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CNN Live Today

Hurricane Rita Category 5; Weather Watch

Aired September 22, 2005 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan.
It is much about Rita this hour. The mighty hurricane is rolling across the waters of the Gulf of Mexico today. Coastal Texans are rolling, at least trying to, as well, heading to higher ground.

Right now the latest. Rita is less than 500 miles from Galveston. Top winds are around 170 miles an hour. So that makes Rita, according to the experts, potentially catastrophic. As surreal as it may sound, National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield says that Rita could be worse than Katrina.

The remaining residents of Galveston have what could be their best chance to leave today. They're part of a million-plus people fleeing the coast. Traffic has been practically at a standstill with just one main bridge off the island city. And nearby residents in low-lying areas of Houston are also packing up and they're trying to get out as well.

Let's start first with Galveston, the island town guarded by this 17-foot-high seawall. That one, a daily reminder of the great storm that leveled the city more than a century ago. And we're going to do that in just a minute.

But right now, Max Mayfield is testifying before the House Select Committee. And we're going to listen to him.

MAX MAYFIELD, DIR., NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Preparations to protect life and property should arrest the completion.

Now it's also important, we have a tropical storm warning on either side of that hurricane warning. Means that they are going to have tropical storm conditions and we're going from Fort O'Connor, Texas, down to Fort Mansfield, Texas, and also from Morgan City, Louisiana, over to the mouth of the Mississippi River.

And in addition to that, we have a tropical storm watch, meaning that tropical storm conditions are possible within 36 hours, from the mouth of the Mississippi River, up to the mouth of the Pearl River, including metropolitan New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain.

Now, they're going to be on the fringe and they're not going to get the worst part of this, but this is forecast to become an even larger hurricane size wise. And we're concerned enough about that size that we wanted to put up at least a tropical storm watch for that area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it still a -- is it a 4...

MAYFIELD: The intensity here is it's going down a little bit to 165 miles per hour. And it's still a Category 5 hurricane. We do think that it will likely weaken some, but we really don't want to emphasize that. It's still going to be an extremely dangerous hurricane, no matter what.

We're talking about storm surge, coastal storm surge, flooding of 15 to 20 feet above normal tide levels. Along with large and dangerous batting waves, near and to the east of where the center makes landfall.

And tides are currently running about a foot above normal along the Mississippi and the Louisiana coast in those areas that were previously affected by Katrina. And tides in those areas will likely increase up to three to four feet. That will be accompanied by some of these large waves breaking on top. And so they could experience some coastal flooding, even in that southeast Louisiana area.

Rainfall, we've got time to talk about that, but we are forecasting some isolated amounts up to 15 inches.

KAGAN: All right, let's tell what you what we were watching there. Why it looks a little bit different. That, of course, the familiar face, Max Mayfield, the Director of the National Hurricane Center, he's still in south Florida. He's been testifying before this House committee that's been looking into the response of Katrina, a committee made up only of Republicans because the Democrats refusing to participate in that.

As part of that, he was giving the latest information that he has on Hurricane Rita. Making a big emphasis on the size and how important the size is of the storm in terms of the geographic stretch. Even if it's not going to be exactly where it makes landfall, it's going to impact a very wide area.

Also talking about the storm surge, which could be 15 to 20 feet, and how the latest track, and all of our meteorologists have pointed out, that we're expecting some wobbling as this goes. But right now it looks like it's moved a little bit more to the east than it had with the last advisory.

So before we dipped into that, we were talking about Galveston.

There's where we find our David Mattingly. He is there as final storm plans are falling into place -- David.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, very choppy surf off the beaches of Galveston today, about the only thing moving on this island, actually. If you look out on the streets today, you'll find that they are almost empty. This island seeming to be almost empty from people evacuating.

Public officials were very early to call for a mandatory evacuation, which went into effect at 6:00 p.m. yesterday local time. They also provided, for the first time ever, public buses for special needs residents here. These were the sick. These were the elderly. People who normally would not have a way off the island, they provided city buses for them. They went out. A couple of thousand of them took advantage of that early yesterday.

And now officials are saying, if you look at what's going on, that there are so many people trying to get off all of these low-lying areas that there's a huge traffic snarl inland. They are hoping people are not deterred by that, because they say the only smart decision right now is to get off of this island.

KAGAN: All right, David, thank you.

We're going to cut you short a little bit there, because we want to talk with one couple that, as I understand it, was deciding to stay on the island, to stay in Galveston. Those plans might have changed.

