allison chinchar in the weather center.you so much. >>> as the united states races to evacuate americans out of afghanistan, the u.s. military is now being forced to establish alternate routes to get to the airport. we'll explain why. >>> also the pentagon confirms some americans had been harassed and even beaten by the taliban. if they tried to get out of that country. the latest on that dire situation, next. hands feel dry? like sandpaper. introducing new dove handwash, with 5 x moisturizer blend. removes germs in seconds, moisturizes for hours. soft, smooth. new dove handwash. what makes new salonpas arthritis gel so good for arthritis pain? salonpas contains the most prescribed topical pain relief ingredient. it's clinically proven, reduces inflammation and comes in original prescription strength. salonpas. it's good medicine. comcast nbcuniversal is investing in entrepreneurs to bring what's next for sports technology to athletes, teams, and fans. that's why we created the sportstech accelerator, to invest in and devel

allison chinchar is standing by at the cnn weather center.and jason carroll in new orleans for us. jason, first to you. are people you are talking to leaving new orleans or trying to hunker down and stay? >> reporter: well, wolf, it is a combination of both. whenever you cover hurricanes, you always hear from one person i am going to stay and ride it out. that's what we're hearing, too, in the 9th ward. want to give you perspective where i am standing, shows you what's at stake. this particular levee failed in katrina in two spots, in the specific spot we are standing here. the waterway you see is a canal that feeds into the mississippi river. during katrina, this entire area flooded and 9th ward was completely devastated during katrina. behind this levee, you can see what's at stake. these homes, this is all new construction, wolf. all these homes were basically wiped out during katrina. this go around, speaking to folks out here in 9th ward, i wanted to find out from them whether or not they thought levees would hold. it is a mixed bag. som

meteorologist allison chinchar in the cnn weather center. lison, from hurricane to tropical storm, the damage this storm can do though not really any different, right? >> right. i want to emphasize that. this does not change the impacts that we have been talking about. it's really just a number. in fact, i want to point out the wind gusts did not change. that was 90 miles per hour last hour, and the same bethe hour before that. the only that change was sustained winds went from 75 miles an hour to 70. not purchase of a difference. that does make a difference of the name title. it goes from a hurricane to a tropical storm. but the outer bands already still moving in across several states this morning. landfall is still expected a few hours from now. most likely over eastern long island and areas of western rhode island as well. anywhere basically from the hamptons up to about newport, rhode island would be the best target point. it will continue to move inland before making a sharp turn to turn out to the east. stu storm surge is significant t

allison chinchar is live in the weather center tracking the path here. what are you hearing at this hour, allison? >> right. all eyes really are now on the not one, but two different hurricane hunter flights investigating the storm. this is where we get a lot of our good, realtime delay that. most measurements coming out, between the 70 to 75-mile-per-hour range, consistent with the current sustained winds of 70 miles per hour. we have started to see the pressure drop, meaning the storm is strengthening. it is expected to continue to do so for the remainder of the day today. then continuing its track off to the north. then we start to notice a very sharp turn to the right, which is interesting. a lot of people asking, why would it do such a sharp turn? at least in the short term, the steering is made up from the jet and this upper level low you see right here. basically, up until landfall. then we start to see a shift in the jet. also, westerly winds take hold. that's what is going to help push the storm back out to sea. the thing is, regardless of where

allison chinchar is back with us. what can you tell us about this?les per hour. that's only seven miles per hour off from the category 5. it's not out of the question this will get to a cat 5. it may already be. we have the hurricane hunters in the storm right now. the next update in about 20 to 25 minutes from now. moving to the northwest at 15 miles per hour. here is the hurricane hunters. not one, but two different missions that are out there. now, one of the measurements is 161. if you remember from what christi said, 157 is the threshold. will they take that reading or split the difference here? we are waiting for that update. the outer bands are starting to move in. you are starting to notice that heavy rain across areas of louisiana. we have a tornado warning in effect right here. you can see that pink dot. these are going to become more frequent throughout the day. the thing with the tornado warnings and tropical systems, they spin up very fast. you don't have a lot of warning. that's why you have the tornado watch so you are aware that those

