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CNN 10
The Effects of Cyclone Amphan; Predictions for the 2020 Hurricane Season; Changes in the Workplace; Work of a Labyrinth Creator
Aired May 22, 2020 - 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 ANCHOR: Hi, I`m Carl Azuz and welcome to Fridays are awesome. Not exactly the name of our show but it`s still facts. And as
our spring season winds down with one more week on the air, we`re happy to have you watching. We are a week and a half away from the official start
of the Atlantic Hurricane season. Though we`ve already seen an early storm materialize off the U.S. east coast. Arthur brought gusty winds and rain
to parts of North Carolina before heading out to sea. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration just released its 2020 hurricane
forecast and it predicts there could be an active season ahead with 13 to 19 named storms and six to 10 hurricanes.
An average season sees 12 named storms and six hurricanes. Not all of the big systems make landfall and just like with the weather, not all of the
forecasts pan out. Though NOAA says it`s predictions are accurate 70 percent of the time. On the other side of the northern hemisphere a large
storm did make landfall this week. Costal communities of northeastern India and Bangladesh are assessing the damage from Cyclone Amphan. At one
point it was the most powerful storm ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal. It was the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane but by the time Amphan made
landfall on Wednesday it had weakened to Category 2 status with sustain wind speeds of 105 miles per hour.
Still, its storm surge brought flooding to coastal areas and water and debris have made it difficult for rescuers to get to survivors. The
cyclone killed at least 80 people and destroyed the homes of thousands more and even though an estimated 3 million were evacuated in India and
Bangladesh before the storm arrived, that in itself brought an additional challenge of keeping them separated in shelters because of the threat of
corona virus. Globally health officials say more than 5 million people have now tested positive for the disease.
And while most of them have or will recover, more than 300,000 deaths have been blamed on COVID-19 throughout the world. No one knows how long its
impact will last. We don`t know when we`ll be able to return to our studio and when people do return to offices, they`ll see a very different looking
workplace.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Over the past few decades, they`ve evolved to this. Open plans, social hubs like the Salesforce Tower in San
Francisco.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love to come together. We love to collaborate. We love to have face to face meetings. We loved it when the offices were
crowded.
SEBASTIAN: Salesforce has spent the last eight weeks turning those principles on their head. Inspired by this model from real estate firm
Cushman and Wakefield dubs the six feet office. It`s not exactly a return to cubicles but there are eerie similarities.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There maybe plexiglass dividers between work stations on the open floor plans and then even meeting rooms will have big (ph)
capacity signs because they are not able to hold as many people as before.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s really about giving people visual cues to help remember about that physical distancing.
SEBASTIAN: Plans are still being finalized. But masks will be mandatory. Shifts will be staggered. Temperatures checked. Elevators in the
companies many towers socially distanced. Across the corporate world, high rise offices present a particular challenge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re changing technology to be able to use Bluetooth to go touchless into the elevators.
SEBASTIAN: Scott Rechler runs RXR Reality, the fourth largest office landlord in Manhattan. He is re-evaluating every detail of his buildings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the HVAC systems have been changed so that they have filters that are highest grade filters that pull - - pull - - pick up
the smallest particles where possible. We`re changing locations like for pantries and - - and printer that are usually in (inaudible) we`ll get the
congestion to more open spaces.
SEBASTIAN: And technology also critical to his plan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ll have an app that before they even come to work, they`ll be able to look to see what the health index of the building is.
When you go into your space there`s going to be a tool (inaudible) that actually will monitor your extreme (ph) social distancing. And at the end
of the day, you`ll be able to see that -- like 70 percent, 75 percent.
SEBASTIAN: Amidst all that change there`s one part of this new office reality that`s already here and that`s working from home. Many companies
are planning to stagger shifts. Others are telling staff you can work from home so they can keep going. Twitter has even told its employees that if
they want to they can work from home forever. It`s clear in this world where the virus is still a threat, the ultimate trick to keeping offices
safe is having fewer people in them. Clare Sebastian, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Which of these words is thought to have come from an old English term meaning to confuse? Befuddle, exam, maze or merge.
Etymologists believe that a term meaning to confuse or astonish is the origin of the word maze.
And whether you find them dazing, amazing, amusing or confusing or some combo of all four, a British maze maker has been amazing people for years
creating life size labyrinths for folks in 40 countries. Some cost as little as $130. Some cost as much as $1.3 million but one thing Adrian
Fisher is really good at is finding the balance between making them challenging and making them fun.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADRIAN FISHER: Mazes are one of the most fascinating things was ever believed but soon as they control, you`re always wanted to find out what`s
hidden, what`s outside. My name`s Adrian Fisher. I live in Dorset in England and I create mazes and labyrinths all over the world. While I
spent the first few years of my career in a (inaudible) there came a moment when I created a maze in my father`s garden and then I started building one
and two more and so on. And then I suddenly realized this was going to be far more fulfilling if I spent my life creating mazes.
This is the site of the closest to 40 meters in diameter. The (inaudible) is going here. Over the years, I`ve created mazes in some 40 countries and
I guess I built over 700 full size mazes in the landscape. I think a maze design is a very esoteric art. You sketch out ideas and develop ideas on
paper hence drawings. But one of the exciting things is a maze is a network. A maze is a special kind of network where I decide there`s only
one start point. I decide where the finish is. I make sure that every single bit of it can be as confusing or as easy as I wish.
I`m trying to make it as ingenious and tricky as possible. But in the end, I`m also an entertainer. I like to leave clues to help you solve it and
you feel so good about yourselves when you have beaten the maze design. Like a good movie you get to the end and you still - - you don`t want it to
stop. I`m appealing to some basic instincts from us all that want to be entertained and explore and a maze is my (inaudible) way of doing that.
Its purpose is totally at to one side if normal, sensible, practical things in life that gives so much pleasure to so many millions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Who needs Dominic the Donkey when you`ve got Baldomera (ph). Some of you have no idea what any of this means but this is Baldomera (ph). He
lives in Spain and his owner had to spend the last two months in quarantine. So he left his beloved pet donkey with his brother 20 miles
away. The owner was afraid Baldomera (ph) wouldn`t recognize him when he finally came back but turns out there was nothing to fear.
Was it "Baldomiraculous"? Not exactly but it is "abrazing" or would you call it "amulezing" that the beast "bravely" bore the burden of missing his
master when the owner`s brother "burrowed" him. Donkey puns. They`re "heehaw some" and so are the students of Lonpoc High School. Let`s go
Braves, in Lonpoc, California. We will be off the air Monday for the Memorial Day holiday but we will see you Tuesday as we kick off our last
week of the season. I`m Carl Azuz for CNN.
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