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Kansas Flooding: 2 People Missing

Aired September 01, 2003 - 14:11   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hope is fading that two people missing in severe flooding in eastern Kansas will be found alive. Seven vehicles were swept off an interstate on Saturday. Four children were killed. Their mother is among those lost.
Reporter Joe Sheeran from CNN affiliate KWCH joins us now from Emporia with the latest on the search effort.

JOE SHEERAN, KWCH REPORTER: Right now, Kyra, crews are searching a three-mile area that starts right here on the Kansas Turnpike and stretches about three miles out to a pond that's out in the -- it's about a mile and a half, three miles, from the road. Basically the reason why the cars are so far out there is because the water was so fast and so hard it basically pushed all of the cars off the road all the way down into that area.

Basically, what we have is a crew -- a search team of about 30 people. That search team consists of about 11 canine units and three divers. I just talked to one of the folks from the canine unit. They said when it happened was basically they have most of the dogs going around the perimeter of that lake. They also have a few dogs that are actually in boats trying to hit and sniff in certain areas. They actually had gotten a few positive hits, so what they are going to do is send a couple of the divers down. They have three divers that are here locally that they are going to send down and see if they can find or see if those dogs actually had hit on anything that was positive.

Another thing that they are also trying to do in this area or another thing that's actually -- it's going to help them in some ways and it's actually going to be a burden in some ways is the water had actually receded in some spots, making the shoreline a little easier to see. But it's also making the shoreline a little more treacherous because there's a whole lot more mud. The dogs, themselves, can go through it pretty easily but the handlers have a tough time keeping up with the dogs.

Now just to give you an idea -- because of all the water, the land owner tells us that normally on any given day that area would be about a -- a 30 acre -- it's about a 30-acre lake but because of all the water are now that's about a 100 acre lake. For you folks at home who don't understand that, that's about a mile and a quarter wide. And in some spots it's actually 25 feet deep.

Just to let you know, some of the family members had come here. They were -- went on to the scene. And just to let you know, also, the father of the four children who died and the one daughter who -- I mean, the one mother who is missing, he's going to make a press statement sometime this afternoon.

PHILLIPS: Tough story to hear. Joe Sheeran, 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 September 1, 2003 - 14:11   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hope is fading that two people missing in severe flooding in eastern Kansas will be found alive. Seven vehicles were swept off an interstate on Saturday. Four children were killed. Their mother is among those lost.
Reporter Joe Sheeran from CNN affiliate KWCH joins us now from Emporia with the latest on the search effort.

JOE SHEERAN, KWCH REPORTER: Right now, Kyra, crews are searching a three-mile area that starts right here on the Kansas Turnpike and stretches about three miles out to a pond that's out in the -- it's about a mile and a half, three miles, from the road. Basically the reason why the cars are so far out there is because the water was so fast and so hard it basically pushed all of the cars off the road all the way down into that area.

Basically, what we have is a crew -- a search team of about 30 people. That search team consists of about 11 canine units and three divers. I just talked to one of the folks from the canine unit. They said when it happened was basically they have most of the dogs going around the perimeter of that lake. They also have a few dogs that are actually in boats trying to hit and sniff in certain areas. They actually had gotten a few positive hits, so what they are going to do is send a couple of the divers down. They have three divers that are here locally that they are going to send down and see if they can find or see if those dogs actually had hit on anything that was positive.

Another thing that they are also trying to do in this area or another thing that's actually -- it's going to help them in some ways and it's actually going to be a burden in some ways is the water had actually receded in some spots, making the shoreline a little easier to see. But it's also making the shoreline a little more treacherous because there's a whole lot more mud. The dogs, themselves, can go through it pretty easily but the handlers have a tough time keeping up with the dogs.

Now just to give you an idea -- because of all the water, the land owner tells us that normally on any given day that area would be about a -- a 30 acre -- it's about a 30-acre lake but because of all the water are now that's about a 100 acre lake. For you folks at home who don't understand that, that's about a mile and a quarter wide. And in some spots it's actually 25 feet deep.

Just to let you know, some of the family members had come here. They were -- went on to the scene. And just to let you know, also, the father of the four children who died and the one daughter who -- I mean, the one mother who is missing, he's going to make a press statement sometime this afternoon.

PHILLIPS: Tough story to hear. Joe Sheeran, 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