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Hurricane Florence Pounds Carolina Coast as It Nears Landfall. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired September 14, 2018 - 04:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[04:00:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: -- plus of rain, dumps and pushes water downstream. Water will get caught in the vice. The water level here could rise 10 more feet. That is well over flood level. They are prepared for that here, but it will lead to a lot of suffering in these low-lying areas. 185,000 people without power in North Carolina.

There have been rescues going on in New Bern. About 80 miles from where I am right now. 200 people rescued already, 150 at least in need of rescue. They had huge storm surge issues there. A cause of great concern because as this storm moves down, more and more communities will face what New Bern has already begun to face.

Again, we're in the middle of it right now. This storm is crawling. Six miles per hour. Crawling towards us. After it hits here, it will move down the coast, heads to South Carolina. Our Chris Cuomo in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina -- Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, you are our future, J.B. Already 5500 people without power in South Carolina and nothing has really happened yet. The wind is picking up. They're saying it's within the tropical storm, tropical depression range now. Thirty-five, maybe 40-mile-an- hour gusts. Enough, however, to push the tide out. What should have been high tide is about 150 feet back from where it is. That could lead to a little bit of that vice effect that you were talking about, what you're seeing up there.

It will be duration that will be the concern here. How much wetness over how much time and then once the wind starts to whip it, how much damage. And they'll be measuring it in days and that's why the evacuations will be so important. What we're seeing in New Bern is a reflection of those who decided to stay behind. Putting stress on the system of first responders. How many more communities will be like New Bern we'll be seeing?

Now according to the radar, we should start seeing some kind of wetness here within the next hour or so. So I'll keep you apprised of the situation, J.B. Back to you for now.

BERMAN: All right. Chris Cuomo down in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Chris, we are starting to get those wind gusts. 90 miles an hour, 100 miles an hour through here in Wilmington. They will be enough even to shake you with your tree-trunk legs. Those wind gusts are serious and they will become sustained over the next several minutes and hours.

Want to go up the coast, let's go to Craven County, North Carolina. That is where the city of New Bern is. New Bern is where we have seen rescues already. On the phone with us is public information officer, Amber Parker, of Craven County.

Amber, if you can hear me, I understand there have been dozens if not a hundred or more rescues already. What's the situation?

AMBER PARKER, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, CRAVEN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA: Yes, we do have a lot of rescues taking place. We've had over 100 calls for assistance. We have swift water rescue teams out there right now. Hundreds of rescue workers helping people who are in trouble due to flooding and storm surge.

BERMAN: Are the rescue crews able to get out? Obviously we know the conditions are incredibly dangerous. The wind is blowing well over tropical storm force. It is raining very hard. Are the rescue crews able to reach these people in need?

PARKER: Yes, they are able to go out. They go to areas where it's safe but of course they are putting their lives at risk to try to help other people. But there are some areas where we just simply can't get there right now due to the conditions not being safe.

BERMAN: I think it is worth emphasizing for the people who did choose to stay and there were mandatory evacuation orders. People were told to leave. They don't just put their own lives at risk, they put the risk -- they put the lives of those rescue crews, those first responders who are now having to go out and reach them despite the fact that the conditions are so dangerous.

You said the surge and the flooding is the major concern. Describe what your crews are seeing in terms of that.

PARKER: It's high water in different places. It can be different levels of water. We have seen water just creeping up to the stairs of homes. We've seen water above mailboxes. We've seen water that has breached the first floors and even second floors. Individuals having to be on their roofs to try to stay dry.

BERMAN: Individuals on their roofs already.

PARKER: Yes.

BERMAN: And this could just be beginning. You're seeing people on their roofs?

PARKER: Yes. That started yesterday.

BERMAN: And your crews, are they out on zodiacs? How are they reaching people?

PARKER: The swift water rescues have different types of watercraft that they are using.

BERMAN: They're out there on the water despite the fact that the winds are blowing very, very hard and the rain is falling.

What is your message to people? We've seen people on social media tweeting, for instance, that they have people in need with three cats and the like. How should people reach you?

PARKER: The best way to report any need for assistance is to call our citizen emergency line. And that number is 252-636-6608.

