Tracking Alberto; Tornado Warning; Alberto Remains a Tropical Storm; Question of Honor
ANNOUNCER: Alberto's a menace, but will it grow into a hurricane? Florida's on alert. Hurricane warnings posted and this question -- are residents ready? Civilians killed in Iraq. Tonight, a fact check. Was there a cover-up in Haditha? The lawyer for the leader of the group of Marines speaks out. And, one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.</s>AMY CLARK, PRIVATE SECURITY CONTRACTOR: The biggest thing I think about is that -- is my team going to get wiped out tonight?</s>ANNOUNCER: Secret private armies working for the U.S. in Iraq. CNN gets exclusive access in the shadowy world and asks, what are their rules of engagement? Across the country and around the world, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360. Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, tonight, sitting in for Anderson, John Roberts.</s>JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: It may not be a hurricane yet, but Alberto sure looks like one. With winds of 70 miles an hour, the tropical storm is right on the cusp of becoming a hurricane, the very first of the year. Tonight it's inching closer to Florida which is now under a state of emergency. Mandatory evacuations are under way, as millions prepare for a very real threat. CNN is your hurricane headquarters. CNN Meteorologist Rob Marciano is live in Cedar Key Island, Florida, and Jacqui Jeras is at our weather center in Atlanta. Both are tracking the storm. Having a little trouble getting Rob's signal up because of the rain, so let's go to Jacqui right now and some breaking news. Jacqui, what do you got?</s>JACQUI JERAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've got a tornado warning. Pasco County, just outside of the Tampa area. Now, you can see the watch that's in effect as well. These feeder bands coming in offshore. We see little spinning, little rotations with each of those. And they could drop out a tornado at any time. There you can see Tampa. Here's the line of storms pulling on up to the north. And Pasco County, right around Wesley Chapel, we see the area of rotation is pulling on up to the north right now about 45 miles per hour. So you need to take that seriously and certainly take caution. And those lines could continue to produce tornadoes through the overnight. In fact the new watch has been extended now until 8:00 in the morning. One of the other reasons why we're having some trouble getting Rob's signal, here's Cedar Key right there. You can see the showers and thundershowers which are pulling through and just in the last half hour, we got a report off of Cedar Key that the winds were gusting around 40 miles per hour. So they're continuing to increase. Also, just offshore over in this area in the Gulf, Doppler radar is indicating there's been about five to eight inches of rainfall in the last 24 hours. So that is indicative of what we're going to be seeing here, we think, across northern parts of Florida as the storm system continues to pull on through. It's not looking nearly as organized as it was about 24 hours ago. But it's been maintaining its status all day long with 70 mile per hour winds, just shy of hurricane strength. Hurricane center says it's still possible that this could bump back up to a category one, but right now we're seeing no signs of strengthening. One thing that could help it bump up just a little bit is when the winds die down through the overnight hours. We have those upper level winds that shear down the storm a little bit. So those die down tonight, that could bump it back up to a one. It's moving up to the northeast about 10 miles per hour. And its present location, about 100 miles away from Cedar Key, so go ahead and do the math and roughly maybe around 8:00 o'clock or so tomorrow morning. But give yourself a couple of hours on either side of that window for potential landfall as well. We do expect the forward speeds to possibly pick up a little bit tonight as it gets caught up into a trough. There you can see the forecast down the line too. Something we need to pay very close attention to because this is not just a Florida storm. This will also be having a big impact on areas like coastal Georgia and on up into the Carolinas, primarily in the form of that heavy rainfall. Five to eight inches, a good estimate within the path there with locally heavier amounts, maybe even up to 10 -- John.</s>ROBERTS: All right, Jacqui in our CNN center in Atlanta, thanks very much. That little cell of heavy rain that Jacqui pointed out to you has now passed over Cedar Key Island. So Rob Marciano is back up and working. How does it look from your vantage point there, Rob?</s>ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what's change the over the last 20 to 30 minutes, John, is we're starting to see the winds turn a little more southerly. Before and all day, really, they've been more easterly. Seemingly they want to get more of a southerly component. What that tells us is that this storm or the center of the circulation itself is getting a little bit closer. It's getting a little bit more to where it's almost parallel to us, or due west of us. That won't happen for another several hours, but the fact that we're starting to see more of a south wind, and it's a strong southerly component to the wind, tells us just that. The problem with getting that south wind now is that it begins to push the water in. It was low tide shortly, about an hour and a half ago. But the tide now is quickly turning in. I don't know if you can see the ripple on these waves that are beginning to push in, but I just turned my back on the ocean 20, 30 minutes, and I turn around and this water has come up a good 10 to 20 yards. So it only has about another 20 yards to get to where the sea grass and the seaweed is where the typical high tide is. And that high tide is scheduled for later on tonight or earlier tomorrow morning, around 4:00 a.m. So I suspect as we get that southerly wind pushing that water with the high tide, this water will easily be up and over the beach. Could easily also be up and over where my feet are. We're obviously going to be retreating just a little bit as time goes on tonight. But the greater concern for storm surge will be higher up the bay and through Appalache Bay, St. Marks River, up through there where they had surge from Hurricane Dennis. Folks up there could easily see six to nine, maybe even 10 feet of storm surge by 4:00 and 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. Now it's beginning to let up just a little bit, John. It does come in squally type of weather, on and off kind of stuff. Wouldn't mind getting a breather right now. Until that center is abreast of us or to the west of us and then past, we're going to be in it for a good several hours, if not until day break tomorrow.