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Nancy Grace

Hurricane Irene Makes for the East Coast; A Historic Hurricane; Things to Prepare for the Incoming Hurricane

Aired August 26, 2011 - 20:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tens of millions are in the path of this massive, and I mean massive, hurricane.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have the big rip currents, and that`s going -- only going to intensify as this storm system gets a little bit closer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: More than 60 million people are awaiting their encounter with Hurricane Irene.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t want you to let your guard down. You think about what an 85-mile-per-hour storm will do over the city.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see that some people are still not heeding the warning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A 105-mile-per-hour wind is still a 105-mile-per- hour wind.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sounds windy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So the storm is coming right up at us from the south.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Largest storm to hit the Eastern Seaboard in years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That will tear the roof off a house. It`ll move things around. It`ll blow things to you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A very dangerous and large storm with hurricane- force winds.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You have to take precautions now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAM CHAMPION, GUEST HOST: This is the real deal. Good evening. I`m Sam Champion of ABC`s "Good Morning America," in for Nancy Grace tonight. Breaking news at this hour, 65 million people are bracing themselves for what President Obama called today a historic hurricane, Hurricane Irene. It`s already throwing pounding thunderstorms in the Carolinas, with an eye on D.C., believe it or not, New York City, and even Boston. The latest on this storm, this hour, a Category 2, with winds of 100 miles per hour.

Let`s go straight to CNN`s national correspondent Susan Candiotti live at Smith Point Park in New York. Susan is ahead of this storm. What`s the latest?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest is that we`re here on the eastern end of Fire Island, which is a barrier island, as you know, Sam, that protects the south shore of Long Island. And mandatory evacuations are already in place.

But boy, one of the other big stories, of course, Sam, is New York City. Already, evacuations are under way there ordered by the mayor for -- affecting low-lying areas. That includes hospitals and others who live in those areas.

And the other big news that I don`t think I can remember, and probably you can`t, either, that they are suspending buses, trains and subways as of noon on Saturday because of Irene`s approach.

CHAMPION: Most of this are sentences we have never heard about a storm like this facing cities that we`re talking about. And the things that Susan just said have never happened before. They`ve never tried to evacuate lower Manhattan in some sections before. They`ve never closed the entire MTA before.

But there`s so much more to this storm, with 65 million people, a state of emergency declared in eight states. That`s Delaware, Connecticut, New York, Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Maryland.

Let`s get the latest information, since there was a brand-new advisory on this, from Ken Reeves, senior meteorologist at Accuweather.com and a pal of mine. Ken, it`s good to see you. You`re a comforting face in a situation like this. Tell me -- give me the latest information on this storm, and then let`s kind of discuss its health.

KEN REEVES, SENIOR METEOROLOGIST, ACCUWEATHER.COM: Certainly. Well, Sam, it is good to see you again. And I think the main thing about this is that at this time yesterday, we were concerned it might still be a major hurricane. It is down to a 2, and it has shown a little bit of vulnerability during the course of the day today. It has been moving to the north over the more recent hours, about 14 miles an hour, heading toward the North Carolina coast, where it will make a landfall tomorrow morning, without a doubt.

Now, from that point, it really becomes somewhat interesting as to where it will end up going, if you`re tracking the center of it. In terms of its actual effects, I`m not sure it really matters whether it`s 20 miles to the west of the shoreline or 20 miles out over the Atlantic. It is heading up along the Eastern Seaboard and will pass probably within 50 miles of New York City.

CHAMPION: And Ken, I just want to get this out of the way, too, because now that we`ve been talking about this storm for such a long time, there are people who kind of have hurricane burnt-out -- or burn-out on this storm. And they really don`t believe that this is going to be an impact on the entire coast. And whether you`re in Delaware, whether you`re in New Jersey or whether you`re in Long Island, and even if you`re in Rhode Island and you`re in Connecticut -- and I can keep going all the way up the coast of Maine. But they really don`t -- may not believe us.

Can you give us some assurance that this storm really is on its path and there`s nothing really changing it?

REEVES: This storm is going to bring impactful weather to the major cities all the way from Washington, D.C., up through New York, some more than others. Now, I think the one thing we`re going to have to watch for, Sam, is that as it makes its landfall and it maybe reemerges or runs along the coast, it`s probably going to get down to a Category 1 hurricane, and I think even maybe be as low as a tropical storm when it passes by New York City.

