[Fredricka Whitfield, Cnn Anchor:] Here's what's happening now in the news. Hurricane Charley has made its move. The center of the storm is now forecast to come ashore over Charlotte Harbor near Fort Myers. Weather problems already extend up the southeast coast along the Atlantic. The remnants of Tropical Storm Bonnie spawned tornadoes in North Carolina. South Carolina's governor has called for a voluntary evacuation along low-lying areas along his state's coast. Hurricane Charley is expected to move up the southeastern seaboard tomorrow after crossing Florida. In Northern California, officials report a wildfire near Shasta Lake slowed down overnight because the winds died down. The 7,500- acre blaze is only half contained and may pick up as the day gets warmer. It has destroyed at least 67 homes. And food lovers everywhere are mourning the woman who made French cuisine an accessible art. Julia Child died in her sleep yesterday, just days before her 92nd birthday. Child took her first cooking lesson in her 30s and went on to become the original celebrity chef. Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.
[Miles O'brien, Cnn Anchor:] We have been getting updated forecasts for Hurricane Charley. Instead of heading for Tampa, it has now turned toward Fort Myers. The storm has cleared out after passing west of the Florida Keys this morning. Not too many problems there to report, but it could be a different story along Florida's west coast. Folks in Tampa were expecting the worst. Now it looks like they may get somewhat less than that. Keith Oppenheim joining us from there with the latest on the situation there. Looks pretty calm, Keith.
[Keith Oppenheim, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, it hasn't been that bad. But as you have been reporting, the strength of the storm is a great concern, even if it veers a bit to the south. Let me just show you a little bit about where I'm at. These are some steps that lead down to a channel right next to our hotel. And we have noticed the subtle power of the hurricane as it has moved the water here in the channel up about half a foot over the last few hours, just a sign of the system moving water into the bay and into this channel. As we look across the channel, you can see downtown Tampa. That's the Convention Center across the way. The big issue in an area like this is going to be storm surge. Now, as you were indicating that this is now being reported to be a Category 4 storm, even if it moves to the south of here, the storm surge could still be a significant problem right here in downtown Tampa. Now, the original reports we had were concerns of between 10 and 13 feet. I'm not sure exactly what the storm surge here will be, but I think it's fair to say that the anxiety about the strength of this storm has gone up while the positioning of this storm has made people feel perhaps a little bit more relaxed. But I think it's safe to say, if this storm makes landfall anywhere near Tampa and St. Pete, there's going to be a significant amount of flooding Miles?
[O'brien:] Keith Oppenheim in downtown Tampa, thanks Fred?
[Whitfield:] All right, thanks a lot, Miles. Well, moments ago, we reported that Charley was a hurricane Category 3. But now, Orelon Sidney in the Weather Center has the latest updates for us.
[Orelon Sidney, Cnn Meteorologist:] Thanks a lot. It looks like indeed breaking news for us, because we are now reporting that this is a Category 4 storm. It looks like it is continuing to move towards Fort Myers. The wind speed is still about 20 miles an hour in forward direction. And that's something I did want to point out to you. If you have winds, let's say they are 131 miles an hour, across this storm, as it moves northward, the speed on the right-hand side of the forward motion is going to be added to the wind speed. So, let's say let's just say, because I don't have the official reports of the actual winds, but 131 would make it Category 4 let's say it's 131, add 20 miles an hour to that, you get 151-mile- an-hour winds on this side. Of course, you have to subtract 20 miles an hour from this side, but nobody is over here. We're over here, and that's going to be certainly a big problem as the storm continues to make its way towards Fort Myers, once again. Tornado watch, you can see, has now been extended extends from Orlando to the southern portion of the state. That's in effect until 5:00 p.m. this afternoon. There will be more. Look at some of the lightning data that we're starting to get in now across Lake Okeechobee, continuing northward almost to Interstate 4. These low-lying areas from St. Petersburg down to Port Charlotte are going to be in trouble, especially if the storm comes in at an angle something about like 30 degrees, because that area then will be probably under water, depending or cut off from land anyway depending on the angle that the storm moves in. Look at some of the very latest information we have no rainfall. Not a lot of rainfall, yet. This is the rainfall accumulation now since early this morning. Starting to inch our way towards a half an inch in some locations. Look at this. Even in the east along Interstate 95, starting to inch up some rain amount here, greater than one inch in some very localized thunderstorms. Just want to emphasize to you, not only hurricane-force winds flooding, tornadoes. This is going to be a real problem for much of the State of Florida for this afternoon. We again updated this now from a Category 3 to a Category 4. Look at the kind of damage that we can receive. Hang on just a moment, I'm getting some new information from Dave Tennant. Just a second. OK, 162 knot flight level wind. We have to convert that to miles per hour. This is your miles per hour. Hold on just a moment. I want to make sure I get this right. That would be 162-mile-per-hour winds at flight level; 70% of that is extrapolated down to the surface, and that would make our flight level winds, our surface winds then in the Category 4. So, 162-mile-an-hour flight level wind. They fly into the storm well above 10,000 feet. Generally the stronger the storm is, the higher they'll fly in. So, they take the wind speed there and they extrapolate it down to the surface and estimate the surface wind speed. The surface estimated wind speed then would put this at a Category 4 Fredricka?
