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Catastrophic Flooding: 21 Square Miles of Iowa Farmland Flooded; Levees on the Brink; Drilling Offshore for Oil

Aired June 18, 2008 - 11:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Boy, we have to tell you, we are running as fast as we can to keep you up to date on the flooding in the Midwest.
We want to get to our national correspondent, Allan Chernoff, now. He is in Oakville, Iowa.

And Allan, you sent a note a while ago, just a short time ago, telling us that you're in 21 -- let me have you tell the story.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Tony, it is simply astounding here. I'm looking out at a lake and I just got off a boat. A lake of 21 square miles of water covering corn and soybean fields. It is simply astanding. Well over 100 farms on this territory.

We were on the boat, and we went to a farmer's home. He's lived here for 47 years. The only thing above water, his roof and an American flag still on the flagpole.

We passed by silos, hog barns. In fact, on one barn we saw three pigs still on the roof, just trapped there. Trapped and eating some corn debris that had floated onto the top of the barn. But it is astounding here.

And one of the farmers that we've spoken to, Crook Siegel (ph), he had invested over a million dollars into his crop this year. It's all gone. Just entirely gone.

And to magnify the situation here, consider the fact that there's no shipping right now along the Mississippi, which means that the farmers cannot sell their grain to have it shipped down the Mississippi and exported out of New Orleans. So they're not even getting cash in.

So they've lost their investment. They're looking at flooded fields that I can't even imagine how long it will take this area to dry up. We're clearly talking about months -- Tony.

HARRIS: Allan, is another situation where everyone did everything in their power to try to raise the height of the levee and the levee system just simply was overwhelmed?

CHERNOFF: That is exactly correct, Tony. The community here worked day and night on a levee right nearby. I'm seven miles from the Iowa River, three miles from the Mississippi. Water between me and those two rivers. And I'm right next to a church that had organized the levee building, but the levee broke on Saturday. Within hours these fields were filled with water.

HARRIS: I'm just wondering, can you even believe it? I'm sure you have, as we have, watched these pictures out of Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, and what you're talking about and describing is something as devastating as those scenes from those communities.

CHERNOFF: Yes. And we will have pictures for you a little bit later today. We hope to have them back to you within the hour. As I said, we've just gotten off the boat. Our satellite truck has just arrived. We'll be sending you video, so our viewers will see this for themselves very shortly.

HARRIS: OK. Allan Chernoff for us this morning.

Allan, appreciate it. Thank you. Can't wait to see the pictures.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Wow. Levees on the brink, and certainly farmland just inches from being completely demolished, and lives at the edge of disaster. Not too far away from Allan Chernoff is our own Sean Callebs. He is standing by now in a town that has already evacuated.

Wondering, Sean, what the latest is from Des Moines County, where you are in Iowa.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting, because we heard Allan talk about what happened over there. Had it not been for the breaches on the Illinois side, this out here, what you're looking at, all this corn, all this farmland here, could very well be in the same situation.

The reason? Once the levees gave way on the other side, the water went down here somewhat significantly. About 30 hours ago it was at the top of these sandbags. The concern was it was going over.

Now everybody in this area keeping an eye on these flags that you see every so often on the levee. These are areas that are considered at risk. And here is how one of the volunteer -- one of the farmers, a volunteer who's going up and down checking the levee, describes the situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID WAGENBACH, FARMER: What we've got to watch out for now is for seeps and things like that. It's going to come up through the side of the levee. There's some places down south of here where the water is just bubbling outside of the levee.

And as it goes down, we'll have less pressure. But that's our biggest concern now, or sticks or animals tearing up the berm.

Right now there's trash along the levee. And if wind comes up, these sticks will come up and tear up the plastic we have on top inside them bags and then create a leak. So that's what we've got to watch for now, even though the water is about a foot down from what it was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLEBS: And this is what everybody is trying to avoid. Look at this gaping hole in the levee right across the river from Burlington, Iowa. This, Gulfport, Illinois. It happened yesterday. And that is what led to flooding those thousands and thousands acres of flooding of farmland.