</s>ROBERTS: Rob, something that we see in addition to the wind- borne water is when the eye or the center of the hurricane or tropical storm starts to approach land, it carries with it a dome of water. That's something that's very pronounced in strong storms such as Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Andrew. How much of an effect would that be expected to be with Tropical Storm Alberto?</s>MARCIANO: Well, we don't -- you know, we don't expect to see much of that. And typically, even with the stronger storms, that dome or that lifting of the water because of the area of low pressure really is only about 10, maybe 15 percent of the surge. The real pain part of the surge comes from just the wind pushing the water inland. And the deal with the Gulf of Mexico is that the way the floor of the ocean is shaped or the gulf is shaped is such in the shallow way and that that water gets pushed up very easily. And then you get the way the big bend area of Florida curves around into, say, the New Orleans area. That creates this funneling effect. So that's why the surge was so intense in the Biloxi and Gulfport and Waveland area during Hurricane Katrina. That's why the storm surge was so intense up in Appalache Bay and St. Marks area during Hurricane Dennis. The Gulf of Mexico, really, especially this part of it, is unlike any other ocean or body of water in the world. Unfortunately for us, it's in the middle of hurricane country and the storm surge is only exaggerated because of the way the geography sets up here in the southeast parts of the</s>U.S. ROBERTS: All right, Rob, we'll let you catch a little bit of a break. We'll check back with you later on this hour. Rob Marciano in Cedar Key Island, Florida, thanks. Alberto is the first of what's predicted to be 16 named storms this year. Many of them could end up on a direct path to Florida, which has seen more than its share of hurricanes over just the last few years.</s>ROBERTS (voice-over): Hurricane warnings have been issued along the Florida Gulf Coast. And residents are again going through the motions of a familiar and wearying routine.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Make sure my roof doesn't leak anymore. We make sure everything's inside so the wind doesn't get it. We have the wood cut for the windows if we have to put it up. And that's what you got to do.</s>ROBERTS: In the past two years, Florida has worn a bull's eye. Hit with eight -- that's right, eight hurricanes. In 2004, after two tropical storms, Hurricane Charley roared across the Keys in August. Slamming into Fort Myers as a category four storm with 150 mile per hour winds. The next month, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne tore across the state with rain, winds and tornadoes. The four hurricanes left more than 100 dead and $21 billion in damage. Then a year ago, Tropical Storm Arlene, the first of 2005, made landfall near Pensacola. In July, Hurricane Dennis, a category three with a massive storm surge, left tens of thousands of acres in the panhandle flooded. And a month later, in August, Katrina carved her path of destruction through Florida, before wrecking New Orleans. Some four weeks later, Rita clipped the Keys and finally, Wilma hit in October. Last year's hurricane bill in the sunshine state, about $12 billion. Florida is the state most vulnerable to hurricanes, but it's also the most prepared.</s>GOVERNOR JEB BUSH (R), FLORIDA: We know from experience that every storm is different, but we know that all of them have the potential to make life miserable for people that are impacted by these storms.</s>ROBERTS: While it would be a minimal hurricane at most, Alberto could be a nasty experience. Landfall is expected at high tide, during a full moon, and officials are warning of a potentially damaging storm surge. And though no one wants a hurricane, Florida is suffering from a drought. The heavy rains could bring welcome relief. Perhaps the silver lining in the stormy clouds.</s>ROBERTS (on camera): And CNN is your hurricane headquarters. Stay with CNN throughout this 2006 hurricane season for all the latest on the weather, where it might affect people, and what to do if you're being threatened by a hurricane. CNN, your hurricane headquarters. Turning to Iraq, is America rushing to judgment about alleged atrocities in Haditha? A lawyer for the Marine in charge of the group under investigation is fighting back. Coming up, he tells the Marines' side. And we'll also speak with another Marine who himself was accused of murder. Also, American contractors in Iraq. High stakes, incredible risks. The threat of death at every turn. We'll take you inside their very dangerous mission. See how they're cashing in. Plus this...</s>RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They could have handed you a death sentence.</s>ROBBIE ZAPPA, RECEIVED STOLEN TISSUE: Absolutely. If a jury of our peers find them guilty of doing this, I think they ought to be charged with attempted murder.</s>ROBERTS: We'll expose the hidden market for body parts. Why some funeral homes stand accused, when 360 continues.