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American Morning

Mount Rainier Slide

Aired August 15, 2001 - 09:09   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: In Washington state, emergency officials set up an aerial survey of Mount Rainier National Park. Take a look at what happened late last night, as officials became concerned when a melting glacier on the southern plank of Mount Rainier sent a surge of water down the mountain.

As it went, the water dislodged rocks and it knocked down trees. The last report we have, the water flow was contained within the banks of the Nisqually River.

Let's get the latest now from Jody Woodcock. She is with Pierce County, Washington and their emergency management and she's with us on the phone right now. Jody, good morning.

JODY WOODCOCK, EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIAL: Good morning.

KAGAN: What is causing this glacier to melt?

WOODCOCK: Well, scientists will be taking a look at that this morning now that we've got some daylight. But what they believe is we have had a string of really warm weather and it's not uncommon to have a glacial melt. And it tends to pool up under the glacier and then release suddenly. And so, again, the scientists will confirm that later today. But it looks like that's what we had happen.

KAGAN: But are we talking about potential action with Mount Rainier?

WOODCOCK: I'm sorry, I missed the question.

KAGAN: Are you talking about potential action with Mount Rainier? Could something be happening underground, warming up that's making this glacier melt?

WOODCOCK: This doesn't seem to be associated with any volcanic activity of any kind. Just simply because it's been so warm, the glaciers are just melting a bit, and, again, they'll determine exactly how much melted and whether this is something we're going to see maybe throughout the rest of this summer or if this was a unique event.

KAGAN: So, so far no danger to folks in that area?

WOODCOCK: No. We weren't, we didn't have to order any evacuations. There were no structures threatened. In some nearby towns we did close some bridges for a time just as a precaution and most of the activity stayed within the Mount Rainier National Park boundaries. The rivers did rise a little bit, but since we're in a drought season, the water levels were very low, and so we were able to handle the excess water and debris that came down the river valley.

KAGAN: For folks who don't live in glacier country, this might be something that is foreign to them, but this is something that you practice for, is that right?

WOODCOCK: It is, and actually in Pierce County, Washington, we focus on a river valley that is to the west of the mountain, the Puyallup River Valley, because we have several large cities and towns that are relatively close to the mountain. And so worst case scenario we practice for what we call a lahar or a mudflow. That's a bit different than what we saw last night but we, again, we practice worst cast scenario of a mud flow going all the way from Mount Rainier into Puget Sound.

KAGAN: Which proved to be helpful with today's situation.

Judy Woodcock with Pierce County, Washington State, thanks for joining us. Appreciate it.

WOODCOCK: Thank you.

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