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Live From...
Hurricane Charley Begins To Come Ashore Near Fort Myers, Fla.
Aired August 13, 2004 - 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Now in the news, Fort Myers bracing for a furious storm. Hurricane Charley is bearing down. Its winds reaching 145 miles per hour. CNN has crews up and down Florida's west coast. We'll check in with them in a moment.
A show of support for a radical Shiite cleric. Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets from Baghdad to Fallujah demanding an end to the violence in Najaf. The streets are relatively quiet there right now, as Shiite and interim government leaders try to broker a peace deal.
Let the games begin. Opening ceremonies are underway in Athens, Greece. A beautiful site there, isn't it? Birthplace of both the ancient and modern Olympics. Ten-thousand-five-hundred athletes going for the gold in these 2004 Summer Games. Twenty-eight sports in the spotlight.
Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hurricane Charley is zeroing in on Florida's southwest coast. The bulls-eye appears to be Charlotte Harbor. That's near Fort Myers. Tampa was prepared for the worst, but the projected track is now south of what everyone was expected over the past couple of days.
Now, it looks like the storm will pass over Orlando, with all of its theme parks. We don't need to remind you, I suppose. They, of course, are closed now.
Also in Charley's path, fields of corn, cotton and soybeans, along with that very valuable citrus crop. It could mean for a lot of trouble for people. The storm is Category 4, and that means 145 mile- an-hour sustained winds, a serious storm.
Meteorologist Orelon Sidney is in the Weather Center and she has the latest on where Charley is headed and its strength. Orelon?
ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Thanks a lot, Miles.
Hurricane Charley, indeed, a very dangerous storm. I wanted to show you the latest radar picture that we have. Here, if I can get you oriented, is Port Charlotte, Fort Myers about right here, Cape Coral and then Sanibel.
And then, this is Port Charlotte, right in here, the bay that we're most concerned about. And that, right at the bottom of the screen you can see -- I don't know if we can drop the ticker enough for you to see that -- but this right here this is outer eye wall, some of the big thunderstorms that are starting to work their way to the north, northeast and towards this area.
So, Fort Myers is going to get almost a direct hit from this storm. Currently, the winds in Fort Myers, 29 mile-an-hour sustained winds, gusts to 47, that's gusts to tropical storm force. But get this: in Orlando, 29 mile-an-hour sustained winds, gusts to 39.
So, we're already seeing tropical storm force winds well inland from the center of this storm. Very dangerous storm, very intense, as Miles just said, 145 miles an hour the current winds. Pressure, if you're tracking, 954 millibars.
It is 60 miles now southwest of Fort Myers moving north-northeast at 20. The last time that we had a hurricane like this hit the Fort Myers area was Hurricane Donna back in 1960. It was the 16th costliest storm to hit the United States. And if you convert the damage that Donna did in 1960 into 2000 dollars, get this, $2.4 billion, with a "b," dollars worth of damage, taking almost exactly the same path.
A little bit later on, Miles, I'll show you that I think Charley's going to follow a lot of this later path, probably heading up the eastern seaboard just like Donna did. We'll talk about that a little bit later.
O'BRIEN: All right, Orelon. What do we know about evacuations on the ground in this area? Have we gotten any sense from the hurricane center as to how successful these evacuations were?
SIDNEY: You know, I haven't personally heard about any evacuations, especially if you're talking about down towards Fort Myers. A lot of concentration obviously was the Level C evacuation, which is the third highest level out of five, up in Tampa. I haven't heard specifics though on Fort Myers. I can try to find some information on that for you, however.
O'BRIEN: Yes, I mean we heard from a reporter who's in Punta Gorda, which is on Charlotte Bay, a little bit north of Fort Myers, a little while ago, and she said that they've been pretty good about evacuating protectively even though the storm was apparently heading towards Tampa. So, that was a bit of good news, and I'm hopeful that the local authorities did much the same down the rest of the southwestern coast of Florida.
SIDNEY: Well, I hope so. I mean, remember, we talked about it earlier. The southwest coast is going to be in the right front quadrant of the storm. Whether the eye makes landfall in your immediate area really doesn't matter that much. That right front quadrant is going to be the dangerous part of the storm as it moves inland and then across the Florida peninsula.
We're looking at its landfall now in about another hour and half. We're expecting it to move up towards Orlando by 7, 8 o'clock tonight, and then continue up towards Jacksonville as we go on towards midnight. O'BRIEN: And a final thought here. Depending how fast it is moving, is it possible that it will still be hurricane strength winds when it arrives in Orlando?
SIDNEY: That is certainly possible. They're getting tropical force gusts now. I would not be at all surprised to have sustained hurricane force winds even as far north as Jacksonville and even as far north as parts of Georgia.
The last time I looked, there were actually hurricane watches -- excuse me, hurricane warnings in effect for the east coast of Florida, heading up towards Jacksonville. So, this one's going to take a long time to wind down. It's going to be a dangerous storm throughout tonight and probably even into tomorrow and maybe even the end of the weekend.
O'BRIEN: So, there's really -- if you're on the Florida peninsula today, you'd better be paying close attention to this storm and where it is headed?
