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American Morning

Commerce on the Mississippi

Aired April 20, 2001 - 11:04   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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, on a more serious note, the floodwaters, on an economic note here, have shut down commerce along more than 400 miles of the Mississippi River. Until the waters recede, that stretch of river is off limits to boat and barge traffic.

Joining us on the phone now from St. Paul, Minnesota is Lee Nelson. He is a river pilot, and he operates a company that has eight boats that pull barges on the river. Lee, good morning. Thank for joining us.

LEE NELSON, UPPER RIVER SERVICES: Good morning.

KAGAN: For those of us that don't know and understand river life, why can't boats be on the river right now?

NELSON: Well, right now it's because the water is too high. The currents are too swift. And too many things are submerged that you don't know where they are and could cause great difficulty if you happen to encounter them at the wrong moment.

KAGAN: So what has this meant for your business?

NELSON: Well, ours being this far north, we normally freeze up throughout the winter. We normally freeze up about Thanksgiving and open up again about mid-March. This year because of the prolonged cold winter, the ice stayed with us to about 60 miles south of us that prevented things from opening up at the normal times. Then before that, I thought we had the waters calm. So we have not opened up. And employees haven't been back to work since Thanksgiving.

KAGAN: And so where are the boats?

NELSON: Well, our boats are all -- we have got those all secured in off-channel areas with the exception of two that are out in case something should happen with our equipment or with the city, the local municipality, that they need to respond. We have got two that are out and available for them should they need them.

KAGAN: Can you give us an idea of what this means in terms of economic impact maybe just for your company and the people who are usually working for your company?

NELSON: For our company is a little bit difficult. We won't know until it's all over how much of what we would have been moving and would have been working on will be diverted by other modes. For the employees, I looked the other day. And at this time, we would be -- we'd have a payroll somewhere between $50,000 and $75,000 each week, which is not going out. That means those people are not receiving those funds to help pay for their mortgages, etcetera.

KAGAN: And that's just your particular company. I'm sure there's a lot of other companies facing the same type of situation.

NELSON: We are only a small part of it. There are several terminals that would be loading or unloading the barges. Their employees are in the same situation. And then all those that support those terminals, all the truckers, etcetera, who move the commodities in from the terminals on out or bring them to the terminals.

KAGAN: Lee, how frustrating is the situation given that it doesn't appear to be anybody's fault? I mean, it's Mother Nature at work. And yet, still, it's keeping a lot of people out of work.

NELSON: Well, it's always a curious event when it happens. And human nature is it is exciting. But we were talking, oh, about week ago that, OK, it's neat to see, but we've had enough now. And when you're here all hours of day and night making sure pumps are operating and people are safe, it wears on you. And I think after the first few days, we've had enough.

KAGAN: Well, Lee Nelson in St. Paul, we wish you the best. We do realize this has been a frustrating time. And we wish you the best and the people who work in your company in getting through it.

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