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American Morning

Full Picture of Hurricane Rita's Destruction Comes into Focus

Aired September 26, 2005 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Miles O'Brien. Rescue missions still going on this morning in western Louisiana as the full picture of Hurricane Rita's destruction comes into focus. Thousands of homes underwater, whole towns wiped out by wind and flooding. We're live in the region to see the true scope of Rita's devastation -- Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Soledad O'Brien on the Claiborne Avenue Bridge, the bridge that goes across the canal -- that was levees there -- badly damaged in the wake of Hurricane Rita. Well, now the focus is on getting those levees repaired. Also the mayor's repopulation plan. People are coming back today. Will it work? We'll take a look at that -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: And in Houston, hundreds of thousands of residents jamming the highways once again. Officials try to cope with another enormous Rita migration, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning. Glad you're with us.

Lots of new pictures coming in to us from western Louisiana showing what really happened when Hurricane Rita stormed through. We'll have those in a moment.

But first, let's say hello to Soledad in New Orleans. Good morning, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Hey, Miles. Good morning to you. We're on the Claiborne Avenue Bridge, and this bridge, as you well know, since you spent a lot of time out here, is the bridge that basically goes across the canal. The focus on the repairing of the levees. They were out here most of the weekend trying to build up those levees. They overtopped on Friday as Hurricane Rita was coming onshore, and the breaches that were already there continue to leak and flow. And what's happened is the Ninth Ward has flooded again, and also St. Bernard Parish.

So as you can see, the city of New Orleans, lights on, Entergy working hard to get that city back on line. But just across the canal, you can see no lights, and that is because they are really in feet and feet of water. There is a huge problem there, and the people who live there are so angry. They feel that they, essentially, have been sacrificed for the good of the city. We're going to talk about that this morning, and we'll talk about the mayor's repopulation plan, which begins today -- Miles.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Soledad. Back with you in just a moment. Let's start with a Rita damage assessment. Floodwaters receding this morning along the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Rita, revealing the devastation left behind the storm. Here's a look at the town of Cameron, Louisiana. Thursday, as Rita approached the shore, you'll notice homes all along the beach. Here's a look Sunday after the hurricane, before and after, dramatic pictures.

Rita came ashore near Cameron, just east of the Texas/Louisiana state line. Nearly all homes in the town destroyed. I said nearly all homes. And parts of the area are under as much as 15 feet of water. Search-and-rescue crews have been working nonstop now to pull people from the floodwaters.

It will be at least a week before residents are allowed to return home to Lake Charles, Louisiana. The city still without power. No sewer system. No open stores. No gasoline. The police chief says there's been some looting, and there have been arrests.

Nearly a million customers without electricity in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi as we speak. Some of them have been without power since Hurricane Katrina, of course, now four weeks ago.

Texas Governor Rick Perry says Gulf Coast refineries only suffered minimal damage by Rita. At least four refineries still shutdown, however, as a result of Katrina, could be November before they are working again.

Now the cleanup in Lake Charles continues as water is beginning to recede. Chris Lawrence live in Lake Charles.

Chris, how much of the city now underwater there?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, not as much as was underwater, say, over the weekend. The waters are definitely receding here.

But flooding is only one of the problems here in Lake Charles. You can Take a look behind me. You can see the force of this storm when it came through. It snapped power lines, snapped trees. You've got scenes like this all across the city, and basically, what the city is now saying and some of the officials are saying, as you take a look at the damage from around the city, as they have gone out and looked at some of these areas, we expect them to hold a press conference later today and issue a statement to some of the evacuated residents, telling them, in effect, do not come back here until further notice. Further notice could be a week. Further notice could be several weeks. What we have learned is that they have found some major electrical problems here in the city of Lake Charles. As the repair crews were going around, there seemed to be some very major problems, not just isolated to one neighborhood or two neighborhoods, but problems possibly with some of the main lines that feed into Lake Charles.

That means that even if you get some of the neighborhoods cleared out, until those major problems can be fixed, you can't even start to think about letting people come back here. Lake Charles has been hit hard. We saw a lot of flooding in this area. As we drove in on Saturday, literally driving through some areas, the water just rising up over the car, entire neighborhoods that were pretty much cut off. Some of those waters are receding; some of the problems still remain -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Chris Lawrence in Lake Charles, thank you very much.

A little bit east of Lake Charles, Vermilion Parish, one of the hardest hit by Rita. Hundreds of people there have been rescued from communities drowned under the heavy flooding.

Ed Lavandera is live from one of those communities, the tiny town of Erath.

Ed, are the waters receding there?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Actually Erath was one of the few places where water is still a problem. Imagine there's highway 14 that cuts east to west through Vermilion Parish. Everything south of that have is where all the problems occurred. We're on the very northern edge of those problems, and everything here, as you might be able to see here in the darkness, has dropped quite significantly. And everything is kind of making its way back to the Gulf is the analogy I've been trying to use.