But that shouldn`t really matter in the overall scope of things because for most people, it`s going to be the amount of rain falling. There`s not going to be a huge storm surge. I know a lot of people were concerned about inundation from storm surge. This is not the kind of storm that could produce a storm surge in Manhattan.

CHAMPION: Right. It is no longer -- right, right, right. Exactly.

REEVES: Right. Yes. Now, if you`re talking about some place like Brooklyn or maybe in parts of Staten Island, you know, maybe there could be a little bit more of a concern there for initial surge as it comes up. But it`ll be a weakening storm. It will not be a major hurricane at that point.

But that doesn`t mean we should take it lightly. There`ll still be wind gusts in excess of 50 miles an hour, maybe as high as 70 miles an hour. There`s going to be huge quantities of rain, probably over 6 inches. And you know, just the stuff that`s going to be out and about, blowing around, there`s going to be a lot of damage, and certainly millions of people without power.

CHAMPION: Yes, no doubt about it. And I think that`s what is so frightening to a lot of people. And tonight, we`re also going to try to answer your questions, so jump on the phones and call in.

Pat in New York is already on the line -- because so many folks who are being affected by this storm haven`t really faced anything like a hurricane or a tropical storm before. So good evening, Pat. Thanks for calling. How can we take you on this morning -- or this evening?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Sam. How are you?

CHAMPION: I`m good, thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have to tell you one thing. I think you are so cute!

(LAUGHTER)

CHAMPION: Thanks, Pat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m 69, and I tell you, I think you are absolutely adorable!

CHAMPION: Thank you, my dear. How can we help you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I live upstate New York. On the local station, they`re talking about it, but not as much as the local -- you know, the channels -- your other channels. Are we going to get hit as bad as what they`re saying that Manhattan is going to get hit or...

CHAMPION: Pat, I got to tell you, you are talking for millions of people. Whether you`re in central North Carolina, whether you`re in central Pennsylvania, whether you`re in central New York state or even central Connecticut, there are a lot of people who are asking the same thing because a hurricane to most people means if you`re not on the coast, it`s not a problem.

In this case, that`s not true. Inland areas will have a real problem with this. And one of the things I`m most concerned about is flooding -- river flooding, stream flooding, street flooding, even in areas like yours, upstate New York, because as this storm drives up with what could be easily 2, 3, 4 inches of rain in the best case scenario, and up to a foot of rain in others, you`re saturated. You`ve had more rain than you can handle in those areas.

You would normally have in New England about 4 inches of rain in August month. You`ve had about 12 inches of rain now. The ground doesn`t have anything to do but throw that water into the rivers, creeks and streams, and there will be some flooding. So even if you`re not in a floodplain, you need to be concerned about this storm. And that`s what we`re going to tell you tonight.

Jason Tuell, meteorologist for NOAA and the National Weather Service - - Jason, what can you tell us a little bit about the rainfall totals that are expected even in those non-coastal areas?

JASON TUELL, METEOROLOGIST, NOAA-NATIONAL WEATHER SVC.: Well, we`re expecting significant amounts of rainfall pretty much up the entire I-95 corridor, looking at amounts between 6 to 10 inches, locally up to 15 inches. And as you mentioned, the ground is saturated, so this rain really does have nowhere to go. Even after the storm passes, we see inland flooding as being one of the real threats that people are going to face in the path of Irene.

CHAMPION: Yes, I think this storm will definitely have a change in character from Saturday into Sunday. And Saturday, we will be talking a lot about coastal effects, breaching the Outer Banks, changing coastal areas as it goes from the Carolinas to Virginia. And then as we get later on into Sunday and this storm weakens, it`ll spread an awful lot of rain inland and it becomes more of a flooding situation.

I want to go back to Susan Candiotti for just a second since we have her on the coastline because, Susan, so much of New England was petrified that this storm might come up as a Category 2, and really, we`re just concerned about the coastal effects. Are you hearing any changes in that tonight as things shift around a bit?

CANDIOTTI: Not really. I mean, we`re focused mainly on this area and what the predictions are. And as you know, even with a Category 1 storm, the one thing we know for sure is that there will be a powerful storm surge. There will be flooding. You can count on that, especially in these low-lying areas because of that strong storm surge.

