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Hurricane Ida Slams Louisiana with Devastating Force; U.S. Official: As Many as Five Rockets Fired at Kabul Airport; Biden Attends Dignified Transfer of Fallen Troops. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired August 30, 2021 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:12]

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. Thanks for joining me. Live from Atlanta, I'm Robyn Curnow.

At this hour, we are following breaking news out of Louisiana. U.S. President Joe Biden has declared Hurricane Ida a major disaster and ordered federal aid to help with recovery efforts.

Right now, this monster storm, though, is weakening after making landfall as one of the strongest storms to ever hit the state.

But as the night progresses, the damage from the hurricane is becoming clearer. The levees have been breached in a little town of Jean Lafitte and a flash flood emergency warning has also been issued. The town's mayor spoke about the harrowing circumstances residents find themselves in right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM KERNER, MAYOR, JEAN LAFITTE, LOUISIANA: The whole bridge was taken out. It just -- our levees were topped. The levees were topped. That was within -- they had school system, a government building, hundreds of homes. This has never happened before, and all that outside that areas where we were hit so hard. We had it strong before but I've never seen one like this in my life and it just hit us in the worst way possible, in such a massive storm, that it's just totally devastating us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: So, all of Orleans Parish's which includes the city of New Orleans is without power. Statewide, more than 1 million customers have no electricity at least one person we know has died in the storm so far.

Well, Pedram Javaheri has been tracking this dangerous storm as it moves across Louisiana.

Where is it right now and what can you tell us about its strength?

Hi Pedram, good to see you.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Robyn, good to see you.

You know, the storm system is across the northern portions of Louisiana, still a menacing storm considering how far removed we are since landfall more than 12 hours pushing since landfall, and the system maintaining a strong category one intensity.

But again, it's going to move into portions of southern Mississippi and within the next couple of hours, we do expect this to continue gradually really weakening as it's separating itself -- a tremendous amount of fuel in the Gulf of Mexico with the warmth that was in place.

Now, at peak intensity, we saw the hurricane produce gusts of upwards of 150-plus miles per hour. This comes in tying Hurricane Laura, as the strongest storm there for the state of Louisiana, the first time in U.S. history, that U.S. state has seen back-to-back years with 150 mile per hour land-falling storms. It speaks to what folks across this region have to deal with in recent months and recent years, really.

But you take a look. When it comes to this magnitude of a system, National Hurricane Center typically says the area that is impacted, which would be right along the southern tier where the parishes are, that area could be uninhabitable for a period of weeks or months. That's the concern when it made landfall. The concern is the overnight hours. It's dangerous, the amount of rainfall still being observed in the region of northern Louisiana and southern Mississippi.

Now, the area has seen one of its wettest year on record prior to Ida moving ashore. So, any additional rainfall here going to lead to additional flash floods. We know plenty of flood warnings in place at this hour all around New Orleans points to the west, points to the North. And this is going to continue in the overnight hours, as much as in the eight to 10 inches in the forecast before it is all said and done in this region. These are estimated rainfall totals there in Louisiana.

Areas indicated in pink, it's about 8 to 12 inches as already estimated to have come down in the last few hours. Now, the system departs this region, we do expect a few tornadoes. We know Hurricane Katrina produced at least 59 tornadoes when it made landfall. This is certainly has a potential to produce dozens of them in the overnight hours. Tornado watches are in place there until at least 6:00 a.m. local time before we see conditions stabilizing just a little bit.

But this is going to be a very, very tough night for a lot of folks in this region of the U.S.

CURNOW: Yeah, and the other -- the overnight hours still very much going to drag on for many people. It's just unclear, the situation.

Pedram, thank you very much. We will check in with you again.

So, Hurricane Ida may have weakened, but the danger is far from over. The risk of flash flooding is keeping people awake across the state.

As Ed Lavandera now reports from Baton Rouge -- Ed. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hurricane Ida continues to push its way north. It is now finding itself between Baton Rouge, where we are, and New Orleans, and there are dozens of low-lying communities in these areas that are going to be spending a long night. These are low- lying communities, very susceptible to flooding. We spent the day traveling through many of these communities, talking to people and trying to figure out how they were preparing for this moment.

