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CNN Saturday Morning News
Snow Blankets Boston
Aired December 06, 2003 - 07:23 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, they call it a nor'easter, and some people will tell you, it's nor'fun.
Did you write that?
Anyway, it is snowing already, we know that much, in Boston. We have a Adoara Udoji standing by to tell us all about it.
And boy, it's really coming down. I can see it already.
ADOARA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Heidi. Good morning from snowy New England.
As you can see, the snow is coming down at a fast clip. What you're basically looking at is the beginnings of a monstrous storm. They're expecting up to two feet of snow here in the New England area, already about six inches have fallen.
Now, of course, there are lots of parents this morning who are going to be wake up and jumping for joy, because the storm's hitting on a weekend, there's no school, there's no work. Even all of the community colleges have closed school today.
Now, of course, retailers along this street -- we're standing here on Newberry Street, which is in the heart of Boston, it is one of the busiest, if not the busiest, shopping streets in all of the city. And, of course, retailers are hoping to increase the gains that they made over the Thanksgiving weekend, and that was better than 5 percent sales, compared to last year.
But this storm is probably going to -- likely to keep a lot of people at home. So probably not going to be a good shopping day for retailers.
Now, for the Boston -- or, excuse me, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, they're worried about a couple of things. First of all, this snow, which began last night, is supposed to continue all day today and into tomorrow. And they're also expecting winds up to 45 miles per hour. And that could trigger three-foot -- three feet, three-foot waves crashing into the Boston harbor. And farther out to shore, perhaps, waves as high as 25 feet. And that could all lead to coastal flooding. So they are keeping a very close watch on that.
And if things disintegrate here bad enough, they will certainly recommend to the governor to call for a state of emergency. And then they could call on the cavalry, like the Coast Guard and American Red Cross, as well as others, to help if necessary.
Now, at this point, the roads are OK, so they're not at that point. The airports are technically still open, although already this morning at 7:20 a.m. Eastern time, they have already canceled 158 flights.
So around here, this part of the country there certainly, it is a wait and see situation, Heidi.
COLLINS: Wow, 158 flights canceled already. All right. Adoara Udoji, thanks so 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 December 6, 2003 - 07:23 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, they call it a nor'easter, and some people will tell you, it's nor'fun.
Did you write that?
Anyway, it is snowing already, we know that much, in Boston. We have a Adoara Udoji standing by to tell us all about it.
And boy, it's really coming down. I can see it already.
ADOARA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Heidi. Good morning from snowy New England.
As you can see, the snow is coming down at a fast clip. What you're basically looking at is the beginnings of a monstrous storm. They're expecting up to two feet of snow here in the New England area, already about six inches have fallen.
Now, of course, there are lots of parents this morning who are going to be wake up and jumping for joy, because the storm's hitting on a weekend, there's no school, there's no work. Even all of the community colleges have closed school today.
Now, of course, retailers along this street -- we're standing here on Newberry Street, which is in the heart of Boston, it is one of the busiest, if not the busiest, shopping streets in all of the city. And, of course, retailers are hoping to increase the gains that they made over the Thanksgiving weekend, and that was better than 5 percent sales, compared to last year.
But this storm is probably going to -- likely to keep a lot of people at home. So probably not going to be a good shopping day for retailers.
Now, for the Boston -- or, excuse me, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, they're worried about a couple of things. First of all, this snow, which began last night, is supposed to continue all day today and into tomorrow. And they're also expecting winds up to 45 miles per hour. And that could trigger three-foot -- three feet, three-foot waves crashing into the Boston harbor. And farther out to shore, perhaps, waves as high as 25 feet. And that could all lead to coastal flooding. So they are keeping a very close watch on that.
And if things disintegrate here bad enough, they will certainly recommend to the governor to call for a state of emergency. And then they could call on the cavalry, like the Coast Guard and American Red Cross, as well as others, to help if necessary.
Now, at this point, the roads are OK, so they're not at that point. The airports are technically still open, although already this morning at 7:20 a.m. Eastern time, they have already canceled 158 flights.
So around here, this part of the country there certainly, it is a wait and see situation, Heidi.
COLLINS: Wow, 158 flights canceled already. All right. Adoara Udoji, thanks so 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
