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CNN Live Today

Assessing Damage in Tennessee

Aired November 12, 2002 - 11:16   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And now to the devastation after the storms. From the South to the Great Lakes today, people are beginning the long process of rebuilding their lives torn apart by an outbreak of tornadoes. More than 70 twisters touched down, killing at least 36 people in five states.
Our Miles O'Brien is at one of the hardest areas, the tiny town of Mossy Grove, Tennessee.

Miles, hello.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, I'm standing in a field of destruction and death, and the day after the day after has been marked by a lot of significant efforts to try to pick up the pieces. This tiny little community, not even a town, has about 20 homes or had about 20 homes. Now about a dozen less because of the damage caused by the tornado.

Tina Freels (ph) is among the victims of this.

Tina (ph), good to have you with us.

First of all this is your car right here. Where was it, and how did it get here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was way up there by the side of the house, and it ended up all the way here. I don't know how it got here. I guess it just tossed, flew up in the air a little ways.

O'BRIEN: So your house is over there. It's hard to see, but there's nothing much left but a foundation. You can see some furniture standing there, but there's no walls left, and you, your husband, your daughter, and your mother-in-law were all inside there. Just tell us how you managed to be standing here today to tell us this story?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know. I guess God, that's all I can say. We started hearing the rain, it started getting real bad, and we ran in the house, and my husband told us to jump in the bathtub. And as soon as we got in there, stuck our feet in the bathtub, the lights went out. And we didn't even have time to get in the bathtub. My husband could not get in there. He lay down besides the bath tub. And we heard a roar and glass and wind, and we got tossed around. And we got threw up in the air and I knew that when we landed -- it was dark, we couldn't see where we was -- when (UNINTELLIGIBLE) landed we would probably be dead. But when we landed, the house was on top of us. And my husband, I was screaming for him, we didn't know where he was, and he wouldn't answer. And finally for seems -- I don't know how long, he finally answered. And we thought he was dead. And if it wasn't for him, you know, knowing that we were there, I don't know if they would have found us or not. It was really scary.

O'BRIEN: You were suspended in mid-air not knowing where you were -- it was dark and suddenly landing. As you look at this, it's pretty astounding that you were able to survive. All four of you walked away bumped, scraped, and bruised, but otherwise no worse for the wear.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, we're -- we're lucky to be alive. We just -- I don't know, it's hard to believe. I mean somebody you seen on TV, and you know, you can't really imagine what it's like until you lived it. And it's the scariest thing you ever live in your life. I mean, I never want to live through an experience like this again. I never -- it's terrible.

O'BRIEN: What's next for you? What about insurance? You said you only had liability on this, your husband's tricked-out cherry 1970 Dodge Challenger, totaled. No insurance there, the Dodge truck there, that doesn't look good either. And the house. How will you rebuild?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know. We had the house insurance, and hopefully, you know, that -- it'll help, I hope so. It's just kind of hard to be able -- I don't know if I can handle leaving here or not. It's just -- I still have nightmares over it. It's just -- it's just hard. It's going to be hard if we do build back here, it's going to be hard living here. It just really is because you're going to wonder, is it going to happen again, you know? And every time, you know, right now, every time you hear a noise or something other, you're terrified. It's something that -- I don't know, it's hard to explain.

O'BRIEN: Just tell us -- point out the landscape here. We see a lot of debris. You know where there were formerly houses. That one over there, was that where some of the people were killed?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The one way up there at the top where the maroon truck is, in green, that was a house, and some people got killed in that house. OK, there was a trailer beside of us it just picked it up on its foundation, took it all the way over here. And there is another trailer there, it took it, it's gone. And there's another trailer there, and it's gone. And there's another trailer there, and it's gone. We don't know where they're at. And some of our stuff ended up in Petros, Tennessee.

O'BRIEN: That's how far away Petros is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, some our stuff ended up there.

O'BRIEN: Another town. Tina Freels (ph), we wish you well, we wish your family well. And there's your son's car there, the blue one over there. I don't know if you can see that way in that blue vehicle over there.

Anyway, that's the scene of destruction here. We're down to one person missing, unaccounted for. Daryn, we're told that's probably just a matter of miscommunication at this juncture. But in this tiny little place, seven confirmed fatalities, a rescue worker died trying to help them out. Tremendous destruction, and injury and death when you consider the size of this small community.

LEON HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Incredible stories, absolutely incredible stories there.

KAGAN: Miles, thank you for that.

HARRIS: Miles, before I let you go -- I guess we can't get back to Miles.

Let me ask, if you can, the lady who told you that some of their stuff ended up in that other town, how far away was that town?

O'BRIEN: How far away is Petros, Tina?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't exactly know. It's down that way, I don't really...

O'BRIEN: About three miles we think, is roughly. And the interesting thing is there's stuff here from Harriman, which is another five, ten miles. They found some stuff from Harriman here. So the stuff got transported all over the place. It's an astounding thought to think their stuff was blown that far -- Leon.

HARRIS: That's amazing, particularly when they said that the tornado may have only traveled one mile, and the debris may have gone five times that. It's amazing. Absolutely amazing.

Thanks, Miles.

