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On The Scene

Ed Lavandera: Greeting Barry on the beach

CNN correspondent Ed Lavandera
CNN correspondent Ed Lavandera  


CNN Correspondent Ed Lavandera was in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, when Tropical Storm Barry swept ashore. He describes the scene.

Q: What's it like standing out there on the beach when the winds are whipping around?

LAVANDERA: The funny thing is, when you're driving in there always seems to be a line of cars heading in the opposite direction. That's a little disheartening at times. But at the same time, it's exciting to get beaten up by a storm every once in a while. I think people watch those reports and get a sense of just how powerful the storm might be.

Q: What were some of the most interesting and poignant things you saw?

LAVANDERA: It was very interesting from the standpoint that there were a lot of people who were tourists -- many from the Midwest who had never been around a hurricane or tropical storm before. So they were very intrigued by what was happening and what they were seeing.

There was a Missouri couple who were supposed to get married on the beach on Monday. They were so worried about what might happen, they reorganized everything and got married Sunday night.

We spent so much time reporting the storm was on its way that when we started seeing the first waves of the storm arriving on the beach, we got a sense of, "It's show time." The hardest part of the storm was the winds. The winds were steady throughout the night.

Q: What's the mood among the locals now that it's passed?

LAVANDERA: About 135,000 people live in the Fort Walton Beach area. They take all of this stuff very seriously. They know that anytime there's a tropical storm anything can happen -- and they know what to do. But they also knew that compared to past hurricanes this was very weak by their standards. And there was a sense of relief.

When we woke up Monday morning, it was kind of business as usual. A lot of residents in the area have seen these storms so much that they were just ready to get on with their lives. By their standards, this wasn't a storm that ruffled their feathers.






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