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American Morning

Interview with Sister of Tornado Victim

Aired May 12, 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: President Bush says his visit to the middle -- Midwest, rather, tomorrow will allow him to tell storm survivors just how concerned the nation is about them.
More tornados over the weekend capped another week of extreme weather, Mother Nature showing no mercy on this Mother's Day weekend, another batch of storms leaving the mark in Middle America. Some of the heaviest damage in the state of Illinois and in Kentucky, high winds downed power lines, destroyed barns and buildings in the central part of Kentucky.

Meanwhile, in Rineyville, about 40 miles south of Louisville, a number of homes were damaged and several people were slightly injured there. Tornados tearing through the central part of Illinois, the town of South Pekin, near Peoria, one of the hardest-hit areas with reports of about 80 homes there being demolished.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My garage is gone. My little girl's bedroom looks like it's going to cave in, and the whole side of my house is gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: This has been the most active tornado season on record: 396 confirmed twisters in 14 different states, nearly twice the record set previously back in 1999. As many as 200 people in South Pekin are now homeless due to the storms.

David McMullen (ph) and his girlfriend, Kathy (ph), were trapped inside of their home when it was collapsed on top of them. They are hospitalized today, said to be in serious condition as of last night.

Naomi Switzer is David McMullen's (ph) sister. She is live in South Pekin to tell us about not just the damage, but also about her brother and how he's doing.

Naomi, I wish we could speak on other terms. But how is your brother? The latest word today is what?

NAOMI SWITZER, SISTER OF TORNADO VICTIM: I just spoke with the hospital this morning, and he had a good night. We're looking at he's going to be fine. So, that's -- you know, that's about all I know right now until I get up there this morning.

HEMMER: On Saturday night, Naomi, right around 10:00 local time in the evening, you took shelter. No damage, I understand, to your home, but a completely different story about five minutes away to your brother and his home. What happened when you arrived there?

SWITZER: I didn't know where he was, and I didn't realize that the storm was that bad. I was down in my basement. I had just talked to David, like, 10 minutes before the storm hit, and then we couldn't find him. Kathy's (ph) daughter called me and said that David had called her. He was hurt. And we couldn't find Kathy (ph). She was buried in the basement.

And it was, like, an hour before I found out, you know, where he was. And he was very seriously injured, but he was not going to go anywhere until they got Kathy out (ph). By the time they got...

HEMMER: Naomi, where did you locate your brother an hour later?

SWITZER: He was at St. Francis Hospital. And I -- to this minute, I don't know why. His bracelet on his arm says "Doe, male."

HEMMER: Wow! They could not identify him. That must have been extremely eerie in the minutes of that.

SWITZER: No, no.

HEMMER: But Kathy was buried. How did she get out?

SWITZER: Our rescue squad, when they got down to the house, David told -- he had been able to talk to her. He could hear her, but he didn't know where she was. And our rescue squad got down there, our firemen, and they got her out. They just -- they had a line, and they passed her from one group of two firemen to the next one and got her out that way.

HEMMER: Wow! Bottom line, though...

SWITZER: Yes.

HEMMER: ... they're going to be OK, is that right?

SWITZER: Yes. David was just updated last night from critical to serious. Kathy (ph) is still in serious condition, but they expect that we're -- you know, we're going to have good result. They're going to recover.

HEMMER: We can see the damage behind you, and, listen, from us to you, best of luck getting out of this mess, and best of luck to your brother, and Kathy (ph) as well.

Naomi Switzer in South Pekin, Illinois.

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 12, 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: President Bush says his visit to the middle -- Midwest, rather, tomorrow will allow him to tell storm survivors just how concerned the nation is about them.
More tornados over the weekend capped another week of extreme weather, Mother Nature showing no mercy on this Mother's Day weekend, another batch of storms leaving the mark in Middle America. Some of the heaviest damage in the state of Illinois and in Kentucky, high winds downed power lines, destroyed barns and buildings in the central part of Kentucky.

Meanwhile, in Rineyville, about 40 miles south of Louisville, a number of homes were damaged and several people were slightly injured there. Tornados tearing through the central part of Illinois, the town of South Pekin, near Peoria, one of the hardest-hit areas with reports of about 80 homes there being demolished.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My garage is gone. My little girl's bedroom looks like it's going to cave in, and the whole side of my house is gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: This has been the most active tornado season on record: 396 confirmed twisters in 14 different states, nearly twice the record set previously back in 1999. As many as 200 people in South Pekin are now homeless due to the storms.

David McMullen (ph) and his girlfriend, Kathy (ph), were trapped inside of their home when it was collapsed on top of them. They are hospitalized today, said to be in serious condition as of last night.

Naomi Switzer is David McMullen's (ph) sister. She is live in South Pekin to tell us about not just the damage, but also about her brother and how he's doing.

Naomi, I wish we could speak on other terms. But how is your brother? The latest word today is what?

NAOMI SWITZER, SISTER OF TORNADO VICTIM: I just spoke with the hospital this morning, and he had a good night. We're looking at he's going to be fine. So, that's -- you know, that's about all I know right now until I get up there this morning.

HEMMER: On Saturday night, Naomi, right around 10:00 local time in the evening, you took shelter. No damage, I understand, to your home, but a completely different story about five minutes away to your brother and his home. What happened when you arrived there?

SWITZER: I didn't know where he was, and I didn't realize that the storm was that bad. I was down in my basement. I had just talked to David, like, 10 minutes before the storm hit, and then we couldn't find him. Kathy's (ph) daughter called me and said that David had called her. He was hurt. And we couldn't find Kathy (ph). She was buried in the basement.

And it was, like, an hour before I found out, you know, where he was. And he was very seriously injured, but he was not going to go anywhere until they got Kathy out (ph). By the time they got...

HEMMER: Naomi, where did you locate your brother an hour later?

SWITZER: He was at St. Francis Hospital. And I -- to this minute, I don't know why. His bracelet on his arm says "Doe, male."

HEMMER: Wow! They could not identify him. That must have been extremely eerie in the minutes of that.

SWITZER: No, no.

HEMMER: But Kathy was buried. How did she get out?

SWITZER: Our rescue squad, when they got down to the house, David told -- he had been able to talk to her. He could hear her, but he didn't know where she was. And our rescue squad got down there, our firemen, and they got her out. They just -- they had a line, and they passed her from one group of two firemen to the next one and got her out that way.

HEMMER: Wow! Bottom line, though...

SWITZER: Yes.

HEMMER: ... they're going to be OK, is that right?

SWITZER: Yes. David was just updated last night from critical to serious. Kathy (ph) is still in serious condition, but they expect that we're -- you know, we're going to have good result. They're going to recover.

HEMMER: We can see the damage behind you, and, listen, from us to you, best of luck getting out of this mess, and best of luck to your brother, and Kathy (ph) as well.

Naomi Switzer in South Pekin, Illinois.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.