[01:05:03]

Many folks said that they were planning on waiting out the storms in their home, and then getting ready to pack up their belongings and escape once the floodwaters started in the next day or so. So, as the storm passes to the north and the rain continues to fall, that water needs somewhere to go. And it's going to rush back south and threw a lot of these low-lying communities.

And the other thing that many residents told us, they've never really experienced a storm of this magnitude, so strong this far inland. Hurricane Ida came ashore as a category 4, usually a lot of these storms can lose much of its strength by the time it reaches this far inland, but many residents told us they are extremely worried about the wind damage that this storm can bring.

A lot of tall trees and some of the neighborhoods that we were in, so many people inside their homes were telling us that they were worried about trees collapsing under their homes. Those are the kinds of things that residents are dealing with here in these overnight hours.

And on top of that, these types of hurricanes that pass in the darkness just add another terrifying level of experience to it is already a horrible experience to have to endure.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Thanks to Ed for that.

And I want to bring in a Louisiana state official who lives in New Orleans, Democratic State Representative, Mandie Landry, joins me now. She is running out the storm from her home. She joins us by phone.

You heard Ed Lavandera there in baton rouge. What is the situation where you are right now? You said it's terrifying. It's dark. There is no power.

What are you feeling?

MANDIE LANDRY, LOUISIANA STATE HOUSE, NEW ORLEANS LOUISIANA (via telephone): It's all of the above. The worst of the wind has passed, New Orleans, thankfully. We had several hours of intense, terrifying winds today, branches flying out around. Outside ferns are flying around that people didn't tie down. But that is over for now, but what's also scary is that we can't quite

see all the damage, because it's so dark. We should join you by video, but like you said, there is literally no electricity in the entire city. We're all sitting here and the dark, just hoping for the best.

CURNOW: Are you able to talk to anyone? We know that in some areas there rising waters and flash flooding.

We heard Pedram Javaheri talking about eight to 10 inches of rain as well, with no power. What are -- what are residents telling you?

LANDRY: So far, from when I'm hearing from people and from other government officials is that the flooding seems to be limited right now to very low lying areas of the states such as Lafitte and across Louisiana, for some flooding. I've not heard of any flooding in this city or the surrounding area. So, knock on wood, we're doing okay with that.

But we have low lying areas, in particular down the bayou that are just suffering from catastrophic damage right now.

CURNOW: Yeah, and we really just have no idea of the extent of the damage. And also the rescuers can only begin in the morning light. For all we know, many, many people are on their roofs right now, just clinging on and hoping for the best.

LANDRY: Hopefully it's just a few. I've seen a little bit of that. Most of the people in these low-lying areas have been evacuated. But you're right, we can't see anything in the dark. I cannot see beyond my front porch. That's how dark it is in the city.

CURNOW: Total power failure where you are. What is the impact in hospitals? I know you live near a hospital. I think some of them are running on generators, we understand. All of them are, but many of them were near capacity because of COVID.

So patients could not be moved to safer areas. How catastrophic is this for hospitals and critical care and trauma services?

LANDRY: So, for right now, most of our hospitals are doing okay, the one near me I could hear the generators running. It's an Ochsner Hospital and we've been told by Ochsner that they have about 10 days of generator backup.

However, a couple of hospitals and low lying areas I told you about did have generator failure, so they are going to be evacuating their patients and they can't do so until the light tomorrow. We are very nervous about hospital capacity, like you said. Our hospitals filled up again in the last month because of the delta variant.

Hopefully, some of these people will be getting back on their feet, but we really need to make sure that the hospitals have enough to fill their generators in the next few weeks, and that everything is in working order as well.

CURNOW: It's almost unbelievable, but it's 16 years since Katrina hit. It's a bit of a psychological blow as well as the physical terror having to deal with the severe winds and severe rains, and severe storm surges, just the anniversary in itself.

LANDRY: Yeah, I mean, absolutely. You know, for an entire city and surrounding areas and all of the relatives around town, to go through a trauma like that, have a televised, not be able to return to our homes.

[01:10:02]

We have 100,000 people who never returned to New Orleans after that. Just being in August and hearing that there is a storm in the Gulf is extremely triggering for so many people. And so, that definitely is guiding to it. Everyone is worried about the water rising. I think -- I think we are okay with that this time. We've had billions of dollars in new levees surrounding the city, but we did not expect this would happen and 2005 either. So, everyone is on guard.