You know, Tony, we talk about this extensive levee system along the Mississippi as if everybody understands why it's here, how long it's been here. Actually, it dates back about a century and a half.

In fact, I was in St. Louis during the '93 flood, and I remember looking at a picture of one of the first heads of the corps of engineers down in that area responsible for handling the river. It was Robert E. Lee, who of course went on to be the confederate general during the Civil War.

But most of the levees along the Mississippi are between 10 and 20 feet high. What they're designed to do is control the flooding.

Before these levees went up, hundreds of miles of farmland would be flooded basically every year. These are designed to keep the water within the channels.

However, on these occasions when the levees are breached, this is what leads to this catastrophic flooding. People simply aren't prepared for it, and people have built in what was the floodplain. That's what leads to the disaster, that's what leads to the heartbreak and the financial ruin of so many -- Tony.

COLLINS: Yes. Well, because mainly, Sean, you know, as we've learned over the last few days, a lot of people don't have insurance, couldn't get that flood insurance. So we appreciate that story.

CALLEBS: Right. A lot of people...

COLLINS: Go ahead.

CALLEBS: Well, just a lot of people either didn't want to buy it because it was too expensive, or felt it wasn't worth it. One thing the federal government really drilled into us after Hurricane Katrina is everybody can buy flood insurance no matter where you live. It just isn't worth it.

COLLINS: All right. CNN's Sean Callebs for us in Des Moines County.

Thank you, Sean.

HARRIS: Quincy, Illinois, south of the latest levees to be overwhelmed and directly in the path of the rising floodwaters. Most of Quincy is elevated, and that won't be impacted, but our understanding is that there was a section of Quincy along the river that is of real concern. Let's get to Reynolds Wolf. He is there.

Reynolds, is that a pretty good assessment of the situation there in Quincy?

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I would say this is a great assessment of the situation in Quincy.

Right along Front Street, right along the river, we're having some issues. But up on the bluff, where most of the city is situated, you don't have too much of a problem.

Now, this, obviously, what I'm walking in, is definitely what you would consider a problem. We've seen water actually drop a little bit just over the past couple of hours, because as you mentioned, we had those levees fail a little bit farther to the north up in Warsaw. And I believe some 12,000 acres has been inundated with water, which has actually caused the water here just to drop a little bit. Not a whole lot, but a little bit.

So it kind of points out that what is one community's misery farther to the north is actually a gain here in Quincy. A little bit better for them.

However, they know that they're far from over, they know that more water is on the way. Already, like in this small business here, you see they've got these pumps working here. These have been going all night long, trying to stay ahead of these floodwaters, as the Mississippi roars its way South along the Gulf.

You know, Tony, we often talk about the economic impact that we're going to have in terms of the agricultural problems in parts of Missouri and Iowa and Illinois, but you've got to remember, a lot of these mom and pop industries that have been here for years and years, they're certainly in danger. This is a tremendous flood.

Many people here in the community joining hands, trying to do what they can to stave off these waters. And it's not just people here in the community. Later on this afternoon, we're going to take you later to a sandbagging center where you're going to see people from all over the country coming together to work hand in hand, filling up these sandbags, doing what they can to push these floodwaters away from these communities. It's a great story, but, at the same time, just a terrifying prospect to see this water come up so quickly.

Let's send it back to you -- Tony.

HARRIS: You're on a street. I saw the stop sign, so you're actually on a street there.

WOLF: This is Front Street, which on any other day would be just a beautiful...

HARRIS: Yes. WOLF: You've got a couple of shops over here. Everything would be picture perfect. But this is what happens when the Mississippi River spills its banks.

HARRIS: Amazing.

All right. Reynolds Wolf for us this morning in Quincy, Illinois.

Reynolds, talk to you a bit later this afternoon. Thank you.

COLLINS: Wow, you've got to find really, really big waders. I mean, it's unbelievable, how much we've been able to see this with the reports out there.

HARRIS: Yes, exactly.

