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American Morning

Nearly Four Months After Terrorist Attacks Of September 11, Many Families Have Barely Found Time to Grieve

Aired January 07, 2002 - 07:03   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the old cliche is that time is supposed to heal all wounds. But nearly four months after the terrorist attacks of September 11, many families of the victims have barely found time to grieve. Instead, endless forms and bureaucratic hurdles consume their days.

CNN's Hillary Lane looks at a helping hand, which so far many of the families say has been largely empty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY LANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The reminders are everywhere, in every envelope, on every phone call.

EDNA ORTIZ, WIDOW OF SEPTEMBER 11 VICTIM: It feels like reliving that day. It feels like - it feels like a pain in my heart that I can't explain.

LANE: It's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) just to pick up the phone?

ORTIZ: It's overwhelming. Even to turn around and pick up the phone and make a phone call and actually speak to one this very moment, it's not possible.

LANE: Tracking and applying for the funds donors intended to help has become all consuming, painful, exhausting.

ROSEANNA SABILE, WIDOW OF SEPTEMBER 11 VICTIM: Some days I just don't want to handle it. That's why that pile is over there. I just - some days I'm strong enough and I make my phone calls, and sometimes I sit here until two o'clock in the morning trying to get everything in order so I can make my phone calls for the next day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What they can do is they can apply for the September 11 fund.

LANE: Each charity has its own rules. Some require families to reapply every week or two or to drop off bills in person. There's a lot of money available, but getting it requires navigating of maze some families have found nearly impossible to manage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a lot of volunteers, and as things change almost everyday with some of these charities and some of these government groups it's really - it's nearly impossible for anybody to keep track of it.

LANE: There has been lost paperwork, bills agencies said they would pay but haven't. For families, the delays are unimaginably frustrating, but there's a greater cost.

ORTIZ: I have not had a chance to mourn my husband yet. I have not had that opportunity to be able to close the door and shut out the world for just a period of time, where I can just feel what I need to feel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LANE: Just going in person to the family assistance center can take a full day. Family members have to bring with them all sorts of documentation, all sorts of proof: marriage certificates, birth certificates, employment records, bills, unpaid bills, missing person files and death certificates. And then they have to present them over and over and over again to agency after agency - Anderson.

COOPER: And, to add insult to injury, the assistance center is supposed to move today, isn't that right?

LANE: It is, and they're supposed to move to downtown, which many of the families have said going there in itself is very painful for them. We went down to the family assistance center and we went inside with Liz McGoughlin (ph), one of the women that you just saw in this piece. And they don't usually let media in. We weren't allowed to have a camera, but what I saw inside was incredibly eye opening. And I'll have some more details; we have a special report coming up at seven o'clock Eastern Time. We will look inside this process, what has gone so wrong.

I've got some examples that make you want to throw up your arms in frustration, and there are others that just make you want to cry all over again.

COOPER: All right. Hillary Lane, thanks very much for being with us this morning.

Well, just ahead, the cost of terror may soon hurt us all as insurance companies rush to cover every potential terrorist target. And, a tribute to those lost in the World Trade Center. The Queen Elizabeth II cruise liner stops and performs a solemn tribute off the shores of ground zero.

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