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American Morning
Full Extent of Damages Only Now Being Realized Across South
Aired November 12, 2002 - 09:05 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We will turn our attention to another major story we've been following. The full extent of damages only now being realized across the south and Great Lakes regions from a swarm of killer storms. In one of the hardest-hit areas, Mossy Grove, Tennessee, 12 people, as many as 14 still unaccounted for.
Miles O'Brien joins us from Mossy Grove where searchers press on hoping to find some of the missing.
Good morning again, Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again, Paula.
We just got an update. In Morgan County, Tennessee, where I stand right now, there are now officially only two people missing and unaccounted for. So, obviously, the process of getting the information from people were displaced. Communication is coming together. People are finding out their loved ones, their friends. And as we had hoped, so far no additional casualties among those missing. Authorities are leading us to believe that they do not expect the death toll to rise.
I'm standing here in Mossy Grove, Tennessee. Just take a look at this scene behind me here. This is a community. It's not even a town. It's not on most maps. Only about 20 homes here total. A dozen of them destroyed. Some of these absolutely wiped out, as you can see here.
Just take a look at my feet here. What you see here are two by fours. This is the studs for a house. This is a ceiling, a two by six just snapped like a piece of matchsticks and interspersed with all of that are things like this Barbie doll. It's a poignant thing when you see a toy among these effects. These people literally having to start over quite from scratch here.
And yet as I walk around here, you'll get a sense of how the devastation is so arbitrary. All this damage here, the back of this house has damage to an entire sun room, added-on room, gone, and yet the brick house withstood it. The National Weather Service will come here a little bit later today, Paula, and they'll be going through this wreckage. It's hard for us to see as we look at it, but there are very distinct patterns in this wreckage, and they can get a sense of the swirl and exactly how the tornado came down that mountain into this valley and caused this tremendous damage.
There is an army here in this county of about a thousand people. I don't mean army in the sense of troops, but an army of people, rescue and relief workers, doing everything they can. The things you see before me, trying to go through, try to recover belongings. One of our producers was going through some of this just a few moments ago, found a $100 bill. That gives you the kind of example that lies ahead. There are valuables amid all of this rubble, and people have to go through the task of finding and recovering whatever they can.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is here, federal relief aid application is in work, according to the governor. It just seems to be a matter of pro forma and will occur in the matter of a few days, given the kind of damage and destruction that we're seeing here right now.
But just to reiterate, seven people dead. Another emergency worker who was -- died of a heart attack in the process of helping out. Right now, two dozen people hospitalized, yet only two people missing and unaccounted for. So at least on that final vote, there is a little bit of optimism to share with you this morning -- Paula.
ZAHN: It's nice to hear a little optimism, because you might remember just with yesterday at this time, one of the emergency workers believed that as many as 120 people could have been missing from that surrounding community. So I guess you're right. That's the only ray of hope we've seen in this story.
Thanks, Miles. Take care.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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Aired November 12, 2002 - 09:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We will turn our attention to another major story we've been following. The full extent of damages only now being realized across the south and Great Lakes regions from a swarm of killer storms. In one of the hardest-hit areas, Mossy Grove, Tennessee, 12 people, as many as 14 still unaccounted for.
Miles O'Brien joins us from Mossy Grove where searchers press on hoping to find some of the missing.
Good morning again, Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again, Paula.
We just got an update. In Morgan County, Tennessee, where I stand right now, there are now officially only two people missing and unaccounted for. So, obviously, the process of getting the information from people were displaced. Communication is coming together. People are finding out their loved ones, their friends. And as we had hoped, so far no additional casualties among those missing. Authorities are leading us to believe that they do not expect the death toll to rise.
I'm standing here in Mossy Grove, Tennessee. Just take a look at this scene behind me here. This is a community. It's not even a town. It's not on most maps. Only about 20 homes here total. A dozen of them destroyed. Some of these absolutely wiped out, as you can see here.
Just take a look at my feet here. What you see here are two by fours. This is the studs for a house. This is a ceiling, a two by six just snapped like a piece of matchsticks and interspersed with all of that are things like this Barbie doll. It's a poignant thing when you see a toy among these effects. These people literally having to start over quite from scratch here.
And yet as I walk around here, you'll get a sense of how the devastation is so arbitrary. All this damage here, the back of this house has damage to an entire sun room, added-on room, gone, and yet the brick house withstood it. The National Weather Service will come here a little bit later today, Paula, and they'll be going through this wreckage. It's hard for us to see as we look at it, but there are very distinct patterns in this wreckage, and they can get a sense of the swirl and exactly how the tornado came down that mountain into this valley and caused this tremendous damage.
There is an army here in this county of about a thousand people. I don't mean army in the sense of troops, but an army of people, rescue and relief workers, doing everything they can. The things you see before me, trying to go through, try to recover belongings. One of our producers was going through some of this just a few moments ago, found a $100 bill. That gives you the kind of example that lies ahead. There are valuables amid all of this rubble, and people have to go through the task of finding and recovering whatever they can.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is here, federal relief aid application is in work, according to the governor. It just seems to be a matter of pro forma and will occur in the matter of a few days, given the kind of damage and destruction that we're seeing here right now.
But just to reiterate, seven people dead. Another emergency worker who was -- died of a heart attack in the process of helping out. Right now, two dozen people hospitalized, yet only two people missing and unaccounted for. So at least on that final vote, there is a little bit of optimism to share with you this morning -- Paula.
ZAHN: It's nice to hear a little optimism, because you might remember just with yesterday at this time, one of the emergency workers believed that as many as 120 people could have been missing from that surrounding community. So I guess you're right. That's the only ray of hope we've seen in this story.
Thanks, Miles. Take care.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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