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Nancy Grace
Hurricane Isaac Comes Ashore
Aired August 28, 2012 - 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 FEMALE: Hurricane Isaac.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hurricane Isaac.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Isaac.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s Hurricane Isaac now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Isaac is now a hurricane.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Isaac is now a hurricane.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at those waves!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rain and flooding.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of water is coming in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Conditions are going downhill fast here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Gulf Coast bracing for Hurricane Isaac.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The National Hurricane Center did issue an immediate (ph) advisory.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Swirl of the storm passed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just hit us. It`s still kind of present here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eight to twelve feet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s kind of sweeping in over the Mississippi River here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see, these strong gusts of wind really starting to pick up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Potentially deadly situation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re going to get a lot of damage.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Taking aim right at the Gulf Coast.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just got this first big squall of the storm here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eighty to one-hundred-mile-per-hour winds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s a lot of wind.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it is intensifying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Breaking news tonight. At this hour, the southeast corridor, the Gulf Coast, Louisiana, all on high alert, braced. At this exact hour, Hurricane Isaac at its most powerful pitch as it heads straight for the mainland, winds at 80 miles per hour set to blast the U.S. coastline, as waters rise, flooding begins, warnings the winds will twist into tornadoes and tear through Louisiana and Florida, jails clearing out, thousands evacuating already, and those who have not, left behind to face Hurricane Isaac!
We are here live, tracking the eye of the storm. Joining me right now out of New Orleans, there at Jackson Square, Bob Van Dillen. Bob, thanks for being with us. Winds up to 80 mph -- what precautions have been taken there in New Orleans?
BOB VAN DILLEN, HLN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that`s a great question. I got here last night, and the National Guard was already here when I got here last night. I got up this morning early, and that`s the only people I saw on the streets were National Guardsmen walking to and from everywhere.
But you see behind me, there are people still walking around now. There are hurricane parties. So not everybody`s taking it, you know, that seriously. But they are (INAUDIBLE) I`ve seen a lot of boarded-up windows. I`ve seen a lot of sandbags...
GRACE: OK, hold on. Your satellite is down. Everybody, we`ll go right back to Bob Van Dillen. He`s joining us right there live at Jackson Square in New Orleans. One of the reasons -- take that video in full, please, Liz? You are seeing -- what are these people doing out there! Are they crazy? Look at the...
All right, joining me right now -- we`re moving on. With me, Bernie Rayno, senior meteorologist at Accuweather.com. Bernie, it`s predicted that at this exact hour, Isaac is reaching its fever pitch. It is at its most powerful at this moment. Explain to me what`s happening. And let`s see the enhanced satellite, Liz.
BERNIE RAYNO, SR. METEOROLOGIST, ACCUWEATHER.COM: Well, you know, what has happened is, is that it`s been strengthening over the last 24 hours. You said it`s at its peak. You`re exactly right.
Pressures have dropped down to 970 millibars. So when the pressure decreases, the winds should increase, as well. Now just in, it is official. Isaac has made landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi.
And you can see how well maintained the storm system is on satellite and on radar. It continues to push ever so slowly to the west-northwest. So even though it`s made landfall, Nancy, we are far from done with Isaac as we move forward...
GRACE: OK, Bernie...
RAYNO: ... tonight and tomorrow.
GRACE: ... Rayno, I appreciate all that. But I just have a JD. I`m just a lawyer. I`m a trial lawyer. I know how to try killers.
(LAUGHTER)
GRACE: It`s not funny, actually. But what I don`t get...
RAYNO: OK.
GRACE: ... when you`re talking to me, like, I know what you mean, the pressure decreases, the wind increases. There are people all along the coast that would like to understand what you`re saying. So please explain it to me again. The winds are intensifying, Bernie. Right now, they are at their highest, 80 miles an hour. Explain, please.
RAYNO: Yes, 80 miles per hour around the center of the storm itself. And the fact that it`s intensifying or it has -- is at its strongest, I am concerned we`re going to get a little more with wind than 80 miles per hour, about 85 miles per hour, as the center of the storm pushes across southern parts of Louisiana.
New Orleans, we`re going to see hurricane-force wind gusts, certainly, as we move forward tonight into tomorrow. Heavy rains the big story, as well.
GRACE: Right now, in addition to Bernie Rayno from Accuweather.com, with me now is Ed Rappaport. He`s the deputy director of the National Hurricane Center.
