management Agency.
Michaelann, thanks for your time this evening.
MICHAELANN OOTEN, OKLAHOMA EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY: Good evening.
HARRIS: I'm wondering -- let's see if we can push this forward a little bit to tomorrow. I'm wondering how will you be devoting your efforts tomorrow.
OOTEN: Well, we'll be supporting the local efforts of the fire department and emergency management officials, of course. (inaudible) looking toward damage assessment. Many homes are still under water, what kind of damage they have, and not only in Kingfisher, but in a number of other communities across our state.
HARRIS: So there are going to be a number of people, obviously, who will need some help, some assistance, some aid. What can you help them with? What can you provide for them?
OOTEN: Well, we're certainly doing everything we can to help the local electric service companies help get the power back on. We still have thousands of Oklahomans without power. And we're also supporting the shelters. We have at least three shelters open right now by the American Red Cross.
HARRIS: OK. And is there -- and folks will have a number -- maybe it's being handled locally -- where they can reach out to you if they need help?
OOTEN: Well, what we're telling people to do is make sure they've contacted their local emergency managers and let them know of their damage. That's the number one thing to do.
Tomorrow, we'll continue to work toward identifying and documenting all the other homes, all the homes throughout the state that have been damaged by this severe storm system, and then we'll work to see what kind of federal assistance might be available.
HARRIS: OK. Michaelann Ooten with us this evening.
Michaelann, we appreciate your time. Thank you.
OOTEN: Thank you.
HARRIS: And coming up, what kind of person runs down a group of people with their car? In this case, a government minister. Our "You've Got to Be Kidding" segment is still ahead.
But next, Christiane Amanpour talks to a man who set out to become a martyr, but lived to tell about it. A preview of "God's Warriors" is straight ahead in the CNN Newsroom.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Martyrdom, dying for a religious cause, it is a foreign concept to most of us in the West, but to Shiite Muslims in Iran, it can be a sacred obligation, one that dates back centuries.
In the 1980s, waves of young Iranian boys volunteered to give their lives to martyr themselves during Iran's eight-year war with Iraq, all for their religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini.
In her documentary on "God's Warriors," CNN's Christiane Amanpour takes us to meet a man who was one of those boys.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Back then, Amir Fahah (ph) was one of Khomeini's holy warriors. Tonight, as he prepares free food for the Ashura crowds in Tehran, he tells us how he volunteered to fight when he was barely a teenager, seen here on a hilltop during the battle. . AMIR FAHAH (ph), IRANIAN MUSLIM (through translator): I was 13 when I went to the front.
AMANPOUR (on camera): You went to the war at 13 years? How did they allow you to go at 13?
FAHAH (ph); I did whatever I could. In the beginning, I was trained to defuse landmines, and when I was battle hardened, I ran messages on foot.
AMANPOUR: Did you think of Imam Hussein when you were at the front?
FAHAH (ph): He was my example. His courage inspired me. You can never praise him enough.
AMANPOUR: When the West looks at this and looks at the rituals, they see chest beating, they see back beating with chains. What message do you want the West to have about your religion about your rituals?
FAHAH (ph): When we beat ourselves with iron chains and damage our bodies, we want to show that we will stand with our imam and our religion to the bitter end. For the Shiites, his sacrifice has kept Islam alive for 1,400 years.
AMANPOUR (voice-over): And it's alive today, not only on Amir's (ph) heart, but in his household. He's brought me to meet his family.
FAHAH (ph): This is my son, Abis (ph), and this is Ali (ph).
AMANPOUR: Amir's (ph) two little boys are named after his two brothers who were killed in the war with Iraq, martyrs for their country, he says. More than 20 years later, his mother doesn't regret the family sacrifice.
(on camera) Cobra (ph), you're a mother, and you sent your 13- year-old son to the front. You lost already two sons. How could you have done that?
COBRA (ph), MOTHER OF MARTYRS (through translator): I never wept for my sons when they went to war. In fact, I was happy. I would have been angry if they refused to go.
AMANPOUR: Is religion that important in your lives?
COBRA (ph): During the Ashura war, one of the Imam Hussein's disciples was decapitated, and his head was thrown at his mother, but she flung it back defiantly saying, "Whatever I give to God, I don't want back." That's how important Islam is for us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: That's a preview of Christiane Amanpour's documentary series "God's Warriors." She found people of tremendous faith all around the world. "God's Jewish Warriors" premiers Tuesday, August 21; God's Muslim Warrior, on Wednesday August 22; and God's Christian Warriors, on Thursday, August 23 -- all at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and if you'd like more information, just go to cnn.com/godswarriors.
HARRIS: Our latest advisory on Hurricane Dean is in. Let's check in now with Jacqui Jeras in the Severe Weather Center.
Jacqui.
JERAS: Big news with this one, Tony, and everybody, listen. Texas, you want to listen on up.
For the first time in days, Texas is out of the cone. The cone of uncertainty. That's what I'm talking about. And here you can see it well to the south now of Brownsville.
So, at this time, if the official forecast holds true, Texas will no longer be receiving a direct impact from this storm.
However, you know that hurricanes can be tricky in forecasting, and any kind of deviation, especially in this area, could change things down the line. So you can take a deep breath, but you're not completely out of this thing altogether necessarily. So we want you to watch it very closely.
Hurricane hunters have been flying in this thing the last couple of hours and found those winds still the same, at 145 miles per hour. So still a strong Category 4.
The hurricane force winds have now pulled out of Kingston, Tony, so they can expect to see improving conditions there.
HARRIS: Oh, that's great news.
All right, Jacqui. Thank you.
I wish I had them here with me. Washers. You know, just garden variety washers. About 19 cents each. You want to send them from South Carolina to an Army base in Texas. It will cost you, oh, a cool million dollars. The story in the Newsroom.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So a shocking piece of video to show you now. Everyone who saw it here said, "Are you kidding?"
OK. So look at this scene. It's tense. This is Argentina, and an angry crowd of protesters surrounding a car driven by the country's interior minister. They won't let him leave. They're chanting and pounding on the car. Then the driver said, "Enough!" and he guns it.
Take a look here. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! So the car plows into the crowd. People are down. The best report we found said 17 people were run down and a few had to go to the hospital. Amazingly, no one was killed. The minister was arrested and remains in jail tonight. The video popped up on that YouTube that the kids are crazy about, and officials there have some 'splaining to do.
Batter out in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and a minor league player scores an arrest record. It started when Jose Offerman was at bat and got hit by a pitch. He storms the mound, swinging a bat, hits the pitcher, breaks the guy's finger. The catcher tries to run some interference. He ends up with a concussion. And Offerman? Well, he is now facing two counts of second-degree assault and the prospect of anger management counseling.
And finally -- where should I hold -- Roger, here. Is that good? Washers, right? Washers. They sell for about 19 cents apiece, unless, of course, you're the Pentagon. Then, apparently, they're worth almost a million bucks. That's how much a South Carolina parts supply company allegedly charged the DOD to ship the washers to an Army base in Texas -- let's do it together, everyone -- $998,798. I guess that included the bubble wrap, huh? Is that OK?
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