SIDNEY: That is exactly right. I think the only people that might be able to breathe a sigh of relief are those folks that are in the western part of the Florida panhandle.
O'BRIEN: All right. Orelon Sidney, thanks very much. We appreciate it.
SIDNEY: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: Well, miles, let's zero in on Punta Gorda, just north of Fort Myers. And we're joined on the telephone by the police chief, Charles Rinehart.
And Chief, with the storm just about an hour, hour-and-a-half away, the brunt of the storm passing over your area, what are you seeing right now?
CHARLES RINEHART, PUNTA GORDA POLICE CHIEF: Well, just in the last 15 minutes, we have seen a tremendous increase in the wind velocity and the rain. We had been watching the storm appear to go into the Lee County area.
And at the last moment, as they have a tendency to do, it has turned north and is heading towards us. So, we're noticing the definite impact in the storm on our area at this time.
WHITFIELD: Besides this right front quadrant that Orelon was just explaining could bring an awful lot of water, a lot of rain, it's the storm surge that a number of coastal communities are most concerned about. What kind of precautions has Punta Gorda taken to try to solidify or embrace that area, particularly the properties?
RINEHART: Well, last night we had a voluntary evacuation order and this morning the county emergency manager made a mandatory evacuation order for our low-lying areas. Firemen and police officers both went door-to-door, knocked on doors and made contact with all the residents advising they needed to leave.
WHITFIELD: And what kind of reception were you getting from a lot of residents, most of them willingly?
RINEHART: We feel we probably had a 50 percent response, and some of them did go to shelters.
WHITFIELD: And so, for those shelters, are you seeing already that many of them are filling up? People are awfully reluctant in times like this to even go to shelters. They usually go once the storm is already past and they realize they need it there.
RINEHART: That has a tendency to be the problem, where people have a tendency to wait until the last minute. It's too late. Hopefully, we were able to get most of the people out of the downtown area that needed to leave before that time, because once the storm hits as it is right now, it's not safe to send anyone out to pick them up.
WHITFIELD: All right, Punta Gorda, Florida, Police Chief Charles Rinehart. Thanks so much for joining us on the telephone.
RINEHART: You're welcome.
WHITFIELD: Miles?
O'BRIEN: All right, as we've been saying, Naples, Florida, about 50 miles from Fort Myers. With Charley as powerful it has become, it's going to be pretty close for comfort. But Trey Radel of WINK is there, and he has given us a sense of the first stages as this storm makes landfall right where he is. Trey?
TREY RADEL, WINK TV: Yes, Miles, right now we are in Naples. We are south of Fort Myers. Right now, we are feeling some of those bands of Charley as it rips through the southwest part of Florida out here. You can see some debris in the parking lot that has been strewn about. And a lot of this city of Naples is like this. Power lines are down. Parts of Naples has electricity out and debris all over the roads.
If we could take a left here, and you can see some of those palm trees blowing in these extremely powerful winds. Let's look, though, at some video that just came in to our newsroom, if we can, from Goodland, that area is next to Marco Island, even further south of us. There you see some those canals flooding and heading into people's front yards, a very dangerous situation.
As a matter of fact, certainly, most deaths within hurricanes are drownings, when this stuff creeps into people's yards, when it flood the streets. And here in Naples, we are bracing for some of that surge to come up.
Here where we are at right now, we are about 10 blocks from the beach. We had to leave there because it just got entirely too dangerous to stay there. Right now, in this area, there's a mandatory evacuation. But to give you an idea of how little...
O'BRIEN: All right. I think...
RADEL: ... probably about twelve people surfing who got slammed into the Naples pier, police responders had to go in and dig those people out. It has been a very intense day here in southwest Florida.
Miles, back to you.
O'BRIEN: Trey, it's obviously -- I hope we don't lose you here. But have you seen people many walking the streets or is it everybody pretty well evacuated? Can you hear me OK?
RADEL: Yes, I can hear you. I would say that within the last hour, traffic has just completely died down. But up until about an hour ago, people were still driving around the roads, people were out on the beach, trying to see what Charley would bring.
And again, it became very dangerous. Finally, police and firefighters were literally going down onto the beach, screaming at them, telling them they had to get inside, get to shelters or get to their homes.
Miles?
O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much, Trey Radel, with our affiliate, WINK. We invite you and your crew to stay safe there as you cover this Category 4 storm. You're never more than moments away from CNN's latest coverage of Hurricane Charley.
Just ahead, we'll take you live to Tampa, where they're still bracing for the storm. And when it makes landfall, it will still have an impact there, for sure. So, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, one of the biggest threats from a hurricane is a possible storm surge, which could literally wipe out affected areas.
Our Dave Hennen joins me now with the look at the potential impact. And first, let's try to explain what is a storm surge.
DAVE HENNEN, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Fredricka, that is the most dangerous part of a hurricane, the one that causes the most fatalities. Basically think of a storm surge as this hurricane has been moving along the ocean water and it has been driving the wind forward, basically pushing the water forward as a shovel would, picking up snow. So, all this water gets piled up and moved forward.