And there will be power outages at the very least. And so that`s why it`s so important that people get prepared, have the flashlights, have the batteries, have enough water to last them, at least a gallon per person per day, because they might be without power for a few days.

So no matter the intensity -- you know, the difference, as you know, Sam, between a 1 and a 2 in terms of the amount of rain that`s going to fall and the power that that brings to any area that`s affected, you know, there`s not that much of a difference.

CHAMPION: There really isn`t, Susan. You`ve got it. And even though people want to say that that as it comes down a number, if it`s no longer a 3, if it`s just a 2 or if it`s just a 1, they get trapped in those numbers. And what we`re talking about is a very large storm. Whether it`s a hurricane or a tropical storm, this is hundreds of miles wide in its wind and its effect. And even you there on Long Island and a lot of folks up the coastal areas will be pounded by this storm.

Terry Sheridan, you`re a veteran reporter, 1010 WINS, veteran disaster reporter. You`ve covered so many. Now, people say to us, Hey, you`re blowing this out of proportion and you`re trying to scare us with this information. I always fall back on the, Look, I don`t want you to be scared, I want you to be prepared. What do you have to say to us tonight, Terry?

TERRY SHERIDAN, 1010 WINS (via telephone): Well, you know, I agree with that. I hate when the storms are hyped. But what the feeling that I get, just seeing the reactions of the governors -- say, New Jersey governor Chris Christie or New York mayor Michael Bloomberg -- you look at them and you can see, Wait a minute, this looks serious.

Now, earlier yesterday and this morning, I was down the Jersey shore. and I can tell you people are taking this very seriously. I was in a Shop- Rite yesterday -- water, bread flying off the shelves. As soon as Governor Christie said yesterday, Hey, get ready to go, get your supplies, this is deadly serious, people did take it serious.

And everything that I see -- I`m not a meteorologist, but from everything that I can see, the leaders that I`ve talked to, that I`ve been monitoring, they`re preparing for the worst. They`re taking this very seriously.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go inland or go up north. You live here, you go right back to it again. So there`s no real relief going home. It doesn`t help a whole lot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got the National Hurricane Center on my laptop inside. We`re watching the storm as it tracks. Seems to be sliding a little to the east, so we`re hoping it just passes by and doesn`t hit us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Extreme threat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Those winds will be very, very fierce.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a monster storm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People really have to be in a position to camp out in their house.

OBAMA: You have to take precautions now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Irene could make a direct hit on New York City.

OBAMA: Don`t wait.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The window for preparation is quickly closing.

OBAMA: Don`t delay.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This animation shows Irene`s surge could easily overwhelm Manhattan`s tunnels and subway system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHAMPION: Pull out all the words and pull out all the stops. It`s Hurricane Irene. This is the first hurricane in our lifetimes that will threaten major cities like New York City, Washington, D.C., Boston. It is pounding the Carolina shore right now. Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for parts of New York City, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey.

In Kill Devil Hills, our David Mattingly, a CNN correspondent, is standing there right now with the first pictures for us out of what it looks like there. David, just start talking to us.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we`re seeing a lot of rain. It`s been raining for hours now and it`s steadily escalating as the night goes on. We`re already seeing gale-force winds. Those, too, are escalating by the hour. Sometimes we get some pretty strong gusts that might even register as tropical storm-force winds. But at this point, it`s all just a matter of waiting and watching the storm get bigger and stronger as it continues to get closer.

The main things people here are going to be looking for, in addition to the hurricane-force winds -- it`s going to be lasting for hours tomorrow -- they`re also going to be looking at the possibility of some severe flooding. This is water that`s going to be coming in to the islands here through the dunes. When we have a storm surge, those waves are just going to pound their way through. And every time we see a big storm like this, we see breaches in the dunes on the Outer Banks. It`s just a question of when and where and how many.

And when that happens, the waves flood the roadways. They bring in a lot of sand. They block it sometimes. In the past, it`s been for days in some cases. So that`s what they`re going to be watching for with this storm.

And it`s not just the threat from the rain and the water in the Atlantic Ocean. There`s also the sound on the west side. This storm, depending on its position and the way it moves through here, could pull water out of the sound at the west and flood the islands from that way, as well. I`ve seen this happen in the past. It can be very dangerous and render roads over an entire island virtually impassable.

So we`re going to wait and see what this storm does when it gets over the top of us. And it is headed this way, and every hour, it just produces more certainty here that this is going to be a bad one.

