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Live From...
After Isabel
Aired September 19, 2003 - 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: At least 17 people lost their lives along the path of the storm. And as far as the damage goes, some of the worst occurred in North Carolina, where Isabel landed along the Outer Banks.
CNN's Brian Cabell is in Kittyhawk. He has the story for us from the birth of aviation there. Hello, Brian.
BRIAN CABELL, CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles. This is highway 158, one of the north-south routes out of the Outer Banks. And as you can see right now, we've got a major body of water here. Probably I would say almost a half mile long and probably about 50 yards wide.
A couple problems here in the Outer Banks today. Number one, if you're off the Outer Banks and want to get in, you can't get in. They aren't allowing you on the Outer Banks. Number two, if you're here, the curfew here has been extended until noon tomorrow. No one's supposed to be out of their home or at least very far from their home.
Number three, as you can see, it's hard to get by. There is water everywhere, at least in the Kittyhawk area. And number four, power outages scattered throughout the area. People are doing their best here to deal with that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right now, we're pretending we're camping. We're campers naturally, so we're just doing the thing with the ice and not watching TV, doing -- playing games and cards, hide and go seek, whatever you do just to keep yourself entertained.
Right now, my children are watching with me. And we're doing some filming for my husband, who's over in Kosovo with the international police force to let him know what's going on here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're doing fine. Got plenty of food, plenty of water and stuff. It's just -- I don't know, just getting bored, sitting in the house.
CABELL: You glad you stayed?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. Definitely so.
CABELL: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just -- in case something happened to my house, I was there. In case the window got blown out, I had, you know, nails, boards already measured out. I could put something in there just to, you know, secure my house.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CABELL: Now about a mile or so from here on the coast, and we're about 200, 300 yards from the coast, is Sea Ranch 2. That's a motel, a resort. Apparently, the surge came over yesterday, cut a swathe through the center of it. Bottom floor all the way from the back of it, where the ocean is to the front, major damage there. We've been over there.
At least about a dozen homes we're saying in all likelihood in this area have been seriously damaged. We're told down in Hatteras, which is about an hour and a half from here, very, serious damage. There are assessment teams down there right now. We have not been able to get down there, but we're told camera crews are on the way. We will be able to get at least video, at least aerials fairly soon.
Now as a final counterpoint to all of this misery and devastation, let me show you a shot from this morning. Kill Devil Hills, where we were yesterday during the storm, this morning, a beautiful Outer Banks sunrise, gorgeous, you wouldn't know anything had happened. And as a matter of fact right now, Miles, a gorgeous day here. Except for the fact that we're dealing with a lake, we should not be dealing with this point. But these trucks, these cars are making it through here for now - Miles?
O'BRIEN: Some of the best weather you ever see is usually in the wake of a hurricane. Brian, I'm curious, anybody who's driven those Outer Banks knows how narrow those Barrier Islands are. Do you have a good report yet on whether you can drive all the way down toward Hatteras and ultimately (UNINTELLIGIBLE) using the ferries and so forth?
CABELL: We are blocked. We go about -- right to the point where you try to turn off to Manteo. And they block you there. They won't let you go beyond there. We're told that the road is impassable. Now whether with - four wheel drive you can go beyond that, we don't know. But they simply aren't allowing us to go at this point, but we are told there is serious damage to the roads down there as well.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Brian Cabell, Kittyhawk, North Carolina. Thank you very much.
The city of Washington, D.C. and the metropolitan area really swamped today. Some of the low-lying areas, Old Town Alexandria, Georgetown in particular, hit hard.
CNN's Wolf Blitzer standing on the banks of the Potomac in Arlington, with Washington in the background there, giving us the latest on the flooding and the ripple effect. It's caused lots of power outages, right, Wolf?
BLITZER: Enormous number of power outages, Miles. In fact, I don't think a lot of people in the greater Washington, D.C. area anticipated that more than a million people would be without power, not only in the District of Columbia, suburban Maryland city, towns like Bethesda, Rockville, Chevy Chase. Certainly here in northern Virginia, not only tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people without power, also serious water problems in Northern Virginia especially. Some of the water treatment plants are powered by electricity. And that power is out. People are being urged, maybe a million people, to boil their water at least for the time being so that they can get through this problem.
Now down the river from where I am, in Old Town Alexandria, water did come in. Significant amounts of water, coming into Old Town Alexandria. Beautiful part of Alexandria. If you're not familiar with it, I recommend you go, along the Potomac River and visit that area, but not necessarily today. People surprised by what is happening.
