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Storm in New York Upgraded; Potential Flooding on New Jersey Coast; D.C. Has Battled Winter Storm For Over 24 Hours. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired January 23, 2016 - 13:00   ET

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


[13:00:00] ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The mayor of New York, who says everyone, all those people who are walking behind you, whether it be to snow -- you know, throw snowballs, or whether it's those who are actually try to get around, they all have to be off the streets, off the roads by 2:30. What's the response, so far, from people there?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, right now, people have come up, because they have the opportunity to come up. But it's pretty clear, the more time they spend out here, they made a bad decision. This weather in New York has transitioned dramatically from what the original forecast was. That's what the city officials and the governor are seeing. They are seeing a storm that went from being a minor inconvenience, now to a potentially a very deadly consequence. And so, that's why they're very quickly having to shift their plans and doing it in a dramatic way. As you point out, their travel ban going into effect. Also some partial evacuations going on as a result of coastal flooding. And then, on top of that, just the hazards of moving about on the road, a shutdown of the major transportation -- public transportation, that is. So, you know, there you've seen it, step by step, the actions that have been to be taken. New York is not the only city, though, that has had to make some dire decisions.

Miguel Marquez is joining me now from Baltimore. He's there with the mayor. Let's talk about how things are there. Miguel.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRSPONDENT: Yeah, we're at the Federal Hill area, and I'm here with the mayor of Baltimore, who I'm hoping can give us a little update. We're supposed to be seeing the end of this storm at this point. What are you hearing weather-wise?

STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE, MAYOR OF BALTIMORE: We have a ways to go. We're a little more than halfway done. We know we're going to have another surge of weather this evening. So that's why we're telling people, please, stay off the roads, stay inside, if you need to drive. If you're walking around, just be careful.

MARQUEZ: As much as 2 inches an hour overnight last night. Do you expect that pace to keep up in this next surge?

RAWLINSG-BLAKE: We think it might slow down for a little bit, but this evening, we are thinking it's going to go to that pace, plus with the heavy wind. So that's going to be the problem. MARQUEZ: We have a -- somebody who doesn't really care about what

we're doing here. Look at that. The people getting out here -- people are -- it is gorgeous out here. It is lovely. People are getting their dogs out here, walking about. But it is still dangerous, yes?

RAWLINSG-BLAKE: It's very dangerous, that's why you want to make sure the roads stay as clear as possible. We've been able to respond to every single emergency call. We were able to make arrests last night because police were able to do what they needed to. That only happens because there aren't abandoned cars out, just left in the streets. So we're very hopeful that will continue, people will continue to use common sense, and we'll be safe.

MARQUEZ: The winds right now, they were predicted to be up to 35 miles per hour. Gusting much higher than that. They feel that way right now. Is that the same forecast you're hearing?

RAWLINSG-BLAKE: Absolutely. It's not pleasant out here. I know it's not pleasant for you, but it's going to get worse. It's going to get about 50 miles an hour later on today.

MARQUEZ: Well, as a weather nerd reporter, we always love a good storm and it's nice to have a proper one. But Baltimore seems to be weathering this fairly well. I do notice that the emergency routes are able to keep open. I see a lot of cars were able to be taken out. How is all of that working?

RAWLINSG-BLAKE: We're tough here. We know how to weather a storm. And again, we've been through this before. People know what to do. Everyone went to the market. Everybody got their movies, their books. We're ready for this.

MARQUEZ: And there has been some crime throughout the city, but police on 12-hour shifts. How are they able to operate and work?

RAWLINSG-BLAKE: Police are on 12-hour shifts. Our crews that are out with the trucks are on 12-hour shifts. They've been doing a great job staying on top of the calls. Like I've said, we made gun arrests last night, some commercial robbery arrests last night. They've been very nimble, because we pre-positioned some of our first responders.

MARQUEZ: One of the best concerns, obviously, is very narrow neighborhoods, unrelated to the storm, but we were able to get there just as fast as we would. very narrow streets, a house fire. If you have that, how tough is it? How sure are you that fire engines can get to that emergency?

RAWLINSG-BLAKE: This morning, we had a house fire. Unfortunately, with a fatality, The response time was comparable had there been no snow. So we're feeling pretty confident that we're going to continue to be able to respond as long as people stay off the roads.

MARQUEZ: Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, thank you very, very much. We really appreciate you coming out to see us. As we have fun in the snow, just over halfway through with this thing, a lot more to go. Baltimore bracing for even more snow and wind ahead. Martin.

