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Maryland Braces for Monster Storm; Flooding Hits Long Island; Newark Mayor Issues Warning; Gov. Christie Press Conference; Obama Briefing on Hurricane; Time Running Out for Storm Prep
Aired October 29, 2012 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I want to welcome our international viewers around the world. We are feeling the impact of his potentially historic super storm here in the United States right now. The same storm that has already hit Cuba, Haiti, on its way to Canada.
I'm Suzanne Malveaux.
Want to get right down to it here. We are talking about this powerful, life-threatening storm on a collision course with the most populated area of the country. Hurricane Sandy taking aim at the Mid-Atlantic coastline and the Northeast. At last check, it was about 205 miles southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey. The massive storm could affect 60 million people. We are talking from Virginia to Massachusetts. Forecasters expect Sandy to combine with a cold front and form a super storm that is likely to cause flash flooding, massive power outages, and snowstorms.
West Virginia's governor says that mountain areas of the state could get two feet of snow. Snow already starting to fall. And FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, says the storm damage from wind alone could reach $3 billion.
We're also going to be hearing from the president about 45 minutes or so from the White House. He is going to be making a statement, updating the conditions of what the federal government is doing to tackle this horrific storm.
And forecasters expect that Sandy is going to make landfall as early as tonight. The eye of the storm appears headed for Jersey shore, the Delmarva peninsula. It's an area that includes Delaware, parts of Maryland and Virginia. In Maryland, urban search and rescue teams already standing by, waiting for deployment orders from FEMA. Coastal Maryland getting ready -- already pounded by strong waves, high surf.
Governor Martin O'Malley, he is following developments from the emergency control center in Reisterstown, Maryland. He is on the phone with us.
Governor, first of all, thanks for joining us. I know this is a very busy time for you. I was just in Maryland over the weekend visiting with family and friends and clearly a lot of people right now quite tense about what is about to take place. You've got search and rescue teams in place. We've seen dramatic pictures out of Ocean City from our Sandra Endo. What is the one thing that you're most concerned about now?
GOV. MARTIN O'MALLEY, MARYLAND (via telephone): Well, right now as this storm starts to come ashore, you know, we're most concerned about the potential loss of life. I mean, we need for people to stay off the roads. We need for them to stay indoors and to shelter in place and to shelter from this really intense storm. We have not seen something this wide and that will be pounding on us for this sort of duration in many, many decades. So our primary concern right now is to act as responsibly as we can as individuals so that we minimize the loss of life that will no doubt happen as this killer storm comes ashore.
MALVEAUX: Has your office already started getting calls for help?
O'MALLEY: We have not had any sort of rescue operations that I am aware of as of yet, but we do have -- we do have fast water rescue teams that have been pre-deployed throughout our state. We've mobilized over 500 of our Maryland National Guard and they are deployed in all of the emergency operation centers.
So, fortunately, unlike some other storms, this one gave us several days notice. So we are prepared. We prepared for the worst. And, unfortunately, given the turn of this storm, it looks like we're going to be the recipients of her worst.
MALVEAUX: We were just looking at some pictures of BWI, the airport there. Clearly, a lot of airlines shut down and not the kind of images that you normally see there. It's a bustling airport. Use it often.
People who are in Maryland are essentially stuck now in Maryland. And what are they going to expect in terms of power outages? I know that a lot of people believe that they could be without power for days and perhaps weeks.
O'MALLEY: Oh, without a doubt we will be facing massive power outages. We -- the utility companies have been able to bring in more mutual assistance this time because they had advanced warning. And hopefully as the storm moves further north, more crews will be freed up to move north from southern states. So right now there are about 3,000 some linemen that have been brought in to our state from other states that are ready to go out and start what will be a long and difficult restoration process.
But we are clearly -- I mean if you look at this storm, it's actually intensifying in its center. I'm told that the winds at the center are now up to 90 miles an hour. It's approaching a category two status. So we are going to see power outages that will be massive in our state and we want to get people restored as quickly as possible.
But before we can do that, we all have to hunker down, protect one another from this storm by staying indoors and staying off the roads.
MALVEAUX: All right, Governor O'Malley, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us.
O'MALLEY: Thank you, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: I know it's going to be a very busy couple of days and weeks ahead. Thank you very much.
O'MALLEY: Thank you.
MALVEAUX: Want to head to New York's Long Island. The hurricane's wind and the rain slamming the city of Lindenhurst. That is happening right now. This is an inland community and some neighborhoods are already beginning to flood. Our Jason Carroll, he is in one of those neighborhoods.
Jason, tell us a little bit about the effort of folks who are packing up and trying to get out.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let me -- let's set the scene for where we are right now, Suzanne.
We are in Lindenhurst, Long Island. You can see here that this neighborhood is already experiencing some severe flooding here in this particular section. The reason for that is because you've got the Great South Bay right behind me to the south there, and then you've got canals crisscrossing through this area. So even though we haven't even seen the worst of Sandy yet, you can see the water is already thigh high. This is the Preeley (ph) family here. They live down the street. This is actually a street and not a canal. They got in a little boat and they decided finally to get out.
