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American Morning

Bracing for Isabel

Aired September 15, 2003 - 07:06   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It is described as dangerous and deadly by forecasters describing Hurricane Isabel, expected to make landfall somewhere between North Carolina and New Jersey by the end of this week. Officials of the National Hurricane Center in Miami are tracking Isabel.
And a bit earlier today, I talked with the deputy director, Edward Rappaport, about the potential damage from this ever-so- powerful storm.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EDWARD RAPPAPORT, DEP. DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Well, there have been some fluctuations for the past several days. And we can tell that by what the reconnaissance aircraft are finding. We can also tell by just looking at the satellite display. The coldest tops, the coloring around the center of the storm isn't quite as impressive at this point, but the winds have come down just a little bit. It's still a major hurricane.

HEMMER: Is there any weather pattern that would be able to keep this storm away from hitting the Eastern U.S.?

RAPPAPORT: It's a little too early to know yet whether we're going to have a direct hit on the Eastern U.S. or the storm moving offshore, but it's increasingly likely that the area from the Mid- Atlantic to the Northeast will be affected by Isabel. And our current forecast now does show that with some possibility of impact all the way from the Northeast downward towards the Mid-Atlantic, at least down to North Carolina.

HEMMER: Yes, I read some comments there, where you say some people don't truly understand how bad bad can be. What do you mean by that?

RAPPAPORT: Well, it appears that the experience levels for those people who have been through the core of a hurricane -- the very intense inner portion within, say, 50 miles of the eye is very low. We don't have that many people who have gone through that. Of course, the people who went through Andrew, who went through Hugo, but we haven't had a major hurricane of this strength since those two hit the United States.

HEMMER: We're talking about a large storm here, as you well know, category 4, maybe a category 5. It's gone up to that level and come back down since then. Some other things that you recommend to us, though, is not to make a huge deal out of the fact once you get over 125 miles per hour. Why does it become less significant in you trying to determine these storms once you get to that degree of sustained winds?

RAPPAPORT: Once you get to a category 3 or higher, what we call a major hurricane, you can expect extensive damage, and adding five miles per hour or taking away five miles per hour is not going to change that. What it means is that everyone needs to be prepared for a major event. We're still forecasting this hurricane to be around category 3 when it makes landfall, and if that occurs, this will be one of the strongest storms seen in the landfall area in the last several decades.

HEMMER: Well, listen, it's Monday morning. How long before you will issue a hurricane warning for the East Coast?

RAPPAPORT: At this stage, it will depend, of course, on the track and on the forecast of the track. But it looks like from our graphic here that the threat for landfall is going to be focused around Thursday, so we would suspect that perhaps tomorrow the first hurricane watch will go up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Again, Edward Rappaport from the Miami hurricane center -- the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

He says two things: If you're in this area, make sure that you're OK in the sense that you're prepared, and also make sure you check with your local evacuation routes right now. Do it today. Don't wait until later in the week.

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 15, 2003 - 07:06   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It is described as dangerous and deadly by forecasters describing Hurricane Isabel, expected to make landfall somewhere between North Carolina and New Jersey by the end of this week. Officials of the National Hurricane Center in Miami are tracking Isabel.
And a bit earlier today, I talked with the deputy director, Edward Rappaport, about the potential damage from this ever-so- powerful storm.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EDWARD RAPPAPORT, DEP. DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Well, there have been some fluctuations for the past several days. And we can tell that by what the reconnaissance aircraft are finding. We can also tell by just looking at the satellite display. The coldest tops, the coloring around the center of the storm isn't quite as impressive at this point, but the winds have come down just a little bit. It's still a major hurricane.

HEMMER: Is there any weather pattern that would be able to keep this storm away from hitting the Eastern U.S.?

RAPPAPORT: It's a little too early to know yet whether we're going to have a direct hit on the Eastern U.S. or the storm moving offshore, but it's increasingly likely that the area from the Mid- Atlantic to the Northeast will be affected by Isabel. And our current forecast now does show that with some possibility of impact all the way from the Northeast downward towards the Mid-Atlantic, at least down to North Carolina.

HEMMER: Yes, I read some comments there, where you say some people don't truly understand how bad bad can be. What do you mean by that?

RAPPAPORT: Well, it appears that the experience levels for those people who have been through the core of a hurricane -- the very intense inner portion within, say, 50 miles of the eye is very low. We don't have that many people who have gone through that. Of course, the people who went through Andrew, who went through Hugo, but we haven't had a major hurricane of this strength since those two hit the United States.

HEMMER: We're talking about a large storm here, as you well know, category 4, maybe a category 5. It's gone up to that level and come back down since then. Some other things that you recommend to us, though, is not to make a huge deal out of the fact once you get over 125 miles per hour. Why does it become less significant in you trying to determine these storms once you get to that degree of sustained winds?

RAPPAPORT: Once you get to a category 3 or higher, what we call a major hurricane, you can expect extensive damage, and adding five miles per hour or taking away five miles per hour is not going to change that. What it means is that everyone needs to be prepared for a major event. We're still forecasting this hurricane to be around category 3 when it makes landfall, and if that occurs, this will be one of the strongest storms seen in the landfall area in the last several decades.

HEMMER: Well, listen, it's Monday morning. How long before you will issue a hurricane warning for the East Coast?

RAPPAPORT: At this stage, it will depend, of course, on the track and on the forecast of the track. But it looks like from our graphic here that the threat for landfall is going to be focused around Thursday, so we would suspect that perhaps tomorrow the first hurricane watch will go up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Again, Edward Rappaport from the Miami hurricane center -- the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

He says two things: If you're in this area, make sure that you're OK in the sense that you're prepared, and also make sure you check with your local evacuation routes right now. Do it today. Don't wait until later in the week.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.