[04:05:03] We are logging all assistance requests and dispatching rescue teams just as soon as we can to every area that we can get to.

BERMAN: Do you have any advice for people who are stuck in their homes?

PARKER: The most important thing is that they are in their homes, to shelter in place. We don't want to see people getting trapped in vehicles. Certainly we don't want people to be walking through running water or driving through running water. We tell them to turn around, don't drown. It's very dangerous to be out there in that water. If they are in a home and the water is already coming into the home, we'd just ask them to call us, let us know they need assistance and to try to get to the highest point of their house if they can without being trapped.

BERMAN: Amber, do you have a sense of how this water cycle will work? We spoke to the mayor of New Bern a short time ago who said that the water level is about a foot lower than it was a little bit earlier. But even if tides have gone out a little bit but with the storm surge perhaps coming in, do you have any sense it will get higher over the next several hours?

PARKER: Yes. We are expecting more water and you can see with the way that Hurricane Florence is working, it's really just kind of hovering over our area and moving at a slow pace and just kind of hanging out there. And what it is going to do is just drop more wind and then more wind do we have coming into our rivers get pushed the storm surge up and certainly we have more rain in our future as well.

BERMAN: So, Amber, we are getting reports now of people scouring social media that there are people in fact trapped in their vehicles, trapped in their cars. They tried to get away. That's exactly what you warned against. How -- any way you can reach them?

PARKER: They can call in. There are certain areas where we can get to and certain areas where we can't. It just depends on where they are and what the conditions are like around them. I do know we have had rescue teams go out to situations like that.

BERMAN: You know, I do hope that people are listening. I know there are power outages across the state in some places. But if people are still within earshot, these are important messages to send. And it's not about scaring people, it's about giving people the reality, the reality now that hundreds of people are finding out for themselves all too dangerously, trapped in their homes or trapped in their cars.

Amber, again, you are the public information officer for Craven County where there have been hundreds of rescues already, a hundred calls outstanding and reports of people trapped in their cars. What is your message to people who are within ear shot?

PARKER: The message is to heed the safety notices. Certainly other people who maybe the storm has not reached yet. If there are evacuation notices put out, please heed those evacuation notices. Any time those -- that information goes out it's a very serious situation. And, you know, communities and counties and municipalities never make those decisions lightly. And really want to urge everyone to always heed those safety warnings and evacuation notices.

BERMAN: Amber Parker, Craven County, thank you for what you do. Please stay safe. Tell your crews to stay safe. You're doing important, dangerous work, risking their lives to save people throughout this night and into the morning.

Amber Parker, thanks very much.

All right. So that's Craven County. New Bern is where we have heard about so many rescues. That's about 80 miles north of where I am. That has seen some of the worst storm surge from the News River. But there are so many other waterways like that that line the coast of North Carolina, down in South Carolina. That is why this storm is of such concern and the storm surge is of such concern.

Let's go back to Chad Myers in the Weather Center to get a sense of the forecast and where things stand.

Chad, I got to say that is sobering to hear from those first responders. To hear from the emergency management in that town where there are people trapped and in need. And you know, I told you so, this is not about I told you so, right? They were warned, there were mandatory evacuations. Now it's about saving people but this is why those mandatory evacuations were in place.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I know we don't have pictures. But make this a mental picture. The wind blowing for those rescuers right now just gusted to 55 miles per hour. You are in a 12-foot blow-up zodiac trying to work your way through the streets to save people and the winds are blowing your watercraft at 55 miles per hour. That's what these rescuers are going through which we say please don't put the rescuers in danger and people still do.

Here you go. There is New Bern right there and I can show you this is a three-hour loop. The water coming up here. The very heavy rainfall for the most part overnight, though east side of the storm has been the wettest. But now that's rotating up toward New Bern. And the water, that's a three-hour loop here, has just continued to pour in. The rain continuing to pour in as well. This now will be the next 12 hours. So here we are. I'm making a mark on New Bern, right? There, News River.

[04:10:01] So here's the same area getting the same rain for the next 12 hours. That is what happens when you don't have an eye that moves. It just pours in. It's almost like a training thunderstorm, but this is a training hurricane where we have all of the water pouring into the same places.

