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CNN Newsroom
Bracing for Hurricane Sandy
Aired October 28, 2012 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: This is Josh Levs, by the way. Sorry, go ahead.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sorry, hi, here I am again. And we're here in what is right now the CNN hurricane desk, which is actually smack in the middle of the CNN NEWSROOM. And we're following every single angle, every state, every city that can be impacted by Hurricane Sandy. And one thing we want to look at is how the broader transportation problems can exist for the whole country. Because when the airlines shutdown, for example, it impacts everybody who travels.
Let's do this. I have the screen for you here. I just want you to see a few of the statistics that we've got about what's going on in New York, because that's a good example of how many millions of people are going to be impacted. You've got the New York City subway shutting down. You have more than four million people who take that every day, that's part of the more than eight million people who travel in the MTA. I -- we got breaking news.
LEMON: Stand by, Josh. We want to get to Chad Myers. We're going to get right back to Josh. Want to get to Chad Myers now. Chad Myers up in the CNN Severe Weather Center.
Chad, you've got the latest information, the latest data came out right at the top of the hour. What do you have?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, nothing changed, the position changed, moving northeast at 15, still a 75-mile-an-hour storm. And if you're keeping track at home, 34.0, 70.9. But other than that the storm is right on track doing nothing unusual, not turning left, not turning right. Sometimes we look for that to see whether the forecast maybe wrong. So far, the forecast is right on the money. No deviation at all.
Our Kill Devil Hills reporter, right there, will notice, Don, a lot more convection. Look at all this yellow out there, our reporter out there about to get pounded by some more surf and wind. I do have Janette's Pier down in Nags Head, with the greatest wind gusts so far of 73 miles per hour. An dup here, north of there these numbers are only going to go up from there -- Don.
LEMON: All right. Chad Myers, with the very latest information on Sandy's path, where it's going, of course, it's affecting a lot. Josh Levs is right in the middle of his report on how it's affecting, about eight million, maybe nine million people who use mass transportation.
LEVS: A little bit more. We're now looking at least 11 million commuters who will be impacted tomorrow.
LEMON: Wow.
LEVS: And given what Chad was just talking about, let's zoom in here on my computer for a second. Of course this is how it appear, and Don, check it out, at CNN.com, you can control this map yourself, and what's so great about this, it's called our tracker. You can see the predicted rainfall in your area, you could see the potential paths and you can see the projected path any given moment.
It's really helpful. As long as you've got power to take a look at these maps that we've got up for you to understand how you lie in the path and how your area lies in the path. And also, I'll end with this, Don, we were talking about airlines and the importance of understanding that airplanes might be shut down all over the place.
We have been checking with all the major carriers, thousands of cancellations across all the major carriers already for the eastern seaboard. And of course that can then spill over into the rest of the country.
And one little piece of drama, let's zoom back in here, I want you to see this before it disappears here. Take a look at this. You know, cruise ships have had to change their paths. Well, we've got this iReport here not long ago. And I'll be telling you more about it in a little bit.
Dr. David Evans was on this cruise ship just off the coast of Miami and he shows us the waves that were coming in. And pretty soon, water on the cruise ship. Right there. More about that later this hour -- Don.
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much. See that up there in that monitor, red jacket.
LEVS: Yes, there she is.
LEMON: Go up there, Wes, see that red jacket? That is CNN's Sandra Endo preparing for a live shot and we are going to go to her now.
Sandra, Ocean City, Maryland. What are you seeing?
SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Don. Yes, all day long, we've been getting pelted with this rain and wind. And clearly you know from all the reporting of Hurricane Sandy that it is far from reaching here, more than 24 hours away and Ocean City is known for its beautiful beaches. It's a tourist destination. Of course it is a ghost town right now. You could see the empty pool.
If there is a silver lining in all this the bad weather is not hitting this area during high tourist time. So that's definitely a good thing. But take a look, this is what local officials are really worried about. The high surf, it's high tide right now, and you can see the waves are just fierce and pounding the shoreline here. It is about 100 yards away from this railing where we are here on the balcony of this Oceanside Hotel. And it is inching up but clearly, just fierce waves out there and the high tide combined with the length of this storm, that is what could really cause a major storm surge, and so officials are going to be monitoring that.
They've made sure that people have evacuated downtown Ocean City. And there's also a voluntary evacuation order for low-lying areas, but again, just taking a look at the pictures of the waves here it's really incredible to see this gorgeous coast line really getting pounded with the high tides. And this is just the beginning of Hurricane Sandy and the worst is yet to come -- Don.