COLLINS: And wearing the waders, as strange as that sounds, but, you know, they've just been going up and up and up. And it is unbelievable for how many more days the people in the central part of this country are going to have to deal with this.

HARRIS: Yes.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Lift the ban. President Bush pressuring Congress on offshore oil drilling. But would that ease your pressure at the gas pump?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Oil offshore and off limits, but President Bush wants to change that. Just moments ago, he called for lifting a ban on offshore drilling.

Brianna Keilar live from the White House with more on this.

Good morning to you once again, Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

Yes, President Bush is pressing Congress to do a number of things, but it's lifting this ban on offshore drilling that's getting the most attention. Now, here's how it works.

There are actually basically two bans that are in effect. There's the congressional ban, and there's basically an executive ban by the president. It's an executive prohibition that was put in place by the first George Bush, our current president's father, back when had he was in power.

And President Bush now saying that if Congress lifts their ban, then he will lift this executive prohibition. He says there's really a way to do this drilling so that you don't see these oil rigs from the shore and so that all sorts of marine ecosystems are protected and there's no oil spills.

This is drilling on what's called the Outer Continental Shelf. This is off the coast of the entire U.S. And President Bush really pointing a finger at Democrats in Congress, saying they need to take action.

Listen to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There is no excuse for delay. As a matter of fact, it's a reason to move swiftly.

I know that Democratic leaders have opposed some of these policies in the past. Now that their opposition has helped drive gas prices to record levels, I ask them to reconsider their positions. If congressional leaders leave for the Fourth of July recess without taking action, they will need to explain why $4 a gallon gasoline is not enough incentive for them to act.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, I've been e-mailing with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's spokesman, Jim Manly. And he says that this is just an election year stunt. He said the Democrats have tried to pass comprehensive energy legislation and they have been blocked by what he called Bush/McCain Republicans at every turn. And he said that if President Bush was serious about this, why doesn't he lift this executive prohibition before asking Congress to lift this ban?

Well, I posed that very question to one of the president's economic advisers, Keith Hennessey, and he said there's really no question of what President Bush would do, that he will basically lift his ban if Congress lifts theirs. But again, Heidi, it's pretty clear the president is not going to be going out on this limb before Congress does.

COLLINS: Some more political wrangling it sounds like. All right.

CNN's Brianna Keilar outside the White House this morning.

Thanks, Brianna.

HARRIS: Going after Taliban militants, Afghan and Canadian troops launching attacks in villages just outside of Kandahar. The offensive comes with the news of four British troops killed elsewhere in Afghanistan.

Live now to CNN's Paula Newton in London.

And Paula, keeping in mind that there are actually civilians in these villages, can you tell us how this operation is being described? For example, are air strikes being used? Is this urban combat?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Helicopter gunships are being used, but, Tony, this is taking on a very classic confrontation with the Taliban. It is a bit of hide and seek, a bit of peek-a-boo.

Certainly the allied forces trying to advance. At that point, the Taliban either decides to take them on or they don't.

The problem NATO is having on the ground, Tony, is that they don't know exactly how many Taliban are out there and whether or not the reports of Taliban in these villages are exaggerated. What they say they are being very careful of, Tony, is to watch for civilian casualties. They say they are going in gingerly, but we understand that some of the fighting in those villages really was quite dramatic earlier in the day.

Tony, what this is all leading up to, though, is really a new festering sense of a crisis building once again in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON (voice over): Now on the brink of battle, NATO and Afghan troops are laying the groundwork for what could be a dramatic showdown with the Taliban. NATO admits it is trying to restore confidence as rumors fly that hundreds of Taliban are swarming just north of Kandahar City.

MARK LAITY, NATO SPOKESMAN: Whether there's going to be a big fight or not, I think that's very unclear. But I think what is certain is we're in a good position to deal with it if it comes to pass.

NEWTON: This latest crisis, triggered by that dramatic jail break last week, now means at least 400 Taliban are free to fight NATO forces once more.

