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CNN Live At Daybreak

Interview With Carolyn Nordell

Aired September 09, 2002 - 06:06   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Strange doings in Utah, a tornado touches down and causes all kinds of damage.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Manti, Utah. In fact, I have a satellite picture and a radar picture that I'll show you.

The severe thunderstorm watch that was in effect just basically just expired a couple of hours ago. All of this moisture coming out of the West, coming out of the Gulf of California, really, and then spinning on up here. A huge trough in the West and that -- kind of that funnel of moisture -- here it is right now, all the way now from east of Vegas, right through Phoenix, Albuquerque, and even to Santa Fe. In the first frames, you can see that yellow box, a severe thunderstorm watch box was posted until just a couple of hours ago for most of Utah.

Well, yesterday, it was something a whole lot worse than that. In fact, it was a tornado warning.

And the words of folks -- someone we have on the phone right now, she said, "like opening a can of sardines," the words of Carolyn Nordell from Manti.

Carolyn, are you there this morning?

CAROLYN NORDELL, MANTI, UTAH: Yes, I am.

MYERS: I guess you saw this entire thing happen, huh?

NORDELL: I did. I watched it out my south window.

MYERS: Describe how it started, and what you saw.

NORDELL: Well, I had been kind of watching the sky. I had lived in Denver for a while, and so I was kind of used to the sky when it would get ready for a tornado. And I was watching it, and I was thinking, that sure looks like a tornado sky, you know, the flat (ph) with the dark.

MYERS: Right.

NORDELL: And then, it starts to hail, and the hail -- oh, it was thereabout a 50-cent piece, apricot-sized.

MYERS: Wow!

NORDELL: And they're coming down pretty hard. MYERS: Yes.

NORDELL: And so, I'm looking out there, and I'm thinking, oh, it's going to ruin my car. And the next thing I know is I hear sirens, and I look out the window again, and I see this great, big dust storm coming from the south towards the north, and I'm thinking, boy, that's a big dust storm. All of a sudden, this dust storm is going in a circular motion.

MYERS: Wow! Carolyn, how close was it to your house at that point?

NORDELL: About two blocks.

MYERS: Oh, my goodness!

NORDELL: And so, anyway, I'm watching this big, gold (ph) circular dust cloud going towards a lumber company that's just about two blocks from my house, and it was just -- it was like watching a Discovery Channel special on tornados the way it just took that building apart. You know, it just peeled the aluminum off the top, and...

MYERS: Well, now, you know that wasn't a dust storm, right?

NORDELL: Yes, yes.

MYERS: Yes, exactly. In fact, that was the beginning of the tornado. Before the tornado actually picked up all the dust and made the funnel cloud that you could see so clearly, it was just spinning all the way to the ground, but no one could actually see it. It looked just like a funnel, but in fact, it was a tornado. And that's why it's so dangerous to be out there. Even if you're seeing just a funnel, it actually could be connected to the ground with the winds and you can't even tell.

Here is some of the damage that we're looking at now. This isn't your house, right?

NORDELL: Yes. No, no, that's not my house. It missed us by two or three blocks.

MYERS: Oh, my goodness.

NORDELL: It was pretty -- and then, I went running outside and watched it go past.

MYERS: Well, that's not good, my dear.

COSTELLO: Why didn't she go to the basement, Chad?

NORDELL: I thought about that, but you know, I just thought, OK, well, I'm not probably ever going to see a tornado again, and...

MYERS: And that's a good thing. Yes, don't get me wrong. So, everyone is OK in the town? We hear there were no significant injuries.

NORDELL: There were no injuries at all, which was a real blessing.

MYERS: Wow! A lot of folks cleaning up today?

NORDELL: Yes. Last night, just truck after truck of tree limbs and trees, and it was amazing.

MYERS: After living in Oklahoma and watching tornados touch down. What's the sound that you heard last night after the tornado went by?

NORDELL: Well, it was -- you know, it was really strange, because you could -- it sounded like a jet. It was just really loud, and it really wasn't jet -- you know, so much of a jet. It was a sound you just really couldn't describe.

MYERS: And then, did you hear chain saws all night?

NORDELL: No.

MYERS: No. Oh, good. Because that's the typical sound after a tornado is a chain saw...

NORDELL: No.

MYERS: ... because...

NORDELL: Well, yes, because people are cutting down the trees.

MYERS: Exactly. Exactly. Well, thank you very much.

NORDELL: Sure.

MYERS: Thanks for waking up so early with us this morning. It was a great interview.

NORDELL: Oh, no problem.

MYERS: All right, I'm glad you're safe.

NORDELL: No problem.

MYERS: The next time, if you ever do see one, go inside.

COSTELLO: In the basement, Carolyn.

NORDELL: OK.

MYERS: All right, thank you. Have a great day.

NORDELL: Thank you.

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