Ed, thank you so much for being with us. Please give me the very latest. I understand it`s predicted that at this hour, the hurricane is supposed to reach its greatest momentum.
ED RAPPAPORT, DEPUTY DIR., NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: That`s right. And as you`ve just heard, the center of the hurricane, which is near this white blob (ph) here on the southeastern tip of Louisiana, has come ashore. The highest winds, what we call sustained winds, are 80 miles per hour, but there are higher gusts. And those storms are only going to slowly decrease as the center moves ashore over the next 24 hours.
One thing I want to point out, we had an observation about an hour ago from an elevated platform off the shoreline. This was at a 280-foot elevation, and they reported wind gusts of 106 miles per hour.
Why that`s important is that at elevation inland, say on the upper floors of high-rises, that 28th floor, we could expect wind guests also about 100 miles per hour. So some of the taller structures in New Orleans and the other cities in the vicinity could see wind gusts close to 100 miles per hour.
GRACE: And let me ask you this, Ed Rappaport -- with me, the deputy director of the National Hurricane Center -- you`re referring to taller buildings. What is the risk of people that are still not evacuated? They`re still there, and they`re in these tall buildings.
RAPPAPORT: Well, fortunately, these buildings have been engineered at higher elevations for the higher winds. They clearly don`t want to go out on a balcony. You want to be away from windows. And you want to be above the level where the water could get to you, but below the level where the strongest winds occur.
GRACE: OK, to Tom Sater, joining me in addition to Ed Rappaport at the National Hurricane Center. Tom Sater is with us, meteorologist. Tom, thank you for being with us. A hundred and six miles per hour?
And I don`t care. I believe Rappaport. He`s just oozing credibility. But I don`t think that anybody in their right mind needs to up be in a skyscraper with winds mph 106. What can you tell me? Ed Rappaport just tells me it has touched land.
TOM SATER, METEOROLOGIST: He is correct. And you were wanting an explanation to explain the intensity of winds. You know, those kind of winds -- how about a 2-by-4 in a garage door? How about downed power lines, downed trees? You get wind directions in one -- going in one direction for some time, you get a lot of rainfall, and it loosens the root system. And then on the other side, as the storm passes through, you get winds in the other direction. So trees that are bending in one way are going to give to the other way.
You know, this was just -- about a week-and-a-half ago, this was just a tropical wave that came off the coast of Africa. And even back then, the environment looked like, Well, could this be the acorn that becomes the oak?
Well, it is making landfall. Conditions are going to continue to get worse. This is game time. There`s no longer time for you to plan your work and work your plan. I mean, it`s time to hunker down with this because the rainfall rates are going to be staggering in some cases. Nancy, the...
GRACE: OK, wait. Stop right there...
SATER: ... totals could be staggering, as well.
GRACE: Stop right there...
SATER: Yes?
GRACE: ... Tom Sater. I don`t care about rain, OK? I`m not afraid of rain. I`m afraid of a hurricane! I`m afraid of a tornado. And now, apparently, some tornadoes have actually been spotted. And I`m not sure how a hurricane is spawning tornadoes. How has that happened?
SATER: Well, if you take a look at the circulation here, Nancy, you`ve got winds high aloft coming in from the northeast, all right? Mid- levels, you`ve got them coming in from the west. Surface, you know, they`re coming in southwest. So when you have wind shear, different directions at elevations, it does help that, you know, to create that shear, to create that possible spin. It happens every time these tropical systems make landfall.
And I would be afraid of rain, Nancy, when you get 20 inches, when you get 25 inches...
GRACE: Well, that`s called a flood.
SATER: ... with a system...
GRACE: That`s called a flood, Sater.
SATER: That`s -- and it`s still dangerous.
GRACE: That`s not rain anymore. That`s a tidal wave.
SATER: OK. Well, all right.
GRACE: Everybody, we`re taking your calls. Sater, Rayno -- also with me, Ed Rappaport, the deputy director at the National Hurricane Center.
Kevin, California. Hi, Kevin. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Nancy. How are you?
GRACE: I`m great, dear. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you know, I`m watching the coverage all day, and I guess what I don`t understand, perhaps coming from California, is everyone keeps talking all day about how it`s only a category 1 and they`re not going to leave and they`re not scared because it`s no Katrina. But it still seems like it`s something that they should be concerned and scared about.
