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CNN Live At Daybreak

Cleanup Has Begun in Midwest

Aired May 05, 2003 - 05:31   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, let's head out to the Midwest. The cleanup has begun. The mourning does continue. Twenty- eight dead, 34 injured after tornadoes swept across four states. And that death toll continues to climb.
Eastern Kansas and southwestern Missouri are hardest hit. In Lawrence County, Missouri alone, officials estimate a dozen people were killed and there are additional fatalities reported in other parts of the state. A police officer says a tornado actually stayed on the ground for one half hour, passing through the heart of Pierce City. He describes the downtown area as "wiped out."

The governor of Kansas has declared seven counties disaster areas. Nearly two dozen people were injured and as many homes -- and many homes, rather, are described as damaged or destroyed. Also, destruction in Arkansas. Emergency management officials there say the storm destroyed 10 to 14 homes about 70 miles northeast of Little Rock.

And in Dyre County, Tennessee, officials say one person was killed when a twister hit a trailer park. Several homes were destroyed. The National Guard armory and the Madison County Emergency Management Office were also damaged. We'll get a much better assessment of damage when the sun comes up later this morning.

Oh, it's not over yet, either.

CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It sure isn't.

COSTELLO: Let's head up to the weather center -- Chad, tell us.

MYERS: Good morning, Carol.

No, it isn't over by a long shot. In fact, today is just the continuation of yesterday. Yesterday, the storms were in the central plains or the western plains -- Nebraska, Kansas, parts of Missouri -- but now those storms have shifted to the east. In fact, that storm way down there in the northwestern part of Mississippi -- I'll zoom in for you here on a flat map so you can see it a little bit better. A tornado warning going on at this hour of the morning, typically things calm down, but there is Memphis right there. Here's the hook on the back of the storm right there and a tornado warning issued until at least another 25 minutes for that storm there, a tornado warning, because of a Doppler indicated tornado.

Still very dark, hard to pick those up by sight. Usually the law enforcement officials are out or the fire departments are out or even, they're even called in sometimes by members of the public. But right now that's the only warning I have for you.

A lot of watches here. Every red box still a tornado watch, which means the potential is there in this entire region of the country for severe weather. So keep that in mind. Some pictures yesterday really show the devastation. In fact, there you go. This is the storm itself, the tornado on the ground. This is a white tornado at this point, but tornadoes pick up the color of the dirt that they run over. So typically tornadoes don't stay white as they start to pick up the gravel and the dirt and the clay and whatever else this thing is picking up down there, down across -- and that's why they get so dark, that's why they get so gray and so black and typically they're at the base of a very thick thunderstorm and you don't get a lot of sunshine down through that thunderstorm to make them a brighter color tornado.

As a tornado does usually move over a lake or over a large body of water, it will lose most of its dirt that it has inside there and the color will, in fact, get a little bit lighter. Working in Oklahoma for a couple years, in Oklahoma City, I have actually seen red tornadoes because the clay down in Oklahoma is so red the tornado actually turns the color of the dirt inside -- Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: Just really bizarre.

We want to take you to Pierce City, Missouri for a closer look. A police officer says the downtown area there was wiped out by yesterday's tornado. There's destruction in three other states. So take a look at the damage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It picked the tree way the hell up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at the wind!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my god.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you hear it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got to get out here. We're about to get hit. (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This thing is happening to, we've got to -- we're going to have a white tornado pretty soon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you see it coming? Did you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. Looked out and saw it coming straight over the top of this thing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my god. Oh, what am I going to do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can stay at my house. I'm glad you're here. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What am I going to do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, god. Oh...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, what am I going to do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You'll be all right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Half the homes in that neighborhood have been destroyed. There's nothing left of them except debris.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get ready for one of the most incredible things you've ever seen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you had some funnel clouds over here and then they backed south and landed right over there and started coming through and my nephew and I were on the back deck. And I say that's going to hit us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, nothing, even part of the foundation is gone. It's just completely flat. So there was nothing left of it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This has just been totally devastated, which is approximately 26 miles. It's just been wiped out, if you want to use that word.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And we're going to have live updates about the tornado damage throughout DAYBREAK, so stay with us.