CURNOW: Mandie Landry, thanks so much, live from New Orleans. Stay safe. Hunker down and we will chat again in the coming hour. Thank you.

LANDRY: Thank you so much.

CURNOW: So, CNN's Darryl Forges joins us now live from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

I want to know with the situation is and what you are seeing and feeling right now on the ground.

DARRYL FORGES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Robyn, when it comes down to what we are seeing here in Baton Rouge, it's a different story compared to what is happening in southeastern Louisiana, especially New Orleans. The winds have picked up in Baton Rouge compared to the past couple of hours.

There is no one outside out and about. The main people we've bee seeing has been many police officers patrolling and driving around this area. But, so far, we're getting a lot of wind and a lot of rain. We could expect some of those outer bands from the hurricane to really affect us, not really seeing a direct hit as of now as that storm continues to slow down at a category one hurricane now with wind speeds as high as 95 miles per hour.

So, at this point, it's all going to be a long night here in Baton Rouge. Many are still holding their breath and praying for the best at this point. But, of course, in New Orleans, Robyn, it is a whole different story. Just heard from Representative Landry about what they're dealing with New Orleans. We're talking about storm surges and other issues.

So, at this point, it's going to be a long night. Not only for New Orleans and Baton Rouge, but overall, for the entire state of Louisiana.

CURNOW: Yeah, and we heard from Pedram Javaheri saying that many of these areas will be uninhabitable for weeks, possibly months. This of course comes after heavy rains, hurricanes last year, and then, of course, much of some of the infrastructure had not been improved in the years since Katrina.

FORGES: Yeah, Robyn, that's right. Actually, when local mayor from Louisiana said when it comes down to the flooding, quote, I've never seen water like this in my life. The water is just continuing to surge all across southeastern Louisiana. In LaPlace, Louisiana, it is just devastating hearing the devastation going right now. I'm looking at tweets, seeing people tweeting out, check on my loved ones. I'm hearing there is flooding in their attic and I've not spoken to them in a couple of hours from now.

It's just been really tough hearing these peoples stories, because they've been calling 911 for help, but a state local officials urged people in the past couple of days that 911 will not be dispatched at these locations across the state, because the conditions to drive are just not favorable for first responders.

So, the mayor -- the governor says that when it comes down to it is going to happen in the next few hours into tomorrow, they're going to make sure that our first responders will be out and about as soon as the conditions are favorable.

So, as tough hearing those stories, and as a matter of fact, Robyn, I have family who live in the west bank in Gretna, in Harvey, and they still have PTSD from Hurricane Katrina. That's why they evacuated to Florida, and some evacuated to Houston, Texas, and even Atlanta, Georgia.

So, at this point, many heeded those warnings to evacuate especially after what happened 16 years ago with Katrina.

CURNOW: Thanks for sharing that with us. I hope your family managed to go back to their houses and that everything is relatively intact and rebuildable.

Darryl Forges, thanks for your reporting on the ground. Great stuff. We'll check in with you as well in the coming hours.

You're watching CNN. To all of our viewers, we will continue to monitor the story.

But there's another story that we have been following here at CNN as well. Ahead of Tuesday's withdrawal deadline from Afghanistan, the U.S. targets, quote, an imminent threat to Kabul's airport. We'll have details and a live report. That story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:18:05]

CURNOW: Welcome back. I'm Robyn Curnow. It's 18 minutes past the hour.

And we continue to track this breaking news out of Afghanistan. In just the last few hours in Kabul, a U.S. official tells CNN as many as 5 rockets were fired at the airport. We're also told the defense system engaged with those rockets and there's been no reports of casualties.

Now, this comes one day after the U.S. sent an airstrike that took out an imminent threat to the airport. This video here from social media shows people gathered at the aftermath of Sunday's a airstrike. A U.S. official says the vehicle targeted contained one suicide bomber, the U.S. military say secondary explosions from the vehicle may have caused a civilian casualties.

Well, Anna Coren is following these developments from Hong Kong. And White House reporter Jasmine Wright is joining us from Washington.

I want to begin with Anna.

