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CNN Live Today
Connecticut Gets Walloped Too
Aired February 17, 2003 - 10:31 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: Now, let's get down to some more specific reports about this blizzard warning for New York, which extends into neighboring Connecticut where heavy blowing snow is causing trouble across that state.
Joining us now is Matt Scott of our affiliate WTNH in New Haven, Connecticut. And, Matt, it doesn't look like your having much fun out there this morning.
MATT SCOTT, WTNH WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Well, it gets a little repetitive after awhile, Leon. Good afternoon to you from downtown New Haven where not much is going on. The hits just keep on coming with this blizzard. As you can see, its hit us hard here in New Haven. A lot of storefronts have closed. Not a lot of people on the road. So we're going to try to cross the street rather quickly. As you can see, yeah, there's still plenty of snow even after the plows continue to come on by, snow falling at about an inch an hour.
It started about 2:00, 3:00 in the morning last night and it hasn't even started into the heavy zone yet. We're expecting that later on today. As a result, much like many other cities that you've seen all morning long, because it is a holiday, there's not a lot of cars on the road. And we spoke to a couple of policemen earlier in the morning, and they said, for the most part, because there were fewer cars, there were fewer accidents and fewer reported injuries. Certainly, some good news.
Also, as far as the warnings are concerned, we're under a blizzard warning here in the southern counties of Connecticut. We're also under a coastal flash flood watch as high tide kicks in over the next hour. The waves will be about a foot and a half to two feet above normal. And then later on tonight, we're expecting them to be about two to three feet above normal. So, more problems for our friends here on the shoreline of Long Island.
A plow going by. I want you to see real quickly, there's a couple of cars coming. But look at all the snow that continues to just pile up on the side streets here in New Haven, Connecticut. We're not done yet. And as far as I'm concerned, Leon, spring cannot come soon enough.
HARRIS: And I would bet you're not alone in that. You know what, your crew should have done you a big favor there Matt and yelled, you know, watch your back or something when that plow is standing right behind you.
SCOTT: It's almost every man for himself out here. HARRIS: You know, it's amazing to me see how many folks are actually out there driving around in that. Are the roads still pretty - at least passable out there or what?
SCOTT: You know what? On some of the main roads, we had reports that anyone who could come into work this morning, they said they were okay. We're right now on State Street, which is one of the major thoroughfares here in New Haven, and we've got a red light. So we'll try to try to get -- don't try this at home. There's still a pretty good sheen out here. And as you just saw a moment ago, a plow came by. So the plows are doing what they can, but for the most part, it's almost not enough. Leon?
HARRIS: All right, Matt, get back on the sidewalk, buddy. We want to talk to you again sometime, okay? All right. Good grief. Matt Scott reporting for us from New Haven, Connecticut. Wow. Some heavy snow there, folks.
Now, some of the heaviest snowfall and the highest snowdrifts are reported in Maryland, even worse then what we saw there in Connecticut. There is now a ban on non-emergency travel. Well, actually that ban has been lifted right now in Maryland, but the state, as you might imagine, is still quite a mess, as we learn from WMAR's Darren Moore standing by in Baltimore. Hi, Darren, what's the word there?
MOORE: Hey, Leon, there's nothing but snow, snow, snow, any way you want to put it, a four-letter word. You know, we're here near downtown Baltimore, West Crat (ph) Street. Now, what I wanted to show you, Leon, is look at this roof right here. This is the Baltimore, Ohio Railroad Historical Museum. The total roof just came down and collapsed. And that roof is actually made of slate, wood and steel. Now, they said this building was built in 1884. And it was completely renovated in 1976.
Now, let's show you some video that we have earlier that we shot. We also shot this museum, also. We also shot some snowplows. We had a ground level here, snowplows are out. People are out trying to walk around, trying to get around, taking their shovels out. They are just moseying on along, trying to make it through. They also had the National Guard out here, also. They're riding around in the Humvees, because of the state of the emergency. And you just had people just going around, just trying to do every little thing they can.
And, if you can, you can take a look down here. We can come back live. You see people walking down the streets with their shovels. Well, I don't know where they're going. But they're not shoveling anything yet. It's just so much snow here. I believe it's probably about at least two to three feet here, and it's just devastating. It's hard to get around, and these people walking the street. Cars have to dodge them. It's just a total mess here. And I have to tell you, Leon, I just got here in Baltimore about a month ago, and I was in Seattle. I never thought I would say I'd rather take the rain over the snow. So - it is very difficult getting around here and, definitely, we're in a state of emergency. And like we always say, everybody's been saying all day, you know, if you don't have to go out, don't go out.
HARRIS: There you go. Good advice. Sometimes you get what you ask for, Darren. You are going to want to go back to Seattle sometime fairly soon, no doubt.
MOORE: Well, actually, I would love to be in Atlanta, you know, Atlanta's nice little weather. I'm sure you guys got a little rain but, you know, I am stuck here in Baltimore, but I love it here.
HARRIS: All right. Well,listen, man, hang in there. All right. We'll check back with you folks later on. Hopefully, you guys will be make it through okay. All right. Take care. Darren Moore from WMAR.