CHAMPION: David, you and I have been out there in many a storm, and normally, they`re hit and out. And so the hurricane damage is easy to detect and easy to see, and in some cases, just easier to fix because of that.

This storm could be on top of you, my friend, for about 20 hours at a time, just kind of lashing you with wind and rain before it`s done. What are your thoughts about a storm that`s going to linger and last that long in these communities up and down the Eastern Seaboard?

MATTINGLY: It certainly does something to you when you`re hunkered down with one of these storms going over. You hope that it passes quickly so you can get out there and start working on the damage that it`s left behind. This storm is moving slowly and it is huge. We`re going to see tropical storm-force winds overnight. We`re going to see hurricane winds most of the day during the day tomorrow, followed by more tropical storm- force winds. This is going to be a day-long disaster.

And then we`re going to have days after that of picking up, cleaning up and clearing the roads that have been blocked by whatever flooding that this storm might leave behind.

CHAMPION: So far this evening, we`ve showed you ahead of the storm. We have now shown you right at the edge of it where the rain bands are already beginning to move in. We know a lot of you, this is the first time you`re facing a tropical system or a hurricane, and you`ve got an awful lot of questions. We`re going to try to get in as many as we can. If we have a quick second, maybe we`ll get the question and then we`ll do the answer after the break. But Tonya from Oklahoma, what do you have for us?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. Good evening, Sam. First of all, you`re the main reason why I watch "Good Morning America."

CHAMPION: Thank you, Tonya.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was wondering, with these hurricanes, we can`t -- you know, you never know about -- you know, how much they`re going to build (ph). And I was wondering, if it gets to be, like, a Category 3, will it move up past New York or will it move itself -- will it kind of move itself out?

CHAMPION: Well, I`ll tell you -- how much time do we have left before we go to break? One minute. I think I can do this in that time before we get there. Tonya, it`s a great question. And what`s so interesting to me is that even folks all over the country seem to be focused on this storm.

We don`t believe the storm will regain that Category 3 strength yet. I think we might even see it decline from a 2 to a 1 and then stay as a 1 for a long time. But what happens with a small, heavy, big storm, a fast- moving storm, is that it`ll just barrel through like that.

But this storm will tend to slow down. This will be a slow-moving storm, and it will continue right up the coast, hitting every zone we thought it would hit, but staying longer. Thanks for your call, Tonya. We`ll be right back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m a firefighter and this is (INAUDIBLE) I know what the storms and stuff do. So better to get out and be safe than sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ve been down here since `92, and this is the first time I see it happening that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The window for preparation is closing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hurricane Irene is driving fast and furious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The storm approaches, getting closer and closer.

OBAMA: A historic hurricane.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This dangerous storm is the size of Texas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barreling up the East Coast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve had a major evacuation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Its destructive fury.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Going to have serious power outages.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Could impact big, big cities, Philadelphia, New York and Boston.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A fifth of the nation`s population.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Irene is now bearing down on us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there any chance at all that we could miss this hurricane?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just don`t think that`s going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHAMPION: Welcome back. I`m Sam Champion, in for Nancy Grace tonight. Hurricane Irene was really the ninth storm to develop in this Atlantic hurricane season, but it was the first one to become a hurricane, and immediately went to major hurricane status, threatening 65 million of us along the East Coast.

The core of this powerful hurricane is approaching North Carolina coast and expected to bring hurricane-force winds over a large area, from Virginia all the way up to possibly Maine, hurricane or tropical storm- force winds that for north.

Our David Mattingly is in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, where those first bands, those tropical storm-force winds moved on not too long ago. Hey, David.

MATTINGLY: Hey, Sam. We`re still watching every minute that goes by. We`re seeing a little bit stronger rain, a little bit stronger wind. The surf continues to pound, and that`s something that`s going to cause problems later on tonight and into tomorrow as this storm surge pushes that water even closer to the dunes. That water is just going to keep pounding away at the dunes up and down the coast here of the Outer Banks. And sooner or later, it`s going to force its way through and it`s going to pour out onto the roads, pushing sand, blocking highways, moving onto property.

Everyone sitting back, bracing for what they know is going to be a problem. Already, there`s been highway equipment that`s been staged in safe areas so that when this storm passes, they`ll be able to get in as soon as possible and start clearing these roads.

