Cleaning Up in Springfield After Tornadoes
ANNOUNCER: You're watching AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.</s>SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A view outside our window this morning. Welcome back, everybody.</s>MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good to have you with us. It's about two weeks ago tomorrow, Ash Wednesday. We were in Pass Christian.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Right.</s>M. O'BRIEN: In the tent city there. And it was actually kind of a drama unfolded, because we were told while we were there that in two weeks -- that would be tomorrow -- FEMA was going to pull up the stakes and it was very uncertain what would happen to 40 people, hurricane evacuees who were there. Would they be living in their vehicles, as some were worried about? Lots of calls, lots of discussion since then. And we have a new chapter to tell you, which we'll bring you in a just little bit.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Oh, good, I hope it's a good news chapter to share with us this morning. Also ahead, on a much lighter note, we're going to introduce to you a guy who thought he had a pretty clever idea. He said wouldn't I be faster riding in the HOV lane? Unfortunately, I don't have anyone else to ride with. So this is who he brought with him. That's Tilly, the dummy. Well, all was well and good for quite a long time, would you believe, until he got nabbed by the cops. We'll tell you what happened after they pulled him over and they weren't buying it.</s>M. O'BRIEN: Well, apparently the dummy was driving that day.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the clean-up that goes on this morning in the capital city of Illinois. Two days after tornadoes ripped through Springfield, schools and many businesses are still closed. Heartbreak, though, and loss remain. CNN's Keith Oppenheim is live for us in Jerome, Illinois, which is just outside of Springfield. Keith, good morning.</s>KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. That's right, the neighborhood behind me is just on the border of city of Springfield. There's a lot of wind damage to the business district right here. And this morning, some residents are coping with the tough reality of having to rebuild.</s>OPPENHEIM (voice over): When Pat Kuster came back to her house this morning, the emotions poured out. The tornado left her home completely exposed. Just about everything she and her husband Dana had inside was damaged.</s>PAT KUSTER, HOMEOWNER: Last night in the dark it was one thing. But when you come in this morning and actually see it with the light and how little is left, just -- I just can't -- I just can't tell you what my heart feels like. I just can't.</s>OPPENHEIM: It was a traumatic night. The house has no basement. So Pat, Dana and their 8-year-old grandson took refuge in the bathroom. As they huddled, the entire roof blew away.</s>DANA KUSTER, HOMEOWNER: My grandson, he was -- he was scared to death. He says, "Hold me, hold me, hold me." And we were squeezing him as hard as we could just to calm him down because -- and the insulation was just flying everywhere. It just -- it's just like a snowstorm in here the way the insulation was flying around. It's just unbelievable.</s>OPPENHEIM: The Kusters suffered some of the worst damage in their neighborhood, but they weren't alone. The National Weather Service reported the Springfield twister was the biggest storm to pass through central Illinois in a decade, and part of a storm that spawned dozens of tornadoes in Illinois, Indiana and Missouri. At one point, 65,000 customers were without power. But as residents cleaned up and utility crews scrambled to turn the lights back on, Pat and Dana Kuster were assessing their own damage. (on camera): Are you hurt at all today?</s>P. KUSTER: I don't think so. Just inside. Just trying to figure out what Plan B is now.</s>OPPENHEIM: A few minutes ago, I was speaking with a lieutenant from the Sagamond (ph) County Sheriff's Department. Their staff is very involved in patrolling the streets right now. And he said he estimates it will take at least three months for the city of Springfield and the outlying areas to clean up the infrastructure from this tornado and these storms, and that means getting the power back on and getting businesses reopened -- Soledad.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Gosh, yeah, it looks like that would be an accurate estimate. All right, Keith Oppenheim for us this morning. Keith, thank you very much.</s>M. O'BRIEN: Back now to Pass Christian and our efforts to keep the government honest as it makes promises to Hurricane Katrina victims. You may recall I was there two weeks ago tomorrow, Ash Wednesday it was. We at a tent city they call the "Village." It housed about 40 hurricane evacuees at the time. We were told FEMA was pulling up stakes in two weeks. That would be tomorrow. The fate of those evacuees at the time uncertain. Well, a lot has happened since we signed off that day. Joining us now from the "Village" is Margaret Jean Kalif, the volunteer who runs the show there. Margaret, good to see you again. Tell us what happened after we signed off the air there. You got a call from FEMA pretty quickly, didn't you?</s>MARGARET JEAN KALIF, "VILLAGE" HOUSING DIRECTOR: Good morning, Miles. How are you?</s>M. O'BRIEN: Good. Thanks.