Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Today
Interview With Charles Farmer
Aired May 05, 2003 - 11:01 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: In Kansas, authorities say at least seven people were killed when tornadoes cut across the Southeastern part of the state. Several counties have been declared disaster areas there. Now, across the region, the storms demolished homes, ripped down power lines, uprooted trees. Search teams now, digging through the rubble, looking for people who are still missing even at this late hour.
Now, one of the sites proving to be the most deadly was the law enforcement center in the western Tennessee city of Jackson. An emergency official tells CNN that at least ten people died, there; dozens were hurt. Joining us now on the phone is the mayor of Jackson, Tennessee, Charles Farmer. Mayor Farmer, can you give us the latest, right now, on your town.
CHARLES FARMER, MAYOR OF JACKSON, TENNESSEE: We think this point there are at least 11 confirmed dead and, as you said, we're still searching and trying to find the extent of the injuries and the number of fatalities, as well as clean up the traffic problems and otherwise try to get the city running again.
HARRIS: Now, the 11 that you just cited there, are they all -- is that the total number that you had from that one site alone, that law enforcement center or is that the entire town?
FARMER: No, none of the fatalities were at the law enforcement center. They were in different parts of the city. A couple housing complexes and in an area outside the city limits.
HARRIS: Now, that law enforcement center isn't that also where your 911 operations are?
FARMER: It is and they had to move their operation temporarily because of the tornado, but they're back in operation.
HARRIS: Well, that's good to hear. How about the power and water situation?
FARMER: We have about 27,000 people without power; most of the city is without water; and the utility company is working extremely hard to try to get the water restored and trying to make sure that the services at our hospitals are available; and we will be bringing in some bottled water and otherwise trying to make sure that the people are taken care of.
HARRIS: Well, from the -- judging by the pictures that we've seen here, perhaps, of course, we haven't seen the entire town or the entire area, but what we have seen has been very intense devastation. What were you -- can you tell us what you were doing when the storm hit?
FARMER: Well, I was watching hail pop through my window at my house...
HARRIS: It came through the window?
FARMER: It did indeed. And then I received a call from emergency management and I spent the night down there trying to figure out all of the damage that had occurred and how to get some of the services restored.
HARRIS: Have you ever been through a storm as bad as this one?
FARMER: We had a tornado in 1999 that was not, I don't think, as bad as this one. It was bad, we had six fatalities, but this will be more and the damage was much greater in the city in the last one, and particularly in the downtown area.
HARRIS: Well, Mayor Farmer, we understand there's going to be a press conference, there, in -- I believe it's going to be downtown. Do you know about that?
FARMER: It will be at the law enforcement building.
HARRIS: All right and that's in just a few minutes?
FARMER: Scheduled for noon.
HARRIS: For noon? Is that Central time?
FARMER: Yes.
HARRIS: Noon central time. OK, well, thank you for that update, we sure appreciate that.
Mayor Charles Farmer of Jackson, Tennessee. As you can see, there, a town very hard hit by these tornadoes, yesterday. Our Chad Myers is going to have more on this force, as a matter of fact, Chad is looking at warnings right now for activity even as we speak.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Exactly, Tennessee still under the gun. Harden County, now, southwest Tennessee. You can easily see the storm, it's all by itself, we talked about this before, super cell storms don't have other storms to fight with. When you get them all lined up in a line, they all fight with each other, none of the really get too large, but when you get one all by itself out here, it gets all the moisture at once, all the sunshine, all the rotation, and that's the storm right now with a tornado warning on it.
You can see all of the boxes, here. These are all tornado watches, which means, anywhere inside a box here, the potential exists for a storm to get strong enough that could contain a tornado. Well, the potential was obviously strong enough in this watch box and there you go, there's the storm that has the tornado warning on it, not too far from Olive Hill in Tennessee moving to the east at 40 miles per hour.
HARRIS: All right, folks. Be forewarned there and take Chad's advice and stay...
MYERS: And it's early, Leon. This is still going to fire for the rest of the afternoon...
HARRIS: That's unusual, isn't it, Chad, for this early in the morning?
