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American Morning

Snow Makes Burlington, NC Rush Hour Non-Existant

Aired January 03, 2002 - 08:06   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: Let's get back to that winter storm we were talking about a moment ago. It's put a freeze over much of the south with classes have been canceled, offices closed. The snow has reduced travel to a slow crawl all over the place here. Several inches are already on the ground in the Deep South, and even more is expected to fall today.

Joining us live now from Burlington, North Carolina is David Wayne, and he is with our affiliate WXII -- David, how does it look out there?

DAVID WAYNE, CNN AFFILIATE WXII REPORTER: Well, good morning, Leon. Not too bad. We have been here since 9:00 last night, and that's when it started snowing -- so 11 hours ago. We have maybe 5, 6 inches on the ground right now.

As you said, we're in Burlington. That's between Winston, Salem and Raleigh, the state capital. And I'm standing in front of Interstate 40-85. It's two interstates that come together right here. And normally, this is the end of rush hour -- four lanes of traffic in each direction usually as crowded as can be. It's been like a ghost town for parts of the morning.

Now over here on the other side of me, you can see over on the interstate, they have cleared it off, so you can get through. But here is one of the secondary roads. The snow plows have not been through these roads at all. So, many schools are closed. In fact, most schools are closed, and some businesses are closed.

Last year for the winter season in the Winston-Salem area, no measurable snowfall at all, so now we're making up for it. In fact, last month in December, we experienced highs in the 50s and 60s for most of December, so now I think it's payback time from Old Man Winter. We're really being slapped this morning with the winter weather that we're not accustomed to here -- Leon.

HARRIS: Yes, I know how that goes. Listen, do you recall the storm of 2000? I know we all got hit by that one pretty hard.

WAYNE: Yes.

HARRIS: Does this one compare well to that one? What do you think? WAYNE: Well, it's not there yet. You see the snow is still coming down. Remember, the storm in 2000, we had that big 20 inch snowfall in some parts. So if this keeps up, who knows? It could compare. It hasn't yet, but it's bad enough, especially when they're not used to regular big snowfalls like the one we're experiencing today so far.

HARRIS: Yes. Good deal. And you know what? You're a smart guy for standing on the side of the road that's not being used. Stay there, OK?

WAYNE: Exactly. That's what we planned on, yes.

HARRIS: All right. Be careful out there -- David Wayne...

WAYNE: Happy New Year.

HARRIS: Same to you -- same to you. Have a good one and a safe one. WXII affiliate there with that report -- thank you very much.

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