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American Morning

Brutal Winter Blast

Aired January 27, 2004 - 07:12   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get to our other top story this morning: the deadly winter conditions that have spread snow and freezing rain across the eastern half of the country. They're heading for the Northeast now. The Carolinas have been pounded by the storms, which have been blamed for dozens of deaths around the country.
Gary Tuchman is live in Columbia, South Carolina, for us this morning, where icy conditions have left tens of thousands of people without power this morning.

Gary -- good morning.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, good morning to you.

It's the middle of the winter, so it's no great surprise that this nation is getting winter weather. However, the scope of this situation is very unusual. Large parts of the country are being bombarded by the frozen elements.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN (voice-over): They were fishing on iced-over Lake Erie in north central Ohio, but then high winds cracked the ice. Fourteen men were stranded on ice chunks until they were rescued by the Coast Guard. They were luckier than some others.

A complex series of winter storms from the Plains to the East Coast, from the Great Lakes to Dixie, has left at least 25 people dead. In Omaha, Nebraska, four people, including children, were killed when their car slid into a struck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Snow and ice on the roads, and we had an individual lose control.

TUCHMAN: Pittsburgh has also been hit hard by the snow.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You need a four-wheel for this. This is really bad.

TUCHMAN: In other places, ice and freezing rain are the problems, like the Carolinas and Georgia, where firefighters braved the cold to fight a fire caused when a tanker slid off a highway that in essence became a skating rink.

In Tulsa, Oklahoma, a man, who got out of his vehicle after an accident on a bridge, had a very close call. Another can driver slammed into his pickup truck, almost knocking him off the bridge. He was not seriously hurt.

In the nation's capital, snowplows cleared the streets, while skiers snowplowed near the Washington Monument. In Philadelphia, the plows and salt trucks tried to keep up with the snow and ice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got a late start, so the roads have been plowed a little bit. Ice is a little dangerous in spots.

TUCHMAN: Dangerous in Missouri, too, where 18-wheelers were sliding off roadways choked with snow and accidents.

Hundreds of flights were canceled at the nation's airports. Tens of thousands of people were without power. The weather even caused President Bush to change his plans. After returning from a visit to Arkansas, his helicopter trip from Andrews Air Force Base to the White House was scrapped for a snowy motorcade.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

And now the latest numbers: authorities are telling us that 38 people across the country have died as a result of this weather -- 6 of them here in the state of South Carolina. And 150,000 customers in this state went to bed last night without power. Some of that power is now coming back on.

The conditions here in South Carolina are expected to get much better today. As a matter of fact, by the end of the week, parts of this state will be close to 60 degrees. But it won't be getting better today in the Midwest and the Northeast. A lot of bad weather is on the way for today also.

Soledad -- back to you.

O'BRIEN: It sure is. Gary Tuchman for us in South Carolina. Gary, thank you.

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 January 27, 2004 - 07:12   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get to our other top story this morning: the deadly winter conditions that have spread snow and freezing rain across the eastern half of the country. They're heading for the Northeast now. The Carolinas have been pounded by the storms, which have been blamed for dozens of deaths around the country.
Gary Tuchman is live in Columbia, South Carolina, for us this morning, where icy conditions have left tens of thousands of people without power this morning.

Gary -- good morning.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, good morning to you.

It's the middle of the winter, so it's no great surprise that this nation is getting winter weather. However, the scope of this situation is very unusual. Large parts of the country are being bombarded by the frozen elements.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN (voice-over): They were fishing on iced-over Lake Erie in north central Ohio, but then high winds cracked the ice. Fourteen men were stranded on ice chunks until they were rescued by the Coast Guard. They were luckier than some others.

A complex series of winter storms from the Plains to the East Coast, from the Great Lakes to Dixie, has left at least 25 people dead. In Omaha, Nebraska, four people, including children, were killed when their car slid into a struck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Snow and ice on the roads, and we had an individual lose control.

TUCHMAN: Pittsburgh has also been hit hard by the snow.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You need a four-wheel for this. This is really bad.

TUCHMAN: In other places, ice and freezing rain are the problems, like the Carolinas and Georgia, where firefighters braved the cold to fight a fire caused when a tanker slid off a highway that in essence became a skating rink.

In Tulsa, Oklahoma, a man, who got out of his vehicle after an accident on a bridge, had a very close call. Another can driver slammed into his pickup truck, almost knocking him off the bridge. He was not seriously hurt.

In the nation's capital, snowplows cleared the streets, while skiers snowplowed near the Washington Monument. In Philadelphia, the plows and salt trucks tried to keep up with the snow and ice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got a late start, so the roads have been plowed a little bit. Ice is a little dangerous in spots.

TUCHMAN: Dangerous in Missouri, too, where 18-wheelers were sliding off roadways choked with snow and accidents.

Hundreds of flights were canceled at the nation's airports. Tens of thousands of people were without power. The weather even caused President Bush to change his plans. After returning from a visit to Arkansas, his helicopter trip from Andrews Air Force Base to the White House was scrapped for a snowy motorcade.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

And now the latest numbers: authorities are telling us that 38 people across the country have died as a result of this weather -- 6 of them here in the state of South Carolina. And 150,000 customers in this state went to bed last night without power. Some of that power is now coming back on.

The conditions here in South Carolina are expected to get much better today. As a matter of fact, by the end of the week, parts of this state will be close to 60 degrees. But it won't be getting better today in the Midwest and the Northeast. A lot of bad weather is on the way for today also.

Soledad -- back to you.

O'BRIEN: It sure is. Gary Tuchman for us in South Carolina. Gary, thank you.

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