50 Million in Path of "Superstorm"; 14 People Found in Lifeboat, Two Missing; Blizzard Warnings In West Virginia; Flooding in New York's Battery Park; New York Braces for Sandy; Super Storm Shutters More Trains, Roads; Hurricane Sandy Gains Strength, Waters Rising on Long Island
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Thank you for joining us this morning. I'm Carol Costello reporting live from Washington, D.C. We begin with Hurricane Sandy. Of course, within hours, it's expected to have slowed into a superstorm. Most of us have never seen anything like it in our lifetimes. It's already huge. The tropical storm force wind is expanding a width of nearly 1,000 miles. It's aiming right at the heart of the east coast. The most heavily populated corridor in the country. Fifty million people expected to feel the effects, hundreds of thousands are now under evacuation orders. FEMA predicted damage cost of about $3 billion and that's just for wind damage along. Heavy rains or snow storm surges, widespread flooding across the region depending, of course, on where you live and less than an hour ago, we learned that the Coast Guard has rescued 14 crew members of the "HMS Bounty." The crew had abandoned ship, which was built for the Hollywood movie, "Mutiny on the Bounty." That ship was stranded 90 miles off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. We don't know if the crew of the "HMS Bounty" heeded all the warnings to stay out of the water because a hurricane was about to hit, but when the "HMS" started taking on water, like I said, 90 miles off the Cape -- coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. They were forced to abandon ship and get into lifeboats. CNN's Sandra Endo is in Ocean City, Maryland. You've been talking to the Coast Guard. Most of the crew members have been rescued by helicopter, but two apparently are in the water -- Sandra.</s>SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. It's pretty horrifying when you hear about the story of those 17 crew members on board that ship. What the big question is right now, Carol, is why they were out there. So that is the big question we're still trying to figure out from the Coast Guard. But certainly the rescue efforts under way and hopefully they'll be safe and sound soon -- Carol.</s>COSTELLO: And it's interesting that you say that because the conditions where you are right now probably are pretty reflective of what it was like in North Carolina at times. Describe the situation right now in Ocean City, Maryland.</s>ENDO: Well, right now, I can tell you what's happening along this beachfront, I'm standing on the property side, the street side of this protective sand dune. And you could see it's taking on water. There are some flooding going on right now. Severe wind gusts at this level. Right on the other side of the sand dune is the high tide. You can see the waves crashing even from my vantage point as well, but those waves are fierce. And you can take a look at how much water is pouring over these sand dunes because of those waves. Just yesterday, Carol, we were able to walk down this path to the beach, but that beach is gone. And also to give you a perspective of what's going on here, this is the waterfront property here in Ocean City. You can see it's taking on water. Obviously, a lot of the property has been boarded up and protected. But this is certainly not what residents and local authorities want to see right now because they expect conditions only to worsen as Hurricane Sandy approaches later tonight. But again, it is high tide. We are seeing a lot of waves come over the sand dune here, flooding this area and also approaching the property line here -- Carol.</s>COSTELLO: All right, Sandra Endo, conditions are deteriorating in Ocean City, Maryland. I can't imagine what it's like off the coast of North Carolina out in the middle of the ocean. They are in the water waiting to be rescued by the Coast Guard, going back to the "HMS Bounty" right now, the ship that tried to escape the hurricane, but got caught up in the hurricane. It's a replica of an historic ship. There it is. A crew of 17 on board, as we said, the U.S. Coast Guard managed to rescue 14 people. But at last check, two people were in the water and the Coast Guard trying to find them. Lieutenant General Russel Honore is the man used to witnessing rescue operations. I know you come up to many of them yourself, what's it like for the U.S. Coast Guard to find somebody in the water in these conditions? GENERAL RUSSEL HONORE, U.S. ARMY</s>COSTELLO: Yes, I talked with the Coast Guard. They kept saying that their resources were few, yet they had to go out and conduct this rescue. It puts an enormous strain on the U.S. Coast Guard to conduct an operation like this, too, especially when they have their forces like out someplace else.