But many residents still asked to stay away from this area as well, as crews will go out today and begin kind of surveying the damage. There aren't many roadways that will lead you through many parts of Vermilion Parish, so crews want to go out and check and make sure that those roadways are still in good enough continue to continue driving on.

Search-and-rescue teams have been out for most of the weekend, 48 hours, anywhere between 200 and 300 people were rescued here. Crews say that they have been able to account for everybody they wanted to account for.

In fact, we've been talking about over the weekend, one story in particular, a woman and her three children refused to evacuate, authorities spent much of the weekend worrying and fearing that perhaps they had been swept away by the floodwaters. But late last night, the sheriff here in Vermilion parish says that that family was found safe, and they're with friends in northern Louisiana -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Ed Lavandera, in Erath, thank you very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Repopulation plans on for today. Homecoming of course could be very tough for people who come and see that they have lost absolutely and utterly everything. Homecoming as well in Houston, where there's a staged re-entry planned there, but not everybody is really waiting their turn. Bob Franken has a look at that.

Bob, good morning. BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As a matter of fact, Soledad, very few are awaiting their return. And police officials have decided that their not going to try to enforce that plan, and that's probably a good thing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): The web of highways from overhead, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt were well aware that thousands of residents were just ignoring the three-day phased return plan, and coming back when they felt like it, which meant right away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's nothing like it was the other day.

FRANKEN: Not as bad, but there were often bottlenecks of slow- moving cars, tediously crawling back to the city they so hastily left to escape the ferocious storm that never really came to Houston. Gasoline was still a big problem. There wasn't enough of it. But resourceful drivers were finding some, sometimes enduring the lines they could of avoided.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are lined up to get into one service station, then less than a quarter mile down the street, there's no line at all.

FRANKEN: But the mayor of Houston acknowledged that more people are need for the smooth flow of that precious petroleum.

MYR. BILL WHITE, HOUSTON, TEXAS: If you work in a gasoline station, if you work in a convenience store, if you're a jobber, if you work in a grocery store, then, you know, you need to show up for work.

FRANKEN: Electric utilities are scrambling to restore power that will still be out for several hundred thousand of those returning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: Even with the problems remaining, city officials are well aware that Houston was really spared the brunt of Hurricane Rita. So they're spending a little bit of time, says the mayor, breathing a sigh of relief -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: A sigh of relief, Bob, but still there will be an expensive recovery. How much money are we talking about? And who's going to pay for it?

FRANKEN: Well, the question always is, will it be paid for by the federal government, by local officials? The answer is yes and yes. The expenses, it's going to go into the billions. We're hearing figures like $8 billion.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Bob Franken, for us. Hey, Bob. Thanks a lot. Appreciate that.

Bob talked about some of the problems with the repopulation plan that's facing Houston. Similar concerns here in New Orleans as well, as people start coming back.

In fact, at this field hospital, essentially, that the Army has set up at the convention center, the only emergency room for the city of New Orleans, we met a gentleman, an elderly man, named James James. He got a ride to the hospital. He ran out of his diabetes medicine, and he could be what they will see a lot of starting today as he the repopulation begins, which is essentially somebody showing up, being dropped off in the city, goes to see his home, it's a total loss; there's nothing there to recover. What happens to him now?

The paramedics say 911 is up, but they're concerned about that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Do you ask yourself why everyone is allowed to come in at this stage?

SEAN FITZSIMMONS, PARAMEDIC: Good question. That's a real good question.

S. O'BRIEN: It Seems too soon to you?

FITZSIMMONS: I don't see what people are going to do. There is still no power to most of the city, there's no electricity, no water, no sewage. People can't flush a toilet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have my water back on, but the sewage system, nothing is being treated yet.

FITZSIMMONS: And the people that are coming back who have ruined houses, I don't know where they're going to go, because they can't stay in their houses. I went to my house, and it looked like it was part of the sewer system.

S. O'BRIEN: Where do you live?

FITZSIMMONS: I'm staying at the compound with the rest of fire and EMS right now.

S. O'BRIEN: Where did you live?

FITZSIMMONS: I lived in Lakeview, which, for a while there, could just be "Lake."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: You can see he has a sense of humor about it, to some degree. But a lot of the same story, many people predict. People are going to come in, they're going to see that their homes, there's nothing there. And there are concerns that not only will there be injuries like abrasions, and scrapes, and broken bones from people who are trying to break back into their homes and see the damage, also there are concerns, we were told, that people could suffer heart attacks from the stress of the last four weeks and the stress of seeing that everything they own is now a complete and total loss. (WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, more on Rita's aftermath. The storm caused a second round of flooding, as we've been telling you, in New Orleans. What's being done to fix the levees? We'll hear from the man in charge, with Soledad.

Plus, the lessons learned from Katrina. Take a closer look at how the president responded to Rita. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: There is some pictures from yesterday, as the police chief of Houston, Texas, Harold Hurtt, took an aerial tour of his sprawling city looking for some traffic snarl-ups. This is the reverse evacuation of Houston. We watched it all unfold Thursday and Friday. It was quite a mess.

