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American Morning
Newton, Mississippi Still a Mess
Aired December 20, 2002 - 08:16 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, in the words of Newton, Mississippi's mayor, his community is still a mess. A tornado yesterday afternoon ripping through that town in the middle of the afternoon, causing major damage to the business district.
Father, Reverend George Smith is a reverend in that town and he experienced this firsthand, and, so, too, did two members of his family.
And the Reverend George Smith is live this morning in Newton.
Good morning, Reverend.
How are you today?
REV. GEORGE SMITH, TORNADO SURVIVOR: Good morning.
I'm doing fine. And you?
HEMMER: Yes, I'm doing just fine.
Thanks for being with us.
Tell us about your story. You were at home at the time? What happened?
SMITH: Well, I was at home at the time and the lights were blinking so I had turned the TV to, I had it on on channel then I turned it to 11 to see if I could get a weather report because normally they do that out of Meridian, WTLK. And I couldn't get any weather. But my, one of the daughters that was at home had told me they had a tornado warning. So I was cooking some greens. So I went to the stove and I heard a train. And when I heard the train I opened the back window and when I opened the window I couldn't see it. And I was hoping that it would blow, because normally I could hear it. The track is about 150 yards from my house. And it never blew.
I said now the train need to blow. So I went to the front door and when I got to the front door the phone rang. And my son called. And he said daddy, had you heard from Denise? I said no, why am I supposed to hear from her? He said because a tornado just hit Wal- Mart and Lazy-Boy. And I asked him, I said, well, are you all right? He said yes.
So I got my keys and I started to Wal-Mart. And on the way to Wal-Mart I saw all these cars and everything and I got almost 100 yards and I couldn't get to Wal-Mart. So what I did, I stopped my truck, got out of the truck and started running to Wal-Mart to see what was going on, because I was worried about her. And at the time I saw her coming out of the driveway in her car and she waved. And I was so excited. And all I could say was thank you lord.
And after that, she had motioned for me to follow her. So I went back and got in the truck and went home and after I got home and she had told me what happened, that she was in the back in sporting goods and saw the tornado coming through the front glass. Well, it hit the front glass, she said, shattered and she said the only thing that she could do was hit the floor. She said she hit the floor and by the time she got on the floor good, it was all over.
HEMMER: Wow.
SMITH: And my son was telling me about what happened at Lazy- Boy. And he had told me that at Lazy-Boy, some of the chairs moved and the top was off and on yesterday evening we went to look to see, but we couldn't hardly get around to actually see most of the damage. But we saw a lot of the damage, a lot of trees down, and big pines on top of houses and things of that nature.
But we were blessed, not only my family, but the whole city of Newton was blessed...
HEMMER: Yes, well, that is so true. Very true.
So your son Duane's (ph) at the Lazy-Boy. Your daughter's at the Wal-Mart. You're at home. Three different locations.
SMITH: Right.
HEMMER: One family.
SMITH: Right.
HEMMER: And you come out unscathed. And as you say, you, indeed, are blessed just five days before Christmas.
SMITH: Right. Right. Yes.
HEMMER: How's the town look today? Have you gotten out and about? Have you seen the damage?
SMITH: Well, I've gotten out, no more, no farther than Wal-Mart. But from what I could see from yesterday, they have cleaned up quite a bit. But there's a lot more that has to be cleaned up. There's a lot of trees yet down and the traffic has started moving a little bit better than it was yesterday, because yesterday it was almost at a standstill. But today, it's moving pretty well today. But on yesterday, we was almost at a standstill.
HEMMER: Well, listen, good luck getting back on your feet. And it's great to see you up and moving. And best to Duane and Denise, OK?
SMITH: All right, thank you. HEMMER: The Reverend George Smith in Newton, Mississippi from yesterday. What a story he has to tell.
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 December 20, 2002 - 08:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, in the words of Newton, Mississippi's mayor, his community is still a mess. A tornado yesterday afternoon ripping through that town in the middle of the afternoon, causing major damage to the business district.
Father, Reverend George Smith is a reverend in that town and he experienced this firsthand, and, so, too, did two members of his family.
And the Reverend George Smith is live this morning in Newton.
Good morning, Reverend.
How are you today?
REV. GEORGE SMITH, TORNADO SURVIVOR: Good morning.
I'm doing fine. And you?
HEMMER: Yes, I'm doing just fine.
Thanks for being with us.
Tell us about your story. You were at home at the time? What happened?
SMITH: Well, I was at home at the time and the lights were blinking so I had turned the TV to, I had it on on channel then I turned it to 11 to see if I could get a weather report because normally they do that out of Meridian, WTLK. And I couldn't get any weather. But my, one of the daughters that was at home had told me they had a tornado warning. So I was cooking some greens. So I went to the stove and I heard a train. And when I heard the train I opened the back window and when I opened the window I couldn't see it. And I was hoping that it would blow, because normally I could hear it. The track is about 150 yards from my house. And it never blew.
I said now the train need to blow. So I went to the front door and when I got to the front door the phone rang. And my son called. And he said daddy, had you heard from Denise? I said no, why am I supposed to hear from her? He said because a tornado just hit Wal- Mart and Lazy-Boy. And I asked him, I said, well, are you all right? He said yes.
So I got my keys and I started to Wal-Mart. And on the way to Wal-Mart I saw all these cars and everything and I got almost 100 yards and I couldn't get to Wal-Mart. So what I did, I stopped my truck, got out of the truck and started running to Wal-Mart to see what was going on, because I was worried about her. And at the time I saw her coming out of the driveway in her car and she waved. And I was so excited. And all I could say was thank you lord.
And after that, she had motioned for me to follow her. So I went back and got in the truck and went home and after I got home and she had told me what happened, that she was in the back in sporting goods and saw the tornado coming through the front glass. Well, it hit the front glass, she said, shattered and she said the only thing that she could do was hit the floor. She said she hit the floor and by the time she got on the floor good, it was all over.
HEMMER: Wow.
SMITH: And my son was telling me about what happened at Lazy- Boy. And he had told me that at Lazy-Boy, some of the chairs moved and the top was off and on yesterday evening we went to look to see, but we couldn't hardly get around to actually see most of the damage. But we saw a lot of the damage, a lot of trees down, and big pines on top of houses and things of that nature.
But we were blessed, not only my family, but the whole city of Newton was blessed...
HEMMER: Yes, well, that is so true. Very true.
So your son Duane's (ph) at the Lazy-Boy. Your daughter's at the Wal-Mart. You're at home. Three different locations.
SMITH: Right.
HEMMER: One family.
SMITH: Right.
HEMMER: And you come out unscathed. And as you say, you, indeed, are blessed just five days before Christmas.
SMITH: Right. Right. Yes.
HEMMER: How's the town look today? Have you gotten out and about? Have you seen the damage?
SMITH: Well, I've gotten out, no more, no farther than Wal-Mart. But from what I could see from yesterday, they have cleaned up quite a bit. But there's a lot more that has to be cleaned up. There's a lot of trees yet down and the traffic has started moving a little bit better than it was yesterday, because yesterday it was almost at a standstill. But today, it's moving pretty well today. But on yesterday, we was almost at a standstill.
HEMMER: Well, listen, good luck getting back on your feet. And it's great to see you up and moving. And best to Duane and Denise, OK?
SMITH: All right, thank you. HEMMER: The Reverend George Smith in Newton, Mississippi from yesterday. What a story he has to tell.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