The wild card here, though, is going to be street flooding. We know there could be flooding from the waves that go through the dunes, but that`s going to be relatively localized. There could be problems with wind pulling the water from the sound on the west side of these islands onto the streets and into the properties on that side. So we could see flooding on both sides of the island hitting the roads and making it difficult to get around here from top to bottom.

Already, they`re sending out warnings here for people who have chosen to stay behind. We don`t know how many there are, but there are always some in storms like this. The people who are left behind have been told that they will be on their own if they`re in trouble because no one is going to go out in this storm after them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Big story today, hurricane Irene which is barreling up the east coast, coming up right towards us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Irene, a historic storm.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Amtrak canceled almost all weekend train service.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shut down subways, airports.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mandatory evacuation order.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tens of millions are in the path.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Warning folks to take this very seriously.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of people are saying they`re not going to take any chances.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just getting ready for a big blow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all hope for the best, but we have to be prepared for the worst.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The worst is on the way. Much worse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The heaviest wind and possibly the tornadoes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Extensive damage. Expect that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A serious threat to much of the east coast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nature is a force more powerful than any of us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAM CHAMPION, HOST: Good evening. I`m Sam Champion in for Nancy Grace. And we`re talking hurricane Irene as America`s eyes are focused on the eastern seaboard to see exactly what will happen this weekend with a monster hurricane, basically running all the way up the coastline from the Carolinas through every state in the mid-Atlantic and it is not just an inland, it is not just a coastal problem, it is an inland problem as well. Sixty five million people along the east coast are threatened by this storm.

Authorities have warned a widespread and prolonged power outages, flash flooding and storm surges that could inundate low lying communities. We could see major coastal shape changes due to this storm and also we`re looking at what could be a very big rain event with heavy, heavy flooding there.

Ed Rappaport, the deputy director of the national hurricane center is with us tonight.

And Ed, good evening. It`s nice to see you, Sir. I want you to put this in hurricane, this hurricane in historical perspective for us. When the president called it a historic hurricane today, and told people in America to pay attention to it. What does that mean for us?

ED RAPPAPORT, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: It is historic in the sense of where the track is going to go. We think it is pretty much locked in at this stage. Hurricane center is going to come across eastern North Carolina and the outer banks. That`s not particularly unusual. They have had hurricanes of this strength before. That`s not to mean they should let down their guard. Obviously, they`ll have hurricane conditions to last as long as ten hours there, storm surge of four to eight feet.

But, what is different is that the track of the hurricane after it passes North Carolina is likely not to go out to sea. Instead, it appears this will go right along the east coast and across Long Island to southern New England. Because the worst of the weather is usually right near and just to the east of the center, rather than a passing off shore this time, it has the chance to affect all the metropolitan areas up the east coast as far as Boston.

CHAMPION: And that is so unusual. I really think we kind of need to explain to people because normally we`re looking at these cold fronts that would be bopping this thing back out to the Atlantic, or making a sharp turn and not affecting these more northern communities. What pattern are we in right now that is leading this storm to drag up the shoreline?

RAPPAPORT: This case, rather than having the normal flow from west to east that would take a storm out to sea, we have a pattern that has a shape more like this. So with the hurricane down here, the flow that is encountering is going to take it straight up the coast, rather than out to sea.

CHAMPION: Yes. I think that people just, you know, don`t really understand how incredibly unusual this pattern is. We would normally be watching this storm make a turn and yet it is not going to. So many of you are going to be affected by a storm like this whether it is a tropical storm or a hurricane for the very first time. So let`s take some of your calls and find out what`s going on with you.

Becky in Illinois, good evening, you`re with us.

BECKY, CALLER, ILLINOIS: Hi, Sam. Good to talk to you. I have a question regarding Vermont. I am living in near Springfield, Illinois. My husband is a lineman for a utility company here. And actually left this morning with some of the other crew and they are headed as we speak in a line to Vermont and I haven`t heard a lot about Vermont. And so, I didn`t know what you can tell me is expected there.

CHAMPION: Yes, your husband is a lineman, so he`s working those power lines after the storm, is that correct?

BECKY: Yes, that`s correct.

CHAMPION: Yes, so he`s going to be a busy guy. My buddy Ken Reeves, senior meteorologist with accuweather.com.