Let's show you our satellite picture. I want to give you a better idea of where to expect the worst of the storm surge. You can see very distinctly on the satellite picture the eye of the hurricane right there as it continues to move very close now to the coast.
And it is in this quadrant right here, the front right quadrant, right along where the eye wall makes landfall, that you see the worst of the storm surge. And with a Category 4 hurricane, we're talking about a very dangerous situation.
The winds, as we have been saying, have been increasing all afternoon, now sustained up to 145 miles an hour. And that will create a storm surge of generally of 14 to 18 feet. Now, let's go to our keyhole graphic.
I want to show you a little different perspective of this. Remember, the hurricane, as it was Category 2 very near Havana and produced a wind gust to 125 miles per hour, now a Category 4 storm and this storm will continue to push towards the coast.
Here is Sanibel Island right here, the eye wall just offshore of that. The average elevation on Sanibel Island is about four feet. And we're talking about a storm surge of about 14 to 18 feet.
So, much of that area's going to be underwater in the next couple of hours. We did hear that they had mandatory evacuations over both Sanibel and over Captiva, which is located right there. That was yesterday, so most of the folks hopefully off of that area.
I want to show you a little closer look. We're going to zoom this in. You're looking at Cape Coral here. And all of these little areas here, these are the canals that go directly to the Gulf of Mexico, so all of this water is being pushed in off of the Gulf and that's going to drive the water in here.
So, much of this area, unfortunately, likely to be underwater, as well, as this very dangerous storm continues to push towards the coast.
WHITFIELD: Wow. So, Dave, folks who live along the coast there really have to move fairly far in inland in order to get away from, you know, those tributaries and all those canals that are also going to feel the brunt and with rising waters?
HENNEN: That's right, Fredricka. And we're also looking at this storm now accelerating and the eye wall very near. The worst of the storm surge always accompanies the eye wall as it makes landfall because that's where the winds are the highest. So, it's pushing that water forward. And it's going to be at that area we're talking about in the next hour or so, that that water and that storm surge, the most dangerous part of the hurricane, is going to be coming into Sanibel Island and then moving up Port Charlotte Harbor, as well.
That will be another very dangerous area. There's something called a funnel effect. Think of it as standing in a city with big buildings, the wind getting funneled through those and in between the wind much stronger. It's the same idea. You have this funneling of water moving up that bay and that's all going to get pushed up and make the storm surge even higher in those areas.
WHITFIELD: All right, Dave Hennen, thanks very much. A storm surge of up to 18 feet. That is hugely significant, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Wow. Pay attention to that one, folks, if you're on the Florida Peninsula. Certainly the military is paying attention. A lot of military bases in Florida, as you probably know, headquarters for U.S. Central Command, MacDill Air Force Base right there in the heart of Tampa Bay.
Joining us live from the Pentagon, CNN's Kathleen Koch, with word on what the military is doing about its aircraft and personnel there.
Kathleen?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, actually since mid-week, the U.S. military has been moving its assets out of Florida, first out of the path of Tropical Storm Bonnie and now Hurricane Charley.
Earlier in the week, it was aircraft based in and around Pensacola that were moved out of harm's way. And right now it is aircraft and ships out of both Tampa and then Jacksonville that are on the move.
The Navy says that about an hour ago some 12 frigates, cruisers and destroyers based at Navy Station Mayport were moved out of the reach of Charley into the Atlantic. And what you see there are KC-135 Stratotankers, those are aerial refueling aircraft. And they were moved starting yesterday out of MacDill.
Now, also, all personnel, all but essential personnel, have been evacuated from MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. Now that is located in a very dicey situation. If you look at a map, you do see it's located on the interbay peninsula, right in the middle of Tampa Bay, surrounded by water, literally on three sides. So, they only have a essential personnel right there on base right now.
Now MacDill, obviously, is the home, as you pointed out, Miles, to Central Command. But Pentagon officials have assured us that there is this CENTCOM Headquarters (INAUDIBLE) in Doha, Qatar. There are also operational command and control centers on the ground in Iraq, so that the day-to-day operations on the operations on the ground in Iraq will not be affected, we're told, by the complete evacuation of MacDill -- Miles?
O'BRIEN: And just to underscore the point, the shots we saw with that beautiful sunny day were file pictures, not what's going on there currently. And thus far, as best you can tell from there, Kathleen, the military's done everything it can to step out of harm's way here.
KOCH: It has, Miles. We haven't yet heard what they're deciding to do about some of these bases on the coast of South Carolina. So, we're really going to have to wait and see what Charley does, because they could very soon start moving assets out of that area as well.
O'BRIEN: Kathleen Koch at the Pentagon. Thanks much -- Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: Well, with top winds at 144 miles an hour and a possible storm surge of up to 18 feet, Hurricane Charley takes aim for Florida. Take a look at this. Live pictures from Tampa, Florida, right now where it seems relatively calm. And that's because it is. You heard Orelon Sidney explain earlier it's the calm before the storm, with Charley expected to make landfall about an hour-and-a-half from now. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: A dangerous storm, a Category 4. That's what Hurricane Charley has quickly grown into as it bears down on Florida's southwest coast. Landfall expected as early as next hour, but the path of the storm has changed somewhat.
