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Hurricane Florence's Bands Begin Hitting the U.S. East Coast; Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired September 13, 2018 - 13:00   ET

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


[13:00:00]

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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: An extremely dangerous storm closing in on the Carolinas. I'm Anderson Cooper in Wilmington, North Carolina, and Don Lemon is in Myrtle Beach and Chris Cuomo in North Myrtle Beach.

This is CNN special coverage of Hurricane Florence. We're going to bring you up to the minute developments as the storm starts to make its way inland, with ferocious winds, deadly storm surges and relentless rain.

Our correspondents and reporters are in position up and down the coast as Florence begins its assault. Even though the storm has weakened slightly, it is still extremely dangerous. Florence is expected to hover over the Carolinas as a very slow moving storm.

Some 10 trillion gallons of rain on North Carolina before it's all over. I want to get the very latest on where the storm is right now, where Florence is and where it's headed, most importantly.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COOPER: Where I am, this is the Cape Fear River in Wilmington. The record for it is more than 23 -- right now it's about three feet, a little bit more than three feet. The record is more than 23 feet. That was Hurricane Floyd in 1999.

They expected to break the record going higher than 23 feet, which would mean a rise of 20 feet in some parts of the river.

When people hear this is now a category 2, I think a lot of people wake up and, think it's not so bad. It was a category 4 just yesterday.

Can you just explain why this is still such a dangerous storm?

Because the size of this thing is enormous. It has doubled in just the size of it.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It really has. We always focus on the number. We always focus on the winds. With this storm, it's not the winds that matter. It's the duration of the storm. It's the size of the storm. The storm is incredibly big. It keeps growing in size. The fact that

it's going to sit along the coast for 24 to 36 hours is going to be devastating, especially when you have 100 mile per hour winds.

Like I was mentioning, if you have 100 mph winds with a storm that comes and goes, that's one thing. If you have 100 mile per hour winds in a storm that will sit there for 24-36 hours, that is a completely different ball game.

The fact that this storm was so big and powerful for so long, it carries all that energy with it, regardless of what the wind speed is. That carries all the energy onshore. That will create the storm surge. That's why now, even though it's a category 2, the storm surge heights are still exactly the same as they were when it was a category 4.

So we're still expecting to see 9-13 feet of storm surge.

[13:05:00]

GRAY: On top of that, we will see it through several high tide cycles. Some areas maybe even six high tide cycles. That will cause the storm surge to go even higher than 13 feet because you have to take into account how much the water level rises with a high tide.

COOPER: We will be watching these boats in the marina very closely. We will check in with you throughout the day.

Chris Cuomo is in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Chris, the slow movement of this storm, when it comes on shore, it will be moving about four miles per hour. This thing will last a long time and dump a lot of rain and with that storm surge, this is going to be a very, very huge water event.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: And that's the problem. People are sleeping on the storm because they are seeing the category strength go down five to four, to three and two. That think that means it's getting easier to deal with.

They are wrong. I will take strength over size any day. Duration causes such problems and so much damage. Let's set up where we are for the audience. Do me a favor and put up the map.

North Myrtle Beach. You will see a cup of nine to 10 miles of coast in between the north point in North Carolina where Anderson is in Wilmington. On the south side, you have another major city, Charleston, South Carolina. North Myrtle Beach, which is very different than Myrtle Beach, a lot of local politics and culture that goes into that as well.

But in terms of looking at typography, see how deep we are?

We will see the real action later but there will be more energy coming in here because it works like a funnel effect. You look at the beach around, this is going to be the marker. The pier will be a marker of what this storm does. We can track differences in intensity and height of waves and storm surge right on that and hopefully not a lot of damage index as well.

This beach is very shallow. People all morning on TV have been calling these dunes. This is not a dune. This is landscaping. This is grass. This is not very absorbent and not very high. It is certainly not effective.

This is a normal high tide pooling we are showing over here. This is just normal. If the water comes here ordinarily, imagine what happens with another 10 feet; remember, that's 10 feet squared. Right here, the water will be 10 feet. Where I'm standing right now. Obviously you see a big problem.

