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Morning News

Icy Road Conditions Leave 1,000 Motorists Stranded in Texas

Aired December 28, 2000 - 11:24 a.m. ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I want to update you now on the situation in Texas, where at one point, we understand, about a thousand motorists are stuck because the weather is so bad. We've been talking for a number of days about the terrible weather, but it has come to this, about a thousand motorists stuck.

And we have with us on the phone David Huff. He is a firefighter and an emergency medical technician in Eastland, Texas. He has been helping to rescue some of these stuck motorists.

David, good morning. Thanks for joining us.

DAVID HUFF, RESCUER: Good morning.

KAGAN: Just how bad is the situation where you are?

HUFF: Oh, it's starting to clear up right now, but it's been pretty bad throughout the night.

KAGAN: And I understand some of these people have been stuck, or their cars at least have been stuck, since about 6:00 last night?

HUFF: That's correct. We've had stranded motorists all throughout the past few cities that are surrounding us.

KAGAN: So what have you as a rescuer, as a firefighter, had to do?

HUFF: Well, we've had firefighters out trying to get water and fuel to motorists who are stranded and make sure that they're all right. And we're trying to get people into shelter, that way they can stay warm for the night and keep them safe.

KAGAN: Were the warnings just not strong enough, or did folks try to be a little bit too brave, do you think?

HUFF: Oh, I think people -- we're not really used to this kind of weather, and so they just think that it's not as bad as it really is. And they get out and figure out, well, it's as bad as they figured out.

KAGAN: And when you get to the folks, are you finding that in general they're well prepared with blankets and food, or they kind of went for it in a little holiday travel and tried to brave the elements?

HUFF: I think some of them took some emergency supplies with them, and others weren't really sure what was going to happen to them.

KAGAN: And then once you rescue them, you say you try to get them to shelters. I understand even in some cases that some folks were staying in a local jail because at least it was a warm, dry place to be?

HUFF: Yes, ma'am. They get to stay in the jail, and they actually fed them this morning at the jail. And they opened a new section of the jail. We also have First Baptist Church of Eastland. They have two houses that they opened up along with their area for fellowship, and we had a Cub Scout house that people stayed in also.

KAGAN: And for folks not familiar with the area, you're somewhere between Fort Worth and Abilene, is that right?

HUFF: Yes, ma'am. We're about an hour west of Fort Worth.

KAGAN: And you said that conditions aren't usually like this at the end of December. What's it usually like at this time of year?

HUFF: Not this icy.

KAGAN: Very good, well you also did tell us that it looks like the worst might be over and better conditions are on the way.

HUFF: For a few days. Unfortunately, I think we're supposed to get another spot of this on Monday or Sunday.

KAGAN: Well, you hang tough. I know there's a lot of hard work ahead of you.

That's David Huff joining us, firefighter and emergency medical technician joining us from Eastland, Texas.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

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