</s>HONORE: Well, we understand that much of their assets are moved away from the eye of the storm so they can respond. And they only keep what they really need inside the effects of the storm. In the case of their biggest ships that have the capacity to fight that kind of sea, they move them away from the storm, a lot further obviously than this particular "HMS Bounty" was. So the rest of that story will still play out. It may be a little early to sound like we're doing any judgment call because in the protocol in search and rescue is to not put blame on the victims and we can't do that. So we need to see what happened. The ship captain may have had an equipment malfunction, something to cause him to stray in that water. But at this point in time, they're very luckily, those that have been rescued, you have the best Coast Guard in the world and they did their job.</s>COSTELLO: No doubt about that. Final word about this, these people were trying to move this ship because they loved it. They just wanted to move to it safety and now that ship will probably be destroyed.</s>HONORE: More than likely, Carol. And thank God for the Coast Guard to get those that have been rescued, but this is still a big storm. And the worst of it is yet to come, unfortunately. Hopefully everybody on land is taking heed. They still have power and televisions on to continue to prepare and stay informed or have your weather radio available so they can stay informed.</s>COSTELLO: General Honore, thanks so much for sharing your insight. We appreciate it. The storm is huge. Where you are will ultimately determine what you see. Consider this, a blizzard warning is in effect for parts of West Virginia. But to the South, Virginia has watched floodwaters rise since yesterday. Parts of the state could see as much as a foot of rain and the state's National Guard is rolling in as the power outages spread.</s>GOVERNOR BOB MCDONNELL, VIRGINIA: It's downed power lines from the high wind and probably over a million people without power, would be our estimate right now. But fortunately we're prepared, the state, local and federal folks working very well together. And so far, there are no fatalities and people are heeding the mandatory evacuation warnings in certain coastal areas, so it's going OK.</s>COSTELLO: I almost fell backwards off my little pedestal. I'm standing on the balcony outside of the CNN Bureau. Below me is Aims Street. I'm in Washington, D.C. It's been a pretty steady downpour for most of the morning. The rain is not especially heavy just yet. They're expecting the downpours to be really vicious about noon. That's when the winds will also pick up. They're expecting 40 to 50-mile-per-hour wind gusts. Things will get really nasty because it's pretty cold out here, 45 or 50 degrees. And when it's damp, it feels so much colder. Later on this afternoon, I'll be in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, an area prone to flooding and I'll be bringing you updates from there. State of emergency blankets New York City and some of the predictions this morning are pretty dire. Some weather experts say the projected storm surge could create, quote, "a worst case scenario." CNN's John Berman is in Battery Park City, a low-lying section of Manhattan that's, as you can see, already seeing some flooding. Hi, John.</s>JOHN BERMAN, ANCHOR, CNN'S "EARLY START": Hi, Carol. This is really an ominous preview of what's to come. A couple of hours ago, the water came up over the seawall right here. It was during high tide at about 8:30. The water rose, came over the wall and it was much deeper than it is right now. It was about 6 or 8 inches up here right now. They're expecting a storm surge here of 6 to 11 feet when the storm really starts hitting the coast later tonight. And at high tide, which is 8:50 p.m., 6 to 11 feet. If it was flooding this morning, that gives you a sense of just how bad it will be later on. This is the evacuation zone in New York City, Lower Manhattan right here and also some other areas in the five boroughs. Some 375,000 people were ordered to leave their homes. They moved to about 76 shelters throughout the city, maybe they moved in with friends uptown or went to a hotel. But Michael Bloomberg, the mayor here, really wanted those people to get out, for their own safety and also for the safety of emergency workers who might have to go in and rescue them if something goes wrong. The subways are now shut down in the city. There's really no way to get around here. Lower Manhattan, really a ghost town although there are some tourists here, some people coming to take pictures of the flooding as it came in this morning. I hope they don't come back tonight because again, tonight, it could be much, much worse. They're expecting a storm surge anywhere from one to two feet higher than we saw during Hurricane Irene. During Irene, there was minor flooding, but one to two feet more than that, two feet more flooding, two feet of a higher storm surge could create serious, serious problems in Lower Manhattan. It could fill the subway system. You could see problems with the electrical system here. And again, you're not talking about major waves like you're seeing up and down the east coast, not big, crashing, 20-foot waves. No, it's a slow, steady rise in this water you see behind me. And by 8:50, 9:00 tonight, it could be very, very high, dangerously high -- Carol.