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CNN Live Event/Special
Tropical Storm Claudette Heads Towards Texas
Aired July 14, 2003 - 20:19 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: There are hurricane warnings from near Galveston, Texas, all the way down to Corpus Christi tonight. Tropical storm Claudette is getting closer. It's also getting stronger.
John Zarrella is standing by in Corpus Christi. Actually, he's waiting on the storm.
John, good evening.
What is the latest and how is the community reacting to these warnings?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Paula, it is hard to believe, with clear blue skies here at Corpus Christi, that Tropical Storm Claudette is lurking a couple hundred miles offshore.
But, indeed, if you look at the satellite loops of the storm, there is a big system out there in the Gulf of Mexico. Currently, the last couple of hours, it has been moving north-northwest at 7 miles an hour. Hurricane forecasters expect it to make a turn more towards the west-northwest some time in the overnight hours, perhaps, which would bring the center of the storm on shore somewhere between Port O'Connor and Freeport, Texas. But hurricane forecasters advise folks all along the central and upper coasts to be careful and pay attention.
Because of the uncertainty of where it is going, people all along the coastline here in Corpus Christi were boarding up this morning, buying wood this morning, getting ready, just in case. And as a little foreshadowing of things to come, up the coast in Galveston today, a couple of waterspouts spawned by those outer bands of Tropical Storm Claudette were seen in the waters off of Galveston Island. Now, again, Tropical Storm Claudette is expected to become a minimal hurricane before it makes landfall, at this point, some time tomorrow afternoon.
ZAHN: And we are hoping that it falls apart in the meantime.
John Zarrella, thanks for the update.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 14, 2003 - 20:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: There are hurricane warnings from near Galveston, Texas, all the way down to Corpus Christi tonight. Tropical storm Claudette is getting closer. It's also getting stronger.
John Zarrella is standing by in Corpus Christi. Actually, he's waiting on the storm.
John, good evening.
What is the latest and how is the community reacting to these warnings?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Paula, it is hard to believe, with clear blue skies here at Corpus Christi, that Tropical Storm Claudette is lurking a couple hundred miles offshore.
But, indeed, if you look at the satellite loops of the storm, there is a big system out there in the Gulf of Mexico. Currently, the last couple of hours, it has been moving north-northwest at 7 miles an hour. Hurricane forecasters expect it to make a turn more towards the west-northwest some time in the overnight hours, perhaps, which would bring the center of the storm on shore somewhere between Port O'Connor and Freeport, Texas. But hurricane forecasters advise folks all along the central and upper coasts to be careful and pay attention.
Because of the uncertainty of where it is going, people all along the coastline here in Corpus Christi were boarding up this morning, buying wood this morning, getting ready, just in case. And as a little foreshadowing of things to come, up the coast in Galveston today, a couple of waterspouts spawned by those outer bands of Tropical Storm Claudette were seen in the waters off of Galveston Island. Now, again, Tropical Storm Claudette is expected to become a minimal hurricane before it makes landfall, at this point, some time tomorrow afternoon.
ZAHN: And we are hoping that it falls apart in the meantime.
John Zarrella, thanks for the update.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