SAVIDGE: Miguel Marquez, thank you very much for that update. And thanks to the mayor as well.

You know, as you listen to these official updates, one thing that strikes you is that they keep talking about, well, it's going to get worse before it gets better. Hard to imagine, considering what we've been going through already.

A person who would definitely know, as to what's going to happen, at least weather wise, Chad Myers. He joins me now from Times Square. And, Chad, we continue to hear from public officials this concern like later today, just take warning today, it's going to really get bad.

[13:05:05] CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The snow is going to continue. And what I'm noticing here as just a weather professional is that the snow is making noise when it hits me. That means it's under-developed snow. It's kind of a snow-sleet pellet coming down now. Those snow-sleet pellets don't pile up as fast as light, fluffy snow, but it is still as heavy to move. Now, people in New York are still playing in this. I was driving around for three or four hours with a photographer, taking beauty shots that you're probably seeing on TV, and not knowing who is in New York City, but cars are now getting stuck. People are still trying to play in it. We know a few of the shows are being canceled here in Times Square. A lovely shot. It's hard to tell whether it's daytime or nighttime, because it's always this bright and you can't see the sky anyway.

I have Caitlin over here. Caitlin is from Albany. You're from upstate, I'm from upstate. Does this make your day or is this like, I just wanted to get down here for fun? I just wanted to be down here for fun. Albany gets snow, Buffalo gets snow, Cheektowaga. I mean, all of those areas, we're going to get more snow?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm used to it, I don't have to like it.

(LAUGHTER)

MYERS: Now, you're going to see a show?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. We're going to go see Allegiance.

MYERS: Did you see the line earlier today? Were you in that line?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was not in that line.

MYERS: It was three or four hours just to try to get tickets and now we're hearing some of these matinees are being canceled. So can you imagine Martin standing in line for hours waiting for half-price tickets and then finding out there would be no show because performers can't go to town anyway.

SAVIDGE: I really sympathize for the standing outside for four and a half hours. I know how that feels, but the disappointment of not going to get to see the show, it would be a disappointment. But, with the travel ban in place, you can understand why that's in effect. The snow does continue to pound down. Thanks very much, Chad Myers.

Allison Chinchar, I want to throw it to you now. Because the real question is, what has transitioned here in New York? Why is this storm suddenly seemed to really have dramatically taken a dramatic change for the worse?

CHINCHAR: Well, they've been able to get, Martin, some very small bands of incredibly intense and very heavy snow. And because of that, they've been able to bring these totals up very quickly. Take a look at this. Elizabeth, New Jersey, 13.7 inches, Middle Village in New York, around Queens, 13 inches so far. A lot of these, Farmingville picking up just around a foot of snow. But the key thing to note are some of the totals we've seen elsewhere. Because, again, the storm is moving towards New York. So those numbers we've just seen, they're going to go up, and they're going to go up by a lot.

Look at this, West Virginia, 34 inches. We're talking just barely just under 3 feet of snow. Redhouse, Maryland, 32 inches. Winchester, Virginia, around 30 inches. And again, around Philadelphia, Emergency Management Office, they've picked up 17 inches. Again, the airport not far below where that has been. And again, it's not just the snow. It's also the snow that's coming down, the poor visibility, the strong winds, all three of those tied together, which is why we have blizzard watches and warnings out for so many of these areas. That's what's causing a lot of the problems. Look at just the intense snow. But do you see these colors? They almost look like a little bit of a purplish color. That would be the intense, heavy bands of snow. That's where we're talking two, three, four inches of snow an hour.

Now, the good news is they move off. So they don't tend to hit the same spots over and over again, but even still, you get one of those bands for an hour, there you've just dropped 2 to 3, 4 inches just in that single hour. And again, the visibility incredibly poor. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, down to a quarter of a mile. New York City, especially along Long Island, again, visibility down to less than a quarter of a mile right now. Baltimore, D.C., about a half a mile to three quarters of a mile. It's not much better.

And again, as that system begins to progress off to the north and east, it's just taking all that poor visibility with it. Cities like New York, you're not going to get any better. It's going to stay this way if not get worse as we progress through the day. Those winds also starting to pick up, 52 miles per hour right now in Ocean City, Maryland. Now up to 43 in Atlantic City, up to 37 miles per hour in New York. And again, those strong winds will stick around for the day today. And it's those strong winds that are going to cause a problem in terms of a lot of the storm surge that we expect to have. We've got that low pressure system that will push off. High tide tonight around 7:23. We also have the full moon and the strong winds. Combine all those three together and that's what's going to cause a lot of the problems with coastal flooding.