The truth is, the Taliban comeback is such a familiar headline coming out of southern Afghanistan. It may not amount to a strategic victory for the Taliban, but it has shaken Afghan confidence in NATO's operation here.

PAUL CORNISH, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY PROGRAM: We'll look at it all, because (INAUDIBLE), as I said, perceptions really, really matter. So they'll be regarded as a big loss in perception terms.

NEWTON: And for years now, that perception that the Taliban has NATO forces on the ropes has, by NATO's own admission, been expertly reinforced by the Taliban's self-promotion.

Just look at this suicide video of a German jihad recruit on his way to truck-bomb a U.S. military base in March. "Just as they hit us," he says, "we will hit them in unexpected places by creating traps, by waiting and watching holes. We will hit them for God."

The video has been circulating on the Internet since April, and here it shows the suicide bomber approaching with his truck bomb and then the point of detonation that kills two U.S. soldiers. By any definition, the Taliban is proving a deaf and stubborn enemy, even in the way it handles its own propaganda.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: You know, Tony, and I want to point out, when you see that kind of a suicide bombing, when you see the roadside attack that killed those British soldiers, you know, just on Saturday four U.S. Marines were killed in another roadside attack.

Look, a lot of analysts will sit there, and NATO has said that they interpret this as a sign of weakness by the Taliban -- the suicide bombings, the IEDs by the side of the road. Many analysts now saying not so fast. These are the kind of tactics that you will see more and more from the Taliban, but reinvigorated. They will continue to use a lot of the front-line conventional tactics that we saw really -- we haven't seen actually in Afghanistan for quite some time.

HARRIS: That's right.

Paula Newton for us in London.

Paula, good to see you. Thank you.

COLLINS: Is your child smoking marijuana? If you're a parent, you need to hear Elizabeth Cohen's report in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Marijuana warning. A study says the stuff on the street today is more powerful, dangerous and addictive than it's been since at least the '70s. And a lot of kids are smoking it.

Listen to this. One in six sixth graders, one in four high school seniors. These numbers according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Boy, every time we put that up, I can't believe it. What are you in sixth grade, 11 or so?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Eleven, yes. Eleven, 12.

COLLINS: Oh.

CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here with more details now.

So, first of all, why is the marijuana more potent?

COHEN: Just because of the way it's grown. You know, improving agriculture, I guess. You could look at it that way.

COLLINS: Some people would say, I guess.

COHEN: Right, some people would say that there are apparently ways to grow pot to get higher concentrations of THC. That's the psychoactive agent that gives you that high when you smoke pot. And according to some new studies that are out, there has been a 175 percent increase in the potency of marijuana since 1992, a 492 percent increase in marijuana abuse, and a 136 percent increase in visits to the emergency room.

And it's interesting, Heidi. I mean, who knew this, but there are people who look at pot that's sold on the streets and measure it for its potency. They say they've never seen it this high, never seen it this potent.

COLLINS: Wow. And then you look at those E.R. visits, up some -- what was it, 136 percent?

COHEN: Right.

COLLINS: So we're not just talking about side-effects like the munchies or acting goofy.

COHEN: Right. It's more than that.

COLLINS: They're going to the E.R.

COHEN: It's more than that. And what's interesting is that many of these E.R. visits are because people are getting very paranoid when they smoke pot, and they perceive that they're in some kind of trouble. They might not actually be in any kind of health trouble, but they're paranoid, they're freaking out. And that's the cause of many of these E.R. visits.

It's almost more psychiatric than anything else.

COLLINS: Yes. Wow. All right.

Well, certainly something to think about. Appreciate that.

Elizabeth Cohen.

COHEN: Thanks.

COLLINS: To get your "Daily Dose" of health news online, you can log on to our Web site, where you will find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. That address, cnn.com/health.

HARRIS: When coming home stinks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the worst part is the smell. It definitely stinks, that's for sure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Stinks is an understatement. The smell is nearly unbearable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Returning after the floodwaters recede in Cedar Rapids. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And this just in to CNN. We knew at the beginning of last week, the beginning of the U.S. Open, Torrey Pines, San Diego, that Tiger Woods was playing with a bum knee, a bum left knee. He was playing in his first tournament after a two-month layoff because of knee surgery, the third surgery on that left knee.