meteorologist allison chinchar with the latest for us next. >>> also developing this morning, the u.s. embassy in kabul is warning of a, quote, specific credible threat to u.s. citizens near the airport. this as president biden warns another attack is highly likely. this special edition of "new day weekend" starts right now. ♪ >>> it's sunday, august 29th. thank you for joining us today. christi, thanks for letting me tag along on another major news day. >> and thank you all for being with us. as we talk about the growing threat right now from hurricane ida, it's zeroing in on communities along the gulf coast, of course. >> overnight ida strengthened into a powerful category 4 storm. it will make landfall sometime today bringing as much as 20 inches of rain to some areas with the potential for destructive storm surge and strong winds. yesterday bumper-to-bumper traffic stretched for miles as people left their homes for safety. now, a strike today would fall exactly 16 years after hurrican katrina tore through the region. it's a coincidence that's not lost on many who decided it to lea

. >> let's get straight to meteorologist allison chinchar in the cnn weather center. allison, good men. tell us where henri is now and when things might pick up? >> it's a good question because there's been a lot of confusion because the track has gone back and forth the last couple of days. people want to know where is it going to go and what are the impacts going to be? let's start with where it is now. off the coast of the carolinas. sustained winds at 70 miles per hour moving to the north northeast at 70 miles an hour. tropical storm warnings in blue and hurricane warnings in red. it is expected to intensify up to a hurricane at some point today. could be a few hours from now, could be later on this evening. then it continues to make the curve back to the west a little bit expecting landfall around lunchtime tomorrow. it could be from new york to hartford, connecticut. then it starts to make the sharp turn out to z. it's been a long time since new york has had a direct landfall. 1954, 1960, 1976 storm. for an entire generation of people living in this area, they ha

. >> let's go to cnn's allison chinchar in the weather center right now. lison, where is henri right now? and do we have a sense when it's going to pick up and be a hurricane? >> that's the ultimate question. we want to give you an update from the national hurricane center still keeping this as a tropical storm. the hurricane hunters not one but two different flights are out investigating the storms and they have found winds of 70 miles per hour. that is hurricane strength. so it's very possible that the hurricane center will come back after they do a couple rounds of investigating the storm saying they dole believe it has gotten up to hurricane strength. so something to watch in the coming hours. it is expected to be a hurricane today, and potentially still a hurricane at landfall, around lunchtime tomorrow, local time, somewhere along maybe long island is the best guess at this point. once it makes landfall it's expected to veer pretty sharply back out over open water. when it comes in, storm surge is the biggest concern, the red area here, 3 to 5 feet, b

senior meteorologist allison chinchar is tracking the storm. allison, this seems to be rapidly progressing. this is going to be a major event? >> i would say so, yes, when we talk about things where a storm weakens, normally, when it crosses over land like cuba, you anticipate seeing the storm weaken a little bit. this one did the exact opposite. we saw it strengthen across cuba. now moves into the gulf of mexico, and there's really not much preventing the way from intensifying further. sustained winds 80 miles per hour gusting up to 100. you have your hurricane warns, red tropical storm warning in blue in the gulf coast. the storm is expected to get to category 2 and category 3 by tonight and category 4 before landfall, which is not good news for folks of louisiana. the incredibly warm waters, you're not just talking bathtub water, this is like hot tub water. it's ideal in terms of the fuel it needs to intensify and strengthen. the storm surge is going to be one of the biggest components with the surge along the coast. 10 to 15 feet, the area i

let's get straight to the forecast and meteorologist allison chinchar live in the cnn weather center. allison, what's the latest? >> we have hurricane hunters out there. we'll get the next update in less than an hour. sustained winds 70 miles per hour gusting up to 85. we have not one but two hurricane hunter flights out investigating the storm trying to figure out what it's doing. the atmosphere that surrounds it, is it conducive for the strengthening, is it not? wind is measured at 66 miles an hour. the question is what is it going to do in the next 24 hours because 24 hours from now regardless if it's made landfall yet or not, you're going to start to see some of those big impacts for states such as massachusetts, connecticut, rhode island, new york. then it starts to make a sharp turn off to the east. the question becomes when does it make that turn. that will have implications for maine, new hampshire, vermont that could make an impact. the red area here that includes new haven, nantucket, even around providence. 3 to 5 feet of storm surge. keep in mind, high tide for tomorrow is