The worst areas stretch from around Southern Maryland, all the way up the new jersey coast, Atlantic city being one of the tough spots where we expect moderate to major coastal flooding. But notice New York City, still minor to moderate coastal flooding. So, Martin, that's definitely going to be something they have to keep an eye over the next 24 hours, as well.

SAVIDGE: Well, there is a lot to consider. And you know, it's almost like the atmosphere can't get rid of the snow fast enough. It is just dumping down so quickly here in New York City. We're going to do a check on the coastal flooding, which is the other major concern, as you just heard Allison pointed out, high tide's coming again and there are real, real concerns about what it may do. We'll be back with more in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:12:35] SAVIDGE: I'm Martin Savidge in New York. We're actually standing on Columbus Circle, right on the edge of Central Park. And if you've been following, New York has really found itself going from a relatively minor snow that into now a major and potentially really dangerous one. And city officials have been trying to come to grips with that. There is a travel ban that will come into effect at 2:30 this afternoon. If anybody's out on the road, if you don't have an emergency, you are in trouble with the law. This is their way to try to reinforce to people how serious the circumstance is and it's only going to get worse.

And then there's another problem that's developing. This is on the coastlines. This is New Jersey and even New York. There is the problem of coastal flooding. Now, it's been pushed by a number of reasons. One, we've got heavy winds that are associated with this storm. And on top of that, you've got another high tide that's going to come between 7 o'clock and 8o'clock tonight Eastern Time. And then with that, you've also got a full moon. The potential for flooding in some of the low-lying areas is extreme. They have ordered some partially evacuations in very small areas. But the concern is, what will happen?

Boris Sanchez has been out following the coastal flooding problem there in Southern New Jersey. And Boris, just give us a read on where things stand right now, and what the worry is for the coming hours.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Martin, the worry for the coming hours is, as you said, high tide. Several officials have told us, it's not expected to be as bad as it was this morning, when we were standing in front of a bay that was simply overtaken by water. I got to tell you, we just got out of the car after a few minutes and this is a very good sign. There, the water is starting to recede, significantly. It's gone down several inches since we last saw you in the past hour. And we've seen several cars coming through this area, some neighbors testing their luck out here. It's interesting, because this island, this barrier island, which is between the ocean to the east and that bay that kind of came into a neighborhood on the west, has very different elevations. So even some back roads behind us are untouched by this water, but there's obviously significant flooding here. Chris Christie spoke to the media a short wile ago. Here's what he had to say.

SANCHEZ: All right. It appears we don't have that sound, Martin, but Chris Christie essentially said that areas like this, Margate City, just south of Atlantic City, are a concern for flooding. There's not as much snow here as some other parts of the state. It's expected to stay in the single digits, but there's nowhere for that water to go except into these neighborhoods. Christie explained that at best, by Monday, some of this will clear up. Neighbors are certainly looking forward to that. I talked to one young woman who lives not far from here. She said the water was right at her door. When we get a chance to cross the street and see how these sandbags were holding up by these businesses, frankly, they didn't do much. A lot of sand, debris, and water getting into these businesses behind me. It will be some time before the waters recede and we can see the full extent of this damage, Martin.

[13:15:41] SAVIDGE: I want to be certain, Boris, we're talking about flooding here. I think it's been described as street flooding and that sort of thing. This is not a massive area that has been inundated. These are specific areas that as a result of tide and wind, the water has been forced into, right?

SANCHEZ: I would say certainly what's behind us, this is Ventnor Avenue, I would say it's one of the main streets in this area. There are a lot of businesses here, a lot of commerce, as opposed to more residential back roads. And certainly, that area where we were earlier today in front of that small bay. Anywhere near the bay is really in trouble. Because the water very quickly, within an hour and a half, went from being about 18 inches below the barrier to submerging those neighborhoods.

SAVIDGE: All right, Boris. Thank you very much.

We're going to turn from Boris and now to General Russel Honore, who has the distinction of having the opportunity to speak to in the past. Unfortunately, it tends to be around times of disaster. Something of which Katrina and other areas, you know much about. Let's talk about the issue of flooding here, first, sir. And that is, as you look at this development that's taking place here, in the coastal areas, what are the things they've got to watch for and be aware of?

