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CNN Saturday Morning News

Deadly Tornadoes Tear Through Tennessee, Georgia Leaving 11 Dead, Widespread Damage; Masters Golf Tournament Braces For Torrential Rains; Storm Weakens At It Approaches East Coast

Aired April 08, 2006 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Severe weather continues to menace much of the Southeast this morning. Folks from Atlanta to northern Alabama are waking up to scenes of debris and destruction. Reynolds Wolf is keeping track of this powerful storm. Where is it, Reynolds, at this hour?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right now, Tony, it is cruising its way through Georgia and parts of Alabama, as well. It is an enormous system. We see one line stretching from Montgomery to the south of Atlanta and we have one from the Birmingham to Demopolis, Alabama.

So, two lines coming through. Certainly not as strong as what we had last night, but it is going to provide quite a bit of lightning, some hail and, of course, some rain. We'll watch it for you. Back to you.

HARRIS: Thank you. Appreciate it.

WOLF: You betcha.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, with the sun rising folks in northern Alabama get their first look at how much devastation the storms did. But even in these overnight pictures you can see damage to buildings and cars. Several tornadoes were reported, but no deaths to report out of Alabama, so far this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's completely gone. We've got nothing left.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Gallatin, Tennessee wakes up to sheer devastation this morning. Just talk a look. It's been a bad week in Tennessee with 35 weather-related deaths and seven days. Our Jonathan Feed is there and we'll have a report on all of that in just five minutes.

HARRIS: No relief in sight for water-logged northern California. Rivers and levees are straining with as much water as they can handle. Now comes a new warning, listen to this: A major storm system predicted to hit early next week could combine with the heavy snow melt that's going on right now to overload California's rivers and levees. And this looks bad, but things are actually getting a little better in Texas today. High humidity and calmer winds are cutting the danger of more wildfires. They scorched about 40,000 acres in the Texas panhandle just this week.

So, good morning, everyone from the CNN Center -- good morning, it's busy, that's for sure.

NGUYEN: Oh, man is it busy.

HARRIS: From the CNN Center here in Atlanta. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. April the 8, 8 a.m. in Augusta, Georgia, where the golfers are watching and waiting to see if the Masters will be hit by some of this severe weather that's headed their way at this hour.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.

NGUYEN: I'm Betty Nguyen.

We have a lot to tell you about this morning. We showed you some of the pictures of the sheer devastation that's been in many areas because of these storms. I want to give you a firsthand look at what many areas are dealing with. We'll going to take you to some local coverage, some affiliate coverage with WKRN. We're going to bring that up now.

HARRIS: Is that Nashville?

NGUYEN: I believe so. That is Nashville, Tennessee. And as you know, Tennessee has been hit very hard by these storms. They were hit last weekend and this weekend, once again. So far, 35 weather-related deaths. There we go, here is affiliate WKRN with the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were high-dollar, in the half-million dollar range, all brick homes that were lifted completely off their foundations, many of them looked like they were just stepped on and crushed. A total loss as far as many of the homes and yet homes can be rebuilt. That's why people buy insurance.

But what folks are struggling with here in the Gallatin area this morning, and will be for quite some time, is the loss of life that cannot be replaced. Again, of the 11 dead in middle Tennessee, eight were found dead not far from where we are coming to you live right now in Gallatin. That is the story on the ground and we'll be back several times throughout the morning to give you updates. Mitch Roberts, News 2.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Thanks, Mitch. Sad news, there. And it will take time for that to sink in. All of the fatalities across middle Tennessee from the storm system.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It really will. As he mentioned, the storms knocked out power to thousands of customers. At last count NES still had 3,000 people without power this morning. So, a number of relief organizations have already mobilized to help ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: All right. You've been listening to the local affiliate coverage there in Nashville, WKRN, anchored by Neil and Heather Orne.

Obviously Tennessee taking the brunt of the system that's rolled through, 11 deaths since yesterday, related to this storm.

HARRIS: Wait a minute. Wait a minute, that's just from the latest round of severe weather. Earlier in the week ...

NGUYEN: Yes, you combine that with last weekend.

HARRIS: And earlier this week, Dyer County,

NGUYEN: That's true.

HARRIS: And it's just been devastating for folks.

NGUYEN: Thirty-five related storm deaths.

HARRIS: OK. We're also watching the system as it moves to the East. The Masters Golf Tournament is in the path of the storms moving across the South and the weather is already causing delays for spectators. Larry Smith of CNN Sports joins us live from Augusta National in Augusta, Georgia with the latest.

Larry, good morning to you.

LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony. Yes, the fans right now, many fans, you may see a few of them behind me here and there but for the most part thousands of spectators expected today are being kept off the course only for about an hour.

I just spoke with the Masters officials, who said they do plant to begin to play, here, on time at 10:40 a.m. Eastern time. And that is when Jim Furyk will be the first of the golfers to tee-off today, as third round play does get underway here.

We do want to make sure we let everyone know that there are severe thunderstorms here. We just saw a large rain burst for about 10 minutes in the past 30 minutes. Light rain right now. But no immediate threat of any kind of the thunderstorms and the -- I should say, the tornadoes -- that we've seen wreak havoc in parts of Tennessee. That we've been watching all morning long.

The threat is not over. Once weather does clear, here in about 20 minutes and they do begin to let fans on the course. There's another band of storms, it's on its way. It's expected to hit here between 1:00 and 4:00. Right when you could have tens of thousands of spectators on the course, as well as the golfers competing for this first major of the golf season. So, we will watch that as it continues.

By the way, we should mention on the leader board, Chad Campbell is the leader at 6 under par as he tries for his first-ever major victory. Everyone always wants to know where Tiger Woods is, the defending champion, four time Masters titles. He is at one under par, five shots off the pace. Let's go back to you.

HARRIS: OK, Larry, it's going to be a dicey day there in Augusta. We'll continue to watch it, as you will there in Augusta. Larry, thank you.

NGUYEN: As you know, CNN Is your severe weather headquarters. Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is tracking the storm. He's been doing it for several hours now. Boy, has he been busy.

(WEATHER FORECAST)

What's the latest on this system? It has been a deadly one.

WOLF: It really has been. This as I mentioned, all morning, it is its dying stages, which is certainly wonderful news to hear. And you were talking about Augusta where Larry was, you could see the rain drops coming down. Certainly the roadways are wet.

Here is the line we were talking about moving through the Augusta area. August is right about here. Some intense storms, not severe, but still stronger thunderstorms and Larry mentioned that's the first installment of showers and you'll see the second round coming back during the mid-to-late afternoon hours. There it is, by Toccoa, just north of Athens.

That's the second line. It will crawl its way right toward the coastline eventually moving through Augusta. They'll have a few delays and it will be wet on the fairways to say the least. Spectators will be wearing the big green ponchos, appropriately enough, the green.

I'll tell you, once these two move through by the time we get through to tomorrow's forecast it will be much better. But today, there is not question, they're going to be dodging raindrops there.

This is part of an enormous system that stretched from the Gulf Coast clear up into the Northeast. We did have the rough weather. Storm damage across the Southeast into portions of the Midwest including places like Indiana, and Bloomington, Indiana had rough stuff. Extreme southern Illinois near Carbondale. They had some tree damage there. We've had reports of this -- even grapefruit-sized hail coupled with those tornadoes in central Tennessee. It has been a remarkable event. And we're still watching it, but thankfully it is beginning to die down considerably. Let's send it back to you in the studio.

HARRIS: OK, Reynolds when we visit with you again, give us a sense of where this storm is moving to. We're focusing on Georgia, but there are a lot of folks wrapping up spring break, Myrtle Beach, up in North Carolina. And maybe you can give us a sense if there will be severe weather in those areas as well.

WOLF: Let's hope some of the sunscreen there is water repellent. NGUYEN: Let me ask you this, though, I'm seeing red on the radar still. Is this a rain event or will we see more tornadoes & pop up, and watches and things like that.

WOLF: You nailed it. It is going to be primarily a rain event. Most of the tornadic activity we had yesterday, we you had a lot of components that came together. You had the daytime heat, the upper level low, the strong front coming through, you had a lot of moisture in place, and something else we call the low level jet stream. Today, you have some of those components, mainly that front, and of course the moisture at the surface, but that's about it. In terms of tornadoes, I don't think we'll see much of that.

NGUYEN: Reynolds, we'll stay on top of it. Thank you. Talk to you shortly.

Lives and homes just ripped apart. Violent weather tears across the South for the second time in less than a week, Tennessee was in the eye of the storm . One of the hardest hit areas, Gallatin, Tennessee, northeast of Nashville. CNN's Jonathan Freed is there.

Jonathan, you've been telling us these stories, just really remarkable stories of how people rode out this storm.

FREED: Absolutely. Good morning, again.

I can tell you since the last time we chatted I had a chance to talk to a sheriff's deputy in Sumner County and they're trying to estimate the actual length of the path of this storm. And from everybody here that we're talking to, they say there is no doubt in their minds that it was a tornado. They say for them that's clearly what it was.