I don`t understand these people that stay home, you know, go out to the beach and look at the waves. I don`t understand why they don`t understand that it`s still obviously a very serious storm.
GRACE: You know, I don`t understand it, either! Do I still have Ed Rappaport? Ed with me, the deputy director of the National Hurricane Center. Ed, we`re showing shots of these people out, outside right now. A cat 1 hurricane is hitting. It`s touched U.S. -- it`s touched U.S. land now. And they`re out, what, catching a wave, body surfing? We see this over and over and over. What`s with that, Ed?
RAPPAPORT: Yes, unfortunately, we have some folks who don`t heed advice. Most do. Most follow what the -- they`re told by their local officials, which might include evacuation.
Where we have the biggest concern is, indeed, from rainfall and storm surge because 90 percent of the lives lost in hurricanes are due to drowning. About half of those are storm surge, and almost the other half is in rainfall, flooding that you were talking about.
And we do have storm surge, and it`s a huge concern for this storm. The circulation over the surface of the ocean is like this. The winds are going to be pushing the water ashore. And we already have a storm surge that`s reached 8.8 feet in Lake Borne (ph) to the east of New Orleans and five-and-a-half feet on the coast of Waveland, Mississippi.
We expect that that`s going to continue to rise, and we may have 6 to 12-foot storm surges. That`s the most dangerous part of a hurricane. People think of wind, but it`s the water that really kills the people.
GRACE: Let`s go back to Bernie Rayno, senior meteorologist, Accuweather.com. Bernie, we see this every time. We`ve been having warnings for days about Hurricane Isaac. Well, it`s here. in the last hour, it has touched down. Right now, it`s a cat 1. Winds are now up to 106 miles per hour in certain locations.
Bernie, why are these people out body surfing?
RAYNO: You know, I think it`s just the thrill of seeing the storm. It`s stupid. You`re putting your life into danger. And we see it with almost every storm. And I think the problem is, is that they hear category 1, they don`t understand what a category 1 hurricane can do.
And Nancy, by the fact that it`s strengthening, I think you`re going to start seeing category 2 damage with this storm as it rolls across the southern part of Louisiana.
GRACE: What do you mean by that? What`s the difference?
RAYNO: Difference is, is maximum sustained winds of a category 1 is at least 74 miles per hour. Category 2 is 96 miles per hour. And the fact that this storm is strengthening, I think we`re going to see higher winds than what is being reported at this point. So they`re putting their lives in danger.
GRACE: And what I don`t understand -- hey, I`ve got Bob Van Dillen back with me there in Jackson Square in New Orleans. Bob, while I can still talk to you, before it really sets in, let me ask you this. I understand that jails have been cleared out in many areas of Louisiana. Inmates have been moved.
Why are people still trying to ride out Isaac? After Katrina, who in their right mind would try to ride out a hurricane?
VAN DILLEN: That`s a good question, Nancy. The only people I see so far, besides the crews out here that are covering the storm -- which you could check our sanity, as well, obviously. But there are people that are in hurricane parties, so they`ve been marching by, too. I say "marching by" -- that might be sensing (ph) they`re sober. They`re clearly not.
But that`s what`s going on out here in Jackson Square. So the only people that are roving (ph) out here are the crews and the people that are having some beverages. That`s what we have, Nancy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) tide`s coming in! Isaac really starting to take hold here!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve seen a dramatic -- excuse me -- the wind speed increased dramatically.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just a day shy of the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Katrina had just about destroyed everything, and some people didn`t want to come back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) second floor made it. And so I figured it -- we`re going to be safe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We decided to stay. (INAUDIBLE) life jackets just in case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Between a cat 1 and a cat 3, I`m not taking any chances.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: As the winds reach 106 miles per hour, thousands have evacuated and jails have been cleared out in many jurisdictions.
Right now, I`m going straight out to John Zarrella, CNN correspondent joining me in Gulfport, Mississippi. John, what`s happening there?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Nancy, we`ve had the intermittent rain bands coming through here, squally weather, but nothing to what they`re experiencing, certainly, you know, further west at Pass Christian, Bay St. Louis, certainly, New Orleans.
