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View From Topsail Beach, North Carolina
Aired September 18, 2003 - 14:44 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We continue our hurricane coverage. This time to Topsail Beach, of course, in North Carolina, where I'm told it is completely deserted now except for our Elaine Quijano. So, she's going to -- how you doing, Elaine? You actually look pretty good considering the circumstances, my friend.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know what? It's not completely deserted, Kyra, because I see a seagull. Oh, there it was. It's gone now. But, yes, really we have not seen anybody since we drove in overnight here.
And these winds that are you now seeing me experience here are part of the reason why people took the warnings very seriously. They wanted to make sure they were out of area and into some safe shelter.
But if you take a look, you can actually see that this particular part of the North Carolina coast has weathered the storm relatively well. You see this house over to my left here, the windows, not all of them have been boarded up. They are still intact right now.
A little bit beyond that if you take a look even further off to my left, you'll see that the utility poles, telephone pole, the road signs and even the road itself indicate there's no debris in the road right now. Those utility poles are still upright, still intact.
So, for the most part, some good news. At least folks here beginning to at least think about breathing a sigh of relief.
But an interesting side note to all of this. The beach where I'm standing right now is quite significant to the residents here of Topsail Island. The reason being this is where every year, from about May through August, loggerhead turtles actually come to build their nests. It's a significant event here. It brings a lot of people out to the area, a lot of tourists.
And it's something that residents have been concerned about, the issue of beach erosion here. They thought perhaps with another storm that could obviously threaten the area here, and this particular area, which is so sensitive for them and for these loggerhead turtles. This is actually one of the most northern most points, where loggerhead turtles actually nest.
So, the good news is, at least for now anyway, no major signs of damage from our vantage point here along North Topsail Beach, and at least the beach area here certainly could have fared a lot worse. Of course, it is not over yet. Residents are very well aware of that. And at this point, just judging from the looks of things now, people did heed the governor's advice and stayed away from the area -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Elaine Quijano, not so bad there. Part two will be the loggerhead turtles, and we'll check in with you again. Thanks, Elaine.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired September 18, 2003 - 14:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We continue our hurricane coverage. This time to Topsail Beach, of course, in North Carolina, where I'm told it is completely deserted now except for our Elaine Quijano. So, she's going to -- how you doing, Elaine? You actually look pretty good considering the circumstances, my friend.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know what? It's not completely deserted, Kyra, because I see a seagull. Oh, there it was. It's gone now. But, yes, really we have not seen anybody since we drove in overnight here.
And these winds that are you now seeing me experience here are part of the reason why people took the warnings very seriously. They wanted to make sure they were out of area and into some safe shelter.
But if you take a look, you can actually see that this particular part of the North Carolina coast has weathered the storm relatively well. You see this house over to my left here, the windows, not all of them have been boarded up. They are still intact right now.
A little bit beyond that if you take a look even further off to my left, you'll see that the utility poles, telephone pole, the road signs and even the road itself indicate there's no debris in the road right now. Those utility poles are still upright, still intact.
So, for the most part, some good news. At least folks here beginning to at least think about breathing a sigh of relief.
But an interesting side note to all of this. The beach where I'm standing right now is quite significant to the residents here of Topsail Island. The reason being this is where every year, from about May through August, loggerhead turtles actually come to build their nests. It's a significant event here. It brings a lot of people out to the area, a lot of tourists.
And it's something that residents have been concerned about, the issue of beach erosion here. They thought perhaps with another storm that could obviously threaten the area here, and this particular area, which is so sensitive for them and for these loggerhead turtles. This is actually one of the most northern most points, where loggerhead turtles actually nest.
So, the good news is, at least for now anyway, no major signs of damage from our vantage point here along North Topsail Beach, and at least the beach area here certainly could have fared a lot worse. Of course, it is not over yet. Residents are very well aware of that. And at this point, just judging from the looks of things now, people did heed the governor's advice and stayed away from the area -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Elaine Quijano, not so bad there. Part two will be the loggerhead turtles, and we'll check in with you again. Thanks, Elaine.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