You were patient enough to wait for us. What made you finally make the decision it was time to go?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The water was getting in the house and --
CARROLL: The water was getting in the house?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it's going to be worse later.
CARROLL: So I've been hearing from everyone here in the neighborhood that already what we're seeing here, the effects of Sandy, are already worse than what we saw with Irene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. Absolutely.
CARROLL: Now, I see you've packed up the dog. You know, you were under a mandatory evacuation, but you did decide to wait until this moment. Did you think that there was a time you could actually ride it out?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We did until the winds really started picking up. The tide wasn't going out at all and it was well past high tide.
CARROLL: Well, I think a lot of public officials are going to be glad that you are heeding the warning and deciding to get out. I'm going to let you get on with your boat. Thank you very much for waiting.
Suzanne, I also want you to take a look down the street here. The guy that you see in the scuba gear, his name is Paul. He's a lifeguard.
Paul, won't you come on over here and talk to me here for a moment. Take off the goggles and what not. I know you've been down here in the neighborhood. You've been monitoring things. Obviously, you're dressed appropriately for the occasion, but I know a lot of public officials want folks like you to head on out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Um, yes. However, I'm real close to the main road. I'd rather keep an eye on my house, keep an eye on my neighbors' houses, make sure everything's safe.
The water didn't get into my house during Irene, but I think there's a chance tonight. At 11:00 p.m. is going to be the high tide. I think that's when it's going to be the worst here. So I still have things that I would move up. And if I have to get out, I have scuba gear. I have surf boards. I have a kayak. And the street's right there and I can get out.
CARROLL: All right. So your house here is the yellow house, right, if you can just set the scene for our folks here. And, Steve (ph), if you can see the house right next to it, this white house here with the gray tile, can you see the water, obviously, must be heading into that house already.
You know, I've been asking you this question. You are under a mandatory evacuation. Officials want folks like you to heed the warnings and leave. What would it take for you to heed the warning and to leave?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I determine it's unsafe or if they I guess declared martial law and forced me to leave?
CARROLL: OK. All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CARROLL: Well, already we're seeing the water here rising at thigh high. Winds starting to pick up just a bit here in Lindenhurst, Long Island, Suzanne.
Once again, under a mandatory evacuation. Steve -- that's my photographer. I keep saying that name. If you turn around right now, you can see that they're already starting to bring in some more canoes. That's to help some of the folks here who have decided to stay in their homes, to help them so they can indeed get out in somewhat of a timely fashion, try to stay a little bit dry, which is difficult, as you can imagine, in this type of situation.
Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: All right. Jason, thank you very much.
We know that in Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Cory Booker, he is warning residents that Hurricane Sandy is a lot, lot worse than Hurricane Irene. That storm, of course, caused a lot of worry in the tri-state area last August. In the end, Irene was a little bit more bark than bite. And so I want to bring in the mayor to talk a little bit about this on the telephone here.
Mayor Booker, are you concerned because in light of what happened with Irene, that people, you know, they might not be taking this all that seriously?
MAYOR CORY BOOKER, NEWARK, NEW JERSEY (via telephone): Yes, I absolutely am. And that's the biggest concern that we have all through our first responders and emergency preparedness people now is to not realize that in cities like mine, where there are areas that flood, that the brunt of the storm is going to hit during high tide. So you're going to have high tide and a storm surge during the full moon. It's going to be a very, very perfect situation for epic flooding in places like Newark. And so, you know, having people not using precaution, not leaving now before the storm hits really sets up a situation where they could be stuck in their housing without power well past the time that the storm leaves. And the storm is going to be twice as long in duration than Irene was.
And then you also get the problem where people might realize, hey, it's time to go, but at that point many of the main access routes out of our city or to higher ground are blocked. And even during Irene, we had to do numerous rescues of people who were stuck in cars, where the water rose. We had to get a small aquatic teams out to rescue them. So at this point we're asking people to use common sense, to embrace prudence and caution and leave the flooding areas of our city.
MALVEAUX: Mayor, very quickly here, if you can, where do people go? If they are in Newark, if there is flooding, they need to leave, where should they actually be heading?
BOOKER: Well, in Newark, and in all of Essex County, we have a number of shelters. In Newark, we have a family friendly shelter called JFK. In Essex County we've got the Codey Arena. They can call 211 for information in general about the northern New Jersey area, or in our city they can call 973-733-4311 and get all of that information. They can get it all from my Twitter feed, FaceBook. We're putting it out in every way that we have. A key thing is, right now the primary concern we have is the immediate safety of our residents as this storm barrels in with significant force.
MALVEAUX: All right, Mayor Booker, thank you so much. We want to bring the governor on. This is Chris Christie. The New Jersey governor is holding press conference right now to talk about what needs to be done. You need to listen in. Here he is.
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, NEW JERSEY: And so we need people to stay off the road. Motorists should check 511nj.org, that's 511nj.org, for up to the minute information on road closures.