But here you can see now the rain picks up, the wind starts blowing. And that behind me there, Nancy, the Gulf of Mexico. And really, the big concern here is storm surge. That`s highway 90 down there, and we`re actually kind of at low tide. And you can already see those whitecaps breaking right along the beach area. And in the normal time, that beach area would be probably another 100 yards out.
There`s not much beach left, then you get up to highway 90. So it`s expected that this beach road that runs all through Mississippi will in many places from here westward, for sure, be impassable come tomorrow because, you know, they`re talking even by tomorrow afternoon, almost 20 hours from now, that we will expect to see onshore flow of this storm, that counter-clockwise rotation, pushing all of this wall of water, that dome (ph) of water, the storm surge, up on the coastline.
Here`s something that`ll bring back memories. Take a look over here. This is the Courtyard Hotel here. This is where we`re staying. The elevation here is about 20 feet above sea level, so we`re fine now.
But during Katrina, those famous images of that Grand Am, that Pontiac going through the front of a hotel -- that`s it. That`s where it went, right through the front of the Courtyard and out the back. The water mark inside the hotel, 28 feet, 10 inches, all the way to the top of the first floor.
Nothing like that, thank God, here tonight. But it is a memory that everyone in this community certainly shares.
When we were out earlier today, Nancy, hundreds of people filling sandbags, protecting their homes as best they can. And every one of them saying to us, Look, we`re thankful this isn`t another Katrina, but we are not taking any chances. We know we live in a low-lying area. We know that we could get 20 inches of rainfall here.
The two causes, as Ed Rappaport said, storm surge and inland water, rainfall flooding -- those are the two, you know, primary causes of deaths in hurricanes. And the folks here are all too familiar with both of those scenarios, and they tell us they are ready for whatever they have to deal with throughout the course of the next 20-some hours -- Nancy.
GRACE: You know, John Zarrella, I`m trying to get a bead on how many people in the Gulfport area have actually evacuated.
ZARRELLA: Well, what we were told was that in the low-lying three counties along the Mississippi coast, 110,000 people evacuated. They have 25 shelters open here now. We don`t know the number of people that are actually in shelters. Early on, it was only a thousand earlier today.
Two special needs shelters, and interestingly enough, one pet-friendly shelter because they learned during Katrina a lot of people in these communities would not evacuate because they would not leave their pets behind, and there were no pet-friendly shelters -- Nancy.
GRACE: Right now, straight out to Grand Isle, Louisiana. Standing by, Rob Marciano. Hi. Tell me the latest.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, Nancy, we continue to get squalls of rain and wind here across New Orleans. The eye of this thing, as you probably know, made landfall about 60 miles to our south and east. So with this thing traveling so slowly, this is going to be a long-duration event. We`re going to get a lot of rain, we`re going to get a lot of wind for several hours, likely over 18 hours.
And that`s going to be what this storm is likely known for, and that`s where we`ll get the punishing winds over hours and hours and hours that will take -- do some damage just because of that.
This rain`s really picking up now. The other thing that this is going to do, with the wind as the way it`s -- the way this storm is approaching, much like Gustav, it`s doing something very interesting to the Mississippi. It`s actually moving it the opposite way, upstream, at least the top part of it, and that`s you see those whitecaps. So that`s only added to the storm surge issue that John Zarrella...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Severe threats ramp up with Hurricane Isaac. Joining me, Rob Marciano in Grand Isle, Louisiana. That`s about 108 miles south of New Orleans. Also with me, John Zarrella, Gulfport, Mississippi.
Back to you, Marciano. What more can you tell me?
MARCIANO: Well, the winds and the rain continue to pick up. And the question that the folks who live in New Orleans and the Army Corps of Engineers has tonight is with -- will the levee and pump system that they`ve built over the past seven years hold.
We`re pretty confident about the levee system, but they`re -- you know, the east side of it, they`ve got this amazing storm wall, a barrier to the Gulf of Mexico that`s supposed to hold that potentially category 2 or 3 storm.
But the angle that this storm is coming in is -- I don`t want to use the word "ideal," but it`s ideal for a large storm surge into the east side of this city. So that`s going to be challenge number one.
Challenge number two, rainfall rates like this, one to two inches, possibly three inches per hour -- these new pumps -- the new pumps that can pump, in some cases, thousands of -- thousands of gallons of water per second -- they can only do one inch per hour.
