Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Residents of Piece City, Missouri Picking up Pieces
Aired May 07, 2003 - 07:15 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Tornado sirens were heard again in parts of Missouri last night, and President Bush granted disaster area status to 39 counties in the state, making them eligible now for federal aid.
Our David Mattingly is in one of the hardest-hit communities now, and that is Pierce City. He joins us with the very latest.
David -- I can't imagine what these folks were thinking when they heard those sirens yet again.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It certainly made everyone a little bit jumpy yesterday. Fortunately, it was just some winds, rain and some lightning, severe thunderstorms. Nothing at all like what they saw before.
There are some very tough decisions ahead right now for the people of Pierce City. State engineers yesterday went through the old town buildings that were heavily damaged in Sunday's tornado. They are now very worried that many of these buildings may not be able to be saved and may need to be demolished.
City officials are holding off on making that decision, however. They're hoping they can find a way to somehow save the old town area. The late 1800-to-early-1900 look of the town made it a tourist attraction and accounted for a big portion of the local economy.
Federal disaster relief is already pouring into Pierce City. That's going to pay for the cleanup of all of the debris, the piles of bricks, the shattered masonry, the splintered wood that you see all over this entire town. And, if necessary, that money will help pay for demolition of buildings that can't be saved.
But, again, that is a decision that no one here wants to make. After all, Heidi, how do you restore that old-time charm that has literally helped keep this town economically on the map as a tourist attraction -- Heidi.
COLLINS: David, that brings up the question of insurance. I'm sure that everybody is kind of talking about how much insurance they have personally to do some of this rebuilding.
MATTINGLY: Some people -- some of the business owners did not have insurance. They were complaining that because of the age of the buildings they were in and the shape they were in to begin with, it was just too expensive for them. So, some people just don't have the insurance to personally try to get their buildings put back together. Other people were insured, of course; some partially insured.
A lot of it is going to depend on what kind of federal assistance comes through. But right now, there's just no guarantee that any federal money is going to be made available for this kind of restoration that they're looking for.
COLLINS: All right, David Mattingly live this morning in Pierce City. Thanks so much for the update, David. I'm sure we'll hear much more about this in the days to come.
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 May 7, 2003 - 07:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Tornado sirens were heard again in parts of Missouri last night, and President Bush granted disaster area status to 39 counties in the state, making them eligible now for federal aid.
Our David Mattingly is in one of the hardest-hit communities now, and that is Pierce City. He joins us with the very latest.
David -- I can't imagine what these folks were thinking when they heard those sirens yet again.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It certainly made everyone a little bit jumpy yesterday. Fortunately, it was just some winds, rain and some lightning, severe thunderstorms. Nothing at all like what they saw before.
There are some very tough decisions ahead right now for the people of Pierce City. State engineers yesterday went through the old town buildings that were heavily damaged in Sunday's tornado. They are now very worried that many of these buildings may not be able to be saved and may need to be demolished.
City officials are holding off on making that decision, however. They're hoping they can find a way to somehow save the old town area. The late 1800-to-early-1900 look of the town made it a tourist attraction and accounted for a big portion of the local economy.
Federal disaster relief is already pouring into Pierce City. That's going to pay for the cleanup of all of the debris, the piles of bricks, the shattered masonry, the splintered wood that you see all over this entire town. And, if necessary, that money will help pay for demolition of buildings that can't be saved.
But, again, that is a decision that no one here wants to make. After all, Heidi, how do you restore that old-time charm that has literally helped keep this town economically on the map as a tourist attraction -- Heidi.
COLLINS: David, that brings up the question of insurance. I'm sure that everybody is kind of talking about how much insurance they have personally to do some of this rebuilding.
MATTINGLY: Some people -- some of the business owners did not have insurance. They were complaining that because of the age of the buildings they were in and the shape they were in to begin with, it was just too expensive for them. So, some people just don't have the insurance to personally try to get their buildings put back together. Other people were insured, of course; some partially insured.
A lot of it is going to depend on what kind of federal assistance comes through. But right now, there's just no guarantee that any federal money is going to be made available for this kind of restoration that they're looking for.
COLLINS: All right, David Mattingly live this morning in Pierce City. Thanks so much for the update, David. I'm sure we'll hear much more about this in the days to come.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