Let me welcome in right now Jennifer McDonald. I have been told that she and her husband, Dominick (ph), were planning to ride out Rita in their Galveston home.

Good morning, thanks for joining us.

JENNIFER MCDONALD, GALVESTON, TEXAS RESIDENT: Good morning

KAGAN: What are your latest plans now?

MCDONALD: To get out.

KAGAN: You have decided to get out?

MCDONALD: We're leaving. As we speak, we're packing to get out of here. We thought we could do this, but that's what you get for thinking. So it's too strong. It's too out of control. And it's too big of a risk at this point, so we're just getting out.

KAGAN: I don't want to keep you too long, because, as you said, you want to get going. But what was the final thing that changed your mind?

MCDONALD: Dying.

KAGAN: And I appreciate that, but a lot of people figured that out yesterday or the day before, so...

MCDONALD: Well we're in the middle of the island, which increases our risk of surviving a lot better, but not in the face of this.

KAGAN: And...

MCDONALD: Not in the face of a storm that's of epic proportion, you know. We're not 1900 Galvestonians. It's time to go.

KAGAN: All right. Well it sounds like you are urgent right now.

MCDONALD: Yes, we are. KAGAN: And we're understanding, because now you're kind of behind schedule. And so what I'm going to do is wish you well and let you go and let you hang up and go pack up your things, because you and your husband face quite a bit in getting your stuff together and getting up and out. Glad you made that decision to stay safe.

Jennifer McDonald joining us on the phone there. She and her husband, Dominick, they were on the wires as saying that they were going to stay. They decided they had enough food and water for 10 days. Clearly common sense got through to them and they have decided to pack up and get out, so good for them.

Let's go ahead and move over to New Orleans. That is where Hurricane Rita's projected path may not be, but as you were hearing from Max Mayfield, the breadth of the storm could have a huge impact on something even like New Orleans, though the storm could cause major problem there's.

Our Mary Snow standing by with the latest on plans there -- Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, good morning again.

And, really, what the concern here is the amount of rain. Now earlier forecasts had put the expected rainfall between two and four inches. But you can see that forecast can fluctuate. And what the Army Corps of Engineers said earlier today, that if we had nine inches of rain here in New Orleans with the amount of -- in the amount of time of six hours, that that could cause significant flooding. This, of course, because the levees that are protecting the city from floodwaters have failed during Katrina, causing the devastating floods.

And crews have been racing to shore up these levees. They are putting tons of sand and gravel. Also, we saw a sheet wall being used -- a wall being used as a sheet piles, and now the 17th Street levee. This, in order to protect the city from storm surge.

Another concern is the pumping stations. They have been badly damaged as well. They are not running at full capacity. And while there have been reports of progress at these pumping stations, that is, also, another concern.

And yesterday I talked with an engineer from the Army Corps of Engineers who had inspected the levees. And he said what was different this time around than before Katrina is there's plans that could go in place to close off canals to be an extra layer of protection.

And yesterday, when I spoke with him late in the afternoon, at that point he said that based on yesterday's forecasts, he was expecting minor flooding. But he said he has come to know that hurricanes are the enemy and that he doesn't count on forecasts. So he said everything has to and must be done to protect the city from floodwaters at these levees -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Mary, I would imagine in New Orleans, just as we saw people who were stubborn about leaving the first time and after the storm, still do not want to leave. Are they being allowed to stay or are officials being a little bit more forceful this time?

SNOW: Well there is a mandatory evacuation here on the east bank. And I ran into a handful of people who left the city yesterday. They headed over to the convention center, because they had no way to get out of the city, and there were buses available for people if they want to get out. They told me the police stopped them and told them to leave, that there was a mandatory evacuation in order.

Now, coming over here this morning, I heard on the radio that there was a band of people in the French Quarter saying that they were going to stay, that they had stayed the last time and they were not going to budge. So certainly you'll get some people who are not going to leave no matter what.

KAGAN: All right. Our Mary Snow in New Orleans. Thank you.

Let's get the latest, the 11:00 a.m. advisory. Jacqui Jeras with a check on Rita -- Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Daryn.

Yes, a little bit of weakening here, down to 165 miles per hour. But either way, it's still a very catastrophic storm, unbelievable in this Category 5 range.

Some additional weakening is going to be expected, we think, over the next 12 hours or so. The storm is in the middle of what we call a concentric eyewall replacement cycle. Put that one down and look it up in the dictionary. But, basically, the eyewall is kind of collapsing and a new one is going to be developing. And, ultimately, the storm will probably end up getting stronger again. So we'll continue to see these fluctuations in intensity.