Ken, let`s talk a little bit about what is going on there in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, even upstate New York, some of those inland areas. Let`s talk about those wind effects and rain effects that are there. And also particularly why this storm is going to take down trees and power lines.

KEN REEVES, SENIOR METEOROLOGIST, ACCUWEATHER.COM: Yes, I think, Sam, you mentioned it earlier. I think that was a very valid point, it has been a record August in terms of rainfall in many locations. And so the ground is already saturated. That typically allows the trees to come uprooted a lot easier with lower wind speeds.

Once it gets north of New York City, I have no doubt it is going to be down to a tropical storm force. But still you`ve got leaves on the trees, you`ve got very powerful winds, you`ve got rain that`s going to help to soak the ground. So, I think you are going to see a lot more limbs and trees come down because of how wet it has been throughout this entire month and the additional rain falling.

In terms of Vermont itself, I think it depends, the northern part of Vermont may not experience much more than a couple of inches of rain and winds, 30 miles an hour while the southern parts of Vermont could see winds maybe double that amount, 50 miles an hour, maybe even a few higher gusts, and a little heavier rain. So, I think the southern parts of the state are going to be more susceptible and keep in mind Vermont is very hilly, very terrain oriented and that could really lead to flash flooding concerns as well.

So I think just about anywhere in the northeast and all the way down into eastern North Carolina, the power outage concerns are just huge, millions will be out. So unfortunately her husband is going to be need in a lot of places over the next couple of weeks.

CHAMPION: A lot of hard working folks just like him are going to be out there. My big concern is that we are going to have cascading power outages that may leave some people without power for long periods of time.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN national security correspondent. Jeanne, it`s nice to see you. What can you tell us tonight are the top concerns?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, here in ocean city, Maryland, where I am located, one of the big concerns is the storm surge. This is a very low lying part of the country. And this is in effect a barrier island. The mayor told me earlier today that he`s afraid that the lower 25 blocks of this city, it isn`t that big a city, may flood. Not just from the ocean side, but there is an inlet here and the fear is water gets into the inlet because of the storm, it can`t get out and so there is flooding from that side, from the back as well as from the front of the island. So right now the storm surge is the big concern.

I wanted to talk to you, Sam, about what this city is like right now. This is a Friday night in a resort town. It should be wild. There should be cars on the street, the bars open, things hopping. It is eerily quiet. I can hear the waves. I can hear insects. That is al you hear. When you drive down the street, Sam, it is like being in a zombie movie. There is nothing moving in town except, of course, instead of zombies, we`ll see big Irene heading up the coast.

CHAMPION: Yes. And, Jeanne, this is one of those last big weekends of summer. The economic impact of this is going to be incredible because you`re talking about a part of the country, as you just mentioned, that gets all of their cash for the year out of these few summer months with folks and tourism. You also have some big impact on major cities as well that could be shut down as of Monday. We just don`t know depending what happens with that storm.

Jeanne, what, I mean, were people easy to go there, even though they were kind of ordered out of it, what were they saying as they were walking away from what is a big cash weekend there?

MESERVE: Well, of course, there is some real unhappiness on the part of the business people here. On a weekend like this, this time of year, there usually are 200 to 250,000 people in this town, hundreds of businesses here rely on that business. One person said to me, you know, it is just at this point of the season that you paid your rent and paid your insurance and now you`re finally starting to make some profit and they have all had to close down for this weekend.

Now, the mayor is very optimistic. He says the army corps of engineers after Gloria in `85 built dunes here, built Berms that was intended to protect the infrastructure here. He has his fingers crossed that that will work to a great degree and that after some cleanup, the city will be able to reopen and will be able to make some more money, but the rest of the season.

He mentions that September has become a very big month here and he hopes that that will help the businesses rebound from whatever losses they may suffer this weekend. It is going to depend, of course, on how bad the damage is, how long the electrical blackouts last. So we have to see.

CHAMPION: Yes. A lot of folks are, I mean again, I feel like this is almost two different storms for two different parts of the country where you`ve got all these coastal concerns, and, again, you`ve got the economic concerns of the summer areas and you`ve got the inland areas that are just going to get pounded. But everybody needs to know that the Red Cross is on it.

Charlie Shimanski, Red Cross senior vice president of disaster operations, tell me that you guys are set up and ready and - because this is a huge, huge undertaking.