let's get to meteorologist allison chinchar for the latest. a lot of it. it's not in and around the exact vicinity. this is the area around the dixie fire. all of this white that you see on the satellite imagery looks like it should be clouds, it's smoke. it's so thick, it's very hard to see the clouds on the same satellite. the vast majority of that coming from the dixie fire. yes, over 430,000 acres has burned right now and it's only about 21% contained. part of that problem is the winds. when they shift directions rapidly or they increase rapidly, it makes it very difficult for the firefighters to really make good gains in those containment numbers. it is the third largest fire in california history but it has the potential to become the second largest in california history. the second largest, that's the men did i seen know complex at 459,000. so really not that far off from where the current fire is. now, again, we also talk about california as a whole. when you look at where we were at this same time last year, which 2020 was a horrible y

we'll check in with cnn meteorologist, allison chinchar. t what you're seeing about the storm's trajectory this morning and what should people in the path know about this? >> right. expect very heavy rainfall, very gusty winds and storm surge along the coast. sustained winds are 70 miles per h hour, gusting up to 90 miles per hour. that forward speed continues to slow down. that's not what we want to see. that means as it slows down it has more time to dump a tremendous amount of rain. it will eventually make land fall likely in the next couple of hours before we get to lunchtime. continue to push inland before making a sharp turn back out over open water. here is the look. you can see those heavy rain bands pushing in across connecticut, new york, and especially over new jersey. unfortunately for new jersey, they already had several inches of rain so far today. again, we're really kind of focusing in on those yellow and orange colors. that's where we'll see the heaviest bands of rain. that's why we have flash flood wat watches and flash flo

. >> that is a rather ominous warning, cnn meteorologist allison chinchar is tracking the storm. lison, one of the major concerns that makes this storm particularly dangerous, there's nothing in its path to keep it from getting stronger. where does this end up? >> right, we're starting to see it head into the gulf of mexico. we got the update at the top of the hour and it's continuing to strengthen. now the sustained winds are now up to 85 miles per hour and we expect that number to continue to tick up as we go through the rest of the day. gusts up around 100 miles per hour moving to the northwest at 16 miles per hour. the thing is, it's category 1 now, but as it goes into up warmer water, it's expected to intensify because warm water is fuel for these type of storms. likely to make it to category 2 strength in hour. category 3 by tonight. and a category 4 before landfall tomorrow. but if this track slows down at all it could even have the potential to get even stronger than that. now, one thing to note, a lot of people have been making comparisons to katrina with this particular

. >> yeah, for the latest let's bring in meteorologist allison chinchar hiefb from the cnn weather centereah, you would be surprised how little rain to takes to really trigger some of those debris flows and mudslides on some of those burn scar areas. this is a live look at the radar. there was a lot of activity yesterday afternoon and into the evening, a lot of lightning. even today we anticipate more of this activity to kick back up, which is why you have the flash flood watches in effect for over half a dozen states in the western portion of the country. now, overall, most of these areas likely to pick up less than one inch of rain total. and again that may not sound like much, but remember only a half of an inch or less in just less than one hour is enough to trigger some of those flash flooding areas across where you have the burn scars. if you notice from this map, the same area we have the marginal and slight risk for excessive rainfall overlays the areas with the wildfires and burn scars. this will be a concern not only for the northern portion but any of these areas that are deali

on the ground in new orleans, but let's begin with allison chinchar at the cnn weather center. allison, what is the latest forecast? we're so, so concerned. >> we should be, really, wolf. when we look at the current statistics, 85-mile-per-hour winds sustaining gusting up to 100 miles per hour. the storm is moving into probably its most favorable environment for strengthening. it is a category 1 now, but notice how it strengthens very quickly as it moves into this very warm water. and i want to emphasize, this is not bath water. you're talking jacuzzi bawater here, which is fuel for these storms. we anticipate it to be a category 2 a few hours from now, category 3 likely today, and a category 4 right before it makes landfall tomorrow likely into the afternoon hours in louisiana. now, one of the biggest concerns from this storm is going to be storm surge. the pink color you see here, including grand isle, 10 to 15 feet of storm surge, above the first story of home. 7 to 11 feet in this purple area here, including the city of biloxi. the outer band will impact today. if you're pla

