00:00Right now, as far as ground truth is concerned, the worst conditions with the wind, the gusts, have been in
00:07Pensacola.
00:11Yeah, it's remarkable to see that on the western side of the Iowa.
00:15Like you guys said, not always typical with most storms, especially the ones that I've seen.
00:18We're down here at Pensacola Beach.
00:20I know Alley Reed is up and over in Pensacola proper.
00:24Three Mile Bridge is closed off at this point.
00:26So that's why officials have been warning people, you know, for the past 48, 72 hours, take this one seriously.
00:32You've got to evacuate, you know, ahead of time because you can't at this point.
00:37You know, people running into trouble when you have roof damages in your home.
00:40Unfortunately, officials are just telling those families they have got to hunker down at this point because if something happens
00:45out on the road, emergency responders cannot go out to help people.
00:49Bernie, I'm just going to step out of the shot so you can see what we're seeing.
00:54We lost power about five minutes before you first came to us.
00:58I'm hoping it might flicker back on because between these two hotel buildings, and you may even see it with
01:03the lightning, I mean, just unbelievable.
01:05You can really get the perspective, the wind just blasting through there with the trees.
01:10And if you listen, you may be able to hear it behind me, the metal.
01:13There is metal debris flying around, so that's why we are exactly where we're at, to stay out of harm's
01:20way, to be able to show you what's happening here.
01:23And, again, with these fortified buildings dealing with this level of damage, it's very concerning.
01:28You know, the story here, Bernie, it's not the surge with this one for Pensacola Beach, at least not at
01:34this moment.
01:35It's all about the wind with Hurricane Isaias here in Pensacola Beach at this hour.
01:40And, yeah, very concerned about, you know, the families that decided not to leave, especially some of those homes, maybe
01:47some of the older homes, you know, what state they're in.
01:49You know, I was speaking with the mayor, D.C. Reeves, up in Pensacola and some other officials, you know,
01:55and they said, what was it, 2020 was Hurricane Sally.
01:58So that was the last time they dealt with direct impacts from a hurricane.
02:02But, you know, Sally, that made landfall farther to the west.
02:06For the most part, Pensacola fared decent, okay, you know, through Sally.
02:10And officials were telling people, you know, try not to use those past storms as benchmarks.
02:15Oh, I was fine during Sally. It wasn't all that bad for me.
02:18I'm going to stick it out this time around.
02:20And that's why we tell people every single hurricane is different.
02:24Every impact is different.
02:26And I think some people are going to be really surprised, you know, with the damage that they're dealing with
02:30tonight.
02:31They're going to wake up and see in the morning wind damage-wise here at Pensacola and Pensacola Beach, which
02:36ended up being, you know, on the western side.
02:39I mean, Bill, I'm trying to put myself where you are.
02:45And it just got to – it has to seem so eerie right now.
02:48You don't have any power.
02:50It feels humid, and you've just got this tremendous lightning show and the noise.
02:56It must just be a very serene setting right now.
03:02It absolutely is.
03:03You know, talking with the crew, talking with Allie and our colleagues, and talking with people who live here in
03:09Florida,
03:09I think it's fair and collective to say we all hate nighttime landfalls, right?
03:14I mean, a hurricane is bad enough.
03:16It's enough of a headache.
03:17But when you've got a storm like this with lightning in other places, you know, just to our east, not
03:22that far,
03:23for the risk of really damaging, life-threatening storm surge, these extreme winds that we're dealing with,
03:30plus the tornado risk, that's bad enough in the middle of the day, you know.
03:34But when you're dealing with this in the dark, it's just incredibly dangerous now that the power is off here.
03:39And I don't think at this point it's coming back on.
03:42You can't really see much.
03:44It's what you hear and what you feel.
03:47And what's so interesting with this, Bernie, probably the next hit, the next time we come and see you, we're
03:52going to be up.
03:53We're going to join you from the 11th floor where we're at, where we kind of have a fortified, protected
03:58balcony.
03:59So we're protected, even though we're beachside, you know, the way in the direction of the storm,
04:04we're actually protected from the worst of the wind up there.
04:06But we have a great perspective.
04:07Well, at least we did when the power was on.
04:09I'm not sure how much we'll see.
04:10But lightning is going to help.
04:11And you'll be able to see the state of the beach up there, how these buildings are faring.
04:15But just hearing how much metal is banging around, things that are moving, yeah, with the debris flying around,
04:22it's just too safe to step much farther out from these buildings.
04:25So don't be, you know, when you see this and I'm not blowing around like crazy, there's a reason.
04:30We're doing it for safety.
04:30You go 20, 30, 50 feet out there, completely different story, and we're seeing metal debris flying around.
04:35That's why we're not out there.
04:36We're back live on the AccuWeather Network.
04:38We're talking with Bill Waddell.
04:39He was just explaining how eerie it is there.
04:42And, Bill, I can hear now the metal behind you.
04:46I just heard something right now.
04:49And it's just we're talking to our viewers on YouTube and now on the AccuWeather Network really quick how eerie
04:58a feeling it is right now.
04:59Without any power, you've got the wind, you hear the debris, and the lightning just continuing to flash behind you.
05:11Absolutely.
05:12And let's give people a 180 for perspective for safety, Bernie, for full context.
05:17Steps behind the camera.
05:18This is the wall and our door to safety.
05:21We've got a roof hangover right above us and come around this way, Steph.
05:25I mean, we're blocked from the worst of the wind.
05:27We're two steps from safety here with the lightning, with the debris flying around because we want to show people
05:31what's going on,
05:32but we want to stay out of harm's way, not create any more issues.
05:35This is why officials have been urging people, you know, do not go out in the dark.
05:39It was too, especially once the sun went down, just way too late to try and evacuate.
05:44So, you know, with these conditions, I'm going to step out.
05:47And when the lightning lights up, and I believe we've even seen some transformers flickering off in the distance,
05:52and it also looks like some smoke detectors, you know, the fire alarms kind of flashing off in the distance
05:56between those two buildings.
05:58Bernie, it is very eerie up on the 11th floor where there is some damage.
06:03We already have some leaking happening in our roof, and you can imagine the wind howling in the stairwell.
06:09On the 11th floor, and this is one of the sturdiest buildings on this barrier island, you can feel it.
06:14You know, the lights that are hanging are moving incredibly loud.
06:18So, we're beachfront.
06:20I mean, right over here, you can see the railing.
06:22And when we have some lightning, you'll be able to see some palm trees, and then you've got the beach
06:27right off in that direction.
06:28So, typically here with a storm, you know, Bernie, you would have the wind blown in from that direction.
06:32But when we've got, with our location, you know, being on the western side, all of the wind really is
06:37coming from Pensacola City direction
06:38and blowing toward us here at Pensacola Beach and kind of blowing offshore from our direction.
06:44But, yeah, next time we see it, we'll join you up from the 11th floor to give you a different
06:47perspective.
06:48But, yeah, this is why we're telling people, you know, either get out of town ahead of this storm or
06:52hunker down and ride this one out.
06:54Because, unfortunately, if you call for help, first responders have been saying for days now they just simply cannot go
07:00out in these conditions.