CHARLIE SHIMANSKI, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF DISASTER OPERATIONS, RED CROSS: Sam, it is a huge undertaking indeed. In fact, this is a large, large storm and it is going to take the full force of the American Red Cross. This has a chance of being one of the largest responses of the American Red Cross in our history. And we are putting the full force behind it. We have got already 1700 volunteers moving into the area and that`s on top of the thousands of volunteers and staff that are working in the affected areas already and setting up the shelters and making sure the people are prepared.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I left the place in the keys because of the hurricanes and we`re back here and we`ll get one over here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m land locked, a few miles away from the ocean so -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Happy about that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m happy about that. But this is mother nature. The fury at its best, really.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hurricane Irene.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is likely to be an extremely dangerous and costly storm.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re talking about a strong category 2 likely to bring a lot of damage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`ve got emergency kit, food, water, all of that. Is that enough?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New York City has announced they are suspending all metro services.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No subways.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is very serious.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re talking about estimated power outage of almost a million people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mandatory evacuations.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Power outages of this magnitude can last for ten to 15 days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have never done a mandatory evacuation before and we wouldn`t be doing it now if we didn`t think this storm had the potential to be very serious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have to take precautions now. Don`t wait. Don`t delay.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHAMPION: Category two, winds of 100 miles an hour, hurricane Irene getting ready to blast the Carolinas, now a 180 miles away from Cape Lookout, North Carolina. What is it like to be evacuated from your home and even more importantly what is it like to go back and not have it there after a storm like this?

Well, Patricia Jones certainly knows all of this. Hurricane Katrina evacuee and executive director of the lower ninth ward. Patricia, good evening. Can you tell us a little bit about what the people - hi. Can you tell us a little bit about what the people are feeling like, who had to leave their homes tonight?

PATRICIA JONES, HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUEE AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE LOWER NINTH WARD: Well, probably a whole lot of anxiety, a lot of fear, and wondering, hoping it gets over really fast so they can return home probably.

CHAMPION: How do you prepare yourself when someone comes knocking on your door or even just pulls you out of the house. In your case, I don`t know, did they get you out before the storm or during the storm?

JONES: Actually we left the day before. Waited until the dire end. I would not advise that. It was the first time we evacuated. But, yes, now we leave a little bit earlier and prepare a whole lot better.

CHAMPION: I think it is so important to hear your experience, by the way, Patricia, because so many people are thinking this is my property, I want to protect it, people don`t have a right to kick me out of my home, so if we just hear a little bit about your story, do you think you did the right thing by pulling out and pulling away and how do you tell people to make that decision?

JONES: I think it is so important to leave, that`s not wise to think you should stay in a tragedy, a potential storm like this. First of all, when you`re left at home, there is no emergency folk available to help to get you water if you cut your leg trying to get wood up or something hits you or injures you, you could die slowly there bleeding to death.

So, don`t stay. Listen to the advice of your representatives and the weather meteorologists and they are giving you information that it is important, it is a serious storm. We took a very long time to get back home, it was very hard to sustain ourselves away from home, away from family, just the economics of it doesn`t make sense. It is hard enough to find food, water, resources, your job, all of those things. So do what you can to get out of the way and help your family to be safe.

CHAMPION: You`re absolutely right. Afterwards it is hard to find supplies. But the point I really like that you made, Patricia, was about if you`re injured in a storm like this.

Doctor Ann Contrucci is a pediatric emergency expert. Doctor Ann, I really want you to talk to people about what they face if they`re injured in a storm like this and there isn`t anybody to come and help them.

DOCTOR ANN CONTRUCCI M.D., PHYSICIAN, PEDIATRIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE EXPERT: Yes, Sam. That`s correct. This is a case where prevention is so much better and being proactive, getting out before there is a problem, you know, in this kind of situation, you`re talking about power outages for days. If you`ve got somebody who has some kind of chronic illness that is dependent on a medical device, for instance, what are they going to do? There is no power. They can`t plug it in, that kind of thing. You got to have generators. One word of caution about generators, because lots of people are going out buying generators, which is a good thing. But there is also a danger to generators. If they are not, if they are in an area where you`ve got poor ventilation, you`re going to be talking about some carbon monoxide poisoning. There is a reason it is called the silent killer because it starts off very innocuously and generators that are in a poorly ventilated place, where people are needing them, you can - it is a double-edged sword. That`s one of the things.