Now comes news that after, what, five rounds, 91 holes it took for him to win the U.S. Open, that Tiger Woods will miss the rest of the golf season. This is according to "The Associated Press," which is citing as a source someone familiar with this decision.

Tiger Woods will miss the rest of the golf season. He indicated in his post-U.S. open press conference that he was likely to shut it down for a while. I don't think anyone had an idea at the time that he might be talking about shutting it down for the rest of the season.

COLLINS: Yes, the British Open maybe, because the British Open's next week, but this is definitely surprising.

HARRIS: Yes, but we were talking about the situation with Elizabeth Cohen, and the fact of the matter is, Tiger has a clubhead speed up around 125 miles per hour. He is wearing his metal spikes, and he puts a lot of pressure on that left knee, and generating all of that force that, you know, that produces the 300, 340, 350-yard drives.

And as a result of the stress, the strain on that knee, three surgeries, Tiger Woods, the No. 1 player in golf forever, it seems, will be resting that knee, trying to get it right, trying to get the scar tissue broken up in that knee, whatever is necessary to get him right again for next season. Tiger Woods shutting down for the rest of the golf season.

COLLINS: Midwest flooding and many awakening today to a nightmare in west central Illinois. The Mississippi River has swamped at least one levee and is pouring across a 25-mile stretch of now of Hancock and Adams Counties. You see those counties pointed out on that map.Beneath these flood waters: Gulfport, Illinois, about 400 people had to be evacuated after the levee there was overwhelmed. Look at that.

The flooding that began in eastern Iowa now flows southward, of course, in Illinois and Missouri, even more levees in danger and as floodwaters rise, near inches may make all the difference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIG. GEN. MICHAEL WALSH, U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: Some of those levees, both federal and non-federal levees, are designed for storms of a much lesser degree or grade than what the storm that's hitting now. We're looking in some areas of this being a 500-year storm.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: Some towns face an agonizing wait of several more days before the river is even expected to crest. Some areas raising for levels as much as 15 feet above flood stage.

Well, as President Bush gets set to tour the flood-ravaged areas in Midwest, bloggers helping flood victims online. That is good to hear.

Veronica de la Cruz is joining us now with more on that. So, how does it look out there, Veronica?

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Oh well, you know, Heidi, it's interesting to see how many people actually turn to the Web during emergencies. So much so, Heidi, that bloggers have been pulling together. They've created this one-stop shop for victims. Iowaflood.com, it's become a catch-all for all things flood- related in Iowa.

For example, Heidi, if you need emergency numbers, those are listed right at the top of the page. And then scrolling down the page, you find updates on different counties and cities in Iowa. Also, you find pictures like this one. It shows the flooding in Columbus Junction. Eric Stoler (ph) originally posted this to Flickr.

Along with the pictures, you find video as well. This is one, Heidi, that was originally posted to YouTube. This is in Agragator (ph), so it's ended up on this site, iowaflood.com. This is a video of a person taking a tour of the damage there. The person's in this rowboat, they're paddling down a street, Heidi, in Iowa City. You can see the homes there submerged. One of the homes actually had a boat pulled right up to the front of it. You see it there.

There's even instant conversation happening online via Twitter, which is a microblogging site. Right now, scrolling down the page, you see that people are talking about these road closures. They're also talking about areas that have been reopening as those floodwaters recede.

So again, this is a site that's acting as an aggregator for all things related to the flood in Iowa. The Web address, Heidi, is iowaflood.com.

COLLINS: OK, where else on the Web are people turning for help?

DE LA CRUZ: Well, you know, people have always turn to the Red Cross. And what's really interesting about the organization's Web site right now is that the Red Cross is also employing similar tools on their site. Logging onto their site right now, you see that if you've tapped into the blogosphere using blogs like redcrosschat, that's their own blog. They've linked back to another blog called Goodnews blog.