Talk about the power situation. Right now statewide -- and these are approximate numbers, everybody, they're approximate numbers -- 35,000 people state-wide without power, 21,000 of those are in the Atlantic City electric area, 13,000 from JCP&L and about 1,000 for PSE&E with a negligible (ph) number from Orange and Rockland County Company.
BPU is working to assist after (ph) the industries and obtain the needed approvals for essential SJI employees and subcontractors to access Atlantic City, it's support of the combined heat and power generation units servicing Revel and Borgada.
We're also monitoring the assisting, if necessary, the utility companies' efforts to open staging and housing areas to accommodate the thousands of outside crews and their heavy equipment that are migrating into the state to assist in our recovery efforts. And that stuff has already begun. Currently there's 15 staging areas that set up around the state to accommodate the influx of crews. The crews will be housed and dispatch from those areas to where they're need.
We're also working with the New Jersey State Police to obtain needed authorization to enable JCP&L to land helicopters at the company's staging areas, which are open fields, if and when necessary to try to move folks around more quickly. BPU continues to receive updated information from the four companies regarding external aid secured through regional mutual aid agreements, and for private contractors.
I know we've discussed this over the last few days, but if you do not have power, please do not choose today as the time you decide to tap in to your creative juices and jerry-rig a power source. We need to be careful of the potential dangers of portable generators and back- feeding during power outage, in addition to some of these dangerous alternatives that folks may pursue. Please, we said this the other day, if it looks stupid, it is stupid and you're going to wind up hurting yourselves and others. There's going to be a long period of time for some folks where we're going to be without power here. We are only in the beginning of the storm. The storm is still, you know, a couple hundred miles off the New Jersey coast and you're seeing what's happening already. So, it's going to be a while.
MALVEAUX: Governor Chris Christie. You've been listening to a news conference. In his blunt manner, as always, saying, if it looks stupid, it is stupid, discouraging folks from trying to come up and jerry-rigging their own power. Warning a lot of folks that they are going to be without power for days. It is not yet developed into that, but certainly they are preparing for that. New Jersey was actually the first state to announce mandatory evacuations. The tolls have been suspended, as well as New Jersey transit system has come to a screeching halt as they prepare for Hurricane Sandy.
And, of course, with eight days left before the election, this hurricane has got the campaigns thrown out the fourth quarter playbooks and really trying to figure out what to do next. We take a look at while the storm, what it could mean for the race for the White House.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Want to head to Atlantic City. Our Mike Galanos is there. Mike, give us a sense of what the flooding is like and clarify, if you will, because there were some reports about the boardwalk being impacted.
MIKE GALANOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are reports -- now, I've not been able to get close to the boardwalk, Suzanne, but -- that the boardwalk partially collapsed here in Atlantic City and I have a special guest that's going to hopefully clarify that, as well.
But just to give you an idea of where I am, Suzanne. In front of me is the convention center, behind me is Bally's, so we're in the heart here of Atlantic City and, really, most pertinent behind me is this storm surge flooding.
If I continued to walk, it would get two-to-three-feet deep. I have seen some SUVs already have some tough times getting around in all of this and one is coming up right now.
But, I mean, basically, this is a ghost town. Eerie feeling driving in on the Atlantic City Expressway as we saw rising water rising up and, basically, that water could be lapping over soon.
With me right now, Lieutenant C. K. Moore of the United States Coast Guard. How fast has this storm surge water hit Atlantic City?
LIEUTENANAT C. K. MOORE, UNITED STATE COAST GUARD: I know we went from a few inches over the seawall to about two to four feet in the matter of an hour and a half, two hours this morning alone.
GALANOS: OK, so, talk about danger zones. I mean, are people calling up are people needing rescues at this point?
MOORE: We've received a few calls. A lot of them (INAUDIBLE) because we didn't have (INAUDIBLE) to help them and assist them at this time, but we ...
GALANOS: So, you can't get to them right now?
MOORE: Not at all.
GALANOS: Your equipment is what? Under water or ...
MOORE: No, it's not under water. It's actually out in Philadelphia in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, so, once this storm passes, we can bring it back in and start doing the assessments.
GALANOS: What capability do you have to help people right now?
MOORE: We have nothing as far as vehicles or boats that we can help them with right now. It's just all information and tell them to get to higher ground, make sure they have the proper amount of rations and to store at least for three days, depending on how the power goes, and to play it smart. You know, to take this seriously.
GALANOS: Does it surprise you how fast this is coming, and you and I are standing in wind gusts at least 50-miles-per-hour right now?
MOORE: Yes, I am very, very surprised. I've been through a few in my career between Rita, Katrina and some other ones over my career, but I have never seen one that came with this type of intensity this quick and that's moving this slow.
So, this is a little different for us, and we've been making proper precautions to make sure we were set for this type of storm. GALANOS: Absolutely. All right, Lieutenant, thanks again. Appreciate your time.
And, Suzanne, you know, I had a chance to talk to some people as I was coming in who were getting out of here. Families just -- you know, it's not safe, so they're at hotels and basically they're making a family event out of it.
