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CNN 10
What is the Expected Path and How Are People Preparing for Hurricane Dorian; Updates on Wildfires in South America
Aired August 30, 2019 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10: Hi, I`m Carl Azuz and this is CNN 10. Fridays may be awesome but as the Labor Day weekend approaches in the U.S., many Americans
in the southeast are nervously watching what happens in the Atlantic. That`s where Hurricane Dorian is whirling. When we put this show together,
the storm was over open water a couple hundred miles east of the Turks and Caicos Islands and its maximum sustain wind speeds were around 85 miles per
hour making it a Category 1 hurricane.
But as it moves west, forecasters expect Dorian to strengthen possibly to Category 4 status with wind speeds of 130 miles per hour. The reason for
that is because it`s over warmer water now and that`s usually fuel for hurricanes. So where is Dorian going to go? Meteorologists still don`t
know. Landfall on the continental U.S. is expected sometime around Monday morning. That could happen anywhere between the Florida Keys and southeast
Georgia. A state of emergency has been declared for a handful of Georgia counties and for all counties in Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This weekend will be disrupted by what is expected to be a major Category 4 storm and people here seem to be taking the warning
seriously. The governor just gave a press conference a little while ago reminding people that there was about 10 years that Florida did not take a
direct hit from a - - a hurricane but out of the last four years they`ve been impacted by five major storms. I mentioned people are taking it
seriously. We`re already starting to see those long lines at the gas stations.
We`re seeing people filling up their sandbags as well as gathering plywood to board up either their businesses or their residences. This is going to
be a very serious thing and that`s what officials are stressing to anyone that lives up and down the east coast especially of Florida. Right now
it`s not quite clear where this will make direct landfall but officials are being very clear and direct if you live anywhere along the east coast of
Florida, you need to be ready.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Florida`s governor is telling people to have seven days worth of food and medicine on hand. Lines are out the door and down the street for
groceries and gasoline. The island of Puerto Rico as well as the U.S. and British Virgin Islands have already seen some damage from Dorian and the
storm was on track to hit Grand Bahama Island on Sunday. But as far as the mainland U.S. is concerned, it`s Florida that likely faces the biggest
threat from Hurricane Dorian.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now we`re up to a Category 4 hurricane, a low end four but irrelevant, 130 miles per hour. That`s Sunday morning, 8 o`clock in
the morning. Here`s Labor Day morning 8 o`clock, still a Category 4, 130 miles per hour. The cone anywhere from about Key Biscayne on up - - still
into the Jacksonville area possible because of the possible turn that this could make as it gets closer to the shore. It is going to slow down for
sure. This is 24 hours literally from the coast to Orlando in 24 hours. You could probably walk there in 24 hours and that`s the heavy rain
potential all the way through the entire peninsula of Florida because this will not be a compact storm when it gets there.
It has 96 hours to gain strength in very warm water. We`re now seeing the hurricane hunter aircraft fly through it at 89 miles per hour at the
surface, slightly higher at flight level. So what else has been here in the past. There`s Dorian. There`s Francis, Irma, Jeanne, Hugo, all of
those passing within about 60 nautical miles of where we are right now. The American model taking farther to the north, closer to the space coast.
The European model taking farther down to the south, not quite to Miami- Dade certainly but then turning it up toward the right and up the peninsula of Florida.
I think the Hurricane Center is kind of taking somewhere - - somewhere down the middle of what the - - the true consensus of the models because there
are many others out there. The true consensus of the model is where they`re putting their new cone out there. It`s an impressive looking
storm. It`s too far away to show you on radar because the only closest radar would be Puerto Rico and now that would be above its radar beam.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Which of these places is largest in area? Amazon Rainforest; Arabian Desert; Greenland or Saudi Arabia. Of these options,
the Amazon is largest in area. It covers 2.3 million square miles.
For 60 days it will be illegal for people to use fire to clear land in Brazil. That`s a new government policy there. Satellite data that came
out last week indicated there`d been a dramatic increase in the number of wildfires burning in the Amazon Rainforest including parts of Brazil and
other surrounding countries. But critics, including Brazil`s government say that satellite data is inaccurate and observers say the number of fires
now burning in the Brazilian Amazon is back to normal levels or below them for this time of year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (inaudible) it`s a kind of disgusting how thick the smoke is just here. You can smell it in the air, really thick, really
quite irritating. Took a - - a journey on a plane to be actually have seen (ph) exactly where fires were raging the hardest and when you do hit them
it`s often incredibly hard to actually see the fires themselves. On our first experience, the smoke was so dense we couldn`t see the canopy down
below.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not just a - - a forest burning. This is almost a cemetery because all you can see is dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While you might think the whole of the Amazon is aflame, that`s not the case. The new fires are sporadic. They`re pop-up.
They destroy vast amounts of land very quickly. There`s winds blowing, intense dry heat everywhere and that really can be a - - a - - very hard to
spot but when you do see them there`s no mistake in what you`re flown into. I mean is this a normal kind of burn or are we seeing something insane - -
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. It`s not normal. It`s totally insane, especially for this time of the year.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Resources are an issue here. Their satellite`s imagery is able to keep a larger tab on how widespread the damage is but much of
what people have to do is (ph) local flying, seeing, recording where things are, exacting their locations. So they can be sure there`s an independent
record of where fires are spreading. A lot of this information and a lot of politics behind exactly where the fires are now and how bad they are.
Fires are reasonably common in the Amazon and the question always is, in divergence between the Brazilian government`s saying and what activists and
scientists are saying as well.
The Brazilian government`s suggestion has been as always a dry season when there`s always fires and that`s true to some extent. These are strong
advocates of different policy towards the Amazon. He says he`s an environmentalist but many critics point out the fact that he`s also very
much key on using the Amazon as a resource to enrich the people around it. The (inaudible) is so much (inaudible) so remote and it`s quite hard to get
a handle on what`s burning, what`s stopped burning and so they are concerned about what comes next.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: For 10 out of 10, it might have started with a handoff but it`s the footwork and handiwork of this Pee Wee League football running back that
gets into the end zone. Yes, that`s a behind the back hand switch and in case you missed it. Boom. There`s another. The defense had no idea how
to stop him and like the kid himself, the video went from the 50 yard line in Pennsylvania and scored getting coverage on national network sports
news.
So there`s been a media "blitz" on that "clip" and critics might say that after that "fumbling half back" effort, the defense needs to huddle and
"gridiron" out it`s man to man coverage when it`s going toe to toe with a "pocket sized carrier" who turns on a "dime". It`s fourth down at CNN 10,
ya`ll. I`m Carl Azuz. We will be off the air Monday for the Labor Day holiday. So we`ll join you again next Tuesday right here.
END