MYERS: It is, typically because we lose the heat of the day, we lose the lifting. You know, the sun heats the ground, the ground heats the air, the air wants to rise like a hot air balloon and as that air goes up, it makes bubbling clouds and it makes thunderstorms. Well, in the evening and at night, especially in the morning there's not much bubbling going on because the sun hasn't been out for 12 hours but, this storm has so much energy doesn't even need the sunshine, get the rotation already. This is what now, 10:00 in the morning central daylight time?
HARRIS: All right, thanks, Chad. We'll get back to you in just a bit, all right?
Now, residents are just beginning to assess to full extent of the damage from the tornadoes, our live coverage this hour begins in Kansas City, Kansas which is where Ed Lavandera is joining us, now, from on the phone, at least.
Ed, what's the word?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, we've spent part of the morning in a suburb in western Kansas City, Kansas that was rather severely damaged. We'd seen a row of about eight homes, five of the homes were damaged, three of them were completely wiped out. The reason we're on the phone now is we're trying to move to locations, trying to get a sense of the scope of the damage that has been left behind in Kansas City, so we're getting to another location.
HARRIS: Ed, I'm sorry. Ed, I'm sorry to cut you off, but we do want to keep our -- keep tabs on that story. We'll get back to Ed Lavandera in just a moment, but we're getting some word, right now of another breaking situation.
Right now, this in Coral Springs, Florida. The word that we have at this point is that a car was driven into this post office. At this point we can tell you that there are at least 12 injured there, as you can see some being treated on the scene. We have no other word on any other casualties at this particular point. But, the word is right now this is in Coral Springs, Florida. And someone can recognize -- if someone recognizes this area, I sure would appreciate the information on that. But, all we can tell you is that a car, apparently driven into a post office. So far, that all we can tell from these pictures from our affiliate WFOR doesn't appear at this particular point that there are many extensive casualties, but of course we'll have to get some official word on that later on. We'll keep watching this story and hopefully get someone there to tell us exactly what happened and who may be involved. So, stay with us we'll have that for you in just a bit.
All right, apologies, now, to Ed Lavandera who we cut off moments ago and with his report coming to us from Kansas City, Kansas. Ed, are you still there?
LAVANDERA: I'm still here.
HARRIS: OK, good. Sorry about that. Just want to keep our folks posted on what you're seeing out there in Kansas.
LAVANDERA: Well, I was just telling you, Leon, that we spent part of the morning at a -- in a subdivision in the western part of Kansas City, Kansas that had been rather severely damaged. Now we're -- the reason we're talking to you on the phone is because we're trying to move around locations, here, to kind of get another -- a better sense of the scope of damage of the storms that were -- had rolled through here in this part of Kansas City. Some of the residents we have talked to say that, you know, even though that they had known there were severe storms in the area yesterday, that the actual warning time between from when they got the warnings to take shelter, the tornadoes were imminent in their location. When the storm actually hit, was very short, so these are quick moving storms.
One resident described them as a huge ball, like a boulder rolling through a neighborhood causing all sorts of damage, as well. And a lot of the residents also describing that these storms seemed to be on the ground for a long period of time which is rather different from what we're, I guess, accustomed to hearing about tornadoes. They seem to spend a -- just a short amount of time on the ground, but a lot -- that's what we're -- the word we're hearing from residents on the ground here.
HARRIS: Ed, what are you hearing there about the utilities? Are people getting their power restored to them and is the water safe to drink?
LAVANDERA: We've seen lot of the crews working the neighborhoods, clearing up the roads, getting the power company the ability to move in and start cleaning up the power lines. There still seems to be a lot of people without power, you know, as you walk around town, we kind of, you know, heard inklings of, you know, people saying that some power has been restored, but clearly in the hardest hit areas the process is still going to take some time.
HARRIS: All right. Thanks, Ed.
Ed Lavandera reporting live for us on the telephone from Kansas City, Kansas. Another scene of some devastating tornado activity. We'll keep our eyes on that and bring you any updates that we get -- as soon as we get the information, right here. We'll be watching, as a matter of fact, developments today all across the Midwest and the South where these tornadoes have been wreaking havoc.
