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CNN Live Sunday
Barry Looms off Gulf Coast
Aired August 05, 2001 - 17:00 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.
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: Hurricane warnings are up along the northern Gulf Coast now as a big storm churns toward that region, and with landfall expected just hours from now, Tropical Storm Barry has the attention of Florida Governor Jeb Bush. He says an emergency declaration could be forthcoming.
The hurricane warning zone is now from Pascagoula, Mississippi to east of Apalachicola, Florida; that puts the Florida panhandle in the bullseye.
CNN's Ed Lavandera is on storm watch in Fort Walton Beach. Ed, we have been moving you back and forth to put you smack in the middle of it. Now Fort Walton beach.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And this is where a lot of people are getting ready for Tropical Storm Barry to make land fall. They anticipate somewhere around midnight or into the early Monday morning hours.
Some new developments, preparations that have been established: toll roads out of the coastal areas of Florida have been opened up, so people can get out of here quickly if they have to. The only county under mandatory evacuation is Franklin County, which is east of Panama City. Elsewhere along the coast, evacuation advisories have been established. What that means is, they're just letting people know it might be a good idea to be on standby to quickly leave these areas if the flooding becomes very intense.
Here in Fort Walton Beach, the surf is getting more intense as well, about six to seven-foot waves. You can see the winds have picked up throughout the day, and slowly starting to get stronger. About 12 surfers still out there. Folks enjoying the last few moments of heavy waves and being a little bit adventurous to be say the least.
One of the folks here is Ted Bushway, from St. Louis.
Ted, you are telling me that you are here -- I haven't quite figured out what -- what are your plans for the rest of the day?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I plan on staying unless they evacuate. My room is on the first floor, so that makes me a little nervous with the water coming up, but there's a church down the road. That's the evacuation site. So I just drove my car there to figure out how to get there. LAVANDERA: You said you've never been through anything like this up close; a little bit nervous?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little. Should be an interesting night around midnight tonight when the storm arrives.
LAVANDERA: From folks that you have talked to, do you think they are serious about this storm or people a little lackadaisical out there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, sure. The majority of the people in the hotel have checked out. It was packed yesterday and the day before, but there's hardly anybody left now.
LAVANDERA: Ted, thank you very much.
Folks here, as Ted mentioned, just waiting to see what happens next. I'm Ed Lavandera in Fort Walton Beach.
Stephen, back to you.
FRAZIER: Thanks very much, Ed; take care of yourself.
As Ed mentioned, a couple of barrier islands in Franklin County have been evacuated now as Tropical Storm Barry moves a lot closer. The area could face severe flooding from the storm.
Joining us now on the telephone from Franklin County is Gathana Parmenas. Thanks very much for joining us.
GATHANA PARMENAS, AMERICAN RED CROSS: Thank you.
FRAZIER: You heard Ed mention that the toll roads have been opened; explain how that works.
PARMENAS: Franklin County does not have toll roads that apply to our evacuation, but we are encouraging those in low lying areas as well as the mandatory evacuations from the barrier islands to reach safety.
FRAZIER: And that's a pretty good ways inland, isn't it? That's all low country.
PARMENAS: It is pretty much. Because of the rain and the storm bands which head out to the northeast from the eye of the hurricane, this area is in particular danger.
FRAZIER: What else are you doing in addition to asking people to get themselves out of harm's way?
PARMENAS: In addition to that, we are checking in with special needs people, to make sure they have transportation if necessary, everyone here is pretty much on alert and I believe are making preparations for the family's safety.
FRAZIER: Last question before we let you go, Ms. Parmenas: how you are getting the word out? We've seen in the past, police officers going with bull horns on the cars up and down the highways. How do...
PARMENAS: We have volunteers at the Emergency Center here in Franklin County, who have specific call lists, people with special needs, RV parks, mobile home parks; in addition, the voluntary fire department, the chiefs of those volunteer fire departments get in touch with everybody they can, and we certainly try to make the news known through the radio stations.
FRAZIER: So technology and personal contact. Good luck with that effort. Thanks very much for joining us today.
We are going to go right into the path of the storm, as it's predicted now by Chad and by Max to reporter Fred Hunter at CNN affiliate WBRC-TV. Fred is in Panama City, Florida.
What's happening there, Fred.
FRED HUNTER, WBRC-TV CORRESPONDENT: Right now, the wind is picking up just a bit; we're not getting any rain. We're about 40 miles to the east of the destined Fort Walton Beach area. Pretty much right now, things are not exactly deserted, but certainly, the welcome sign is out here in Panama City. The Vacancy signs are lit at least.
A lot of folks are leaving. We understand Highway 231, which is one of the main thoroughfares leading back toward Alabama out of Panama City, bumper to bumper headed north. A lot of schools starting back. In Alabama, particularly, this is a popular vacation spot. A lot of folks down for the weekend. Their last weekend of summer. So I expect there'll be a certain amount of economic impact here in Panama City because of the people leaving early.
And of course, as you have heard the others, saying up and down the coast, people have -- we have talked to people as far away as Phoenix, Arizona, who said they picked this for their vacation weekend, and I guess, they could have pick a little bit better weekend.
FRAZIER: Your heart goes out to people who have done that. Let me ask about the roads: we have seen some big storms hitting the Atlantic coast, where, say, South Carolina opened both lanes of highways -- to get people out of harm's way. Has that happened yet?
HUNTER: Well, that hasn't happened here, I guess primarily because, even though there is a state of emergency for Bay County, there is not as yet any mandatory evacuation.
I would suspect that the local emergency management officials would wait until an evacuation notice was issued before they would take that kind of action because a lot of people probably have delayed coming down to maybe secure their homes or their boats or whatever, so a lot of people would still be coming south from Alabama or Georgia, coming down to their vacation homes which of course line the beaches here -- Stephen.
FRAZIER: From Panama City, Florida, Fred Hunter. Fred, thanks very 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