</s>KALIF: Yes. That afternoon, FEMA came. There were several FEMA representatives that came down to the "Village" and helped facilitate the transition of the residents in the "Village" into trailers, into apartments. There was one family that was temporarily had to go with family and friends, but they have since been put into a trailer.</s>M. O'BRIEN: So everybody that we met there that day, one way or another, is in a more permanent situation. And, of course, that's still a temporary situation, but better than a tent?</s>KALIF: Correct. Well, you know, I have to tell you, Miles, there were a few residents who were hesitant to leave our little "Village" because we did try to make them comfortable. But they left and FEMA was very helpful in expediting that process.</s>M. O'BRIEN: Well, that's a testament to your hospitality, of course, Margaret Jean. You made them feel at home there in a very difficult situation. Do you think it was a coincidence they showed up just a few hours after we got off the air and got all of these people settled?</s>KALIF: Well, you know, Miles, I have found that so oftentimes, it's just a communication problem between the upper echelon and the people on the ground. The local FEMA officials have been really helpful, and have really tried to reach out and help all of the residents down here. But, you know, Miles, we need permanent housing. We're right around the corner from hurricane season, and I fear for the safety of a lot of the residents who live in the FEMA trailers. And in addition to that, we still have a lot of people that don't have the FEMA trailers. We have some situations where the trailers are in place, but have not been hooked up yet.</s>M. O'BRIEN: So where are those people staying in the meantime, if the tent city is going to close down? What do they do?</s>KALIF: Well, the villagers, the people who lived in the "Village," have been transitioned out. They are in trailers. But we do have still a lot of residents who don't have a place to live. We need permanent housing down here, Miles. We need skilled laborers to help us rebuild. You know, our life's blood has been the volunteers that have come from all over the United States and Canada to help us. But we need skilled electricians and carpenters, people who know how to hang drywall. That's our real need now.</s>M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about that tent right behind you, behind your left shoulder. That's the food tent there, and that's been an important part of this whole operation. When that disappears, a lot of people who have been relying on that, above and beyond villagers are going to have to go elsewhere, and there's not a lot of services available in that part of the world right now. I know that there is the Katrina Kitchen, which is volunteers are staffing. Will that be able to sort of absorb that need?</s>KALIF: We hope so, Miles. We hope that -- Katrina Kitchen is a faith-based volunteer group who have come down to try to help feed the residents down here. Yes, tomorrow morning, at breakfast, will be the last meal served here in the tent. We're hoping that God's Katrina Kitchen will relocate and move closer to the central area of Pass Christian to help people access that -- those meals, because we have no grocery stores down here, Miles....</s>M. O'BRIEN: I know.</s>KALIF: ... that are easily accessible.</s>M. O'BRIEN: Final quick thought here. When I talked to you, you said you were afraid that you were being abandoned. Do you still feel that way?</s>KALIF: Well, thanks to you, Miles, no. We are receiving help. We still need a lot of help. As I said earlier, we need skilled laborers to come down and help us. I hope you have telephone numbers there, Miles, that you can flash on the screen.</s>M. O'BRIEN: We're putting them on right now. We got the number there -- 314-420-9631, if you want to volunteer in Pass Christian. They are going to leave those tents up, right, Margaret Jean, and if you want to come, you can live there, bring your pickup down, if you got work to do. There's plenty of work to do. We ran into amazing people from Americorps there while we were there. They are doing great work. So let's hope the volunteers pick up the slack here. I know you're doing great work, Margaret Jean Kalif. Thanks for being with us.</s>KALIF: Thank you, Miles. And I want to add, if you will allow me...</s>M. O'BRIEN: Sure.</s>KALIF: ... if the groups want to come down and help, which I hope they will continue to come, please call that telephone number so that you can be scheduled to come so that we can facilitate you. We have requested FEMA to turn the tents over to the city so that we can house the volunteers that come. Americorps will help the day-to-day operations of it.</s>M. O'BRIEN: All right.</s>KALIF: We've asked the Mississippi Power Company to pay for the electricity. So that's in the works right now. We hope that that's all going to come to fruition, Miles. And don't forget us. Please, don't forget is.</s>M. O'BRIEN: We won't. We'll check back in with you. It's now a volunteer village. We'll put that number back on the screen in a little bit as well. Margaret Jean Kalif, we'll check back with you in a little bit. You stay this close contact with us, OK?</s>KALIF: Thank you, Miles. Thank you so much.</s>M. O'BRIEN: All right, Andy Serwer will be here "Minding Your Business" in just a moment. Stay with us.