We're about 25 miles. Let me situate you now, we're about 25 miles north of downtown Nashville, which is over that way and the storm came from the southwest, which is over there, and moved over way to the northeast. And we're told that it touched down approximately or so in that direction and went for another two miles from where we are here.

We are told that three of the eight people that were killed, in this county, were killed in a subdivision which is just beyond where we can see over that way, three people in a home. Two of them apparently killed when the walls just collapsed in around them according to the sheriff's deputy that we were speaking to.

When you look around at the wreckage that you see here it really is astounding. These were all new cars, but this place looks like a junkyard now. And when you look at some of the detail that we can see, anything that could have been picked up and tossed by this storm was. Because the cars are just -- they're punctured. There are large polls that were just jammed into the side of cars. We've seen large tree limbs just sticking out of the metal on the sides of car doors.

And the people that went through this yesterday afternoon. They say it struck here around 3:00 p.m., between 2:30 and 3:00. We're hearing stories of people just grabbing onto anything that they could. One man told us he ran into the service area here in the car dealership, grabbed hold of a really heavy tool box. And he said he was just holding on and he felt the hat blow of his head, and the storm past and he looked up and the roof was gone and he could see the sky -- Betty.

NGUYEN: No doubt. Looking at the video that we've been putting up on the air, the devastation in the neighborhoods there. Look at this. These were homes that once stood there until the storms rolled through.

Jonathan, there's so much they want to ask you, lots of questions for you, but I know you'll be back at the top of the hour. We'll ask the viewers to stay tuned for that because we have a lot to tell you this morning in regards to these storms.

HARRIS: If you are just joining us this morning, what a night, 24, 48 hours it's been. We're keeping a close watch on a line of severe storms that is moving toward Augusta, Georgia right now. These are pictures out of the Atlanta area. Reynolds Wolf will be along with the forecast.

NGUYEN: We'll take you live to Charlotte, Tennessee where folks there are waking up this morning to a scene of devastation.

HARRIS: But first, take a look at this photo essay from our Nashville affiliate WKRN. Stay with CNN, your severe weather headquarters. We'll be right back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the strongest tornadoes I've experienced.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard a boom and I had blocks, bricks and everything piled on top of me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He saw vehicles off the ground in the air swirling around as if they were shingles like debris.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please be taking cover immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Oh, live pictures. Chopper pictures from WGCL here in Atlanta, our CNN affiliate. Not sure -- boy, I used to work over there. But I don't remember the chopper pilot's name or I'd tell you right now. But I know Helen Neil has been leading their coverage throughout the morning.

You want to listen in, and see what we -- do you want to listen in or do you want to go right to Reynolds? All right. Let's listen in. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here we go, this is the Big K, the Kmart that Renee Starzyk is in front of. And there is an overview of that semi on its side there. That tipped over, now it's been about four plus hours. And they're getting ready to tow it out of the area. There is pretty severe damage, though. I think it's by that Long John Silvers that we've been talking about, and there is debris all over that road. I think that's right by that used car place, Tony McNary was telling us about.

But that is just a mess. That building on the right side of your screen looks like it's demolished by that storm. I tell you, you know, they have experts going out there to check out whether this qualifies officially as a tornado, but people in that area no question in their minds. They're just waiting to see how severe that category that storm was.

This damage is just amazing. This is all near the Big Chicken. Very heavily traveled, normally, area of Marietta, but pretty quiet this morning. Some power outages. Let's check back in with Renee Starzyk, she is live on the ground there. We're seeing just a billboard just shredded ...

HARRIS: Look at this. That's Helen Neil, leading the coverage for CNN affiliate for WGCL in Atlanta. And the Big Chicken that she's referring to.

NGUYEN: Yes, explain that for us.

HARRIS: It's a Kentucky Fried Chicken. It's a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant.

NGUYEN: It's a landmark, isn't it?

HARRIS: Yes, but it's old! It's old, it's ancient, it's old.

This is Marietta, Georgia in Cobb County. If you're familiar with the Atlanta area, it is north of Atlanta off of Interstate 75. And this is a huge area. This is not very far from the Harris family compound, Betty.

NGUYEN: Oh, how is the Harris family compound?

HARRIS: It's good. It's good. Let's check in with Reynolds Wolf in the CNN weather center and get the latest on this storm, where it's been and where it's headed.

NGUYEN: Yes, Wolf, what they're saying though, as we're listening to that, they're saying there is no doubt there was a tornado. Did you see tornadic activity over there?