Anna, of course, you have reported extensively from Afghanistan over the years. And you are monitoring all of these latest facts on the ground. What more can you tell us about this rocket attack and the earlier airstrike just outside the airport?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Robyn, I think it's fair to say that we can expect more of these attempted attacks in the coming hours as U.S. troops prepared to depart from Hamid Karzai International Airport. You know, the deadline, 31st of August, that being tomorrow.

But as for this attack which happened that 6:45 am this morning, it came from an improvised rocket launcher in the trunk of a sedan in an area in Kabul, and we believe that five rockets were fired towards the airport.

Now, the SeaRAM system, a counter rocket artillery and mortar system, which is activated when there are attacks, obviously was able to counter those rockets. It also took out the vehicle. We do have images. I'm not sure if we have it yet ready for CNN, but there are images of the car, the relics of these improvised rocket launchers, which was taken out.

[01:20:09]

These come just a day after the Pentagon confirmed that they also took out ISIS targets in Kabul. You mentioned the car that was --that was taken out by a drone. There was another vehicle next to it. They believe that nine civilians, all were killed including 6 children.

A few days before on a Friday, there was another attack, a drone attack in Jalalabad city in Nangarhar Province where 2 ISIS fighters were also killed. Now, this, of course, in retaliation since the Thursday bombing -- suicide bombing outside the airport where we saw those bloody and chaotic scenes. You know, more than 180 people were killed, including 13 U.S. service members.

That was a bloody day. That was something that the Biden administration had been warning about for over a week. These imminent, specific threats aimed at U.S. forces. They are continuing to warn of those. And we know that the president has been briefed on these rockets which

were fired a few hours ago. He has said that they want to redouble their efforts to do whatever is necessary to protect U.S. forces on the ground, but according to the White House, they continue with their drawdown, if you like.

Evacuations know are over, certainly for Afghans. We know no Afghans evacuated from Kabul airport. Now the focus is purely on the U.S. soldiers at the airfield as well as the equipment -- Robyn.

CURNOW: OK. Anna, thanks for that.

Let's go now to D.C.

Jasmine, I want to -- I want to come to you. It's certainly a somber day for the U.S., the bodies of the service members who were killed in that attack that Anna was speaking about were returned home. The president was there -- again, a reminder of this deteriorating security situation on the ground in Afghanistan.

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, Robyn.

And it was a sad day on Sunday, President Biden standing for the first time as commander in chief for the solemn movement, we saw him kind of -- we saw his anguish, his body movements. At times he put his hand over his heart as he saw those transfer cases coming in, being carried down off that C-17.

We saw him bowing his head, potentially in prayer. We know he is a deeply religious man. It is a significant day for him, because as I said, it's the first time he has presided over a transfer of cases of the solemn movement.

As president, we know that he had -- once as vice president, but really this is something that is happening under his watch, as a consequence of his actions, of his decision to withdraw from August 31st. That is something that is weighing on him.

We first saw him yesterday on Sunday going to the airport where he privately met with families, really tapping into the empathizer in chief role that we have seen from him a couple of times during his presidency. But that feeling of anguish that you kind of saw from the president throughout the day is something that has been permeating around the White House since Thursday, since we first learned of the attack that left 13 U.S. service members dead.

It is part of the reason why President Biden is so adamant about withdrawing from Afghanistan on August 31st, because he does not want to see more service members come home during those transfer cases.

So, this is an important thing -- excuse me, this is an important thing for the country to see kind of the casualties of war. This is something that President Biden obviously really wanted to avoid, but here we are now, counting down as the deadline looms in the distance for that August 31st withdrawal.

CURNOW: Jasmine Wright, thank you very much for that update.

So, ISIS-K was quick to claim responsibility for Thursday's deadly attack. U.S. warns they could cause more violence as we heard Anna say. Two separate airstrikes have targeted members of the group with these evacuations into the final phase are pretty much over.

Well, my next guest, Asfandyar Mir, has done extensive research on the region and counter-terrorism. I want to talk about ISIS-K. We have certainly seen many airstrikes targeting directly in Kabul in the last 24 hours or so. But what are the capabilities of the people on the ground in this group?

ASFANDYAR MIR, CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND COOPERATION, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: Look, Robyn, this is not a new group. This group has been around since 2015, after ISIS declared its caliphate in Iraq and see this group emerged from disgruntled members of the Taliban in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. It also had some members of al Qaeda.

