services in our community so individuals can stay afloat in our community. one of the biggest challenges that we re going to have after this storm is when individuals are focusing on rebuilding the community, we rely on the community for support. we re going to need help on a national level to help sustain our community. are you confident that all the people who are homeless in your community have a safe place to get out of the storm? yes, ma am. we have an amazing team of individuals that work at the source. we have an amazing team of volunteers. we truly couldn t do that without them. we have been, over the last week, just preparing individuals to get to the nearest red cross centers. they open up schools in our local community for people to get to. we have been diligent with making sure that individuals
and cnn s patrick oppmann is there for us in freeport right now which is yet to see the brunt of the storm. it s making its way closer to patrick. we just heard that officials there are about to cut off water service on some islands, patrick? what are people being told to do? reporter: on this island, we actually just spent the last several hours filling all the sinks and luckily where we re staying there s a very big bathtub. that s where our water reservoir will be. but other people have a much harder time because they may not have gotten word. ana, it s harder to imagine a worse storm in a worse place. this is a nightmare storm. it s a very powerful slow-moving storm over incredibly low-lying islands. it will stay over the bahamas where we are starting tomorrow for perhaps as long as 24 hours. and just think about this, ana, there s a storm surge, expected,
up towards of 20 inches. all of this see this mississippi? in the orange. even along the mississippi, alabama line, all the way down to the gulf here and all along louisiana, stretching over to the florida panhandle. for areas near louisiana s lake ponchartrain, more than two feet of rain. flooding from hurricane katrina devastated much of this area 14 years ago when levee s breached. one woman in new orleans that lived through that as well as another nightmare storm, betsy, in 1965, says she will never get used to the feeling of know ago potentially deadly storm is on the door step. for people like stays in new orleans or in louisiana, it s fearful for us. we don t like it but it s something that this is where we chose to live, so this is what we have to live with. it s an eerie feeling. you don t ever get comfortable
up are no match for the storm surge. part what had the weather service was talking about rather than slamming into the side, head on it has come around to the barrier islands, they re acting like a funnel pushing the water up into coastal carolina here where it will take much, much longer for them, shepherd to, recover here. you can see some of the debris now down on the beach. this storm stalls here the damage will only get worst. of course the water damage will only get worst here, shepherd. leland, thank you. down 40 miles steve live from north carolina. steve, how does it look? shepherd, it has picked up here the last hour or . so we have strong gusts, strong enough to knock you off balance. the waves strong as well and steady rain for three to four
and as we speak. emergency management and fema have strategically positioned supplies and equipment across our state. food and water is ready to be disbursed wherever it s needed. emergency personnel including swift water rescue teams and emergency medical personnel from north carolina and 19 other states are stages here. earlier i visited with some of the teams prepared to help us out as we get through the storm. in fact i talked to teams from florida and ohio today. i told the team from ohio we were not going to debate who is first in flight here. they re helping us out tonight. i m grateful to each and every one of those people. it s gratifying to drive through central north carolina and see utility trucks, earth movers and