We'll get the latest now from CNN's Harris Whitbeck. And he joins us from Tampa, which turns out it's going to be fairly well north of where the eye will make landfall.
Harris?
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, that's correct. The storm now expected to hit well south of the Tampa Bay area. But that certainly has not stopped preparations here. Many people here who evacuated their homes and are close to some of the low lying areas or those that are in mobile home parks are still in shelters that have been set up by authorities. The shelters filled up, in some cases, early this morning.
Since yesterday, residents could be seen driving inland, driving towards Orlando, other cities that are far east of the Tampa area. Again, preparations were under way, the authorities were warning that this would be a very, very severe storm and that it would cause lots of flooding.
While people are now breathing a sigh of relief, the authorities are warning them not to start driving back home because they say that, even though the eye of the storm will not pass by Tampa, it will still cause tropical storm force winds that will still make driving very dangerous.
So, definitely not out of the woods yet in Tampa, although everybody is starting to breathe a bit easier now that they know that the eye of the storm will hit far south of here. The residents of that area, of course, now bracing for what we still consider to be a very powerful storm -- Miles?
O'BRIEN: All right, Harris Whitbeck, riding the storm out in Tampa. And despite the fact that it's north of the eye wall, folks there need to take great precautions, especially when you're talking about a Category 4 storm.
WHITFIELD: That's right. These hurricanes are very unpredictable, as we saw with just in the past two hours, from it gaining strength from a Category 3 to a 4 and making a turn.
O'BRIEN: And I'm not sure, unless you've experienced it, as you and I have had the, I guess, misfortune being assigned to cover these. If you really haven't been through one of these, I don't think you can fully appreciate what 100 mile-an-hour plus winds are about.
WHITFIELD: That's right.
O'BRIEN: It can sweep you off your feet, quite literally.
WHITFIELD: Yes, and the objects that go flying with incredible force. I mean, that's why you end up seeing all this wood, the, you know, plywood going up over windows. A lot of people are thinking, oh, is that for flooding? No. It's because of the flying objects and then, of course, you're going to have glass spraying about.
O'BRIEN: And once you breech that sanctity of your home, you've got a big problem there. So, not to be taken lightly even in Tampa, while they can breathe some what of a sigh of relief, they nevertheless should be listening closely to what the local authorities are saying.
WHITFIELD: It's still a very dangerous situation.
O'BRIEN: All right. Let's shift gears. Let's talk business. And we're talking U.S. Air not flying down to that part of the world right now.
WHITFIELD: Nope. And will they be flying anywhere, Rhonda, for a while? What's the problem?
RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The question really is the future of this airline here. And it looks like it's becoming clearer that U.S. Airways could soon be making its second flight into bankruptcy protection.
According to a study commissioned by its pilots union, the airline does not need to cut costs to avoid filing chapter 11 by the middle of next month. And it could be even worse than that, the reports saying the airline is worth more dead than alive.
The pilots requested the study to help them in their contract talks, but it pretty much endorses management's position that significant worker concessions are needed to save the airline. The company's trying to get $300 million in concessions from the pilots alone.
U.S. Air battling both discount carriers and soaring oil prices, and oil prices certainly soaring again today. It's having an effective on Wall Street, stocks have been bouncing around but really unable to make head way, because oil prices today, surging more than a dollar, soaring above $46 a barrel for the first time.
Because of this, the Dow Industrial Average falling at this point. Nasdaq, though, is basically flat. And before I hand things back to you, we've actually received some numbers on just how much the hurricane could cost insurers.
Risk management solutions predicting $10 billion in insured damage if the storm hits the Tampa, St. Petersburg area. And that's the latest from here on Wall Street. Fredricka, Miles?
WHITFIELD: All right. Rhonda Schaffler, thanks very much.
O'BRIEN: All right, and we just got Orelon Sidney, of course, up there in the Weather Center, she's awfully busy. We're not going to bother her right this moment, but she did sent this word down that the inner rain bands are now in the Port Charlotte area.
And that means that's just sort of the beginning of the worst of the storm. As it gets closer and closer to the eye, bigger storm surge, increased winds, storm is moving in. So, the next hour is going to be very critical, and of course we'll be watching it all the way.
WHITFIELD: Yes. And I love the description of Dave Hennen, when he was talking about the shovel, you know, just like lifting a shovel, that kind amount of amount of water or debris is what is pushed forward and that's why you have the storm surges on the back end of these kinds of storms. And that's why it's so particularly dangerous and sometimes it's the storm surge that causes the most damage.
O'BRIEN: Yes. All right. A Category 4 storm, Hurricane Charley, we're watching it up and down the Florida coast. That's it for LIVE FROM today and we're glad you joined us.
WHITFIELD: We're going to have more live coverage of Hurricane Charley straight ahead, but right now with a preview of "INSIDE POLITICS," Candy Crowley.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Fredricka.
Hi, Miles.