allison chinchar, thank you so much. appreciate it. >>> so much of the damage from the storm is expected to happen in new england that's where we find derek van dam in providence, rhode island. so how are they preparing there? >> reporter: fredricka, it's a glorious day here but we all know looks can be deceiving because as now hurricane henri makes the final approach tonight, conditions are going to deteriorate quickly. the rhode island governor has issued a state of emergency not only here but also in the state of connecticut as well. there are over 100 national guard troops on stand by ready to be deployed if conditions warrant it. and then, also, beaches and state parks are being closed sunday through monday, likely, according to a tweet from the governor, of course, with the storm at its peak sunday afternoon. you can see providence behind me, the inland flood threat is a potential. the river backs up easily. we know widespread power outages are a concern because of the way spread tree damage we're anticipating. the

meteorologist allison chinchar is in the weather center. cnn "weather center live."fuel this at this point? >> right, it's not really helping. we just got brand-new numbers in, so now the new numbers are up to 446,000 acres. but the containment is still at 21%. that goes to show how rapidly this is spreading, and it is difficult for the firefighters to really keep up with it from continuing to spread. it's already the third largest fire in california state history, but it is so close to being the second on that list, a list that no one wants it to be on. again, the second one is the mendocino complex fire, 459,000. again, we are getting very close to this particular fire. the dixie fire perhaps jumping up to number two. not out of the question at the pace it's going they could hit that tomorrow or maybe even monday. here's a look at it again. this is the location of the dixie fire, but look at this wh white. these aren't clouds on the satellite imagery, it's smoke. it is spreading very far out there. the one thing to note, when we talk about the scope of the fires fo

cnn's allison chinchar is tracking this in the weather center. is it moving at all?

. >>> i want to bring in now allison chinchar from the weather center. this is multi fold because while you're also watching these named storms, fred and grace, this is a different natural disaster that you've been watching. tell me about the evolution of this 7.2 magnitude quake and what we know about it. >> and unfortunately for haiti, they could end up getting hit with both. yes, the 7.2 quake, depth of 10 kilometers or 6 miles. it was a little farther west of the big one in 2010. here's a map to show some perspective. this is port-au-prince. this is where the quake in 2010 occurred. this is the one that happened this morning, a little bit farther west but a little bit stronger. one good thing is that it was farther away from the biggest populated area, but again slightly stronger. it was also very shallow too, only about 6 miles deep. anything 44 miles or less is considered shallow, even though i know 44 miles doesn't sound shallow in terms of geologic scale, it is. one thing to notice, the population. over half a million people felt what's considere

allison chinchar, thank you so much. you can stay up to date by signing up for email alerts from cnn's meteorologists and our reporters in the field by visiting cnn.com/weatheralerts. >>> now the breaking news from afghanistan, the danger to americans rising fast in kabul. president biden meeting with his national security team as we learn of a potential emerging threat from isis. let's go to the pentagon. oren, what are you learning? >> the pentagon is aware that the airport itself, the crowds and the surrounding environment have been a target not only for, is-k, but other groups. they are preparing for alternative routes according to two defense officials, different ways u.s. citizens, siv applicants and others to get to the airport safely. this a response to a credible threat from isis, though a senior diplomat says it doesn't appear imminent at this point. but there's enough of a concern that the military has begun planning the routes to get american citizens who can't right now get to the airport from their current

with me now is allison chinchar at the cnn weather center. >> we wanted to mention, and very importanturricane as opposed to a tropical storm, the impacts expected for the northeast have not changed. sustained winds are up around 75 miles per hour, gusting to 90. now, the forward movement ticked up ever so slightly, up to 14 miles per hour. we've also seen an expansion of the tropical storm warnings. that's the blue color you see here. the hurricane warnings, those are in red. as of right now, we anticipate landfall will likely be over long island around lunchtime tomorrow. fred, we'll give more information on the impacts coming up in a little bit. >> allison chinchar, thank you so much. >>> federal officials tell cnn that full fda approval of pfizer's covid-19 vaccine is imminent and could come as soon as monday. joining me right now is dr. megan ran ky, associate dean of public health at drown univ -- brown university. doctor, good to see you. you've been calling for the fda to issue full approval since june. immunocompromised people are getting their third shot. i have three members