They want to be safe. They are cuddled up in lobbies just watching some of our coverage as we speak.
MALVEAUX: And, Mike, we appreciate it. I know your mike -- it's a little bit hard to hear you there, but if you can just follow-up on whether or not that boardwalk is actually collapsed or not.
I know there are conflicting reports about what the state of the boardwalk is. We're going to get back to you as soon as we can clear up some of that sound a little bit.
And, of course, you knowing, the presidential election -- we're talking about days away. Hurricane Sandy is turning out really to be what we were all talking about, this October surprise in the race.
Well, the storm causing both the president and Mitt Romney to cancel several campaign visits. The president was supposed to rally with former President Bill Clinton in Florida. That's not happening.
Just a short while ago, President Obama, he arrived back in D.C., got off Air Force One -- you can see the pictures there -- and quickly got into the motorcade. Normally, he is flown in a Marine chopper from the Joint Andrews Base in Maryland, but weather forcing a road trip back to the White House.
That often happens when the weather is pretty bad. They don't want to take any security risks or chances there. The president scheduled to make remarks about Hurricane Sandy. That is happening in about 20 minutes or so, 12:45 Eastern to be exact, so keep it right here because we're obviously going to dip into that. We're going to carry his speech, live, the briefing.
He will talk, obviously, about what the White House and the administration is doing, the number of phone calls, conference calls that he has been making throughout the morning and throughout the weekend, preparing for Hurricane Sandy.
And, of course, in the midst of all of this, we've got new national polls showing Mitt Romney holding a slight lead in the presidential race, but the president seems to have a tenuous hold on some of the key battleground states.
Our latest Poll of Polls, it's an average of several recent surveys, shows that Romney with 48 percent as opposed to President Obama at 45 percent. That is among likely voters, nationally.
Want to bring in our political director, Mark Preston. Mark, wow, the October surprise that nobody really saw it coming, but it is very important, and you've got fundraisers that have been canceled. You've got campaign rallies that aren't happening.
Eight days to go, clearly, both of these campaigns are looking at ways to adjust. How do we think ultimately this is going to shake out in the days ahead?
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, you know, Suzanne, certainly in the near-term, as you said, campaign events now are being canceled.
President Obama in a short time will brief the nation on what he has learned and what the preparations are, up and down the East Coast, right now, but the campaign still goes on, and, in fact, just about an hour ago some of his campaign advisers held a conference call with us in the media to give us an update on the race.
And, in fact, one of the questions to his chief strategist David Axelrod was, how do you se this playing out over the next eight days? How do you think President Obama will be able to campaign? Will he be able to campaign, and what do you think about Governor Romney?
Let's listen to the audio of David Axelrod answering that question.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DAVID AXELROD, SENIOR ADVISER, OBAMA CAMPAIGN (via telephone): I'm not going to tell Governor Romney what to do and, frankly, I don't think he is going to ask for my opinion either, but as far as the president goes, he has real responsibilities and he, you know -- those responsibilities come first.
And, you know, he is in constant contact with Craig Fugate, with Janet Napolitano and all those with responsibility here and is going to monitor this. It's obviously a very, very concerning situation.
And, you know, in terms of the logistics, you know, we're obviously going to lose a bunch of campaign time, but that's, you know, that's as it has to be and we'll try and make it up on the back end.
So, for us, it's not a matter of optics. It's a matter of responsibility and Governor Romney can decide for himself what he wants to do.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
PRESTON: And there you have David Axelrod. He's chief strategist for President Obama just a short time ago, explaining how the Obama campaign will spend their focus over the next couple of days, what President Obama plans to do, but just a short time after that call, the Romney campaign put out a statement.
And let's just show this very quickly if we can from Gail Gitcho, the communications director, saying, "Out of sensitivity for the millions of Americans in the path of Hurricane Sandy, we are cancelling tonight's events with Governor Romney in Wisconsin and Congressman Ryan in Melbourne and Lakeland, Florida. "We are also cancelling all events currently scheduled for both Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan on Tuesday. Governor Romney believes this is a time for the nation and its leaders to come together to focus on those Americans who are in harm's way.
"We will provide additional details regarding their schedules when they are available."
So, at this point right now, Suzanne, the state of the campaign, President Obama was supposed to hold a rally this morning in Florida. He did not attend. He came back to Washington.
Governor Romney is participating in some campaign events as we speak, but this evening he will not be -- he will cancel his events later this evening. There will be no events tomorrow, Suzanne, so, yes, eight days before the election, this Sandy has thrown a big wrench into the campaign.
MALVEAUX: Is there any sense from the Obama campaign that this really allows the president to do something that Mitt Romney can't do, which is look presidential to have a real test of his leadership at a time that is critical to the nation?
PRESTON: Well, you know, Suzanne, they won't outwardly say that, but, in fact, this is an opportunity for President Obama, I think, to be able to step up and show that he is a leader.