GEN. RUSSEL HONORE, U.S. ARMY (RETIRED): Well, the impact once you start getting the flooding with, and the impact if you leave the electricity on, you can get into fires. Unfortunately, since it's cold, most of the local officials will try to leave that electricity on as long as you can. And remember back during Hurricane Sandy when the power was left on, the electricity was left on, the surge water came in and a lot of those homes caught fire. That will be the danger going into the evening hours, Martin, as you try to help people shelter in place with street flooding. If that water starts moving in the subsurface and get in there and start causing fires, that's going to be one of the big dangers. And of course, people have not evacuated yet. I think a big priority now would be to start hitting the streets there and start picking the vulnerable population up. The people that we know will not be able to move on their own. And that is one of the challenges that first responders have all the time, when it comes to flooding, Martin.

SAVIDGE: And you know, you talk about the fires, which many people might think is ironic in a flood situation, but actually, we have seen it time and time again. And the other problem is you can't get to put the fire out, because you can't navigate. But let me also talk about -- we know the National Guard in certain areas has been brought out to help in this storm circumstance. What are the kinds of things that the National Guard can do that regular police and emergency personnel cannot?

HONORE: Well, it's the equipment they have, the training that they have. To be able to work as a team and the heavy equipment that high- clearance vehicles, even the ones higher than humvees, that can clear most of these -- that water that you see on the street. And they bring that capacity to be able to go in and help, support the police as well as get the EMS teams in to get people evacuated. That's one of their big contributions. They do it well. They work well with the local police. They practice these type exercises, and the enormous communications capacity that the guard bring.

And there's a saying. We've got National Guard in every area code and zip code in America. And they know that terrain, is another thing they bring. They know their communities. So it's a function of time, when they ramp that up, how many more National Guard they might need, as they go into the evening hours. With all due respect to what's happened in New York, this is kind of a surprise, and that storm is getting a lot worse than they earlier predicted.

SAVIDGE: And they're doing their best to try to adapt and change with it. So, General Honore, thank you very much. And more very true of the National Guard. Many of them are from the very areas in which they serve. That gives them a lot of local knowledge, which is helpful in times like this. This story continues to develop, but unfortunately, not in a good way. We'll be back with more after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:22:27] SAVIDGE: If you don't have to shovel it and you don't have to drive in it, snow can be a beautiful thing. Just take a look at that shot, just a gorgeous view of the Nation's Capital there, surrounded by just a sea of white. Washington, D.C., has pretty much been the epicenter of this storm. And remember, they've been battling this storm now for well over 24 hours. And they're not out of the woods yet.

Jennifer Gray is on the ground for us in Washington, D.C. Jennifer, you know a thing or two about weather. I mean, how are we doing down there?

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, you know, D.C. was in the bull's-eye, and we are still in this. It's not over yet. I do think places west of D.C. and even northeast of D.C. will get higher totals than we will. But this isn't over. We still could get an additional 6 inches. You know, we are still getting very gusty winds here in D.C. And the snow is steadily falling. We're in Freedom Plaza. You can see down Pennsylvania Avenue, behind me, we have a little snowball fight going on. This actually isn't very compactable snow. When we get a little bit of melting tomorrow, I think we'll get a nice little -- get it more compactable, so you'll be able to have a better snowball fight. But they sure are trying. I know the mayor isn't very pleased with all the people out on the roads. She says you need to stay home. They're still trying to get the plows out to clean all of this stuff, and with the people up and about, it really does hinder them as far as getting the roads clear. We are seeing a couple of cars on the road as well. So people are being urged to stay home.

I have this yardstick, of course. We've been measuring the snow, we are in Freedom Plaza. Now it's about 14 inches where we're standing. Like I mentioned earlier, some areas are going to have a little less, some a little more. Because we have gotten some really, really gusty winds. And I want to put it up here on this fountain, too. This gives you an idea of how much snow is accumulating on people's rooftops, their cars. We're seeing about 11 to 12 inches there. That's going to be some pretty heavy snow on top of those roofs. So, still a lot of concerns in the D.C. area. We have seen the snow pile up. I don't think we're going to see that record snowfall. We still have quite a ways to go, before we see that. However, some areas around the district could definitely see record-breaking snowfall amounts, Martin. So, still in this for another couple of hours. It should be tapering off by later this afternoon, into tonight. And of course, we will be here for you. Martin.

SAVIDGE: And we appreciate it, greatly. Jennifer Gray, thank you very much. You know, one of the amazing things about this storm, not so much the depth of snow in any one area, it is the depth of snow over a massive area, that truly makes this storm one for the history books. We'll be back with more, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:28:10] SAVIDGE: You know, before we went to break, we were talking about just the sheer scale of this massive storm. And so, what we wanted to do was bring you some images and video from some of the places that are impacted but maybe we haven't had the opportunity to talk about. Nashville, all the way down Southern Tennessee. They've got snow, they've got problems, they've been working their way through it. Now, fortunately for them, they should be on the backside, in other words, improving. But that just goes to show you, this one from Nashville to New York.

