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American Morning
Interview With Max Mayfield
Aired October 03, 2002 - 07:12 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go now to the National Hurricane Center in Miami for more on the storm's current position and strength, and for that, no one else but Max Mayfield to do the job for us, director of the center.
Max, good morning.
MAX MAYFIELD, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Good morning, Daryn.
KAGAN: Let's talk about the downgrading of Lili -- still serious stuff there along the coast.
MAYFIELD: It is. Last night around midnight, we had a very powerful Category 4 hurricane. The good news is that it has weakened down to a Category 2. The winds are down to about 100 miles per hour now. We think we'll see some additional weakening, but I don't want to overdo that, because it's still a very dangerous hurricane.
KAGAN: And the most dangerous aspect now being the winds, the storm surge, the rain. What concerns you the most, Max?
MAYFIELD: Well, actually with this hurricane, all of the hazards. The storm surge luckily is going to be lower than we thought last night, likely 10 to 14 feet. With a hurricane like this, we could expect those hurricane-force winds to spread inland 50 to maybe 100 miles. We will have some isolated tornadoes and probably 6 to 10 inches of rain, maybe some locally (ph) higher amounts.
But this is still a very dangerous hurricane (UNINTELLIGIBLE) track towards the Vermillion Bay area.
KAGAN: You were talking a little bit about the spread and the reach here of this storm. We're not just talking Gulf Coast when you talk about hurricane strength and then even tropical storm strength.
MAYFIELD: That's right. And likely, the tropical storm-force winds will extend all the way over to the Mississippi coast, most of the Louisiana coast. We're probably back off a little bit. The red area here represents the hurricane-force winds. They will likely not extend that far inland.
But it will continue moving through eastern Louisiana through northwestern Mississippi by this time tomorrow.
KAGAN: All right, we know you're busy, and we know it's been a long night, we're going to be checking back with you throughout the morning. Max Mayfield at the National Hurricane Center. MAYFIELD: Thank you.
KAGAN: Max, thanks so much.
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 October 3, 2002 - 07:12 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go now to the National Hurricane Center in Miami for more on the storm's current position and strength, and for that, no one else but Max Mayfield to do the job for us, director of the center.
Max, good morning.
MAX MAYFIELD, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Good morning, Daryn.
KAGAN: Let's talk about the downgrading of Lili -- still serious stuff there along the coast.
MAYFIELD: It is. Last night around midnight, we had a very powerful Category 4 hurricane. The good news is that it has weakened down to a Category 2. The winds are down to about 100 miles per hour now. We think we'll see some additional weakening, but I don't want to overdo that, because it's still a very dangerous hurricane.
KAGAN: And the most dangerous aspect now being the winds, the storm surge, the rain. What concerns you the most, Max?
MAYFIELD: Well, actually with this hurricane, all of the hazards. The storm surge luckily is going to be lower than we thought last night, likely 10 to 14 feet. With a hurricane like this, we could expect those hurricane-force winds to spread inland 50 to maybe 100 miles. We will have some isolated tornadoes and probably 6 to 10 inches of rain, maybe some locally (ph) higher amounts.
But this is still a very dangerous hurricane (UNINTELLIGIBLE) track towards the Vermillion Bay area.
KAGAN: You were talking a little bit about the spread and the reach here of this storm. We're not just talking Gulf Coast when you talk about hurricane strength and then even tropical storm strength.
MAYFIELD: That's right. And likely, the tropical storm-force winds will extend all the way over to the Mississippi coast, most of the Louisiana coast. We're probably back off a little bit. The red area here represents the hurricane-force winds. They will likely not extend that far inland.
But it will continue moving through eastern Louisiana through northwestern Mississippi by this time tomorrow.
KAGAN: All right, we know you're busy, and we know it's been a long night, we're going to be checking back with you throughout the morning. Max Mayfield at the National Hurricane Center. MAYFIELD: Thank you.
KAGAN: Max, thanks so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
