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American Morning

Flooding Continues in Midwest; Interview with Eric Washburn

Aired May 16, 2002 - 07:08   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We turn our attention now to the Midwest. Flooding continues to raise river levels and ravage communities. So far, at least nine deaths are blamed on flooding in Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. Many roads are under water, as seen here in Crystal City, Missouri, and residents there are struggling to shore up businesses and homes.

Now, the danger comes later today. That is when the Mississippi River is expected to crest, and that is where we go to CNN's Jeff Flock, who is standing by in St. Louis. He joins us now with the very latest. Boy, Jeff, you can't even see the base of the arches there behind you -- good morning.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know -- good morning to you. A lot of water here. Of course, it's not like '93, but still kind of a mess. Perhaps you see behind me, this is one of the casino boats that have now been closed. You know, you'd think if it's a boat, you don't have to worry about it closing. But it gets so high, that people really can't access it.

If you're able to see off in the distance, I don't know if you can see, Paula, the valet stand there, water about halfway up through that. That is where you would drive up typically and park your car. So you can tell how much water is out there.

The other danger that we begin to get in a river level at this level is the debris that's coming down. I think we've got another camera that maybe gives you a picture of the debris pile that has now built up this casino boat. And that's what happens. You get logs. You get sometimes propane tanks, all sorts of things that come on down the river, so that's another problem. I want to talk to the Coast Guard about that in just a moment.

And the other thing I want to show you is that when you do get these high river levels, you know, it's called the Big Muddy anyway, but, Rick (ph), if you are able to get right down in the water there, maybe you see that it is pretty muddy. And so far, the floodwaters are fairly fresh, and that means it's, you know, as clean as possible, but the longer that the river level stays up high, the longer you're going to get a lot of dirty water out there.

And you know, maybe we can see on yet another camera, and that is at this level, how quickly the river rushes. And you know, right now with the debris in it, and you know, I think we might even have -- let me see. Are we even able to see a towboat? You know, I'm going to ask the Coast Guard to come in here, and then maybe we can see this towboat coming through.

I've got Eric Washburn, U.S. Coast Guard. Commander Washburn, I think I see a towboat coming through there. Have you got restrictions out here right now?

COMMANDER ERIC WASHBURN, U.S. COAST GUARD: Yes, we do. For nighttime ops, it's only southbound cannot operate. Also, all vessels operating in the harbor have to reach a certain horsepower in order to operate, because of the high water.

FLOCK: Right. And you know, we were talking about the crest today, give me the very latest that you know. Is it still cresting today in St. Louis, and at what level, and where does that take us from where we are right now?

WASHBURN: Right now, the prediction is for the water to crest at 37.6 feet. That will be between noontime and 2:00 p.m. today. And then, we have rain forecast for today through Saturday, and that will keep the water level up. Now, we may not reach the record levels of 1993, but with the rain, it may keep it from falling very quickly.

FLOCK: Got you. So, Paula, that's the deal. It looks like it's not going to come anywhere near '93, but if what he is saying is correct, we'll get some more rise on the river, but at that point unless there is a whole lot more rain that we don't think is going to come, you won't get significant rise beyond where we are right now -- Paula.

ZAHN: Boy, what a mess though there this morning. Jeff, if you would, we're going to take a shot now of what the arches look like with the water up eight feet above flood-stage levels. What are they dealing with around this famous site?

FLOCK: Yes, that's a good question. You know, I'm going to put that to the Coast Guard also. And in terms of down at the arch, you've got water coming up on the steps. And that's not something you typically like to have.

WASHBURN: No, absolutely not. That's not an every day occurrence. The spring floods do come every year. The Coast Guard trains for this. We have our disaster response units out working with the state and local officials. As debris comes down the river, things like propane tanks, gasoline tanks, and as people if they are stranded in their homes, the Coast Guard can bring out the disaster response units to bring them to safety. We also deliver food, water and medicine working with the Red Cross to people stranded.

FLOCK: And in some ways downtown with the arch, I mean that's almost just -- that's almost the best of it, because there is not really anything to damage there. You've got that area sort of ready for floods to come up to a certain level. It's not like people live down there or anything.

WASHBURN: Correct. As you can see from right here, that street to the arch is flooded, so the industry along the river front is closed, the small passenger vessel operators, the casino boats. So there are not a lot of people down around the water front right now.

FLOCK: Right. And as we look, I mean, I think we are even able to see debris sort of floating on down the river. I mean, you've got to deal with that. You told me what did you have to pick up a big gas tank or something that was out there yesterday?

WASHBURN: Yes, yesterday morning, a 5,000 gallon gasoline tank was discovered just up the river in Grafton, Illinois. And the local fire department corralled it and brought it to shore. But those are the type of hazards that are out there, and that's why we have these vessel restrictions, because it's a real safety issue for the people operating on the river.

FLOCK: And at what level -- just maybe the last question here as we watch this tow coming past us right over your shoulder here, at what level would you consider closing the Mississippi? And boy, you know, look at how that's pushing water. I guess that's the thing. When you get this high river level, it's really pushing against a lot of water there, isn't it?

WASHBURN: Yes. It's pushing a lot of water. At 38 feet, I review the River Crisis Action Plan. That's a plan developed by the Coast Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers and the river industry. But what that does is let people know at what stages I'm going to enforce certain restrictions.

FLOCK: So another half a foot and you start to get serious about it.

WASHBURN: Right. It will be especially daytime only for all operations, no nighttime ops at all.

FLOCK: Got you. Commander, I appreciate it. Thanks for the time. I want to let you get back to it -- appreciate it very much.

That's the latest, Paula. Of course, we are going to continue to watch it and hope it doesn't rain too hard on us today -- back to you.

ZAHN: Yes, I hope that predicted rain holds and you don't get any more than that. Thank you, Jeff, for that live report.

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