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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview with Martin O'Malley

Aired September 20, 2003 - 09:02   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.


THOMAS ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: We'll bring you back stateside now. You know, power crews from around the eastern U.S. have converged in the storm-ravaged mid-Atlantic states. Two days after Hurricane Isabel stormed ashore, nearly 4 million people remain without power. Emergency officials say that full restoration is just days away.
Well, there was also a human toll to the ferocity of the storm which is now wheezing toward Canada as a mere tropical depression. Isabel is being blamed for at least 25 deaths, from North Carolina to Rhode Island, and even inland to Pennsylvania.

Insurers are hopeful that their costs may hover at less than $1 billion, but other estimates are not clearly as optimistic. Early assessments of destroyed piers, bridges, and roads have some early estimates already running into the billions and climbing.

Well, one of the hardest-hit areas, inch for inch, is North Carolina's Outer Banks. Early estimates there put the losses at more than half a million dollars. Most of that is contained to one speck of land, Hatteras Island, which today reeling from an estimated $313 million in damage.

North Carolina is one of six states to declare states of emergency. Maryland is another state. For many in Maryland, the havoc wreaked by Isabel is as close as their doorstep. Even closer, in their living rooms.

CNN's Kathleen Koch is live in Baltimore in the Fells Point area. She joins us now about the cleanup from there. Kathleen, good morning.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Thomas.

You know, they're calling this storm in Maryland the storm of the century. They've only got about three inches of rain from Isabel, but the storm surge was seven feet above normal, so it wreaked havoc not only here in Baltimore but in any waterfront areas all up and down the inner harbor, the Chesapeake Bay.

We have some dramatic video of boats just tossed about like toys on Kent Island, Maryland, on the eastern shore. And pictures like this you will find at marinas, any -- in any of the waterfront neighborhoods, just devastation.

But with us here now to talk about the situation in Baltimore is the mayor, Mayor Martin O'Malley.

Mayor O'Malley, I know you were here until high tide had even passed Friday morning...

MAYOR MARTIN O'MALLEY, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND: Right.

KOCH: ... when you thought you were safe. What happened next?

O'MALLEY: Well, the experts all thought that our most dangerous time was that high tide. So we had a lot of assets down here, a lot of fire apparatus. We were all watching the water rise up to 1:37 a.m. And even for the next hour, it kind of held firm, just coming halfway up this street.

And then in the hours after that, the tremendous wind, so they say, pushed the surge up the bay, and it made the water levels rise here. Just a lot of devastation.

People at Fells Point have been terrific to each other, helping each other out. And it's great to see the resilient spirit of our city coming alive and neighbors helping each other. But we're all pumping out, digging out, cleaning up.

KOCH: Are you concerned you didn't get good information enough in advance to prepare for this?

O'MALLEY: Hey, let's be honest, we had three days to prepare for this. We prepared for the worst-case scenario. And that's what we got. For a while there, we thought that due to, as you mentioned, the lack of any heavy rainfall, that we would be spared, you know, the impact of this.

But as it turns out, we suffered the sort of surge that the experts said would only come with a category four or five hurricane direct hit. But that's what we had prepared for. So that's why you saw all the fire apparatus. You've seen pictures of our firefighters in the boats. All of those assets were here, because we knew that's where we would be hit.

And not a single loss of life. Our fire department did great, and our people are doing great.

KOCH: What about damage assessment? It's got to be pretty bleak. And I'm sure it's -- how can you tell at this point?

O'MALLEY: Well, we are, at last count, going around trying to pick up 703 fallen trees all throughout the city. We still have 70,000 people without power. And right now, what's going on at Fells Point is, everybody's taking the digital photos of all of the property that was wiped out in their basements.

We still have a number of restaurants that aren't yet open because they have to sanitize and get their power back on in order for the health inspector to give them the green light.

So we'll be assessing damage for the next weeks. KOCH: Thank you, mayor.

O'MALLEY: Thank you.

KOCH: And obviously, this city gets a lot of its income, a lot of tourism dollars because it is a beautiful waterfront city that welcomes tourists. But obviously it learned in the case of Isabel, being a waterfront city can be both a blessing and a curse. Back to you.

ROBERTS: That's absolutely amazing, Kathleen, Baltimore's my home town. I've never seen anything like this before...

KOCH: Amazing pictures.

ROBERTS: ... in my lifetime. The neighborhood to the side of Fells Point, Canton, that's also a waterside community. Did they get hit as hard as Fells Point did?

KOCH: Lots of areas hit hard, Donedalk (ph), Essex, all up and down, all these waterfront areas. Hundreds of people had to be evacuated by boat, not only by rescuers in this area, but even Montgomery County, Maryland, neighboring counties came in to help. So everyone pitched in together.

