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CNN 10
Hurricane Florence Ready to Hit the Carolinas; Spix`s Macaws are Extinct in the Wild; SR-71 Still Record Holder as Fastest Airplane; Sand Sculpting Contest in San Diego, California
Aired September 14, 2018 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We are ready but this is going to be one of the biggest ones to ever hit our country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The wall of water is still underneath this storm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You may be in danger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a big storm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I`m worried about this. I`m worried about the flooding.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make the mandatory evacuations very seriously.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s probably not going to be survivable out here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s unpredictable really. We need to get out of here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You expect up to 3 million will be out of power.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`re trying to send the signal there is nothing left to stay for. Disaster`s at the doorstep and it`s coming in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Specifically the doorstep of the U.S. Southeast as Hurricane Florence approached on Thursday. It is not the only storm
swirling in the world. In the Western Pacific Super Typhoon Mangkhut is baring down on part of the Philippines. Mangkhut had already caused damage
on the U.S. Island of Guam where this video came from and as the week went on it strengthened as the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane. The most
powerful classification in terms of wind speed and the Northern Philippines was bracing for a direct hit. More than 4 million people are in it`s
direct path as it approaches the Island of Luzon.
In the U.S., government forecasters expect Hurricane Florence to officially make landfall when the center of it`s eye passes over land on Friday
afternoon at the earliest. The storm weakened a little yesterday to Category 2 status with maximum sustained winds speeds of between 96 and 110
miles per hour but Florence is also a big storm with hurricane force winds covering an area of more than 15,000 square miles. And North Carolina`s
governor said it`s storm surge, the rise in seawater that a hurricane pushes ashore could be between 9 and 13 feet. Ahead of the storm CNN`s
John Berman was in part of North Carolina to discuss how the storm surge could effect the area.
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JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Days and days at this I have to tell you I am just feeling the first wind gusts that feel like they mean business.
Here on Oak Island there`s a mandatory evacuation order, some 8,000 people live here I was just told by the mayor about 500 remain. Why have they
been told to leave? So much fear over storm surge. This dune that I`m standing on right now, it can withstand a 3 foot storm surge. Higher than
that the water will flow over it. Beyond that, I want you to take a look at these houses, some of them are on stilts.
Yes. They are built up high to withstand some storm surge but there`s Alli Hedges, my producer. She`s 5`3" with her arm raised that`s maybe 7 feet
max. The storm surge here could be 9 feet tall which means the waters will wash right into these houses and even on stilts. Some of those stilts will
not be able to withstand the power of the storm surge that is expected up and down the Carolina coast.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARL AZUZ: To make matters worse, Hurricane Florence is moving slowly. One meteorologist says it could dump 10 trillion gallons of rainfall on
North Carolina alone. What could that do to rivers that are already flooding?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can see that this is a curb. We`re on a road. I don`t know if you can see how high up this water is already behind me here.
This is a park, a public park. There are swing sets that are now starting to go under water here and we have not experienced the bulk of the rain
that we are supposed to get. If you come out here, this is the reason why. Look out there. That is the Neuse 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.
Newbern, North Carolina, Harlow, North Carolina, Moorehead City, North Carolina. If I can get my photographer Mark Depin (ph) over this way
actually right here and you can start to see some of the boats and the docks are going under water right now as well. I mean, I`m almost 6 feet
tall and this is already up to my knees of water and we`re waiting for the rain to start setting in. The worst part of all about all of this for
people here in Newbern is the fact that they`re worried about the back end, that dirty back end of the hurricane but also because this Neuse River
spills back into the ocean. All of the flooding that happens inland that Hurricane Florence is going to bring into all of this water here, into the
inland part of North Carolina. The flood they`re worried about. This water here is going to come back out and likely re-flood the area at the
end of the hurricane. Once most people have gone away. So they`re worried about a double effect here.
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CARL AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. What do Macaw`s, parakeets and lovebirds have in common? Are they all native to India, Cockatoos, easily tamed, or
parrots. The one thing on this list that all of these birds have in common is that they`re parrots.
One species, the Spix`s macaw, a native of Brazil, recently enjoyed 15 minutes of fame after a character based on the bird starred in the movie`s
Rio and Rio II. Bad news for blue though. A study released this week by the conservation group Birdlife International found that the Spix`s macaw
is now extinct in the wild. To be clear, this doesn`t mean the species has gone the way of the Dodo. The report says that dozens of Spix`s macaws are
still alive in captivity but as far as spotting one in it`s natural habitat goes, researchers say you can`t do it.
And they blame deforestation, the clearing of forest or trees for the birds disappearance. Deforestation is common in Brazil as areas are cleared for
farmland, pasture land and logging but it`s also endangered a wide range of plant and animal species there apparently including the Spix`s macaw.
There are breeding programs that keep this rare parrot species around for people to see.
A retired American pilot recently donated his pressure suit, flight helmet and boots to an education center in Kansas. Though you might be thinking
what kind of pilot who`s not an astronaut would need that kind of equipment? The answer is the kind who fly this. An airplane that was
literally faster than a speeding bullet and that could fly as high as 16 miles above the Earth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All these later this airplane is still, as far as the record books go, the fastest airplane. Development began in the late
1950`s and the airplane first flew in the early 1960`s. This airplane in particular to me is awesome because it is the world`s absolute speed record
holder. On July 28th of 1976 this airplane was piloted to a speed of 2,193 miles per hour. The M1 Rifle of World War II fame, which had a muzzle
velocity of about 2,800 feet per second. Our SR-71would have blasted by that bullet at 400 feet per second which is a speed that`s just hard to
comprehend but this airplane carried two people and could take off and land under it`s own power.
It could be refueled in flight although it had to slow down for that. They carried cameras and other sensors that allowed it to provide, you know,
important intelligence and so it`s just a really amazing airplane and this was 1950`s, 1960`s technology. This was long before the computer design
capabilities that we have today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The SR-71 was retired because it was very expensive to operate and by the 1990`s it had been flying for going on 30 years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the SR-71`s retired, certainly the United States lost a capability. Yes there were satellites. There was the U-2. There
were aircraft like the Global Hawk but there is nothing like having an airplane with the capabilities of the SR-71 that could fly so high and so
fast that it`s still a world record holder today. Still captures people`s interest, curiosity.
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CARL AZUZ: It`s called the U.S. Sand Sculpting Challenge and Dimensional Art Exposition. And it`s the reason why for three days in the late summer,
the Californian city of San Diego is known as "Sand Diego". World master sand sculptors come in from all over the world to do this. The sculptures
are made out of pouring sand because it`s apparently easier to work with than beach sand and some of the sculptures weigh more than 10 tons each.
$60,000 in prize money is at stake. Could you call them "sand dollars"? Takes more than a "grain" of talent to earn it and it takes more than an
hourglass with some serious quartz movement to sculpture a work that "rocks". All of them make waves even if they`re ultimately a "wash". I`m
Carl Azuz and Fridays are awesome. Next week we are going to start our coverage of the upcoming U.S. mid-term elections so please come on back
then.
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