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CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview with Mike Pawlowski
Aired September 20, 2003 - 07:05 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: Well, Isabel's greatest ferocity may have been unleashed on North Carolina's Outer Banks. Early estimates there put the losses at more than half a billion dollars. Most of that is contained to one speck of land, Hatteras Island, which today is reeling from an estimated $313 million in damages. You see the area we're talking about there.
For the latest now, we turn to Mike Pawlowski, FEMA's director of emergency and support team, Emergency Management Agency. We have him live on the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) this morning.
Mike, hello to you. Thanks for being with us.
MIKE PAWLOWSKI, FEMA (on phone): Thank you. Good morning.
COLLINS: Can you...
PAWLOWSKI: Right now, in Cape Hatteras, we know that there are approximately 2,000 people stranded, and on Ocracoke Island, approximately 300 people stranded. However, the state is providing food and water. There is difficulty at this point in time because there is no land access to that particular area.
COLLINS: So that's what you mean by stranded. A lot of people might not know the geography too well. Ocracoke is a teeny, tiny little island that to get to, at least when I have gone, you have to take a ferry. Explain a little bit more about what this means, the people being stranded there.
PAWLOWSKI: Well, they have no direct access to food and water. They're dependent upon other personnel and resources to get food and water to them. The state is aware of what the requirements are for support and is working very hard at this point in time to provide them life support.
COLLINS: Mike, we're looking at some pictures now, just in case people have not seen the area that we're talking about of Hatteras Island. We've already mentioned $313 million in damages. Can you give us an overall sense of what the damage is that people are trying to deal with at this very moment?
PAWLOWSKI: Well, at this point in time, based upon -- we have some assessments from approximately seven states. I can give you -- identify the fact that we have power outages still in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Delaware.
Now, in the particular area that you're concentrating on currently, there in Cape Hatteras and Ocracoke, we did take satellite imagery before the hurricane hit land, and we're also doing satellite imagery post-hurricane. And that, together with the data that state assessment teams and federal assessment teams gather collectively, we will analyze and come up with what the total assessment is.
And one of the things that we're not sure of at this point in time is delayed effect of flooding from this hurricane.
So it's too early to really assess the full impact of this particular storm on the East Coast and in the North Carolina area specifically.
COLLINS: All right, Mike, we appreciate your time this morning. Once again, Mike Pawlowski with FEMA this morning. Appreciate it.
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 - 07:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Isabel's greatest ferocity may have been unleashed on North Carolina's Outer Banks. Early estimates there put the losses at more than half a billion dollars. Most of that is contained to one speck of land, Hatteras Island, which today is reeling from an estimated $313 million in damages. You see the area we're talking about there.
For the latest now, we turn to Mike Pawlowski, FEMA's director of emergency and support team, Emergency Management Agency. We have him live on the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) this morning.
Mike, hello to you. Thanks for being with us.
MIKE PAWLOWSKI, FEMA (on phone): Thank you. Good morning.
COLLINS: Can you...
PAWLOWSKI: Right now, in Cape Hatteras, we know that there are approximately 2,000 people stranded, and on Ocracoke Island, approximately 300 people stranded. However, the state is providing food and water. There is difficulty at this point in time because there is no land access to that particular area.
COLLINS: So that's what you mean by stranded. A lot of people might not know the geography too well. Ocracoke is a teeny, tiny little island that to get to, at least when I have gone, you have to take a ferry. Explain a little bit more about what this means, the people being stranded there.
PAWLOWSKI: Well, they have no direct access to food and water. They're dependent upon other personnel and resources to get food and water to them. The state is aware of what the requirements are for support and is working very hard at this point in time to provide them life support.
COLLINS: Mike, we're looking at some pictures now, just in case people have not seen the area that we're talking about of Hatteras Island. We've already mentioned $313 million in damages. Can you give us an overall sense of what the damage is that people are trying to deal with at this very moment?
PAWLOWSKI: Well, at this point in time, based upon -- we have some assessments from approximately seven states. I can give you -- identify the fact that we have power outages still in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Delaware.
Now, in the particular area that you're concentrating on currently, there in Cape Hatteras and Ocracoke, we did take satellite imagery before the hurricane hit land, and we're also doing satellite imagery post-hurricane. And that, together with the data that state assessment teams and federal assessment teams gather collectively, we will analyze and come up with what the total assessment is.
And one of the things that we're not sure of at this point in time is delayed effect of flooding from this hurricane.
So it's too early to really assess the full impact of this particular storm on the East Coast and in the North Carolina area specifically.
COLLINS: All right, Mike, we appreciate your time this morning. Once again, Mike Pawlowski with FEMA this morning. Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
