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American Morning
Slammed by Snow
Aired February 07, 2003 - 08:02 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: Want to get back to the snowstorm that's hitting the East Coast yet again today. Many school children thankful today in the D.C. area getting a three-day weekend as of today and commuters, though, having a tough time getting to work.
Kathleen Koch, yet again, live outside watching the snow come down.
Kathleen, good morning.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. And if you hear some roaring and beeping next to me, we've got a snowplow and a sand truck right over here next to me. So they're still working to keep these roads clear and the roads are looking pretty good here in D.C. now.
Congress is in session up on Capitol Hill, so they'll be conducting business today, though much of the federal government, while it will be open, many workers are being permitted to come in, arrive some two hours late. And if they simply can't make it in through all this snow, to take an unscheduled day off.
Now this snow, obviously, if you can see here, it's starting to slack off a little bit. It was much heavier earlier this morning and it's moving north. Baltimore has already gotten eight inches of snow. Still coming down pretty hard there. And then as you move north to Philadelphia, that area also getting socked by very heavy snow, closing schools there. School closures there a lot rarer than they are here in Washington, D.C. when the snow comes down.
Now we are here on The Mall in Washington, and it's a very beautiful, quiet and contemplative place when it snows. You don't have a lot of people out but some visitors. We still caught a couple going to the Vietnam Memorial. We've seen also some joggers coming up and down The Mall. Someone actually in shorts a little while ago, which was pretty surprising to us.
And we're not sure if what is going on weather wise is going to delay other planned events throughout the day. Of course here at NASA headquarters at 11:30 they're supposed to have a briefing on the Shuttle Columbia investigation. So we'll be checking in a little bit later and see if that's still on -- Bill.
HEMMER: Kathleen, on another note, a drought was hitting the D.C. area. At this point, does that look like it could be squelched?
KOCH: I think the drought is well taken care of, Bill. We have had over a foot of snow before this storm even started. We're going to be adding eight inches on top of that. So the drought is over, no more water restrictions and the well is not going to run dry.
HEMMER: Excellent. Thank you, Kathleen, enjoy it today and be safe out there. Kathleen Koch on The Mall in D.C.
KOCH: Sure will.
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 February 7, 2003 - 08:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Want to get back to the snowstorm that's hitting the East Coast yet again today. Many school children thankful today in the D.C. area getting a three-day weekend as of today and commuters, though, having a tough time getting to work.
Kathleen Koch, yet again, live outside watching the snow come down.
Kathleen, good morning.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. And if you hear some roaring and beeping next to me, we've got a snowplow and a sand truck right over here next to me. So they're still working to keep these roads clear and the roads are looking pretty good here in D.C. now.
Congress is in session up on Capitol Hill, so they'll be conducting business today, though much of the federal government, while it will be open, many workers are being permitted to come in, arrive some two hours late. And if they simply can't make it in through all this snow, to take an unscheduled day off.
Now this snow, obviously, if you can see here, it's starting to slack off a little bit. It was much heavier earlier this morning and it's moving north. Baltimore has already gotten eight inches of snow. Still coming down pretty hard there. And then as you move north to Philadelphia, that area also getting socked by very heavy snow, closing schools there. School closures there a lot rarer than they are here in Washington, D.C. when the snow comes down.
Now we are here on The Mall in Washington, and it's a very beautiful, quiet and contemplative place when it snows. You don't have a lot of people out but some visitors. We still caught a couple going to the Vietnam Memorial. We've seen also some joggers coming up and down The Mall. Someone actually in shorts a little while ago, which was pretty surprising to us.
And we're not sure if what is going on weather wise is going to delay other planned events throughout the day. Of course here at NASA headquarters at 11:30 they're supposed to have a briefing on the Shuttle Columbia investigation. So we'll be checking in a little bit later and see if that's still on -- Bill.
HEMMER: Kathleen, on another note, a drought was hitting the D.C. area. At this point, does that look like it could be squelched?
KOCH: I think the drought is well taken care of, Bill. We have had over a foot of snow before this storm even started. We're going to be adding eight inches on top of that. So the drought is over, no more water restrictions and the well is not going to run dry.
HEMMER: Excellent. Thank you, Kathleen, enjoy it today and be safe out there. Kathleen Koch on The Mall in D.C.
KOCH: Sure will.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