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 - 11:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: In Kansas, authorities say at least seven people were killed when tornadoes cut across the Southeastern part of the state. Several counties have been declared disaster areas there. Now, across the region, the storms demolished homes, ripped down power lines, uprooted trees. Search teams now, digging through the rubble, looking for people who are still missing even at this late hour.
Now, one of the sites proving to be the most deadly was the law enforcement center in the western Tennessee city of Jackson. An emergency official tells CNN that at least ten people died, there; dozens were hurt. Joining us now on the phone is the mayor of Jackson, Tennessee, Charles Farmer. Mayor Farmer, can you give us the latest, right now, on your town.
CHARLES FARMER, MAYOR OF JACKSON, TENNESSEE: We think this point there are at least 11 confirmed dead and, as you said, we're still searching and trying to find the extent of the injuries and the number of fatalities, as well as clean up the traffic problems and otherwise try to get the city running again.
HARRIS: Now, the 11 that you just cited there, are they all -- is that the total number that you had from that one site alone, that law enforcement center or is that the entire town?
FARMER: No, none of the fatalities were at the law enforcement center. They were in different parts of the city. A couple housing complexes and in an area outside the city limits.
HARRIS: Now, that law enforcement center isn't that also where your 911 operations are?
FARMER: It is and they had to move their operation temporarily because of the tornado, but they're back in operation.
HARRIS: Well, that's good to hear. How about the power and water situation?
FARMER: We have about 27,000 people without power; most of the city is without water; and the utility company is working extremely hard to try to get the water restored and trying to make sure that the services at our hospitals are available; and we will be bringing in some bottled water and otherwise trying to make sure that the people are taken care of.
HARRIS: Well, from the -- judging by the pictures that we've seen here, perhaps, of course, we haven't seen the entire town or the entire area, but what we have seen has been very intense devastation. What were you -- can you tell us what you were doing when the storm hit?
FARMER: Well, I was watching hail pop through my window at my house...
HARRIS: It came through the window?
FARMER: It did indeed. And then I received a call from emergency management and I spent the night down there trying to figure out all of the damage that had occurred and how to get some of the services restored.
HARRIS: Have you ever been through a storm as bad as this one?
FARMER: We had a tornado in 1999 that was not, I don't think, as bad as this one. It was bad, we had six fatalities, but this will be more and the damage was much greater in the city in the last one, and particularly in the downtown area.
HARRIS: Well, Mayor Farmer, we understand there's going to be a press conference, there, in -- I believe it's going to be downtown. Do you know about that?
FARMER: It will be at the law enforcement building.
HARRIS: All right and that's in just a few minutes?
FARMER: Scheduled for noon.
HARRIS: For noon? Is that Central time?
FARMER: Yes.
HARRIS: Noon central time. OK, well, thank you for that update, we sure appreciate that.
Mayor Charles Farmer of Jackson, Tennessee. As you can see, there, a town very hard hit by these tornadoes, yesterday. Our Chad Myers is going to have more on this force, as a matter of fact, Chad is looking at warnings right now for activity even as we speak.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Exactly, Tennessee still under the gun. Harden County, now, southwest Tennessee. You can easily see the storm, it's all by itself, we talked about this before, super cell storms don't have other storms to fight with. When you get them all lined up in a line, they all fight with each other, none of the really get too large, but when you get one all by itself out here, it gets all the moisture at once, all the sunshine, all the rotation, and that's the storm right now with a tornado warning on it.
You can see all of the boxes, here. These are all tornado watches, which means, anywhere inside a box here, the potential exists for a storm to get strong enough that could contain a tornado. Well, the potential was obviously strong enough in this watch box and there you go, there's the storm that has the tornado warning on it, not too far from Olive Hill in Tennessee moving to the east at 40 miles per hour.
HARRIS: All right, folks. Be forewarned there and take Chad's advice and stay...
MYERS: And it's early, Leon. This is still going to fire for the rest of the afternoon...
HARRIS: That's unusual, isn't it, Chad, for this early in the morning?
