Meteorologist: 'If wind won't get you, the water will'
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Meteorologist James McFadden says Hurricane Isabel will likely bring drenching rains.
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(CNN) -- As Hurricane Isabel heads for the mid-Atlantic coast, scientists study the storm from above using Air Force Reserve and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration "Hurricane Hunter" aircraft.
CNN anchor Paula Zahn discussed recent flights with NOAA meteorologist James McFadden.
ZAHN: You flew into the eye of Hurricane Isabel yesterday and again today. What did you find?
MCFADDEN: It's been a long five days.
But I tell you, when we flew into Hurricane Isabel on Friday and Saturday and Sunday, of course, it was Category 5. Today, we left Saint Croix [U.S. Virgin Islands] at 5:30 this morning and flew into Hurricane Isabel. It was only a Category 2 and really only a shadow of her former self.
ZAHN: But that doesn't mean that the storm will stay weak, right? It could very easily gain strength as it heads closer to shore?
MCFADDEN: Absolutely.
And people along the coastline and in the Carolinas and Virginia and inland have to be vigilant, have to be wary of this storm, because the one thing that we did see while we were in there all four days was that it was a very wet storm, a lot of rain. And it looks like there is going to be a lot of flooding. So, if the wind won't get you, the water will.
ZAHN: And based on what you saw once you were inside the hurricane, how would you say it compared to the strength of Hurricane Andrew?
MCFADDEN: Hurricane Andrew, of course, intensified just before it made landfall in Miami [Florida]. And I was unfortunate enough to be in Miami when that happened.
But this storm was a Category 5 storm for three straight days. And that is so unusual for hurricanes. It's something that none of the scientists aboard our aircraft have ever seen.
ZAHN: And when you look at the course you expect this storm to take, do you think it would hit any major U.S. cities?
MCFADDEN: That's a question that I really can't answer. We're out there flying the storms. And we're sending the information back to the forecasters in Miami. And they're the ones that issue the official forecasts.