WOLF: There was definitely rotation with the storms. That storm system we're watching is finally beginning to get its way out of U.S. In fact, as we take a look at radar in just a few moments you will see the intense line of storms that's moving into part of extreme south Georgia, now moving closer to the coast thankfully. But again, you asked if there was rotation, there were some tornadoes. Absolutely. No question about it, but they've begun to lose a great deal of its punch. It's losing its energy, as it drifts closer to the coast.

Here's Augusta, we have Aiken, South Carolina. Here is the one line of storms, this is was the troublemaker earlier in the day that did spawn those possible tornadoes. Without question some straight line winds.

The second installment that will move through Gainesville and Atlanta, so we'll see more in Marietta and the Big Chicken and it will be mostly rain to come on through. It will be scary again, the skies will darken, but it's just going to be rain and wind gust that may top 20 miles per hour.

Still, with those wind gusts that top 20, when you have trees that are already damaged it could take a nudge to knock some of them over so people still need to be very, very careful in these places that are strewn with all those broken trees. Back to you.

HARRIS: Oh, man. Thanks for the look at South Carolina.

WOLF: Absolutely.

HARRIS: Appreciate it. Thank you.

CNN is your severe weather headquarters. Stay with us all day. We will keep you up to the minute with the latest developments in this fast-moving deadly storm. CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues in a moment. We'll be right back

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: It might be an understatement to say it's been tough for Tennessee lately. This is the second time in less than a week the state was pummeled by tornadoes and storms. CNN's Amanda Rosseter joins us from Charlotte, Tennessee, about 50 miles north of Nashville.

As you know, Amanda, Tennessee took the brunt of this storm; 11 people were killed because of it.

AMANDA ROSSETER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's true, Betty. Tennessee really got the one-two punch in this situation and you're seeing damage from across the southeast, but the people in Tennessee had just five days to recover from last Sunday's storms, that killed 24 people here. And then again, yesterday in those tornadoes, 11 more people died.

Ten Tennessee counties reporting tornadoes on the ground and the worst was just north of Nashville.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSSETER (voice over): This aerial video north of Nashville says it all, houses obliterated by the power of the storm. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A tornado.

ROSSETER: Two construction workers were inside this new home when it collapsed. One of them got out. The other had to be rescued.

Near Nashville, two mobile homes one has blown into the other. Both have turned into a pile of rubble.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Told her I was going to wait it out to make sure and see if everything was going to be OK. And five minutes later she called back and said everything was gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The wind started to pick up.

ROSSETER: This couple moved to Middle, Tennessee, after Hurricane Katrina.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's more frightening than any hurricane I've lived through, because I run from hurricanes and had no place to run.

ROSSETER: A man used a cell phone's camera to record a tornado in the Nashville suburb of Gallatin, and it was there, at this Nissan dealership, that 250 cars on the lot were totaled. The roof of the building was torn off and windows were blown out. Twisters weren't the only weather threats. Baseball-sized hail was reported in several states including Indiana.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unbelievable. Usually, you'll see hail storms, you'll dings, but it actually hit so hard it knocked the paint off of it right here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSSETER: Betty, the neighbors are just starting to return this morning. The sun is coming up and people are coming back to the neighborhood to see what's left. Let me show you behind me here, and let you take a look at the kind of structural damage we're seeing here this morning as the light is coming up.

This was a garage that belonged to the gentleman who lives across the street. It housed his motor boat and two tractors. The tractor is now on the other side of the garage and the garage is completely of its foundation and the roof has blown off and completely unusable. And he has no idea what is usable inside, as of yet, because he can't get into it because it's unsafe -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Quickly, and very quickly. What's that boat -- was that boat in the garage, or did it come from some place else?

ROSSETER: The boat was in the garage. He's pretty amazed it's still in one piece, but they don't really know if it's usable yet. The tractors are on the other side of it and of course, as the wind begins to blow the roof is coming off.

NGUYEN: A lot of damage to talk about today. Susan (sic) Rosseter, thank you so much for that.

HARRIS: CNN is your severe weather headquarters, keep it here for the latest news about the deadly and fast-moving storm. As soon as we have additional information or video we will bring it to you.

NGUYEN: Up next, "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, this morning he takes a closer look at medical alternatives like acupuncture and massage. Find out if they're effective for treating pain.

HARRIS: First, take a photo essay from our Nashville affiliate WKRN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are painting a picture up here of one of the strongest tornadoes I've experienced.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard a boom and I had blocks, brick and everything pile on top of me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He saw vehicles off the ground, in the air, swirling around as if they were shingles, like debris.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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