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Winter Storms Sock U.S.

Aired January 26, 2004 - 15:04   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.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it's days like this that you just want to stay home. From the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic, and far south as here in Atlanta, snow, ice and freezing rain. So-called black ice is blamed for the fiery crash of a gasoline tanker in north Georgia. The highway was shut down, but no one was hurt.
Now in the nation's capital, folks are busy digging out from a massive snowfall. Schools closed, flights were delayed, and transit systems slowed. Now ice is forecast for tonight. Those winter storm warnings extend as far west as Nebraska, where there's almost a foot of snow on the ground.

Reporter Mike'l Severe with our Omaha affiliate, KETV, out there right in it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE'L SEVERE, OMAHA, NEBRASKA: The snow has been falling steadily for about 24 hours now. And even with 105 snow plows in and around Omaha, the roads are still hazardous. And it's even harder to get out of your neighborhood.

(voice-over): You can't say the city didn't try. Almost everywhere you look, a plow truck was pushing snow down one street, and up the other. More than 100 in all. But even after hitting the major roads, from Dodge West to Interstate South, the streets remained snow packed and slick. Dangerous no matter what you drive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is pretty bad. Even though you have four wheel drive it's still pretty bad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Residential is impossible. You can't -- even with my four wheel drive I'm still having problems.

SEVERE: That's the consensus, passable but slick main streets. Residential roads that leave you stuck. It takes a neighborhood to get some people to work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Help your neighbor out if you can. Because one of these days you might need it.

SEVERE: A mantra Fred Morazo (ph) not only says but lives by, shoveling his driveway and both his neighbors', as well. And just up the block, the Gressers (ph) make shoveling a family affair, with little Sadie (ph) chipping in. To think it was 50 degrees just a couple of days ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, shorts and T-shirts. It was great.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is regular Nebraska weather. We're used to it.

SEVERE: It may be days before these neighborhood streets are cleared. Well, except for Terry Nevatni's (ph) block. He's taking the matter into his own hands.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I tried taking off the car side first and pushing it this way so I don't have a whole bunch of cars trapped in.

SEVERE: Just another regular good-old neighbor in one of the oldest parts of town.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just trying to get the street cleared so people can get up and down it.

SEVERE (on camera): The city of Lincoln tells us they have 54 plows in the capital city; however, they had many accidents overnight. Some of them quite serious. In (UNINTELLIGIBLE) County they have a snow emergency going on, which means if your car is parked on your street, you need to get it off the street so they can plow those roads.

For CNN, Mike'l Severe in Omaha.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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 January 26, 2004 - 15:04   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it's days like this that you just want to stay home. From the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic, and far south as here in Atlanta, snow, ice and freezing rain. So-called black ice is blamed for the fiery crash of a gasoline tanker in north Georgia. The highway was shut down, but no one was hurt.
Now in the nation's capital, folks are busy digging out from a massive snowfall. Schools closed, flights were delayed, and transit systems slowed. Now ice is forecast for tonight. Those winter storm warnings extend as far west as Nebraska, where there's almost a foot of snow on the ground.

Reporter Mike'l Severe with our Omaha affiliate, KETV, out there right in it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE'L SEVERE, OMAHA, NEBRASKA: The snow has been falling steadily for about 24 hours now. And even with 105 snow plows in and around Omaha, the roads are still hazardous. And it's even harder to get out of your neighborhood.

(voice-over): You can't say the city didn't try. Almost everywhere you look, a plow truck was pushing snow down one street, and up the other. More than 100 in all. But even after hitting the major roads, from Dodge West to Interstate South, the streets remained snow packed and slick. Dangerous no matter what you drive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is pretty bad. Even though you have four wheel drive it's still pretty bad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Residential is impossible. You can't -- even with my four wheel drive I'm still having problems.

SEVERE: That's the consensus, passable but slick main streets. Residential roads that leave you stuck. It takes a neighborhood to get some people to work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Help your neighbor out if you can. Because one of these days you might need it.

SEVERE: A mantra Fred Morazo (ph) not only says but lives by, shoveling his driveway and both his neighbors', as well. And just up the block, the Gressers (ph) make shoveling a family affair, with little Sadie (ph) chipping in. To think it was 50 degrees just a couple of days ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, shorts and T-shirts. It was great.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is regular Nebraska weather. We're used to it.

SEVERE: It may be days before these neighborhood streets are cleared. Well, except for Terry Nevatni's (ph) block. He's taking the matter into his own hands.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I tried taking off the car side first and pushing it this way so I don't have a whole bunch of cars trapped in.

SEVERE: Just another regular good-old neighbor in one of the oldest parts of town.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just trying to get the street cleared so people can get up and down it.

SEVERE (on camera): The city of Lincoln tells us they have 54 plows in the capital city; however, they had many accidents overnight. Some of them quite serious. In (UNINTELLIGIBLE) County they have a snow emergency going on, which means if your car is parked on your street, you need to get it off the street so they can plow those roads.

For CNN, Mike'l Severe in Omaha.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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