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CNN Live At Daybreak

Ohioans Recovering from Deadly Storms

Aired November 12, 2002 - 06:37   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.


CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Jeff Flock is in Van Wert County. That's the hardest-hit area of Ohio, where people there are trying to get back on their feet.
Jeff -- what's the situation this morning? I know there are so many incredible stories of survival from your area.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You said it, and this was the scene -- or one of them, Catherine. You know, we showed you the movie theater earlier, and I heard you and Chad talking about those weather radios. That's what saved them over there.

But over here, fortunately they say, it was on a Sunday. You know, this is the industrial park. This is a trucking company and business here -- a warehouse business. Fortunately, they say, Sunday, so nobody was here.

Not quite nobody, though. We talked to one man who was in a truck out behind where we stand here right now, when the twister came on him. He said he thought he was in the "Wizard of Oz."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FLOCK (voice-over): That's Ethan Burke's steering wheel; that's his truck after the ride.

ETHAN BURKE, STORM SURVIVOR: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) haven't got anything over that ride, and I've rode bulls and I've rode rodeo stock horses and everything else, and none of them has got rides like this that have gotten on me (ph).

FLOCK: It all started over by the loading dock at the industrial park in Van Wert. It got dark and windy.

BURKE: And I heard objects hitting the side of my truck on the driver's side, and I looked out the driver's window, and there was a funnel, and it raised my pickup truck up, and it went to the height of the door.

FLOCK: That's his own pickup back there, which was parked nearby. He was in the big rig, not big enough.

BURKE: It grabbed the trailer and started dragging us backwards, and then it just started in a circular motion. And I just grabbed ahold of the shoulder harness and crossed it (ph) across both of my arms and closed my eyes, and as we were spinning, I felt the windshield coming in on top of me. FLOCK: This is what it looked like when it was done -- both his trucks rolled, clipped, twisted. Others nearby looked the same. But no one else rode out the tornado inside. He walked away with just a few cuts.

BURKE: I love both of them trucks, and that old gal has got me down the road a lot of times, and you know, sort of hung on to me. It definitely protected me yesterday and saved my life as far as I'm concerned.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLOCK: Five people dead in this county, Catherine, in Ohio, but the bigger stories of survival.

That's the latest from here -- back to you.

CALLAWAY: And looking at what was left of his rig, his truck, it's amazing that he did survive. And no injuries?

FLOCK: Isn't that something.

CALLAWAY: Did he have any injuries at all?

FLOCK: He had a few little cuts. You know, he said he covered his eyes and sort of covered himself this way -- just some cuts -- just some cuts from the glass.

CALLAWAY: Wow! It's amazing. All right, thank you, Jeff.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.






Aired November 12, 2002 - 06:37   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Jeff Flock is in Van Wert County. That's the hardest-hit area of Ohio, where people there are trying to get back on their feet.
Jeff -- what's the situation this morning? I know there are so many incredible stories of survival from your area.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You said it, and this was the scene -- or one of them, Catherine. You know, we showed you the movie theater earlier, and I heard you and Chad talking about those weather radios. That's what saved them over there.

But over here, fortunately they say, it was on a Sunday. You know, this is the industrial park. This is a trucking company and business here -- a warehouse business. Fortunately, they say, Sunday, so nobody was here.

Not quite nobody, though. We talked to one man who was in a truck out behind where we stand here right now, when the twister came on him. He said he thought he was in the "Wizard of Oz."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FLOCK (voice-over): That's Ethan Burke's steering wheel; that's his truck after the ride.

ETHAN BURKE, STORM SURVIVOR: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) haven't got anything over that ride, and I've rode bulls and I've rode rodeo stock horses and everything else, and none of them has got rides like this that have gotten on me (ph).

FLOCK: It all started over by the loading dock at the industrial park in Van Wert. It got dark and windy.

BURKE: And I heard objects hitting the side of my truck on the driver's side, and I looked out the driver's window, and there was a funnel, and it raised my pickup truck up, and it went to the height of the door.

FLOCK: That's his own pickup back there, which was parked nearby. He was in the big rig, not big enough.

BURKE: It grabbed the trailer and started dragging us backwards, and then it just started in a circular motion. And I just grabbed ahold of the shoulder harness and crossed it (ph) across both of my arms and closed my eyes, and as we were spinning, I felt the windshield coming in on top of me. FLOCK: This is what it looked like when it was done -- both his trucks rolled, clipped, twisted. Others nearby looked the same. But no one else rode out the tornado inside. He walked away with just a few cuts.

BURKE: I love both of them trucks, and that old gal has got me down the road a lot of times, and you know, sort of hung on to me. It definitely protected me yesterday and saved my life as far as I'm concerned.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLOCK: Five people dead in this county, Catherine, in Ohio, but the bigger stories of survival.

That's the latest from here -- back to you.

CALLAWAY: And looking at what was left of his rig, his truck, it's amazing that he did survive. And no injuries?

FLOCK: Isn't that something.

CALLAWAY: Did he have any injuries at all?

FLOCK: He had a few little cuts. You know, he said he covered his eyes and sort of covered himself this way -- just some cuts -- just some cuts from the glass.

CALLAWAY: Wow! It's amazing. All right, thank you, Jeff.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.