And then, we push out to Charlotte. The interesting thing about Charlotte was this was really an area where there was a strong concern for an ice storm. There was the possibility of maybe a half inch to maybe an inch of ice. Thank goodness, that did not materialize, because I don't know if you understand, an inch of ice in that kind of area would have a devastating impact. It didn't happen, so there, too, Charlotte should be seeing the upside of things. All of that which should inspire hope to those of us who are still standing in the middle of what is a very, very strong developing storm.

Brian Stelter is now out there on the streets of New York and he's the one who can really tell us about how the going is. I've got to remind you, about an hour from now, a travel ban goes into effect in New York City. So supposedly, nobody else is supposed to be out there. Brian. BRIAN STELTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I was just talking to an Uber driver, Martin. He said he got the phone alert, you know, how some cell phone services will alert you, when the city needs to notify you of something. His phone started vibrating, telling him of the travel ban in effect at 2:30. He said I was going to be his last customer of the day. And then, he's heading home to Queens. Right now, we're on Ninth Avenue, going downtown in Manhattan, heading basically through the Chelsea neighborhood. And we can show you here, from the dash cam, that there are a good number of pedestrians out here, maybe too many pedestrians out here. It seems like there's a battle for control of the streets between these cars and these pedestrians, making up the rules as they go here for at least another hour, while there are still some cars allowed out on the roads.

This is a majestic storm, in many ways. It is awfully beautiful, when you just take a look at it. Especially when you see the children coming out to play in this, because this is, in some cases, the biggest snow they've ever seen. The record for New York City, 26.9 inches. There's a chance we could beat that record in the coming hours here. What you see out here besides cabs, besides us, also some bike delivery people. They're out here, of course, delivering food. But we heard Mayor De Blasio actually encouraging those deliveries to stop as well. He doesn't want to see any form of transit. We're stopped now around Ninth Avenue, around 20th street. You can see some folks crossing the street. Not quite as busy here as it was in Times Square. Martin, I have a lot of respect for how long you've been out there, ever since 5 a.m., do you have a secret about how you're staying warm?

[13:31:01] SAVIDGE: It's all in the layers, my friend. It is all in the layering. And I've got about 35 of them on right now. And like that little boy that's in that snow story movie, you know, you just can't move. But it helps effectively. And you know, it's sunny personalities like your own that keep me warm on the inside, Brian. And I do like the observation of the Uber driver saying, hey, you're the last guy, and that's it, I'm going home. Tell that to the rest of the people out here.

(CROSSTALK)

SAVIDGE: Because they need to start shutting it down. And this shows you the worry that officials have. If you think it's been bad so far, sorry, the worse is yet to come. Brian Stelter, thank you very much.

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: Yeah, I was surprised in Times Square to see so many people there. I think that will change soon.

SAVIDGE: Yeah, I am, too. I mean, I am quite surprised. There are still a lot of people. When you're told you can't go out, that's when you want to go out. We'll be back with more information right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [13:35:03] SAVIDGE: And we want to take you back down to Charlotte to show you the images there. Because, tomorrow, of course, as everybody knows, the NFC championship game that's supposed to take place, it will take place, but of course, many people want to get down there and they would have been doing that and travel plans have been disrupted in many areas as a result of this storm.

Polo Sandoval is down there. And Paolo, the good news is the weather is at least not as bad as it was. And hopefully, people are now focusing more on football and less on the flakes, right?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Martin. It is a major difference. Right before the commercial break, you mentioned the layers. A sign that things are improving somewhat. We finally get to lose at least one layer, because it is now a balmy 33, 34 degrees here in Charlotte. Extremely different from what we witnessed yesterday, as this wicked winter storm made its way here through the region. And really the big headline right now, the sun finally came out for the first time since the storm made its way through here, with some of those wicked winds and also freezing rain, yesterday. But what does remain right now, Martin, is the ice. The sidewalks are still covered with it. We've watched a couple of people take a pretty mean tumble here. So, obviously, officials are recommending folks, as they make their way out, as they walk out or drive out, simply be careful. Because, really, in this region of the country, folks here are not very used to this kind of weather. So that's why officials are recommending to folks simply be careful. Also, be patient. The last thing I should mention, there are still roughly 150,000 residents or at least households without power along the mid-atlantic. Many of them here in North Carolina, we spoke to some officials, of the utility company saying the process is going to take a while to get everybody back up and running with, but the crews are working around the clock. In fact, hundreds of utility crews are being brought in from other states to try to speed up the process. But again, I leave you with this picture here. Martin, you see these images and there is hope, there is some light at the end of the tunnel for our friends in the north, including yourself.

