CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2005-10-13

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Hello, I'm Bob Schaefer and welcome to

[0:02] the CBS Evening News online edition.

[0:05] Just ahead, water water everywhere, at

[0:07] least in the Northeast. We'll have the

[0:09] latest details on the worst flooding in

[0:11] decades. Also, preventing bird flu. A

[0:15] new vaccine is showing promise, but will

[0:17] there be enough of it? And saving the

[0:19] animals? We'll take you along as rescue

[0:22] workers struggle to save some of

[0:24] Katrina's most defenseless victims. It's

[0:27] all starting now on the CBS Evening News

[0:29] online edition.

[0:33] Well, so far no one is building an ark,

[0:35] but the way it's raining, that may be

[0:37] coming next. Flood warnings and watches

[0:40] are up tonight and right on into

[0:42] Saturday in much of the Northeast.

[0:44] Nearre record flooding is forecast in

[0:46] parts of northern New Jersey. That area

[0:49] got 4 and a half inches of rain in the

[0:52] past 2 days and could get two more by

[0:54] tomorrow. And still the rain comes down.

[0:57] Our first report comes from Kelly

[1:00] Kobaya.

[1:02] >> For 7 days and seven nights, life in New

[1:05] York City and across the entire

[1:07] Northeast has felt like one long cold

[1:10] shower.

[1:11] >> This is awful. Is it ever going to end?

[1:13] >> Relentless rains have choked streets.

[1:16] >> You can't back up. You can't go forward.

[1:18] So, you know, what could we do?

[1:20] >> Swallowed cars and swept away homes. I

[1:24] lost everything, all my furniture.

[1:26] >> Hundreds of homes in five states have

[1:28] been lost since Sunday. 10 people are

[1:31] dead and four are still missing. Damage

[1:34] could be in the tens of millions of

[1:36] dollars in hard-hit New Hampshire alone.

[1:38] It is the worst flooding to hit some

[1:40] parts of the Northeast in decades.

[1:42] >> In 5 days, we've had more rain than

[1:43] we've had in 3 months, and the uh the

[1:46] ground just can't hold that.

[1:47] >> Neither can the web of rivers and

[1:49] streams running across the region. And

[1:51] more rain is coming. In this mobile home

[1:54] park in western Massachusetts, there's

[1:56] little left to lose.

[1:58] >> It's just devastating.

[1:59] >> In Allstead, New Hampshire, hardest hit

[2:01] by the storms last weekend, there are

[2:03] signs of progress. The power is back and

[2:06] so are some of the bridges. This span

[2:08] was wiped out on Sunday. This is the

[2:10] view today. But even here, where a dozen

[2:14] homes disappeared in the floods, there

[2:16] is the fear of being forgotten. There's

[2:18] a picture of her burned going right down

[2:21] the river with a roof and everything

[2:23] intact going right down that river

[2:24] there.

[2:25] >> The river washed away Susan Whit's

[2:27] backyard and the back end of her home,

[2:30] leaving the rest perched on the edge.

[2:32] She doesn't know if she'll get any

[2:34] federal aid and flood insurance alone

[2:36] won't cover the cost to rebuild. I don't

[2:38] know what we're going to do. A little

[2:40] worried.

[2:41] >> Yeah, winter's coming and nothing's

[2:43] ready and we have no home to live in.

[2:46] There is a real need for federal help

[2:48] here, but with the disasters in the

[2:50] Gulf, people here are worried there

[2:52] won't be enough money left for them. The

[2:55] worst of the weather may have passed in

[2:56] this area, but farther to the south,

[2:58] it's just beginning.

[3:00] >> Bird flu is inching its way into Europe

[3:02] from Asia. Scientists confirmed today

[3:04] that poultry in Turkey was infected with

[3:07] the most dangerous strain of it. And

[3:10] final results aren't in yet, but they

[3:12] suspect the same strain may have

[3:14] infected ducks in Romania. Meanwhile,

[3:17] the testing of a vaccine to protect the

[3:19] American public has been expanded. CBS

[3:22] News medical correspondent Elizabeth

[3:24] Kaledan has the inside story.

[3:28] >> Sheila Bianke may look like an unlikely

[3:31] recruit in the battle to save millions

[3:33] of lives.

[3:34] >> Do you think bird flu is a real threat?

[3:36] >> Oh, sure I do. She's enlisted in one of

[3:39] the government's most closely watched

[3:40] drug trials to test a vaccine to prevent

[3:43] bird flu.

[3:44] >> If I can be of any help to humanity,

[3:47] that's why I'm here.

[3:48] >> The pressure is on. A slow, steady drum

[3:51] beat of human bird flu deaths in Asia

[3:53] has infectious disease experts

[3:55] predicting a pandemic, a global epidemic

[3:58] of a particularly lethal flu. This

[4:01] vaccine made from the exact strain of

[4:03] bird flu virus causing human deaths

[4:05] could be one of our only defenses. So

[4:08] far, trials like this one show the

[4:10] vaccine will work. The problem is, will

[4:13] we be able to make enough of it in a

[4:15] hurry in a worstc case scenario?

[4:18] >> You need to do the right thing.

[4:19] >> I asked Dr. John Trainer, who's running

[4:21] the vaccine trial, what would happen if

[4:24] we needed 250 million doses this winter

[4:26] to protect the population of the United

[4:28] States. Right now the estimate would be

[4:31] that it would take about 6 to 8 months

[4:33] to generate a very large amount of

[4:35] vaccine.

