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American Morning
Interview with Oklahoma's Emergency Management Director
Aired May 09, 2003 - 07:03 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: The governor has already drafted the state's request for federal disaster aid. Albert Ashwood, the state's emergency management director, is at the Oklahoma City Emergency Command Center, and our guest this morning now live.
I wish we could talk on other matters here. You have surveyed some of the damage. How does it look from your perspective, sir?
ALBERT ASHWOOD, OKLAHOMA EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR: Well, of course, it's a devastating storm that crossed our state. It did take almost an identical path to the one that crossed four years ago. And we have to look at the damages and see how many residents need assistance and how much we need to do to help people recover from this tragedy.
HEMMER: The injured, what is the tally right now?
ASHWOOD: Somewhere upwards of 125 or so people that were actually taken to local hospitals and treated, relatively small compared to the damages that we see out there.
HEMMER: How about the missing? Are there reports on that?
ASHWOOD: I don't have any reports on missing. We're going to be working with the local jurisdictions. Of course, we'll get a much better idea after first light here exactly what the extent of the damage is geographically, and how we can best attack the situation.
HEMMER: You mention the storm of four years ago, May of 1999. Can you draw comparisons at this point?
ASHWOOD: Well, I think there are comparisons. The comparisons are the damage. But if you look at the May 3, 1999 storms, in a 24- hour period we had over 60 tornados that affected the state of Oklahoma. Yesterday's storm system only produced maybe five or six tornados that actually came down to the ground, so there is a big difference there.
We're also looking at much higher residential damages than we had four years ago. Unfortunately, if your house was destroyed yesterday, it was the worst tornado that ever hit you. So, you know, each storm is bad in its own sense.
HEMMER: No loss of life, what explains that?
ASHWOOD: I think a lot of that has to do with people being well- educated about severe weather here in Oklahoma. Also, following the May 3, 1999 storms, we funded a program with cooperation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to actually place safe rooms, to provide a rebate for safe rooms or underground shelters, and we actually funded 6,000 of those in the state of Oklahoma following that storm.
HEMMER: Wow! That is substantial, if you look back over the past four years. Quickly, how much warning was given to the people in your state?
ASHWOOD: I would say local media gave about 30 minutes' warning yesterday, which is very substantial when you talk about a tornado. But the people who work here are very attuned to weather systems across this state, and they tend to get out there and get the message out as quickly as possible. They do an outstanding job.
HEMMER: Good luck to you today. Albert Ashwood, Oklahoma City, running the Emergency Management System there in the state.
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 9, 2003 - 07:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The governor has already drafted the state's request for federal disaster aid. Albert Ashwood, the state's emergency management director, is at the Oklahoma City Emergency Command Center, and our guest this morning now live.
I wish we could talk on other matters here. You have surveyed some of the damage. How does it look from your perspective, sir?
ALBERT ASHWOOD, OKLAHOMA EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR: Well, of course, it's a devastating storm that crossed our state. It did take almost an identical path to the one that crossed four years ago. And we have to look at the damages and see how many residents need assistance and how much we need to do to help people recover from this tragedy.
HEMMER: The injured, what is the tally right now?
ASHWOOD: Somewhere upwards of 125 or so people that were actually taken to local hospitals and treated, relatively small compared to the damages that we see out there.
HEMMER: How about the missing? Are there reports on that?
ASHWOOD: I don't have any reports on missing. We're going to be working with the local jurisdictions. Of course, we'll get a much better idea after first light here exactly what the extent of the damage is geographically, and how we can best attack the situation.
HEMMER: You mention the storm of four years ago, May of 1999. Can you draw comparisons at this point?
ASHWOOD: Well, I think there are comparisons. The comparisons are the damage. But if you look at the May 3, 1999 storms, in a 24- hour period we had over 60 tornados that affected the state of Oklahoma. Yesterday's storm system only produced maybe five or six tornados that actually came down to the ground, so there is a big difference there.
We're also looking at much higher residential damages than we had four years ago. Unfortunately, if your house was destroyed yesterday, it was the worst tornado that ever hit you. So, you know, each storm is bad in its own sense.
HEMMER: No loss of life, what explains that?
ASHWOOD: I think a lot of that has to do with people being well- educated about severe weather here in Oklahoma. Also, following the May 3, 1999 storms, we funded a program with cooperation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to actually place safe rooms, to provide a rebate for safe rooms or underground shelters, and we actually funded 6,000 of those in the state of Oklahoma following that storm.
HEMMER: Wow! That is substantial, if you look back over the past four years. Quickly, how much warning was given to the people in your state?
ASHWOOD: I would say local media gave about 30 minutes' warning yesterday, which is very substantial when you talk about a tornado. But the people who work here are very attuned to weather systems across this state, and they tend to get out there and get the message out as quickly as possible. They do an outstanding job.
HEMMER: Good luck to you today. Albert Ashwood, Oklahoma City, running the Emergency Management System there in the state.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