LEMON: All right, Sandra Endo, thank you very much. Stay safe. Sandra, we'll be getting back to you as well. All of our players, all of our reporters, they're stretched out across the east coast and of course we have our Chad Meyer, our meteorologist here. And then our folks here at the CNN hurricane desk and all over the NEWSROOM here at CNN. We are checking it all for you.
And we want to tell you, General Russel Honore. Remember that guy? How could you forget him? You don't forget a character like that. He saved New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and really got people out and -- who needed to get out and the people in who needed to get in. He is weighing in on Sandy now, if people are doing things right, offering his advice, his insight, right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We are now in rolling coverage here on CNN or should I say pre-hurricane coverage since the storm technically hasn't hit land yet. Take a look now, New York City skyline. It looks calm now but not for long. There it is right there, not for long, that enormous category one hurricane, spinning, spinning up the coast right now. And forecasters expect it to turn toward land tonight.
Hurricane Sandy going to do some major damage. New York City preparing for the very worst right now. They have stopped the subways, canceled classes. The airlines have grounded their planes out of JFK and LaGuardia and Newark. So if you got out on a plane as my friend did just a couple of seconds ago, Natalie, we showed you her picture earlier, you are very, very lucky.
Chad Myers warned you earlier, said the airports would not be open for much longer and he was right. NOAA has issued a brand new hurricane update. Our Chad Myers had that for you just a moment ago and he's going to update you again in just a moment. But first, let's get to the outer banks of North Carolina.
That is where CNN's George Howell has been watching conditions deteriorate all day long -- George.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, the strong winds have picked up again here at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. Though that heavy rain that we've seen throughout the day has subsided a bit, from time to time, though, we do still get those gusts that come and go, gusts anywhere from 40 to 50 miles per hour, sometimes mixed with sand. A good indication, you know, of how close this storm is to us as it continues to track northward and then inland to those major metropolitan areas, New York City, Philadelphia, just north of Washington, D.C. and then merges with that cold front.
It's a very nasty situation. Here along the outer banks, the big concern tonight is about the storm surge, on the Atlantic side. They're talking about a possible storm surge anywhere from four to six feet that could cause flooding in several areas.
Also on the south side, the other south side of the outer banks, as the storm continues to change directions, first from the east, then the north, then the west. It's pushing water into different areas then that water comes back and could cause flooding, they think anywhere from three to five feet of flooding on the south side.
Also, the coastal Highway 12, Don, it's the only way in and out here of the outer banks. That coastal highway has water over it in several spots. So people are cut off until that water subsides.
Again those are the problems we're dealing with here and it is a taste of what's to come as this storm, the bigger storm, moves into those major areas -- Don.
LEMON: All right. George Howell, thank you. Once again, getting pelted there in -- as he covers this hurricane.
We want to get the very latest now on Hurricane Sandy's track. Chad Myers is joining us now.
Chad, you know, we said it's a category 1 but you should -- you know, by the way, where George is it's at one highway in, one highway out, same thing, Grand Isle. One --
MYERS: Yes.
LEMON: All those towns are affected. Pretty similar things because they're out there, you know, out there in the water. Just because it's a category 1, it shouldn't be -- we should not be lulled into a sense of that it's going to be OK.
MYERS: The category is a wind speed and a wind field around an eye. This storm doesn't really have a very good eye. Hasn't had an eye for a long time, because engulfed in a lot of dry air, it was never supposed to be a category two or three hurricane. But the wind field, which means the size of the wind --
LEMON: Right.
MYERS: -- that's either close to hurricane or certainly above 50, would be almost 1,000 miles from one side of the storm to the other. And so all of a sudden, we are going to have this plow, this wind event, that runs right through New Jersey all the way from almost up into Connecticut-Rhode Island and even into Massachusetts, as far south as North Carolina, and it plows straight into Pennsylvania and then turns and stops at West Virginia and then heads to Canada.
LEMON: Can you -- before you go over, because I know you want to go over to the wall, answer some stuff, like I said, I've been wanting to speak directly to the viewer, someone wrote in and said, hey, I'm wondering when -- when was this scheduled to go inland and because it seems to be barreling east. I can't find it now. I showed it to you earlier.
MYERS: Yes --
LEMON: Do you know what they are talking about?
MYERS: I do. The storm has not turned. Look at the picture on the left.
LEMON: OK.
MYERS: We're looking at the center of circulation, hard to find in an eye, but you can see the little -- the dot that would be the dot of the comma, it's in the middle, it is not turning left yet. It is still turning north. And -- or even a little bit to the northeast last projection, northeast of 15. When does it turn? That's the $64,000 question. If it turns now, then all of a sudden D.C. is very much in the left side of the cone in play. If it doesn't turn for a longer time than forecast, then New York City closer to the middle of that center of circulation.
