above normal tide levels. the ocean came through the house. it came literally came through the house. there is sludge and snakes and you name it. reporter: years earlier in 1995, hurricane opal made landfall near pensacola beach, florida as a category 3 storm. again, the story was the storm surge. totally gone. we didn t do anything but lock the door on our way out. reporter: with opal, the storm surge spanned about 120 miles from pensacola beach to mexico beach. that surge combined with breaking waves soaked portions of the florida panhandle s coast with water as deep as 10 to 20 feet. the maximum storm tide, which combines storm surge and regular astronomical tides was 24 feet recorded near fort walton beach. hurricane hugo made landfall as a category 4 storm in september 1989 just north of charleston, south carolina.
here, the storm surge. it s known as storm generated water over and above the predicted tides. our randi kaye puts this anticipated surge in historical perspective. reporter: this is what it s like in downtown new orleans right now. it s hard to estimate how much water that is. reporter: in august 2005, hurricane katrina barreled into the louisiana coast. the storm was a powerful category 3 hurricane when it made landfall with winds near 127 miles per hour. but what made katrina so deadly wasn t so much the wind as the water. i tried swimming to higher ground, but there was no higher ground. reporter: according to the national hurricane center, storm surge flooding measured 10 to 28 feet above normal tide levels. the storm surge that poured into lake pontchartrain breached the levee system, flooding most of new orleans. catastrophic flooding spread for miles inland, destroying residential neighborhoods. it came in so fast.
five hours. and in newark, wettest single day on record, almost 8.5 inches came down on wednesday, wednesday night, that is a 1,000 year recurrence interval, meaning 1 in 1,000 chance for this to occur. even for new york city, 3 plus inches coming down between 8:51 and 9:51 last night, also a it 00 ye 200 year occurrence interval causing the destruction that we re seeing. unbelievable. thank you so much for that. and it is still ongoing here. the mayor of trenton is ordering evacuations for some parts of that city by 8:00 a.m. because rising tide levels are still a danger. so this is a water event that is ongoing. cnn spoke to one woman who said it was like living through a monsoon. listen. i was out with a friend and we were just got stuck in the
Transcripts for CNN At This Hour With Kate Bolduan 20190905 16:00:15 archive.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archive.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Transcripts for CNN Inside Politics 20190905 16:00:15 archive.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archive.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.