So we`re going to see flooding. It`s just a matter of how bad.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Hurricane Isaac.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Isaac.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And Hurricane Isaac now.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Isaac is now a hurricane.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Isaac is now a hurricane.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Look at those waves.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Rain and flooding. A lot of waters coming in.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Conditions are going downhill fast here.
WOLF BLITZER, ANCHOR, THE SITUATION ROOM: The Gulf Coast bracing for Hurricane Isaac.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The National Hurricane Center did issue an immediate advisory.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The swirl of the storm path.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just hit us. It`s still kind of present here.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Eight to 12 feet.
TODD: It`s kind of sweeping in over the Mississippi River here.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There you can see those strong gusts and winds really starting to pick up.
MARCIANO: Potentially a deadly situation.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We`re going to get a lot of damage.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Taking aim right at the Gulf Coast.
TODD: We`ve just got this first big squall of the storm here.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Eighty to 100-mile-per-hour winds.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: It`s a lot of rain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it is intensifying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HLN HOST: We are live and taking your calls. We are tracking the eye of the storm. Hurricane Isaac has just hit land, winds up to 106 miles per hour.
We are taking your calls. I`m going to go back out to Louisiana, Jackson Square, New Orleans.
Bob Van Dillen, what is the wind? What`s a mile-per-hour rated there?
BOB VAN DILLEN, HLN METEOROLOGIST: Right here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
GRACE: Yes.
VAN DILLEN: Yes, I can tell you this. It`s easy over tropical storm strength. Within the last five minutes, Nancy, the big, huge rain squall is going on by. You can see right here. You can feel it. I mean just about five minutes ago, we just had a little bit of a breeze. Things have gone down big time. We had one of those huge rain bands right over us. And this is the worst I have felt since I have been here since the last night.
GRACE: Bob Van Dillen --
(CROSSTALK)
VAN DILLEN: I`m standing at about two feet of water.
GRACE: Are people evacuating? Because it`s my understanding that if they haven`t evacuated already, it`s too late.
VAN DILLEN: Yes, it`s too late. If you haven`t evacuated, it`s too late. Just remember to get above where the storm surge is and get below -- away from the windows. That`s the best thing you could do. But when we drove in here last night, Nancy, I didn`t see many car evacuating on I-10. We`re traveling into town. I got -- I came in about midnight last night. There were probably a handful of cars going the other way, that`s it. I don`t think many people evacuated from New Orleans proper.
GRACE: You know, that`s crazy. After Katrina that they didn`t evacuate there.
VAN DILLEN: Yes.
GRACE: To top it all off, the area where you are right now is also under tornado watch. How is that possible?
VAN DILLEN: Yes, it`s possible. You get those feeling. One coming -- you can see it coming in right now, you get the wind screaming in off the Gulf of Mexico. As soon as it hit the ground they begin to slow down. But they`re still being pushed behind it. You have the winds on top of that still spinning. Everything is (INAUDIBLE), it starts to spin, you get isolated tornadoes, and believe me, I`m looking at the sky. There`s still a little bit of light left here in New Orleans, just make sure that there`s no funnel cloud coming, because I don`t have any access to a tornado warning even if we did have one.
So that`s another threat we had as well. And we`re looking again, Nancy, 10 to 15 inches of rain. You`re looking at low-level flooding, in fact the water has already come just a bit right where I`m standing. You see them on my boots. This was a hill last time I talked to you.
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Elizabeth in Texas, hi, Elizabeth, what`d your question?
ELIZABETH, CALLER FROM TEXAS: Hi, Nancy. I`m Cajun and I`d like to send my love to my Aunt Patsy in Scott, Louisiana. And you just -- it`s horrible to know that you have family down there and you just pray for the people that don`t evacuate. It`s almost a badge of honor when you stay through hurricanes and you don`t -- they don`t take a category 1 serious.
And there should be a mandatory evacuation in the low-lying areas. And I think that the state needs to ban the hurricane parties and stop encouraging the people from out of town coming down there because they`re putting our guard and all of the people that are there to rescue, they`re putting their lives in -- you know, in harm`s way. So I just want to say we love your show and shout out to Aunt Patsy, I love you.
GRACE: You know, Elizabeth in Texas, so many people praying right now for their friends, their family, their loved ones, their relatives in the areas now affected by Hurricane Isaac. So many people believing this is just a cat 1 hurricane. The winds are now up to 106 miles an hour. In certain areas.