Right now, obviously, the goal posts set there and the center somewhere, the forecast of the center of that around Atlantic City. We don't know when it turns. Sometimes they take a long time. Sometimes they don't. The computers are not perfect because there's not much data in the ocean. There's no one in the ocean putting up weather balloons for us to know which way weather is blowing, which way the bind wind blows.
We need more data out there. We don't have it. The NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft goes out there, that's why they go out there and risks their lives for us so that we have better forecasts.
LEMON: That question was from Bryce Brayton (ph), he said, please ask Chad, Don, when models predicted storm will turn inland and is it still heading steadily northeast, and you answered that question. Another from Richie Long (ph), has a Florida Gators thing on his thing, so I'm an LSU Tiger, I'm not happy about that. How far east -- how far east will this be felt, Sandy?
MYERS: I think northeast is a good story. I mean you're going to have 24-foot waves hitting the shores of Maine.
LEMON: OK.
MYERS: OK? Big time. It's a rugged coast. But do you remember back when the first President Bush had his house at Kennebunkport torn up by the big storm, the superstorm, the perfect storm?
LEMON: Right.
MYERS: This is a perfect storm per se because it's going to combine high and low and its going to combine warm and cold, but this storm will come on show. The perfect storm never even made landfall.
LEMON: Thank you very much. Chad Myers, don't go far.
MYERS: OK.
LEMON: Helping me out here. Wait, wait. Don't leave me hanging, pound. Boom, thank you very much.
Chad Myers is not going far. Meteorologist, on top of it.
The voice of reason is coming up, because forecasters -- don't laugh, guys, on the air, but we got it. Forecasters calling for a day and a half of hurricane-force winds, rain and even snow. So, how can people prepare? How are you supposed to prepare here? As I said, the voice of reason, there he is, retired General Russell Honore, he took command of the military, brought the military down, the chaos after Hurricane Katrina and got it back together. He's live in the studio with me next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Welcome back, everyone. Our rolling coverage of Hurricane Sandy. Before it makes landfall, it's going to do that soon and it is roaring towards shore, we just got the latest update at the top of the hour. Our Chad Myers, our meteorologist, is going to be here in just a moment, update you again. A lot of people said, you know, they weren't expecting a storm this big this late in the season. It rarely happens, if ever. Now the rush is on, of course to get supplies. And you see some stores already running low, pretty much out in areas, people looking for bottled water, finding empty shelves. And despite mandatory evacuations in areas from New Jersey, Delaware, all along the eastern -- east coast, some people bound to stay in their homes.
There he is right there taking his glasses off, General Russell Honore, who commanded the troops in the city, I should say, of New Orleans, down in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina is here now.
I call you the voice of reason. But you were telling me something very interesting in the break that I think our viewers should know about. We seem to be, at least wanting to be, or appear to be, more prepared for these natural disasters in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. You hear people coming out, like Governor Chris Christie, the last time there was a major storm in the northeast, get out now, you're crazy if you don't get out, paraphrased. Basically that's what he was saying. Everyone. We seem to be more prepared.
GEN. RUSSEL HONORE, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Well, it all started post- 9/11. We see a paradigm shift based on guidance from Congress and two presidents now that have reinforced what we call a national response format, which helped the nation prepare and plan for natural disaster and, God forbid, terrorism.
So you are seeing all that good government that has been invested in the Department of Homeland Security, in FEMA. FEMA has increased in size since Katrina. Giving FEMA the authority to lean forward, to preposition assets. You know, before Katrina, FEMA had to be requested by the governor and then a declaration had to be required to start moving stuff. All that changed post-Katrina. The standup of Northern Command, which is out in California -- Colorado, their job is to prepare the federal troops in support of the National Guard. The whole paradigm shift in the National Guard. For the first time, we have multiple federal (INAUDIBLE) commanders have been authorized by the secretary of defense before the event and in each state, when federal troops come in, they will work on the National Guard commander. The (INAUDIBLE), all this happened post- Katrina to try and make government more effective -- Don.
LEMON: If you were wondering what good could come out of Katrina, that's one thing, that's at least something that we're more prepared so that people don't have to lose their lives and they can, you know, get where they should be well before the storm makes it ashore.
HONORE: Right. And a lot of preparedness have happened. People have understood, you've got to use all the assets inside the city, inside the state, turning schools into shelters. Turning buildings, available buildings into shelter, using local transportation and you see this thing in action up in New York, where they are using their assets, dual missioning their state and city employees to take care and focus on the people, because the number one thing politicians will be judged on is that they focus on taking care of the people.