But the next few years, due to the global counter ISIS campaign, ISIS in Afghanistan will hit very hard. And it suffered. It suffered losses due to surrenders, loss of territory, as well as loss of battlefield allies. But over the last 18 months, this group has plotted somewhat of a come back.

One of the main things that has prioritized is outbidding violence. This attack of August 26th on the airport, it is not the first spectacular attack that this group has engaged in over the last 12 months or so, or 18 months or so. In May 2020, for instance, this group attacked a maternity ward, killing babies who were just born and some pregnant mothers to be.

So, this group has engaged in what political scientists call outbidding violence. And due to the Taliban's takeover, there's been a massive jailbreak, lots of ISIS prisoners have been released and due to that, there are estimates that the group's current strength is anywhere between 4,000 to 5,000 members today.

CURNOW: And where does the Taliban fit in with this? There has not been some sort of consolidation of power in terms of announcing a new government.

What kind of jostling is going on behind the scenes? How much of a security and political vacuum is there, and with does that mean for the security situation?

MIR: The Taliban are in political consolidation, but they're moving slowly, there are reports that there are some internal fissures within the movement. There is -- as you noted, some jostling going on between southerners where traditionally dominated this movement. Some northerners -- ethnicities which have done well on the battlefield, as well as somewhat independent militant networks such as those of the Haqqani network, those who are pushing for influence as well.

So, due to that the whole process of forging, forming a government appears to have slowed down. The Taliban are under some type of international pressure as well. The U.S. government appears to be telling them to include some of their former rivals, like President Karzai, former chief executive Abdullah Abdullah. There's pressure on them from the Qataris as well is what I hear.

So, to do that, the Taliban have not formed a movement. And this gives an opportunity to ISIS. ISIS in Afghanistan has fashioned itself as a Taliban rejectionist movement. It is telling disillusioned Taliban constituencies that while the Taliban may have moderated on certain issues, ready to do business with the United States. They are there, you know, holding on to their hard-line positions, willing to take on the United States government, and that gives ISIS-K an opportunity to recruit in this uncertain time.

CURNOW: President Biden made the decision to leave Afghanistan, because he said it was not in the U.S. is national interest anymore to be on the ground. But there wasn't the expectation of a direct threat to the U.S. homeland from Afghanistan.

Has that changed in the chaos of the last few weeks? How will the security situation in Afghanistan -- if possible on the ground, or do you see this metastasizing in some way, in ways that many people within the U.S. government didn't plan for?

MIR: Look, it's clear that the Biden administration has understated almost all threats emanating from Afghanistan, threats within Afghanistan. The administration did not foresee the Taliban taking control of the country so quickly, and now the administration is telling us that it still does not think that there is much of an external attack from Afghanistan.

If you take the case of the Islamic State, until a few months ago the administration was portraying the Islamic State as mostly a minor problem. President Biden, when he announced the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, he spoke of a number of -- but did not mention the Islamic State. That obviously was a mistake.

I think we have to be very careful, very cautious about some of these threats that are starting to fester in Afghanistan. There are groups in Afghanistan which have ambitions to strike the United States, definitely in the homeland, but also U.S. assets and interests in the region. So my concern, my fear is that it is largely to grow, and the U.S. government should be watching these threats a lot more carefully.

CURNOW: Thank you so much for your analysis. Asfandyar Mir, appreciate it.

MIR: Thanks for having me.

CURNOW: So, you are watching CNN.

Still to come, Hurricane Ida maybe losing steam, but the devastation is far from over. We have the latest on the storm's path and what you can expect in the hours ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:29:41] ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR: So you're watching CNN

And Hurricane Ida and coronavirus are wreaking havoc on New Orleans. Just ahead, I will speak to a doctor who is treating COVID patients in the absolute worse of conditions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We are staring down the eye of a monster Category 4 hurricane. And it is unleashing its fury on Houma, Louisiana as we speak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: Welcome back to all of our viewers here in the United States and all around the world.

I'm Robyn Curnow. It is 33 minutes past the hour. Thanks for joining me.

So Hurricane Ida has weakened to a category one storm but the damage left behind so far is s widespread. The storm is moving slowly and the heavy rain is causing flash flooding in southeastern Louisiana.

Now before night fell, the force of the storm was clear -- high winds, pushed powerlines over. More than a million customers are without electricity in Louisiana and Mississippi. At least one person is killed by a falling tree.

