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CNN Live Sunday

Hurricane Erin Heads Toward Bermuda

Aired September 09, 2001 - 17:02   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: We are keeping a close eye now on the Atlantic's first named hurricane of the season, Hurricane Erin, who is now a category two storm and is bearing down on Bermuda. Warnings were issued there this morning, but people do not expect a direct hit. Just how close will Erin come to the British territory? Let's turn now to CNN meteorologist Brad Huffines for a sense of that -- Brad.

BRAD HUFFINES, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right now, Stephen, it looks as if the storm is about as close as it is going to come. That's good news. More good news is that the storm is passing on the good side of the island. I'll explain that in just a moment.

Let's fly out, though, first, get in our CNN aircraft and fly over the Atlantic Ocean. You are seeing Hurricane Erin there. And I have Bermuda marked on the map underneath the clouds. The winds are moving, of course, in that counterclockwise direction, and because of that the storm is moving this way.

As the storm is moving north and the winds on the back side are blowing from the north, that actually means that as the storm goes this way, the winds to the left of the eye are weaker than the winds to the right of the eye. So Bermuda is being spared. That is why the hurricane warning has been dropped to a tropical storm warning.

As the storm floats by, expect heavy rains, some gusty winds. But for the most part, about 12 hours of bad weather before the storm moves on into the northern Atlantic. And then, things look a bit more interesting, as the computer model forecasts show. Here are the latest coordinates. Right now, winds are up to 120 miles an hour. Remember, in the hurricane, that just means in the eye, all right? That doesn't mean the entire storm is that strong, just the eye. The winds move -- weaken quite a bit as you move out from the storm.

Moving northwest now at 13 miles an hour. Where is it going to go, you're asking, next? It's going to continue moving northwest for just a little while, and then curve north and eventually northeast into the Atlantic Ocean. This storm right now looks like more of a threat not for the Western Hemisphere, but for the Eastern Hemisphere. It looks as if this storm could curve toward the Atlantic Ocean and eventually end up approaching the United Kingdom, or parts of Europe. That's where this storm, looks like, it may pack its next punch.

We will talk about the national weather and the work week ahead coming up a little bit later on -- Stephen.

FRAZIER: Good, Brad, thanks. We will see you then.

Even though the hurricane was off shore, the skies were sunny this morning in Bermuda. So, what is it like there now? On the phone with us to give us an update is Al Eastmond, manager of the Southampton Princess Hotel. Mr. Eastmond, thanks for joining us.

AL EASTMOND, MANAGER, SOUTHAMPTON PRINCESS HOTEL: You're welcome.

FRAZIER: And what does it look like at this hour?

EASTMOND: Well, right now it's very, very, mild. We are barely experiencing high winds. Very little rain. Nothing gusting. We have seen worse weather than this on a normal wintry day, really.

FRAZIER: And of course, there is something about the low pressure and the ozone in the air -- many vacationers get excited by the arrival of a storm.

EASTMOND: A lot of them do. Most Bermudians, native Bermudians, don't worry too much about hurricanes. We experience them a lot. They very rarely hit. We have been very lucky because we have a small land mass, and of course, Bermuda is built like a fortress. We don't suffer the kind of devastation that you would normally see with the hurricanes for the South.

FRAZIER: Yeah. Let's explain that a little bit more, Mr. Eastmond. The houses there are built from stone or coral, I guess, that's...

(CROSSTALK)

EASTMOND: Right. From limestone that we carve out of the island, and you know, there are very good specifications of building your house. You can't just build a house, you have to get permission, and everybody looks at it, and we have the different ministries that pay attention. And so, everything is rooted into the island. You have to go down, find coral, find a foundation and then build up on it with stone.

FRAZIER: So, as weak as they look, they are really fortresses?

EASTMOND: They're really fortresses. A hurricane that would normally cause devastation for the South would be an inconvenience to us with, of course, trees coming down, knocking out power and that sort of thing.

FRAZIER: Still, should anything bad happen, though, you are so isolated there, 600 miles off the coast and no other island near you?

EASTMOND: Nothing near us. We are out here all alone on our own. Yes, if something like that devastation ever happened here, we are kind of trapped out here. But I don't think anybody really thinks -- the native Bermudians don't really think of it like that, because you know, we are born here and we consider whatever land is here, you know, our land. So we don't really worry too much about that kind of devastation, and it's never happened to us.

FRAZIER: Not in your lifetime.

EASTMOND: Not in my lifetime.

FRAZIER: Well, we hope that this isn't any kind of an exception to that tradition, and we are grateful to those insights as to how things are in the Bermuda right now. I'm sorry we are not doing this interview face-to-face. I would love to be with you.

EASTMOND: Yeah, it's great out there. By tomorrow, we are looking for sunshine again.

FRAZIER: Well, Al Eastmond, thanks very much for joining us.

EASTMOND: You are very welcome.

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