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CNN Live Sunday

Tropical Storm Barry Is Eyeing Hurricane Status

Aired August 05, 2001 - 16:18   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.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: An update on Tropical Storm Barry, which is now eying hurricane status. We are going to look at live satellite photos of the storm, which is expected to hit land in about nine hours. Let's get a live update and turn to Max Mayfield. He is the director of the National Hurricane Center, and he joins us from Miami. Hi, Max, thanks for talking with us. Is it a hurricane yet?

MAX MAYFIELD, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Not yet, but it's still getting very close. The significant strengthening really occurred over this morning, and now it's kind of plateaued off, but we do have a hurricane warning up, and we are focusing on that for the Panhandle region.

KELLEY: Can you zero in on that for us and tell us where you project that it might make landfall?

MAYFIELD: Sure. The center is around here, it's about 100 miles south of Fort Walton Beach, Florida. It's moving slowly toward the north. We think that may increase toward the north a little bit. The center will probably get there early tomorrow morning, but you can see the outer rain band are already moving over portions of Southeast. The sustained tropical storm force winds will likely be there late this evening.

The thing I really want to emphasize here is not just to focus on that little dot. The hurricane warning goes from the mouth of the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) river, which is right here, all the way across the Florida Panhandle and the Alabama coast. At 5:00 p.m. Eastern time, we are going to drop the warning here for Southeast Louisiana.

KELLEY: OK. And you think tomorrow morning that will hit land, then?

MAYFIELD: The center, but I don't want people to just to focus on that center.

KELLEY: Right.

MAYFIELD: They need to know that things are going to deteriorate tonight.

KELLEY: Things are going ahead, that's right. And especially the rain. Give us an idea of what you think the rainfall amounts might be? MAYFIELD: I think even over the next couple of days, we can have eight to 10 inches with some locally higher amounts, but we also want people to know that they will have some tidal ranges in their -- four to five feet above normal. Tide will also have some impact on immediate coastal areas, including the marinas. The hurricane force winds -- we are not expecting any real structural damage with that, but people certainly need to know they've got a category one hurricane out there.

KELLEY: And some tornadoes to spin off as well?

MAYFIELD: Always a chance of tornadoes. I haven't heard of any yet, but that certainly is a possibility.

KELLEY: And then, Alabama and Georgia have to watch out too, don't they -- as this gets going?

MAYFIELD: Right. And as it moves further inland, I really do think that it will slow down again, and that really increases the chance of rain. The good news is, that it's virtually going to be dry up there, so some of this rain will be welcomed. But we are going to have to watch this for several more days as it moves through Alabama and Northern Mississippi and maybe even up into Tennessee.

KELLEY: Always appreciate your time and information. Thank you so much, Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center.

MAYFIELD: You're welcome, Donna.

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