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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Hurricane Florence Pounds Carolina Coast as It Nears Landfall. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired September 14, 2018 - 04:30   ET

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


[04:30:00] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: -- as we go down the Carolinas. We are seeing that this storm, regardless of any hype about the category, is doing a lot of damage because of duration. It's moving so slowly and that is a bad thing with hurricanes. Flooding, yes. People in distress, yes. Power outages in the hundreds of thousands, yes.

South Carolina, the story has not even begun. It is noisy here with even 45-mile-an-hour gusts blowing through the palmettos. But this is nothing except one of the critical factors of assessing what Florence will be able to do. Damage over time. Everything is getting a little bit softened up by these winds. And this is going to go on for over a day. And that will all add up we hope not as much as anticipated.

We're going to take a break right now. When we come back we will show you who has gotten hit the hardest by Florence so far. Please stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:35:27] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. John Berman in Wilmington, North Carolina. The outer eyewall of Hurricane Florence is starting to pass over this city. There's a lot of power outages. We've seen pop up recently. You can feel the wind -- feel the wind beginning to blow and the rain has been coming down in sheets at times. Torrential rain.

Atlantic Beach about 80 miles from here. They've had 22 inches of rain already. 185,000 people without power in North Carolina. 6500 people without power in South Carolina. Those numbers could rise and could rise by quite a bit.

The cause of biggest concern at this moment from Hurricane Florence is the storm surge. Again, about 80 miles from where I am in New Bern on the Neuse River, the storm surge there has led to severe flooding. A surge of some 10 feet.

There have been a hundred plus rescues already. We spoke to an operations manager there, about 100 calls coming in for rescues that are still pending. We understand that people have moved up to their roofs in some cases to try to stay safe. The Zodiac boats are out trying to get people, they're doing what they can. The first responders are still out despite the dangers. However, some areas will be impassable. Extreme danger up there on the Neuse River. Just one of the many

waterways that line the Carolina coast. And the storm surge has pushed the water up sometimes with severe, severe consequences.

You will hear that this hurricane, Hurricane Florence, is now a category one storm, top sustained winds around 90 miles an hour. That's not the story. The reduction in wind speed is not the story. It is the size, the breadth and the duration of this storm which is so dangerous. These communities which have already been inundated with water and storm surge, they will feel that for another day. This will continue for 24 hours.

And when you have these winds, even though they're not at 120 miles an hour. They may be 89 miles per hour, when they sustain for a day at a time, that has consequences in and of itself. Especially with the severely wet ground.

Again Hurricane Florence, the inner eye, the center of the storm, about 20 miles off of Wilmington right now. But the storm is crawling. It's moving at about six 6 miles per hour. Right now it's moving to the north-northwest. But it's going to turn, it's going to turn south over Wilmington and then move down the coast, down to South Carolina, in the Myrtle Beach area. We've got people all up and down the coast watching this very, very closely.

There is one picture I want to show you as the winds pick up where I am. Yesterday, we brought you images and sounds frankly from this light station about 30 miles off the Carolina coast. I think we have new pictures from that light station if we can show you. It is in the eye of the storm. This light station is in the eye of the storm which is why it looks like it does which is still. It is in the middle of it. And the wind is not blowing. The water looks incredibly calm right now. That will change as the storm continues to move.

These storms are such complicated things. So whereas yesterday this was ferocious with the winds blowing like where I am right now. Now it is completely still there. Quite a storm we're in the middle of now.

Let's go back to Christine Romans in New York to get some of the other news -- Romans.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, John. A reminder, this is just beginning. A lot to go here for Florence. Thanks. John.

We're going to take a check of other headlines right now. A series of gas explosions killing a man and sparking fires in dozens of homes -- dozens of homes -- across three Massachusetts towns. At this hour, technicians and first responders are in Andover, North Andover, and Lawrence. Look at that. Where a total of 8,000 homes -- 8,000 homes affected. An 18-year-old was killed in Lawrence when a chimney from a home landed on the car he was driving. Andover's fire chief says it looked like Armageddon.