That leads us to what worries us most here on the ground. Look at all these people. We talked to the officials in the county and they said 85 percent evacuated and the numbers here are 15,000 all year around; 70,000 or 75,000 in the high tourist season.

Look at this. The number of people, take it over to the right and show how many people are here. They are ganged up because that's where the local parking lot is and a local watering hole that people were at last night.

Not only are there so many people here but, Anderson, the casualness of the attitude toward this storm, it is not going to be that bad. I was here for Hugo. That was a four. This is only a two.

These are not intelligent statements to be making because where they are standing right now is going to be 10 feet of water in all likelihood. And it's going to be lasting for about 30 hours.

So officials, as a result, are going to put in a curfew starting tonight, 7:00 to 7:00. Even though the evacuation for all these people was mandatory, look at this mom with her little baby, playing in the pool. It's a beautiful moment for a beach day. But that's not what it is.

You will see them to your left with that beautiful dog that keeps going in the water. Beach day now but bad day coming very soon. Even though it's mandatory, they can't force people to leave lawfully. They can control movement.

So they are going to institute a curfew. Right now, what is just a boon for surfers, the surf was amazing. Full disclosure, Jay and I went in the water this morning. It's really warm, which is one of the reasons we are seeing this sky. It is absorbing so much energy, slowing it down.

You'll see the sweep of the clouds are already in place. This is the energy pattern that we are going to see. The back side, what they the dirty side of the storm, will have a whip effect on this whole 10-mile stretch of the beach. I'm very worried about what happens, especially with the population density.

We will go now to Dianne Gallagher in New Bern, North Carolina. Dianne, the officials here say all of the first responders are staying

on in 12-hour shifts. One of the reason is these people. They have to be here to ensure safety whenever they can. It's not a job they wanted to do. But now, they are going to have to.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not at all, Chris. We just came out to Union Point Park. Before this, we were at the emergency --

[13:10:00]

GALLAGHER: -- manager's office in Craven County.

When we were leaving, there was someone calling, saying, can someone please come get me?

They told them, sorry, at this point, you have to shelter in place. We've had several bands of the wind and rain and we are starting to get it again. We are on a road. I want to you see how high up this water is already. Behind me here, this is a public park. There are swing sets that are now starting to go under water.

And we have not experienced the bulk of the rain we are supposed to get. This is the reason why. This is the Noose River. It kind of converges in Craven County with the Pamlico Sound, which creates this perfect storm, if you will, for severe flooding in the Craven County area. New Bern, North Carolina. Harlow, North Carolina, Moorhead City, North Carolina.

If I can get my photographer to pan over, you can start to see some of the boats and the docks are going under water right now as well.

Chris, I'm almost six feet tall and this is already up to my knees of water. We are waiting for the rain to start setting in. The worst part about all of this in New Bern is the fact that they're are worried about the back end. You were talking about that dirty back end of the hurricane.

Also because this Noose River spills back out into the ocean, all of the flooding that happened inland that Hurricane Florence is going to bring into, all of this water here, into the inland part of North Carolina, the flood they are worried about, this water will come back out and likely reflood the area at the end of the hurricane.

Once most people have gone away. So they are worried about a double effect here. I want to you look over there. There are buoys moving and the wind is picking up a little bit. It's coming in these bands like a hurricane does. But sometimes it's super strong. We can't keep our hats on.

We watched the birds and the geese struggle to get over the water to get onto land. One almost slapped me in the face it was struggling so hard in the wind. The rain has come in driving sheets about an hour ago. Since then it has been on and off.

So here right now for the most part, the hotels are all full. We had a hard time even getting a room because people are trying to get out but we've talked to many who've said, oh, it's just a category 2. It's turning south. It's not that big of a deal.

The problem is going to be they won't be able to rescue them when the flooding happens immediately after this hurricane. So they have lots of people in place. They've almost 700 in this county working and waiting for Hurricane Florence to come through and do rescues afterwards. They have a dive team from Indiana that is here waiting with them as well to assist.

Chris, I have to tell you, I am worried because look at all of this flooding right now. This is a public park. There were children playing here five minutes ago before a police officer came and made them move with their parents.

So if this is what it looks like before the hurricane actually rolls in, I am really fearful for New Bern as it coming in later today and tonight.