Our live coverage continues of Hurricane Charley zeroing in on Florida's west coast. I'm Candy Crowley in Washington.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired August 13, 2004 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Now in the news, Fort Myers bracing for a furious storm. Hurricane Charley is bearing down. Its winds reaching 145 miles per hour. CNN has crews up and down Florida's west coast. We'll check in with them in a moment.
A show of support for a radical Shiite cleric. Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets from Baghdad to Fallujah demanding an end to the violence in Najaf. The streets are relatively quiet there right now, as Shiite and interim government leaders try to broker a peace deal.
Let the games begin. Opening ceremonies are underway in Athens, Greece. A beautiful site there, isn't it? Birthplace of both the ancient and modern Olympics. Ten-thousand-five-hundred athletes going for the gold in these 2004 Summer Games. Twenty-eight sports in the spotlight.
Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hurricane Charley is zeroing in on Florida's southwest coast. The bulls-eye appears to be Charlotte Harbor. That's near Fort Myers. Tampa was prepared for the worst, but the projected track is now south of what everyone was expected over the past couple of days.
Now, it looks like the storm will pass over Orlando, with all of its theme parks. We don't need to remind you, I suppose. They, of course, are closed now.
Also in Charley's path, fields of corn, cotton and soybeans, along with that very valuable citrus crop. It could mean for a lot of trouble for people. The storm is Category 4, and that means 145 mile- an-hour sustained winds, a serious storm.
Meteorologist Orelon Sidney is in the Weather Center and she has the latest on where Charley is headed and its strength. Orelon?
ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Thanks a lot, Miles.
Hurricane Charley, indeed, a very dangerous storm. I wanted to show you the latest radar picture that we have. Here, if I can get you oriented, is Port Charlotte, Fort Myers about right here, Cape Coral and then Sanibel.
And then, this is Port Charlotte, right in here, the bay that we're most concerned about. And that, right at the bottom of the screen you can see -- I don't know if we can drop the ticker enough for you to see that -- but this right here this is outer eye wall, some of the big thunderstorms that are starting to work their way to the north, northeast and towards this area.
So, Fort Myers is going to get almost a direct hit from this storm. Currently, the winds in Fort Myers, 29 mile-an-hour sustained winds, gusts to 47, that's gusts to tropical storm force. But get this: in Orlando, 29 mile-an-hour sustained winds, gusts to 39.
So, we're already seeing tropical storm force winds well inland from the center of this storm. Very dangerous storm, very intense, as Miles just said, 145 miles an hour the current winds. Pressure, if you're tracking, 954 millibars.
It is 60 miles now southwest of Fort Myers moving north-northeast at 20. The last time that we had a hurricane like this hit the Fort Myers area was Hurricane Donna back in 1960. It was the 16th costliest storm to hit the United States. And if you convert the damage that Donna did in 1960 into 2000 dollars, get this, $2.4 billion, with a "b," dollars worth of damage, taking almost exactly the same path.
A little bit later on, Miles, I'll show you that I think Charley's going to follow a lot of this later path, probably heading up the eastern seaboard just like Donna did. We'll talk about that a little bit later.
O'BRIEN: All right, Orelon. What do we know about evacuations on the ground in this area? Have we gotten any sense from the hurricane center as to how successful these evacuations were?
SIDNEY: You know, I haven't personally heard about any evacuations, especially if you're talking about down towards Fort Myers. A lot of concentration obviously was the Level C evacuation, which is the third highest level out of five, up in Tampa. I haven't heard specifics though on Fort Myers. I can try to find some information on that for you, however.
O'BRIEN: Yes, I mean we heard from a reporter who's in Punta Gorda, which is on Charlotte Bay, a little bit north of Fort Myers, a little while ago, and she said that they've been pretty good about evacuating protectively even though the storm was apparently heading towards Tampa. So, that was a bit of good news, and I'm hopeful that the local authorities did much the same down the rest of the southwestern coast of Florida.
SIDNEY: Well, I hope so. I mean, remember, we talked about it earlier. The southwest coast is going to be in the right front quadrant of the storm. Whether the eye makes landfall in your immediate area really doesn't matter that much. That right front quadrant is going to be the dangerous part of the storm as it moves inland and then across the Florida peninsula.
We're looking at its landfall now in about another hour and half. We're expecting it to move up towards Orlando by 7, 8 o'clock tonight, and then continue up towards Jacksonville as we go on towards midnight. O'BRIEN: And a final thought here. Depending how fast it is moving, is it possible that it will still be hurricane strength winds when it arrives in Orlando?
SIDNEY: That is certainly possible. They're getting tropical force gusts now. I would not be at all surprised to have sustained hurricane force winds even as far north as Jacksonville and even as far north as parts of Georgia.
The last time I looked, there were actually hurricane watches -- excuse me, hurricane warnings in effect for the east coast of Florida, heading up towards Jacksonville. So, this one's going to take a long time to wind down. It's going to be a dangerous storm throughout tonight and probably even into tomorrow and maybe even the end of the weekend.
O'BRIEN: So, there's really -- if you're on the Florida peninsula today, you'd better be paying close attention to this storm and where it is headed?
