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CNN Live Today

Stories of Storms Survived in Midwest

Aired May 14, 2002 - 14:14   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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Thousands of people across the Midwest, keeping a close eye on the weather. Floodwaters still on the rise. And while the high water already is blamed for several deaths in the region, there are also some remarkable stories of survival.

Let's start in Hillsboro, Missouri, and John Mills, a reporter from our affiliate KMOV and the story there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN MILLS, CNN AFFILIATE KMOV REPORTER (voice-over): The unusual rescue in water-logged Hillsboro, where 53-year-old Linda Brewer screamed, then collapsed from a heart attack.

The only other person in the house was Brandon, her nine- year- old grandson, who called 911 and started CPR.

BRANDON: I already knew it. My grandpa taught me.

MILLS (on camera): Oh, really?

BRANDON: He taught me last year, and I never forget anything.

MILLS (voice-over): Flash-flooding was so severe, emergency crews could not reach the house. Brandon stayed with his grandmother and on the phone with rescuers until she could be reached.

BRANDON: You blow first, and then you push down as hard as you can, and then she started breathing just a little bit.

MILLS: Kenny Brewer is Brandon's uncle.

KENNY BREWER, BRANDON'S UNCLE: Oh, that was great. I love him. He saved my mom.

MILLS: Farther south, in St. Francis (ph) County, a different flood story with an emotional reunion between father and son.

Two 16-year-olds were on the flooded big river when their small John-boat capsized.

VIKKI BLUMENSTOCK, FAMILY FRIEND: If he's gone, he's going to be sadly missed, but yet he's headstrong strong. He's hanging on.

I met his mother for the first time. I told her, I said he is hanging someplace.

MILLS: Both teens swam to shore through the fast-moving water, but neither realized the other had survived until hours later.

ELSON GILE, FATHER: I'm just glad that nothing happened to either one of them, that they made it out safely, and I just hope this teaches all kids a lesson not to get in these swollen waters like this in a boat.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: John Mills, again, reporting from KMOV along the Mississippi River.

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