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CNN Live Saturday
Michigan State Fair Delayed By Blackouts
Aired August 16, 2003 - 18:38 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.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: In Michigan, the lights are back on, but people are still dealing with the aftermath of the darkness, and millions are bracing for possible rolling blackouts.
In the meantime, things get back to normal slowly. We get more now from Lisa Leiter, who joins us from Birmingham, Michigan, where I guess the state fair got started a little late, but what's the atmosphere like, Lisa?
LISA LEITER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Andrea, first, let me tell you about where I'm standing right now, which is in Birmingham, Michigan, like you said. And this is the dream cruise going on behind me. This is the ninth annual dream cruise. It is a huge event in Detroit, and whether the lights were on or not, this event was going on. As the mayor of one town near here put it, "canceling the dream cruise would be like canceling Christmas."
So even if these cruisers had to bring their own -- and that's one of the rituals behind me, screeching your tires. Even if these cruisers had to bring their own gas today because they couldn't fill up at the Detroit stations, they were coming here today to make the log check from where the state fair starts down in Detroit all the way up to Pontiac, Michigan.
And yes, you're right, Andrea. We were at the state fair today. They were also prepared to open today, whether they had power or not. They had backup generators for all of the rides, and they said that fair has been going on since 1849, so they were going to find a way to make it work, if they've been doing it for this long.
And also, like you said, the power has been restored to all of Detroit. The governor getting on this morning, saying that all 2.1 million customers in the Detroit area did have power as of 6:30 a.m. this morning.
But some areas are still without water. There was some concern that there would be -- it would take some time for the pumping stations to get water out, because the pipes had to fill up again -- Andrea.
KOPPEL: Well, that's another bit of good news on this Saturday evening. Lisa Leiter, thanks very much, and I guess you can't to pass up an opportunity to screech your tires. 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 August 16, 2003 - 18:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: In Michigan, the lights are back on, but people are still dealing with the aftermath of the darkness, and millions are bracing for possible rolling blackouts.
In the meantime, things get back to normal slowly. We get more now from Lisa Leiter, who joins us from Birmingham, Michigan, where I guess the state fair got started a little late, but what's the atmosphere like, Lisa?
LISA LEITER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Andrea, first, let me tell you about where I'm standing right now, which is in Birmingham, Michigan, like you said. And this is the dream cruise going on behind me. This is the ninth annual dream cruise. It is a huge event in Detroit, and whether the lights were on or not, this event was going on. As the mayor of one town near here put it, "canceling the dream cruise would be like canceling Christmas."
So even if these cruisers had to bring their own -- and that's one of the rituals behind me, screeching your tires. Even if these cruisers had to bring their own gas today because they couldn't fill up at the Detroit stations, they were coming here today to make the log check from where the state fair starts down in Detroit all the way up to Pontiac, Michigan.
And yes, you're right, Andrea. We were at the state fair today. They were also prepared to open today, whether they had power or not. They had backup generators for all of the rides, and they said that fair has been going on since 1849, so they were going to find a way to make it work, if they've been doing it for this long.
And also, like you said, the power has been restored to all of Detroit. The governor getting on this morning, saying that all 2.1 million customers in the Detroit area did have power as of 6:30 a.m. this morning.
But some areas are still without water. There was some concern that there would be -- it would take some time for the pumping stations to get water out, because the pipes had to fill up again -- Andrea.
KOPPEL: Well, that's another bit of good news on this Saturday evening. Lisa Leiter, thanks very much, and I guess you can't to pass up an opportunity to screech your tires. 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