</s>COSTELLO: John Berman reporting live from Battery City, low-lying part of Manhattan. Thanks so much, John. The storm is probably at least 12 hours from landfall. John's talking about that, but already New Jersey shoreline appears to be in the crosshairs. Let's get the latest from Asbury Park that's where meteorologist, Rob Marciano is. The waves are still foamy, Rob.</s>ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hello, Carol. Well, conditions are about the same as when we spoke about an hour ago. The surf continues to pound this area even though we're an hour off of high tide. The water really hasn't gone back all that much. That's what we're going to continue to see. Even though the tide is going out, the storm surge continues to hold the water and continues to try to push it in. This should all be beach. This should all be sandy coastline right here. But now, it's a foamy brown mess of angry Atlantic Ocean, thanks to Hurricane Sandy, which is about 240 miles to our east- southeast and heading in this general direction. We anticipate it to make landfall near Atlantic City, near the Delmarva. That means we're going to be on the bad side of this storm. We'll continue to get this pounding surf. The last time it was like this, it was a little over 12 months ago during Hurricane Irene. The problem is that was at the height of Irene. Irene came on shore well to our north. This storm will bring this water up as much as another eight feet, which means the boardwalk will be compromised and the water will be going over the top of that. That's why this area's been evacuated. Shelters are open. There have been 600 people that have taken advantage of that, but for the most part, people who live here have taken refuge with their friends and family just a little bit further inland. Just spoke with an official from the fire department here. A few minor calls into the Asbury Park Fire Department with some trees and some power lines down, but no widespread damage as of yet and no rescue operations under way. They certainly hope that trend will continue through the overnight period. In the next 12 hours, that's when things are going to get really hairy -- Carol.</s>COSTELLO: All right, Rob Marciano reporting live from Asbury Park, Long Island. Thank you so much, Rob. Appreciate it. If you want a sense of just how seriously local officials are taking this approaching storm, consider this -- the New Jersey Weather Service issued this dire warning yesterday for anyone ignoring the evacuation orders. Quote, "If you are reluctant, think about the rescue/recovery teams who will rescue you if you are injured or recover your remains if you do not survive. And listen to what Connecticut's governor said earlier on CNN --</s>GOVERNOR DANIEL MALLOY, CONNECTICUT: We expect today's tide, the one at noon today, could be in the area of the 1992 perfect storm back-up in Long Island Sound. That's going to be a big wake-up call for people if that happens as to what tonight could be, which is far worse.</s>COSTELLO: Getting around during this superstorm is going to be very, very difficult. As you can see, look at how massive that thing is. Thousands of flights have already been canceled at airports up and down the northeast. Some airports have already shut down operations completely. Meteorologist Jennifer Delgado joins us now. Good morning. Give us the latest.</s>JENNIFER DELGADO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol. We're going to focus on some of the travel-related issues with Hurricane Sandy. We do have this information in to us. Governor Malloy of Connecticut has issued a closure of all state highways in Connecticut by 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time. So hopefully you've been listening to authorities and have your plan under way. As we go from cars into the air, we talk how this is affecting travel. This is our flight explorer. Want to point out, this is the northeast, of course you see New York. Normally you would see this whole area just lit up in blue. Now you're seeing all these planes really flying into Illinois, Indiana. This is not something you normally see. This is all being rerouted because of Hurricane Sandy. Of course, we all know how weather conditions are going to get worse. I take you back over to our graphic. As we talk about some of the winds, the winds are going to have a big effect here. I wrote down 37, 43, 37 in New York. Of course, we saw Rob Marciano in New Jersey. But we're talking a high wind warning in place. This is in effect for, say, high-profile vehicles, as well as for people who are going to be trying to fly out. We're going to see a lot of cancellations. Of course, we do know there have been thousands so far. But look at these winds, spreading over towards the Great Lakes as well as into areas including parts of Detroit. On the radar right now, you do see the rain coming down. We have been hearing reports of flooding along some areas along Interstate 95. And that means we are looking at some flood warnings. And more of that flooding is going to continue to get bad as we go through the next couple of hours. You really want to make sure you listen to local authorities and got Tennessee supplies that you need because the worst is still to come -- Carol.</s>COSTELLO: Thanks, Jennifer. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be back with much more.