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American Morning
Hurricane Isabel Closing In
Aired September 16, 2003 - 08:05 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: Let's check in right now up and down the East Coast. A number of reporters out already getting ready for this. John Zarrella is live in Virginia Beach, Virginia; Brian Cabell live in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. It is relatively mild.
Let's start with Brian, though, the wind kicking up a little stronger there -- good morning.
BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
We just got word from officials of Dare County Emergency Management that, in fact, they now have called for a mandatory evacuation at noon time today. That's in about four hours from now. I can tell you the hotel we checked into last night, the motel right here along the beach, we were told we've got to move out of there by 11 o'clock this morning. So we're going to be homeless here fairly certain. That concerns us just a little bit. It was half full last night, so a number of vacationers are having to cut their vacations short.
School has also been canceled here for the rest of the week. Apparently it closed down today and likely will be closed until at least next Monday.
Now, out on the beach, which is just about 100 yards away from us, you can see it's blustery out there. There are people walking on the beach, trying to take in the last few hours before they have to leave, but it's still relatively benign conditions. But officials, we can tell you, are moving much more quickly on this storm than in previous storms when we've been here on the Outer Banks. Normally it's 24 hours beforehand you hear about a voluntary evacuation. Now we're told mandatory 48 hours before. Here on Highway 12, as you can see, this is one of the routes outside to get out of the Outer Banks, go inland, and there is increasing traffic here that we've noticed over the last, oh, two, three hours or so, and it will get much, much busier as the morning wears on -- Bill.
HEMMER: Brian, thanks.
We'll watch it from there.
John Zarrella up the coast now -- John, good morning.
What's happening there?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. Well, the first signs of Hurricane Isabel beginning to be felt here, the onshore breeze at my back and the whitecaps beginning to roll in here along the coastline. Of course, the wind expected to get considerably higher over the next couple of days and those waves considerably larger.
Everyone here in Virginia taking this storm very, seriously. Already a state of emergency has been declared. National Guardsmen and women put on standby, ready to move if necessary.
The United States Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard also ready and preparing to begin moving up to 40 vessels out of their -- the port here. It is much easier for these vessels to ride out hurricane at sea. They can get around the worst part of the storm rather than being stuck at their moorings and being lashed by the wind and the waves, potentially causing some serious damage there.
People here already beginning, even though the storm just two days away, still two days away, preparing for this storm. Store shelves have been completely wiped clean of water, of all kinds of batteries and flashlights. And at the Home Depot, people buying plywood, 10, 12, 15 sheets at a time, to begin boarding up windows, many of them saying they're going to board up and leave. Of course, others saying they're going to ride it out.
The big concern here will be water. There's 1.4 million people in this area, 17 cities. Most all of them lie along or near some form of water. Rising water, Bill, could be a big problem here -- Bill.
HEMMER: That it would be.
John, thanks.
We'll check in later.
Brian Cabell before that, thanks.
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 16, 2003 - 08:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Let's check in right now up and down the East Coast. A number of reporters out already getting ready for this. John Zarrella is live in Virginia Beach, Virginia; Brian Cabell live in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. It is relatively mild.
Let's start with Brian, though, the wind kicking up a little stronger there -- good morning.
BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
We just got word from officials of Dare County Emergency Management that, in fact, they now have called for a mandatory evacuation at noon time today. That's in about four hours from now. I can tell you the hotel we checked into last night, the motel right here along the beach, we were told we've got to move out of there by 11 o'clock this morning. So we're going to be homeless here fairly certain. That concerns us just a little bit. It was half full last night, so a number of vacationers are having to cut their vacations short.
School has also been canceled here for the rest of the week. Apparently it closed down today and likely will be closed until at least next Monday.
Now, out on the beach, which is just about 100 yards away from us, you can see it's blustery out there. There are people walking on the beach, trying to take in the last few hours before they have to leave, but it's still relatively benign conditions. But officials, we can tell you, are moving much more quickly on this storm than in previous storms when we've been here on the Outer Banks. Normally it's 24 hours beforehand you hear about a voluntary evacuation. Now we're told mandatory 48 hours before. Here on Highway 12, as you can see, this is one of the routes outside to get out of the Outer Banks, go inland, and there is increasing traffic here that we've noticed over the last, oh, two, three hours or so, and it will get much, much busier as the morning wears on -- Bill.
HEMMER: Brian, thanks.
We'll watch it from there.
John Zarrella up the coast now -- John, good morning.
What's happening there?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. Well, the first signs of Hurricane Isabel beginning to be felt here, the onshore breeze at my back and the whitecaps beginning to roll in here along the coastline. Of course, the wind expected to get considerably higher over the next couple of days and those waves considerably larger.
Everyone here in Virginia taking this storm very, seriously. Already a state of emergency has been declared. National Guardsmen and women put on standby, ready to move if necessary.
The United States Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard also ready and preparing to begin moving up to 40 vessels out of their -- the port here. It is much easier for these vessels to ride out hurricane at sea. They can get around the worst part of the storm rather than being stuck at their moorings and being lashed by the wind and the waves, potentially causing some serious damage there.
People here already beginning, even though the storm just two days away, still two days away, preparing for this storm. Store shelves have been completely wiped clean of water, of all kinds of batteries and flashlights. And at the Home Depot, people buying plywood, 10, 12, 15 sheets at a time, to begin boarding up windows, many of them saying they're going to board up and leave. Of course, others saying they're going to ride it out.
The big concern here will be water. There's 1.4 million people in this area, 17 cities. Most all of them lie along or near some form of water. Rising water, Bill, could be a big problem here -- Bill.
HEMMER: That it would be.
John, thanks.
We'll check in later.
Brian Cabell before that, thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