ROBERTS: Kathleen Koch live for us this morning in Fells Point in Baltimore. Kathleen, thanks 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 - 09:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THOMAS ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: We'll bring you back stateside now. You know, power crews from around the eastern U.S. have converged in the storm-ravaged mid-Atlantic states. Two days after Hurricane Isabel stormed ashore, nearly 4 million people remain without power. Emergency officials say that full restoration is just days away.
Well, there was also a human toll to the ferocity of the storm which is now wheezing toward Canada as a mere tropical depression. Isabel is being blamed for at least 25 deaths, from North Carolina to Rhode Island, and even inland to Pennsylvania.

Insurers are hopeful that their costs may hover at less than $1 billion, but other estimates are not clearly as optimistic. Early assessments of destroyed piers, bridges, and roads have some early estimates already running into the billions and climbing.

Well, one of the hardest-hit areas, inch for inch, is North Carolina's Outer Banks. Early estimates there put the losses at more than half a million dollars. Most of that is contained to one speck of land, Hatteras Island, which today reeling from an estimated $313 million in damage.

North Carolina is one of six states to declare states of emergency. Maryland is another state. For many in Maryland, the havoc wreaked by Isabel is as close as their doorstep. Even closer, in their living rooms.

CNN's Kathleen Koch is live in Baltimore in the Fells Point area. She joins us now about the cleanup from there. Kathleen, good morning.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Thomas.

You know, they're calling this storm in Maryland the storm of the century. They've only got about three inches of rain from Isabel, but the storm surge was seven feet above normal, so it wreaked havoc not only here in Baltimore but in any waterfront areas all up and down the inner harbor, the Chesapeake Bay.

We have some dramatic video of boats just tossed about like toys on Kent Island, Maryland, on the eastern shore. And pictures like this you will find at marinas, any -- in any of the waterfront neighborhoods, just devastation.

But with us here now to talk about the situation in Baltimore is the mayor, Mayor Martin O'Malley.

Mayor O'Malley, I know you were here until high tide had even passed Friday morning...

MAYOR MARTIN O'MALLEY, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND: Right.

KOCH: ... when you thought you were safe. What happened next?

O'MALLEY: Well, the experts all thought that our most dangerous time was that high tide. So we had a lot of assets down here, a lot of fire apparatus. We were all watching the water rise up to 1:37 a.m. And even for the next hour, it kind of held firm, just coming halfway up this street.

And then in the hours after that, the tremendous wind, so they say, pushed the surge up the bay, and it made the water levels rise here. Just a lot of devastation.

People at Fells Point have been terrific to each other, helping each other out. And it's great to see the resilient spirit of our city coming alive and neighbors helping each other. But we're all pumping out, digging out, cleaning up.

KOCH: Are you concerned you didn't get good information enough in advance to prepare for this?

O'MALLEY: Hey, let's be honest, we had three days to prepare for this. We prepared for the worst-case scenario. And that's what we got. For a while there, we thought that due to, as you mentioned, the lack of any heavy rainfall, that we would be spared, you know, the impact of this.

But as it turns out, we suffered the sort of surge that the experts said would only come with a category four or five hurricane direct hit. But that's what we had prepared for. So that's why you saw all the fire apparatus. You've seen pictures of our firefighters in the boats. All of those assets were here, because we knew that's where we would be hit.

And not a single loss of life. Our fire department did great, and our people are doing great.

KOCH: What about damage assessment? It's got to be pretty bleak. And I'm sure it's -- how can you tell at this point?

O'MALLEY: Well, we are, at last count, going around trying to pick up 703 fallen trees all throughout the city. We still have 70,000 people without power. And right now, what's going on at Fells Point is, everybody's taking the digital photos of all of the property that was wiped out in their basements.

We still have a number of restaurants that aren't yet open because they have to sanitize and get their power back on in order for the health inspector to give them the green light.

So we'll be assessing damage for the next weeks. KOCH: Thank you, mayor.

O'MALLEY: Thank you.

KOCH: And obviously, this city gets a lot of its income, a lot of tourism dollars because it is a beautiful waterfront city that welcomes tourists. But obviously it learned in the case of Isabel, being a waterfront city can be both a blessing and a curse. Back to you.

ROBERTS: That's absolutely amazing, Kathleen, Baltimore's my home town. I've never seen anything like this before...

KOCH: Amazing pictures.

ROBERTS: ... in my lifetime. The neighborhood to the side of Fells Point, Canton, that's also a waterside community. Did they get hit as hard as Fells Point did?

KOCH: Lots of areas hit hard, Donedalk (ph), Essex, all up and down, all these waterfront areas. Hundreds of people had to be evacuated by boat, not only by rescuers in this area, but even Montgomery County, Maryland, neighboring counties came in to help. So everyone pitched in together.

ROBERTS: Kathleen Koch live for us this morning in Fells Point in Baltimore. Kathleen, thanks 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