[4:36] >> Do we have 6 to 8 months?

[4:38] >> That's a good question. I think that's

[4:40] very hard to estimate what the speed of

[4:43] evolution of a pandemic might be.

[4:45] >> That uncertainty has disaster

[4:47] preparedness experts like Dr. Irwin

[4:49] Redlin are losing sleep. We are

[4:51] profoundly

[4:53] not prepared to uh manage a pandemic flu

[4:58] threat right now.

[4:59] >> Profoundly

[5:00] >> profoundly uh unequivocally not

[5:03] prepared.

[5:05] >> The government is just waking up to the

[5:07] potential for a bird flu disaster.

[5:09] Redliner says

[5:10] >> we don't have the hospital and medical

[5:12] facilities sufficient to take care of

[5:15] the anticipated number of patients and

[5:18] people who might get sick.

[5:19] >> That we may have a vaccine is one small

[5:22] piece of good news. That is if the bird

[5:25] flu spares us this year.

[5:27] >> It may be that we have another 5 years

[5:29] before we see a pandemic. Or it might be

[5:31] a pandemic will arise next month. We

[5:33] just have no way of knowing that. And

[5:36] that uncertainty has been a big part of

[5:38] the problem until now. It's led to an

[5:40] outof sight, out of mind mentality about

[5:42] bird flu that is clearly starting to

[5:45] change. Bob, so Elizabeth, a concerned

[5:48] viewer, my wife actually wants to know

[5:50] this question. Should she go ahead and

[5:52] take her regular flu flu shot? Uh, and

[5:55] if she takes that flu shot, will it be

[5:57] safe to take this bird flu shot if they

[6:00] develop one?

[6:00] >> She should absolutely take her flu shot

[6:02] this season. The bird flu vaccine is not

[6:04] going to be ready this season as you

[6:06] heard the doctor say and so it's sort of

[6:08] apples and oranges. Whether or not the

[6:11] two vaccines can be taken together in

[6:12] the future is not yet known. There going

[6:14] to be studies on that. But as far as

[6:16] this flu season goes, everyone should

[6:17] get a flu shot.

[6:18] >> Get your flu shot. Absolutely. Okay.

[6:20] Thanks, Elizabeth. It has been some time

[6:22] now since the search ended for victims

[6:24] of Hurricane Katrina, human victims

[6:26] anyway. But even today, animals

[6:28] displaced by the storm are still being

[6:30] rescued. Byron Pittz with their story.

[6:35] >> You're all right, honey. You're all

[6:37] right. You're all right.

[6:40] >> Some six weeks after Hurricane Katrina,

[6:42] those cuddly reunions between pets and

[6:45] owners happen less frequently and

[6:47] rescued animals arrive in shelters in

[6:50] worse shape.

[6:51] >> This dog was um rescued. He was

[6:54] completely covered in mats, so he shaved

[6:56] down completely.

[6:57] But somehow in some of the worst

[6:59] conditions imagined, pets of all sizes,

[7:02] shapes, and species are still being

[7:04] found alive. They're amazing creatures,

[7:07] aren't they? God's creatures are amazing

[7:09] creatures.

[7:10] >> And volunteers still arrive from around

[7:12] the country to help rescue them. This is

[7:15] difficult and often dangerous work.

[7:18] >> What did you know about rescuing dogs 5

[7:20] weeks ago?

[7:21] >> Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Neil Karen

[7:24] Oul of Paradise Valley, Arizona is a

[7:26] veteran with the scars to prove it. How

[7:29] many cuts and bruises and scratches have

[7:31] you got?

[7:31] >> Well, they're pretty uncountable. You

[7:33] can probably just uh I I've got plate

[7:36] glass windows, dog bites.

[7:38] >> Truth be told, there are now fewer lives

[7:40] to save. Rescue teams have discovered

[7:43] dead and emaciated animals chained to

[7:45] porches locked in cages and closets. And

[7:48] something even the toughest volunteers

[7:50] say that simply breaks their heart. The

[7:53] animals they find but can't reach. Lisa

[7:57] Lewis tried every trick she knew to get

[7:59] this dog. He wouldn't cooperate. Her

[8:02] team tried for hours.

[8:03] >> I think we're just running out of time.

[8:05] We can't we can't get them. The people

[8:07] don't come back. They're going to

[8:08] probably end up dying. I mean, it's sad.

[8:10] >> But for every heartbreak, there are

[8:12] moments like this.

[8:15] A child scared, hungry, had lodged

[8:18] himself beneath a trail, enticed with

[8:20] food, sweet words. He wouldn't budge. It

[8:24] wasn't pretty, but it worked.

[8:27] >> Good job, guys. Good job.

[8:29] >> Byron Pittz, CBS News, New Orleans. More

[8:32] stories are just a click away, but don't

[8:34] forget to join me on television for the

[8:36] on air edition of the CBS Evening News.

[8:39] On Friday's broadcast, the new Medicare

[8:41] drug plan. If you found it complicated

[8:44] and confusing, you're not alone. We'll

[8:46] try to make some sense of it in the

[8:48] Friday Consumer Alert. For cbsnews.com,

[8:52] I'm Bob Sheeper.