[Whitfield:] All right, this is pretty serious now. Thanks very much...
[Sidney:] You're welcome.
[Whitfield:] ... Orelon Sidney. Well, some folks are clearing out of Fort Myers ahead of Hurricane Charley, understanding the gravity of the situation. I want to get the situation report now from Lauri McMahon. She's with the Iona-McGregor Fire Department and joins us on the telephone. And Lauri, give me a sense right now. Now we know it to be a Category 4. How concerned are you about your very low-lying area?
[Lauri Mcmahon, Iona/mcgregor Fire Department:] Well, we're very concerned, because we suspect and are concerned that only a small number of people have evacuated and heeded our warning. And this is really the worst case scenario we can have right now, where we really had a small storm coming in that was supposed to go north of us and people weren't really concerned about it. And now, it's taken a direct turn and has intensified and, unfortunately, we're concerned that there are numerous and probably hundreds that are in great danger from the storm.
[Whitfield:] And explain to me why you are so concerned, the type of residents you're dealing with. Many of them are, you know, year- round residents, many snowbirds, and the majority of whom are older citizens, correct?
[Mcmahon:] Exactly. And several of those special-needs people that have not taken the warning and are trying to ride out the storm and not understanding the intensity and the danger of the storm, putting themselves in imminent danger.
[Whitfield:] And so, what can you all do at this juncture to try to secure safety for them?
[Mcmahon:] Well, we have suggested that they head to shelters. Unfortunately, a shelter very close in our area has only 13 people was our last count for that shelter. And people still do have some time to get to, for instance, Tanglewood Elementary or to Jermaine or Alico Arena. And we suggest highly that they get with someone and they get to a shelter.
[Whitfield:] But aren't your shelters in that area subjected to the same adversities as any other structure in that low-lying community?
[Mcmahon:] Well, they're a little bit farther in. Example, for Jermaine and Alico, they're further in east, so they are not in the flood zone that we are in our district. And a lot of our district are smaller homes and mobile homes, which will be destroyed by these kinds of winds.
[Whitfield:] All right, Lauri McMahon from the Iona-McGregor Fire Department. Thanks very much for allowing us to check in with you...
[Mcmahon:] Thank you.
[Whitfield:] ... maintain some touching base with you throughout the day Miles?
[O'brien:] All right, well people have fled their homes by the hundreds of thousands. Where are they going? With that part of the story, we turn it over to CNN's Ed Lavendera who, as it turns out, is very far north of where the trouble lies with Charley, in Dunedin, Florida. Hello, Ed, how are you?
[Ed Lavandera, Cnn Correspondent:] I'm doing well, Miles. You know, it was a little while ago the Governor's Office here in the State of Florida held a briefing. And you know, you really heard the urgency in their voice as they were urging people to continue the evacuation. But beyond that, what you heard the urgency that you heard is that you have a very short amount of time to do it. And that's what really they have been trying to get to people. And we do understand that people are still taking advantage of these shelters. There have been almost 190 shelters now opened up statewide. Some 16,000 people were here in Dunedin, Florida, which is in the county just west of the Tampa area. And we're about a mile away from the ocean here, but this is still a very secure place. One of the higher grounds higher points in this area. And so, that's why you're having several hundred people here show up. Many of the people who have been evacuated, as we have been reporting, are from the low-lying areas, coastal areas, and in the mobile home communities throughout the southwestern coast of Florida. But right now, what they're urging people is to build that intensity and the urgency to get to these shelters, because now people are starting to run out of time to get to them. And with the storm barely now a little further south of where we are, as you heard in the previous report as well, is that they really want to get people into these places. There's not a lot to do here quite honestly. A lot of people are just reading and passing the time and doing crossword puzzles, but this is definitely the safest place to be for a majority of these people Miles.
[O'brien:] Nevertheless, as word gets out of what we've been reporting, that it's headed now toward Fort Myers and that part of the world, do you expect people are going to start make their way to the exits? Is there are they going to wait for official word, or they going to just wait for reports like we're giving right now?
[Lavandera:] You know, I think what happens in a lot of these cases is sometimes they don't really believe what we say sometimes until that very last possible moment. We have seen people moving inland and following the orders up to a certain point. But you still have, you know, that other segment of the population that wants to hold on as long as they possibly can and figure out what the storm is going to do, and that's what emergency officials in this area are worried about. You know, these emergency plans that they have in this area, there hasn't been a direct hit from a hurricane in this area in more than 80 years. They have the emergency plans. They are confident in their plans. But a lot of the evacuation routes haven't been put to the full-on test, and they're worried to see how that's going to play out, especially once the storm starts.
[O'brien:] Ed Lavandera, thanks very much. It's amazing the scenes we see. We see people in hallways of shelters like this, and we see people out swimming in other live shots. It's incredible, the full range. You heard it here first right here on CNN. It's now a Category 4 storm. That's a very serious storm, folks, and we want you to heed all the warnings. And as we mentioned a few moments ago, this could be one of the worst possible scenarios, in the sense that folks to the south of Tampa didn't really hunker down and evacuate as they did in Tampa, as the predictions indicated. So, if you're in that part of the world right now, please, by all means, seek high ground. Back with more in just a moment.