And I think that's why we saw Governor Romney take the action and cancel his campaign events, as well. Because Governor Romney who did pretty well in this last presidential debate, which was about foreign policy, but in many ways that debate was about being the commander-in- chief and being able to lead, and I think that's what we'll see President Obama try to portrait over the next 48 hours, and I think Governor Romney is going to try to do that as well.
MALVEAUX: All right. We'll be watching closely. Thank you, Mark. Good to see you.
You're looking at live pictures. This is from Atlantic City, New Jersey, where Hurricane Sandy is pounding the coast. The eye of the storm expected to make landfall there between 8:00 and midnight Eastern tonight.
As we mentioned, President Obama, he is cancelling campaign events to stand by those being hit by this beast of a storm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: My message to the governors, as well as to the mayors, is, anything they need, we will be there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: We're going to hear the president live later in the hour. About 20 minutes or so is when he is scheduled to speak from the White House. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Those are pictures of Eastern Shore, Maryland, watching Hurricane Sandy. This is a massive storm, already slamming parts of the Mid-Atlantic coastline, as well as the northeast. Rain and winds pounding parts of New York.
Right now, hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from New York City. Millions others hunkering down for the storm.
The city is basically shut down. We're talking about no public transportation. Schools are closed. Broadway shows canceled. Even the stock exchange market, closed.
The mayor says parts of the city could see a storm surge of up to 12 feet high. That's going to happen later today.
Our John Berman is in Battery Park. This is a low-lying section of Manhattan, for those that don't know. And, John, I understand this is where the surge could actually hit. Is that right?
JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely, Suzanne.
You know, earlier this morning about three hours ago at high tide, there was a small storm surge. It came right up over this wall right here and it flooded this area about eight inches off the ground right here. I was walking in water.
That's a small fraction of what it will be like tonight at high tide. High tide here about 8:50 tonight. You know, we heard Mayor Michael Bloomberg say a while ago, after 8:00 tonight, things can get really, really bad, and that is exactly right.
They're expecting a storm surge here anywhere from six-to-11 feet. That would be very, very high, a full two feet higher than we saw last year during Hurricane Irene and that did cause some minor flooding here, but six-to-11 feet would cause some major flooding downtown here in the evacuation zone.
Some 370,000 people were told to evacuate. There were mandatory evacuations issued for this part of Manhattan, also, the other boroughs.
I have to tell you. Over the course of the last few hours, though, I have seen a number of people here, tourists and the like, coming in to take a look at how things are out in the water there.
The police come by every few minutes and tell them to get out of here. This is not a good place to be. As I said, it flooded this morning. This will flood again tonight. You can bet on it.
And the mayor says everyone here needs to be careful. You know, you can't see it coming. You can't see a storm surge coming. It's not like big, lapping waves. It's a slow, creeping rise in the water and, by tonight at 8:50, it will be very, very high.
Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: And, John, show us that statue behind you there, because we noticed earlier in the day when the water was rising, that it really had gotten quite high on that statue.
Do we anticipate that that might actually be underwater tomorrow or by that second surge?
BERMAN: That is the Merchant Marine statue and, earlier this morning when it was high tide and we did see that storm surge, it was up on top, lapping on top of the statue.
I don't think it will be above their heads. If it were, that would be terrible, but I think you could see water, again, higher than my waist here for sure.
It was this high this morning and that was nothing compared to what we're expecting tonight.
MALVEAUX: All right. We hope that people stay in and heed the warnings. John, thank you very much.
You can, of course, continue to watch CNN for the latest on Hurricane Sandy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOVERNOR DANIEL MALLOY (D), CONNECTICUT: We have done everything we possibly can to prepare you for the impact of this storm. Now, that's -- now, it really is time for us to stay home, hang on, pray, and hope for the best. We are prepared for the absolute worst.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Looking at pictures there, Asbury Park, New Jersey. You can see the waves there and the -- just the intense wind that is also blowing, as well. Again, we're talking about this massive storm.
It already has a deadly history, churning along the Mid-Atlantic coastline. Top wind speeds 90-miles-per-hour now.
Hurricane Sandy is now blamed for 67 deaths in the Caribbean and forecasters say it is on a collision course with the Northeast. At last, check it was just 205 miles southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Now, the massive storm could affect 60 million people from Virginia to Massachusetts. Forecasters expect Sandy to combine with a cold front and form a super storm that is likely to cause flash flooding, massive power outages and snowstorms.
FEMA, of course, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, says the storm damage from wind alone could reach $3 billion in its costs.
One of the biggest challenges now? Keeping the power on, getting it back when it does go down.
When that freak blizzard you might recall hit the northeast last October, there was more than 2 million people in five states left without power, some for weeks. Hurricane Irene left 4 million people in the dark, last year.
Well, David Owens is the executive vice president of Edison Electrical Institute. He is in Washington and, David, I really want you to kind of lay this out for us, if you will, because I know the last go-round, my parents were lucky. They were in the area.
The power -- the lines are underneath the ground, so they didn't lose power, but a lot of folks in D.C. and Maryland lost power and couldn't get it back for weeks.
How do you know if, first of all, you are going to be the one that's probably going to lose power and how long before you can actually get it back?
