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Roof Collapses at Toys "R" Us Store in Maryland

Aired February 22, 2003 - 13:16   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: ... continuous searches of that building presuming that there just might be other people, but they don't have any evidence that there are any other people trapped. But they are using heat-seeking devices, as well as dogs, to search for any potential victims that may be trapped in that building. And we continue to keep tabs on that.
Meantime, Arch Kennedy, who is in the weather center here, is taking a look at the weather picture for us, not only the contributing factors of that roof collapse, Arch, which also may be weakening other buildings, according to the fire officials, but you're also keeping an eye on some tornado activity, right?

ARCH KENNEDY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Fredricka, we have it all going on. Yes, warmer temperatures have allowed for the rainfall across the East for today. And along with this system, it's pretty potent I might add, we're seeing severe weather.

And I want to show you the latest. Vance County, we had a tornado warning that was in effect. That was just canceled as of 1:15. But a new one for Mecklenburg County in south central Virginia, a tornado warning until 1:30 Eastern Time.

And this strong line of storms very strong. The thunderstorm activity continuing to push east and northeast. We have seen a history of tornadic activity, at least Doppler indicated tornadoes, with these storms as they continue to push east here. I want to show you into Virginia. We're also seeing some activity brewing here. There's that line of storms that continues to push its way in an easterly fashion.

And again, with all the snowfall here from D.C. to Philly and New York, this is not helping things. And, folks, we're going to be dealing with this through the evening hours. It won't be until Sunday afternoon until we can see some improving weather conditions to clean up after all of this mess. But in the meantime, we will continue to monitor this situation here.

And you can see these red boxes across the Carolinas, those are tornado watches in effect for parts of the afternoon and evening.

We'll continue to keep you updated through the day.

WHITFIELD: All right, a lot of activity. Thanks very much, Arch, for that update on tornadic activity in Maryland and -- I'm sorry, in Virginia, as well as North Carolina. And then in Maryland, a roof collapse of a Toys 'R' Us store as searchers there continue to look for any potential victims. Already three people have been transported to area hospitals.

More on these stories later on.

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 22, 2003 - 13:16   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: ... continuous searches of that building presuming that there just might be other people, but they don't have any evidence that there are any other people trapped. But they are using heat-seeking devices, as well as dogs, to search for any potential victims that may be trapped in that building. And we continue to keep tabs on that.
Meantime, Arch Kennedy, who is in the weather center here, is taking a look at the weather picture for us, not only the contributing factors of that roof collapse, Arch, which also may be weakening other buildings, according to the fire officials, but you're also keeping an eye on some tornado activity, right?

ARCH KENNEDY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Fredricka, we have it all going on. Yes, warmer temperatures have allowed for the rainfall across the East for today. And along with this system, it's pretty potent I might add, we're seeing severe weather.

And I want to show you the latest. Vance County, we had a tornado warning that was in effect. That was just canceled as of 1:15. But a new one for Mecklenburg County in south central Virginia, a tornado warning until 1:30 Eastern Time.

And this strong line of storms very strong. The thunderstorm activity continuing to push east and northeast. We have seen a history of tornadic activity, at least Doppler indicated tornadoes, with these storms as they continue to push east here. I want to show you into Virginia. We're also seeing some activity brewing here. There's that line of storms that continues to push its way in an easterly fashion.

And again, with all the snowfall here from D.C. to Philly and New York, this is not helping things. And, folks, we're going to be dealing with this through the evening hours. It won't be until Sunday afternoon until we can see some improving weather conditions to clean up after all of this mess. But in the meantime, we will continue to monitor this situation here.

And you can see these red boxes across the Carolinas, those are tornado watches in effect for parts of the afternoon and evening.

We'll continue to keep you updated through the day.

WHITFIELD: All right, a lot of activity. Thanks very much, Arch, for that update on tornadic activity in Maryland and -- I'm sorry, in Virginia, as well as North Carolina. And then in Maryland, a roof collapse of a Toys 'R' Us store as searchers there continue to look for any potential victims. Already three people have been transported to area hospitals.

More on these stories later on.

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