SIDNEY: That is exactly right. I think the only people that might be able to breathe a sigh of relief are those folks that are in the western part of the Florida panhandle.
O'BRIEN: All right. Orelon Sidney, thanks very much. We appreciate it.
SIDNEY: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: Well, miles, let's zero in on Punta Gorda, just north of Fort Myers. And we're joined on the telephone by the police chief, Charles Rinehart.
And Chief, with the storm just about an hour, hour-and-a-half away, the brunt of the storm passing over your area, what are you seeing right now?
CHARLES RINEHART, PUNTA GORDA POLICE CHIEF: Well, just in the last 15 minutes, we have seen a tremendous increase in the wind velocity and the rain. We had been watching the storm appear to go into the Lee County area.
And at the last moment, as they have a tendency to do, it has turned north and is heading towards us. So, we're noticing the definite impact in the storm on our area at this time.
WHITFIELD: Besides this right front quadrant that Orelon was just explaining could bring an awful lot of water, a lot of rain, it's the storm surge that a number of coastal communities are most concerned about. What kind of precautions has Punta Gorda taken to try to solidify or embrace that area, particularly the properties?
RINEHART: Well, last night we had a voluntary evacuation order and this morning the county emergency manager made a mandatory evacuation order for our low-lying areas. Firemen and police officers both went door-to-door, knocked on doors and made contact with all the residents advising they needed to leave.
WHITFIELD: And what kind of reception were you getting from a lot of residents, most of them willingly?
RINEHART: We feel we probably had a 50 percent response, and some of them did go to shelters.
WHITFIELD: And so, for those shelters, are you seeing already that many of them are filling up? People are awfully reluctant in times like this to even go to shelters. They usually go once the storm is already past and they realize they need it there.
RINEHART: That has a tendency to be the problem, where people have a tendency to wait until the last minute. It's too late. Hopefully, we were able to get most of the people out of the downtown area that needed to leave before that time, because once the storm hits as it is right now, it's not safe to send anyone out to pick them up.
WHITFIELD: All right, Punta Gorda, Florida, Police Chief Charles Rinehart. Thanks so much for joining us on the telephone.
RINEHART: You're welcome.
WHITFIELD: Miles?
O'BRIEN: All right, as we've been saying, Naples, Florida, about 50 miles from Fort Myers. With Charley as powerful it has become, it's going to be pretty close for comfort. But Trey Radel of WINK is there, and he has given us a sense of the first stages as this storm makes landfall right where he is. Trey?
TREY RADEL, WINK TV: Yes, Miles, right now we are in Naples. We are south of Fort Myers. Right now, we are feeling some of those bands of Charley as it rips through the southwest part of Florida out here. You can see some debris in the parking lot that has been strewn about. And a lot of this city of Naples is like this. Power lines are down. Parts of Naples has electricity out and debris all over the roads.
If we could take a left here, and you can see some of those palm trees blowing in these extremely powerful winds. Let's look, though, at some video that just came in to our newsroom, if we can, from Goodland, that area is next to Marco Island, even further south of us. There you see some those canals flooding and heading into people's front yards, a very dangerous situation.
As a matter of fact, certainly, most deaths within hurricanes are drownings, when this stuff creeps into people's yards, when it flood the streets. And here in Naples, we are bracing for some of that surge to come up.
Here where we are at right now, we are about 10 blocks from the beach. We had to leave there because it just got entirely too dangerous to stay there. Right now, in this area, there's a mandatory evacuation. But to give you an idea of how little...
O'BRIEN: All right. I think...
RADEL: ... probably about twelve people surfing who got slammed into the Naples pier, police responders had to go in and dig those people out. It has been a very intense day here in southwest Florida.
Miles, back to you.
O'BRIEN: Trey, it's obviously -- I hope we don't lose you here. But have you seen people many walking the streets or is it everybody pretty well evacuated? Can you hear me OK?
RADEL: Yes, I can hear you. I would say that within the last hour, traffic has just completely died down. But up until about an hour ago, people were still driving around the roads, people were out on the beach, trying to see what Charley would bring.
And again, it became very dangerous. Finally, police and firefighters were literally going down onto the beach, screaming at them, telling them they had to get inside, get to shelters or get to their homes.
Miles?
O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much, Trey Radel, with our affiliate, WINK. We invite you and your crew to stay safe there as you cover this Category 4 storm. You're never more than moments away from CNN's latest coverage of Hurricane Charley.
Just ahead, we'll take you live to Tampa, where they're still bracing for the storm. And when it makes landfall, it will still have an impact there, for sure. So, stay with us.
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WHITFIELD: Well, one of the biggest threats from a hurricane is a possible storm surge, which could literally wipe out affected areas.
Our Dave Hennen joins me now with the look at the potential impact. And first, let's try to explain what is a storm surge.
DAVE HENNEN, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Fredricka, that is the most dangerous part of a hurricane, the one that causes the most fatalities. Basically think of a storm surge as this hurricane has been moving along the ocean water and it has been driving the wind forward, basically pushing the water forward as a shovel would, picking up snow. So, all this water gets piled up and moved forward.