I`m going to go back to John Zarrella, joining me at Gulfport, Mississippi.
John, what`s the change there?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think, you know, it`s pretty much been steady, we keep getting those rain bands coming in, and the rain picks up and gets heavier and the wind gusts. You know, we were looking at the sky, and I don`t know, it`s so dark now, and if you can see the clouds up there kind of just rotating around. And that direction of course is Louisiana, New Orleans, and Pass Christian, and Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi, to the west. And all the clouds because the way the storm is moving on that northwesterly track.
So all of this onshore flow that we`re going to see now. Now you`re talking about people out here and we saw people in the water, on the beach, parked in their cars here. Up until just a couple of hours ago. Now that night fall has approached, things have changed.
GRACE: With me, John Zarrella. And now back to Bob Van Dillen joining me there in New Orleans.
Bob, why aren`t these people evacuating?
VAN DILLEN: It`s a good question, but I`ll tell you, to people that did see me entering on the street, I haven`t seen anybody in the last five minutes. The reason why the water, the actual rain water is starting to pick up. You can see it right here. The last time I talked to you about half an hour ago, there was hardly any water that was actually hanging around the streets. Now it`s back. The heavy rain is coming. You can see it behind me. I mean check out the wind that`s whipping around the trees right here. It`s -- this is easily getting up to near hurricane strength winds, it`s almost there, Nancy.
GRACE: With me, Gerald Satterwhite, meteorologist and storm chaser, chasing Hurricane Isaac.
Gerald Satterwhite, where are you and why?
GERALD SATTERWHITE, METEOROLOGIST AND STORM CHASER, CHASING HURRICANE ISAAC: Hey, Nancy, I`m currently just to the west of Gulfport in the Lake Shores area. I`ve spent most of the day in the Gulfport area and the storm surge there is pretty tamed, a parallel flow, and quote, just offshore. So they kept the storm surge. Now toward the lake shore area where I`m at right now the storm surge is certainly coming in, just the top of the hour, the water has progressed at least 15 to 20 feet down the road from where it was when we first arrived.
But I`m down here, basically to observe the storm. I`ve been working at the -- at Isaac, just as it emerged off the West Coast (INAUDIBLE) tropical waves. So as the meteorologist forecasting this for at least a week and a half now, I figured I would come down here to see what this thing has to do. And this fascination with nature, some people find out, hiking or sailing and I, my outlet is going to intercept severe weather.
GRACE: Gerald Satterwhite, a storm chaser with us. Back to Ed Rappaport, deputy director, National Hurricane Center. Where is the eye at this hour?
ED RAPPAPORT, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Well, let me switch the picture so you can see it a little better. This is now a radar picture, we were looking at a satellite picture before. Here`s is -- here`s all the rainfall and right in the middle of it, where a clear area is the eye right about in here. That`s where the landfall occurred within the last half hour to an hour.
GRACE: Now I can see where you`re pointing Mr. Rappaport but what I don`t understand is, what does that mean? Where is the eye geographically?
RAPPAPORT: OK. Yes. Help me out here. Here`s the coast of Louisiana.
GRACE: Yes.
RAPPAPORT: Coming down to the mouth from Mississippi River, and then back up towards New Orleans, and Mississippi and Alabama. So right here is where the landfall occurred. Right up that south eastern most tip of Louisiana where the Mississippi River --
GRACE: Good lord in heaven.
Patricia Jones is with me right now, Katrina survivor.
Patricia, the eye of this hurricane is now touching. What do you have to say to those people that refuse to evacuate?
I think I`ve got Patricia with me?
Liz, do I have Patricia Jones with me? Tell me when I get Patricia back.
In the meantime, I`m going to head out to Ed Link, research professor, U of Maryland.
Ed, what do you expect?
ED LINK, RESEARCH PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: I expect this to be very much of a rainfall event. I think the storm surge that`s forecast right now, for example, on the east side of New Orleans is 7 to 11 feet. During Katrina, that was more like 17 to 23 feet in that area. So this is not a really severe surge event, especially with regard to the structures that have been put in place in the last five years. But the rainfall is going to be the big issue. The ability --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Tropical Storm Isaac is history. It`s Hurricane Isaac now.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Millions of people will feel the effects of Isaac.