DAVID OWENS, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, EDISON ELECTRICAL INSTITUTE: Well, you really don't, but I will say this is a storm of dimensions we've never seen before. Many suggest it's a 100-year storm, tremendous flooding.
As you pointed out, the storm is moving very, very slowly, 15-miles- per-hour, covering an area of over 1,000 miles in diameter, so it's tremendous, torrential rains, tremendous flooding, wind gusts up to 90-miles-per-hour, so we anticipate that there will be some tremendous destruction of electric utility property, which is necessary to keep the lights on.
So, we're very concerned, but we have been getting prepared for this storm for several days. We have personnel that are coming from as far west as Washington state to help in any restoration efforts with respect to the loss of electricity.
MALVEAUX: Now, we're already getting reports, 116,000 people without power across seven states.
OWENS: Yes.
MALVEAUX: Do you think -- I mean, are you more at risk if you are in a place where there's going to be cold and there's going to be a snow storm, a snow element, or where it's warm and there's going to be rain?
OWENS: Well, you're at risk if you are in the coastal areas and there's a lot of flooding because what can happen is our substations -- these are elements that are necessary to provide electricity and substations can become flooded and that will disrupt electric flow.
You're at risk if you are in areas where there are tremendous trees. With wind gusts of the 90-miles-per-hour, it is very likely that some of those trees will blow over into power lines.
You're at risk when you are in areas of trees when there's a tremendous saturation of the soil. With heavy rain like we're having today and we'll have tomorrow, the soil will become so saturated trees will topple over.
So, all of those are areas that we anticipate and we're going to be prepared to address them.
This storm will last through Tuesday or Wednesday. We'll have to assess the damage that's occurred to our physical systems and we'll have to slowly begin to restore service. Obviously, our first responders are a top priority.
MALVEAUX: And we heard Governor Chris Christie in New Jersey saying, look, don't do something stupid like trying to jerry-rig the electricity, if you are out of power, but realistically here, how much time should you prepare to be without power? How many days?
I mean, could we see something like we saw the last time when it was weeks?
OWENS: Well, you know, nobody wants to be without electricity for even five minutes.
As I mentioned earlier, we'll begin to restore electricity, assuming the storm and the winds have died down, probably by Tuesday or Wednesday. We'll begin to assess the damage, so this could be an extended outage.
I can't give you a precise number because, again, the storm has not hit this area yet. We're beginning to brace for the storm's forcefulness. We'll be able to assess and we'll keep our customers well informed.
I've been encouraging customers to call the utility, check their web sites. They'll get day-to-day, hour-by-hour information about the extent of the damage and the estimated restoration times.
MALVEAUX: All right, David Owens, good luck to you and to so many out there who will be dealing with this. Appreciate it.
OWENS: Thank you.
The storm has everybody talking and tweeting as well. I want you to take a look. This is what Spike Lee tweeted.
He says, "Wake up. People, please be safe from the wrath of Hurricane Sandy. Mother Nature don't play and this isn't a joke. Serious business. Seek shelter."
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MALVEAUX: New York Stock Exchange is closed today and the New York subway closed, as well. Roads across the Northeast are closing or are closed already.
That has left millions of folks at home from work today and then, of course, there's the cost and the potential damage. It's all adding up.
Alison Kosik from New York is joining us with some early estimates on all this, but before we discuss that, I do want to address something that we are just getting word of and learning here.
If you can talk about the possibility of the jobs report not coming out on Friday as expected because of the Labor Department being closed for a couple of days. What do we know about that?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. So, we did get word that the Labor Department is considering delaying releasing the October jobs report and this is interesting timing because you remember the election is coming up Tuesday. There's been, you know, a lot of talk as to whether or not the release would impact the election.
Now, as for whether or not this will, in fact, be delayed, we did reach out to the Labor Department. They've yet to get back to us. They still have to decide whether or not they'll be able to put all the data together in time for the Friday release.
Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: And tell us a little bit about what we are seeing so far in costs of this storm before it's even hit.
KOSIK: Yeah. I mean, estimates at this point are all over the map. You know, when all is said and done, you'll probably be able to measure it in the billions. I'm talking about the damage.
And the numbers we're seeing so far in overall economic impact are anywhere from $10 billion to $20 billion. That includes insured losses and property damage.
You know, there are some firms and economists that we've been talking with. They agree with this measure.
You know, you look at the other hurricanes in the past. Irene, there was $10 billion damage from that storm. Ike was in 2008, $20 billion in damages.
This one, though, is so big the estimate I'm talking about is because there are more than a quarter of a million homes in line for Sandy to hit. FEMA says wind damage alone could run anywhere from $2.5 billion to $3 billion.
You know, there's also concern about how much business is being lost as well. And that's harder to measure because, you know, when a business closes up for a couple of days, that's lost business. You can't really get that back. So that's another consideration. Economists also say, Suzanne, is that it may be enough to reduce GDP this quarter. That's going to be interesting as well.
Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: And, Alison, just want to you let you and our viewers know, we are waiting for President Obama at the White House to give an update on the hurricane preps and what the White House administration has done so far. You're taking a look at live pictures there out of the Briefing Room as reporters stand there and basically give a preview of what they expect the president to say. But he'll walk out to the podium. We don't know whether or not he'll actually take a few questions. We anticipate that there will be questions.
But he certainly will have a statement giving an update. He has met in the situation room. He's talked with leaders of FEMA. He's held some news -- well, not news conferences, but, rather, conference calls with some of his key administration figures to talk a little bit about what needs to happen. He has also called a state of emergency in those states along the northeast that are going to be severely impacted by this weather event.
Alison, I want to ask you, very briefly, as we wait for the president to step up there to the mike, the importance of the job numbers here because when you talk about the fact that we might not get that on Friday, that is a number that a lot of people are going to be looking at and we're going to be look at because of the political impact here to make the case. Either the president that has done a good job or -- oh, the president's speaking. Let's listen in.
KOSIK: OK.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hello, everybody.
I just received a full briefing from our emergency response teams, including FEMA and agencies that are going to be helpful in the response and recovery efforts. The Department of Energy, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Health -- Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Obviously everybody is aware at this point that this is going to be a big and powerful storm. And all across the eastern seaboard, I think everybody is taking the appropriate preparations.
I've spoken to all the governors in all these states. They have issued emergency declarations. Those have been turned around quickly. Here in the White House, we have prepositioned assets so that FEMA personnel are working closely with state and local governments. We're making sure that food and water and emergency generation is available for those communities that are going to be hardest hit.
We anticipate that the center of the storm is going to hit landfall sometime this evening. But because of the nature of this storm, we are certain that this is going to be a slow-moving process through a wide swath of the country and millions of people are going to be affected. So the most important message that I have for the public right now is, please listen to what your state and local officials are saying. When they tell you to evacuate, you need to evacuate. Do not delay. Don't pause. Don't question the instructions that are being given because this is a serious storm and it could potentially have fatal consequences if people haven't acted quickly.
The good news is, is that the governors and local officials I think have had a few days of preparation. There's been extraordinarily close coordination between state, federal, and local governments. And so we're confident that the assets are prepositioned for an effective response in the aftermath of the storm. But keep in mind that for folks who are not following instructions, if you are not evacuating when you have been asked to evacuate, you're putting first responders at danger. We're going to have to have search and rescue teams in and around multiple states all at the same time. And , although we've got Coast Guard and the Department of Defense all positioned, if the public is not following instructions, that makes it more dangerous for people and it means that we could have fatalities that could have been avoided.
Transportation is going to be tied up for a long time. And probably the most significant impact for a lot of people, in addition to flooding, is going to be getting power back on. We anticipate that there are going to be a lot of trees down, a lot of water. And our -- despite the fact that the power companies are working very closely with their various state officials and local officials to make sure that they are bringing in as many assets as possible and getting those ready in preparation for the storm, the fact is that a lot of these emergency crews are not going to be able to get into position to start restoring power until some of these winds have died down. And because of the nature of this storm, that may make -- that may take several days. So the public should anticipate that there's going to be a lot of power outages and it may take time for that power to get back on.
The same is true with transportation. There are going to be a lot of backlogs. And even after the storm has cleared, it's going to take a considerable amount of time for airlines, subways, trains, and so forth potentially to get back, you know, on schedule depending on the amount of damage that has occurred.
Let me summarize just by saying that I'm extraordinarily grateful for the cooperation. Our state and local officials. The conversation that I've had with all the governors indicate that at this point there are no unmet needs.
I think everybody is taking this very seriously. We've got prepositioned all the resources that we need. But right now the key is to make sure that the public is following instructions.
For those of you who still need additional information about how to respond, you can go to ready.gov. That's ready.gov. And that website should provide you with all the information that your family needs in terms of how you can prepare for this storm.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the people who are potentially affected. We are extraordinarily grateful for our first responders because they are going to be working 24-7 around the clock nonstop. And I want to make sure that our thoughts and prayers go out to all those who may end up dealing with the very difficult situation over the next several days.
Last point I'll make, though. You know, this is going to be a big storm. It's going to be a difficult storm. The great thing about America is when we go through tough times like this, we all pull together. We look out for our friends. We look out for our neighbors. And, you know, we set aside whatever issues we may have otherwise to make sure that we respond appropriately and with swiftness. And that's exactly what I anticipate is going to happen here.
So I want to thank all the federal teams, state and local teams that are in place. I'm confident that we're ready. But I think the public needs to prepare for the fact that this is going to take a long time for us to clean up. The good news is, we will clean up and we will get through this. All right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about the impact on the election, sir?
OBAMA: I am not worried at this point about the impact on the election, I'm worried about the impact on families and I'm worried about the impact on our first responders. I'm worried about the impact of our -- on our economy and on transportation.
You know, the election will take care of itself next week. Right now our number one priority is to make sure that we are saving lives, that our search and rescue teams are going to be in place, that people are going to get the food, the water, the shelter that they need in case of emergency, and that we respond as quickly as possible to get the economy back on track.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) --
OBAMA: All right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What time is the --
OBAMA: Thank you, everybody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What kind of (INAUDIBLE) impact?
