[PHX-Skywarn] [Fwd: NIGHTLINE: Killer Storms]

Mon, 5 May 2003 13:40:38 -0700 (MST)

Hello All
Due to the nature of the TV program, Night Line, I thought you might like to
see this... In Phoenix its on at 10:30pm on channel 15...
Allen Sklar

 -------- Original Message --------
Subject: NIGHTLINE:  Killer Storms
From: Nightline <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, May 5, 2003 10:13
To: "Nightline Mailing List" <[email protected]>

TONIGHT'S SUBJECT: Tornadoes have ripped through the Midwest and the South.  The
death toll is rising, and some towns have been almost totally destroyed.  We'll
have reports from the worst-hit areas, and look at the drive for better ways to
predict when and where these storms will hit.

----

I landed at the Cedar Rapids, Iowa airport once, and the pilot said we would have
to walk down the stairs of the plane, because the power was out at the airport.
When we got in the terminal, it was pandemonium.  All the lights were out, and
people were running for the exits.  It turned out that there was a tornado warning
for the airport itself.  I met up with my camera crew, who asked what I wanted to
do, take shelter, or head out.  Now I grew up in Southern California.  Earthquakes,
I know what to do.  Tornadoes?  I had no idea.  We headed out and ran into a huge
hailstorm, just like in the movie.  We ended up taking refuge under the awning at a
nearby hotel.  It was pretty scary, and the tornado never materialized.

So looking at the footage from yesterday and last night of the storms that did hit,
and the massive damage that they caused, I can't imagine what that must have been
like for the people in those areas.  Houses,
buildings, whole towns, are nothing more than piles of wood and debris now.  The
death toll is high and climbing as rescue workers move into the areas.  Now it's
easy to say that tornadoes are just part of life in that part of the country, just
like hurricanes in the Southeast, but that doesn't lessen the human and property
toll.  Scientists continue to work towards better, and faster, ways to predict and
track the storms in the hope that earlier warnings will lessen the human cost.

Chris Bury will be anchoring, and we'll have several reports from ABC
correspondents in towns that were hit hard.  Nightline correspondent Dave Marash
will report on the latest efforts to track the storms.  There is something about
raw nature--volcanoes, hurricanes, and tornadoes--that fascinates us.  It's hard to
watch pictures of these things and not be awed.  I hope you'll join us.

Monday, May 5, 2003

Leroy Sievers and the Nightline Staff
Nightline Offices
Washington, D.C.

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