Sources say former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is close to a plea deal to avoid a second criminal trial. It's not clear if the deal would include Manafort's cooperation in the special counsel's Russia investigation. Manafort was convicted last month on eight counts of bank and tax fraud. He has a pre-trial hearing today in a separate trial related to his lobbying for pro-Russian Ukrainian politician. A jury selection in that trial is scheduled to begin Monday.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has won the Democratic nomination for a third term.

[04:40:01] He easily beat actor and activist Cynthia Nixon who tried to position herself as a more progressive alternative. Cuomo's win sets up a November battle with Marc Molinaro, the Republican nominee for governor.

That's it from here. John, back to you in Wilmington.

BERMAN: All right. Thanks, Romans, so much.

The wind really just picking up right now as the outer eyewall passes over Wilmington. Coming up next, we're going to speak to someone involved with the swift water rescue for the county that I'm in, New Hanover County. Expecting to have a very busy morning, a very busy day as Hurricane Florence passes over the Carolina coast. Our live coverage continues next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:45:06] BERMAN: All right. John Berman in Wilmington, North Carolina. We do have breaking news. The 5:00 advisory from the National Hurricane Center just out seconds ago. The latest update is it is having wind speeds of 90 miles per hour. That's a category one storm. But we'll tell you again and we'll tell you later that is not the real story of this storm but 90-mile-an-hour winds. And the eye of the storm, the center of the storm is about 25 miles east of where I am right now in Wilmington, North Carolina.

That sounds close. It's close. And we feel the winds right now from that but it's moving so slowly at six miles an hour. It could take some time before it does pass over Wilmington, which means that Wilmington and the areas surrounding it will feel the power of this storm for hours if not for a full day. 185,000 people without power in North Carolina alone. 6,000 in South Carolina. We've been telling you about dramatic rescues taking place in New Bern. About 80 miles up the coast from where I am. Storm surge there has had serious consequences. We're trying to get an update for you from there.

In the meantime, I want to go out to Topsail Beach. That's about 20 miles from where I am. A beautiful coastal community here on a good day in North Carolina. And that's where we find storm chaser Mike Theiss.

Mike, you were riding out the storm in Topsail. We've seen pictures of canapes collapsing there. We've heard tales of the dunes washing away on Topsail. You've covered storms for a long time, chased some 40 hurricanes. What are you seeing?

Mike, can you hear me?

MIKE THEISS, STORM CHASER: There you are. Yes. Sorry about that. We had some winds that just came through here. Yes, so, can you repeat the question? It's getting really loud here. We've just had some power flashes going off. We got a gust of 79 miles per hour just in the last 15 minutes as the edge of this western eyewall is making landfall right here in Wrightsville Beach.

BERMAN: All right. Yes, Mike, my question was just that. Because we've seen pictures of things blowing over in Topsail. We've heard about the dunes washing away. I just want to get a sense of what it's like out there right on the water's edge.

THEISS: Well, it's -- you know, the winds are picking up pretty strongly. We do have waves crashing against the edge here. But the big story, the big thing that's had my attention is all the power flashes that keep going off over the city of Wilmington. The whole sky lights up in a florescent blue color. So there's definitely a lot of wind that are -- you know, it's affecting the power lines of the city. So that's going to be a big story as well. But of course we're hearing about all these rescues going on from the fresh water, the rain, the rivers flooding and the storm surge. And it's going to be -- continue to be the story this morning.

BERMAN: Yes. Up in New Bern, up in an area around there on the Neuse River. There's an area of great concern. 100 or so rescues already with 100 outstanding calls. We are trying to get an update on that.

I heard a storm surge of about four feet or so in Topsail. Did you see anything like that?

