Hurricane Dennis: CNN’s Rick Sanchez Reporting From “Hurricane One” Mobile Unit

CNN correspondent Rick Sanchez may become the star of this storm.

“In hurricanes in the past, the most difficult thing to do is to find out what’s happening during a storm, and immediately after a storm,” Sanchez said around noon. “With this technology, we’ll literally be able to be there within moments.”

Sanchez and his crew are using mobile transmission technology, adapted from the deserts of Iraq, to create the “first mobile hurricane satellite center.”

The unit has been dubbed “Hurricane One.” The crew has attached a “bubble” to the top of an SUV, with a gyro-stabalizing unit for a satellite uplink.

The images are videophone-quality. It’s reminiscent of Walter Rodgers’ groundbreaking broadcasts as he crossed into Iraq two years ago. “This worked in Iraq,” Sanchez said, but it “was not made for these conditions.”

During his noon report, Sanchez was in Panama City. His crew hopped in the SUV and started driving west on State Route 98 toward Pensacola, Florida, while broadcasting live on CNN. The crew will find a shelter during the height of the storm. Just one question: What if they run out of gas?

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