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 May 5, 2003 - 05:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, let's head out to the Midwest. The cleanup has begun. The mourning does continue. Twenty- eight dead, 34 injured after tornadoes swept across four states. And that death toll continues to climb.
Eastern Kansas and southwestern Missouri are hardest hit. In Lawrence County, Missouri alone, officials estimate a dozen people were killed and there are additional fatalities reported in other parts of the state. A police officer says a tornado actually stayed on the ground for one half hour, passing through the heart of Pierce City. He describes the downtown area as "wiped out."

The governor of Kansas has declared seven counties disaster areas. Nearly two dozen people were injured and as many homes -- and many homes, rather, are described as damaged or destroyed. Also, destruction in Arkansas. Emergency management officials there say the storm destroyed 10 to 14 homes about 70 miles northeast of Little Rock.

And in Dyre County, Tennessee, officials say one person was killed when a twister hit a trailer park. Several homes were destroyed. The National Guard armory and the Madison County Emergency Management Office were also damaged. We'll get a much better assessment of damage when the sun comes up later this morning.

Oh, it's not over yet, either.

CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It sure isn't.

COSTELLO: Let's head up to the weather center -- Chad, tell us.

MYERS: Good morning, Carol.

No, it isn't over by a long shot. In fact, today is just the continuation of yesterday. Yesterday, the storms were in the central plains or the western plains -- Nebraska, Kansas, parts of Missouri -- but now those storms have shifted to the east. In fact, that storm way down there in the northwestern part of Mississippi -- I'll zoom in for you here on a flat map so you can see it a little bit better. A tornado warning going on at this hour of the morning, typically things calm down, but there is Memphis right there. Here's the hook on the back of the storm right there and a tornado warning issued until at least another 25 minutes for that storm there, a tornado warning, because of a Doppler indicated tornado.

Still very dark, hard to pick those up by sight. Usually the law enforcement officials are out or the fire departments are out or even, they're even called in sometimes by members of the public. But right now that's the only warning I have for you.

A lot of watches here. Every red box still a tornado watch, which means the potential is there in this entire region of the country for severe weather. So keep that in mind. Some pictures yesterday really show the devastation. In fact, there you go. This is the storm itself, the tornado on the ground. This is a white tornado at this point, but tornadoes pick up the color of the dirt that they run over. So typically tornadoes don't stay white as they start to pick up the gravel and the dirt and the clay and whatever else this thing is picking up down there, down across -- and that's why they get so dark, that's why they get so gray and so black and typically they're at the base of a very thick thunderstorm and you don't get a lot of sunshine down through that thunderstorm to make them a brighter color tornado.

As a tornado does usually move over a lake or over a large body of water, it will lose most of its dirt that it has inside there and the color will, in fact, get a little bit lighter. Working in Oklahoma for a couple years, in Oklahoma City, I have actually seen red tornadoes because the clay down in Oklahoma is so red the tornado actually turns the color of the dirt inside -- Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: Just really bizarre.

We want to take you to Pierce City, Missouri for a closer look. A police officer says the downtown area there was wiped out by yesterday's tornado. There's destruction in three other states. So take a look at the damage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It picked the tree way the hell up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at the wind!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my god.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you hear it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got to get out here. We're about to get hit. (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This thing is happening to, we've got to -- we're going to have a white tornado pretty soon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you see it coming? Did you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. Looked out and saw it coming straight over the top of this thing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my god. Oh, what am I going to do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can stay at my house. I'm glad you're here. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What am I going to do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, god. Oh...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, what am I going to do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You'll be all right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Half the homes in that neighborhood have been destroyed. There's nothing left of them except debris.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get ready for one of the most incredible things you've ever seen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you had some funnel clouds over here and then they backed south and landed right over there and started coming through and my nephew and I were on the back deck. And I say that's going to hit us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, nothing, even part of the foundation is gone. It's just completely flat. So there was nothing left of it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This has just been totally devastated, which is approximately 26 miles. It's just been wiped out, if you want to use that word.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And we're going to have live updates about the tornado damage throughout DAYBREAK, so stay with us.

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