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Gordon Puts Florida on High Alert

Aired September 17, 2000 - 6:10 p.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BRIAN NELSON, CNN ANCHOR: As we all wait for Tropical Storm Gordon to make landfall on the west coast of Florida, Florida's emergency planners are on high alert.

CNN's Susan Candiotti gives us an inside look at disaster headquarters in Tallahassee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CRAIG FUGATE, FLORIDA EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM: It's just going to be piling rain here, so this area's going to get sloshed.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's Craig Fugate's watch overseeing Florida's Emergency Operations Center.

FUGATE: If you're going to drink tea, drink the good stuff.

CANDIOTTI: Fortified by his favorite ginseng tea, Fugate's running the war room in a building built to sustain 200-mile-per-hour winds.

FUGATE, Sometimes it looks very chaotic, but it's very organized and very controlled. And it's an environment that allows us to bring a lot of people and resources together very quickly to deal with a lot of different issues.

CANDIOTTI; Seventeen areas of concentration: from law enforcement to public works, a team poring over a constant stream of incoming information.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can compare the actual data versus what the simulated data is from the hurricane center.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Excellent...

CANDIOTTI: They screen emergency shelter updates available on the state's Web site.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It brings up Largo Middle School, gives you address and city and says it's open.

FUGATE: Looks like the hurricane center's got it coming in about...

GOV. JEB BUSH (R), FLORIDA: Dixie, Levy...

FUGATE: Yes, sir.

BUSH: Dixie, Levy and Taylor, right?

FUGATE: Yes sir.

CANDIOTTI: Governor Jeb Bush stops by for a briefing. He's already declared a state of emergency.

BUSH: There's concern about a storm surge on the coastal areas, but I think flooding in the low-lying areas, and every community has it, is going to be the biggest problem that we face.

CANDIOTTI: Which is why advance teams have already been sent to low- lying areas, the data gathered here keeping the public informed.

(on camera): As staffers get pumped up for these crises, some have a tendency to want to work well beyond their 12-hour shifts. Those in charge have to make sure everyone sticks to their schedules so that once the hurricane passes, troops are fresh.

(voice-over): Veterans like Kathy Regan (ph), who says the work gets her adrenaline going.

KATHY REGAN, FLORIDA EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM: The work that we do alleviates suffering and prevents suffering.

CANDIOTTI: Satisfying work for this team, because the more prepared people are, the safer they'll be.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Tallahassee, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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