And then, Heidi, they're using Flikr to post pictures, they're using YouTube to post video, they're using Twitter, Udders (ph) to post messages, and then they're even using social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook to stay connected. So, this is the Red Cross we're talking about. It's an organization that's more than 100-years-old, so this kind of is a sign of the times, if you will.

COLLINS: Yes, absolutely. All right, CNN's Veronica de la Cruz, appreciate that, Veronica.

HARRIS: Let's get you to Rob Marciano now. And Rob, if you would, talk to us about the situations that we're dealing with now in the Midwest. If you could, give us a bit of a forward look here as to what's coming over the next couple of days.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, the good news is first of all, is that there's not a whole lot of rain coming in over the next couple of days. So, that's problem No. 1 eliminated. But, unfortunately, the whole set of problems got going in the last really month with all the rainfall that they've seen, in some cases -- by the way, this is the flood warnings and watches that are out.

The amount of rain that Iowa has seen this year, and especially in the month of June, is more than 1993. So, that's why we've seen a flood in that area higher than 1993. And now, all that water is struggling to get out of Iowa, down through the Mississippi, Illinois being effected, obviously, and Missouri in a short time.

So here we go. This is the very latest looking forward, the timeline of where the river is going to crest. We're talking the Mississippi. Burlington into Quincy, that is today/tonight. And through tomorrow would be Hannibal and tomorrow night and Friday, Clarksville into Saturday. We've pushed St. Louis now down all the way to Monday, we've also upgraded St. Louis to a major flood forecast. But it should remain below the 1993 stage into St. Louis. Elsewhere where you see the pink, we've pretty much reached or exceeded in some spots the 1993 stage. Right, water coming in, mostly south and west of the flood zone.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: We want to get back to the situation as quickly as we can here with the flooding, and specifically talk about Canton, Missouri, where they're preparing for some of the worst of today's flooding.

Let's get the very latest on the situation from there. Jeff McReynolds is the director of emergency management for the city. He's joining me now on the phone.

Jeff, tell us a little bit about what is happening in your area.

VOICE OF JEFF MCREYNOLDS, CANTON, MISSOURI EMERGENCY MGMT: We had a very scary night last night. The -- we met the levee design, the cap of our levee with water on the Mississippi last night. We have added sandbags to the top. Had a lot of areas where we had some light flow of water seeping through the top of our levee.

Fortunately for us, unfortunately for some other folks, we had levee failures in our region. We're starting to see a slight drop. We are up to our throats in water, but hanging on and feel very optimistic that we're going to make it through this.

COLLINS: Well, I certainly hope so, as we continue to look at some of the pictures in the area, boy, it's just amazing. Everything that we're seeing across the farmlands, people's homes, businesses, in the streets, everything just completely covered in water. Are people evacuated where you are or certain portions, or are they still there sandbagging? What's the immediate activity as far as people are concerned?

MCREYNOLDS: Today, our activities -- we need to finish up our sandbagging efforts. We got really close last night. We worked 'til about 1:00 in the morning, finished up this morning. I think by late afternoon we will be completely buttoned up for a crest that was expected to hit us late today. We may not reach that crest because of some of the levee failures in our area, which might give us a little breathing room.

Got a lot of people in our community filling sandbags and throwing sandbags. The scarce (ph) today I think are a little bit better than yesterday. We were pretty much in the desperate mode yesterday. You could feel the tension in the community. Today, you're starting to see some smiles and that relief that maybe we are going to weather this storm.

COLLINS: Boy, I sure hope so. That's great to hear. At what point, because I'm sure you have a point in mind that you talked about extensively, do you tell people, you know what, we've just -- we've got to get out?

MCREYNOLDS: Well, we -- this is about the second time we've had an event like this. In 1993 ...

COLLINS: Yes.

MCREYNOLDS: ...we had a mandatory evacuation, and we still ended up with those few people you just can't get out. This time, we did it on a voluntary basis, and targeted areas, our law enforcement had great support efforts. We went in and made sure people were making good decisions.

