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Hurricane Laura Makes Landfall in U.S.; Parts of Louisiana Devastated by Hurricane Laura; Parts of Texas Threatened with Damage by Hurricane Laura; Texas Governor on Damage from Powerful Hurricane Laura; Louisiana Governor on Damage from Powerful Hurricane Laura. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired August 27, 2020 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: NEW DAY, and we do have breaking news. One of the most powerful hurricanes to ever make landfall in the United States is still battering Louisiana at this moment. Hurricane Laura is the strongest storm to hit that state at all in more than a century. It made landfall as a category four storm around 2:00 a.m. eastern near Cameron, Louisiana. It had winds of 150 miles per hour. That's category four, but very nearly category five. Lake Charles' population 80,000 may be the area of greatest concern. You can see what the winds did there, just pushing over that RV like it was a toy. We have seen power lines down, trees down, windows blown out, all kinds of debris as the light comes up in that city.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: At this hour, nearly half a million customers are without power in Texas and Louisiana, so we'll talk to the governors in both states in just a few minutes about what's next. It was 15 years ago this week that hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana, killing more than 1,800 people. The hurricane right now that is hitting Louisiana is even more powerful than Katrina.

Let's begin with CNN's Martin Savidge who is live in hard-hit Lake Charles, Louisiana. So what's happening at this hour?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Alisyn. As you say daylight is going to tell everything here. One of the frustrating things is that we know this storm has done a great deal of damage, but when you're at a big resort, which is where we had to go to find safety and shelter in the ferociousness of the storm, it's hard to judge a neighborhood.

But take a look at this. This tells you a story about the impact. This is a tree. Most trees usually in storms, they all come down. That's broken off at the base, snapped, twisted, and torn. It's just a very small example of the incredible power. Trees are down all over the place like that. You also have steel poles and lampposts that are bent and moved by the wind. You've got a lot of street signage that has been torn out of the ground.

So again, this just gives you small insights into the power and the ferocity. We can attest to it, too. There was a time in the middle of the storm, even though we were sheltering in a parking deck we had to abandon that and seek shelter inside the building. It simply became too dangerous. So it's quite clear that this area has suffered a tremendous blow. But right now you want to be in the neighborhoods. Right now you want to be in the subdivisions, those streets to find out what's going on. We can't do that until we can get out and drive, and it's simply not safe enough to do that.

We have seen emergency vehicles moving about in the distance. We have seen some power out in some places, but it's probably generators. So right now this is a community that is just beginning to get a sense with the daylight and emerging from what may be left as to what they have that lies ahead for them. And it's going to be an extremely difficult day, Alisyn and John.

BERMAN: No question about that. Martin Savidge, please stay safe, keep us posted as you get a look around there.

I want to bring in CNN Meteorologist Chad Myers. Chad, one of the things is we are now just beginning to be able to venture out literally yards from where we have been stationed all night. We are just now beginning to see the damage. Why are you so concerned about Lake Charles and the scope of the possible damage? It's because of how long they were under such powerful winds, correct?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. From 120 to 129 miles per hour gusts for a solid hour. And I know we talked about how that's an EF2 tornado. But think about what the derecho did the other day in Iowa and Illinois, because all of the wind was coming from the same direction with this. This is just wind, wave after wave after wave of wind gusts coming down from the sky. Every time a big burst of rain came down, another gust of rain came down, taking off what was maybe three shingles and now nine and 15. And we go on and on and on and on. Wind from the same direction has really done a number on many structures, even the high-rises that I've seen from downtown, and there aren't many. But the windows are gone, completely gone from some of these buildings. Roofs are gone as well.

This was a big storm, and it's amazing to think that it's still 100 miles per hour storm six hours after it made landfall. That was the power that this brought with it when it did make landfall in Cameron and Holly Beach and those places down to the south. Now, we know that entire parish, Cameron Parish, only has 4,000 residents. Then we get up toward Lake Charles, and that's where the significant wind damage will be because it didn't lose a lot of power between the Ocean and Lake Charles even though it's maybe a 30-mile drive. It didn't lose a lot of power because there's not a lot of land there. There's an awful lot of lakes and streams and bayous and swamps.

And so this is still, I would say this is spinning around like Fort Polk. That's probably where we are right now. Fort Polk you may actually be in the eye. But at the numbers -- they still go up, almost 400,000 without power, and those numbers are going to continue to go up. And we talk about how many trees, how many power lines are down, these power lines and these trees are all going to need to be replaced. These power poles are gone. They are snapped off. So it is going to take a long time to restore power. [08:05:08]

CAMEROTA: OK, Chad, thank you very much for the update. We'll check back.