Let's show you our satellite picture. I want to give you a better idea of where to expect the worst of the storm surge. You can see very distinctly on the satellite picture the eye of the hurricane right there as it continues to move very close now to the coast.
And it is in this quadrant right here, the front right quadrant, right along where the eye wall makes landfall, that you see the worst of the storm surge. And with a Category 4 hurricane, we're talking about a very dangerous situation.
The winds, as we have been saying, have been increasing all afternoon, now sustained up to 145 miles an hour. And that will create a storm surge of generally of 14 to 18 feet. Now, let's go to our keyhole graphic.
I want to show you a little different perspective of this. Remember, the hurricane, as it was Category 2 very near Havana and produced a wind gust to 125 miles per hour, now a Category 4 storm and this storm will continue to push towards the coast.
Here is Sanibel Island right here, the eye wall just offshore of that. The average elevation on Sanibel Island is about four feet. And we're talking about a storm surge of about 14 to 18 feet.
So, much of that area's going to be underwater in the next couple of hours. We did hear that they had mandatory evacuations over both Sanibel and over Captiva, which is located right there. That was yesterday, so most of the folks hopefully off of that area.
I want to show you a little closer look. We're going to zoom this in. You're looking at Cape Coral here. And all of these little areas here, these are the canals that go directly to the Gulf of Mexico, so all of this water is being pushed in off of the Gulf and that's going to drive the water in here.
So, much of this area, unfortunately, likely to be underwater, as well, as this very dangerous storm continues to push towards the coast.
WHITFIELD: Wow. So, Dave, folks who live along the coast there really have to move fairly far in inland in order to get away from, you know, those tributaries and all those canals that are also going to feel the brunt and with rising waters?
HENNEN: That's right, Fredricka. And we're also looking at this storm now accelerating and the eye wall very near. The worst of the storm surge always accompanies the eye wall as it makes landfall because that's where the winds are the highest. So, it's pushing that water forward. And it's going to be at that area we're talking about in the next hour or so, that that water and that storm surge, the most dangerous part of the hurricane, is going to be coming into Sanibel Island and then moving up Port Charlotte Harbor, as well.
That will be another very dangerous area. There's something called a funnel effect. Think of it as standing in a city with big buildings, the wind getting funneled through those and in between the wind much stronger. It's the same idea. You have this funneling of water moving up that bay and that's all going to get pushed up and make the storm surge even higher in those areas.
WHITFIELD: All right, Dave Hennen, thanks very much. A storm surge of up to 18 feet. That is hugely significant, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Wow. Pay attention to that one, folks, if you're on the Florida Peninsula. Certainly the military is paying attention. A lot of military bases in Florida, as you probably know, headquarters for U.S. Central Command, MacDill Air Force Base right there in the heart of Tampa Bay.
Joining us live from the Pentagon, CNN's Kathleen Koch, with word on what the military is doing about its aircraft and personnel there.
Kathleen?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, actually since mid-week, the U.S. military has been moving its assets out of Florida, first out of the path of Tropical Storm Bonnie and now Hurricane Charley.
Earlier in the week, it was aircraft based in and around Pensacola that were moved out of harm's way. And right now it is aircraft and ships out of both Tampa and then Jacksonville that are on the move.
The Navy says that about an hour ago some 12 frigates, cruisers and destroyers based at Navy Station Mayport were moved out of the reach of Charley into the Atlantic. And what you see there are KC-135 Stratotankers, those are aerial refueling aircraft. And they were moved starting yesterday out of MacDill.
Now, also, all personnel, all but essential personnel, have been evacuated from MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. Now that is located in a very dicey situation. If you look at a map, you do see it's located on the interbay peninsula, right in the middle of Tampa Bay, surrounded by water, literally on three sides. So, they only have a essential personnel right there on base right now.
Now MacDill, obviously, is the home, as you pointed out, Miles, to Central Command. But Pentagon officials have assured us that there is this CENTCOM Headquarters (INAUDIBLE) in Doha, Qatar. There are also operational command and control centers on the ground in Iraq, so that the day-to-day operations on the operations on the ground in Iraq will not be affected, we're told, by the complete evacuation of MacDill -- Miles?
O'BRIEN: And just to underscore the point, the shots we saw with that beautiful sunny day were file pictures, not what's going on there currently. And thus far, as best you can tell from there, Kathleen, the military's done everything it can to step out of harm's way here.
KOCH: It has, Miles. We haven't yet heard what they're deciding to do about some of these bases on the coast of South Carolina. So, we're really going to have to wait and see what Charley does, because they could very soon start moving assets out of that area as well.
O'BRIEN: Kathleen Koch at the Pentagon. Thanks much -- Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: Well, with top winds at 144 miles an hour and a possible storm surge of up to 18 feet, Hurricane Charley takes aim for Florida. Take a look at this. Live pictures from Tampa, Florida, right now where it seems relatively calm. And that's because it is. You heard Orelon Sidney explain earlier it's the calm before the storm, with Charley expected to make landfall about an hour-and-a-half from now. We'll be right back.
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O'BRIEN: A dangerous storm, a Category 4. That's what Hurricane Charley has quickly grown into as it bears down on Florida's southwest coast. Landfall expected as early as next hour, but the path of the storm has changed somewhat.