BLITZER: The wind is really, really beginning to pick up. This Hurricane Isaac is getting closer and closer.
ZARRELLA: But we can see the storm surge. Right the winds are still pushing out of the north.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at the tides coming in.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Lake Pontchartrain has now come completely over Lakeshore Drive and it`s coming inland.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Everyone on the Gulf Cost is in (INAUDIBLE) and some prayers tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Getting closer and closer. It has hit Hurricane Isaac is right there on the Louisiana shore, the eye of the hurricane is hovering on the shore and another problem we`ve got is this -- the hurricane is moving at a very slow rate that, sounds good, wrong, that`s bad. Because the winds are still at 106 hours, 106 miles per hour in some sports. But the hurricane is actually moving very slowly, which means it`s hovering over you for a longer period of time.
It`s not dashing through at 106-mile-per-hour, it`s hovering over the coast. It`s hovering over Louisiana. The Gulf Coast. The Panhandle.
Out to -- to Patricia Jones. I think we`ve got her back. Katrina, survivor. I was going to ask you why are people not evacuating? But I`m understanding you`re still in New Orleans? Patricia?
You`re still in New Orleans, Patricia?
PATRICIA JONES, KATRINA SURVIVOR: Yes. Yes. A lot of people are not evacuating because is -- we`re at a stand still from the hurricane reports that were coming in. In addition to that, we had basically with a topical storm, and we have hurricane force winds. That`s, you know, the first level. So because we live here, I understand folk around the country, basically say, OK, you just get out.
You know, there are a lot of different building codes here. Our house have been redone. We have houses with, you know, hurricane force winds that would stand for 150 miles an hour. But at the same time, this is the -- season is just starting. And so we have to plan and make sure we`re moving when it`s really important and not run just because we have a, you know, category 1 storm coming into the city.
GRACE: Wait, wait, wait, category 1 hurricane.
JONES: I understand that. I understand that.
GRACE: It`s my understanding that that`s a storm.
JONES: But you know what? You don`t live here and you don`t understand that. And I understand that. Understand.
GRACE: OK, you know what, I`m glad you clarified it for you. Let`s show some shots of Katrina, Liz. And I`m going to go out right now to John Zarrella, who covered Katrina.
Now apparently, Miss Jones says I don`t understand a hurricane. I`m going to let you explain it, John Zarrella.
ZARRELLA: You know, when you live in New Orleans, or anywhere for that matter, when you`re talking about watching a forecast for a storm, it`s a category 1. The key is always, Nancy, your tone. Listen to what your Emergency Management officials tell you. If they tell you need to evacuate then you need to evacuate.
A lot of times staying put is better off, particularly if you try it the last minute to get out of town. You know, in Katrina, I could tell you this. I recall very vividly. After the storm went through that night, people were out on Canal Street, they were drinking, we dodged a bullet and went by us because at that point, the levies had broken.
But the water hadn`t come downtown yet, hadn`t come to the city. And they thought everything was going to be fine. And then the next morning, it wasn`t so fine when the water was surrounding everyone in the hotel. So if you have the ability, Nancy, to get out when it`s a hurricane, it`s probably a good idea to do so.
GRACE: To Bob Van Dillen, HLN meteorologist, joining me there in Jackson Square, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Bob Van Dillen, I guess you just heard Katrina survival, tell me, I don`t understand a hurricane 2. I was not there when Katrina hit, but I was there after Katrina heat. Rebuilding.
VAN DILLEN: Right.
GRACE: Rebuilding.
VAN DILLEN: So that --
GRACE: Carrying away debris, building, laying insulation. The works. Yes, I get it. Why are -- I don`t get why people are still there.
VAN DILLEN: Well, there`s an interesting fact, too, that I saw today, is that there are many people that are first-time hurricane people because they move them from New Orleans at the Katrina when they rebuilt. They have students from Tulane and one I`m staying here. But their moms called them come back in to evacuate. I mean people like that that had never seen a hurricane, let along a tropical storm that are in town.
GRACE: To Dr. Marty Makary, we just heard her say she`s got a plan. Plan for what? There`s a hurricane? What she going to plan for? And tell me this, Dr. Makary, when there`s a crush of people brought to an ER you can`t treat them all, Dr. Makary. So what do you do?