Joining us now is Ken Graham, he's the Director of the National Hurricane Center. Ken, thanks so much for being with us. We know what a busy morning it is for you. What's your biggest concern at this hour?

KEN GRAHAM, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Yes, well, I was listening to the broadcast, and you start to look at this eye around Deridder and Fort Polk, so you still have hurricane-force winds. The latest update that we have, 100 miles an hour, so even well inland you still have these hurricane-force winds.

But look at this fetch of moisture, I think this is really important because this is an ongoing event. I can zoom way out. Even areas away from that center as you move northward, we have the movement. Even a hurricane, even towards Shreveport, look at this fetch of moisture that goes all the way back to Corpus Christi. So as long as we're moving in that direction, these bands of rain continue to flow in the same areas. So this is an ongoing event. You're still going to see areas with tropical rains and flooding and even tornados in some of these bands.

CAMEROTA: Ken, yesterday the biggest concern was going to be storm surge. The fear was that it would be so high it would be un-survivable was one of the words. Did the storm pivot a little bit to the east? Is that what has kept it from being at that 20-foot point?

GRAHAM: Yes, it's interesting with that because Lake Charles was spared a little bit with the actual direction, but they still got the wind. But here's what's tricky about it. We don't even know. It could take months before we know exactly what those totals were because not every place has a gauge. There's gauges out here were we can measure the values of the storm surge, but it could take a long time to get out there. We've got to get people on the ground to survey the storm surge itself. But what's dangerous is that storm surge that did come in, I've seen some 11-foot storm surge values, the winds shift to the southwest back behind the storm. It's held in there. So Cameron Parish, you're going to hold that water in, push a little bit more. But the water that fell overnight and was pushed in there is going to be held up. So it's prolonged. The water is going to be prolonged in some of the areas.

CAMEROTA: And so that means that flooding is still a concern for you this morning?

GRAHAM: Absolutely. I think the big message is there's damage from the wind, you have storm surge damage, definitely not safe to get back into these areas.

CAMEROTA: I think we have some pictures from Crystal Beach, Texas, right now. They might even be live pictures that we could possibly show. And that's just interesting because we're not talking about Texas. You were, you were showing us the band of moisture, but we're talking about Louisiana. And you can see the flooding in some of these areas here.

GRAHAM: Yes, absolutely. You start to see the flooding in all these areas. It's the expanse of the storm. You've just got to go back to the radar, you see this rain, portions of east Texas as well. So as that comes in -- and it's interesting, in the Texas area there were north winds, so there's some areas that can take flooding from the opposite direction from the gulf, it could come the opposite direction onto some of those barrier islands.

CAMEROTA: So how long is that blue blotch going to linger right there over Louisiana?

GRAHAM: It's going to be a while. The latest forecast follows it northward. It's interesting because we'll see even at 1:00 a.m. on Friday, so tomorrow morning, still a tropical storm in Arkansas. So we're forecasting this to continue to be a hurricane all the way to the Louisiana-Arkansas border. So we saw the rain on the radar, and you take the winds, we're not done yet. You can still see trees down. It's very forested, this whole area is very forested. You could see trees down and power outages. So we're not done yet. So anybody well inland, if you think this is just a coastal event, that's not true. You're going to see some impacts into Arkansas.

CAMEROTA: OK, that's a really good warning. Ken Graham, thank you very much.

BERMAN: Let's take one more look, if we can, at some of those aerials. They're some of the first pictures we have seen from the level. This is Crystal Beach, Texas. It's a little hazy there but you can see clearly the water had come up some, some. It's hard to tell, frankly, at this point. The storm surge at least in Louisiana coast, not what they had feared, at least not yet. But it was a serious wind event, and we're just waiting to see the extent of the structural damage that was in the immediate path of the storm. This was off the side of the storm here in Crystal Beach near Galveston.

Now back to Louisiana. Paul Heard lives in Lake Charles. He rode out the storm. He joins us now. Paul, thanks so much for being with us. I understand you had a harrowing, harrowing night. Your roof blew off? What happened?

(INAUDIBLE)

PAUL HEARD, SOUTH LAKE CHARLES HOMEOWNER: It started -- the water started just pouring in. And the winds -- it didn't end. And it just seemed like it was -- and then it was going to be a bad way. So I made a decision to go to my car. And which is about 25 feet away, and 100 plus mile winds. And my car had been moved by the winds, because when I woke up, when I got up at daybreak, I looked at my trailer and my car. So we had winds that picked my car up and moved it.

BERMAN: Wow.

HEARD: So I rode out the storm in the car until 2:00 in the morning on. And the eye of the storm hit over here about 1:00 a.m. And then it got real bad around 2:00 and 3:00 it was starting to go. And that's pretty much it in a nutshell.