We'll get the latest now from CNN's Harris Whitbeck. And he joins us from Tampa, which turns out it's going to be fairly well north of where the eye will make landfall.
Harris?
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, that's correct. The storm now expected to hit well south of the Tampa Bay area. But that certainly has not stopped preparations here. Many people here who evacuated their homes and are close to some of the low lying areas or those that are in mobile home parks are still in shelters that have been set up by authorities. The shelters filled up, in some cases, early this morning.
Since yesterday, residents could be seen driving inland, driving towards Orlando, other cities that are far east of the Tampa area. Again, preparations were under way, the authorities were warning that this would be a very, very severe storm and that it would cause lots of flooding.
While people are now breathing a sigh of relief, the authorities are warning them not to start driving back home because they say that, even though the eye of the storm will not pass by Tampa, it will still cause tropical storm force winds that will still make driving very dangerous.
So, definitely not out of the woods yet in Tampa, although everybody is starting to breathe a bit easier now that they know that the eye of the storm will hit far south of here. The residents of that area, of course, now bracing for what we still consider to be a very powerful storm -- Miles?
O'BRIEN: All right, Harris Whitbeck, riding the storm out in Tampa. And despite the fact that it's north of the eye wall, folks there need to take great precautions, especially when you're talking about a Category 4 storm.
WHITFIELD: That's right. These hurricanes are very unpredictable, as we saw with just in the past two hours, from it gaining strength from a Category 3 to a 4 and making a turn.
O'BRIEN: And I'm not sure, unless you've experienced it, as you and I have had the, I guess, misfortune being assigned to cover these. If you really haven't been through one of these, I don't think you can fully appreciate what 100 mile-an-hour plus winds are about.
WHITFIELD: That's right.
O'BRIEN: It can sweep you off your feet, quite literally.
WHITFIELD: Yes, and the objects that go flying with incredible force. I mean, that's why you end up seeing all this wood, the, you know, plywood going up over windows. A lot of people are thinking, oh, is that for flooding? No. It's because of the flying objects and then, of course, you're going to have glass spraying about.
O'BRIEN: And once you breech that sanctity of your home, you've got a big problem there. So, not to be taken lightly even in Tampa, while they can breathe some what of a sigh of relief, they nevertheless should be listening closely to what the local authorities are saying.
WHITFIELD: It's still a very dangerous situation.
O'BRIEN: All right. Let's shift gears. Let's talk business. And we're talking U.S. Air not flying down to that part of the world right now.
WHITFIELD: Nope. And will they be flying anywhere, Rhonda, for a while? What's the problem?
RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The question really is the future of this airline here. And it looks like it's becoming clearer that U.S. Airways could soon be making its second flight into bankruptcy protection.
According to a study commissioned by its pilots union, the airline does not need to cut costs to avoid filing chapter 11 by the middle of next month. And it could be even worse than that, the reports saying the airline is worth more dead than alive.
The pilots requested the study to help them in their contract talks, but it pretty much endorses management's position that significant worker concessions are needed to save the airline. The company's trying to get $300 million in concessions from the pilots alone.
U.S. Air battling both discount carriers and soaring oil prices, and oil prices certainly soaring again today. It's having an effective on Wall Street, stocks have been bouncing around but really unable to make head way, because oil prices today, surging more than a dollar, soaring above $46 a barrel for the first time.
Because of this, the Dow Industrial Average falling at this point. Nasdaq, though, is basically flat. And before I hand things back to you, we've actually received some numbers on just how much the hurricane could cost insurers.
Risk management solutions predicting $10 billion in insured damage if the storm hits the Tampa, St. Petersburg area. And that's the latest from here on Wall Street. Fredricka, Miles?
WHITFIELD: All right. Rhonda Schaffler, thanks very much.
O'BRIEN: All right, and we just got Orelon Sidney, of course, up there in the Weather Center, she's awfully busy. We're not going to bother her right this moment, but she did sent this word down that the inner rain bands are now in the Port Charlotte area.
And that means that's just sort of the beginning of the worst of the storm. As it gets closer and closer to the eye, bigger storm surge, increased winds, storm is moving in. So, the next hour is going to be very critical, and of course we'll be watching it all the way.
WHITFIELD: Yes. And I love the description of Dave Hennen, when he was talking about the shovel, you know, just like lifting a shovel, that kind amount of amount of water or debris is what is pushed forward and that's why you have the storm surges on the back end of these kinds of storms. And that's why it's so particularly dangerous and sometimes it's the storm surge that causes the most damage.
O'BRIEN: Yes. All right. A Category 4 storm, Hurricane Charley, we're watching it up and down the Florida coast. That's it for LIVE FROM today and we're glad you joined us.
WHITFIELD: We're going to have more live coverage of Hurricane Charley straight ahead, but right now with a preview of "INSIDE POLITICS," Candy Crowley.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Fredricka.
Hi, Miles.
Our live coverage continues of Hurricane Charley zeroing in on Florida's west coast. I'm Candy Crowley in Washington.
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