Now Atlantic Beach which is just down river from the News River on up there has already picked up 22 inches of rainfall. Rainfall proper. And then obviously the water getting poured through here.

There's your eye, officially for you, John, 20 miles to your east. But this is brand new. For the most of the night, we did not have any real precip inside the outer eyewall. Well, now we are getting a new inner eyewall which means the storm is trying to pick up strength. The storm is trying to get a deeper, lower pressure because it hasn't gone down. We don't mention this much. But for the weather geeks out there, the pressure is still 953 millibars. That is still equal to a strong cat 2, maybe low cat 3.

But we just haven't had those cat 3 winds. This is still a cat 3 surge type storm even though it's getting close to the shore, getting close to the coast. It's not being interrupted. Most of the storm is still way offshore. This is the warm water of the gulfstream even though we talked about up welling. The gulfstream moves. It's moving five or six knots right through there. And so the warmer water is replacing the colder water that's getting up welled.

Here you go. Here's the forecast radar now. Watch this. Again, I just need to keep an eye on any one spot. I'll let this go again. Here's Wilmington. Finally somewhere around 3:00 this afternoon, the eye does get to you. But notice the area here. This is the area -- we're going to back to the beginning. This is the area that has all about the water coming up. One wave after another. There's New Bern right there. And it doesn't get out of it.

It doesn't -- this outer band continues to pour right through Morehead City, right through -- we already know 6.2 feet of inundation on Emerald Isle and that's just here to the east of Evan Beach which already had the 22 inches of rainfall in 24 hours.

There is the satellite. It's sobering, it's not moving. Eventually it gets down toward Chris Cuomo but for right now the people of North Carolina are in danger. And if you didn't evacuate and they told you to, you need to try to do it now because the water is still going to go up. There is no relief in sight. Get to the highest piece of ground you can. That's it. That's all you can do. If the water is on your doorstep, do what you can. Otherwise you need to start going up in your home like the people that are already on their roof -- John.

BERMAN: Chad Myers, for us in the Weather Center.

Chad, I keep looking behind me because something is shaking on one of those boats. I see a sail that's come loose. I don't know if you can see it here. But a sail has come loose on one of the boats behind me there. And it's really blowing.

And Chad, actually, if you are still with me, explain why it is -- this is the northeast Cape Fear River that flows into the ocean but, you know, from inland. The wind is coming from my back right now. The wind is basically coming from upstream down toward the ocean. Explain why that is with the swirl of the storm.

MYERS: Because you are still on the west side of the eye. Here is you right there. Here is Cape Fear River going up through there. And so because the Cape Fear River is not really filling up, the wind is blowing in this direction on this side of the eye, blowing this direction on this side of the aisle, blowing all that water up toward New Bern and Atlantic Beach and Morehead City and all the way up even toward Emerald Isle. That's why this area is flooding right now. Topsail, you'll start to get all of that water as well, starting to come to your area there rather quickly.

John, all you're getting are those outer eyewalls coming through and earlier you said you had a wind gust to near 90. Well, let me tell you. Here is you. Here down here, just had a wind gust to 95. So that was your gust. You guessed 90. It was 95.

BERMAN: All right. Chad Myers, thanks very much. As I said we are keeping an eye on the sail that sort of blow loose on a sailboat behind us. In the meantime, let's go to Carolina Beach, Derek Van Dam is there -- Derek.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, John, you know, the full story of Hurricane Florence is still yet to be written because we all know, and it's very well advertised that this is the long duration storm. That's what's going to set aside from all the other storms.

This storm is here to stay. What we're experiencing now -- what we're experiencing now in Carolina Beach is extremely strong gusty winds. We have had sustained tropical storm force with gusts in excess of 74 miles per hour. So we're working into that hurricane force, no doubt. We have some diligent -- that we can broadcast to you out in these elements. We are in a safe position. We are protected by a building, but these buildings create these little mini vorticities or mini swirls in the wind.

[04:15:03] And it can catch you off guard. So that's why we often stand with our legs separated like this for the stance just to prepare ourselves for the extremely strong gusty winds.