DR. MARTY MAKARY, PHYSICIAN, PROF. OF PUBLIC HEALTH, JOHNS HOPKINS: The infrastructure simply cannot handle any mass casualties. You know, 2,000 people died during Hurricane Katrina in the short-term. And many more people died from water-borne illnesses and diseases and dehydration.
Right now the people that the medical professionals are most worried about are the older people. The elderly.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Winds 106 miles per hour. With me, Bernie Reno and Tom Sater, both meteorologists, one from Accuweather, the other joining us here in Atlanta.
All right, Tom Sater, what is that woman thinking? That -- she survives Katrina.
TOM SATER, METEOROLOGIST: Right.
GRACE: And she`s telling all of us we don`t know what we`re talking about with a hurricane. She told a storm -- a category 1 storm. Ma`am, it is not a storm. It`s a hurricane. And it`s hitting Louisiana, where you`re sitting, propped up on a cell phone.
SATER: You know, you`re right. You have a great point. This storm, Nancy, is going to be known for its rainfall. It`s only moving at eight miles per hour. If you were an avid runner and most avid runners can run a nine-minute mile, it`s possible you can run from one end of Louisiana to the other and keep pace with this system.
So this is going to be about rainfall. But I believe she has great confidence, most likely, and our scientists, our architects, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers just built the largest pumping station in the world. They`re not looking at this as some sort of test. It`s more of a quiz for them. So they can handle this.
GRACE: Well, you know what? I hope you`re right. And Miss Patricia Jones is safe and well tonight.
Out to Ed Lavandera joining me right now in Grand Isle, Louisiana.
Ed, what`s happening?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are in the town of Grand Isle, Louisiana, which is about 60 miles south of New Orleans. This is the end of the road, Nancy, basically, you come down south from New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico is out here off to my right, in the darkness now, and that`s what makes this situation a lot more disconcerting. It is so loud and the wind is so ferocious that it`s impossible to hear just the extent of anything that might be flying around. So it`s little bit frightening when you`re standing here in the lights, you can`t see beyond the lights and what might be flying around.
So, so far, as the sun was setting here, we didn`t see a lot of structural damage, the things that are floating around so we are all right. But this is definitely the most intense part of the storm we have seen all night.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: With me right now, Laura Howell with the American Red Cross.
Laura, thank you for being with us. This is crunch time for you guys. How many people are on the ground and what are you doing?
LAURA HOWELL, AMERICAN RED CROSS: Nancy, it is crunch time for us right now. We are focused on sheltering those people who need a safe, dry place to stay tonight. We spent the last couple of days putting close to 2500 volunteers on the ground, moving our people, our trucks, our supplies into place.
Today, we pulled the trigger on all that, got those shelters opened and we are concentrated on making sure that people have a good park safe place to go tonight.
GRACE: Laura Howell with the American Red Cross, do you have people in the storm area?
HOWELL: Yes, we actually do. We have shelters open tonight in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. A lot of the shelters opened up yesterday and earlier today. Those folks have been here, our volunteers who`ve been in the region for the last several days getting ready to open those shelters, and we`re there, we`re ready to make sure that people have a place to go tonight.
GRACE: And that, Laura Howell, is why we all donate to the American Red Cross.
Becca Crumrine, Alex Sanchez.
Alex, people staying in town in the storm areas, what can they expect regarding looting, curfews? Remember what happened after Katrina?
ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: These type of catastrophic events unleash monsters, Nancy. And people come out and they commit violent crime against other people and the police are overwhelmed and they can`t protect the citizens.
GRACE: Becca?
BECCA CRUMRINE, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: You know, thin veneer of society at this time and people need to pay attention to the law, obey the curfews, don`t do anything rash, make sure you take pictures, make sure you take video and you don`t want to end up in prison for the contents of your store or your house.
GRACE: Everyone, we are not worried just about the damage. We are worried about human lives and the aftermath.
We are remembering right now Army Captain John Tinsley, 29, Summers Point, New Jersey. Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal. Leaves behind his family, parents John, Debra, brother Paul, widow, Emily, daughter, Isabella.
Thanks for being with us.
And tonight, happy birthday to Shirley Tolbert, mother, grandmother, loves husband Dave who fought in Vietnam. Arranging flowers, baking the best sugar cookies in the world.
Dr. Drew up next with hurricane coverage. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. Until then, good night, friend.
END
