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CNN Live Sunday

Bermuda Will Face Brush With Hurricane Erin

Aired September 09, 2001 - 16:00   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.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: We begin with a closer look at Hurricane Erin. Erin is the first hurricane to churn across the Atlantic this season, and is moving near Bermuda. This morning the small British isle was at ease, a sunny sky generated almost an air of anticipation instead of fear; but Erin is lashing out at Bermuda now with squalls that could dump as much as 10 inches of rain as the eye passes offshore.

Reporter Darlene Ming of the Bermuda Broadcasting Company is in Hamilton, Bermuda and joins us on the phone with more.

Darlene, what's it like there right now?

DARLENE MING, BERMUDA BROADCASTING COMPANY REPORTER: Well, Donna, it is still relatively calm in Bermuda. We've had rain showers off and on throughout the afternoon. We are still a full hour away from the closest point of approach by hurricane Erin, so there's still some watching and waiting going on.

KELLEY: How is the wind there now?

MING: Well, the wind is not too high, but certainly in the eastern portions of the island, forecasters are saying that we can expect wind gusts around 40 miles an hour. So we're in the central area of Hamilton, Bermuda where things are somewhat windy, but certainly not any major gusts at this hour.

KELLEY: Some shelters open across the island?

MING: Well, we've had one shelter -- one shelter that was put into gear as the government of Bermuda issued a national hurricane warning. We have just heard from our public safety minister who, in fact, tells me that the emergency measures group will be disassembling the emergency center because, quite frankly, this system is going to pass about 70 nautical miles east of us, and therefore it's going to be more of a brush than a real full-force hit.

KELLEY: Yes, that's what we were seeing, too. Schools -- have they changed their minds, or will they go ahead and open tomorrow?

MING: Well, ironically, tomorrow here in Bermuda is the very first day of the new school year. But, again, the government has decided that schools will be opened as planned and, at this stage, they really believe that that will be case. KELLEY: OK, Darlene Ming with the Bermuda Broadcasting Company, thanks so much with the information with us (sic).

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