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CNN 10
Weather Events in Florida and Maryland; The History of Memorial Day; A Look at Lightning from Space; The Barkley Marathons in Tennessee
Aired May 29, 2018 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hi. I`m Carl Azuz. CNN 10 is kicking off its last week of the season. Our show will be off the air beginning next week
and we`ll return for a new season of news coverage on Monday, August 13th.
While we were on the subject of seasons, the Atlantic hurricane season typically runs from June 1st through November 30th. But as we`ve said
before, these storms don`t always follow the calendar, and the good example of that was spinning in the Gulf of Mexico as we produced the show.
Alberto is the first named storm of 2018. It was travelling north through the gulf Sunday night and it made landfall on Monday afternoon in Florida.
Alberto was classified yesterday as a subtropical storm. Characteristics include sustained wind speeds of almost 65 miles per hour, and these winds
can blow further from the center of the system than they usually do with the tropical storm. So, the three states most likely to be affected:
Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi have declared states of emergency to speed up help to those who need it.
Alberto`s dangers included tornadoes, a storm surge, when coastal sea levels rise as winds blow water ashore, and especially flooding. And
though the storm has relatively early in the season, meteorologists say its formation doesn`t necessarily mean that this year`s hurricane season will
be as busy as last year`s. These seasons are hard to predict and the National Hurricane Center says it expects this year`s to be near or above
normal.
Alberto isn`t the only weather event that`s causing trouble for the U.S. And in a short of period on Sunday, more than nine inches of rain fell on
some parts of the eastern state of Maryland. This caused the Patapsco River to rise almost 18 feet and the flooding was tremendous.
Ellicott City, where our next report takes place, was hit by flooding two years ago that turned it into a warzone, as one local official described,
the same official says what`s happening there now is much worse.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know this area well, Ellicott City. This is where my parents live. But outside of the historic district, on
higher ground, but here, people are describing this as devastating, catastrophic, historic even, even worse than what they saw back in July of
2016.
That this flooding happens, so rapidly, so quickly, that it just lifted cars and just have the water gushing down main street, catapulting into
buildings, buildings collapsing, people just simply running for their lives.
Bill, if you just push in here to see the aftermath of the devastation, I had a chance to talk to one of the officials here who said that there`s one
person that is missing, hopefully they are OK. But amazingly, no reported fatalities or serious injuries. There were 30 rescues that happened
overnight.
The old courthouse came down. Folks, restaurants putting SOS signs, flags outside of their place of businesses. Even a wedding party that we ran
into, the couple saying their boys but did not make it for the reception have to run and escape as quickly as possible.
So far, no one is being let back into their homes or businesses until they can figure out what is safe, what is not safe. There`s gaping holes in
some of these streets where the water and the mud and the debris has collected. The gas has been turned off because of a gas leak. All of this
happening in a very short period of time.
What is even more tragic is 96 percent of the businesses that had been devastated just a couple of years ago were actually back up and booming, 24
more new businesses had also been placed in the area.
There was a lot of hope here and the rebuilding effort, even $1 million grant from FEMA to do additional flood warning systems in place that was
supposed to start next year. All of this upended as people try to figure out what to do next.
Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Ellicott City, Maryland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: Yesterday at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, U.S. President Donald Trump took part of the ceremonial wreath-laying at the Tomb of the
Unknown Soldier. It`s one of the traditions of Memorial Day, a time to remember and honor Americans who`ve died while serving in the U.S.
military.
The holiday started in the late 1860s as Decoration Day. And the years after the U.S. Civil War, which remains America`s most deadly conflicts, a
day was set aside to decorate the graves of fallen troops with flowers. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, historians believe
the event was scheduled for May 13th, because that`s when flowers in bloom across the nation.
The name was changed to Memorial Day after World War I so it could be held in remembrance of those who fell in all American conflicts. And it`s been
observed on the last Monday in May since 1971. Church services, parades, public events, are all part of this holiday. And this year, a wall of
puppies measuring almost nine feet tall and 133 feet wide was arranged on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
It contained more than 645,000 flowers. Each signifying a man or a woman who died in U.S. military service since World War I.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:
What kind of worker would be the most likely to war a Faraday suit?
Diver, test pilot, lineman, or astronaut?
A Faraday suit can protect the lineman from electric shock, the same a Faraday cage, like a car, can protect passengers from lightning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUBTITLE: The GOES-17 satellite transmitted its first ever Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) data.
The GLM instrument takes hundreds of images every second.
This highly detailed animation shows a lightning storm on May 9.
This data will help forecasters anticipate severe weather.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: You probably haven`t heard of the Barkley Marathons. They`re not as famous as the ones in Boston or London. They`re also much harder. In
fact, nobody won this year`s Barkley Marathons -- only a handful ever have, despite the fact that more than a thousand have tried.
It only costs a pair of socks, an essay and less than two dollars to enter. But before the 60-hour time limit is up, all those people can think about
is getting out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every year in the backwoods of Tennessee, there`s a race so tough, only 15 people have
ever finished it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve got a bit of a problem. I really don`t know where I`m supposed to be going next.
GUPTA: Welcome to the Barkley Marathons.
GARY "LAZ" CANTRELL, CO-FOUNDER, BARKLEY MARATHONS: The greatest challenges in sports really are pressure and uncertainty. The Barkley
weekend is filled with pressure and uncertainty.
GUPTA: Just 40 select athletes are chosen to try to complete five 20-mile loops of steep, unmarked terrain using nothing but a map and a compass.
STEPHANIE CASE, ULTRAMARATHON RUNNER: A race where you`re just kind of running around in the forest not knowing if you`re on the right trail or
not, it adds a whole other mental element.
GUPTA: Runners have 12 hours to complete each loop and also find 13 hidden books along the way to prove they stayed on course.
CANTRELL: The kind of incredible physical beating that these people take and go out there 12, 14, 16 hours. You`re wet, you`re cold, you`re hungry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is fogged in and freezing up here.
GUPTA: Even for the most accomplished ultrarunners, the course can seem impossible, leaving just one option.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have made the decision to self-extract. I`ve got to get myself out of here.
CANTRELL: It would be great if everyone could get that prize, but the nature of the prize is that you can`t. I`m glad that you can`t. Another
time, you get to make a new mistake.
(LAUGHTER)
GUPTA: This year, Mother Nature rained down on the course, creating havoc for runners. Many missed the time cutoff.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was just glorious suffering.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: It`s easy to see how the loops can throw you for a loop or leave you loopy. Just one loop of Barkley could make you want to bark off the other
four. Step by step, it takes a mara-ton of effort, it`s like you`re never out of the woods and if you`re not an ultramarathoner, you`d be Barkleying
of the wrong tree to try.
I`m Carl Azuz and that`s CNN 10. We hope to see you again right here tomorrow.
END