Another thing, of course, is the water born illnesses that can result after you`ve got contamination of the whole public water supply. You got to boil your water, you got to drink bottled water and can`t even brush your teeth out of the tap. You know, a little bit of contaminated water that you ingest could cause some very serious illnesses, especially when it comes to children and infants. They don`t tolerate those kinds of illnesses as well.

You know injuries, if you`re staying, if you`re staying, I`m battening it down and staying, and something comes flying through the window, you`re not going to be able to make a 911 call. No one will be able to come get you. So, you know I think the biggest thing is prepare, prepare, prepare. Get out. If they`re telling you, if the authorities are telling you get out, get out. You can come back. Things can be replaced. People cannot.

CHAMPION: And it is the injuries that people just aren`t thinking about. They`re not thinking that they`re going to be injured or they`re going to be harmed. And that also goes for folks who are out there who are going to be trying to take pictures of this storm because now in a new media world, people will try to throw this on facebook and at exactly the same situation about being extra careful, not putting yourself in that harm because there is not anyone who can rescue you in a storm like this and there just isn`t going to be the medical help you need.

And now to tonight`s CNN heroes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICE MILLET, CNN HEROES: In Haiti, every day of your life you are seeing poor kids. When the earthquake came, it became harder. There is no water, no electricity. You have to fight for everything.

And in 2006, the doctor told me that I had cancer and it was not curable. I wanted to do something good for my country, for the kids. My name is Patrice Millet and I do education to soccer with Haitian kids.

In soccer you have everything in life. You need to give, you need to receive. You need spirit, discipline, sportsmanship. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. This is the way you win in life.

Whatever I can do, I help. Some of the kids I pay the school for them. We also have the food program. They can eat for two days. This is a lot for them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE KID (through text): Mister Patrice gave us food. He helped us a lot. They`ve given me all I ever needed.

MILLET: I want the kids to be very good citizen. They can do something. They can believe in themselves.

I enjoy so much to teach them to learn from them. I prefer to die on the field than at the hospital. To see the joy in the face of a kid. That makes me happy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHAMPION: It is a social media world and so we just learned in the earthquake that you can`t always make phone calls in a situation like this. Ben Levitan, telecommunications expert. Ben, you`re with us on the phone and good evening. What do we need to know about our cell phones and texting in emergency situations like this?

BEN LEVITAN, TELECOMMUNICATIONS EXPERT (via telephone): The number one thing to know is we got a great 911 system in this country. People continue to have heart attacks and need to go to the hospital. So, what you want to do is charge up your phones right now while you have electricity. Charge up every phone you have in the house even if you don`t have service on it anymore. By the FCC, you can call 911 on that phone. And then get every phone you got charged up. If you call 911 from your cell phone, they`ll know where you are within a hundred feet.

CHAMPION: All right, Ben Thank you. And Caryn Stark, Psychologist. How do we tell people not to go out in the storm like this when they all they want is to capture picture?

CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, they need to understand the importance. And I`m worried, Sam. I`m little worried because a lot of people might be feeling panicked. First, there was an earthquake. Now we`re having this kind of major storm. People are talking about the apocalypse. This isn`t the apocalypse. It`s a storm. It will be over in a few days. Everybody needs to remember that. Just get through it. Be with other people. Take care of yourself.

CHAMPION: Good advice tonight from Caryn Stark.

So we hope everyone manages to stay inside. Remember, it`s a category two storm at this hour. It continues to work it`s way up to coast line. It`s just about 180 miles off the Carolina shore right now. Expected to move up the shore of New Jersey all the way up the coastline into cities like New York and also into Boston.

And tonight let`s stop to remember Marine Lance Corporal Daniel Chaires, 20-years-old from Tallahassee, Florida. Killed Iraq. He was awarded the Purple Heart, the national defense service medal and the Iraq campaign medal. A descendent of one of Tallahassee`s pioneer families. He`s also from the family of military vet.

He loved the outdoors including hunting and fishing. Daniel was remembered as a true southern gentleman. He leaves behind his parents Perry and Nan and his sister Hannah and twin brothers Todd and Scott. Daniel Chaires, a true American hero.

Thank you to all of our guests tonight and thank you for being up with us at home.

See you Sunday night 8:00 Eastern. Until then, good night, everybody. And thank you so much, Nancy.

END