New Orleans is now in complete darkness. People are calling for help saying flood waters are reaching chest level. But dangerous conditions are preventing emergency crews from reaching them.

There is, no doubt, powerful and heartbreaking images of damage and destruction will follow Ida as the storm continues. But here is the impact the hurricane has made so far after making landfall. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: We have breaking news on Hurricane Ida. This extremely dangerous storm just made landfall only moments ago as a Category 4 storm, with 150 mile an hour winds.

[01:34:57]

JOSHUA LEGG, RESIDENT: Lordy. My weather vane registered 168 miles an hour winds and then it broke.

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And it almost feels like someone with giant hands has taken the wind and the water from behind me and is pushing it towards the city of New Orleans.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the time to stay Inside. Do not venture out.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's flying debris all over the place. You'll see my eyes dart back and forth, because I've got constantly watch out for me and my team.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You can see these bands of wind and rain that have steadily been coming -- have been coming through here and makes it very difficult at this point to stand up.

VAN DAM: Just let these visuals play out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unbelievable.

VAN DAM: The reason I can here is only because of this concrete wall to my left.

GOVERNOR JOHN BEL EDWARDS (D-LA): You've got to be prepared to stay for the first 72 hours on your own. Nobody should be expecting that tonight, a first responder is going to be able to answer a call for help.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are praying for the best and planning to be prepared for the worst. As soon as the storm passes, we're going to put the country's full might behind the rescue and recovery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Right now, just about all of New Orleans and the surrounding areas are in the dark after the storm knocked out power across much of the region.

Now, that is bringing new threats for residents really trying to ride out the storm.

Brian Todd is in New Orleans and this is his latest, Brian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: As we headed into the overnight hours from Sunday into Monday all of New Orleans was plunged into darkness.

We're here on Bourbon Street. It is very, very dark out here. The only reason you can see some light on this building behind me is because our photojournalist, Jake Higher (ph), is going to zoom into this area of Bourbon Street, is showing a light on that house there from an independent power source.

There are some lights on a taller building behind it. But that is because of generator power. The only buildings that have any kind of power in New Orleans right now are running on generator power.

That presents yet another possible danger here because according to Louisiana state officials, last year when Hurricane Laura came through here of the 25 deaths recorded from Hurricane Laura, nine of them were due to carbon monoxide poisoning from people misusing their generators, bringing them inside and just operating them in a dangerous way. Maybe not following the manufacturer's recommendations for how to operate those things.

So some people are being warned to be very, very careful about using your generators especially as we get into some darkness here in New Orleans.

But that is also, you know, just putting another point of danger here for (INAUDIBLE) because it is hard to see any water levels rising in your given neighborhood. We do know that there was a flash flood emergency issue for about 20 different areas of New Orleans in the south shore area. So people were asked to seek higher ground there very, very late on Sunday night.

The levees though and the flood gates seem to be holding. This was not necessarily an issue of storm surge causing flooding here in the New Orleans area. This is just relentless rainfall that's causing flooding in some areas.

But the good news is that according to the Flood Risk and Flood Management Authority here in Louisiana the floodgates, the surge gates -- those have been closed but those are holding.

The levees, which have been heavily fortified, since Hurricane Katrina 16 years ago, including making them taller and extending them further out, those levees have been holding and they expected them to hold indefinitely and be able to ride out the storm.

But again, power outages throughout New Orleans and throughout the state of the Louisiana. A huge issue now as crews will star to fan out in the coming hours to try to not only assess damage but to see when and where they can restore power to some of these areas including the whole city of New Orleans.

Brian Todd, CNN -- New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: And just south of New Orleans, the situation in Jefferson Parish is rapidly deteriorating. Parish president Cynthia Lee Sheng (ph) spoke to CNN's Pamela Brown a little bit earlier and gave a pretty disturbing update about the rising water there. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CYNTHIA LEE SHENG, PRESIDENT, JEFFERSON PARISH, LOUISIANA: Right now my concern is we've lost contact with Grand Isle, so that is the island right on the Gulf of Mexico that I've been very, very concerned about. We lost contact with them. We've not been able to reach them. So I don't know what they are going through.