LEMON: Yes. You mentioned New York City. But let's talk about New York state. And we read the advisory from the wire just a moment ago, said the president of the United States declared a state of emergency for New York state before the storm even hit. You said that is a big deal. And the reason I'm interested, I think about it, I have a friend in New York who just texted me and said, Don, stop scaring me, I'm watching you, stop scaring me, you know, in a light hearted way. I'm not trying to scare you and I am in a way because I want people to be safe. This is -- this is serious.
HONORE: That's the number one function of government is to secure the people. People need to understand the purpose as this thing is laid in the constitution. And what these local officials are doing they're being proactive. They're trying to get to the left of this storm, get people prepared, move people out of vulnerable areas. And prepare local businesses to be -- help them respond.
The other thing this president's declaration does, it helped authorize the payment of the National Guard through a concept called Title XXXII. That in the next 24 hours or so the secretary of defense, along with the White House and people in Congress they will come up with the money to -- for these National Guards troops that have to be mobilized under what is called Title XXXII. Then those governors can bring all the National Guard they need in to respond, because they are the first responder behind the fire department and the police.
LEMON: Yes, and General Russel Honore getting wonky, but we need to be wonky with this information. We need to know the details because it's very important, as you said. We are in a paradigm shift. This is all -- much of this is a result of what happened after Hurricane Katrina and we are safer now, so it's good to know the details of how every different city, state, local municipality, government, federal, gets ready to prepare for these types of a disaster. HONORE: And the hard part is yet to come.
LEMON: Yes.
HONORE: This is the pregame show. The response is going to really be the test of leadership.
LEMON: OK. So not trying to scare you guys, but as I have been saying, this is pretty serious stuff.
HONORE: It is.
LEMON: We always hear people who say, you know, last time you guys got us all riled up, and got us scared. And nothing happened, Don. So why -- hey, listen. I always say better safe than sorry.
HONORE: On any given day, Mother Nature can break anything built by man.
LEMON: Absolutely.
HONORE: So we've got to be ready.
LEMON: All right. Let's move on to talk -- because, you know, we can't go far from politics, Hurricane Sandy forcing the presidential campaign to take some detours, make some detours. Ahead, we're going to look at how the storm could help or hurt the candidates.
As we leave you just for a moment here, we're just going to a very short break, this is Ocean City, Maryland. Look at that, General. Look at that, audience. Imagine that coming your way and that is not the real big heap of it. This is just the outlying part of it. It's still a couple hundred miles away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: OK. Welcome back, this is our coverage. Look at that. This is Atlantic City, you see that shaky cam right there? That long line -- string of lights? That's the boardwalk in Atlantic City and we're checking on some information someone sent us about the boardwalk. We don't want to say now because I'm not sure. We're going to check on it, though.
These pictures courtesy of our affiliate WPVI, Atlantic City, New Jersey, as you know, state of emergency. Chris Christie, the governor there, just talked about that not long ago in a press conference, saying he spoke to the president and the president declared a pre- landfall state of emergency for his state. And his quote was, don't go out there and try to be heroes, you need to get out within the next couple of hours.
We'll continue to update up on that and bring you live pictures from wherever we can get them on the east coast as Hurricane Sandy barrels ashore.
Listen, as we keep a watch on Hurricane Sandy, though, I want to take a minute to considers, how the storm is going to affect the race for the White House. President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney both re- arranging their travel plans.
I spoke with CNN contributors Ana Navarro and L.Z. Granderson -- of course, Ana, you see her on CNN, she's a Republican strategist, L.Z. is a regular as well as a senior writer at ESPN. And I asked both of them how this storm is going to affect the Obama and the Romney campaign beyond, beyond where they hold their campaign rallies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANA NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Listen, Don, I'm from Florida. I'm a veteran of hurricanes and hurricanes are political season. It is hurricane politics 101. You have to be in charge. I think the best thing President Obama can do right now is exactly what he's doing, which is suspend some of the campaign events and be in the White House, be in charge.
I want to give him kudos on one thing, which is that the administrator of FEMA, that he picked, Craig Fugate, is a man who worked here in Florida. He was in charge of Emergency Management Services in Florida, well-known to Floridians, he's now -- he worked under Jeb Bush actually in Florida, is a real pro.
I think President Obama deserves points for having chosen somebody that is a professional instead of a political crony. But it is very important. It can make or break careers. There are points where politics and hurricanes meet and it can help or they can collide. And they can break careers. We all remember Governor Blanco in Louisiana, what a disaster that was.