The location is about 460 miles southeast now of Galveston. The forecast track has shifted slightly to the left. And take a look at this now, best estimates are bringing it to the east of Galveston. So that will keep the storm surge down a little bit into the Galveston Bay area.

But it also, unfortunately, if it stays on this projected path, that means New Orleans is going to end up getting more rainfall. We've been thinking maybe two to four inches for the Big Easy. Now we're thinking it could be more like three to five inches or so. And a lot of that is going to be dependent on these outside feeder bands as they move on in. They could, unfortunately, get one that's rather persistent. That would keep the rainfall amounts up.

But they could also get lucky and one of the feeder bands could hit a little bit farther on off to the west or off to the east. Either way, we still are setting our sights somewhere along the eastern Texas coast there, possibly still could hit over towards the Lake Charles area. So we'll continue to keep you up to date as we see any more changes on that. Hurricane warnings have now been posted. The watches gone, the warnings have been posted now from Port O'Connor, extending over to Morgan City. So that means the hurricane conditions are expected in 24 hours or less. And we do think those tropical storm conditions are going to be arriving sometime tomorrow -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, Jacqui, thank you for the latest, the 11:00 a.m. Eastern advisory.

Well Hurricane Rita is continuing to be a Category 5 storm closing in on the Texas coast, as we were hearing from Jacqui. We're going to get an update from the National Hurricane Center in Miami in just a little bit.

Also, all it will take is a little rain from Rita to turn New Orleans into a nightmare yet again. What are they doing to prepare? We'll go live to New Orleans to see how their preparations are going.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Gulf Coast from Texas to Louisiana is keeping a close watch on Hurricane Rita, currently a massive Category 5 storm.

For the latest on Rita, let's check in with Ed Rappaport, he is Deputy Director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Ed, good morning.

ED RAPPAPORT, DEPUTY DIR., NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Good morning

KAGAN: The latest on Rita, please?

RAPPAPORT: The latest is a hurricane warning has now been issued for the northwestern Gulf Coast and extends from Morgan City, Louisiana, westward to Port O'Connor, Texas. And that's the area that's at greatest risk for hurricane conditions, most likely beginning later in the day on Friday, with the worst of the conditions being overnight Friday into Saturday.

Rita has weakened a little bit. We think that trend will continue, but we're still expecting it to come ashore as a major hurricane, which means at least Category 3.

KAGAN: All right. Now as we look at the track, it looks like you've moved it a little bit more to the east.

RAPPAPORT: The track has been edged just a bit to the east, but that still coincides very well with this warning area we've talked about. So the areas at greatest risk are from just west of Galveston and Houston, including those areas, through Beaumont, Port Arthur, to Lake Charles, Louisiana.

KAGAN: Very good. Ed Rappaport at the National Hurricane Center, thank you for the latest information. We appreciate that.

Want to now go to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Here's the governor, Kathleen Blanco, talking about the latest preparations there.

GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO (D), LOUISIANA: Feel that it's very important that everyone leave now. We're mobilizing hundreds of buses now in Lake Charles, Lafayette and other communities to begin moving people out of harm's way. And this includes evacuees from Katrina and anyone who needs to escape from Rita.

There are thousands of men and women from the Louisiana National Guard and National Guard units from around the country who are setting up on the edge of the storm. They will head in as soon as the wind levels drop to safe levels. We have engineers to clear debris, medical units to treat the injured and other forces to keep order standing by and ready to respond. We have helicopter rescue and transport units being moved to the edge of the storm so they can quickly begin their work as necessary.

State police are also positioning their troopers on the edge of the storm's path. Wildlife and fisheries agents have pulled all of their boats out of low-lying areas and staging them on higher ground on the edge of Rita's path. They will begin -- they will be ready to head in to do search and rescue efforts.

Earlier this morning, I asked the federal government, through Admiral Allen, to provide 15,000 more federal troops to Louisiana. We need them to help with search and rescue missions, for communications and for transportation efforts.

Rita is a powerful storm. It is a massive storm. Forecasters are calling for 20-foot seas or a storm surge in Vermilion Bay. Vermilion Bay affects Iberia and St. Mary and Vermilion parishes. Hurricane force winds will rip much of western Louisiana. I'm urging people to head north. You cannot go into Texas. Texas is preparing. The hurricane eye is still entering Texas, but on the east side of Texas. We are on the east side of the storm, just as Mississippi was. We can expect serious consequences from this hurricane.

