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CNN Live At Daybreak

Hurricanee Michelle Appears Headed for Bahamas and May Threaten South Florida

Aired November 05, 2001 - 07:15   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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hurricane Michelle appears headed for the Bahamas and may yet threaten south Florida over the next day or two.

For the latest on the late season tempest as it goes through the Straits of Florida after pounding Cuba -- and for the people of western Cuba, there was a long night as the storm took its time crossing the island.

CNN Havana bureau chief Lucia Newman has a blow by blow account.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rising tides and fierce winds and rains signaled that Hurricane Michelle had finally hit Cuba. In the capital, whose old and dilapidated buildings often collapse after a simple thunderstorm, many sighed with relief as the eye of the hurricane shifted eastwardly, away from Havana and towards the neighboring provinces.

The main blow will be to the edge of Havana Province, all of Matanzas Province, the Elcara (ph) and Sienfuegos Province (ph), says national hurricane expert Jose Rubiera (ph).

Michelle's unexpected shift has forced authorities to scramble to evacuate even more people than expected. Already, more than 600,000 Cubans have been evacuated to safer ground. Still, as the worst hurricane to hit Cuba in more than half a century made its way in, many refused to give in to panic. Hurricanes are a tradition in Cuba, says this man. We're not afraid.

Neither were a group of 35 Americans on a U.S. government licensed tour of Cuba, and were trapped in their hotel.

(on camera): But have you ever been in a hurricane?

UNIDENTIFIED TOUR MEMBER: Yes. Yes, I'm from Washington, D.C. and sometimes they get up that far. But I've always wondered what it would be like in a Caribbean island and now I'll find out.

NEWMAN (voice-over): This New Yorker says for her it's almost therapeutic. UNIDENTIFIED TOUR MEMBER: And this is sort of nothing much to deal with after what we've seen and what we've had to deal with there. So it's making us forget a little bit of what happened there.

NEWMAN: Not so for many Cubans, who risked losing everything they had in this storm.

(on camera): In neighboring Matanzas Province, for example, authorities fear that the main reservoir could overflow, putting at risk several towns.

(voice-over): And as darkness fell, huge waves along Havana's Malicon (ph) seaside drive were already penetrating residential areas, raising a new threat of flooding. In all, the nightmare scenario for this poor nation, which hasn't even begun to tally the economic and human toll of this ferocious hurricane.

Lucia Newman, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: But a minor shift in the forward movement of Hurricane Michelle could be dicey for southern Florida. Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, has Michelle's latest coordinates and his best guess on where she is going next.

Good morning, Max.

MAX MAYFIELD, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Good morning, Paula.

Now, we were concerned last night about a powerful shift to the left. We're not concerned at all. This is really good news for the Southeast United States. The core of this hurricane stayed well down to the south of us and we're not going to have any problem here in Florida whatsoever, even in the Florida Keys. Things are fine down there.

Now, where Lucia was giving you those pictures a minute ago was in Havana, and that was really to the west of the hurricane, the center of the hurricane. They had winds to hurricane force there, but the strongest winds are well to the east of there and we're really concerned that -- in fact, I would expect considerable damage there in Central Cuba.

ZAHN: But there remain some strong concerns about the storm surge, right?

MAYFIELD: Right now the biggest concern is -- if you can see behind me here in the Bahamas. The center is just very near Andros Island (ph). It's forecasted into lower Nassau and Iluthra Island (ph). They're actually getting the worst winds now in Nassau and Iluthra. We're really concerned with the storm surge near into the south of where the center crosses, primarily into Iluthra right now.

ZAHN: And what about the concerns for the north in Florida? MAYFIELD: Florida is fine. We've had some beach erosion. We're still getting sustained storm force winds on Miami Beach right now, but that's only a coastal event and it's barely up to tropical storm force and I think we'll likely discontinue the tropical storm warning later this morning for most of Florida.

ZAHN: Whew, glad things changed overnight.

Max Mayfield, thank you so much. I know you've had a long night. Appreciate you joining us this morning.

MAYFIELD: You're welcome, Paula.

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