i want to bring in our meteorologist allison chinchar. what's the latest on the forecast, allison?he latest update in. it has increased, the storm, we anticipated it would. we started to see the eyewall, all of the things that you would look for in a strengthening storm have been there. so sustained winds now are up to 100 miles per hour. forward movement still to the northwest at about 16 miles per hour, but it is intensifying very quickly. we expect it to get to a category three perhaps early as this evening and a category four by tomorrow morning. unfortunately, at this point, it looks like it's likely going to make landfall, still, as a category four storm some time sunday afternoon over areas of louisiana. now, one thing to note we've talked about the comparisons here of katrina to ida specifically. katrina was 125 miles per hour at landfall, making it a category three storm, whereas ida is forecast to be a category four storm. in terms of wind speed, ida is expected to be a much stronger storm than katrina was. the other thing to note too is the track is a little bit off. the

joining us, patrick ottman, an and allison chinchar. what are you hearing about the impact of the outbreak? >> reporter: as each hour passes by, we see new harrowing images, new accounts of dead pulled from rubble, seeing images of people being treated in the open air because there's still aftershocks and many buildings collapsed in the earthquake. the prime minister said not only is he going to be traveling to the effected zone, the hardest-hit areas of the peninsula southwest of port-au-prince, he is calling on the government to put all of the haitian government resources into treating the wounded and recovering the dead. haiti is going to need help from outside as they have in previous disasters. we should point out that of course people know about the 2010 earthquake that so devastated haiti, caused hundreds of thousands of people their lives, but hurricane matthew that hit this exact area and caused widespread devastation several years ago. this area is recovering from the earthquake and hurricane in recent years. it is one of the

. >>> allison chinchar has two storms that are brewing. >> both of them may end up impacting floridaviously much closer to the u.s. grace, albeit the better looking one on satellite, is still very far away. we begin with fred. moving west northwest. it got torn apart moving over cuba. once it gets back over over the gulf of mexico, we anticipate it will restrengthen back into a tropical storm before getting into biloxi. we're still going to have impacts from the storm, water spouts, isolated thunderstorms and strong winds expected for the southern half of florida. here you can see a lot of outer bands expected to move through as the storm is expected to slide off to the north. it's on the eastern side of the storm which doesn't bode very well for florida. rainfall will be the concern. atlanta, montgomery, charlotte as it interacts with the front may get more rainfall than areas of florida from that storm. then you have tropical storm grace. for now, this storm is expected to take a very similar track to fred but something we'll keep a close eye on in the coming days. >> we appreciate

. >> cnn meteorologist allison chinchar is tracking the storm. know this is going to be a major event, as they're calling it now. people need to take it seriously. i was struck by your reporting that this thing did not seem to deteriorate at all. over cuba. because that is unusual, yes? >> it is. i mean, it's always one of those things you always know when a storm goes over a body of land it's going to weaken a little bit. sometimes it weakens a lot, sometimes a little. we've seen this going into a category 1 hurricane over cuba. that doesn't bode well as it's already this strong going into the gulf of mexico where conditions are going to be even more favorable for strengthening than it's undergone. sustained winds 80 miles per hour gusting up to 100. the forward movement is to the northwest at 16 miles per hour. when i say there's not really anything in the way to prevent this storm from becoming a category 4 or 5, we're talking about warm sea temperatures. very limited sheer. the only thing working against it is the forward speed. this thing pi

patrick oppmann and allison chinchar. patrick, what are you hearing about the impact? >> reporter: any numbers we get at this moment are preliminary. officials haven't been able to go into effected areas to remove injured and dead from the rubble. seeing images of people treated in the open area because there's concern of aftershocks. there are reports of aftershocks, buildings damaged by the initial quake could come tumbling down. this remains a dangerous, fluid situation. the haiti prime minister is saying that all his government's resources would go into trying to save people that may be trapped, trying to recover dead bodies and how people are left homeless. he will be traveling to the region in the coming hours, but of course as you mention, haiti is just reeling. never recovered fully from the 2010 earthquake. haiti's president assassinated just last month. a new prime minister. his first major crisis, and aid groups are trying to make up for the difference. but so much desperation, so much help is needed now. >> indeed. thank you so much. allison, with storms ci