Miles O'Brien, live in Mossy Grove, Tennessee.

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 - 11:16   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And now to the devastation after the storms. From the South to the Great Lakes today, people are beginning the long process of rebuilding their lives torn apart by an outbreak of tornadoes. More than 70 twisters touched down, killing at least 36 people in five states.
Our Miles O'Brien is at one of the hardest areas, the tiny town of Mossy Grove, Tennessee.

Miles, hello.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, I'm standing in a field of destruction and death, and the day after the day after has been marked by a lot of significant efforts to try to pick up the pieces. This tiny little community, not even a town, has about 20 homes or had about 20 homes. Now about a dozen less because of the damage caused by the tornado.

Tina Freels (ph) is among the victims of this.

Tina (ph), good to have you with us.

First of all this is your car right here. Where was it, and how did it get here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was way up there by the side of the house, and it ended up all the way here. I don't know how it got here. I guess it just tossed, flew up in the air a little ways.

O'BRIEN: So your house is over there. It's hard to see, but there's nothing much left but a foundation. You can see some furniture standing there, but there's no walls left, and you, your husband, your daughter, and your mother-in-law were all inside there. Just tell us how you managed to be standing here today to tell us this story?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know. I guess God, that's all I can say. We started hearing the rain, it started getting real bad, and we ran in the house, and my husband told us to jump in the bathtub. And as soon as we got in there, stuck our feet in the bathtub, the lights went out. And we didn't even have time to get in the bathtub. My husband could not get in there. He lay down besides the bath tub. And we heard a roar and glass and wind, and we got tossed around. And we got threw up in the air and I knew that when we landed -- it was dark, we couldn't see where we was -- when (UNINTELLIGIBLE) landed we would probably be dead. But when we landed, the house was on top of us. And my husband, I was screaming for him, we didn't know where he was, and he wouldn't answer. And finally for seems -- I don't know how long, he finally answered. And we thought he was dead. And if it wasn't for him, you know, knowing that we were there, I don't know if they would have found us or not. It was really scary.

O'BRIEN: You were suspended in mid-air not knowing where you were -- it was dark and suddenly landing. As you look at this, it's pretty astounding that you were able to survive. All four of you walked away bumped, scraped, and bruised, but otherwise no worse for the wear.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, we're -- we're lucky to be alive. We just -- I don't know, it's hard to believe. I mean somebody you seen on TV, and you know, you can't really imagine what it's like until you lived it. And it's the scariest thing you ever live in your life. I mean, I never want to live through an experience like this again. I never -- it's terrible.

O'BRIEN: What's next for you? What about insurance? You said you only had liability on this, your husband's tricked-out cherry 1970 Dodge Challenger, totaled. No insurance there, the Dodge truck there, that doesn't look good either. And the house. How will you rebuild?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know. We had the house insurance, and hopefully, you know, that -- it'll help, I hope so. It's just kind of hard to be able -- I don't know if I can handle leaving here or not. It's just -- I still have nightmares over it. It's just -- it's just hard. It's going to be hard if we do build back here, it's going to be hard living here. It just really is because you're going to wonder, is it going to happen again, you know? And every time, you know, right now, every time you hear a noise or something other, you're terrified. It's something that -- I don't know, it's hard to explain.

O'BRIEN: Just tell us -- point out the landscape here. We see a lot of debris. You know where there were formerly houses. That one over there, was that where some of the people were killed?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The one way up there at the top where the maroon truck is, in green, that was a house, and some people got killed in that house. OK, there was a trailer beside of us it just picked it up on its foundation, took it all the way over here. And there is another trailer there, it took it, it's gone. And there's another trailer there, and it's gone. And there's another trailer there, and it's gone. We don't know where they're at. And some of our stuff ended up in Petros, Tennessee.

O'BRIEN: That's how far away Petros is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, some our stuff ended up there.

O'BRIEN: Another town. Tina Freels (ph), we wish you well, we wish your family well. And there's your son's car there, the blue one over there. I don't know if you can see that way in that blue vehicle over there.

Anyway, that's the scene of destruction here. We're down to one person missing, unaccounted for. Daryn, we're told that's probably just a matter of miscommunication at this juncture. But in this tiny little place, seven confirmed fatalities, a rescue worker died trying to help them out. Tremendous destruction, and injury and death when you consider the size of this small community.

LEON HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Incredible stories, absolutely incredible stories there.

KAGAN: Miles, thank you for that.

HARRIS: Miles, before I let you go -- I guess we can't get back to Miles.

Let me ask, if you can, the lady who told you that some of their stuff ended up in that other town, how far away was that town?

O'BRIEN: How far away is Petros, Tina?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't exactly know. It's down that way, I don't really...

O'BRIEN: About three miles we think, is roughly. And the interesting thing is there's stuff here from Harriman, which is another five, ten miles. They found some stuff from Harriman here. So the stuff got transported all over the place. It's an astounding thought to think their stuff was blown that far -- Leon.

HARRIS: That's amazing, particularly when they said that the tornado may have only traveled one mile, and the debris may have gone five times that. It's amazing. Absolutely amazing.

Thanks, Miles.

Miles O'Brien, live in Mossy Grove, Tennessee.

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