We're asking people to head north. We're preparing shelters in the northern part of the state to receive our people. We're working with other states to open shelters for our people. If you know the local routes north, take those. The major highways will be crowded. There are roads that are not heavily traveled in normal times, and I'm urging people who know them to take them. Get a Louisiana map. Anyone living west of I-49 and north of I-10 needs to be preparing.

Prepare your family, prepare your house for the possibility of evacuation. It's never too early to make preparations. Secure your property and plan to evacuate. I'd like to urge Cameron Parish to continue their efforts. They're doing a very good job of mandatory evacuation efforts. Calcasieu Parish needs to be preparing and Beauregard and Allen parishes are now apparently going to take a pretty serious hit from hurricane force winds. We do believe that it's very prudent for the parishes that are in the path of the hurricane to make plans to get out.

First, protect your life. Be thoughtful when you prepare to leave. Get your family packed as though you're going on a camping trip. Be self-contained as much as possible. Bring pillows, blankets, cots, folding chairs, if you can. Bring food supplies that will not perish. Bring drinking water. If you can be self-contained, you will be better off.

Call family, call friends in areas that you believe the storm will not arrive. Do all you can to protect your family. This is very important. Again, we think life is the first and most important thing. We will deal with property in the aftermath of the storm. And I'm urging Louisiana citizens to take this storm very seriously.

I have a number of people here who will give reports on exactly what efforts are being done to effect the evacuation and then what efforts will be done in the aftermath of the storm.

Col. Whitehorn (ph).

COL. WHITEHORN: Thank you, governor.

The state police is we're currently staging our assets...

KAGAN: We were listening in to Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco with some very strong words. Much stronger than we heard from her before Katrina. Telling people definitely time to get out. And giving them even more direction than that, saying go north, do not go into Texas. Texas has its own deal as it's trying to get ready for Rita.

But saying that there are a number of plans to evacuate people, including people who had to evacuate from Katrina. And urging all those who are able on their own to go north. Also letting the folks know that the National Guard is standing by ready to move in once Rita has passed.

For more on Hurricane Rita and the aftermath of Katrina, you can check out our Web site. We have up-to-the-minute information. The address is CNN.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: All right, we've been figuring out the formula. We've gone through this enough times. As a new hurricane moves in, oil prices go up. Eventually that means gas prices for you. But meanwhile, the stock market is affected.

Let's check in with our Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange.

Hey -- Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Daryn.

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

Daryn, back to you.

KAGAN: All right, Susan, thank you. All right, let's have more now on the Category 5 Hurricane Rita. Corpus Christi is ordering about a quarter of a million people there to get out ahead of the storm.

Let's bring in our national correspondent Bob Franken.

Bob, they got things going a day earlier than usual than what we would usually expect.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they believe that they have learned some lessons. They believe that it's better to act early rather than late and be very, very cautious. The people who are responding to it are responding to it as the lesson learned after Katrina. They are, in fact, obeying the orders to evacuate. This is almost an abandoned town now, although there is no mandatory aspect of this until tomorrow.

Meanwhile, you look around and you see that it's very, very tranquil right now. There are some indications that maybe the storm is going to veer a little bit off and not make a heavy, direct hit on Corpus Christi. But officials warn that this has a way of changing one way or the other very quickly, so they're operating under the assumption that it's going to be the worst, a Category 5, hitting right here. And if they're wrong, they've erred on the side of caution -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And, Bob, explain to us that wall behind you and how that might help or might not be enough to help.

FRANKEN: Might not be enough would be the option here. That wall is probably about -- no probably about it, about eight feet high. And what has happened in the past is is that the storm surges from Corpus Christi Bay right there, which is right next to the Gulf of Mexico, will go about 20 feet high. And so it is not something to be -- it's just not something they expect very often.

But we can expect that it would be over my head. I showed you this earlier. And would spill out onto the roadway. A roadway, Shoreline Road, which is normally very heavily traveled, right now there are just a few cars on it.

KAGAN: All right. Bob Franken in Corpus Christi, Texas, thank you for that.

Still ahead, we'll continue to bring the latest numbers and stats on the storm, as well as bringing your daily dose of health news. That's coming up after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's take a look at what's happening right "Now in the News."

President Bush is expected to speak at the Pentagon in about 30 minutes. He's been there a while this morning participating in a briefing on the war on terror. When the president begins his remarks, we will bring that to you live.

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