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Illinois Woman Loses Home of 60 Years to Tornado

Aired May 12, 2003 - 15:46   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Parts of Illinois are expecting to be declared disaster areas. Just the latest state hit in one of the most disastrous tornado seasons on record. Residents of South Pekin, Illinois are assessing their losses today. And that is where we find CNN's national correspondent Gary Tuchman.
Well he told us a while ago fully 10 percent of the homes in that town destroyed. That's really staggering when you think about it, Gary.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Miles, it really is something. About 90 to 100 homes have had some damage. Thirty, like this one, have been completely destroyed.

And this is a very sad story. The woman who lives here is OK. Now that's the important part to tell you that nobody died. And part of the reason for that is the increased sensitivity to all the tornadoes that have occurred in the Midwest and South over the last week. People were watching TV and listening to the radio very carefully.

But the woman who lived here has lived here for over 60 years, since she was 21-years-old. Now we want to talk to her. She's sitting over here with her friends and her family right now for some support, Mary Ellen Parker. But she was here with a friend yesterday -- actually, Saturday night when the tornado came through and they were actually blown into their basement.

She'll tell you about it right now. Mary Ellen, thank you for taking the time to talk to us. I know how difficult this has been for you the last couple of days. How are you feeling right now?

MARY ELLEN PARKER, TORNADO SURVIVOR: Better.

TUCHMAN: You're feeling a little bit better. You were telling me that you were standing with your friend, about to go down into the basement when the tornado struck. Tell me what happened.

PARKER: Well, she could feel the pressure on the back of her. The wall was gone, the back of the house was gone and we were standing at the top of the stairs. And she felt that and she shoved me and fell, we both fell to the bottom of the steps.

TUCHMAN: Were you hurt?

PARKER: No. Neither one of us.

TUCHMAN: How scared were you, Mary Ellen?

PARKER: You didn't have time to be scared. By the time you got afraid, it was over.

TUCHMAN: I know you're grateful to be alive and not hurt, but you've lost everything. And how difficult is that for you?

PARKER: Well, it's not easy. I haven't lost everything. We salvaged a lot with the help of all these friends around here. But, I mean, 60 years in one house, you lose a lot of attachments. You can't put a money value on it.

TUCHMAN: Mary Ellen, thank you for talking with me. I wish you the best.

PARKER: Thank you.

TUCHMAN: Miles, you were just talking about the 10 percent number. Twelve hundred people in this town, 120 homeless people.

Just want to correct a mathematical mistake I made with you earlier. I was extrapolating, talking about the population of New York City, saying there are 8 million people live in New York City. And I said 10 percent would be 80,000 in New York city; 800,000, Miles. Sorry about the mistake. We don't like to do that to our viewers out there. Back to you.

O'BRIEN: If I could have, I would never have corrected you on the air, but the reason that we're both in this business is we're mathematically challenged, undoubtedly. Gary Tuchman, thank you very much, we appreciate it.

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 May 12, 2003 - 15:46   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Parts of Illinois are expecting to be declared disaster areas. Just the latest state hit in one of the most disastrous tornado seasons on record. Residents of South Pekin, Illinois are assessing their losses today. And that is where we find CNN's national correspondent Gary Tuchman.
Well he told us a while ago fully 10 percent of the homes in that town destroyed. That's really staggering when you think about it, Gary.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Miles, it really is something. About 90 to 100 homes have had some damage. Thirty, like this one, have been completely destroyed.

And this is a very sad story. The woman who lives here is OK. Now that's the important part to tell you that nobody died. And part of the reason for that is the increased sensitivity to all the tornadoes that have occurred in the Midwest and South over the last week. People were watching TV and listening to the radio very carefully.

But the woman who lived here has lived here for over 60 years, since she was 21-years-old. Now we want to talk to her. She's sitting over here with her friends and her family right now for some support, Mary Ellen Parker. But she was here with a friend yesterday -- actually, Saturday night when the tornado came through and they were actually blown into their basement.

She'll tell you about it right now. Mary Ellen, thank you for taking the time to talk to us. I know how difficult this has been for you the last couple of days. How are you feeling right now?

MARY ELLEN PARKER, TORNADO SURVIVOR: Better.

TUCHMAN: You're feeling a little bit better. You were telling me that you were standing with your friend, about to go down into the basement when the tornado struck. Tell me what happened.

PARKER: Well, she could feel the pressure on the back of her. The wall was gone, the back of the house was gone and we were standing at the top of the stairs. And she felt that and she shoved me and fell, we both fell to the bottom of the steps.

TUCHMAN: Were you hurt?

PARKER: No. Neither one of us.

TUCHMAN: How scared were you, Mary Ellen?

PARKER: You didn't have time to be scared. By the time you got afraid, it was over.

TUCHMAN: I know you're grateful to be alive and not hurt, but you've lost everything. And how difficult is that for you?

PARKER: Well, it's not easy. I haven't lost everything. We salvaged a lot with the help of all these friends around here. But, I mean, 60 years in one house, you lose a lot of attachments. You can't put a money value on it.

TUCHMAN: Mary Ellen, thank you for talking with me. I wish you the best.

PARKER: Thank you.

TUCHMAN: Miles, you were just talking about the 10 percent number. Twelve hundred people in this town, 120 homeless people.

Just want to correct a mathematical mistake I made with you earlier. I was extrapolating, talking about the population of New York City, saying there are 8 million people live in New York City. And I said 10 percent would be 80,000 in New York city; 800,000, Miles. Sorry about the mistake. We don't like to do that to our viewers out there. Back to you.

O'BRIEN: If I could have, I would never have corrected you on the air, but the reason that we're both in this business is we're mathematically challenged, undoubtedly. Gary Tuchman, thank you very much, we appreciate it.

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