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CNN Live Today
Assessing Damage in Tennessee From Killer Tornadoes
Aired May 06, 2003 - 10:00 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Rubble litters the ground and the rumble of thunder echoes overhead in Jackson, Tennessee. The mood is as gloomy, as oppressive as the weather. Dozens of buildings and nearly a dozen lives were lost in the western Tennessee town, the end point of a 400-mile path of destruction.
Our Leon Harris is in Jackson, as federal, state and local officials assess the damage.
Leon -- good morning.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Daryn.
And, boy, we sure do wish the folks in Jackson, Tennessee could have a good morning. If they stay home and don't come out and look around, they may just do that.
But right now, as you can see, we are downtown in Jackson, Tennessee, where this town -- downtown at least, was devastated by the tornadoes that struck here.
We're hearing reports now on the local radio here saying that they believe these tornadoes that swept through here may have been on ground for as long as 65 miles. Now, considering the strength of those killer storms, you can just imagine just how bad the damage is.
Right now, we're starting to see at least a big uptick in activity here on the ground. You can see behind me here the traffic is starting to pick up, and we're seeing some of the people -- or actually some of the local residents here coming in here and beginning to inspect their property as well. Many of them have been kept away because the buildings have been devastated to a point where they are unsafe to actually enter.
So, right now, it's kind of tough to get a good assessment of just how bad and how wide and broad the damage is.
Some good news to report now, though, is that it appears as though more and more people are beginning to get their power restored. And last check, I believe that there were at first about 28,000 residents who had no power, but we understand about 5,000 of them have had their power restored. Phone service here is up and running, with the exception of perhaps of some of the cell phone services in areas. Mail service, we understand, is actually going to be effective today, perhaps with the exception of maybe one zip code where there will be some limited activity. But the big issue right now is the flooding. Right now, you can see that it doesn't look too bad, at least weather-wise, but we're hearing that there is a tornado watch that's been extended through 1 p.m. local time, and there is still expected to be episodes of flash flooding. Three to four inches of rain fell last night, more rain, more rain expected to come later on today.
We're going to be talking in just a moment here with the mayor, Charles Farmer, who, believe it or not, was going to be hoping to be elected today. This is Election Day today here in Jackson, but that's not going to be held. It's going to be postponed. And we'll get to him in just a bit.
But, Daryn, for right now, let's go back to you.
KAGAN: Interesting. Much more from you in Tennessee, but we do want to get this breaking news in here, Leon.
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Aired May 6, 2003 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Rubble litters the ground and the rumble of thunder echoes overhead in Jackson, Tennessee. The mood is as gloomy, as oppressive as the weather. Dozens of buildings and nearly a dozen lives were lost in the western Tennessee town, the end point of a 400-mile path of destruction.
Our Leon Harris is in Jackson, as federal, state and local officials assess the damage.
Leon -- good morning.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Daryn.
And, boy, we sure do wish the folks in Jackson, Tennessee could have a good morning. If they stay home and don't come out and look around, they may just do that.
But right now, as you can see, we are downtown in Jackson, Tennessee, where this town -- downtown at least, was devastated by the tornadoes that struck here.
We're hearing reports now on the local radio here saying that they believe these tornadoes that swept through here may have been on ground for as long as 65 miles. Now, considering the strength of those killer storms, you can just imagine just how bad the damage is.
Right now, we're starting to see at least a big uptick in activity here on the ground. You can see behind me here the traffic is starting to pick up, and we're seeing some of the people -- or actually some of the local residents here coming in here and beginning to inspect their property as well. Many of them have been kept away because the buildings have been devastated to a point where they are unsafe to actually enter.
So, right now, it's kind of tough to get a good assessment of just how bad and how wide and broad the damage is.
Some good news to report now, though, is that it appears as though more and more people are beginning to get their power restored. And last check, I believe that there were at first about 28,000 residents who had no power, but we understand about 5,000 of them have had their power restored. Phone service here is up and running, with the exception of perhaps of some of the cell phone services in areas. Mail service, we understand, is actually going to be effective today, perhaps with the exception of maybe one zip code where there will be some limited activity. But the big issue right now is the flooding. Right now, you can see that it doesn't look too bad, at least weather-wise, but we're hearing that there is a tornado watch that's been extended through 1 p.m. local time, and there is still expected to be episodes of flash flooding. Three to four inches of rain fell last night, more rain, more rain expected to come later on today.
We're going to be talking in just a moment here with the mayor, Charles Farmer, who, believe it or not, was going to be hoping to be elected today. This is Election Day today here in Jackson, but that's not going to be held. It's going to be postponed. And we'll get to him in just a bit.
But, Daryn, for right now, let's go back to you.
KAGAN: Interesting. Much more from you in Tennessee, but we do want to get this breaking news in here, Leon.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
