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One Unaccounted for After Sunday Tornadoes

Aired November 12, 2002 - 13:33   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.


MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: One person remains unaccounted for after Sunday night's storms and tornadoes. Those storms left 36 people dead and a trail of destruction from the Deep South to the Great Lakes.
We begin our coverage with Miles O'Brien, he's in Mossy Grove, Tennessee, where folks are literally still trying to pick up the pieces -- Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Marty, it's the day after the day after. And it's quite a scene here, this one square mile area where the tornado struck in the community of Mossy Grove, about 40 miles west of Knoxville. Look behind me, what's going on here. You see people who have gathered together, friends and family members helping out their -- people they know and love to find valuables amid the rubble here. A lot of it is trash, but every now and then you find a photograph or a little bit of cash or whatever the case may be, something worth saving.

Beyond that, you see the concerted effort to restore power to this area. Most of Morgan County where I'm standing right now is still without power. The schools are shut down as a result.

As you look behind there, you can probably see a woman with a walker on top of the foundation of a home. That's Tina Freel (ph). She was inside her house along with her husband, her daughter and her mother-in-law, was literally upended, suspended in the air in complete darkness, figured when she landed, she would be dead. Today she's trying to figure out exactly how to rebuild, but considers herself very lucky to be alive.

Just to bring you up to date, as you mentioned, one person is missing, unaccounted for. Authorities aren't certain if that's necessarily a fatality, it could be just sort of a communication gap. But seven people died in this field when this tornado came through. A rescue worker was killed trying to help out. He had a heart attack. Now, a little bit earlier, I hooked up with a couple who lives in a house right out eyesight -- out of your view right now. They had just returned for the first time to their house since this storm came through, the Winnys (ph) are their name, Ted and Dolly Winny (ph). And just before the storm, they had been at a funeral. They came home and Ted asked Dolly to make him a sandwich.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I was putting the sandwich together, and it hit. Boom! it just like dynamite had been throwed in the house and every window was a-breaking.

O'BRIEN: Just like that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Did you know what was going on right away?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, it numbed me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I guess it did him, because he wanted to back that way to look. And I said, my gosh, Ted, you can't go that way. You've got to go to the hall and sit with me. And I had to drag him in that hall.

O'BRIEN: Goodness gracious.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He wasn't satisfied with that. He wanted to get up. But I told him, I said just listen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Now, the Winnys (ph) are among people today who have been trying to go through their papers, if they can find them, to see exactly how well they are insured. And the Winnys (ph) were unpleasantly surprised to find out that they recently dropped the collision coverage on their vehicles, they only have liability. And thus their cars, the damage to that will be out of pocket. Their house insurance is okay.

But all throughout this valley, all throughout this part of Tennessee, there are many stories of people without insurance on either their homes or their cars. And they're facing a big task in rebuilding.

CNN's Charles Molineaux is in Carbon Hill, Alabama, with a very similar story.

CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Miles, I'm afraid that's the story for Derrick Tyler and his wife, Misty, who are in this view with the city and were when the tornado hit. And the fact is, they don't have insurance. They didn't have insurance when this colossal tree came out of the ground and crushed their house. You're looking along the length of a 100-plus year water oak tree which came plummeting down on to the front porch and into the front of this house, into the living room. Now, take a look under the porch here.

You get an idea what this looked like as this tree came through the top of the house, crushing inside. And it's even more dramatic when you look in this window over here. You can see a really disturbing sight. Take a look, right in the middle of your field of vision, you're looking at a rust colored floral print, That is the couch -- that is the couch on which Misty and the three boys were sitting seconds before this tree came plowing through the ceiling. It was a close call for them. Derrick was right outside, sitting in the carport watching it happen.

Derrick, what happened?

DERRICK TYLER, TORNADO VICTIM, CARBON HILL, ALABAMA: All I know is we were sitting in the house watching TV. And I went out to get a hurricane lamp so if the lights had gone out, and the tree come crashing through the house.

MOLINEAUX: Now, what did you think? Because you were outside. Mindy and the kids were inside.

D. TYLER: I thought the kids and Misty were still under the tree.

MOLINEAUX: I'm sorry, I meant Misty. Now, meanwhile, James was sitting there right inside the front door. And what happened? The doors started flying around.

JAMES TYLER, TORNADO VICTIM, CARBON HILL, ALABAMA: Yeah, the doors starting flying open. So I grabbed the big door and started closing it. I finally got it shut and I locked it. And mom started yelling, go, go, go to our rooms. So we took off to our room. I told mom that I had closed the big door and locked it. And by the time the tree had fell into the room, I was down in my mom's room. So I didn't hear anything about it.

MOLINEAUX: What do you do now?

D. TYLER: Well, we just wait and see what kind of assistance we can get from the government and hopefully have somebody to help us out. I mean, the house is gone. We have no place to live.

MOLINEAUX: Good luck, very much. Derrick Tyler, thank you for talking to us. FEMA is looking into immediate assistance by coordinating with the likes of the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, especially getting assistance for people who need it -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much, Charles.