So far, the repopulation of the city seems to be going a little more smoothly, and he is joining us now live. Harold Hurtt, police chief with us right along Interstate 45 there, near the Ritchie Road exit.

And I'm looking at the traffic behind you, chief. It's 6:15 in the morning there. Looks like a typical Monday morning there in Houston.

CHIEF HAROLD HURTT, HOUSTON POLICE DEPT.: That's right. If anything, it's a little bit more lighter than it usually is on a Monday morning.

M. O'BRIEN: So, so far, do you have the sense that people are obeying this voluntary phased return program that you and the mayor, and the governor and everybody else has encouraged?

HURTT: That's right. And we hope they continue to do that, because there's some people in east Texas that really need some of the resources that initially had been devoted to Houston, because they are much more in dire need of support, so we're hoping the people have seen TV, heard on the radio, the requests that were made and honor that, because we need to take care of the people in east Texas also.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, there is a little bit of grumbling out there. I know you've heard this, chief. One of the judges, which is the top county elected official, from Brazoria (ph) County, John Willie, was quoted yesterday when he was referring to this state phased-in return. He says, "The plan is ridiculous. Our people are tired of the state's plan. They have a plan, too, and it's real simple. They plan to come home when they want." There is a little bit of Texas in that statement there, a little bit of independence that we all appreciate with Texas. But that sentiment is out there. Is that causing a lot of problems?

HURTT: Well, it's not causing a lot of problems. Of course, the request of the governor and the mayor has made about to return system guidelines, and as you said, you know, Texans and Americans, we're were very independent. People are out there, they've been away from home two or three days, they want to get back home, but they also should remember there is still about 300,000 people in the city of Houston that don't have electricity. We are just repopulated the stores, so people have food to buy, and also the service stations are opening. So we need a little time to get ready for them. Of course, if they get back, they don't have lights, that's going to create a bigger burden on the system.

M. O'BRIEN: Chief, I don't want to keep Monday morning quarterbacking here, but there are lessons to learn of what happened on Thursday and Friday. What you said to me yesterday when I talked to was more people evacuated than you wanted, maybe a million and a half more than you wanted. As you look back on it, is there any more precise way to evacuate in a way you would get the kind of evacuation that is needed and not much more?

HURTT: Not really. Because I think a lot of people were reacting to the fact that we're really staring a category-five hurricane in the face. People wanted to get out of here, because we had gone through a month of looking at the impact of Katrina and, of course, people here in Houston have seen the results, people being displaced, living here in Houston. They're still here. There wasn't any room for people here in shelters. Our hotels are full. So there wasn't anywhere for people to go in Houston; they had to get out of town.

M. O'BRIEN: Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt,thanks for being with us.

HURTT: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, the oil industry came out relatively unscathed by Rita, but will that keep oil prices in check? Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" with that.

Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Everybody is concerned about the refineries. What is it? Twenty-three, 25 percent of all the refining capacity is in that Rita/Katrina region, and looks like, you know, the first indications are it could of been much worse.

Andy Serwer, by the way, good morning to you, sir.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning. Good morning to you, Miles.

I think that's a good way to characterize it. Energy markets continuing to react this morning to Hurricane Rita. Generally prices are falling. The overall picture is not as bad as anticipated. I think that Texas Governor Rick Perry put it pretty well when he called it a glancing blow, and you can see there, there are oil prices down below $64 this morning. We do have some pictures of some of the hardest-hit refineries and the hardest-hit areas. I believe this is Port Arthur, Valero's refinery, which actually sustained some of the worst damage.

M. O'BRIEN: It says Baytown there.

SERWER: All right. Well, there is the Valero one. It was the Exxon facility, you're right.

M. O'BRIEN: Which is the biggest in the world?

SERWER: That's right, the biggest in the United States.

M. O'BRIEN: There you go.

SERWER: There's Valero. We also have the Henry Hub, which is a natural gas-flooded area in Erath, Louisiana, where Eddie Lavandera was, and you can see that natural gas prices a real concern, Miles, because that's really going to hurt consumers this winter.

Gas prices may tick up a little bit over the next couple of days. Generally, the trend should be down, though, as those refineries get back online.

And I think the overall point is, we hope the worst is over.

Now, this morning, the president will be briefed by the Department of Energy on the situation, and he is going to be giving a statement at 10:55 Eastern live, and we will be carrying that, apparently, on CNN.

M. O'BRIEN: Excellent. Thank you very much.

SERWER: There is your mic back.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm going to take the microphone back, emergency microphone recovery there.

SERWER: I'm not sure what happened there. Must have got wiped out.

M. O'BRIEN: It was Rita. Got wet.

All right, let's go back to Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles, thanks.

We've been telling you really since Friday that the Lower Ninth Ward flooded in the wake, and as Hurricane Rita came onshore. So again, the focus for the Army Corps of Engineers, how do they get that water out. When will they rebuild the levees? We've got answers to those questions just ahead.

Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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