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CNN Live At Daybreak
One Tornado, Heavy Rains Move Through Four Counties in Kansas
Aired May 16, 2003 - 06:23 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 head to southwest Kansas right now because people there have a big cleanup job ahead of them. At least one tornado and heavy rain moved through four counties.
Jennifer Boccier of CNN affiliate KAKE is live in Liberal, Kansas.
Tell us about it.
JENNIFER BOCCIER, KAKE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, if you take a look at here, this is some of the worst damage that we've come across. We are in the northwest part of Liberal, which is in the southwest part of Kansas. We've just spoken with the National Weather Service and they're telling us the tornado was spotted at first about a mile west of Liberal and it came through the northwest part of town, which is where we are standing right now.
They haven't been able to confirm yet how large it was and how long it actually was on the ground.
There were also reports of a second tornado that also came through town, but as of yet the National Weather Service has not confirmed that. There is also some damage in other areas. The downtown, there's a lot of broken glass, there's some trees that have been uprooted. There's also a couple trailer parks that seem to have been hit. There's trailers that have been tossed apart, flipped on their side, cars that have been tossed into the air, landed on the hood. A lot of damage there.
The main problems they're dealing with right now are some street flooding and the majority of the town has their power out right now. About 400 people have not been able to go back to their homes because there are power lines down everywhere. They are staying in hotels tonight. But the good news is that there have been no reports of any injuries or fatalities -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Jennifer, I'm just curious, what was that behind you?
BOCCIER: This was an auto shop. And if you take a look, you can see there is still a car up there on the hoist. It's basically the back half of this has been totally destroyed. You can see there's just rubble everywhere. But this is basically the worst of the damage that we've seen so far.
COSTELLO: All right, Jennifer Boccier of CNN affiliate KAKE reporting live for us from Liberal, Kansas this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Kansas>
Aired May 16, 2003 - 06:23 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 head to southwest Kansas right now because people there have a big cleanup job ahead of them. At least one tornado and heavy rain moved through four counties.
Jennifer Boccier of CNN affiliate KAKE is live in Liberal, Kansas.
Tell us about it.
JENNIFER BOCCIER, KAKE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, if you take a look at here, this is some of the worst damage that we've come across. We are in the northwest part of Liberal, which is in the southwest part of Kansas. We've just spoken with the National Weather Service and they're telling us the tornado was spotted at first about a mile west of Liberal and it came through the northwest part of town, which is where we are standing right now.
They haven't been able to confirm yet how large it was and how long it actually was on the ground.
There were also reports of a second tornado that also came through town, but as of yet the National Weather Service has not confirmed that. There is also some damage in other areas. The downtown, there's a lot of broken glass, there's some trees that have been uprooted. There's also a couple trailer parks that seem to have been hit. There's trailers that have been tossed apart, flipped on their side, cars that have been tossed into the air, landed on the hood. A lot of damage there.
The main problems they're dealing with right now are some street flooding and the majority of the town has their power out right now. About 400 people have not been able to go back to their homes because there are power lines down everywhere. They are staying in hotels tonight. But the good news is that there have been no reports of any injuries or fatalities -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Jennifer, I'm just curious, what was that behind you?
BOCCIER: This was an auto shop. And if you take a look, you can see there is still a car up there on the hoist. It's basically the back half of this has been totally destroyed. You can see there's just rubble everywhere. But this is basically the worst of the damage that we've seen so far.
COSTELLO: All right, Jennifer Boccier of CNN affiliate KAKE reporting live for us from Liberal, Kansas this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Kansas>