Also, in Baltimore not far away from where we are, about 60 miles or so in Baltimore along the waterfront, the historic part of the community, significant flooding going there as well. Serious problems in Baltimore, as well as in the Washington, D.C. area.
Federal government, for the second day in a row, by and large, shut down, virtually shut down. 350,000 people told to have effectively a four-day weekend. They didn't work yesterday. Not working today. Won't work Saturday or Sunday either. Everyone hoping that business will get back to usual, of course, by Monday.
I can tell you, I'm in the flight path of Reagan National Airport here in the nation's capital. A plane just went over our heads, suggesting that this airport slowly but surely will re-open. Almost all of the aircraft, all the equipment, Miles, had been moved in the days earlier, especially early yesterday morning. They didn't want it to be in the path of Hurricane Isabel - Miles?
O'BRIEN: Yes, as anybody who has watched planes going in and out of National could attest to, you wouldn't even be able to have a conversation standing where you are right now. I'm curious, Wolf, if the waters have started to recede just yet? And if there's any prediction on when -- the river will be back in its banks?
BLITZER: The waters really have not started to recede. Remember, there was a lot of water here to begin with. We've had an incredible amount of rain in the Washington, D.C. area over the last several weeks. So there was a high level to begin with.
It's going to take at least a few days before things get back to normal. Eventually, they will. People are going to have to be patient. And people are going to have to remember there are incredibly serious dangers still out there, especially these downed power lines, the flooding. Be very careful. Don't just assume because the sun is beginning to come out, that it's all over with. It certainly isn't.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Wolf Blitzer, on the banks of the Potomac, thanks very much. Appreciate it.
Those military vessels that fled the path of Isabel, we told you all about that, starting to steam back in. And they are expected to start arriving in the Norfolk area tomorrow. The ships left port on Tuesday to ride the storm out at sea.
Vice Admiral Gary Roughead is commander of the Navy's second fleet. He joins us live now by phone from the USS Baton, somewhere off the coast of Virginia.
Admiral, can you hear me? Okay, great. Can you give us a sense of how rough the ride was?
GARY ROUGHHEAD, VICE ADM. COMMANDER OF SECOND FLEET: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) went around to the east. And now we're in the process of just coming in behind it, heading back in.
O'BRIEN: All right. And can you give us a sense...
ROUGHHEAD: A very good ride out here.
O'BRIEN: All right, admiral, if there's any way you could speak up just a little bit to help us out. We have a kind of a rough transmission there, that would help us. Can you give us a sense of how high the seas were, and how that compares to your experience in the Navy over the years?
ROUGHHEAD: Well, the most that we saw out here was about 16 feet -- swell of about 16 feet, which was not an uncomfortable ride. And I think for most of us that have been around a while, we've been in seas that are much worse than that. So the ride was not that bad. It was very safe. And as I said, we're now kind of in the lesser sea states, heading back into port.
O'BRIEN: And obviously, you're in close contact with the fleet out there. Did any ships encounter any difficulties? Or did that - those 16 foot swells mean nothing to these Navy ships?
ROUGHHEAD: No problems whatsoever. In fact, yesterday, we took an opportunity to refuel the ships that are out here so that when we get back into port, we would be ready for anything that we might be tasked to do.
O'BRIEN: What can you tell us about what it's like to be in the midst of all that, what you saw and heard and how impressed you were by the power of Mother Nature?
ROUGHHEAD: Well, I've been through hurricanes before, ashore and at sea. And the power is absolutely awesome. And the reason that we got the ships under way is that the best place to be, relative to a hurricane, is outside of the hurricane. So it's incredible amount of power that nature generates.
O'BRIEN: All right. And this is probably a difficult question to ask somebody in the Navy. But for those of us who haven't spent nearly as much time on ships, when you're dealing with 16 foot swells, how do you keep the sailors from getting a little mal de mer?
ROUGHHEAD: We try and pick the best course that we possibly can. And we also stay (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- continue our training out here, and stay focused on the job and the mission. But we try and make the ride as comfortable as we possibly can.
O'BRIEN: All right. Not implying anything about the cast iron stomachs of the U.S. Navy, which we sure are out there. Vice Admiral Gary Roughead, thanks very much. He's commander of the Navy's second fleet, rode out the storm at sea there. We appreciate you joining us from the "USS Baton."