And then closer up here, still outside the protection system, an area called Lafitte and lower Lafitte, Barataria, Crown Point the water is rising. People are in their homes and we are getting reports of people with water up to their chest. They're asking to be rescued. So very, very dire situation. And we just cannot get out yet.

[01:39:53]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: That is dire. What else are you hearing from people calling in? I mean that is horrific.

SHENG: It is horrific. We're almost -- the electrical grid is just almost out. We are probably at 95 percent out of electricity. We were -- a very large transmission tower came down. That fed a lot of our community.

So we're getting reports of roof damage, roofs -- you know, trees down. Tree roots pulling up and damaging water mains. So now our water pressure is going down.

So, you know, we are also responding to an assisted -- actually a condominium where there are some elderly people living there and they're roof partially collapsed and we're trying to get them out to a church across the street.

So it is very, very busy here. And we're -- we just can't respond yet.

BROWN: Right. I mean so what are you doing in these cases? When you get a call like that with these senior citizens or the person who has, you know, water up to their chest? What can you do?

SHENG: Well, people just -- you know, I got a text from a friend of mine and she said a tree fell on her neighbor's house. She wants the neighbors to come to her house, but she said she cannot walk outside right now.

So it's just -- the winds are so heavy, so high right now, we just can't get out. We were able to get one of the fire chiefs over to the assisted-living center to see what it's like. It is not a dire situation, but they do have water in the building that is on the first floor. There is some type of collapse that's having water intrusion.

So the real situation I think is very dire is the water that is rising in those areas of Lower Lafitte.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: So coming up on CNN, another story we are following.

North Korea appears to be revving up its nuclear program. Details and a live report on that straight ahead.

You're watching CNN.

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[01:44:51]

CURNOW: I want to give you an update on the latest on Hurricane Ida, which has been slamming into Louisiana. This is a monster storm. We're getting a number of reports of flash flooding. But we now are also getting information that a levee might have failed.

I'm going to go straight to Pedram Javaheri. Pedram, hi.

If you can tell us, what is happening on the ground? It's the middle of the night. It's difficult to assess the damage, but emergency services are issuing a warning that is very ominous in one area.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is very ominous. It is across the Highway 23 region there in the northwestern areas of Louisiana. And this is an area that has been very hard hit the last couple of hours.

The levee failure being reported in this region by local police officers that have been patrolling the region, kind of seeing the damage take place. And we have additional reports as well from trained weather spotters that we're getting here at the CNN Weather Center saying multiple houses on fire across the northwestern regions of a Plaquemines Parish, in an area that frankly also reports put that there are people on rooftops because of the flooding, the rising waters pushing into the home, pushing into the cars, speaks to the incredible nature of the storm system.

Of course, power lines come down. And you have fires taking place. The rainfall that is occurring, you have flooding taking place -- all of it simultaneously across this region of northern Louisiana and northwestern Plaquemines Parish.

But additional reports near the I-10 region, I should say, just west of Interstate 55, water now taking over portions of Interstate 10. Reports there are putting a number of 18-wheelers that are pulled over to the side because water becoming more prevalent on the interstate itself. Again, just west of Interstate 55 there on I-10, speaking again to the intensity of the storm system.

Making landfall just a little over 12 hours ago, at 150 miles per hour in southern Louisiana. Still this hour, 85 mile per hour category one hurricane pushing right around northern areas of Louisiana.

Southern Mississippi we'll begin to see the brunt of the storm here within the next couple of hours as the hurricane continues to move northward there, Robyn?

CURNOW: Thank you for the update, Pedram Javaheri. We'll continue to monitor all these new breaking developments as we get more information on the ground in Louisiana.

Pedram, thank you for that.

You are watching CNN. Stick with us. More news after the break.

[01:47:05]

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CURNOW: Well Gulf states are dealing with storms on two fronts -- Hurricane Ida and skyrocketing COVID cases. But no state is getting pummeled by both like Louisiana. In addition to Ida's damage, Louisiana is also suffering some of the highest COVID case numbers in the U.S.

Hospitals there are packed with more than 2,400 COVID patients. Conditions we know have deteriorated so quickly that one health care provider will have to move dozens of patients in the coming hours. We are also getting reports of building damage, and water leaks at a medical center.

Joining me now from New Orleans, Dr. Derek Smith. Doctor, hi. Thank you for joining us. I know you're having quite a hellish night, but if you could just tell us what you are dealing with there on the ground?