CUOMO: Thank you very much, Dianne. You are outlining the occurrence. We were talking while I was listening to your report. Everybody wants to be wrong about storm damage and duration and we want it to be better. It's the only time in journalism you're hoping your information is bad because you want this to have as little impact as possible.

But you have to prepare for the worst and I have never seen this many people in a mandatory evacuation zone in the exact place where people don't want them. Now, fair point. The storm is not here right now. Dianne Gallagher is a little bit north of us. That's how big of a difference it is in terms of the conditions because of what part of the storm you are seeing, which part of the band.

But the duration of 30 hours is a game changer. What happens in these situations, unfortunately, people who cover these situation and survive them learn this lesson and hopefully they never forget it.

Once the window closes, it stays shut for a long time, usually six or eight hours. This one they're predicting 30. So that's a day plus of not being able to move and dealing with conditions that can completely change the area.

When Hurricane Hugo came through here, none of this existed afterwards. They built it back out. The population is more than ever and so is the risk.

Don Lemon's in Myrtle Beach. We're in North Myrtle Beach. He's in a different beach, different state, same situation.

But show these people again, because I've never seen this. There must be 250 people around us right now on the beach in North Myrtle Beach in a mandatory evacuation zone, taking in what is apparently is a breezy, beautiful beach day but it's about to change.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: I can't see you, Chris, but it's a completely different story where I am. Let's take a look around. The person like me who loves to talk and loves people and shout at people, there is hardly anybody -- [13:15:00]

LEMON: -- on this beach.

You got 10 miles of beach where you are. I have Myrtle Beach has about 60 miles of beach. The only people really here are maybe a couple of people who live here, maybe a couple of tourists but mostly media hanging out as far as the eye can see. Hotel after hotel, pretty much empty.

If you want to get into a hotel, you have got to get one of the bands. You are not supposed to be here. If you are here, you have to get a band and that's the only way they know you are staying and you are riding this thing out which is not a good idea.

High tide, Chris was talking about the difference between -- the distance between the beach and the hotel. Show that way. It's really not that far when you consider especially if you are looking at big, long beaches or wide beaches in the northeast and down the Gulf Coast.

I will walk out a little bit. High tide was at 11:30 this morning. Pretty much came all the way up to it. They call it a dune and I call it landscaping. It's not enough of a barrier to keep you safe.

This is about 15 feet. Before that, about 10 more feet out here. You can go out for a little bit. It's shallow and shallow and that's how that water builds up and builds up here.

People are heeding the warnings here. This particular beach closed, Myrtle Beach, at 8 o'clock this morning. They said everyone had to get off the beach. Obviously there are still some stragglers and there is media here.

There is a curfew by the city manager they put into place starting at 7:30 tonight until 7:30 in the morning. That could extend a little bit.

Here's what you should know about this area. It's from Memorial Day to Labor Day, that's their tourist season, their beach season, their summer season. They're not here because of the climate. Because of this particular climate, this can go well into November, maybe even a little bit later because of the problem here right now is heat.

It's warm. These hotels are usually filled with people. But look at this. Miles and miles and only a few people here to see. As I was coming in today, I saw those ominous clouds that they tell you that something bad is brewing out there in the ocean. I saw it and I felt it.

I wonder if my colleague, Miguel Marquez, felt it. He is in Carolina Beach, riding out the storm.

What do you have for us?

What are you seeing? MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are feeling the first pulse of Florence that has already come through here. The first tentacle of this massive monster storm that already came across and we are expecting more very shortly. The next hour or so, the winds will really pick up.

The current conditions right now, we are seeing 30 to 35 mile per hour winds and the waves are really impressive. They have been growing throughout the day. We are on a waning tide right now and the waves are washing up onto the beach and threatening the berm that is along the beach here, the giant berm that goes up and down here.

The problem they are going to have here is not so much the wind but the flooding. You will see the waves like this plus a storm surge that will push several feet of water into the area. Basically a massive truck, a bulldozer of water pushed into land by the storm. And 20 or 30 inches or more of rain on top of that.

They expect at least a third of the town here in Carolina Beach to be flooded and inaccessible because the one road in and out always floods, even on a good day. The other big concern is the Brunswick nuclear power plant. Duke Energy taking the steps to start shutting down the two nuclear power units there ahead of this storm.