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 19, 2003 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: At least 17 people lost their lives along the path of the storm. And as far as the damage goes, some of the worst occurred in North Carolina, where Isabel landed along the Outer Banks.
CNN's Brian Cabell is in Kittyhawk. He has the story for us from the birth of aviation there. Hello, Brian.
BRIAN CABELL, CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles. This is highway 158, one of the north-south routes out of the Outer Banks. And as you can see right now, we've got a major body of water here. Probably I would say almost a half mile long and probably about 50 yards wide.
A couple problems here in the Outer Banks today. Number one, if you're off the Outer Banks and want to get in, you can't get in. They aren't allowing you on the Outer Banks. Number two, if you're here, the curfew here has been extended until noon tomorrow. No one's supposed to be out of their home or at least very far from their home.
Number three, as you can see, it's hard to get by. There is water everywhere, at least in the Kittyhawk area. And number four, power outages scattered throughout the area. People are doing their best here to deal with that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right now, we're pretending we're camping. We're campers naturally, so we're just doing the thing with the ice and not watching TV, doing -- playing games and cards, hide and go seek, whatever you do just to keep yourself entertained.
Right now, my children are watching with me. And we're doing some filming for my husband, who's over in Kosovo with the international police force to let him know what's going on here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're doing fine. Got plenty of food, plenty of water and stuff. It's just -- I don't know, just getting bored, sitting in the house.
CABELL: You glad you stayed?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. Definitely so.
CABELL: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just -- in case something happened to my house, I was there. In case the window got blown out, I had, you know, nails, boards already measured out. I could put something in there just to, you know, secure my house.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CABELL: Now about a mile or so from here on the coast, and we're about 200, 300 yards from the coast, is Sea Ranch 2. That's a motel, a resort. Apparently, the surge came over yesterday, cut a swathe through the center of it. Bottom floor all the way from the back of it, where the ocean is to the front, major damage there. We've been over there.
At least about a dozen homes we're saying in all likelihood in this area have been seriously damaged. We're told down in Hatteras, which is about an hour and a half from here, very, serious damage. There are assessment teams down there right now. We have not been able to get down there, but we're told camera crews are on the way. We will be able to get at least video, at least aerials fairly soon.
Now as a final counterpoint to all of this misery and devastation, let me show you a shot from this morning. Kill Devil Hills, where we were yesterday during the storm, this morning, a beautiful Outer Banks sunrise, gorgeous, you wouldn't know anything had happened. And as a matter of fact right now, Miles, a gorgeous day here. Except for the fact that we're dealing with a lake, we should not be dealing with this point. But these trucks, these cars are making it through here for now - Miles?
O'BRIEN: Some of the best weather you ever see is usually in the wake of a hurricane. Brian, I'm curious, anybody who's driven those Outer Banks knows how narrow those Barrier Islands are. Do you have a good report yet on whether you can drive all the way down toward Hatteras and ultimately (UNINTELLIGIBLE) using the ferries and so forth?
CABELL: We are blocked. We go about -- right to the point where you try to turn off to Manteo. And they block you there. They won't let you go beyond there. We're told that the road is impassable. Now whether with - four wheel drive you can go beyond that, we don't know. But they simply aren't allowing us to go at this point, but we are told there is serious damage to the roads down there as well.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Brian Cabell, Kittyhawk, North Carolina. Thank you very much.
The city of Washington, D.C. and the metropolitan area really swamped today. Some of the low-lying areas, Old Town Alexandria, Georgetown in particular, hit hard.
CNN's Wolf Blitzer standing on the banks of the Potomac in Arlington, with Washington in the background there, giving us the latest on the flooding and the ripple effect. It's caused lots of power outages, right, Wolf?
BLITZER: Enormous number of power outages, Miles. In fact, I don't think a lot of people in the greater Washington, D.C. area anticipated that more than a million people would be without power, not only in the District of Columbia, suburban Maryland city, towns like Bethesda, Rockville, Chevy Chase. Certainly here in northern Virginia, not only tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people without power, also serious water problems in Northern Virginia especially. Some of the water treatment plants are powered by electricity. And that power is out. People are being urged, maybe a million people, to boil their water at least for the time being so that they can get through this problem.
Now down the river from where I am, in Old Town Alexandria, water did come in. Significant amounts of water, coming into Old Town Alexandria. Beautiful part of Alexandria. If you're not familiar with it, I recommend you go, along the Potomac River and visit that area, but not necessarily today. People surprised by what is happening.