SAVIDGE: Yeah, Polo Sandoval, very good to hear the de-layering has finally begun, at least down there in Charlotte. I want to show you now some dramatic images from Barnegat, New Jersey, and it's the flooding that's taken place there. This actually was taken by a law enforcement. We're going to talk to the lieutenant who took these dramatic images right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:40:20] SAVIDGE: And again, increasing information to give you an idea of just how dire this situation is developing in New York City. We're now getting notification from authorities here that as of 2:30, all of the bridges and tunnels in the Manhattan, this would include the George Washington Bridge, will be shut down. Effectively, nobody gets in, nobody gets out. All of this part of the travel ban, trying to make it very plain to people, look, we're not joking, it's serious, you've got to stop moving on the streets because the streets need to be cleared for our first responders and emergency personnel. Nick Valencia, let's go down to him. He's in Washington, D.C. He's

on the streets down there, getting a pretty good read on where things stand in the Nation's Capital as far as transportation. Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, Martin. I'm actually just a little bit outside of Washington, D.C. in a suburb of Virginia here in Fairfax, where we're dealing with a lot of disabled vehicles. (Phil), you're a product of that right now. Your car just got stuck. We're on a thoroughfare right now. What happened?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know, we just tried to make the U-turn to go to 60 East.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now, I'm stuck.

(Inaudible)

VALENCIA: You're stuck now. Have you called for help? Have you tried to get any emergency vehicles to come help you get out and get out of here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to call in a minute.

VALENCIA: You're a part of a crew to help clean up this interstate, aren't you? You're part of the emergency crews?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, we are. We're working with the city today. We're coming from Baltimore. But you can see, it's really bad.

VALENCIA: You've been through this kind of snow before. How does it compare with years past here in Virginia?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It really was different. Last, it was a little bit more like...

VALENCIA: But now it's terrible. We know you're stuck. We apologize for the embarrassment here on national television. But we hope that you get this taken care of here. Martin, this is just really a small example of what's going on here across the State of Virginia. This is actually an interstate here. I'm walking in the middle of a thoroughfare. There's not many cars out here, but there are -- those that are out here are disabled vehicles. The snow is really continuing to pile up pretty high. Lots of snowdrifts. We've seen snow drifts as high as 6 feet. As I can try to get over this. Hopefully, I don't fall in. I'm sinking in with every step.

This is about 3 feet of snow, at least. I just got off the phone with the Virginia State Police. They tell the snow is also now a fatal storm. Yesterday afternoon, unfortunately, there was a 40-year-old man driving home, lost traction in his car, hit a tree and was reportedly pronounced dead at the scene. The huge issue though, of course, is that this snow continues to fall down. It is treacherous, it is uncomfortable, and clearly, very difficult to navigate. This is expected to continue well into 8:00 p.m. tonight. That's when the snow is expected to let up. But the freezing temperatures are going to be and present an even greater obstacle for the officials out here, trying to make sure that all the residents are safe.

Here's the good news in all of this, Martin, is that there's just 22 accidents all across the State of Virginia. Virginia state police telling me that it appears that the governor's advice for everyone to state indoors, well, people have listened to that advice. And are staying inside. We have seen a few stragglers, a few people out here, just trying to see exactly what this snow event is all about. This really has lived up to the hype. And everything that's been predicted here. We understand that in Loudoun County, just a couple of hours away from here, it's 25 inches of snow, extreme whiteout conditions. You can't even see in front of you. Here, it's a much different story. But the snow continuing to come down at a steady pace. Martin?

SAVIDGE: All right. Nick Valencia, thank you very much for the update down there.

You're right, the good news is that those traffic numbers remain low as far as accidents. That is a positive thing out of what is otherwise a pretty negative thing. Let's go now to Lieutenant Keith Germain in Barnegat, New Jersey. I think I got that right, sir. You'll correct me -- Barnegat, thanks. And this is a very different consequence, but of the same storm. It's the flooding situation down there. Lieutenant, you shot some pretty dramatic stuff you saw earlier today. Tell us about it and where do things stand?

