JUDY WOODRUFF: And let's look at
the latest with where Dorian is
headed now and some perspective
on just how devastating
a hurricane this
was for the Bahamas.
Ken Graham is the director of
the National Hurricane Center.
Ken Graham, thank you
for joining us again.
So, give us the latest
information you have on Dorian.
KEN GRAHAM, Director,
National Hurricane Center:
Judy, it's still moving
to the north, stationary
over the Bahamas for so long.
It was a devastating situation.
It's bad enough to get
hit by a Cat 5 hurricane.
It's even worse to
have it sit there.
So, when we saw it starting to
move at one mile an hour and
now five miles an hour, we're
starting to move northward, get
the core of those winds away
from the Bahamas, but still
a big impact for Florida
and the Carolinas with time.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And what --
how unusual is it that this
storm has been sitting in one
place and staying
there for so long?
KEN GRAHAM: Yes, it's
pretty rare for a strong
this strong to do that.
It happens on occasion.
But it doesn't happen
too often, especially
a strong one like this.
But when you lose all
those steering currents,
there's nothing to
steer this, and it just
parks, and it just waits for
the next system to steer.
So that's a
devastating situation.
Think about 24, 30 hours
of Category 5 winds and
the battering of the
water, and it's just
a devastating situation
for the Bahamas.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And before I
ask you about the Bahamas,
tell us what you know about or
what you can interpret
as you look at where this
hurricane may go next.
KEN GRAHAM: Yes, looking
at that forecast with time,
just right along the coast.
And it's interesting,
because the core winds have
decreased throughout the day.
But they have expanded.
We have seen the winds,
tropical-storm-force
winds go from about 120
miles from the center
all the way to 175 miles from
the center, so much larger,
with time, moving ever so
slowly, 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday,
still off the Florida coast.
And by the time you get
into 2:00 p.m. Thursday,
it does speed up.
And we have it off the
South Carolina coast
and also on Friday still
moving as a hurricane,
so right along the coast of
South Carolina, North Carolina,
so still some impacts with
storm surge and winds and some
rainfall for the Carolinas.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So important
for everybody to pay attention
to along that East Coast.
But, Ken, I want -- I do want to
bring you back to the Bahamas.
It looks as if it's been
catastrophic, the damage there.
KEN GRAHAM: Yes, making
landfall, you think
about 180 mile-an-hour
with even higher, some
of the gusts over 200
miles an hour, just
absolutely devastating.
I mean, you think about the
surge of up to 23 feet, 30
inches of rain, and the winds
battering the coastline
for that long, just
absolutely devastating
situation, life-threatening
situation.
So, when we started seeing
that move northward today, it's
just relief that we can get at
least the core winds
away from the islands.
JUDY WOODRUFF: You said
it's unusual for a storm to
sit this long in one place.
Are those conditions that
we are likely to see again?
Are these the kinds of
atmospheric conditions
that can repeat themselves?
KEN GRAHAM: Yes, you can.
You go back in history,
you can find others
that did the same thing.
I can think of large storms,
Florence moving so slowly.
I go back to Betsy in 1965, a
very strong major hurricane,
slowing down as well.
So you can find it in history.
When you lose those
steering currents, it's
just a dangerous situation.
You hope they're open
-- over the open waters,
but when they're over
land, that's where you
get the devastation.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And you do have
to look at history when you're
looking at these hurricanes.
KEN GRAHAM: Yes, you do.
Every one of them
are so different.
They bring different
types of impacts.
And if you think about this,
bringing the devastation of
the Bahamas, and then going
into the future with
this path, and you start
seeing the storm surge.
This is actually our storm
surge forecast for the future,
all the way from Florida into
Georgia, the Carolinas
and even inland.
You get to North Carolina,
you can see some of this
storm surge go miles inland.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, paying
close attention, and I know
everyone there at the Hurricane
Center is as well.
Ken Graham, the director
of the National Hurricane
Center, thank you.
KEN GRAHAM: Thank you.