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American Morning
Interview With Tom Ridge
Aired September 16, 2003 - 08:08 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The Federal Emergency Management Agency became a part of the Department of Homeland Security last March and this will be the first major hurricane under the new chain of command. Earlier this morning, I spoke with Tom Ridge, the secretary of homeland security.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY DIRECTOR: The primary mission of the Department of Homeland Security is to save lives and protect property, whether it's a terrorist event or a natural disaster. So this is very consistent with our primary mission and while we continue to do the things on a day to day, hour to hour basis to combat terrorism and respond to a potential terrorist attack, we have been planning and preparing for Hurricane Isabel since the beginning of last week.
O'BRIEN: Before we talk about those preparations a little bit, I want to ask you then, are you saying that some of your staff then moved from planning and taking care of protecting the nation against the terrorist threat to then go into dealing with the threat of Hurricane Isabel hitting the Northeast?
RIDGE: No, we have the same focus, the same intense focus on combating terrorism. But we also have the Federal Emergency Management Agency that has been charged historically with preparing for natural disasters. And working through the Federal Emergency Management Agency beginning over a week ago we've been in consultation with the emergency management operations of the states along the East Coast. I've personally talked to most of the governors along the East Coast and along the projected path of the hurricane. We've pre- positioned supplies, truck loads of supplies in anticipation of need.
So, again, we're able to do more than one thing at a time. We've got a lot of talented people who are focused on their primary missions and one is combat terrorism and another right now is get ready for the hurricane.
O'BRIEN: You mentioned the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. I know that, as you mentioned, materials have been requisitioned and they've been sort of positioned. But the hurricane is actually a fair distance away at this point. How do you plan for what could be a major disaster so far out and you don't really know where it's going to hit?
RIDGE: Well, first of all, we have literally dozens of semi- trailers parked and available to move and ready to move along the projected path. And, again, it's not an absolute science, but right now we're fairly certain as to where it will hit, land fall. We're prepared and can make adjustments at the last minute. But we'll pre- position those supplies. We've got emergency communications equipment ready to move. We've got an urban search and rescue teams on call, emergency medical teams on call. Today at around 12:30 we'll have a video conference with all the emergency management operations along the East Coast.
So, again, with the science and technology available to us in the 21st century, we are far better able to prepare ourselves in anticipation of a storm of this severity.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk some numbers. Hurricane Andrew back in 1992, $35 billion in damages; Hugo, '89, $9.7 billion; Floyd, $4.5 billion. Those numbers have got to scare you. How do you prepare for something that could cause billions of dollars in damages when, as you well know, we have a massive deficit and we really don't have the money to pay for any of this?
RIDGE: Well, in my experience as a member of Congress, the one area where there is complete and universal agreement is that when Mother Nature strikes and causes, unfortunately and tragically, the loss of life and severe, severe property damage, that is one request for additional dollars that the Congress and the federal government is normally universally in support of.
So, again, we can't do anything other than be mindful of the potential damage and do everything we can as families and communities to help keep that damage to our families and to our property to a minimum.
O'BRIEN: Many of the folks in the National Guard have shipped out to Iraq. So are there concerns that there's going to be a shortfall in the number of troops that are available who normally would come out after a big emergency or a disaster potentially and help, you know, clean up and help really guide the public?
RIDGE: There will be no shortage of manpower. In talking with the governors, they're all comfortable that they've got National Guard at the ready and the numbers that they'll need. But there is an emergency management assistance compact among the states and if there's a shortfall in one state, then the governors and the National Guards of adjoining states are prepared to move and support their neighbors.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: That's Tom Ridge, of course, the secretary of homeland security.
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 September 16, 2003 - 08:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The Federal Emergency Management Agency became a part of the Department of Homeland Security last March and this will be the first major hurricane under the new chain of command. Earlier this morning, I spoke with Tom Ridge, the secretary of homeland security.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY DIRECTOR: The primary mission of the Department of Homeland Security is to save lives and protect property, whether it's a terrorist event or a natural disaster. So this is very consistent with our primary mission and while we continue to do the things on a day to day, hour to hour basis to combat terrorism and respond to a potential terrorist attack, we have been planning and preparing for Hurricane Isabel since the beginning of last week.
O'BRIEN: Before we talk about those preparations a little bit, I want to ask you then, are you saying that some of your staff then moved from planning and taking care of protecting the nation against the terrorist threat to then go into dealing with the threat of Hurricane Isabel hitting the Northeast?
RIDGE: No, we have the same focus, the same intense focus on combating terrorism. But we also have the Federal Emergency Management Agency that has been charged historically with preparing for natural disasters. And working through the Federal Emergency Management Agency beginning over a week ago we've been in consultation with the emergency management operations of the states along the East Coast. I've personally talked to most of the governors along the East Coast and along the projected path of the hurricane. We've pre- positioned supplies, truck loads of supplies in anticipation of need.
So, again, we're able to do more than one thing at a time. We've got a lot of talented people who are focused on their primary missions and one is combat terrorism and another right now is get ready for the hurricane.
O'BRIEN: You mentioned the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. I know that, as you mentioned, materials have been requisitioned and they've been sort of positioned. But the hurricane is actually a fair distance away at this point. How do you plan for what could be a major disaster so far out and you don't really know where it's going to hit?
RIDGE: Well, first of all, we have literally dozens of semi- trailers parked and available to move and ready to move along the projected path. And, again, it's not an absolute science, but right now we're fairly certain as to where it will hit, land fall. We're prepared and can make adjustments at the last minute. But we'll pre- position those supplies. We've got emergency communications equipment ready to move. We've got an urban search and rescue teams on call, emergency medical teams on call. Today at around 12:30 we'll have a video conference with all the emergency management operations along the East Coast.
So, again, with the science and technology available to us in the 21st century, we are far better able to prepare ourselves in anticipation of a storm of this severity.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk some numbers. Hurricane Andrew back in 1992, $35 billion in damages; Hugo, '89, $9.7 billion; Floyd, $4.5 billion. Those numbers have got to scare you. How do you prepare for something that could cause billions of dollars in damages when, as you well know, we have a massive deficit and we really don't have the money to pay for any of this?
RIDGE: Well, in my experience as a member of Congress, the one area where there is complete and universal agreement is that when Mother Nature strikes and causes, unfortunately and tragically, the loss of life and severe, severe property damage, that is one request for additional dollars that the Congress and the federal government is normally universally in support of.
So, again, we can't do anything other than be mindful of the potential damage and do everything we can as families and communities to help keep that damage to our families and to our property to a minimum.
O'BRIEN: Many of the folks in the National Guard have shipped out to Iraq. So are there concerns that there's going to be a shortfall in the number of troops that are available who normally would come out after a big emergency or a disaster potentially and help, you know, clean up and help really guide the public?
RIDGE: There will be no shortage of manpower. In talking with the governors, they're all comfortable that they've got National Guard at the ready and the numbers that they'll need. But there is an emergency management assistance compact among the states and if there's a shortfall in one state, then the governors and the National Guards of adjoining states are prepared to move and support their neighbors.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: That's Tom Ridge, of course, the secretary of homeland security.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
