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CNN Live Saturday
Hurricane Center Monitors Tropical Storm
Aired August 04, 2001 - 15:00 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 this hour along the Gulf Coast, where folks from Louisiana to Florida are on alert, closely watching Tropical Storm Barry. Tourists on Grand Isle, Louisiana, in fact, have been asked to leave. Barry is churning over the gulf, threatening to pound coastal areas with heavy winds and rain. The storm is expected to strengthen today as it moves closer to land.
In southeastern Louisiana, some folks are boarding up their homes, and more than 400 Red Cross volunteers are ready for action, should the area become the strike zone. The National Weather Service predicts that coastal flooding in some parts, with seas one to three feet above normal levels are possible.
For the very latest on Tropical Storm Barry, let's turn to an expert. Joining us from Coral Gables, Florida is Max Mayfield. He's the director of the National Hurricane Center.
Mr. Mayfield, glad you could join us. Where is it going right now? Where are we right now?
MAX MAYFIELD, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Well, right now, Donna, it's not moving very much at all. But we expect it to begin moving towards the north. And we're really focusing on that area from North Fort, Florida all the way over to southeast Louisiana.
KELLEY: Is it stalled out now, or is it still moving a little bit?
MAYFIELD: It's moving -- the steering currents are very weak, and it's really been moving erratically through the day. But we are expecting that northward motion to begin. So we're really focusing, again up there in that north-central, northeastern Gulf of Mexico.
The tracks are shifting a little bit towards the east, and we'll likely extend the watches and warnings eastward on the 5:00 p.m. advisory.
KELLEY: Is it strengthening at all?
MAYFIELD: It hasn't shown any signs of strengthening. And that's one of our concerns here, that people will let their guard down. This is a very minimal tropical storm at this stage, but the upper level conditions should become more favorable, and we think there's a good chance it will strengthen some during the night and tomorrow. So people need to monitor this very closely tonight.
KELLEY: Do you think it could strengthen into a hurricane, or have you backed off of that?
MAYFIELD: We really haven't been forecasting it to a hurricane for a couple days.
I think it could become a respectable tropical storm. We also want to be sure people remember the flooding that you can have even with a tropical storm, and Allison is a good reminder of that.
KELLEY: Absolutely; and a lot of rain that came with Allison. So is that the problem now, and what about the possibility of tornadoes as well?
MAYFIELD: That's the main concern right now. You always have some concern of some isolated tornadoes. But the main concern right now is with that inland flooding. But we also need to continue to monitor in case those winds pick up as well.
KELLEY: Do you have some official numbers yet, Mr. Mayfield, of what the amount of rainfall was in Florida? I've seen unofficial figures between 11 and 14 inches.
MAYFIELD: We have seen some of those two-digit numbers. It depends on how far back you want to go. If you go back far enough -- we've had several days of rain, so you can get some very large values.
But now we're really focusing more up there from the northwestern portion of Florida continuing all the way through the panhandle and into Alabama and Mississippi.
KELLEY: I would think it's really tough to predict, but do you know how long you might have to watch this storm until it might kind of despite or kind of weaken and go away?
MAYFIELD: I think we'll be watching it for a few more days here. I think that conditions will start going downhill tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow evening in the warning area. And then as it moves further inland I think we'll be tracking it for three or four more days at least.
KELLEY: OK, the director of the National Hurricane Center, Max Mayfield; glad you could join us, thanks so much.
MAYFIELD: Thank you.
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