Also, in Baltimore not far away from where we are, about 60 miles or so in Baltimore along the waterfront, the historic part of the community, significant flooding going there as well. Serious problems in Baltimore, as well as in the Washington, D.C. area.
Federal government, for the second day in a row, by and large, shut down, virtually shut down. 350,000 people told to have effectively a four-day weekend. They didn't work yesterday. Not working today. Won't work Saturday or Sunday either. Everyone hoping that business will get back to usual, of course, by Monday.
I can tell you, I'm in the flight path of Reagan National Airport here in the nation's capital. A plane just went over our heads, suggesting that this airport slowly but surely will re-open. Almost all of the aircraft, all the equipment, Miles, had been moved in the days earlier, especially early yesterday morning. They didn't want it to be in the path of Hurricane Isabel - Miles?
O'BRIEN: Yes, as anybody who has watched planes going in and out of National could attest to, you wouldn't even be able to have a conversation standing where you are right now. I'm curious, Wolf, if the waters have started to recede just yet? And if there's any prediction on when -- the river will be back in its banks?
BLITZER: The waters really have not started to recede. Remember, there was a lot of water here to begin with. We've had an incredible amount of rain in the Washington, D.C. area over the last several weeks. So there was a high level to begin with.
It's going to take at least a few days before things get back to normal. Eventually, they will. People are going to have to be patient. And people are going to have to remember there are incredibly serious dangers still out there, especially these downed power lines, the flooding. Be very careful. Don't just assume because the sun is beginning to come out, that it's all over with. It certainly isn't.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Wolf Blitzer, on the banks of the Potomac, thanks very much. Appreciate it.
Those military vessels that fled the path of Isabel, we told you all about that, starting to steam back in. And they are expected to start arriving in the Norfolk area tomorrow. The ships left port on Tuesday to ride the storm out at sea.
Vice Admiral Gary Roughead is commander of the Navy's second fleet. He joins us live now by phone from the USS Baton, somewhere off the coast of Virginia.
Admiral, can you hear me? Okay, great. Can you give us a sense of how rough the ride was?
GARY ROUGHHEAD, VICE ADM. COMMANDER OF SECOND FLEET: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) went around to the east. And now we're in the process of just coming in behind it, heading back in.
O'BRIEN: All right. And can you give us a sense...
ROUGHHEAD: A very good ride out here.
O'BRIEN: All right, admiral, if there's any way you could speak up just a little bit to help us out. We have a kind of a rough transmission there, that would help us. Can you give us a sense of how high the seas were, and how that compares to your experience in the Navy over the years?
ROUGHHEAD: Well, the most that we saw out here was about 16 feet -- swell of about 16 feet, which was not an uncomfortable ride. And I think for most of us that have been around a while, we've been in seas that are much worse than that. So the ride was not that bad. It was very safe. And as I said, we're now kind of in the lesser sea states, heading back into port.
O'BRIEN: And obviously, you're in close contact with the fleet out there. Did any ships encounter any difficulties? Or did that - those 16 foot swells mean nothing to these Navy ships?
ROUGHHEAD: No problems whatsoever. In fact, yesterday, we took an opportunity to refuel the ships that are out here so that when we get back into port, we would be ready for anything that we might be tasked to do.
O'BRIEN: What can you tell us about what it's like to be in the midst of all that, what you saw and heard and how impressed you were by the power of Mother Nature?
ROUGHHEAD: Well, I've been through hurricanes before, ashore and at sea. And the power is absolutely awesome. And the reason that we got the ships under way is that the best place to be, relative to a hurricane, is outside of the hurricane. So it's incredible amount of power that nature generates.
O'BRIEN: All right. And this is probably a difficult question to ask somebody in the Navy. But for those of us who haven't spent nearly as much time on ships, when you're dealing with 16 foot swells, how do you keep the sailors from getting a little mal de mer?
ROUGHHEAD: We try and pick the best course that we possibly can. And we also stay (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- continue our training out here, and stay focused on the job and the mission. But we try and make the ride as comfortable as we possibly can.
O'BRIEN: All right. Not implying anything about the cast iron stomachs of the U.S. Navy, which we sure are out there. Vice Admiral Gary Roughead, thanks very much. He's commander of the Navy's second fleet, rode out the storm at sea there. We appreciate you joining us from the "USS Baton."
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