You know, the potentially impacted area in our community was well evacuated in a voluntary situation. We had tremendous support by a local university in helping us out ...

COLLINS: Oh, good.

MCREYNOLDS: ...and the Red Cross. We've got a tight-knit community. We've been through a couple of other disasters. I feel like we have a well-oiled machine, and things have gone -- so far, very well for us. And like I said, we are cautiously optimistic that we are going to weather this storm.

COLLINS: Well, I think that's about the best way that you can be on this one, and certainly glad to hear there are at least some smiles on people's faces where you are.

Jeff McReynolds, director of Emergency Management in Canton, Missouri. Thank you, Jeff.

MCREYNOLDS: Thanks.

HARRIS: Lifting the ban on offshore oil drilling. That appeal from President Bush to Congress last hour in a statement from the White House Rose Garden. The president says the U.S. needs to increase its energy production. He says conservation and alternative fuels alone cannot solve the problem. The president says part of the solution is to tap into the oil off the U.S. coastline.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We should expand American oil production by increasing access to the Outer Continental Shelf or OCS. Experts believe that the OCS could produce about 18 billion barrels of oil. That would be enough to match America's current oil production for almost 10 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Some areas in the western Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska are open to drilling, but the ban covers the Eastern Gulf and nearly all of the Atlantic and Pacific Coast areas. Drilling more oil just part of the solution to the nation's energy problems.

Ali Velshi, minding your business, he is live, has been with us throughout the morning from New York with more on what all this means. Ali, if you would, help us sort out the politics from the practical, maybe just sort of focus on the practical.

ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Sure. Well, I think a lot of people didn't know there was a ban on offshore drilling in much of the United States other than some parts of the Gulf of Mexico, as you mentioned, and some parts of California. The estimate, as President Bush said, is that there might be 18 billion barrels of oil to get out of the ocean, and depending on where it is and what sort of oil it is, it would take between three years and 10 years to start accessing it.

Now, if you drilled for oil in the ocean, the cost of it, again, depending on how easy it is to get to is between $20 and $60 a barrel right now. So, anything above that is profitable. The issue, Tony, remains whether you think the plan should be to find more oil or to cut down on our use of oil or somewhere in between.

So, the president is interesting. He's talking from the same song sheet on energy as John McCain. And you know, they haven't been doing that. What the president wants to do, it's a four-point plan. He wants to lift the ban on offshore drilling on what he said, the Outer Continental Shelf. He wants expand the production of oil shale, which is found in Western states. It's shale that has oil in it and you can make oil out of it. It's a little more expensive, it costs almost up to $50 to get a barrel of oil out of that. He wants to enhance and expand the refineries in this country. We haven't had a new refinery in more than 30 years. And one of the problems about getting refineries is that the permitting process is very complicated. President Bush wants to expedite the refining permitting process. He's putting the -- he's asking Congress to do this. I think he knows pretty well that Congress isn't going to do this. But it does sound like he's pushing forward a plan that involves more supply of oil.

HARRIS: And it seems to be -- there seems to be a little bit of posturing going on, the president saying, if you lift your ban, Congress, then I'll lift my executive order. So, we'll see how it goes.

VELSHI: But not a drop of oil for the next three years out of that plan. So, worth noting ...

HARRIS: That's the (INAUDIBLE) point.

VELSHI: ...we're looking for a longer term issue here.

HARRIS: Ali, thanks for your help this morning.

COLLINS: Higher fuel prices means fewer flights. Find out which airlines are cutting back now. Stephanie Elam has the story and all the latest numbers from Wall Street coming up next.

But first, you may already recycle aluminum, plastics and glass. How about rainwater? Jacqui Jeras shows us how.

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JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): With rain becoming ever more precious in drought-stricken places, a Canadian engineering professor is pushing a solution. Khosrow Farahbakhsh created a rainwater recycling system for his home, using old cistern technology.

KHOSROW FARAHBAKHSH, PROFESSOR, UNIV. OF GUELPH: It's basically a new twist of a very ancient practice.

