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CNN Saturday Morning News

A Return to Normalcy After Black-Out

Aired August 16, 2003 - 09:01   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, now let's shed some light on the blackout. With the lights back on in New York, life is sort of getting back to normal there, but due to water woes, it's a very different story in Cleveland, Ohio.
Michael Okwu is covering the story from New York, and CNN's John Zarrella is in Cleveland.

Let's start with Michael, where I know there's a big sigh of relief coming there.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fredricka.

You can see behind me that New York businesses are actually facing a first weekend since the power outage.

This is the official meat packing district in New York. That's -- this is where all of the meat comes in from places like Kansas and Nebraska and Iowa. And just behind me you can see some of these workers putting away some of the food here that's going to be stocked up and taken to a restaurant, where they hope to start conducting business.

We went earlier to an official meat packing place. This was a district that was deeply affected by this power outage. In fact, they usually work very early, from about 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning to 8:00 in the morning on weekdays, but they had to work this weekend. Why? Because they had to close those refrigerators as soon as this power outage was felt, so that they could seal in the temperature, keep it as cold as possible, because they supply most of the city with those meats.

And, in fact, federal authorities had to come in this morning and to make sure that that meat was in place.

Let's go to John Zarrella.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Michael, there's water, water everywhere, and as you can see behind me, it's working. The statue is on here in the Park Central area. And life is beginning to get back to normal. Power came back on yesterday morning.

The real issue here has been the water. "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" goes, "Water, water everywhere, but ne'er a drop to drink." People can drink it here, they just have to boil it first before they drink it as a precaution just in case any contamination got in the lines.

That drinking order, boiling order, is expected to be lifted at noon on Sunday.

Most of the people we talked to said that while it certainly was an annoyance, this entire episode was, for most of them, no more than just an inconvenience.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA (voice-over): Three-year-old Owen Mani kept cool playing outside on his skateboard. His mom, Bethany, and friends hung out on the upstairs porch. It was too hot to be indoors.

BETHANY MANI, LAKEWOOD RESIDENT: Oh, it's definitely been something to adjust to. It's like going back to the old times, having to readjust your life.

ZARRELLA: Late Friday afternoon, the Lakewood suburb of Cleveland was still without power in some spots. But 10 minutes down the road, the Carriage Car Wash was open for business. The power was on, and the water was running, but business was slow.

DAVE MCGLYNN, CAR WASH OWNER: It cost us about 50 percent of our business today, just because people aren't sure whether we have water.

ZARRELLA: Water is the greatest concern in Cleveland. Although it's back on, people are being told to boil it as a precaution against contamination. For Holiday Inn general manager Todd Middleton, that meant buying 40 bags of ice. The restaurant has an icemaker and power, but they can't use it, because it draws from city water.

TODD MIDDLETON, HOTEL GENERAL MANAGER: We have a lot of people here that came in last night, stranded, and we just got to accommodate them the best they -- we can.

ZARRELLA: They're boiling water, too, for everything from instant coffee to iced tea. And while people can't drink from the tap, they could still water their lawns.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA: And another sign that things are getting back to normal here, last night the Green Bay Packers and the Cleveland Browns played an exhibition football game here. The Packers won the game, but people had at least something that they could smile about here in Cleveland.

Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks a lot, John. Every little bit counts.

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 August 16, 2003 - 09:01   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, now let's shed some light on the blackout. With the lights back on in New York, life is sort of getting back to normal there, but due to water woes, it's a very different story in Cleveland, Ohio.
Michael Okwu is covering the story from New York, and CNN's John Zarrella is in Cleveland.

Let's start with Michael, where I know there's a big sigh of relief coming there.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fredricka.

You can see behind me that New York businesses are actually facing a first weekend since the power outage.

This is the official meat packing district in New York. That's -- this is where all of the meat comes in from places like Kansas and Nebraska and Iowa. And just behind me you can see some of these workers putting away some of the food here that's going to be stocked up and taken to a restaurant, where they hope to start conducting business.

We went earlier to an official meat packing place. This was a district that was deeply affected by this power outage. In fact, they usually work very early, from about 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning to 8:00 in the morning on weekdays, but they had to work this weekend. Why? Because they had to close those refrigerators as soon as this power outage was felt, so that they could seal in the temperature, keep it as cold as possible, because they supply most of the city with those meats.

And, in fact, federal authorities had to come in this morning and to make sure that that meat was in place.

Let's go to John Zarrella.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Michael, there's water, water everywhere, and as you can see behind me, it's working. The statue is on here in the Park Central area. And life is beginning to get back to normal. Power came back on yesterday morning.

The real issue here has been the water. "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" goes, "Water, water everywhere, but ne'er a drop to drink." People can drink it here, they just have to boil it first before they drink it as a precaution just in case any contamination got in the lines.

That drinking order, boiling order, is expected to be lifted at noon on Sunday.

Most of the people we talked to said that while it certainly was an annoyance, this entire episode was, for most of them, no more than just an inconvenience.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA (voice-over): Three-year-old Owen Mani kept cool playing outside on his skateboard. His mom, Bethany, and friends hung out on the upstairs porch. It was too hot to be indoors.

BETHANY MANI, LAKEWOOD RESIDENT: Oh, it's definitely been something to adjust to. It's like going back to the old times, having to readjust your life.

ZARRELLA: Late Friday afternoon, the Lakewood suburb of Cleveland was still without power in some spots. But 10 minutes down the road, the Carriage Car Wash was open for business. The power was on, and the water was running, but business was slow.

DAVE MCGLYNN, CAR WASH OWNER: It cost us about 50 percent of our business today, just because people aren't sure whether we have water.

ZARRELLA: Water is the greatest concern in Cleveland. Although it's back on, people are being told to boil it as a precaution against contamination. For Holiday Inn general manager Todd Middleton, that meant buying 40 bags of ice. The restaurant has an icemaker and power, but they can't use it, because it draws from city water.

TODD MIDDLETON, HOTEL GENERAL MANAGER: We have a lot of people here that came in last night, stranded, and we just got to accommodate them the best they -- we can.

ZARRELLA: They're boiling water, too, for everything from instant coffee to iced tea. And while people can't drink from the tap, they could still water their lawns.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA: And another sign that things are getting back to normal here, last night the Green Bay Packers and the Cleveland Browns played an exhibition football game here. The Packers won the game, but people had at least something that they could smile about here in Cleveland.

Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks a lot, John. Every little bit counts.

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