LIEUTENANT KEITH GERMAIN, BARNEGAT NEW JERSEY POLICE DEPARTMENT: Again, we just have moderate to major flooding with the next incoming tide tonight. A lot of wires down and just generally treacherous conditions that we want to try to encourage people to stay away there.

SAVIDGE: Is this the kind of thing that you thought you would see, or is it worse or maybe not as bad? I don't know. Your professional opinion?

[01:45:05] GERMAIN: You know, unfortunately, after Sandy and some of the other big storms we've been through here, we absolutely knew what to expect, and that's why we were trying to press the mandatory evacuation and get people out of harm's way ahead of time.

SAVIDGE: Do you think that people listened? Did they pay attention? I think Sandy would have given theme pretty good smack upside the head to say, next time, I'm leaving.

GERMAIN: You know, unfortunately, people tend to have short memories. There were a lot of people that were hesitant to leave. And as the tide started to come in this morning and the heavy snows, that's when they wanted to get out. That presented some issues to our officers who were out there working hard enough, and in enough danger without having to get into freezing cold water and hurricane force winds to try to get people out of there.

SAVIDGE: And when this water comes up, it comes up pretty fast. This is not just some sort of gradual thing. It moves pretty quickly, I imagine.

GERMAIN: Martin, I was down there this morning looking at live downed electrical wires and the water hadn't even come across the road yet and it wasn't an hour later that we had waves crashing into the middle of the travel lane of the roadway. So absolutely, it comes up quickly.

SAVIDGE: So OK, real quick, what's the next critical period and what are you expecting?

GERMAIN: For us, high tide will be done around 10:00, 10:30 tonight and we are expecting certainly more water than we had this morning. So, it's only going to get worse from here.

SAVIDGE: Thank you. That's not good news. OK. Lieutenant Keith Germain and in Barnegat, New Jersey, thank you very much for the update there. Please stay safe and keep us apprised as to what's happening.

General Russel Honore joining me now. And General, flooding is something, unfortunately, you know well. I know it, too, from other instances. But flooding in a snowstorm has got to be a totally different kind of animal. You're struggling with two disasters at the same time.

HONORE: Absolutely. It's hard on people, it's hard on equipment. And you can see what it's doing there those homes as that water splashed underneath them. But Lieutenant Germain is doing an outstanding job there navigating that street.

The good news there, Martin, you saw all those homes are built off the ground, where Lieutenant Germain went through. And that's clearly a postal tidal area, where the water comes in, occasionally, throughout the year, when they have heavy storms. So, great job there by the Lieutenant and a great job of being resilient in that community, by building those homes off the ground. And we're going to have to learn to do more of that, Martin, in years to come, as we continue to have the potential of coastal flooding. And this is just the tip of the iceberg, with scientists telling us what can happen in the future, on a larger scale along our coasts, Martin.

SAVIDGE: And you know, I did notice that those houses were raised up, clearly, and these are the lessons learned. And I think that's the thing that, you know, you're encouraged to see. That we are learning lessons. We are adapting. And we are making changes. That doesn't mean you retreat completely. It just means you've got to build smarter and better.

HONORE: Yeah, it's called resilience. It's a big movement in many of our communities. As a matter of fact, next month, they're having a big convention down in New Orleans where a lot of the coastal communities are coming together to talk resiliency and how do we prepare for potential coastal flooding a lot worse than we've ever seen it in the past, Martin.

SAVIDGE: Let's switch gears, if I can, sir, to another problem and get away from the flooding issue. This one has to do with issues of traffic. We know there are a number of places, Kentucky is one, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and others, where there have been talk of these bad, bad traffic tie-ups. And we're talking stretching for dozens of miles, potentially hundreds of people. And they've been trapped for a long time in their vehicles. I'm wondering, as a man who knows emergencies, what do you suggest be done? How do you handle something like this? Because people are best in their vehicles, but they can't stay there forever.

HONORE: Absolutely. What is going to eventually happen here is they're putting together crews to go out and link up with those people, provide food and water, until they can get the road open. I think one of the lessons those governors are going to learn, and we've seen them from Sandy on, get better and better. You heard Governor Christie and Cuomo talk earlier today with authority about what needs to happen, is that they're going to have to take control of those interstates and not allow all that heavy truck traffic, as we go into these storm warnings, before the snow starts. You know, I've lived overseas in Europe, many places like Germany. They push the trucks off the road. They cannot get on the road during those blizzards. And I think we're going to have to start applying that in the United States to get the trucks off the road before we finish up the evacuation before the big storms come, Martin.