LEMON: Yes. Yes. We remember all of that. And -- so, listen, a Republican praising the president, a Democrat, it happened here on CNN.
L.Z., so let's talk about the ground --
L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, sir.
LEMON: Let's stick with the ground game here. Because this -- you know, we're talking about the imaginary, you know, scenarios for after the disaster happens. You know, what happens after, can people get to the polls? Will the power be out? Will there be blockage in the roads? All of this. We don't know. I mean it's pretty far to forecast out, you know what, seven, eight, nine days from now of actual election day, but this is really throwing a monkey wrench into the plans that not only the candidates have but also people going to the polls and voting. Some people don't know what they are going to do because they are out of their homes.
GRANDERSON: Absolutely. And you know, it's not really about seven or nine days ahead. I mean some of these states that might get impacted later on in the week are looking at some of the early voting states, right? So, for instance, Maryland has already canceled their early voting for Monday. If you were planning on voting not on next Tuesday but some time during this week, power outages could impact your plans. And it may -- if you were planning on voting earlier and you've made plans to be out of town, you may be scrambling now for an absentee ballot. And there's no power. How do you get a ballot for that? So this has long-term effects that we'll start seeing much, much sooner than next week.
LEMON: And let me go back to you, L.Z., because Ana talked about Craig Fugate, right, who was the emergency management down in Florida. Do you remember last time during Isaac when down in Louisiana Mitt Romney hit the ground, got there faster than the president. The president, you know, said he had to balance his, you know, his duties of the nation to a storm and was criticized for getting there late. This time he visited FEMA already so they're well aware of what the optics are like in this situation.
GRANDERSON: Well, you may also remember that Mitt Romney got there early but he also left with criticism because reportedly he told a woman whose house was submerged under water to go back home and call 211. So hopefully if he does decide to go and show up into some of these locations, that he has a message that's a lot more compassionate but doesn't look as if he's definitely trying to be compassionate but just trying to be himself. That will bring the nation a lot of comfort as we're trying to deal with this horrific storm.
And you're right, the president deserves to be criticized for that because it -- in a campaign season what you can't do is look as if you don't care about the people you're supposed to be serving and not being on the ground early after that hurricane made it appear as if he wasn't -- didn't care about the people as much as himself and his own political ambitions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. My thanks to L.Z. Granderson and of course, Ana Navarro.
We're moving on with our coverage now. Don't go far away. I'm also answering your questions on social media and if it warranted, I'll answer them for you here on the air. So make sure you stay tuned in with me there. We'll get your questions and answer -- get your questions answered for you.
New York, emergency mode tonight, bracing for Sandy. Next, a look at the worst-case scenario, look at this, worst-case scenario if Sandy makes a direct hit from lessons of the past. And now to the present. There's New York City, live right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Rolling coverage here of Hurricane Sandy. And it looks weird, what you're looking at. This is a tower cam, you're looking down into water there. This is Portsmouth, Virginia, and this is a tower cam from our affiliate, WAVY, W-A-V-Y, TV in Portsmouth -- in Virginia but this is one of their tower cams. You're looking down into the water. Not exactly sure where this is. And you could see a sidewalk, a little boardwalk there. And a couple of satellites on top of the building. Just try to make it out. It's dark. But that's what's going on there.
Look at the satellite images. My goodness. This is going to be a monster coming ashore. And you know -- I know people are -- sometimes you get a bit jaded when you see this coverage on networks like CNN. You say, well, you know, it happened -- it's happened before. And nothing went on that would make me want to leave my home. Well, Katrina didn't tell you that you should leave, and then General Russel Honore didn't tell you last time, and now this time that you should leave, then you should -- I don't know what else to tell you.
But this is threatening to be a monster of a storm. It's supposed to go right in and then make landfall Monday, some time Monday right near Washington, D.C. With the latest forecast, that's the latest forecast. And it's about 200 miles or so off the coast, about 185 miles off the coast of North Carolina. And about 400 miles and some change from New York City. And that was -- what was that, Ocean City, Maryland, I was looking at? Right there. That was Ocean City, Maryland, you see the waves coming in.
Listen, not trying to scare you on purpose in any way other than to make you understand the power of this particular storm. They are call this the perfect storm for a reason, because there are winds, there's rain, there's storm surge and then there's going to be snow as well when it comes to this. Every -- almost every single element will be in there except for the fire, of course, and then that could happen as well, depending on the intensity of the winds. And then the electricity will be out.
So I want to give you a worst-case scenario for New York City right now because New York City is bracing for the worst if it makes a direct hit there. How would low-lying areas of Manhattan be affected? Remember this is the most populous city in the world and it has come to a standstill tonight?