MYERS: It is, typically because we lose the heat of the day, we lose the lifting. You know, the sun heats the ground, the ground heats the air, the air wants to rise like a hot air balloon and as that air goes up, it makes bubbling clouds and it makes thunderstorms. Well, in the evening and at night, especially in the morning there's not much bubbling going on because the sun hasn't been out for 12 hours but, this storm has so much energy doesn't even need the sunshine, get the rotation already. This is what now, 10:00 in the morning central daylight time?
HARRIS: All right, thanks, Chad. We'll get back to you in just a bit, all right?
Now, residents are just beginning to assess to full extent of the damage from the tornadoes, our live coverage this hour begins in Kansas City, Kansas which is where Ed Lavandera is joining us, now, from on the phone, at least.
Ed, what's the word?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, we've spent part of the morning in a suburb in western Kansas City, Kansas that was rather severely damaged. We'd seen a row of about eight homes, five of the homes were damaged, three of them were completely wiped out. The reason we're on the phone now is we're trying to move to locations, trying to get a sense of the scope of the damage that has been left behind in Kansas City, so we're getting to another location.
HARRIS: Ed, I'm sorry. Ed, I'm sorry to cut you off, but we do want to keep our -- keep tabs on that story. We'll get back to Ed Lavandera in just a moment, but we're getting some word, right now of another breaking situation.
Right now, this in Coral Springs, Florida. The word that we have at this point is that a car was driven into this post office. At this point we can tell you that there are at least 12 injured there, as you can see some being treated on the scene. We have no other word on any other casualties at this particular point. But, the word is right now this is in Coral Springs, Florida. And someone can recognize -- if someone recognizes this area, I sure would appreciate the information on that. But, all we can tell you is that a car, apparently driven into a post office. So far, that all we can tell from these pictures from our affiliate WFOR doesn't appear at this particular point that there are many extensive casualties, but of course we'll have to get some official word on that later on. We'll keep watching this story and hopefully get someone there to tell us exactly what happened and who may be involved. So, stay with us we'll have that for you in just a bit.
All right, apologies, now, to Ed Lavandera who we cut off moments ago and with his report coming to us from Kansas City, Kansas. Ed, are you still there?
LAVANDERA: I'm still here.
HARRIS: OK, good. Sorry about that. Just want to keep our folks posted on what you're seeing out there in Kansas.
LAVANDERA: Well, I was just telling you, Leon, that we spent part of the morning at a -- in a subdivision in the western part of Kansas City, Kansas that had been rather severely damaged. Now we're -- the reason we're talking to you on the phone is because we're trying to move around locations, here, to kind of get another -- a better sense of the scope of damage of the storms that were -- had rolled through here in this part of Kansas City. Some of the residents we have talked to say that, you know, even though that they had known there were severe storms in the area yesterday, that the actual warning time between from when they got the warnings to take shelter, the tornadoes were imminent in their location. When the storm actually hit, was very short, so these are quick moving storms.
One resident described them as a huge ball, like a boulder rolling through a neighborhood causing all sorts of damage, as well. And a lot of the residents also describing that these storms seemed to be on the ground for a long period of time which is rather different from what we're, I guess, accustomed to hearing about tornadoes. They seem to spend a -- just a short amount of time on the ground, but a lot -- that's what we're -- the word we're hearing from residents on the ground here.
HARRIS: Ed, what are you hearing there about the utilities? Are people getting their power restored to them and is the water safe to drink?
LAVANDERA: We've seen lot of the crews working the neighborhoods, clearing up the roads, getting the power company the ability to move in and start cleaning up the power lines. There still seems to be a lot of people without power, you know, as you walk around town, we kind of, you know, heard inklings of, you know, people saying that some power has been restored, but clearly in the hardest hit areas the process is still going to take some time.
HARRIS: All right. Thanks, Ed.
Ed Lavandera reporting live for us on the telephone from Kansas City, Kansas. Another scene of some devastating tornado activity. We'll keep our eyes on that and bring you any updates that we get -- as soon as we get the information, right here. We'll be watching, as a matter of fact, developments today all across the Midwest and the South where these tornadoes have been wreaking havoc.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
