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American Morning

Remnants of Allison Spark Fire in Philadelphia

Aired June 18, 2001 - 09:04   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, firefighters in suburban Philadelphia are resuming the search for people missing after a deadly apartment fire there. As we said, this was linked to the remnants of Tropical Storm Allison. The region's been hit by nine inches of rain from the storm. Four bodies were recovered yesterday after an explosion and fire at a flooded apartment building.

We have the latest on all of this from CNN's Jason Carroll who is standing by in Horsham, Pennsylvania -- Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Leon, later on this morning the search for the missing will get underway. Two of the buildings in the complex were destroyed during the blast. If you take a look behind me, you can see just how bad the damage was.

Now yesterday I spoke to one woman who lived in the building and she told me she thought if the high water didn't get her, the fire would.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): First came the high-water, then the smell of gas. It took several hours for emergency crews to stabilize an apartment building enough to go back inside and recover the dead. At least four were killed and two are missing after a flash flood swept through here Saturday night and caused an explosion.

BILL MEYERS, WITNESS: I looked out the window and heard screaming, get them boats over here. Get them boats. And about that time, that gas got a little stronger and all of a sudden, just boom! It just shook the building and the whole front fell down.

CARROLL: The force of the blast blew out the front of the building. The fire started to spread, and the water was still rising. Victoria D'Aminco, and many like her, escaped in rescue boats.

VICTORIA D'AMINCO, FLOOD VICTIM: It was a terrible tragedy and terrible nightmare to me. I never, never experienced anything like it.

CARROLL: Tropical Storm Allison, which had already wrecked havoc in Texas and Louisiana, had one last punch for Southeastern Pennsylvania. Nine inches of rain fell Saturday night and triggered widespread power outages and flash floods. The water came so fast it trapped people in their cars.

ANNA RICH, FLOOD VICTIM: Oh, Lord.

CARROLL: Anna Rich spent much of her Sunday wiping up her water- logged Dodge Spirit.

RICH: I had had to call my boss at work to tell him I won't be in tomorrow because the insurance guy is coming out tomorrow to check it out. It's a mess. It's the first time that happened since I've been living here.

CARROLL: There's little water left now on the streets, but there is plenty of debris, and memories of what the victims had to go through.

RICH: I had never been so scared in all my life. It just was unbelievable. I mean, I never saw so much water and when you're trying to walk in it, it was just swirling. If I wasn't being held up by the man, I would have been under the water.

CARROLL: The Red Cross is here to help the victims get back on their feet and out of the shelters. Most have gone home to assess the damage.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: Again, at least two people are missing. One is believed to be a 74-year-old woman, the other a 29-year-old man.

And, Leon, just about 15 minutes ago, I spoke to a representative from the Red Cross. He told me that nationally the Red Cross has spent about $16 million on Tropical Storm Allison -- Leon.

HARRIS: That's interesting. This storm really did not really pack that much of a punch when it first hit shore down in Texas sometime early last week or the week before. And it kind of snuck up on many people.

And the folks that you've talked to up there, Jason, have they told you that they've had the same sort of feeling that it just sneaked up on them?

CARROLL: Absolutely, Leon, you're exactly right. This was a flash flood out here. I'm from Southern California so I'm really familiar with how this works. The water comes up very quickly and then it disappears just as fast. Again, it really caught a lot of people by surprise. That's why, as you saw, some folks were out here trapped in their cars for a short period of time.

HARRIS: All right. Jason Carroll, reporting live, from Horsham, Pennsylvania, thanks much. We'll talk with you later on.

Allison's 12-day march across the country was both deadly and costly as it moved from Texas to Florida, Georgia and then up the East Coast, where it is. It left at least 35 people dead in its wake. FEMA said that the storm did more than a billion dollars in property damage and most of that is in Texas, but Florida was also hit pretty hard. They reported an estimated $18 million damage in that state. The destruction estimates in Georgia range between $2 million and $4 million.

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