We know that this is here to stay. We have the potential of not dropping below tropical storm force until Saturday afternoon. So a long duration event. Potentially eight months of rain equivalent in 24 to 48 hours.

John, that is astronomical.

BERMAN: All right. Derek Van Dam on Carolina Beach.

Hurricane Florence bearing down that one, Wilmington, North Carolina, as well. We'll speak to people who are very much in danger as these rescues continue. Our live coverage continues next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right. John Berman here in Wilmington, North Carolina. This is CNN special live coverage of Hurricane Florence. Behind me is the Northeast Cape Fear River. This is one of the rivers that flows into the Atlantic from here. This is one of the rivers that concerned -- very concerned about flooding.

[04:20:07] There are a number of boats here. And I think you can see right there, there's a jib on a sailboat that has come loose. It was tied around the mast there. It has come loose and it has been shaking violently and very, very loud here. I think someone was trying to tie it down. That would be a very hard job.

That is the type of thing that can come loose and become this flying debris that is so dangerous in a storm like this as the winds pick up. Some of the outer bands, powerful outer bands have already passed through here. Sustained winds of 50 to 60 miles an hour, gusts even more powerful than that. It is just the beginning. It will be like that for some time here in Wilmington, North Carolina.

All right. Let's go to Kaylee Hartung who's not too far from where I am. Riding out the storm with a family here in Wilmington.

Kaylee, what do you see?

KAYLEE HARTUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, we're waking up here just on the banks of the intercoastal waterway a bit surprised. Locals thought they would be waking up. They warned us we could be waking up to water overflowing from the intercoastal waterway into these streets, maybe docks, boats where they shouldn't be, but that is not the case here where we are in Wilmington.

We are about eight miles directly east of you on the other side of this intercoastal waterway at Wrightsville Beach, one of those barrier islands or several islands that make up Wrightsville Beach under mandatory evacuation orders. Police telling us they believe that everyone they knew of who tried to stay on the island had gotten off. But here where we are, we had a family who let us spend the night with them, let us experience what they were going to with this storm barreling towards them. And yet over the course of this night, it wasn't a much different night than any other night for this family.

The most noticeable difference for this home, you can't see out the windows because they are boarded up in fear of what could come. Now when I say we wake up surprised not to see something worse we also recognize and this family recognizes that this storm is not over. You have made the point with the help of several other people up and down this coast that the story of this storm is far from over.

We recognize that storm surge could come higher than it has. I went down to the water not long ago. It doesn't look any different than it did yesterday when we were out there at this time. But we will wait and see what Florence brings -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Kaylee Hartung for us in a different part of Wilmington.

Kaylee said the storm not over. I think the message here is this only really just begun. Barely begun. The most powerful winds won't hit here in Wilmington for some time. And the storm surge perhaps some time after that.

We're in the middle of it for perhaps a day, a day and a half more and that duration is what is so concerning to so many people. That's here in North Carolina. South Carolina, it hasn't even begun. Nothing. I don't even think it's begun to rain there yet.

Let's go down to Chris Cuomo who's in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina -- Chris.

CUOMO: No rain here, J.B. We haven't had any significant precipitation. The Palmettos are starting to get their blow on, you know, about 35, 45-mile-an-hour gusts. I mean, look, already there's a reason it was a mandatory evac zone. This is an asphalt shingle section from a roof that flew off. You don't want this to hit you in the head. Little things can make a difference as well. And with time, as you're saying, winds like this steadily against structures, steadily against root systems starts to soften a situation.

Then comes the wetness, then comes bigger wind over a period of time, you're going to start to have tragedy. And that's what we're seeing. It's moving north up where you are. Actually farther north than you as well, and moving slowly down this way. And it will take many hours, probably be a 30-hour window all together, of the highest degree of damage that will then have to be assessing one phase after the other.

So if we start up in the north, as Chad just told you, J.B., the largest number of precipitation, the biggest number so far, is 22 inches. That's in Atlantic Beach. About like 75, 85 miles north of where you are. Now the mayor right now is Richard Porter. He's the mayor pro tem.

Mr. Porter, do I have you with us on the phone?

RICHARD PORTER, MAYOR PRO TEMPORE, MOREHEAD CITY: Yes.

