|
Article Excerpt
Original Source: CNN SUNDAY MORNING
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: It is Sunday, August the 19th.
Good morning to you all from the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
I'm T.J. Holmes.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Betty Nguyen.
At this point, thousands of vacationers have gotten out of Jamaica just in time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We weren't supposed to leave until Wednesday, but Hurricane Dean's coming, so -- and they're not even panicking yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Flights in and out of the Caribbean nation are canceled this morning as we're just hours away from Hurricane Dean making landfall.
Plus...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is something I could have lived without. I could have done without this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The struggle of a father following his son's death. My conversation with O'Jays' founder Eddie Levert. This is a talk you do not want to miss. Certainly want to stay tuned for that.
But we are going to start with Hurricane Dean this hour.
Forecasters calling it an extremely dangerous storm. Hurricane Dean barreling toward Jamaica right now. It's a strong Category 4 hurricane, and it's packing winds of 145 miles an hour.
You will be able to see the radar in the right-hand corner of your screen. We're going to keep it there throughout this newscast.
Jamaicans, meanwhile, jammed supermarkets, stocking up on food and supplies ahead of this hurricane. Dean is expected to make landfalls there in the early evening hours. The storm already blamed for at least five deaths in the Caribbean.
KEILAR: And as Dean churns on, you're going to see CNN news crews reporting live day and night from the region. We've got Karl Penhaul in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Gary Tuchman and Harris Whitbeck in the resort city of Cancun, Mexico.
But first, we're going to begin with Susan Candiotti. She is live in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
And Susan, what can you tell us?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brianna.
Well, if you look over my shoulder, you can make out how calm the water is, barely a ripple in the Caribbean Sea on this unusually quiet Sunday morning. Just over this balcony where we're standing, I can see the city streets. Very few cars driving by. Some foot traffic, but normally these streets are very, very busy at this hour with both locals and tourists walking about.
The streets, of course, lined, for example, with shops and restaurants, all kinds of souvenirs being sold. But not today. Everything has been ordered to be shut down.
By now, a government authority's hope, as they've been telling people for the past several days, that they have purchased all the supplies they will need to get them through, at least the next several days. And in just about two to three hours from now, they do expect to be cutting off electricity throughout the island.
That's because they want to preserve the power grids as best they can. That old system here, all the power lines are above ground, and a lot of wooden polls we're talking about. So, they want to make sure to lessen the damage, keep it down as much as is possible.
And while conditions are very quiet now, naturally, Brianna, that is going to be changing as time goes on. They are experiencing light rain at this hour in Kingston, which is way south of here. And the most amount of damage, they expect, will be on the eastern end of the island, but this storm is so big, it's going to cover the island in its entirety.
It's only 50 miles wide, 150 miles long. And they're going to take a pounding by up to 20 inches of rain.
Back to you.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi. Susan, this is Reynolds Wolf in Atlanta. Just a question to ask you about Jamaica, the mindset of the people as a whole.
I mean, Jamaica is a place that's had a long history of hurricanes. Most recently with Gilbert in 1988. That was the last direct hit. Ivan came close in 2004, and countless other storms. What is the mindset of the people there? Are they taking this in stride, are they -- is there a panic? How are there?
CANDIOTTI: I think that they're rightfully concerned. They know how much damage can be done by a hurricane.
As you pointed out, Hurricane Ivan, for example, the last time a Category 4 storm hit here in 2004. And so, if you -- if you press them, they admit to being worried because they don't know what the island is going to look like in the course of the next 24 hours and what kind of aftermath they will have to deal with.
On the other hand, there are some people who say, ah, don't worry about it. It's not going to be any big deal.
Perhaps reality hasn't yet set in for them, but it surely will as time goes on. But for the most part, as you pointed out, people here are used to hurricanes. They have prepared as best they can.
Others have not, either because they can't afford it, or, quite frankly, their homes haven't been retrofitted to meet hurricane standards as they're supposed to be. But you do see a lot of, frankly, homes and businesses here that still have tin roofs, and you know that there's going to be a lot of those that are going to be peeled off as the storm batters across the island.
WOLF: Well, Susan, we can expect the eye of the storm to come to its closest point of Jamaica around 4:00, 5:00 or so your time, island time, local time. So, long before then, obviously, you're going to have those conditions really deteriorate.
I saw behind you kind of hazy conditions. More clouds are going to roll in. The wind is going to pick up, obviously.
You mentioned heavy rainfall right near Blue Mountain, on the eastern tip of the island. And a peak that's over 7,000 feet up, you're going to have some rainfall that could exceed 20 inches. Lower areas, anywhere from five to 10 inches of rainfall. So, flooding is not going to be just a possibility, it is imminent.
That, included with the storm surge, you're going to have huge issues on the island. Not just for today, but after the storm passes, tomorrow. You're going to have some cleanup for some time to come.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KEILAR: Also at this hour, Texas taking precautions. The governor there has ordered up National Guard troops and emergency responders.
President Bush has signed a pre-landfall disaster declaration for the state. That will allow the government to move in people, equipment, also supplies, immediately if the storm hits.
And the mayor of Galveston is urging residents to be ready.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR LYDA ANN THOMAS, GALVESTON, TEXAS: Check your supplies at home. Check...
|