JERAS: Water still runs off the roof when it rains, but it's filtered and piped into an underground well. The water can be pumped out manually. Some is piped into the house for indoor use.

FARAHBAKHSH: Right now, the rainwater that we collect in our tanks we use for toilet flushing, doing our laundry, and also outdoor watering of our plants.

JERAS: The system is backed up by the city supply in case it ever runs out. Farickbosh says his family has cut its use of municipal water dramatically.

FARAHBAKHSH: We've saved about 65,000 liters, which is about 30 percent of the water that a family of five would use.

JERAS: But at $7,000, it wasn't cheap. One solution: building rainwater recycling into the cost of a new home as a local developer is now doing. That way, saving water becomes second nature, not just drought relief.

Jacqui Jeras, CNN, reporting.

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HARRIS: You know, we have a bit more information now on the breaking news that we brought you just a short time ago, that Tiger Woods is actually shutting it down, will miss the rest of the golf season. And this is absolutely to take care of that left knee that gave him so many problems at the U.S. Open over, what, four or five days and 91 holes. Many times, we saw him wincing in pain after teeing off on a number of holes.

We're getting this news now from his Web site, tigerwoods.com -- wow, and the news is that Tiger Woods is announcing that he will be forced to undergo reconstructive anterior cruciate ligament surgery, ACL surgery, on his left knee and because of the surgery, he will miss the remainder of the PGA Tour season.

Now, the running speculation was, and Tiger was not very forthcoming in talking about the particulars of his knee injury, but the running speculation is that there might have been some cartilage damage, there might have been a bit of a meniscus tear in the left knee. But now, we're learning that Tiger Woods is actually set to undergo reconstructive surgery, ACL surgery, anterior cruciate ligament surgery.

And a bit of the statement from Tiger, he says, "I know much was made of my knee throughout last week and it was important to me that I disclose the condition publicly at an appropriate time. But I wanted to be very respectful of the USGA and their incredible work and make sure the focus was on the U.S. Open."

Tiger goes on to say in the statement, "Now, it is clear that the right thing to do was to listen to my doctors, follow through with the surgery and focus my attention on rehabilitating my knee. I suppose the good news in all of this is ACL surgery is not career ending surgery, and the prognosis for a full recovery is very good."

And that is the latest information on the condition of Tiger Woods. He will have to undergo season-ending reconstructive knee surgery.

COLLINS: High fuel costs are crippling the airline industry, resulting in cost-cutting measures of all kinds. Stephanie Elam's at the New York Stock Exchange now with the latest from the not so friendly skies.

Hey there, Stephanie.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

HARRIS: New video of the Midwest flooding right after this.

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COLLINS: Quickly want to get out this video that we've been waiting for coming in from our correspondent Allan Chernoff who is in Oakville, Iowa. And this is what he saw as he floated down street, I should say, because a lot of this is in the middle of a street, or in the middle of farmland in a boat he was. And we are looking at some of the video that he was able to capture.

That's a pig on top of -- it looks like a tin roof that could have been some sort of livestock shelter. I'm not quite sure what exactly that was originally. But there's three more, absolutely stranded. We heard Allan live talking about this just a few minutes ago. Again, he's in the middle of 21 square miles of these flooded farms. There's about 100 farms out there completely under water, as you can see. Look at that. That's the roof of a home on one of these farmlands.

Let's go ahead and listen in. I believe he was able to talk with one of the residents in this area.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't know where to start. You don't know where to start. It's just depends what mother nature does. When the water goes out, whether they get the levee repaired. There's not any assurance it will get the levee repaired.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: One of the residents there floating by his home in a boat. Once again, this area, Oakville, Iowa. Some of the other sound I had heard is that the tin is just coming right off -- you can see it there -- of some of these buildings. Just amazing stuff coming in again from our Allan Chernoff who is there. He's going to be joining us live next hour.

For now though, we're going to take a quick break as we show you more of this new video coming in from Iowa.

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