CUOMO: All right. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. 22 inches, that's the rainfall total. That's the biggest number we have so far. That was news to you. What do you make of it?

PORTER: We're right in the thick of it now. It's still raining pretty hard. And the wind, I guess, is 60, 70 mile-an-hour. Last night it high tide at -- about 11:55. It had not crested the sea walls and the canals that make up a large part of our town.

[04:25:02] So what rain is falling is falling into the sound and into the canals. And as of about 11:30 last night, I spoke with the mayor and some of the first responders and we didn't have significant flooding yet. I'm off island in the town of Morehead just across the sound from them and waiting on an update this morning.

CUOMO: What have you heard in terms of physical damage? People needing rescue? What sense?

PORTER: Well, we evacuated almost everyone off the island. There were a few people that stayed behind. Our first responders stayed. Public works stayed. Our mayor and our town council. The update from last night was the wind had blown in two of our fire department bay doors. It had torn the roof off our water treatment plant and torn the facade off. But lots of loose shingles and fascia board and some of those things at last report. Like I said, when the sun comes up and they are able to safely get on the street, I'll get another update.

CUOMO: Now you are sheltering in place. You are with Janice Bynum, your fiance, correct?

PORTER: That is correct. She is a business owner in Atlanta Beach.

CUOMO: The Tackle Box is the name of her bar. The Tackle Box, is that right?

JANICE BYNUM, OWNER, TACKLE BOX TAVERN: Yes, that's correct.

CUOMO: Nice to hear your voice, ma'am. I know that you guys are sheltering in place. You've owned the Tackle Box 11 years. You are never closed for a full day until word of this storm came and you shuttered up and decided to wait it out. What are you expecting?

BYNUM: Well, I'm hoping that the water surge on the ocean front is not so bad that it goes inside the building. But it's possible. I mean, I just don't know. I hope it doesn't blow the roof off. I've never been closed this long before in the 11 years I've owned the Tackle Box. And I've owned a bar on the boardwalk in Atlantic Beach for 19 other years. So I've owned the bar for 31 years and this is the longest I have ever been closed.

CUOMO: Better safe than sorry. We keep saying that. That's why --

BYNUM: I was --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Yes. No, no, I was listening to you. I'm sorry. I'm saying that it was better to be safe than sorry. I know it's always hard to make a decision to close. But with the evacuation order, there aren't going to be too many -- too much clientele running around anyway. And if it winds being, God willing, much less than expected, you always have the mayor right next to you to complain.

BYNUM: I certainly hope it's less than expected. And I pray that for everyone because safety is most important.

CUOMO: Right. And you know, the X factor here is how will everybody and everything hold up over time. You know, we're used to -- you mentioned Hazel. You look at the duration of a Hazel, even a Hugo or a Matthew, as people mark their lives by storms down here. And you're talking about quicker duration. I don't know if you saw that but that was a weird scene. We just had a fox just run out of nowhere down the beach. You know, the storm brings out all kinds of strange situations. This red fox just ran down the beach. Something I have never seen before in my life.

So in terms of how things will stand up with duration, what's your concern about the Atlantic Beach area?

BYNUM: Well, we have a lot of older beach houses and a lot of newer ones. I just -- I just don't know. I just don't know how to call it. I was 3 years old when Hazel came. It hit at a category four. And you know, that had happened with this hurricane it would have been I'm sure just completely devastating like it was with Hazel. But the fact that it came in as a two, you know, I'm feeling a lot better about it. I think that -- I really don't expect buildings to be completely torn down and stuff like Hazel did. I'm just thinking some roofs and windows out. Things like that. That's what I am hoping for.

CUOMO: Well, Miss Bynum, we will see. We wish the best to you and the mayor. Please let him know he has our number. If anything needs to get out, information, let us know and we'll do our best. Thank you very much, ma'am. Be safe.

BYNUM: Thank you. Thank you very much.

CUOMO: All right. Be well. Both of you.

All right. So as we look at Florence, we're talking North, South. OK. As we go down the Carolinas. We are seeing that this storm regardless of any hype about the category is doing a lot of damage because of duration. It's moving so slowly and that is a bad thing with --