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 November 12, 2002 - 13:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: One person remains unaccounted for after Sunday night's storms and tornadoes. Those storms left 36 people dead and a trail of destruction from the Deep South to the Great Lakes.
We begin our coverage with Miles O'Brien, he's in Mossy Grove, Tennessee, where folks are literally still trying to pick up the pieces -- Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Marty, it's the day after the day after. And it's quite a scene here, this one square mile area where the tornado struck in the community of Mossy Grove, about 40 miles west of Knoxville. Look behind me, what's going on here. You see people who have gathered together, friends and family members helping out their -- people they know and love to find valuables amid the rubble here. A lot of it is trash, but every now and then you find a photograph or a little bit of cash or whatever the case may be, something worth saving.

Beyond that, you see the concerted effort to restore power to this area. Most of Morgan County where I'm standing right now is still without power. The schools are shut down as a result.

As you look behind there, you can probably see a woman with a walker on top of the foundation of a home. That's Tina Freel (ph). She was inside her house along with her husband, her daughter and her mother-in-law, was literally upended, suspended in the air in complete darkness, figured when she landed, she would be dead. Today she's trying to figure out exactly how to rebuild, but considers herself very lucky to be alive.

Just to bring you up to date, as you mentioned, one person is missing, unaccounted for. Authorities aren't certain if that's necessarily a fatality, it could be just sort of a communication gap. But seven people died in this field when this tornado came through. A rescue worker was killed trying to help out. He had a heart attack. Now, a little bit earlier, I hooked up with a couple who lives in a house right out eyesight -- out of your view right now. They had just returned for the first time to their house since this storm came through, the Winnys (ph) are their name, Ted and Dolly Winny (ph). And just before the storm, they had been at a funeral. They came home and Ted asked Dolly to make him a sandwich.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I was putting the sandwich together, and it hit. Boom! it just like dynamite had been throwed in the house and every window was a-breaking.

O'BRIEN: Just like that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Did you know what was going on right away?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, it numbed me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I guess it did him, because he wanted to back that way to look. And I said, my gosh, Ted, you can't go that way. You've got to go to the hall and sit with me. And I had to drag him in that hall.

O'BRIEN: Goodness gracious.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He wasn't satisfied with that. He wanted to get up. But I told him, I said just listen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Now, the Winnys (ph) are among people today who have been trying to go through their papers, if they can find them, to see exactly how well they are insured. And the Winnys (ph) were unpleasantly surprised to find out that they recently dropped the collision coverage on their vehicles, they only have liability. And thus their cars, the damage to that will be out of pocket. Their house insurance is okay.

But all throughout this valley, all throughout this part of Tennessee, there are many stories of people without insurance on either their homes or their cars. And they're facing a big task in rebuilding.

CNN's Charles Molineaux is in Carbon Hill, Alabama, with a very similar story.

CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Miles, I'm afraid that's the story for Derrick Tyler and his wife, Misty, who are in this view with the city and were when the tornado hit. And the fact is, they don't have insurance. They didn't have insurance when this colossal tree came out of the ground and crushed their house. You're looking along the length of a 100-plus year water oak tree which came plummeting down on to the front porch and into the front of this house, into the living room. Now, take a look under the porch here.

You get an idea what this looked like as this tree came through the top of the house, crushing inside. And it's even more dramatic when you look in this window over here. You can see a really disturbing sight. Take a look, right in the middle of your field of vision, you're looking at a rust colored floral print, That is the couch -- that is the couch on which Misty and the three boys were sitting seconds before this tree came plowing through the ceiling. It was a close call for them. Derrick was right outside, sitting in the carport watching it happen.

Derrick, what happened?

DERRICK TYLER, TORNADO VICTIM, CARBON HILL, ALABAMA: All I know is we were sitting in the house watching TV. And I went out to get a hurricane lamp so if the lights had gone out, and the tree come crashing through the house.

MOLINEAUX: Now, what did you think? Because you were outside. Mindy and the kids were inside.

D. TYLER: I thought the kids and Misty were still under the tree.

MOLINEAUX: I'm sorry, I meant Misty. Now, meanwhile, James was sitting there right inside the front door. And what happened? The doors started flying around.

JAMES TYLER, TORNADO VICTIM, CARBON HILL, ALABAMA: Yeah, the doors starting flying open. So I grabbed the big door and started closing it. I finally got it shut and I locked it. And mom started yelling, go, go, go to our rooms. So we took off to our room. I told mom that I had closed the big door and locked it. And by the time the tree had fell into the room, I was down in my mom's room. So I didn't hear anything about it.

MOLINEAUX: What do you do now?

D. TYLER: Well, we just wait and see what kind of assistance we can get from the government and hopefully have somebody to help us out. I mean, the house is gone. We have no place to live.

MOLINEAUX: Good luck, very much. Derrick Tyler, thank you for talking to us. FEMA is looking into immediate assistance by coordinating with the likes of the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, especially getting assistance for people who need it -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much, Charles.

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