THEISS: I did not. I actually got out of Topsail before the worst part of it came. So I can't confirm that. But I would definitely say that's a good estimate. And it probably will rise a little bit more before the night is over.

BERMAN: So you've been covering storms for decades. I guess some 40 hurricane you've covered. Every storm has its own distinct possibility. It seems here the story is the size, the duration and the surge concerns for the vast array of the Carolina coast.

THEISS: Yes, that's right. And the storms I've covered -- you know, there's only a hurricane -- what is it? Hurricane -- gees, I can't think right now. But the hurricane in Tampa, Florida, that came in so slowly, just took all day long. And it just pounded and pounded on the Florida east coast. And that's the only other hurricane that I can remember that came in so slowly.

But yes, this story is definitely going to be about all this rain that continues for the next 24 hours. And you know, where I'm at right now, I'm thinking I might eventually relocate if I want to get away from the river and away from any kind of possible flooding that could happen.

BERMAN: All right, Mike Theiss, storm chaser. Thank you so much for being with us, sharing your expertise, sharing your experience. Telling us about the light flashes that you're seeing in the sky as a lot of these transformer explosions occur and more and more power goes out. The latest count we got was 185,000 people without power in North Carolina. That number will surely rise.

All right. Hurricane Florence is bearing down. We are beginning to hear about rescues in New Bern a little bit up the coast. We're going to get our update when we come back.

[04:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right. John Berman in Wilmington, North Carolina. The 5:00 update from the National Hurricane Center just in. 90-mile-per- hour winds from Hurricane Florence. The eye of the storm about 20, 25 miles away from where I am. East of where I am in Wilmington, North Carolina. Moving so slowly. Six miles per hour. Crawling over the coast bringing so much rain.

Already 22 inches in Atlantic Beach which is not too far from where I am and it will crawl down the coast to South Carolina and North Myrtle Beach where Chris Cuomo is just waiting.

Chris, what are you seeing there?

CUOMO: We're getting the first bands of rain through here. If people are looking at the satellite image from the radar, you'll see that it's going to come through in bands. Chad Myers is going to check in with us in just a second to tell us that you're about to get the heaviest part of the stink coming your way soon, John.

[04:55:05] So you are a look at our future. This is the first band of significant rain I have seen. Gusting winds certainly in the storm range of about 40, 45 miles an hour. And while it's not significant taken once, taken over the course of 10 hours, it will soften things up. And it will create vulnerabilities. And that is the big concern. So for now, I'm on a porch overhang because to just stand in the rain for no reason, I'll leave that up to you, John Berman. I will stay out of the rain as long as possible.

BERMAN: If I had the same hair concerns that you had, Chris, I, too, would stand under the porch for as long as I possibly could.

Chris Cuomo down in North Myrtle Beach, we're here in Wilmington, North Carolina. The eye moving ever closer.

CNN's special live coverage continues right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

BERMAN: All right. Welcome to the special edition of NEW DAY. This is CNN's live coverage of Hurricane Florence. The outer eyewall over where I am right now in Wilmington, North Carolina.

I'm John Berman. Chris Cuomo is down in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Alisyn Camerota in New York.

Hurricane Florence is here and is not going anywhere for a long time. A painfully long time. This is an excruciatingly slow-moving storm which brings danger of its own.

The 5:00 a.m. update from the National Hurricane Center just in. The top wind speed, sustained winds of 90 miles an hour. That means it's a category one storm. But that does not tell the story of the threat of this storm. It is the storm surge that comes from the incredible breadth, the size, the storm surge has already created serious danger to the north of where I am, in New Bern, North Carolina.

We've heard of water rescues there. Some 100 rescues at least already. A hundred outstanding calls. In just a moment, we will speak to some of the people involved in these rescues that are harrowing and that are ongoing. Some 185,000 people without power in North Carolina already. That number will go up. 6500 people without power in South Carolina. That number will go up.

The concern is the surge as we've seen six to nine feet, topping 11 feet in some places --