allison chinchar is live in the weather center tracking the path here. right. all eyes really are now on the not one, but two different hurricane hunter flights investigating the storm. this is where we get a lot of our good, realtime delay that. most measurements coming out, between the 70 to 75-mile-per-hour range, consistent with the current sustained winds of 70 miles per hour. we have started to see the pressure drop, meaning the storm is strengthening. it is expected to continue to do so for the remainder of the day today. then continuing its track off to the north. then we start to notice a very sharp turn to the right, which is interesting. a lot of people asking, why would it do such a sharp turn? at least in the short term, the steering is made up from the jet and this upper level low you see right here. basically, up until landfall. then we start to see a shift in the jet.

cnn meteorologist alilison chinchar is joining us now. al allisontional hurricane center. what adoes it say? >> it's talking about intensification. this is going to be a very strong storm. already right now sustained winds of 80 miles an hour gusting up to 100 but we anticipate further strengthening especially once it gets over the gulf of mexico because it's not just bath water but jacuzzi warm water and that will be fuel for this storm. it's anticipated to strengthen to a category 4 and likely stay there through landfall, which is not what we to hear. storm surge will be a big issue along the coast. in the purple area 6 to 9 feet and east side 7 to 11 feet. very dangerous storm surge conditions but winds will be a factor. look at the wide spread damaging winds as far as jackson. 60 mile per hour winds is enough to bring down trees and power lines. rainfall, that's going to be the most wide spread, however. look at how far inland this comes, southern ohio could end up getting several inches of rain from this storm but certainly along the coast, you

. >> allison chinchar, thank you so much. >>> good morning. and welcome to "new day." i'm boris sanchez. >> i'm christi paul. we are talking about coronavirus cases that are surging. we are getting a fresh look at how effective vaccines have been in preventing serious illnesses. health experts are working to bridge the confidence gap with the unvaccinated. >>> plus, uncertain future. millions of americans who can't afford to pay rent are on edge this morning after the federal eviction moratorium expired hours ago. we are joined by a woman who is concerned that means she could soon lose her home. >>> and change of heart maybe? they initially avoided getting vaccinated, but after ending up in the hospital for days there is a couple, one couple in particular, who is urging everyone to get the shot. they will be with us live. >>> and gold standard. cnn sitting down with olympic gold medal swimmer katie ledecky fresh off another big showing at this year's games. "new day" starts right now . >>> buenos dias. good morning. sunday, august 1st. thank you for waking us with up.

at the top of the hour, meteorologist allison chinchar brings you the latest update.ren maginnis, appreciate it. >>> back to afghanistan now and a swift response by the us on thursday's deadly attack at kabul airport. a few hours ago, the u.s. announced had conducted a strike against isis-k against the horrific bombing that killed 170 afghanistans as well as 113 mfs me service members. u.s. military conducted an anti-terrorism operation against an isis-k planner. the strike occurred in the notwiths nangarhar province of afghanistan. and we're going to show you here, this is a live look at the kabul airport where the evacuation efforts are in its final phase before troops are set to leave on tuesday. sam kiley has more on where things stand. >> reporter: a day after 13 american service members, two british citizens, and at least 170 afghans were killed by a suicide bomber, afghans are still trying to get to kabul's airport and to freedom. just over the blast walls, the mission continues. nearly 13,000 people flown out in 24 hours. the wounded american service members h

cnn's van is down there but begin with allison chinchar in the cnn weather center. you've been following this very dangerous storm. what's the latest forecast on ida? what can you tell us at this hour? >> we got the latest update moments ago. winds up to 100 miles per hour sustained now officially makes it a category two storm. movement to the northwest at just about 16 miles per hour. now, we anticipate it to rapidly intensify over the next 24 hours because it's going to move into incredibly warm waters. we're not just talking back water here but jacuzzi warm, fuel for this particular storm. it's expected to make landfall as a category four storm likely some time late sunday afternoon over louisiana. there's been a lot of comparisons here to hurricane katrina because it's very memorable for a lot of folks that live there. katrina was technically a category three at landfall, whereas ida is expected to be a category four. so in terms of winds, ida is expected to be a stronger storm compared to katrina but one thing to note is the path. technically, the track went to

