Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Saturday Morning News
After Isabel: Surveying the Damage
Aired September 20, 2003 - 07:02 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: We have CNN correspondents posted along Isabel's many points of impact this morning. CNN's Kathleen Koch is in Baltimore, while her colleague Kris Osborne is standing by with the latest in Poquoson, Virginia.
We are going to begin this morning, though, with Kathleen. Good morning to you.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
We are here in Sellis (ph) Point, Maryland. This is the oldest neighborhood in Baltimore. And it was about 2:00 a.m. on Friday morning when the water from the inner harbor came surging up here and into this community. And this was something that came totally unexpected, caught everyone by surprise.
And within a matter of hours, the entire area along the waterfront and in communities to the east of here, Dundalk (ph) and Essex, were under as much as seven to eight feet of water. Hundreds and hundreds of people had to be rescued.
Now, with us here is one of the business owners who has a business right here on the waterfront, David Key. He owns a coffee shop called the Daily Grind.
David, how bad was it? And how much did this catch you unawares?
DAVID KEY, BUSINESS OWNER: I was very surprised. I've seen many storms, many hurricanes, and I've never seen the water come as high as it did. It came right to our doorstep.
I do have flood insurance. I know my elevation is eight feet, and it -- that's exactly what it was, came right to the doorstep. A lot of people were really devastated. It was very scary, and really did catch us all by surprise.
KOCH: So again, with the timing right as I described it, was it really that way?
KEY: Well, they said high tide was 2:00, and a lot of folks went to bed at 2:30, 3:00, thinking they'd seen the worst of it. But actually the worst of it was about 4:30 or 5:00, and that's when the flooding really became bad.
KOCH: What's everyone doing this morning? I understand you're out of power, you obviously can't open your business.
KEY: We have 100 gallons of curdled milk we have to toss out and a lot of cleaning. We sealed the store. There are sandbags. We brought everything up from the floor as much as we could. And until the electricity -- just do everything we can until the electricity comes back.
KOCH: David Key, thank you very much.
KAY: Thank you.
KOCH: And interesting, the impact that this is had throughout the region, because the only major dry ice manufacturer is in Baltimore, lost power yesterday, and so that's having a huge impact on, as you said earlier, the more than half-million people in the state of Maryland who are currently without power.
Again, the good news is that President Bush yesterday declared Maryland a federal disaster area. It means folks can get grants for temporary housing, for home repairs, and the low-cost loans to make any repairs for uninsured losses that they weren't covered for.
COLLINS: Like all of that spoiled food, huh? Right. Kathleen Koch, appreciate it very much.
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 20, 2003 - 07:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We have CNN correspondents posted along Isabel's many points of impact this morning. CNN's Kathleen Koch is in Baltimore, while her colleague Kris Osborne is standing by with the latest in Poquoson, Virginia.
We are going to begin this morning, though, with Kathleen. Good morning to you.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
We are here in Sellis (ph) Point, Maryland. This is the oldest neighborhood in Baltimore. And it was about 2:00 a.m. on Friday morning when the water from the inner harbor came surging up here and into this community. And this was something that came totally unexpected, caught everyone by surprise.
And within a matter of hours, the entire area along the waterfront and in communities to the east of here, Dundalk (ph) and Essex, were under as much as seven to eight feet of water. Hundreds and hundreds of people had to be rescued.
Now, with us here is one of the business owners who has a business right here on the waterfront, David Key. He owns a coffee shop called the Daily Grind.
David, how bad was it? And how much did this catch you unawares?
DAVID KEY, BUSINESS OWNER: I was very surprised. I've seen many storms, many hurricanes, and I've never seen the water come as high as it did. It came right to our doorstep.
I do have flood insurance. I know my elevation is eight feet, and it -- that's exactly what it was, came right to the doorstep. A lot of people were really devastated. It was very scary, and really did catch us all by surprise.
KOCH: So again, with the timing right as I described it, was it really that way?
KEY: Well, they said high tide was 2:00, and a lot of folks went to bed at 2:30, 3:00, thinking they'd seen the worst of it. But actually the worst of it was about 4:30 or 5:00, and that's when the flooding really became bad.
KOCH: What's everyone doing this morning? I understand you're out of power, you obviously can't open your business.
KEY: We have 100 gallons of curdled milk we have to toss out and a lot of cleaning. We sealed the store. There are sandbags. We brought everything up from the floor as much as we could. And until the electricity -- just do everything we can until the electricity comes back.
KOCH: David Key, thank you very much.
KAY: Thank you.
KOCH: And interesting, the impact that this is had throughout the region, because the only major dry ice manufacturer is in Baltimore, lost power yesterday, and so that's having a huge impact on, as you said earlier, the more than half-million people in the state of Maryland who are currently without power.
Again, the good news is that President Bush yesterday declared Maryland a federal disaster area. It means folks can get grants for temporary housing, for home repairs, and the low-cost loans to make any repairs for uninsured losses that they weren't covered for.
COLLINS: Like all of that spoiled food, huh? Right. Kathleen Koch, appreciate it very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