MALVEAUX: President Obama saying that he's putting off his concerns about the election. That he wants to make sure that people are safe. He is offering his thoughts and prayers. The president also saying that he has mobilized all of the assets of the White House. He has met with departments of energy, transportation, homeland security, as well as health and human services.
Says that he's reached out to all the governors of these states that will be impacted by this hurricane. Emergency declarations have also been declared. He says he is confident in working with the governors, reaching out to them, that they have been preparing for the last two days, that they have what they need. But he also says, too, he warns that this is going to make landfall in the evening. It will be a slow- moving process. That millions of people will be impacted by this storm. He says it is a big and powerful storm.
A couple other things he warns. He says that while the Coast Guard is in place, while they have assets prepositioned, that transportation is going to take a long time to actually get back to normal. He also said it's going to take a long time to get power back. A lot of trees are going to go down. There's going to be a lot of water involved as well. But again, he is trying to appear confident and tell the American people that this is something that obviously we can get through. But, again, that it is going to be, in his words, a difficult -- a difficult time to do that.
And if you are in Sandy's path, FEMA tweeted some helpful information today. You want to take a look at this. Your phone lines may be congested during or after Sandy. So to let your loved ones know that you're OK, send a text or update your social networks.
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MALVEAUX: Hurricane Sandy ripping a path up the Mid-Atlantic coast. This is where preparations have been going on for a couple of days. President Obama visited the National Response Coordination Center in Washington just yesterday to check out the emergency operations going on there and across the region where Sandy could affect 60 million people. Windows boarded up. Store shelves are empty now. Elizabeth Cohen, she's joining us to talk a little bit about preps.
I was in Maryland over the weekend and --
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, so you saw --
MALVEAUX: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Hours long lines for Costco and Safeway and people at the airport just, you know, clambering to get out. If you're there in the eye of the storm, what should you be doing?
COHEN: Well, let's -- first off, people are in different situations as this storm is in different situations up and down the country. So if you're still in a place where you can get out and go shopping -- and there are some people who are in that situation -- here's your shopping to do list. Here's what you need to get.
First of all, you need to get five gallons of clean water per person. So that's very important. As long as --
MALVEAUX: For how many days do you think?
COHEN: It really depends on what area you're in and what the forecast is for your area. But if you've got five gallons per person, that's good for a time. That's going to keep you for a while.
MALVEAUX: OK.
COHEN: And also a three to five day supply of non-perishable food. So that sort of covers that span of time. And also a portable radio, flashlight, and extra batteries. And those batteries are so important. All of this great stuff is not going to be useful to you if you have no power and have no batteries. And, also, a first-aid kit and prescription medicine.
MALVEAUX: So what if you're -- it's too late. What if you're -- you're already stuck in your house. All those supplies are gone and you don't have what you need. Is there a back-up that you can do here or --
COHEN: Yes. Then you're going into survival mode. And here's what you need to know about that. First of all, remember that refrigerated food doesn't last long. So once the power goes out, you've only -- that food is only good for four hours. And that's if you keep the door closed, right. So if you're opening and closing while the power's out, it's even less than that.
Don't eat food beyond that window, because if you're sick, you're not going to be able to, you know, make good decisions and help your family and what not. So be careful about that.
MALVEAUX: Sure.
COHEN: Avoid windows and go into the basement. And, also, bring blankets with you. In some of these areas, you could be stuck there for a while and it will get -- it will get cold.
MALVEAUX: I've also heard, too, as much as -- you know, when the power goes out, people love to light candle, but that's not a good idea because there have been so many accidents with houses catching on fire and blankets and all that stuff, that that's not good.
COHEN: Exactly. And the firefighter are not going to be able to get to you. There's an excellent chance they're not going to be able to get to you. So, yes, be extremely careful about that.
MALVEAUX: What about if you're in a shelter? What if you have to seek shelter?
COHEN: If you have to seek shelter and if you're wondering where to go and if you do still have power, if you go to cnn.com/empoweredpatient, we have a list of shelters. You can just go on the list and it does it by area and you can see all of that there.
We also have a longer list of all of the things that you should have with you and the precautions that you should be taking. And there are shelters open up and down the eastern seaboard.
MALVEAUX: If you need medical attention, what should you do?
COHEN: You know, every situation is going to be different. Some places there will be power. Some places there won't be power. But certainly having a fully charge charged cell phone is going to be very important, assuming that there is still cell phone service, of course. But, you know, hope that there is. If your land line is out, have that fully charged cell phone. Have extra batteries for your cell phone if you have one where they exchange. You know, hopefully -- I've been certainly in hurricane situations where you can still get an ambulance to come to you.
MALVEAUX: Sure. All right, Elizabeth, thank you.
COHEN: Thanks.
MALVEAUX: Good luck to everybody.
COHEN: Yes. Absolutely. MALVEAUX: I hope.