DR. DEREK SMITH, OCHSNER HEALTH SYSTEM: Yes. The general vibe in the hospital right now is just of weariness and just overall anxiety. Before going into this storm, our hospital was already almost at capacity with workers, you know, always strained.

Right now, we are all locked in here with day shift and night shift rotating with people to my left and to my right actually, in the offices next to me sleeping on air mattresses and basically, just working as hard as they can, around the clock to manage, you know, the amount of patients we have.

And like you said, we have hospitals in our system, 35 miles southwest of here, which have patients that have structural issues in their hospitals, that need to be moved here. And we all anticipate that's going to happen as soon as the storm dies down.

So actually, within the next couple of hours, all those patients are going to arrive, and we're all going to have to, you know, step up our game once again. It is definitely a tough scene here.

CURNOW: Are you running on generators? Because I understand that there is no power.

DR. SMITH: Correct. Yes, the entire city, the entire parish, the entire metropolitan area is without power. From what I understand, one of the major transformers that supplies power across the river came down. Meaning that the city is not likely to have power anytime soon. I wouldn't say within the next few days.

So that just means that just adds to the, you know, the complexity of the issue with patients coming in with no power, cause more medical issues, causes more to seek refuge. And we all know that the coming hours are going to be even more of a test.

CURNOW: And has your hospital held up structurally? Because as you said, we are hearing reports of some hospitals being damaged by the storm. You're going to get some of the overflow of patients.

How has the structure held up where you are?

DR. SMITH: Correct. So our main hospital building is actually faring quite well. All of our patients have the oxygen and the electricity they need on the backup generator which is functioning very well.

Unfortunately, some of the corridors for the staff, the roof did have some leaks. We're dealing with water in the hospital. I don't know anyone here working here, that hasn't gotten wet at least once today from just walking through drips.

But thankfully, the patient side of the hospital is actually holding up well. And we are still able to care for our patients.

CURNOW: I understand that many COVID patients couldn't be moved out of harm's way, because the hospitals in Louisiana are so full. It just seems like one tragedy on top of another here.

DR. SMITH: That is correct. All of us in the hospital Medicine Department -- the nurses, the respiratory therapist that work here -- we were all already kind of working extra shifts to try and handle the patient loads, trying our best to make sure every single patient got the care they needed.

No one was ever skipped over. But were are like you are saying, coming to a breaking point where we're losing other facilities. We are losing beds by the minute because of the storm. And, you know, as they come in we're just going to have to deal with them, and place them somewhere.

[01:54:54]

CURNOW: Do you have room for them? I mean -- and if there are some casualties overnight, if you do wake up in the first light, shows that there needs to be some serious trauma patients perhaps dealt with on a variety of other injuries, are you able to cope with that kind of influx?

DR. SMITH: I can say we're going to try and do our best in particularly, you know, disastrous times calls for, you know, the best we can do.

If it comes to, you know, us not having room, I'm sure we'll kind of our do our best. But you are right, I mean the hospital system is already under stress. And it's likely that some patients won't get the care they need.

And this time, I really feel for those people who are at home, without power, without the oxygen concentrator power, that basically can't even make it into the hospital. It's definitely a difficult situation to happen especially, you know, in an inner city, in a first world country like America.

CURNOW: So do you think we are going to lose a lot of people just because of the power outage in New Orleans? And the extremely high rates of COVID?

DR. SMITH: I think people -- the difficult issue, is that I know for a fact there are people having medical emergencies out there right now, or had medical emergencies out there --

CURNOW: And you can't get to them.

DR. SMITH: -- while the storm was happening. And they didn't make it to the hospital. That's inevitable, I think in any sort of disaster like this.

As far as our --

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DR. SMITH: -- our generators are functioning ok, and we are able to, you know, supply patients that need ventilators, with the ventilators that they need.

CURNOW: Thank you, Doctor. I'm going to have to leave it there unfortunately. I'm going to have to leave it there. I know you've got a busy night ahead of you, I'm going to have to hand over to my colleague, Rosemary Church.

But thank you for all the work that you, and your team is doing under these very difficult circumstances.

As I said, I'm going to hand you over to Rosemary Church. It's a busy news night.

CNN continues. Stick with us.

[01:56:50]

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