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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Renee Cahoon

Aired September 21, 2003 - 08:01   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: North Carolina's Barrier Islands are still reeling from Hurricane Isabel. The huge storm surge actually cut new inlet across the narrow islands, isolating Cape Hatteras and Ocracoke Island. The damage estimate in Dare County, North Carolina alone has already soared past half a billion dollars. Joining us on the phone from the Outer Banks is Renee Cahoon, who heads Dare County's Emergency Management Services.
Thanks so much for being with us, Ms. Cahoon. We appreciate it. We know that you are incredibly busy trying to get some of this cleanup effort done. Tell us the status now of where you are in the Outer Banks.

RENEE CAHOON, DARE COUNTY CONTROL GROUP: Well, while we've had a great deal of devastation, we've made tremendous progress. We now have a regular ferry system running to the village of Hatteras that was devastated, taking them supplies at every opportunity. We've already moved in generators, water supply, emergency personnel, building inspectors. So the cleanup process has started dramatically.

COLLINS: Can you explain to our viewers who might not be quite as familiar about this area about these new inlets that have been cut, therefore, isolating Hatteras? Ocracoke is an island itself, but Hatteras, now this is completely new landscape.

CAHOON: Yes, it is. The village of Hatteras, as you know, turns and faces south to the ocean. And we have had a breach. We're calling it a breach here, not inlet. But we've made arrangements, we believe, with a corps of engineers just to get a dredge in and start filling that area in. And hopefully in a few weeks we'll have a new road bed down.

COLLINS: That's amazing. So maps are going to have to be redrawn. I mean, the whole deal.

CAHOON: Oh, yes. Maps are going to have to be redrawn, people are going to have to rebuild their lives. Those people of that village have really been devastated. Of all of the their areas, their county, they have probably suffered the worst loss of any one area.

COLLINS: Tell us a little bit more if you could about this ferry system that you have. It's bringing food to people and getting people off the island should they need to get off of it?

CAHOON: So far, none of them have chose to leave. But, yes, the ferry system is bringing in water tanks, diesel fuel tanks to fuel the generators. We brought in Salvation Army food canteens. So the people are getting hot meals every day, as well as we brought in yesterday portable generators so that those homes that were still OK could start having some light and basic services.

COLLINS: I'm looking at some preliminary reports here talking about the damage estimates. For your county alone, again, it's Dare County, $545 million possibly. Talk to us about what that will mean.

CAHOON: Oh, I hope we get a federal disaster, but we have already gotten federal loan assistance. But it will mean a great blow to our economy. We have lost an awful lot of hotel rooms, we lost an awful lot of rental property. The way people here make their living is with tourism.

But we're rebuilding. We're going to be open, we're going to get this place cleaned up. And we're resilient, we rebuild.

COLLINS: We are looking at some of these pictures now of Cape Hatteras, and it's just amazing the amount of water that you can see and the power of this storm, a Category 2. Obviously, there's a Category 3, 4, and 5, which would have been stronger. But the devastation there, where you are, was it as bad as you expected?

CAHOON: It was actually probably worse than we expected being a Category 2. But I think what we ended up with was Category 5 water from the ocean. I think that ocean out there -- that storm, as you know, was a Category 5 for days. That ocean just built and built and built under a Category 5, and the water never reduced down to Category 2. That storm surge just kept coming.

COLLINS: Right. And that's what created those new inlets, I'm sure of that.

CAHOON: Exactly. According to the people in Hatteras, it was a wall of water that came through.

COLLINS: Wow. All right. Well, the best of luck to you, as you continue in trying to help these people out down there. Renee Cahoon with the Dare County Control Group there. Appreciate your time this morning.

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 21, 2003 - 08:01   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: North Carolina's Barrier Islands are still reeling from Hurricane Isabel. The huge storm surge actually cut new inlet across the narrow islands, isolating Cape Hatteras and Ocracoke Island. The damage estimate in Dare County, North Carolina alone has already soared past half a billion dollars. Joining us on the phone from the Outer Banks is Renee Cahoon, who heads Dare County's Emergency Management Services.
Thanks so much for being with us, Ms. Cahoon. We appreciate it. We know that you are incredibly busy trying to get some of this cleanup effort done. Tell us the status now of where you are in the Outer Banks.

RENEE CAHOON, DARE COUNTY CONTROL GROUP: Well, while we've had a great deal of devastation, we've made tremendous progress. We now have a regular ferry system running to the village of Hatteras that was devastated, taking them supplies at every opportunity. We've already moved in generators, water supply, emergency personnel, building inspectors. So the cleanup process has started dramatically.

COLLINS: Can you explain to our viewers who might not be quite as familiar about this area about these new inlets that have been cut, therefore, isolating Hatteras? Ocracoke is an island itself, but Hatteras, now this is completely new landscape.

CAHOON: Yes, it is. The village of Hatteras, as you know, turns and faces south to the ocean. And we have had a breach. We're calling it a breach here, not inlet. But we've made arrangements, we believe, with a corps of engineers just to get a dredge in and start filling that area in. And hopefully in a few weeks we'll have a new road bed down.

COLLINS: That's amazing. So maps are going to have to be redrawn. I mean, the whole deal.

CAHOON: Oh, yes. Maps are going to have to be redrawn, people are going to have to rebuild their lives. Those people of that village have really been devastated. Of all of the their areas, their county, they have probably suffered the worst loss of any one area.

COLLINS: Tell us a little bit more if you could about this ferry system that you have. It's bringing food to people and getting people off the island should they need to get off of it?

CAHOON: So far, none of them have chose to leave. But, yes, the ferry system is bringing in water tanks, diesel fuel tanks to fuel the generators. We brought in Salvation Army food canteens. So the people are getting hot meals every day, as well as we brought in yesterday portable generators so that those homes that were still OK could start having some light and basic services.

COLLINS: I'm looking at some preliminary reports here talking about the damage estimates. For your county alone, again, it's Dare County, $545 million possibly. Talk to us about what that will mean.

CAHOON: Oh, I hope we get a federal disaster, but we have already gotten federal loan assistance. But it will mean a great blow to our economy. We have lost an awful lot of hotel rooms, we lost an awful lot of rental property. The way people here make their living is with tourism.

But we're rebuilding. We're going to be open, we're going to get this place cleaned up. And we're resilient, we rebuild.

COLLINS: We are looking at some of these pictures now of Cape Hatteras, and it's just amazing the amount of water that you can see and the power of this storm, a Category 2. Obviously, there's a Category 3, 4, and 5, which would have been stronger. But the devastation there, where you are, was it as bad as you expected?

CAHOON: It was actually probably worse than we expected being a Category 2. But I think what we ended up with was Category 5 water from the ocean. I think that ocean out there -- that storm, as you know, was a Category 5 for days. That ocean just built and built and built under a Category 5, and the water never reduced down to Category 2. That storm surge just kept coming.

COLLINS: Right. And that's what created those new inlets, I'm sure of that.

CAHOON: Exactly. According to the people in Hatteras, it was a wall of water that came through.

COLLINS: Wow. All right. Well, the best of luck to you, as you continue in trying to help these people out down there. Renee Cahoon with the Dare County Control Group there. Appreciate your time this morning.

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