Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Saturday
Tropical Storm Barry Threatens Louisiana
Aired August 04, 2001 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: We begin in the Gulf of Mexico, where tropical storm Barry is refusing to make its intentions known. We've been tracking this storm for days, and right now it's almost within striking distance of the Mississippi Delta.
We are joined on the phone by Steve Resweber. He's the manager of the Grand Isle State Park on the tip of the delta, and about two hours ago that was added to the warning area. Mr. Resweber, you are the manager of the park, what are the plans right now?
STEVE RESWEBER, PARK MANAGER: Well, the plans as of now are we really are in a waiting mode, we are, you know, watching the storm like everyone else and hoping it doesn't move north. We have suspended overnight camping at the park, and this is to avoid any possibility of congested roads on the only road coming into Grand Isle, Louisiana, which is LA 1, and that way the residents won't have to fight too much traffic and slow-moving trailers and campers when they decide to leave.
So we have suspended camping and we are continuing the day use operations of the park through 9:00 tonight, which is normal closing time.
KELLEY: Oh, through 9:00 tonight? Local time?
RESWEBER: Local time. That will be for the day use. All campers are suspended as of now. There will be no overnight camping and have to be gone from the park, which is checkout time, at 1:00 p.m. Central.
KELLEY: OK. So, how many people do you have there now, and are they leaving?
RESWEBER: The campers are packing at this time. They are heeding our warnings. We just made them aware that they are a lot slower-moving traffic than the normal residents, and...
KELLEY: Do you know where they are going?
RESWEBER: They are going to head back home. All these people are from different parts of Louisiana and other states.
KELLEY: OK. Steve Resweber, who is the manager of Grand Isle State Park, thanks very much. And of course, it depends on the storm as to when they can come back in, so let's check and see what it looks like with our Kevin Corriveau. He is our meteorologist this weekend. What do you see with this storm, Kevin?
KEVIN CORRIVEAU, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, right now, the storm has basically gone stationary, with a very, very slow movement, maybe to the west. And we are seeing that this storm now, with the new advisory out, is going to start to move more to the north. Right now, they have it pushing a little bit more to the east, so possibly New Orleans could be out of that quadrant.
As we take a look at the history, we do see that it did produce quite a lot of rain as it was parked as a low over here for the coast of Florida, and you can see -- let me just remind you what those storm total were. We did see rainfall amounts in that particular area quite considerable, anywhere from nine inches right here, 7.8 inches North Palm Beach, and anywhere from 11 inches or higher for parts of Stewart.
As we take a look at what's happening on the satellite image, you notice that this is Stewart right -- excuse me, this is Barry right here, not Stewart. This is Barry right here, and you can see a lot of bright colors. It is intensifying a little bit. It is getting a little bit brighter, and that means it is getting a little bit higher, so we are going to possibly see a little more intensity with this, but we are expecting it to move to the north.
And if it does move to the north, it could reach up to 60 knots. Donna, that's your weather, back to you.
KELLEY: OK, Kevin, thanks very much.
And joining us on the phone right now is Cassandra Wiltz. She is with the Red Cross in New Orleans. Cassandra, can you hear me?
CASSANDRA WILTZ, RED CROSS: Yeah, hi, Donna.
KELLEY: Hi, thanks. Thanks for talking with us.
Of course, below sea level, and that's always a worry for flooding. But Kevin was saying you are not going to get that push with the wind that could, you know, stall out and bring you a bunch of rain. But what are the plans right now? What are you set for? What are you prepped for?
WILTZ: Well, right now, we have over 400 volunteers on stand-by and over 90 staff, and we are ready to assist in whichever way this storm is going to affect us.
KELLEY: How many people...
WILTZ: And we're...
KELLEY: I'm sorry, go ahead. WILTZ: No, I was just saying we were heavily in meeting, you know, monitoring the storm and to make sure that we have everything in place. You know, if we have to act, we can move and assist those people that will be affected by the storm.
KELLEY: You bet. How many people can you handle?
WILTZ: Oh, my God, we can handle it all. We've been through Allison, George -- so you name it, we can handle it. We're ready.
KELLEY: Yeah, and the numbers of people that you could help?
WILTZ: Well, there is really no number. The amount of people that come in, that's what we're able to assist them.
KELLEY: And for how long, how long could you help them?
WILTZ: As long as the disaster need relates, as long as they need it. We never, like, set a timeframe on it, just depends on the individuals, effect on the families and the actual disaster-related needs. So, if it takes two years, we'll be assisting them for two years. If it takes two months, we'll be doing that as well.
KELLEY: OK. And is there anything that people can do to help you to help people?
WILTZ: Well, we can use -- always use more volunteers. Volunteers are excellent. We have many disaster course trainings set up so they can be equipped to assist in mass care, in case of a storm, if we need someone to go out an do damage assessments. Volunteers are always great.
KELLEY: OK. Cassandra Wiltz, with the Red Cross in New Orleans there, thanks very much. Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