allison chinchar is live at the cnn weather center. patrick, haiti in recent months has been going through a lot of political upheaval so what is the recovery like right now? what more can you tell us? >> i think the recovery is just beginning, if anything. the pictures we've seen are people in the streets, understandably very distressed. rubble everywhere. people shouting for help. of course one of the major issues with that devastating 2010 earthquake was that so much of the construction in haiti is just not up to any kind of code. it is not built to withstand this kind of earthquake. that is why you saw such a high death toll back in 2010. that is going to perhaps lead to -- we don't know if it's going to be anywhere near the tens of thousands of dead, but certainly already it does seem to be the kind of earthquake that would likely cause deaths and injuries. again, when you have construction like we have seen that just does not hold up to these kind of earthquakes, something that is very common in haiti, that leads to a higher deat

but first let's go to allison chinchar for the latest on the track. allison, any updates from the national hurricane center? >> we've got several, in fact. we're learning it is moving very, very close to shore. landfall is expected imminently here. what we're also seeing is that little bit of downpush in wind. the winds are at 60 miles an hour, gusting to 70 miles an hour. look at the expanse of that storm. look how wide the storms really stretch from this particular storm. once it makes landfall, it is expected to move a little farther inland before making a sharp turn to the east back over the open atlantic. in the short term, however, we still anticipate very heavy rainfall, very gusty winds, and we already started seeing these heavy bands of rain really for the last several hours over states like new jersey, new york, connecticut, even rhode island. again, rhode island getting very gusty winds just in the last hour or so. storm surge still going to be a big factor for some spots. looking at some of these numbers, newport picking up storm surge arou

allison chinchar is in the weather center with the latest. a new forecast from the hurricane center just out? >> literally in moments ago. those wind gusts up to 185 miles per hour. it now makes it a high-end category 4 storm, only 7 miles an hour off from being a category 5. hurricane hunters, not one, but two different missions are out, investigating this storm, taking as many measurements as they can, before this storm makes landfall. it's expected to be around noon local time or 1:00 p.m. eastern time today in louisiana. it is expected to strengthen further. they're actually calling for landfall to be at 155-mile-per-hour. again, doing math, that would be 2 miles an hour off from a category 5 storm. from there, it starts to slow its forward speed and weaken as well. when it slows, it also has more time to dump a tremendous amount of rain. they're starting to see those outer bands beginning to push in, very heavy rain across areas of new orleans, especially the northern suburbs. we have a tornado watch valid until 8:00 p.m. tonight. not ju

let's begin with allison chinchar at the cnn weather center. what is the update from the weather center? >> brand-new update, showing gusts have ticked up a bit to 105 miles per hour. the forward movement is the same. northwest at about 16 miles per hour. it's a category 1 now, but it is expected to intensify and strengthen as it moves through the very warm waters of the gulf of mexico. likely becoming a category 2 sometime in the next few hours. a category 3 by this evening. then a category 4 by tomorrow morning. it's expected to maintain that category 4 strength as it makes landfall, likely sunday late afternoon over louisiana. now, we talk about intensifying storms. this one in particular may undergo what is called rapid intensification, which means the sustained winds increase 35 miles per hour for more in less than 24 hours. most of the really devastating storms that we've dealt with here landfall wise here in the u.s. undergo at least one rapid intensification cycle. storm surge is going to be one of the biggest concerns we have along the

for more than the trajectory and impact let's go to meteorologist allison chinchar.rm now and where's it headed? >> it's made its second landfall over cuba just recently. still kind of crossing over the island as we speak. sustained winds over 80 miles per hour, gusting up to 100 miles per hour. now, we have hurricane warnings and even tropical storm warnings in effect along the gulf coast here in anticipation of this storm in the coming days. here's a look at the track. we anticipate that this is going to strengthen even further really once it gets over the very warm waters of the gulf of mexico. it's expected to get not only major hurricane status but category 4 hurricane strength. it's expected to make landfall as a category 4 storm sometime sunday afternoon in louisiana. from there it'll continue to push farther inland and that's where we'll start to see heavy rainfall. here along the coast the biggest concern is going to be the storm surge, the pink color, there 10 to 15 feet, the purple color, 7 to 11 feet on the eastern side, very gusty winds. even far inland