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CNN Live At Daybreak
Pierce City Shattered by Tornado
Aired May 06, 2003 - 06:04 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: Let's talk about Missouri and the tiny town of Pierce. It looks like a war zone this morning. Nearly every building is damaged. Understandable, because a tornado spent 30 minutes on the ground there and just gutted the town.
David Mattingly is there. He joins us live by phone now.
Good morning -- David.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Pierce City, Missouri would normally be preparing for tourist season to begin right now. Instead, almost all of the stores, the antique shops, are in ruins right now or badly damaged after Sunday's tornado. That tornado roared through the town, killing one person.
And today, much of the town is in the dark, with no electricity and no running water. A little bit later this morning we expect to see crews beginning to demolish some of the buildings that were here, buildings that were left standing but are unsafe and in danger of collapse right now. No one here, of course, wants to see that. This is a town that prides itself very much on its past and the loss of any of these old buildings is very upsetting to some people.
Business owners will be meeting a little later to talk about how to recover from this. Several business owners, we're told, were not insured for this, and they will probably not recover from this disaster. But right now, you can walk down either of the two primary streets in town and see large piles of debris all along the sides of the road.
Several dozen homeowners are also expected to get back to work today, repairing their damaged homes.
Now, one thing we hope to learn today is the exact number of people who were injured in Sunday's tornado. In Pierce City and the surrounding county, Carol, officials estimate that over 100 people were hurt, some seriously, by that tornado.
COSTELLO: You know, I just can't even imagine the emotional toll in looking out on your, you know, tiny, lovely, historic town and seeing it totally destroyed. Are people there getting the kinds of help that they need in terms of psychological help and monetary help?
MATTINGLY: Well, I have to tell you, everyone has been very happy to see so many law enforcement and so many volunteers, the Red Cross, from different parts of the state that have driven here to assist in the clean up, to assist in helping people get back on their feet. The National Guard is also here. This town was under a curfew last night. Everyone keeping an eye on everyone's property and on their neighbors to make sure everyone gets through this OK.
COSTELLO: All right, David Mattingly, thanks for bringing us up- to-date this morning. David Mattingly live from Pierce City, Missouri.
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 6, 2003 - 06:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about Missouri and the tiny town of Pierce. It looks like a war zone this morning. Nearly every building is damaged. Understandable, because a tornado spent 30 minutes on the ground there and just gutted the town.
David Mattingly is there. He joins us live by phone now.
Good morning -- David.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Pierce City, Missouri would normally be preparing for tourist season to begin right now. Instead, almost all of the stores, the antique shops, are in ruins right now or badly damaged after Sunday's tornado. That tornado roared through the town, killing one person.
And today, much of the town is in the dark, with no electricity and no running water. A little bit later this morning we expect to see crews beginning to demolish some of the buildings that were here, buildings that were left standing but are unsafe and in danger of collapse right now. No one here, of course, wants to see that. This is a town that prides itself very much on its past and the loss of any of these old buildings is very upsetting to some people.
Business owners will be meeting a little later to talk about how to recover from this. Several business owners, we're told, were not insured for this, and they will probably not recover from this disaster. But right now, you can walk down either of the two primary streets in town and see large piles of debris all along the sides of the road.
Several dozen homeowners are also expected to get back to work today, repairing their damaged homes.
Now, one thing we hope to learn today is the exact number of people who were injured in Sunday's tornado. In Pierce City and the surrounding county, Carol, officials estimate that over 100 people were hurt, some seriously, by that tornado.
COSTELLO: You know, I just can't even imagine the emotional toll in looking out on your, you know, tiny, lovely, historic town and seeing it totally destroyed. Are people there getting the kinds of help that they need in terms of psychological help and monetary help?
MATTINGLY: Well, I have to tell you, everyone has been very happy to see so many law enforcement and so many volunteers, the Red Cross, from different parts of the state that have driven here to assist in the clean up, to assist in helping people get back on their feet. The National Guard is also here. This town was under a curfew last night. Everyone keeping an eye on everyone's property and on their neighbors to make sure everyone gets through this OK.
COSTELLO: All right, David Mattingly, thanks for bringing us up- to-date this morning. David Mattingly live from Pierce City, Missouri.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