Now, the guy that just spoke a couple minutes ago couldn't have said it better. This was a wind event and not a water event. Strangely we should have flooded out here in the southeast in the parish where I am. I'm three miles, four miles from the Cameron border. And we normally do get water events out here. We did not get hit, and it was a big shot. But what we did get was a huge wind event. And this destruction is everywhere. Trees are twisted from high winds. There's another event. People are going to need a lot of help down here.

BERMAN: Yes, we're seeing -- we're actually just looking. We were looking at moments ago at pictures from Crystal Beach, Texas, which was a bit away from you. But there was clearly flooding there, what that had flowed inland. We saw cars parked in what looked like lakes, which I'm sure it was not meant to be a lake there.

HEARD: Right.

BERMAN: Talk about the damage that your house sustained. I'm struck by the fact that the wind was powerful enough to move your vehicle. Talk to me about the damage that your house sustained, and also just talk to me about what's next for you. I know you have serious concerns because you're immunocompromised, and obviously we're in the midst of a pandemic.

HEARD: Well, just take it one day at a time. That's all you can do. And rebuild. That's what we do.

BERMAN: What's left of your house?

HEARD: Well, the house structure -- it's all brick house. It's five years old. And it's just the rooms are going to have to be changed. And probably all new support features too. But it was all compromised because I was up in the roof looking at it when it was getting ready to go off because I could hear the noise. So I went up the attic stairs with a flashlight and noticed it was just buckling back and forth, three, four inches. And it was like this is not good. This thing is going to blow away next five, 10 minutes. I have to get out of here. And it oddly didn't. But there's plenty of damage around here. So we'll just -- we'll rebuild.

BERMAN: We'll rebuild. Paul Heard, we admire your spirit, but as you say, people are going to need a lot of help there. We hope you get it. Let us know what we could do for you. Thank you so much for being with us. We're so glad you're OK this morning.

HEARD: Thank you.

BERMAN: We just saw some of the live aerials from Texas, cars there parked in water or left in water. We'll get a sense of the damage in that state when the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:17:18]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK. Let's take a look at some of the storms that's happening right now. This is obviously Hurricane Laura and this is the aftermath. This is in Texas, this is in Crystal Beach, Texas. You can see streets are flooded. Obviously, cars are floating in streets.

The storm surge was the biggest concern before Laura hit and now I were seeing -- and now, we are seeing why people are concerned. It lead landfall in Cameron, Louisiana, so not even Texas, but you can see the bands and the aftermaths as far as away as Crystal Beach.

So, joining us now is Governor Greg Abbott of Texas.

So, Governor, thank you so much for being here. We know it's a busy morning for you.

So, give us a status report of how Eastern Texas is doing, how many people had to be evacuated, any deaths, anything like that?

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): Listen, the good news is that earlier reports are that there were no deaths, and one reason is because people did heed the warnings to evacuate. You mentioned the storm surge, the storm surge and the powerful winds could have led to catastrophic deaths and because we had well over 5,000, 10,000 people who evacuated we no doubt saved lives because of the evacuations.

Right now, we have search and rescue teams that are already going throughout the entire area to see if there is anybody who does need some type of assistance. With the level of water that you're talking about, especially in the Beaumont-Port Arthur and Orange areas that were closest to the Louisiana border that could have faced the hardest brunt of the story. We're very concerned there.

But as you go further up in Texas, in northeast Texas, the hurricane is still going through that process and I think it may be a category 2 hurricane. So, there's powerful winds knocking down very tall trees in east Texas, as well as potential tornado activity. So, people in northeast Texas still need to remain very vigilant right now.

CAMEROTA: I don't know if you can see a screen, if you have access to it, but we're looking at aerial pictures of Crystal Beach, Texas, and it's just flooded. Tons of water all around, cars and homes.

Any sense of when emergency workers will be able to check to see if anybody is trapped there?

ABBOTT: So, those emergency workers are on the ground and operating as we speak right now. And they're going through all of those areas, making assessments about what that flooding damage is, but also whether or not anybody needs to be rescued from that flooding.

CAMEROTA: I can only imagine how much this complicates whatever was happening with coronavirus. I mean, obviously, Texas has been hit hard by COVID-19 as so many states were. So having to evacuate between 5,000 and 10,000 people, how does that work when you're trying to keep people distant and not spread COVID-19?

[08:20:05]

ABBOTT: Believe it or not, this is our second hurricane during COVID- 19. We had one last month that came into Corpus Christi and went all the way down to the Rio Grande Valley, with very heavy flooding there.

