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Hurricane Ida`s Remnants Flood Parts Of U.S. Northeast; Assessment Of The Status Of California`s Giant Sequoias; Measuring A Towering Sand Castle. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired September 03, 2021 - 04:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to the show. I`m Carl Azuz, happy to see you this Friday. One thing many Americans didn`t expect after
a hurricane made landfall in the U.S. south was that a few days later it would cause states of emergency in the U.S. northeast.
Those have been declared in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York to speed up help to areas that have been dealing with record amounts of rain and
flooding, and that was brought to the region by what remained of Hurricane Ida. The storm carried moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, over the eastern
United States and up north to places like New York City, which for the first time was the scene of a flood emergency as declared as the National
Weather Service.
Forecasters had warned that flash flooding, when waters rise rapidly, was possible in this area, what surprised even some meteorologists was how
quickly and how severely the flooding would hit. More than seven inches of rain fell on Central Park Wednesday, most of that in a matter of hours.
It wasn`t the most rain that part of New York had ever seen, but it was in Newark, New Jersey where almost eight and a half inches fell. That`s the
highest amount on record since officials started keeping track in 1889. Some homes in Connecticut were 3/4 under water on Thursday.
Emergency workers in Pennsylvania estimate there`ve been thousands of water rescues as torrential rain caused extreme flooding there. And state
officials across Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania say at least 26 deaths have been blamed on the storm and the flooding it caused.
That`s in addition to at least five deaths reported in Louisiana and Mississippi after Ida made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane
on Sunday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hurricane Ida`s remnants pummeling the northeast and Mid-Atlantic unleashing torrential rain, extreme flooding, strong winds and
even tornadoes throughout the region. Governors in New York and New Jersey declaring states of emergency.
GOVERNOR KATHY HOCHUL, GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK: It is always quite shocking when you literally see the streets of New York looking like, you know, the
rivers flowing and people just in shock over what`s going on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Multiple sightings of tornadoes in the Garden State.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I heard, you know, just rattling. My daughter ran out and said get in the house quick.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One confirmed tornado tearing through this town just outside of Philadelphia, destroying several homes in its path.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We hear just a (inaudible). We heard everything just break.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The severe weather bringing New York City to a stand still. Heavy rains creating waterfalls rushing into subway stations and
even overflowing down the stairs and onto the tracks. The dangerous conditions forcing the city to suspend all subway service leaving some
riders stuck on the grounded subway cars and others stranded for hours at stations including this one in Times Square with no way to leave safely.
Some service returning close to 3 am, allowing passengers to finally go home. Record breaking rainfall and flash flooding causing the mayor to
issue a state of emergency.
MAYOR BILL DEBLASIO, MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: What we`re hearing from different parts of the five boroughs, very troubling. We`re seeing a
kind of rainfall we almost never see. This kind of speed of which the rain has come. Everyone`s got to get to safety.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The unprecedented rain turning roads and highways into rivers. The floods filling up this baggage claim area in New Jersey`s
Newark Airport. The storm forcing the facility into a ground stop temporarily. Homes and apartments across multiple states filling up with
water.
Fire and rescue crews finding one person dead at this flooded complex in Maryland. Outside Pittsburgh, rescue crews pulling 41 passengers trapped in
flood waters on a school bus Wednesday morning, and in New York and New Jersey first responders working around the clock rescuing people stranded
in their cars. Local leaders urging residents to continue to be careful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s no way we could have predicted how bad this storm would get. The intense rainfall, the concentration of water which can
result in -- in trees coming down. Cars can be repaired. Property can be replaced, but the loss of life cannot (audio gap).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Sequoya was a Cherokee Nation leader who made it possible to do what? Preserve forests, read and write in Cherokee, enrich
soil or inject medicines. Sequoya created a syllabary that made it possible to write in the Cherokee language.
He`s also the namesake of the Giant Sequoia Trees that tower over California`s Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Part of the reason why these
trees can survive for thousands of years is that they often weather the wildfires that flare up here during the late summer and Fall. Despite that
and the fact that fire helps prime the soil for the growth of new Sequoias, severe blazes like one that started with a lightning strike last year are
still a threat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From their size --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: General Sherman is 275 feet tall. Holy cow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- to their longevity.
CLAY JORDAN, PARK RANGER SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS: Now before ancient Rome, before Christ, I mean, these trees were -- were mature.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Much about giant Sequoia trees is on a grand scale. With that distinctive red brown bark covering their thick trunks, Sequoia
trees can only be found in California`s Sierra Nevada Mountains.
SAM HODDER, CEO OF SAVE THE REDWOODS LEAGUE: This is a resilient tree. They are tough. Almost nothing can kill them. A giant sequoia that was first
weakened by drought was then subject to impacts by the bark beetle, which then further weakened the tree and potentially made it more susceptible to
mortality from fire.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Stag Tree is said to be the fifth largest tree in the entire world. It`s lived more than 3,000 years and yet we`re seeing
that wildfire is threatening these giant sequoias more than ever before.
JORDAN: The Castle fire was a wake-up call. An estimated 7,500 to 10,600 trees were destroyed in that one fire alone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Started by lightening in August 2020, the Castle fire was part of the sequoia complex that burned more than 174,000 acres,
scorching several sequoia groves.
CHRISTY BRIGHAM, PARK RANGER SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS: It was devastating, heartbreaking. Everything had been incinerated. It was a field of the
world`s largest, burned up toothpicks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After decades of pressing forest fire, other trees and brush have grown rampantly around the sequoias.
HODDER: The fires that used to burn every five to 10 years in the Sierra would just keep down the competition, and reduce the fuel naturally.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On land owned by the Save the Redwoods League, we hiked out to see just how deadly the Castle fire was here.
TIM BORDEN, SAVE THE REDWOODS LEAGUE: For us to see 10 to 14 percent of the total of giant sequoias alive, killed in one year, in one fire is --
there`s nothing to compare that too.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yet fire, in and of itself is not the enemy of the giant sequoia.
HODDER: Their cones open up. Their seeds start to germinate after a fire.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So near those lost giants, where the fire wasn`t too intense small shoots of hope take root.
BORDEN: What I see is a lot of these little baby giant sequoias that have sprouted up since the fire happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: The latest world record contender for the World`s Tallest Sandcastle isn`t like other sandcastles. For one thing, it was stabilized by wooden
scaffolding during construction. It`s been coated with glue so it will last through the winter and it`s not on the beach. It`s not too far from the
beach. This was built in a coastal village of Northern Denmark. At almost 70 feet high, it took almost five tons of sand to build and 30 artists
worked to carve the details into its walls.
People often spire to build castles when they "barbican". "Towering" achievement, that depends on where you "sand". Takes a "Camelot" of time
and talent to build up a sandcastle. Artistry helps "draw the bridge" and make it all worth the hassle. So "port" call us if you`re "battlemeant" to
give the "trial a goat", because when it comes to castles it`s whatever "floats your boat". Whew. I heard from several people on social media who
said they missed it when I rapped, so blame them.
Mililani High School is watching today from Mililani, Hawaii. We know that because they subscribed and left a comment at Youtube.com/cnn10. That is
the only place we look for the schools we mention. We will be off Monday for the Labor Day Holiday. So we`ll look forward to see you on Tuesday for
more CNN.
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