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American Morning
Picking Up In Tennessee
Aired November 12, 2002 - 07:19 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: From Louisiana to Pennsylvania this morning, survivors and rescuers are still sifting through the debris, looking for any signs of those still missing after the unusual swarm of deadly tornados -- almost 50 of them in all.
Hardest hit by far was the small community of Mossy Grove, Tennessee, and that's where we find our own Miles O'Brien there this morning.
Good morning -- Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Paula.
Take a look at the damage behind me, and you get a sense of the sort of arbitrary nature of these kinds of storms. Right in the foreground here, you can see some of the worst damage. These were homes that were completely obliterated. Some of the seven people who died here inside homes that were wiped out in this fashion.
Look across the street, though. There are some mobile homes there, modular housing, completely unscathed.
Now, if we pull back, and you see this house here, this masonry house, a brick house here, lost its roof, but we're told the elderly woman inside, Maizal Phillips (ph), walked away unscathed.
So, you get a little bit of everything when you start talking about these storms in this valley, this tiny community with only 20 homes to start with, a dozen of them destroyed, as we said, seven people killed. A rescue worker died having a heart attack trying to help out with this situation later.
Now, there were a total of 200 homes destroyed in this county, Morgan County, a rural county, sparsely populated, a lot of mountains, and they, today, are descended upon by an army of about a thousand people to begin and continue the rescue and relief effort.
There are 23 people hospitalized, some of them we're told in fairly serious condition. We'll be watching those figures for you today.
The governor was here. He landed his helicopter not far from here on a field here yesterday, beyond this debris that you see here, to vow to these people that he is seeking federal relief assistance. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is in the state today to try to aid these people as they try to rebuild their lives.
Today --- 24 hours ago, this scene was a complete shock to them. Today, they're beginning the grim task of rebuilding -- Paula.
ZAHN: So, Miles, what kind of help are they asking for of the public? Any at all?
O'BRIEN: Well, I think at this point, they probably have enough. Right now as far as people to help, they certainly have enough assistance. They have a food bank, they have clothing -- that kind of thing. I suppose as time goes on, there will be some monetary needs. I don't have any specific information on how you can do that, but I suspect as time goes on, there will be ways that people can help, through the Red Cross for example.
ZAHN: And I know you've had a chance to talk with a lot of these families affected by this. How many of them expressed to you this amazing sense of luck they felt that they were spared?
O'BRIEN: Well, yes. I'll tell you what. If we take a look across here -- go across the street, if we could, Dave. That is an apostolic church, Paula. There were about 80 people inside it when the tornado came through here. They all gathered together, huddled near the center and just prayed. And they truly believe someone upstairs was looking out for them, as this tornado came through this tiny community.
ZAHN: I'll tell you, Miles, between looking at what's behind you and looking at the aerials, it's really hard to just understand the sheer devastation these folks are up against.
Thanks, Miles. We'll be checking in with you throughout the morning -- appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired November 12, 2002 - 07:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: From Louisiana to Pennsylvania this morning, survivors and rescuers are still sifting through the debris, looking for any signs of those still missing after the unusual swarm of deadly tornados -- almost 50 of them in all.
Hardest hit by far was the small community of Mossy Grove, Tennessee, and that's where we find our own Miles O'Brien there this morning.
Good morning -- Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Paula.
Take a look at the damage behind me, and you get a sense of the sort of arbitrary nature of these kinds of storms. Right in the foreground here, you can see some of the worst damage. These were homes that were completely obliterated. Some of the seven people who died here inside homes that were wiped out in this fashion.
Look across the street, though. There are some mobile homes there, modular housing, completely unscathed.
Now, if we pull back, and you see this house here, this masonry house, a brick house here, lost its roof, but we're told the elderly woman inside, Maizal Phillips (ph), walked away unscathed.
So, you get a little bit of everything when you start talking about these storms in this valley, this tiny community with only 20 homes to start with, a dozen of them destroyed, as we said, seven people killed. A rescue worker died having a heart attack trying to help out with this situation later.
Now, there were a total of 200 homes destroyed in this county, Morgan County, a rural county, sparsely populated, a lot of mountains, and they, today, are descended upon by an army of about a thousand people to begin and continue the rescue and relief effort.
There are 23 people hospitalized, some of them we're told in fairly serious condition. We'll be watching those figures for you today.
The governor was here. He landed his helicopter not far from here on a field here yesterday, beyond this debris that you see here, to vow to these people that he is seeking federal relief assistance. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is in the state today to try to aid these people as they try to rebuild their lives.
Today --- 24 hours ago, this scene was a complete shock to them. Today, they're beginning the grim task of rebuilding -- Paula.
ZAHN: So, Miles, what kind of help are they asking for of the public? Any at all?
O'BRIEN: Well, I think at this point, they probably have enough. Right now as far as people to help, they certainly have enough assistance. They have a food bank, they have clothing -- that kind of thing. I suppose as time goes on, there will be some monetary needs. I don't have any specific information on how you can do that, but I suspect as time goes on, there will be ways that people can help, through the Red Cross for example.
ZAHN: And I know you've had a chance to talk with a lot of these families affected by this. How many of them expressed to you this amazing sense of luck they felt that they were spared?
O'BRIEN: Well, yes. I'll tell you what. If we take a look across here -- go across the street, if we could, Dave. That is an apostolic church, Paula. There were about 80 people inside it when the tornado came through here. They all gathered together, huddled near the center and just prayed. And they truly believe someone upstairs was looking out for them, as this tornado came through this tiny community.
ZAHN: I'll tell you, Miles, between looking at what's behind you and looking at the aerials, it's really hard to just understand the sheer devastation these folks are up against.
Thanks, Miles. We'll be checking in with you throughout the morning -- appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