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 17, 2003 - 10:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now, let's get down to some more specific reports about this blizzard warning for New York, which extends into neighboring Connecticut where heavy blowing snow is causing trouble across that state.
Joining us now is Matt Scott of our affiliate WTNH in New Haven, Connecticut. And, Matt, it doesn't look like your having much fun out there this morning.
MATT SCOTT, WTNH WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Well, it gets a little repetitive after awhile, Leon. Good afternoon to you from downtown New Haven where not much is going on. The hits just keep on coming with this blizzard. As you can see, its hit us hard here in New Haven. A lot of storefronts have closed. Not a lot of people on the road. So we're going to try to cross the street rather quickly. As you can see, yeah, there's still plenty of snow even after the plows continue to come on by, snow falling at about an inch an hour.
It started about 2:00, 3:00 in the morning last night and it hasn't even started into the heavy zone yet. We're expecting that later on today. As a result, much like many other cities that you've seen all morning long, because it is a holiday, there's not a lot of cars on the road. And we spoke to a couple of policemen earlier in the morning, and they said, for the most part, because there were fewer cars, there were fewer accidents and fewer reported injuries. Certainly, some good news.
Also, as far as the warnings are concerned, we're under a blizzard warning here in the southern counties of Connecticut. We're also under a coastal flash flood watch as high tide kicks in over the next hour. The waves will be about a foot and a half to two feet above normal. And then later on tonight, we're expecting them to be about two to three feet above normal. So, more problems for our friends here on the shoreline of Long Island.
A plow going by. I want you to see real quickly, there's a couple of cars coming. But look at all the snow that continues to just pile up on the side streets here in New Haven, Connecticut. We're not done yet. And as far as I'm concerned, Leon, spring cannot come soon enough.
HARRIS: And I would bet you're not alone in that. You know what, your crew should have done you a big favor there Matt and yelled, you know, watch your back or something when that plow is standing right behind you.
SCOTT: It's almost every man for himself out here. HARRIS: You know, it's amazing to me see how many folks are actually out there driving around in that. Are the roads still pretty - at least passable out there or what?
SCOTT: You know what? On some of the main roads, we had reports that anyone who could come into work this morning, they said they were okay. We're right now on State Street, which is one of the major thoroughfares here in New Haven, and we've got a red light. So we'll try to try to get -- don't try this at home. There's still a pretty good sheen out here. And as you just saw a moment ago, a plow came by. So the plows are doing what they can, but for the most part, it's almost not enough. Leon?
HARRIS: All right, Matt, get back on the sidewalk, buddy. We want to talk to you again sometime, okay? All right. Good grief. Matt Scott reporting for us from New Haven, Connecticut. Wow. Some heavy snow there, folks.
Now, some of the heaviest snowfall and the highest snowdrifts are reported in Maryland, even worse then what we saw there in Connecticut. There is now a ban on non-emergency travel. Well, actually that ban has been lifted right now in Maryland, but the state, as you might imagine, is still quite a mess, as we learn from WMAR's Darren Moore standing by in Baltimore. Hi, Darren, what's the word there?
MOORE: Hey, Leon, there's nothing but snow, snow, snow, any way you want to put it, a four-letter word. You know, we're here near downtown Baltimore, West Crat (ph) Street. Now, what I wanted to show you, Leon, is look at this roof right here. This is the Baltimore, Ohio Railroad Historical Museum. The total roof just came down and collapsed. And that roof is actually made of slate, wood and steel. Now, they said this building was built in 1884. And it was completely renovated in 1976.
Now, let's show you some video that we have earlier that we shot. We also shot this museum, also. We also shot some snowplows. We had a ground level here, snowplows are out. People are out trying to walk around, trying to get around, taking their shovels out. They are just moseying on along, trying to make it through. They also had the National Guard out here, also. They're riding around in the Humvees, because of the state of the emergency. And you just had people just going around, just trying to do every little thing they can.
And, if you can, you can take a look down here. We can come back live. You see people walking down the streets with their shovels. Well, I don't know where they're going. But they're not shoveling anything yet. It's just so much snow here. I believe it's probably about at least two to three feet here, and it's just devastating. It's hard to get around, and these people walking the street. Cars have to dodge them. It's just a total mess here. And I have to tell you, Leon, I just got here in Baltimore about a month ago, and I was in Seattle. I never thought I would say I'd rather take the rain over the snow. So - it is very difficult getting around here and, definitely, we're in a state of emergency. And like we always say, everybody's been saying all day, you know, if you don't have to go out, don't go out.
HARRIS: There you go. Good advice. Sometimes you get what you ask for, Darren. You are going to want to go back to Seattle sometime fairly soon, no doubt.
MOORE: Well, actually, I would love to be in Atlanta, you know, Atlanta's nice little weather. I'm sure you guys got a little rain but, you know, I am stuck here in Baltimore, but I love it here.
HARRIS: All right. Well,listen, man, hang in there. All right. We'll check back with you folks later on. Hopefully, you guys will be make it through okay. All right. Take care. Darren Moore from WMAR.
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