ABC Evening News open - 1977-09-01

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:02] This is the ABC Evening News with Harry

[0:05] Reer and Barbara Walters. And tonight,

[0:07] Howard K. Smith and Washington. Good

[0:10] evening. Barbara is on vacation. Our top

[0:12] stories, Hurricane Anita gets stronger

[0:14] and aims for the Mexico Texas border.

[0:17] The United States and Cuba exchange

[0:19] diplomats for the first time in more

[0:20] than 16 years.

[0:22] Also, UN Ambassador Andrew Young

[0:24] presents the Anglo US Rhodesia plan to

[0:27] Eon Smith and transsexual Renee Richards

[0:30] plays at Forest Hills for the first

[0:32] time. Harry, the full fury of Hurricane

[0:36] Anita is expected to come ashore during

[0:38] the night south of Brownsville, Texas in

[0:40] Mexico. The storm picked up strength

[0:42] today to 125 mph winds and also shifted

[0:45] to a more southerntherly course in its

[0:47] violent journey across the Gulf of

[0:48] Mexico. We have reports on how people

[0:51] are getting ready on land. First, Roger

[0:53] Peterson on South Padre Island near

[0:55] Brownsville, Texas.

[0:58] Whipped by high winds preceding the

[1:00] hurricane, waves pounded South Padre

[1:02] Island through occasional but unexpected

[1:05] bursts of bright sunshine and the

[1:06] expected rain squalls, the winds kept

[1:09] increasing in strength and fury, pushing

[1:11] waves up and over the famous island

[1:13] beaches, coming ever closer to homes

[1:15] built barely above sea level. Residents

[1:18] of and visitors to the island began

[1:20] evacuating at first light. Police

[1:22] blocked off the one road leading in,

[1:24] warning people not to stay, that the

[1:26] road out was expected to be cut by high

[1:28] water in mid-afternoon. By late morning,

[1:31] only a few people boarding up windows

[1:33] were left on the island.

[1:34] >> Now that about at least 95 to percent or

[1:37] better off. Yeah, we've done real well.

[1:40] >> Mhm. Well, you're kind of used to these

[1:41] uh these warnings though, but it looks

[1:43] like you're going to catch it.

[1:44] >> That's the trouble. We put up with the

[1:47] warnings. We really don't want the real

[1:48] thing. But looks like we're going to get

[1:50] it this trip. Ordinarily on this last

[1:52] week of summer, this beach would be

[1:53] crowded with vacationers. Labor Day is

[1:56] the biggest holiday of the year down

[1:57] here. But now, Anita has changed all

[1:59] that. Mayor Nukem estimates that already

[2:02] the island has lost close to a million

[2:04] dollars in rentals alone. A loss that

[2:06] will have to be figured on top of

[2:08] whatever property damage that dangerous

[2:10] lady decides to do here. Roger Peterson,

[2:12] ABC News, South Padre Island, Texas.

[2:17] >> This is Tom Gerald. On the Texas GF

[2:20] coast along the upper edge of the

[2:21] hurricane alert, the storm flags were

[2:23] flying in sunny, warm weather around

[2:25] Corpus Christi. The biggest concern was

[2:27] flooding. The storm pushed abnormally

[2:30] high tides inland. The beaches along the

[2:32] Padre Island National Seashore Park were

[2:35] ordered evacuated. Tides lapped in

[2:37] around waterfront homes and businesses.

[2:40] Many residents drove through flooded

[2:42] streets to pack away their belongings to

[2:44] safer ground. Big storefront windows

[2:47] were boarded up as a precaution against

[2:49] high winds which never came during the

[2:51] day. And grocery stores did a big

[2:53] business in emergency supplies like

[2:56] canned goods, batteries, and bottled

[2:58] water. Authorities worked all day to get

[3:01] people out of the low-lying, unprotected

[3:03] beach communities like Portoanzis. This

[3:06] little community is so low it's called

[3:08] the sandbar. So with high tides

[3:10] predicted, the streets were virtually

[3:12] empty. Restaurants boarded up, vacation

[3:15] cabins stood empty, and the only people

[3:18] fishing on the charter fishing boats

[3:19] were the owners pressed into an

[3:21] unexpected day off in the middle of a

[3:23] big tourist week. Tom Gerald, ABC News,

[3:26] Porto Ramanis, outside Corpus Christi.

[3:30] Coming up, John Scaly on the return of

[3:32] American diplomats to Cuba.