CNN's Mary Snow talked with some experts to find out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If anyone is worried about a hurricane hitting New York, it's coastal geology professor Nicholas Coch and to understand why, he took us to Southampton, New York.
NICHOLAS K. COCH, QUEENS COLLEGE/CUNY: And this is actually where the 1938 hurricane broke through and made Shinnecock Bay a branch of the ocean.
SNOW: Coch says most New Yorkers forget that it was here that a powerful category 3 hurricane made landfall in 1938. It was called the Long Island Express and it caused widespread damage even in New York City some 75 miles away.
(On camera): Even if New York City is spared a direct hit.
COCH: That's right. It's going to have massive flooding, yes.
SNOW (voice-over): For years, Coch has been sounding the alarm about how vulnerable New York City is because of its topography. He says storm surges could trigger massive flooding in low-lying areas, particularly lower Manhattan.
Consider the simulation done by NOAA, showing what a category 2 hurricane could do to a tunnel linking Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Donald Cresitello with the Army Corps of Engineers mapped out some worst-case scenarios. A category 1 hurricane, for example, could flood the subway station at the southern tip of Manhattan with 3 and 1/2 feet of water. A category 2 storm, he says, could put JFK airport under 5 and 1/2 feet of water.
DONALD E. CRESITELLO, U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: If the storm were to occur, it could be catastrophic given the population density in the northeast.
SNOW: High winds are also a big concern. And city officials have evacuation plans at the ready. Despite all the preparations, Coch says it's not the hurricane he's most worried about.
(On camera): What's your biggest concern?
COCH: The New Yorker.
SNOW: Why?
COCH: Because they don't listen. You can -- you can always tell a New Yorker, but you can't tell them very much.
SNOW (voice-over): Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And I just ask my producer, I said, what did I say about New York City? Did I say the most populous city in the world or in the country? I thought I said world. And just as I said that Sam Feiss, who's head of our political operation here, said New York City is the most popular city in the U.S. I meant the country. Thank you, Sam. And 19th in the world. Thank you. Those are just a slip of the tongue.
Anyway, speaking of New York City. Look at that. The Statue of Liberty. And look at the wind on this particular camera in New York City. Very -- they say New York City is a city that never sleeps, well, right now it is pretty sleepy, because all the mass transportation in that city is shutdown, Broadway shows shutdown.
The -- Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of the city, came out earlier this afternoon and gave his wants, what he would like to do, what he is going to do and telling people he was dividing the city up in different zones, and he had zone one or zone A, I forget exactly what it is, where he said people should immediately should leave that area, and that buildings there, electricity would be gone from those buildings, they would cut the electricity off and shut the water off.
So any time you get a city that's as big as New York City, the biggest city or the most populous city in this country, shutting down its mass transportation system, you've been there, you know that is a huge deal. New York City's a behemoth of a city. People just think of Manhattan, it's more than that. It's all five boroughs.
This is Atlantic City. There we go, Atlantic City, WPVI, boardwalk, just down the road from New York City and really just down the road from Philadelphia. That's where WPVI, our affiliate, is located. I spent many days and nights on that boardwalk that you're looking at right there when I was a reporter in Philadelphia covering storms that were rolling in, none quite this big, though, and spent the night hunkered down in hotels. A lot of people are doing that. Hopefully away from the boardwalk, away from the coast.
So much, much more to come here on CNN. We're going to keep you updated. We're going to be on the air for as long as it takes. If you want to know about this storm and you want to know about the presidential election, how it's -- how it's going to be affected by this storm, how far inland this storm is going to go, then you need to keep it right here on CNN.
Back now live, Ocean City, Maryland. Look at the surf coming in. It's about -- less than 200 miles from Maryland. And you know it's bad, though, when the casinos that we showed you in Atlantic City, when they shut down, it's just one of the cities in New Jersey on a late -- on alert. The state of emergency, a state is under a statewide disaster emergency ahead of this hurricane. Live report is next.
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LEMON: We have a lot -- a lot to update you on when it comes to Hurricane Sandy. I just got information, I think I told you guys this the president has declared a state of emergency in the District of Columbia -- of Columbia, ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Sandy. There have been so many of these that have come in I'm not sure if I reported that. But again that is coming in on the urgent wires, the president of the United States declaring a state of emergency for the District of Columbia ahead of the Hurricane Sandy. That's according to a release from the White House. Obviously, that means D.C.
