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American Morning
Storm Watch
Aired December 05, 2002 - 07:04 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hundreds of thousands, and we mentioned before about 400,000 in fact, are without power today in North Carolina; a snow emergency in effect also a bit further north, in the nation's capital. Two reports to start you off today.
Our Kathleen Koch is working the streets in Washington, and Fredricka Whitfield is in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Let's start in D.C. with Kathleen.
How goes it so far today -- Kathleen? Good morning.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
As you can see, the snow is coming down fast and furious, which it has been since about 1:00 a.m. this morning.
Now, it has closed down most of the schools in the area, of course, much to the delight of all of the children. But the federal government is still open.
Now, if we can pan off, you can see the road near me, near one of the major thoroughfares in Washington, D.C. and cars are coming and going. People are making it into work.
The roads, though, have been very treacherous. There have been a lot of accidents. D.C. is doing its best to clear the roads in the nation's capital, but this isn't a city that's known for handling snow very well. They do have some 200 plows on the road.
Now, if you take a look, we'll show you about how much snow we've got. Down here, I'd say we've got a good two, two-and-a-half inches, but this area has been plowed in front of the Labor Department, the snow plows have been going back and forth. The snow blower is trying to clear it, so the federal employees can get in here to work.
And, Bill, as you can imagine, this is really creating a beautiful winter wonderland here in Washington for the Christmas tree lighting. President Bush is going to be lighting the national Christmas tree tonight over by the White House on Euless (ph).
Back to you.
HEMMER: Ring in that season. Kathleen, thanks.
To the south now and Charlotte, North Carolina, Fredricka Whitfield has been up for a couple of hours running now. How goes it there -- Fredricka? Good morning.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning, Bill.
Well, when folks wake up here in Charlotte, North Carolina, this is what they're going to find. Most of the rain has dissipated, and the temperatures are rising above freezing temperatures, and this is after a night of very cold rain and temperatures hovering around 28-29 degrees.
And take a look at this. This is also what they're going to be seeing. About a half-inch of ice coating the shrubs, the trees, and of course, the power lines, and what that means, making those power lines very heavy. They come down, and it has resulted in about 145,000 customers without power just here in the Charlotte area alone.
Schools are closed today, and for another reason, take a look, right over here. While most of the major highways and roads are passable and it's slow going, it's the unpredictable matter on the bridges and the overpasses just beyond that, just over that highway that are very unpredictable. Some patches of ice still, still a very precarious situation.
But you know what, Bill? There's a lot of good news still in this area, because, as I say, the rain has dissipated, and the temperatures are only expected to rise throughout the morning -- Bill.
HEMMER: That is so critical, too. Fredricka, thanks. Thanks to Kathleen as well.
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 December 5, 2002 - 07:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hundreds of thousands, and we mentioned before about 400,000 in fact, are without power today in North Carolina; a snow emergency in effect also a bit further north, in the nation's capital. Two reports to start you off today.
Our Kathleen Koch is working the streets in Washington, and Fredricka Whitfield is in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Let's start in D.C. with Kathleen.
How goes it so far today -- Kathleen? Good morning.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
As you can see, the snow is coming down fast and furious, which it has been since about 1:00 a.m. this morning.
Now, it has closed down most of the schools in the area, of course, much to the delight of all of the children. But the federal government is still open.
Now, if we can pan off, you can see the road near me, near one of the major thoroughfares in Washington, D.C. and cars are coming and going. People are making it into work.
The roads, though, have been very treacherous. There have been a lot of accidents. D.C. is doing its best to clear the roads in the nation's capital, but this isn't a city that's known for handling snow very well. They do have some 200 plows on the road.
Now, if you take a look, we'll show you about how much snow we've got. Down here, I'd say we've got a good two, two-and-a-half inches, but this area has been plowed in front of the Labor Department, the snow plows have been going back and forth. The snow blower is trying to clear it, so the federal employees can get in here to work.
And, Bill, as you can imagine, this is really creating a beautiful winter wonderland here in Washington for the Christmas tree lighting. President Bush is going to be lighting the national Christmas tree tonight over by the White House on Euless (ph).
Back to you.
HEMMER: Ring in that season. Kathleen, thanks.
To the south now and Charlotte, North Carolina, Fredricka Whitfield has been up for a couple of hours running now. How goes it there -- Fredricka? Good morning.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning, Bill.
Well, when folks wake up here in Charlotte, North Carolina, this is what they're going to find. Most of the rain has dissipated, and the temperatures are rising above freezing temperatures, and this is after a night of very cold rain and temperatures hovering around 28-29 degrees.
And take a look at this. This is also what they're going to be seeing. About a half-inch of ice coating the shrubs, the trees, and of course, the power lines, and what that means, making those power lines very heavy. They come down, and it has resulted in about 145,000 customers without power just here in the Charlotte area alone.
Schools are closed today, and for another reason, take a look, right over here. While most of the major highways and roads are passable and it's slow going, it's the unpredictable matter on the bridges and the overpasses just beyond that, just over that highway that are very unpredictable. Some patches of ice still, still a very precarious situation.
But you know what, Bill? There's a lot of good news still in this area, because, as I say, the rain has dissipated, and the temperatures are only expected to rise throughout the morning -- Bill.
HEMMER: That is so critical, too. Fredricka, thanks. Thanks to Kathleen as well.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