They are expecting winds of at least 75 miles per hour. Gusts right now but when the winds become sustained, that's where the real damage and difficulty will be. And that's what we are waiting for now in the next hour or so. We expect the winds to hit about 45.

That's when the bridge into town will have to be shut down for safety reasons and emergency personnel will no longer respond to emergency situations. You are on your own.

LEMON: All right, Miguel Marquez, Carolina Beach. This is where we get the first indication. We will feel the winds coming in and see it with the clouds and see the water come up.

That's the big concern. Storm surge, storm surge, storm surge. That's how people die in storms. They drown. The water does it, even more so than the winds.

This is CNN's special coverage of Hurricane Florence. We have it all covered for you. Be sure to stay tuned. I'm Don Lemon in Myrtle Beach.

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[13:20:00]

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COOPER: Back here in Wilmington, North Carolina, residents are ready. Businesses are boarded up as Hurricane Florence is moving in. With me right now is Wilmington mayor, Bill Saffo. Thanks so much for being here. This is going to be a huge water event talking about storm surge and rain. There may be at much as eight months' worth of rain in Wilmington over the next three days.

BILL SAFFO, WILMINGTON, N.C. MAYOR: That has us really concerned. This is a slow moving system and over us for about 48 hours, dumping a tremendous amount of rain. This thing is going to drop a tremendous amount of rain and flooding. Reminds me a lot of the storm that we had a couple of years ago. But this thing is going to drop a tremendous amount of rain but have a lot of flooding.

COOPER: But you have had a lot of rain already.

SAFFO: Yes, we have. We have already seen our usual annual rainfall. So this will be a significant event for us as a community.

COOPER: And the key to your river, the --

[13:25:00]

COOPER: -- record was in 1999 with Hurricane Floyd.

You think it's going to go higher?

SAFFO: I think it'll go higher --

(CROSSTALK)

SAFFO: -- we are predicting 20 or 30 in some areas, isolated areas, 40 inches of rain. So that's a lot of rain and it's a big system. It's going to be here for some time.

COOPER: What is Wilmington going to look like?

SAFFO: We may go through a couple of high tides. Depending on when it comes in, which it looks like about 8 o'clock in the morning or tomorrow, we could see a significant storm surge of 9-12 feet.

Then of course downtown area, especially water (INAUDIBLE) will probably be flooded and the barrier islands will definitely be flooded.

COOPER: To an area like this, with the marina, what happened to these boats?

If this thing raises 20 feet or even 10 feet, that's a lot.

SAFFO: What you see behind me will be gone. The people that put this marina in are compensated to make sure they put the pilings in there higher than what they anticipated, thought that would be.

But you could lose this entire marina.

COOPER: Do you feel like most people have evacuated and heeded the warnings?

How are shelters been?

SAFFO: The shelters are filling in, five of them that are open. A lot of people heeded the warnings and have left town. I would say over a quarter of the population is left. What our concern is, with all this water we will have, it will be dumped upon us.

These people will try to come back to the city and check on their property and get back to their homes. There may be a couple of days before those rivers and creeks go down low enough that they can get through. The highway patrol will be monitoring Interstate 40 coming into the city, Wilmington 421, 17, all of the major cities that come -- roads that come into the city --

COOPER: Do you worry that people woke up today and heard cat 2 and said, oh, OK, it's not going to be that bad?

But the reality is the size of the storm is just huge.

SAFFO: The ones that we think of like that are the ones that sometimes are the most dangerous because of the amount of water that they drop. And that's what you can't anticipate. You just don't know.

COOPER: It's also moving so slowly. You can walk faster than that.

SAFFO: And the system is almost 400 miles wide. It will be on top of us. It'll be torrential downpours for long time with high winds.

COOPER: Mayor, I know you've got a lot of work ahead of you. I appreciate you taking the time to talk to us.

SAFFO: Thank you.

COOPER: I wish you the best.

Mayor Saffo; we will talk to the mayor over the next couple days. We've got breaking news from Washington, a surprising new development involving the president's Supreme Court pick and the FBI. Stay with us for that.