And then again, he did the same thing earlier for the state of New York, the entire -- for the entire New York state. Another alert that I just -- that just crossed over as we were talking here. OK, we're talking about planes, trains, automobiles. Thank you very much, Scott Thompson at our national desk, for confirming this. Hurricane Sandy, Philadelphia International Airport statement, "We have been advised by our airlines that all flight operations have been cancelled for tomorrow, Monday, October 29th." Directly from the statement I'm reading now. This is a dangerous -- October 29th, excuse me.
"This is a dangerous storm and safety is our main concern. We and the airlines will be monitoring, assessing the situation throughout the day, tomorrow, to determine when flight activity can resume and we ask individuals to come to the -- not to come to the airport and strongly urge all travelers to contact their airlines for flight status," and then they give a toll free number. I don't give on -- this is in a local channel, but I'll give it, it's 1-800-PHL-GATE. 1-800-PHL-GATE.
Philadelphia International Airport telling people don't even show up at the airport tomorrow. Call your carrier now and check your flight status and see if you can make some other arrangements to get to where you're going or be prepared to sit tight. That is the unfortunate information.
More information to tell you about, now a state of emergency declared as well for New Jersey and New York, as we said. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was the first to announce mandatory evacuations and state offices have been closed for tomorrow. The latest now from CNN's Alison Kosik who is in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
So, Alison, we saw the press conference with Chris Christie. He said don't go out there and try to be a hero -- try to be heroes. He is exactly right. Get out of there.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes. And you know what, people are heeding his advice because I haven't seen anybody out here, you know, it really is kind of like a ghost town and because I think a lot of people realize this could be the real deal. And you know this is interesting because I have been covering this story since about I'd say 2:00 this afternoon and it's really been interesting to see as the storm has gotten closer to the -- the Jersey shore how the winds have changed.
I mean, standing out here, waiting to do this report, I mean, these gusts have really picked up. One other thing, we are about 15 minutes from high tide. Behind me is the beach, you can't see it because it's so dark, but these waves, believe me, are fierce. And there's also a sheet of sand just being whipped to the side. It's getting ugly out here and it's getting ugly fast -- Don.
LEMON: Mm-hmm. Well, so, earlier did you see people out? You said it appears people are heeding the advice. It looks like it's pretty chilly there and pretty windy. Have you seen anybody out and about in the last couple of minutes?
KOSIK: I have not. I mean, I see a few people walking here. They very well look like they could be news crews. I think what you're really seeing are the news crews out and anyone else who doesn't have a reason to be out here is not out here.
It's -- you know, it's hard to stand up. You know the wind is really whipping me around quite a bit and, you know, we are still, what, you know, hours and hours away from this hurricane --
LEMON: Right.
KOSIK: -- even hitting. And these winds are pretty strong.
LEMON: Yes. Yes. All right, just the beginning. Alison Kosik, thank you. Stay safe.
As you heard Alison said the winds are so strong, she can barely stand up. Of course, Alison is a little thing, she's very tiny, but still, it's not safe to be out there. Our thanks to Alison Kosik, Asbury Park, New Jersey.
You know, people are rushing to stack as many sandbags as possible before the storm hit but that may not stop the floods from ruining homes. We are going to look at the frantic preparations, straight ahead.
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LEMON: We're going to get you live right now to Ocean City, Maryland, where you can see the waves and the rain coming ashore, Hurricane Sandy. Miles out from Maryland. But you know Maryland, a state of emergency, because the president declared a state of emergency for Maryland today where up to a foot of rain is expected, and they're expecting that surge to come in and they're expecting flooding there.
People are racing against time now to protect their homes. And I want to tell you, Athena Jones has been reporting from there all day.
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ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Annapolis resident Kim Kimball is hoping the sandbags she's collecting here will protect the museum where she works from rising waters.
KIM KIMBALL, ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND, RESIDENT: That is the one most vulnerable, 77, because it's closest to the water. When it comes up, it will flood the basement, so it's just one of the problems with living in a city on the water.
JONES: She's been through this drill several times. Her friend Jack is a novice.
JACK PAULSEN, ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND, RESIDENT: This is my first time doing the sandbags so I'm sort of playing out how does it go?
JONES: In Washington, authorities are handing out sandbags and store shelves are being emptied. This region knows bad weather. The a derecho last summer knocked down trees and cut off powers to some communities for more than a week.
Northern Virginia resident Anne Hargrove isn't taking any chances.
ANNE HARGROVE, ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, RESIDENT: So I went to Safeway, Rite Aid and Wal-Mart, there were no batteries, C's or D's to be had. Finally, when I got to Wal-Mart, I bought -- I got four jugs of water, but basically, I got water, toilet paper, paper towel, paper plates, paper cups, flashlights.
