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Interview With Calvin Schiemann
Aired September 22, 2003 - 14:30 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: The extent of the devastation from Hurricane Isabel has yet to be realized along the eastern seaboard. Deaths are still being reported and damage much of the damage remains buried under flood waters. CNN's Kris Osborne is reporting from Virginia Beach. Hello, Kris.
KRIS OSBORNE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Miles. Well, yes, as we speak I can tell you from emergency officials at the Emergency Operation Center in Richmond, they tell us more than 9,700 utility workers, many of them coming from other states, have all converged on Virginia to address this very issue, of course, the restoration of power.
I can also tell you, Miles, this truck behind me is a welcome sight for a lot of folks who live down here. I'm in Virginia beach, this is a local fire station. And this truck is one of more than 70 trailers filed with ice, sent from FEMA to a regional distribution center, from there sent to localities such as the one where I am right now.
Now, for this restoration of power and the ongoing efforts to help residents, I'm joined by Calvin Schiemann. He is with the Virginia Beach Department of Agriculture. Thank you for your time.
Let me begin by asking you this. How is it going today? Really hot day. There's a certain irony to that, very hot. Yet, here we are dealing with the aftermath of a storm.
CALVIN A. SCHIEMANN, VA. BEACH AGRICULTURE DEPT.: Right. We've got a lot of people coming in. The power went out here, some of it went out Wednesday night, Thursday morning for sure. Five days without power. Refrigerators, the food in it has all gone bad. People coming by here today saying they've tossed out all their food today. It's all wells down here, no electricity, so the folks don't have water to run their pumps for their private wells. So the water and ice today i really helping these folks out.
OSBORNE: Now, what about some of the concerns, as was mentioned by the mayor of Newport News, that the federal government, FEMA was a bit slow to respond in specific areas. Your perspective on that?
SCHIEMANN: I think there's an awful lot of people in a lot of areas, there's thousands of square miles affected. And trying to get the support into to everyone at one time is a major task.
I think the government and state agencies are doing a remarkable job. We've got thousands electrical workers coming in. We've got truck load after truck load of ice. They can only produce it at a certain rate and get it on the highways down here and distribute it to the neighborhoods that need it.
So, in my mind, they're doing a remarkable job getting it in. North Carolina is affected, Virginia's affected. It's a huge area, a lot of people. We've got 30,000 people living in the southern end of Virginia Beach. We're a major resort city, but we're also an agricultural area. And half of the city is agricultural.
And so, a lot of neighborhoods, a lot of people down here. It's a lot of ice and material that needs to be distributed.
OSBORNE: Water and power is so vital. And so people saying through this experience I have come to understand just how vital things are. What is your experience been just today? There's been a steady convoy of cars coming up through here. How are people reacting? Some seem frustrated, others seem relieved.
SCHIEMANN: A few people are frustrated with the food going bad. They've got families, children that they're concerned about. But everybody's been so thankful. They have been praising the people who are working here today, the firemen and the Department of Agriculture employees and the city of Virginia beach. They're thanking the government, everybody involved in trying to help them out with getting water.
Everybody's helpful. We've had a few people want to pay money to -- but everybody's thanking God that they're safe.
OSBORNE: Thank you very much, Calvin Schiemann from the Virginia Beach Department of Agriculture. Miles, back to you.
O'BRIEN: Thanks very much, Kris Osborne.
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 22, 2003 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The extent of the devastation from Hurricane Isabel has yet to be realized along the eastern seaboard. Deaths are still being reported and damage much of the damage remains buried under flood waters. CNN's Kris Osborne is reporting from Virginia Beach. Hello, Kris.
KRIS OSBORNE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Miles. Well, yes, as we speak I can tell you from emergency officials at the Emergency Operation Center in Richmond, they tell us more than 9,700 utility workers, many of them coming from other states, have all converged on Virginia to address this very issue, of course, the restoration of power.
I can also tell you, Miles, this truck behind me is a welcome sight for a lot of folks who live down here. I'm in Virginia beach, this is a local fire station. And this truck is one of more than 70 trailers filed with ice, sent from FEMA to a regional distribution center, from there sent to localities such as the one where I am right now.
Now, for this restoration of power and the ongoing efforts to help residents, I'm joined by Calvin Schiemann. He is with the Virginia Beach Department of Agriculture. Thank you for your time.
Let me begin by asking you this. How is it going today? Really hot day. There's a certain irony to that, very hot. Yet, here we are dealing with the aftermath of a storm.
CALVIN A. SCHIEMANN, VA. BEACH AGRICULTURE DEPT.: Right. We've got a lot of people coming in. The power went out here, some of it went out Wednesday night, Thursday morning for sure. Five days without power. Refrigerators, the food in it has all gone bad. People coming by here today saying they've tossed out all their food today. It's all wells down here, no electricity, so the folks don't have water to run their pumps for their private wells. So the water and ice today i really helping these folks out.
OSBORNE: Now, what about some of the concerns, as was mentioned by the mayor of Newport News, that the federal government, FEMA was a bit slow to respond in specific areas. Your perspective on that?
SCHIEMANN: I think there's an awful lot of people in a lot of areas, there's thousands of square miles affected. And trying to get the support into to everyone at one time is a major task.
I think the government and state agencies are doing a remarkable job. We've got thousands electrical workers coming in. We've got truck load after truck load of ice. They can only produce it at a certain rate and get it on the highways down here and distribute it to the neighborhoods that need it.
So, in my mind, they're doing a remarkable job getting it in. North Carolina is affected, Virginia's affected. It's a huge area, a lot of people. We've got 30,000 people living in the southern end of Virginia Beach. We're a major resort city, but we're also an agricultural area. And half of the city is agricultural.
And so, a lot of neighborhoods, a lot of people down here. It's a lot of ice and material that needs to be distributed.
OSBORNE: Water and power is so vital. And so people saying through this experience I have come to understand just how vital things are. What is your experience been just today? There's been a steady convoy of cars coming up through here. How are people reacting? Some seem frustrated, others seem relieved.
SCHIEMANN: A few people are frustrated with the food going bad. They've got families, children that they're concerned about. But everybody's been so thankful. They have been praising the people who are working here today, the firemen and the Department of Agriculture employees and the city of Virginia beach. They're thanking the government, everybody involved in trying to help them out with getting water.
Everybody's helpful. We've had a few people want to pay money to -- but everybody's thanking God that they're safe.
OSBORNE: Thank you very much, Calvin Schiemann from the Virginia Beach Department of Agriculture. Miles, back to you.
O'BRIEN: Thanks very much, Kris Osborne.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
