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American Morning

Resident, Mayor Discuss Tornado That Hit Seward, Nebraska

Aired June 14, 2001 - 11:36   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: You asked for it, you got it, because this is CNN. At the top of the show, we were looking at that incredible video of the tornado that was near Seward, Nebraska, yesterday, and we were talked about trying to find someone who actually witnessed it or lived through this storm.

We found someone -- Trevor Tiekin, who lives in Seward, Nebraska. Trevor is joining us now on the phone.

Trevor, I understand that you were out working when this thing hit.

TREVOR TIEKIN: Yes, I was outside the shop, and I was looking up and watching it form -- watching one of them form, not the one that did the damage.

HARRIS: How big was the one you saw?

TIEKIN: I'm not a spotter, but it looked to be miles wide at the top, where the ceiling of clouds was, and it came down to a point about halfway to the ground.

HARRIS: Did you see the pictures of the one we had on the air?

TIEKIN: No, I sure didn't.

HARRIS: I'd love you to have compare what you saw to what we're seeing. In fact, we're running the pictures right now, in case you can't tell.

TIEKIN: Yes.

HARRIS: What did it sound like? I have to ask you that question. That's a standard tornado question. What did it sound like?

TIEKIN: I couldn't hear anything, but the rest of the thunder and the hail landed on the ground, and then was maybe about grape- sized hail.

HARRIS: How big? grape-sized?

TIEKIN: Yes, about grape-sized.

HARRIS: So what did you do? Obviously, you didn't stay out there just collecting it, did you?

TIEKIN: No, I stayed under an eave and watched the hail hit other people and other cars and stuff, and luckily, it was coming down slow enough to where it wasn't doing much damage at all.

HARRIS: Do you know of anybody who did suffer any damage at all?

TIEKIN: Some of the customers who came in were saying that most of Highway 34 was shut down nearby Seward because it was throwing around hydro tanks and destroying a couple of buildings.

HARRIS: Have you seen many of these before?

TIEKIN: No, this is the first one, and it was lovely because I don't think it did any damage to anybody.

HARRIS: You've been awfully lucky for a guy that lives in what our meteorologist Chad Myers calls Tornado Alley.

TIEKIN: Yes.

HARRIS: Having only seen this one.

TIEKIN: We're on the edge of it. We barely get any of the storms. Most of it's Grand Island and stuff.

HARRIS: Good for you. I'm glad that you made it through this one unscathed. Thanks, Trevor. We'll talk to you later on.

TIEKIN: Thank you much.

HARRIS: Take care -- Donna.

DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Also on the phone with us right now is Mayor Roger Glawatz of Seward, Nebraska.

Mr. Mayor, can you can hear us?

MAYOR ROGER GLAWATZ, SEWARD, NEBRASKA: Yes, I can.

KELLEY: Thanks joining us, to visit with us. Can you give us a little bit more official figures? Do you know of people who were hurt? We heard two earlier.

GLAWATZ: Since it's outside the city limits, I didn't get a full report as yet at the time I left Seward. I'm calling you outside of Seward. I know that there was one person taken to the hospital, and I suppose that there were probably some other minor injuries, but there were three homes that were pretty much destroyed close to Seward. I heard there was also some damage further to the northeast as the tornado traveled along its path.

KELLEY: So what you heard for damage, too, is three homes destroyed. Anything else, as far as you know, for damage?

GLAWATZ: Well, there was also an implement dealership that was pretty much destroyed, a lot of power lines in that area, and a lot of farmsteads that lost outbuildings, within a mile or two of where those three homes were destroyed. But that seemed to be the worst damage close to Seward.

KELLEY: What kind of warning do you guys have in Nebraska to let you know that something like this is coming.

GLAWATZ: We have usually quite a bit of warning because the weather service -- I know I was receiving one morning after the next on my pager. I know all our emergency people in the area have those same warnings, and they were also coming across the television channels and radio stations that quickly also. So if people were listening to the radio or watching television, they knew they were coming.

KELLEY: What can you do to help folks who have been affected by this, if they've got some storm damage?

GLAWATZ: Well, at this point, we do have some of our emergency crews attempting to get electricity hooked back to the areas. We are also, as far as people that were injured, our fire department has been out throughout the night, helping individuals recover some of their more precious belongings, if they can, that type of thing. And I'm sure there will be a number of volunteers out working there today.

KELLEY: Do you know if people are still without power? Did I hear you say about trying...

GLAWATZ: I'm sure they are, because there were a lot of damage. And would not be within the city of the Seward itself, because we came through it pretty much unscathed, except for some hail and strong winds, for just a little bit.

KELLEY: I wanted to ask you about that because I saw some reports that said hail up to the baseball size that damaged crops and property.

GLAWATZ: Yes, those were few and far between. Most of them in our area were pea size or smaller. I have some people that called me and said that they had put some of those larger hail stones in the freezer, but they were few and far between.

KELLEY: Wow! Let's hope you don't have too many of those to put in the freezer.

GLAWATZ: Yes.

KELLEY: Mayor Roger Glawatz of Seward, Nebraska, thanks and good luck on the cleanup there. Stay safe.

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