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Scott Davis of Red Cross Discusses Tennessee Tornadoes

Aired November 12, 2002 - 11:40   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.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Back now to those massive tornadoes that we talked about so much yesterday. At one point, as many as 150 people were missing in Mossy Grove, Tennessee, but the good news this morning is that all but one has been located, merely displaced by all the chaos and destruction that left at least eight people there dead. So now the focus turns to the living.
And joining us to discuss the aid and recovery efforts is Scott Davis. He's with the American Red Cross.

Good morning, Scott. How are you?

SCOTT DAVIS, AMERICAN RED CROSS: Good morning. Almost afternoon.

HARRIS: Exactly. We're getting close to that, close upon it right about now. So how do things look, from your perspective this morning there in Mossy Grove?

DAVIS: You know, it's quite interesting. You know, the sun's coming out right now. And as we go on throughout the day, you've shown on your other segments on your show that more and more people are starting to come out, which is not unusual at this time of the point in disaster. More family and friends have more accessibility to come into the area and help these people out, to go through some of their belongings and things of that nature, and try to figure out what's important to keep right now and what can we even salvage.

HARRIS: If you're with the Red Cross and you happen to be there and, say, you're standing in front of a destroyed home and the family comes back for the first time, they just walk up and they see it for the first time, what do you, as a Red Cross worker, do or say?

DAVIS: You know, that's a great question. And you know, what do you say? You have to take everything on a case by case. You know, sometimes they want to talk to you, sometimes they don't want to talk to you. They might be in shock or whatever the case may be or some type of displacement, and it's a delicate situation.

The great thing, what happens here in this community, is they have such a great inter-network of family and friends. I've been speaking with some disaster victims today already, and they're more worried about their family and friends and their neighbors than they are their own stuff, so to speak.

HARRIS: Yes, we've heard that. DAVIS: So we're going -- yes, well -- and trying to do what we can to either help them in the best way that we can, through Disaster Services of the Red Cross, and that is by providing mobile canteening. We have our emergency response vehicles driving up and down the streets, providing meals and refreshments and things of that nature.

On disasters like this in the past, depending on what's dictated and what's needed in the community, we've opened up emergency aid stations where, if you cut your finger, or whatever the case may be, you can go see a nurse or you can even speak with a disaster mental health worker. So we're trying to provide services right here in the field for these people.

HARRIS: Yes. And you've got quite a bit to do there. Well, let me ask you, how long does the Red Cross dig in for a mission like this? A little while ago, we heard Miles O'Brien talking to a lady who said that every time she hears a noise now, she's immediately afraid and she has some sort of reaction, just because of what she's been through. She's afraid that any noise might be another tragedy coming. How long would a Red Cross service or any kind of service have to stick around to help people like that?

DAVIS: Well, you know, the great thing is is the Red Cross is in every community across the United States, well before a disaster happens. And we have a system in place, whenever a disaster exceeds the capabilities of the local chapter, we can send in additional supplies of equipment and even resources like the great trained volunteers that we use on disasters such as this.

We can scale that back, as soon as the operation can be turned back over to a local operation to where it doesn't inundate the local chapter of the American Red Cross, where these people still go to donate blood, take disaster training and CPR and first-aid classes. So we're here to give them a hand. That's why we have people, such as myself, all across the United States here to help.

HARRIS: All right. Good deal. We're watching and we sure hope you get as much help as you need to help those people, Scott. Scott Davis with the American Red Cross, out there...

DAVIS: Thank you.

HARRIS: ...doing some good work this morning. Good luck, Scott. Take care.

DAVIS: Thank you very much.

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 - 11:40   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Back now to those massive tornadoes that we talked about so much yesterday. At one point, as many as 150 people were missing in Mossy Grove, Tennessee, but the good news this morning is that all but one has been located, merely displaced by all the chaos and destruction that left at least eight people there dead. So now the focus turns to the living.
And joining us to discuss the aid and recovery efforts is Scott Davis. He's with the American Red Cross.

Good morning, Scott. How are you?

SCOTT DAVIS, AMERICAN RED CROSS: Good morning. Almost afternoon.

HARRIS: Exactly. We're getting close to that, close upon it right about now. So how do things look, from your perspective this morning there in Mossy Grove?

DAVIS: You know, it's quite interesting. You know, the sun's coming out right now. And as we go on throughout the day, you've shown on your other segments on your show that more and more people are starting to come out, which is not unusual at this time of the point in disaster. More family and friends have more accessibility to come into the area and help these people out, to go through some of their belongings and things of that nature, and try to figure out what's important to keep right now and what can we even salvage.

HARRIS: If you're with the Red Cross and you happen to be there and, say, you're standing in front of a destroyed home and the family comes back for the first time, they just walk up and they see it for the first time, what do you, as a Red Cross worker, do or say?

DAVIS: You know, that's a great question. And you know, what do you say? You have to take everything on a case by case. You know, sometimes they want to talk to you, sometimes they don't want to talk to you. They might be in shock or whatever the case may be or some type of displacement, and it's a delicate situation.

The great thing, what happens here in this community, is they have such a great inter-network of family and friends. I've been speaking with some disaster victims today already, and they're more worried about their family and friends and their neighbors than they are their own stuff, so to speak.

HARRIS: Yes, we've heard that. DAVIS: So we're going -- yes, well -- and trying to do what we can to either help them in the best way that we can, through Disaster Services of the Red Cross, and that is by providing mobile canteening. We have our emergency response vehicles driving up and down the streets, providing meals and refreshments and things of that nature.

On disasters like this in the past, depending on what's dictated and what's needed in the community, we've opened up emergency aid stations where, if you cut your finger, or whatever the case may be, you can go see a nurse or you can even speak with a disaster mental health worker. So we're trying to provide services right here in the field for these people.

HARRIS: Yes. And you've got quite a bit to do there. Well, let me ask you, how long does the Red Cross dig in for a mission like this? A little while ago, we heard Miles O'Brien talking to a lady who said that every time she hears a noise now, she's immediately afraid and she has some sort of reaction, just because of what she's been through. She's afraid that any noise might be another tragedy coming. How long would a Red Cross service or any kind of service have to stick around to help people like that?

DAVIS: Well, you know, the great thing is is the Red Cross is in every community across the United States, well before a disaster happens. And we have a system in place, whenever a disaster exceeds the capabilities of the local chapter, we can send in additional supplies of equipment and even resources like the great trained volunteers that we use on disasters such as this.

We can scale that back, as soon as the operation can be turned back over to a local operation to where it doesn't inundate the local chapter of the American Red Cross, where these people still go to donate blood, take disaster training and CPR and first-aid classes. So we're here to give them a hand. That's why we have people, such as myself, all across the United States here to help.

HARRIS: All right. Good deal. We're watching and we sure hope you get as much help as you need to help those people, Scott. Scott Davis with the American Red Cross, out there...

DAVIS: Thank you.

HARRIS: ...doing some good work this morning. Good luck, Scott. Take care.

DAVIS: Thank you very much.

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