JONES: Rich Heilman, who owns a hardware snore in low-lying Alexandria, Virginia, says the surge of customers began Thursday. They cleared them out of many basic supplies.
RICHARD HEILMAN, HARDWARE STORE OWNER: Alexandria has had a couple of bad storms over the last several years, particularly two this year where people lost power for an extended period of time. So I think they're a little bit smarter this time. JONES: PEPCO, the power company serving Washington and parts of Maryland, warns the damage could be significant.
DAVE VELAZQUEZ, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, POWER DELIVERY PHI: I think everyone needs to recognize that a hurricane-style event is a multiday -- is going to be a multi-day event.
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LEMON: CNN's Athena Jones, you see her there. She is in our Washington, D.C., bureau.
So you were talking to the people there all day out reporting. The big concerns, the surge, one of them. What else are people concerned about?
JONES: Well, they're also concerned about power as well of course there was a big storm over the summer, that derecho storm, and you had people in various neighborhoods across the region, some of whom were without power for a week or more. And so that's why you're seeing these store shelves being emptied of batteries and candles and all sorts of things that people need just in case they do lose power for some time. Paper plates, sandwiches, that kind of thing in case they can't use their refrigerators.
I should also mention, though, too, that in Washington, D.C., here, the federal offices are going to be closed for the public tomorrow which means that all non-emergency employees can take administrative leave and stay home. Certainly public schools are closed here in D.C. tomorrow as well as in Fairfax County, Virginia, that's northern Virginia, and in Montgomery County, Maryland, so just a few of the examples of what's going on here. Metrorail is closed as well, as people try to err on the side of caution -- Don.
LEMON: Yes, you're right. That Metro thing closing down. As I said, a lot of people travel by mass transportation in D.C. and they can't get around now. And that's going to pose a problem for people who have not gotten to a safer place or who need to get somewhere, as you said the federal offices are closed but some people still need to get to work. Thank you very much, Athena Jones, for your reporting.
You know, this massive storm already showing some muscle here and it hasn't even made landfall. Hurricane Sandy, by the numbers, coming up on CNN, right after a very quick break.
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LEMON: Don Lemon down here at the CNN hurricane desk, our national desk now transformed into the hurricane desk. I want to bring a gentleman in here who I know very well who works on the national desk, and he also is on air for us. Nick Valencia to talk about -- listen, this is going to have huge impact on just about everything on the east coast. It's no doubt it's already made a impact on the east coast. So break it down by the numbers for us and what information that you're getting, Nick. NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Hurricane Sandy has not even made landfall yet, Don, as you mentioned, but it's already causing mammoth problems. I've been following the storm since early yesterday morning, in the last 48 hours, we've really seen those anxieties come to fruition. And we could see why.
Let's break this thing down by the numbers. Right now, we've got about 6,271 flights, that's estimated flights, cancelled by a handful of airlines, that's including American, Delta, United. And as you can imagine, Don, most of these flights into and out of New York, places like LaGuardia, JFK and Newark. Hurricane Sandy causing all sorts of transportation problems.
Tomorrow, there's going to be to be 11 million residents, 11 million commuters that are going to be out without Monday service, that includes about eight million in New York City alone. And these aren't just -- just not affecting people trying to get to work. It's also affecting students. Tomorrow about two million students across nine states and D.C., not going to be in class tomorrow.
LEMON: As we were talking, probably couldn't see air there, this is -- you said 2.1 million, saw those pictures of the people in line, that was from LaGuardia Airport and Natalie Yarbor, you know, Natalie.
VALENCIA: Yes.
LEMON: She works there, she's a producer and editor. There she is. She was stuck in that line, that's the security line. That's when the airport was open. She got on one of the last flights back here to Atlanta. It's closed now.
VALENCIA: We just saw disruptions as well coming out of Philadelphia.
LEMON: Yes.
VALENCIA: So a lot of airports being impacted.
LEMON: They're saying don't even come tomorrow to the airport, check with your carrier before you come. Do you have any estimates on how much this is -- do we even know how much it's going to cost because we're all just sort of --
VALENCIA: Yes. We know it's going to be somewhere in the billions of dollars, about $3.2 billion estimated. I mean, this is a storm that's about 520 miles in diameter, Don, it's almost the whole length of California, so you could see why it's going to cost so much money. I'm sure those estimates are only bound to go up.
LEMON: Yes. Preparing for what is -- I would call a superstorm, a superstorm, a lot of people having to evacuate, lots of states of emergency, all over -- states of emergencies all over the east coast. We are going to update you on what people are doing to get ready for this, if you can get ready for this. Maybe the only way is just to get out of its way.
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