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CNN Sunday Morning
Interview With Patty McQuillan
Aired December 08, 2002 - 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In North Carolina crews are working around the clock to restore power to hundreds of thousands left shivering in the dark. It is the legacy of an ice storm that walloped the state on Wednesday. Officials estimate that about 800,000 people still without electricity. Some outages are expected to last until the middle of the week. The governor toured the storm damage yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. MICHAEL BEASLEY, NORTH CAROLINA: We haven't seen anything like this before in North Carolina. It is a lot like hurricane damage, except that it is much colder. And that's my biggest fear right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: For more on how things are going in North Carolina, let's check in now with Patty McQuillan, she is public information officer for Crime Control and Public Safety, joining us from Raleigh.
Hello, Ms. McQuillan.
PATTY MCQUILLAN, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER: Hello. How are you?
O'BRIEN: All right. Bring us up to date. How are people doing this morning?
MCQUILLAN: Well, there are still plenty of people without power, but crews are working on it very -- they've brought in crews from out of state to help restore power. So we have 55 shelters open. And night before last there were 2,000 people in those shelters.
O'BRIEN: And those shelters will remain open until those people have a place to go?
MCQUILLAN: Right.
O'BRIEN: And who is helping you with those shelters? Who is helping in general? Do you have enough support?
MCQUILLAN: It is the Red Cross mostly who is helping with those shelters.
O'BRIEN: What about National Guard help, that kind of thing? Do you need more assistance there?
MCQUILLAN: Governor Beasley dispatched the National Guard into 21 counties yesterday to go door to door to ask people if they need assistance. And in Durham yesterday we found that -- the National Guard found two elderly people who had not eaten in three days.
O'BRIEN: Oh, my goodness.
MCQUILLAN: We were able to take care of them.
O'BRIEN: They doing OK, now?
MCQUILLAN: Yes.
O'BRIEN: OK. We've heard some stories about people, who in these tough situations are making do the best they can but actually putting themselves in harm's way. And we're talking about the possibility, specifically, of carbon monoxide poisoning. Tell me a little bit about that.
MCQUILLAN: Yes, there have been about 200 people who have reported to have had carbon monoxide poisoning from putting charcoal grills inside their house either to eat or to get warm from the charcoals. This has caused carbon monoxide poisoning.
Also, people using generators inside, and there was one death in Cleveland County yesterday where an elderly couple had a generator outside the house but left the door cracked and so they were overcome by the exhaust fumes. The husband died and the wife survived because she was on oxygen already.
O'BRIEN: What a shame. Of course, the sad fact of the matter is that the who would be most -- well, the people who need to hear that message the most, can't hear it now because they don't have power. How are you getting the word out to people not do to things like use generators inside?
MCQUILLAN: Well, in Durham County there was another death in Durham County and it was a Hispanic person. And so yesterday in Durham the Durham police and firefighters and a group of Spanish speaking volunteers went door to door distributing thousands of fliers letting them know do not use charcoal grills inside your house, or generators.
O'BRIEN: Good. All right, Patty McQuillan, who is public information officer there in Raleigh, giving us the latest on a storm that -- it's over but its effects are rather tenacious.
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 8, 2002 - 07:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In North Carolina crews are working around the clock to restore power to hundreds of thousands left shivering in the dark. It is the legacy of an ice storm that walloped the state on Wednesday. Officials estimate that about 800,000 people still without electricity. Some outages are expected to last until the middle of the week. The governor toured the storm damage yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. MICHAEL BEASLEY, NORTH CAROLINA: We haven't seen anything like this before in North Carolina. It is a lot like hurricane damage, except that it is much colder. And that's my biggest fear right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: For more on how things are going in North Carolina, let's check in now with Patty McQuillan, she is public information officer for Crime Control and Public Safety, joining us from Raleigh.
Hello, Ms. McQuillan.
PATTY MCQUILLAN, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER: Hello. How are you?
O'BRIEN: All right. Bring us up to date. How are people doing this morning?
MCQUILLAN: Well, there are still plenty of people without power, but crews are working on it very -- they've brought in crews from out of state to help restore power. So we have 55 shelters open. And night before last there were 2,000 people in those shelters.
O'BRIEN: And those shelters will remain open until those people have a place to go?
MCQUILLAN: Right.
O'BRIEN: And who is helping you with those shelters? Who is helping in general? Do you have enough support?
MCQUILLAN: It is the Red Cross mostly who is helping with those shelters.
O'BRIEN: What about National Guard help, that kind of thing? Do you need more assistance there?
MCQUILLAN: Governor Beasley dispatched the National Guard into 21 counties yesterday to go door to door to ask people if they need assistance. And in Durham yesterday we found that -- the National Guard found two elderly people who had not eaten in three days.
O'BRIEN: Oh, my goodness.
MCQUILLAN: We were able to take care of them.
O'BRIEN: They doing OK, now?
MCQUILLAN: Yes.
O'BRIEN: OK. We've heard some stories about people, who in these tough situations are making do the best they can but actually putting themselves in harm's way. And we're talking about the possibility, specifically, of carbon monoxide poisoning. Tell me a little bit about that.
MCQUILLAN: Yes, there have been about 200 people who have reported to have had carbon monoxide poisoning from putting charcoal grills inside their house either to eat or to get warm from the charcoals. This has caused carbon monoxide poisoning.
Also, people using generators inside, and there was one death in Cleveland County yesterday where an elderly couple had a generator outside the house but left the door cracked and so they were overcome by the exhaust fumes. The husband died and the wife survived because she was on oxygen already.
O'BRIEN: What a shame. Of course, the sad fact of the matter is that the who would be most -- well, the people who need to hear that message the most, can't hear it now because they don't have power. How are you getting the word out to people not do to things like use generators inside?
MCQUILLAN: Well, in Durham County there was another death in Durham County and it was a Hispanic person. And so yesterday in Durham the Durham police and firefighters and a group of Spanish speaking volunteers went door to door distributing thousands of fliers letting them know do not use charcoal grills inside your house, or generators.
O'BRIEN: Good. All right, Patty McQuillan, who is public information officer there in Raleigh, giving us the latest on a storm that -- it's over but its effects are rather tenacious.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