SAVIDGE: Lastly, before I let you go, as you know, a number of emergency steps have been taken now in New York City. Some wonder why they didn't happen earlier. But here now, we're seeing shutdowns of roadways, shutdown of public transportation, and then last week, we just reported you've got the tunnels and bridges that are being closed. All of this seems to fit that emergency planning you know so well?

[13:50:12] HONORE: Absolutely. They are following the script. These are hard lessons learned to get those closed through the night as that snow tapers off, they can go back and do that second and third scraping. And then, they can hit the secondary roads. So they're following the script, a battle drill that's been learned through experience, Martin. We've seen it a lot worst in New York, and we've got an experienced team with the governor as well as with the city and they're doing a good job, backed up by the National Guard. So I think they're doing all the right things at the right time, and it's coming down to the area of having resilient leaders on the job, being able to bounce back tomorrow morning and open that city up.

SAVIDGE: Yeah. I think the thing to realize here is that we're talking about a marathon when it comes to a storm, not a sprint. There is still a long way to go, and you really have to plan how your resources are used. General Honore, thank you for joining us. We're going to check with another big city that has been battling through the storm, that's Philadelphia. We'll do that right after the break.

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[13:54:10] SAVIDGE: New York City continues to be the focus of the story today regarding the storm, only because of the fact that it is a city initially didn't think it was go to be that hard hit, and now it is realizing it is getting walloped. We're not that far away, maybe about 30 minutes or a little over until a travel ban goes into effect, shutting down travel on tunnels, bridges, that means essentially the island of Manhattan will be cut off. That's how dire the circumstance is. Governor Andrew Cuomo last night talked about that. Here are some of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: What we're saying is stay off the road officially. The travel is now banned, and the reason we're doing that is to protect people. Remember, we've had bad experiences in the past where people were stuck on the Long Island expressway for a very long period of time. And we said, well, how did that happen. It is because people went out on the road when they shouldn't have. And that is what this ban will prevent. Because what happens is one car gets stuck and now you have pandemonium. I now feel that the balance has fallen towards protecting public safety. And we're going to commence a ban on roads in the downstate area. We're going to do it in an orderly way, so people have time to leave work and to get home.

[13:55:37] SAVIDGE: And the governor is absolutely right. It only takes one person in a vehicle to begin this kind of cascade of problems that can turn into a really serious situation. Clear the roads, that's the order. You'll be breaking the law if you don't. Meanwhile, Philadelphia is another major city trying to make it through the storm.

Sara Ganim joins us from there on the latest on that town. Sarah.

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, Martin, you know, 15 inches of snow fell in the City of Brotherly Love overnight. We're spending our morning the same way a lot of Philadelphians are. We're shoveling out our cars. I want to show you this, because I want you guys to see at home what this thick snow looks like. This is heavy. This is hard to shovel. I'm really getting my morning workout here to be honest with you. This is the wet stuff. This is a problem for a couple of reasons. We haven't had the power outages here, but it's a problem in the streets. Look how thick this is. These are the streets of Philadelphia right now. Even though the plows keep walking through, and I don't want to get too far into the street, and we do see a lot of people here, but this a safety issue. I have a really great example of this. Look at the Pennsylvania turnpike. This is a huge snarl that was caused when tractor trailers were unable to keep moving down the Pennsylvania turnpike about halfway between Washington, D.C. and Pittsburgh. It caused a major backup. People stuck in their cars for hours and hours on end. The National Guard finally called in to help them to assist them, because there is nowhere for them to go. We have here in Philadelphia, talked to some people having a little bit of fun with this. Here is one guy, coming by right now, doing some cross-country skiing. Enjoying the weather. We've seen runners out here. We've seen people just coming out to enjoy, but I have to tell you, Martin, when you're standing out here, there are times like this, it's OK, there are times when those gusts, 40 miles per hour winds come by. And it's not fun. And the mayor's office is warning them. They're expecting another band will come through tonight, bringing an additional possibly 10 to 14 inches of snow. Finally, the most important thing, Martin, I want to say is this. I have to know from you. You have to tell me. Whose goggles are cooler, mine or Miguel from Baltimore?

SAVIDGE: Don't push me to that kind of decision. I have to weigh in later on that one. Sara Ganim, thanks very much for the update.

GANIM: Come on, Martin.

SAVIDGE: We'll just let you know here in New York, whether you have goggles or not, stay off the roads. The situation continuing to get worse. Our coverage of this storm and the developments still to come. We'll continue in the very next hour. We'll see you then.