And we learned that time, new strategies to use in evacuations, for example, and as opposed to evacuating people to large convention centers and things like that, we tried to put as many as possible into to hotel rooms so that families can isolate together, so that they're not in a congregant setting, spreading COVID-19. It worked very well in the aftermath of Hurricane Hannah because several weeks after Hurricane Hannah, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 and the hospitalizations for COVID-19 actually declined.

And we're hoping here continued to follow the safe standards of wearing a mask, sanitizing your hands, as well as maintaining your distance. If they were able to do that, I have no doubt we will able to continue to contain COVID-19.

CAMEROTA: And let just give everybody a status report of what's happening with COVID-19 in your state. It peak -- the cases peaked some time in late June, and then since then you have been steadily ticking down, but in the past week, it looks like you have ticked up a bit, not only in cases but in the positivity rate. As well, we have a graph for that.

So what's going on?

ABBOTT: Well, first, I will tell you with the positivity rate. That is compromised a little bit by some outdated test results that have come in.

The main thing to look at is the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 and we've had a steady decline since July 27th and the number of people hospitalized. So, we have the lowest number of people hospitalized now since early June, and that includes people in ICU units.

And so, the health situation for people who've tested positive for COVID-19 continues to improve.

CAMEROTA: President Trump is speaking tonight at the RNC. What do you expect him to say about coronavirus?

ABBOTT: Yeah, I'll be candid with you, because I have been literally working around the clock on the hurricane. I haven't had a chance to tune into anything concerning politics.

My focus right now is making sure we do everything possible to save lives, to continue these rescue operations, and I have no doubt that I'll be talking to the president because I know that he's very concerned about the status of what happened on the ground here in Texas.

CAMEROTA: You haven't watched a single night of the RNC you're saying?

ABBOTT: I have been watching the hurricane, as it's approaching.

So, one reason why we had such a good result in dealing with the hurricane is because we work a week in advance around the clock, prepositioning the National Guard, what's called Texas Task Force One and Two, that engage in search and rescue operations.

As well as we added a thousand Department of Public Safety officers into the region, especially the region where people evacuated from because we want to get in there and make sure we both prevent looting, but also stabilize the communities so we can minimize the loss of life as well as the damages that may have occurred.

CAMEROTA: Given all that, do you think that President Trump should postpone his speech tonight given what's happening in Louisiana and Texas?

ABBOTT: I think it will continue on as planned and I think he will give a terrific speech.

CAMEROTA: Governor Greg Abbott, we really appreciate your time. Thank you for giving us a status report on all of this.

ABBOTT: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: And Louisiana's Governor John Bel Edwards is going to join us there with a status report from there, even harder hit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:27:34]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Right at this moment, Hurricane Laura still pummeling Louisiana. It has been over the state for a full six hours and it made landfall near Cameron, Louisiana, with the wind speeds of 150 miles per hour, the most powerful storm to hit that state in more than 100 years.

We understand about half a million people at this moment. The number can go up over that power in Louisiana and Texas.

Joining me now is the governor of Louisiana, John Bel Edwards.

Governor Edwards, thank you so much for being with us.

I know this is difficult because this is not a past tense for you. This storm is still hitting your state. Can you give me the very latest assessment of damage?

GOV. JOHN BEL EDWARDS (D-LA): Yeah, we can. First of all, you're exactly right. We have hurricane strength winds still associated with this storm as it moves north and still causing damage, power outage and so forth.

I will tell you that the damage is extensive. We know that the wind speed was as promised in the forecast. It hit as a category 4 at 150 miles an hour winds.

Right now, we believe we have a break on the storm surge. It appears to have been half of what was forecasted, but I will tell you, we still have a southerly flow and water is still coming into Cameron and Vermilion Parishes.

So, we're not out of the woods there yet either. As you know, it takes until daylight before you can really see and get a good estimate of the damages. We have people moving in to the Lake Charles area now. We've got about 1,500 people who will be engaged in search and rescue, about 400 boats and high water vehicles. They're all moving into the Lake Charles area now.

But also, we're going to have to do some of this work, search and rescue, all the way up the west side of the state as the storm moves north and clearly the power outages are going to become more extensive. And we have more restoration crews prepositioned in Louisiana than ever before, but nobody should think this is going to be a quick process getting the electricity back on because the damage from the storm is extensive.

It's going to take -- it's going to take a while for that to happen and then I want to remind everyone that this is all happening in a COVID-19 environment where we have the public health emergency as well. And so, as we move people, as we shelter people, as we rescue people, we have to be very, very mindful of this. Otherwise, in a couple of weeks we're going to really pay the price here with more cases and hospitalizations and unfortunately more deaths than we would.

END