Good evening. We begin tonight with the dangerous and deadly weather impacting as many as 15 Million People in parts of the south from tornados to widespread flooding. The Severe Weather has claimed as many as 18 lives in mississippi, tennessee, alabama, and arkansas. The governor of alabama declared a state of emergency on friday as an ef2 tornado ripped through birmingham, destroying some homes and displacing dozens of people and its not over. Nbcs mark potter starts us off tonight. Reporter in birmingham, alabama, residents spent the day of christmas cleaning up from the tornado that touched down late friday afternoon. An ef2 twister destroying somehow only three homes. Christmas decorations amid the debris. This woman and her son took cover just before the winds tore up her house. Horrible. It was like clawing at the roof and the windows just broke through and the rain was so thick. It was just like it was a nightmare. Reporter okay ji jive octavio ruiz was injured, telling us the tornado lifted him off the ground. Flooding rains turned alabama roads into river and nearly 200 around the state are closed. Flash flooding forcing the governor to declare a state of emergency. Rescuers helped stranded motorists escape from their cars. The storm system hammering the south lasting three days, spawning about two dozen tornadoes, killing at least 18 people in three states. Most in mississippi. Near clarksdale, we met 22yearold hailey dikes who protected herself and otherwise by hiding under a mattress as a tornado struck her home. I grabbed my grandmother, my dogs. We huddled in the hallway. Pulled the memory foam over our heads. Within five seconds all the roaring and the loudness, everything was over with. Five seconds. Reporter a nurse told of finding a 7yearold boy who had been killed in holly springs, calling it the worst day of her life. What im looking at now i thank god im Still Standing. Reporter back in birmingham, residents are Still Standing and most grateful to have survived. Mark potter, nbc news. The images of that wreckage unbelievable. Were watching for a lot more Severe Weather from possible tornados to a blizzard thats taking shape. Lets bring in meteorologist rafael miranda. We are tracking another round of Severe Weather this evening. In fact, tornado warnings around the dallasft. Worth area this evening. This tornado watch in effect through 8 00 central time. Weve seen numerous tornado reports throughout the evening. Well continue to see that throughout tonight. Now even into tomorrow this is your sunday. Another severe threat. 22 Million People at risk for strong to severe thunderstorms. Isolated tornados a possibility including houston and new orleans. Now this is going to be a massive storm for days. You can see it tracking snow to the west, ice to the north, and tons of heavy rain off to the east. A flood threat significant over the next few days. To the west in the colder part of the storm, a blizzard warning in effect from eastern new mexico into texas. Places like roswell, amarillo. We could see record snows. We could see the most snow weve ever seen in new mexico. Over a foot of snow as we head throughout the rest of the weekend. Lots of folks trying to get around, getting home from the holidays. And look at how much rain were expecting. A significant flood threat. Over 6 to 7 inches of rain expected in spots that have seen quite a bit of rain already. Very bad news for holidays travelers, time to return home. We could see finally some cold and maybe even some snow in the northeast next week. Big pattern change potentially coming our way. Back to you. Definitely some unusual weather here. We really appreciate that. In Southern California, hundreds of firefighters are battling a growing wildfire that has burned more than 1200 acres, threatening dozens of houses near the Pacific Ocean and at one point closed parts of a major roadway. We get that story from nbcs blake mccoy. Reporter an ominous glow bringing terror to the night sky. This video shot by a dutch family visiting on holiday. Embers flying past their windshield. Flames reaching out into the roadway. I was like this is my last minute of life. I was in shock. I didnt know what to do. I held my camera shaking. Weve from the netherlands. We have no experience with these fires and we didnt know how bad it could be. Reporter theirs the last car to pass before people began turning around on the highway, driving into on coming traffic to flee the flames. The fire broke out late last night in Ventura County and spread late last night. Fueled by extremely dry conditions and whipping 50mileanhour wind gusts. The seasonal santa ana blowing through the canyons, pushing the fire through neighborhoods toward the coast. Evacuations were ordered for nearly 100 homes. Weve had all available fixed wing aircraft working this fire. Reporter at daybreak, helicopters continued their aerial assault, dropping water to keep the planes from burning homes. A successful effort helped by a change in the winds. Its a very dynamic fire. The fire is going to resist our control. Were not quite out of the woods yet. Reporter december is not typically fire season in california, but with the historic drought fire season is now all year along. Several smaller wildfires did pop up here in Southern California today. So far no serious injuries or damage. Late breaking in ventura, were told the fire is 60 contained. The cause of the fire is a bounded power line. Blake, thank you for that report. Were also keeping an eye on a big wildfire in australia that has destroyed more than 100 homes. It burned through a stretch of coastline on christmas in the Southern State of victoria. Residents who were evacuated were allowed to return home today as cooler weather and light rain reduced the immediate threat. Officials warn the fire could burn for weeks. For millions of people on this day after christmas, it was all about hitting the stores again, making returns and trying to cash in on even better deals than before the holidays. Nbcs Kristen Dahlgren has been following it all and has our report tonight. Reporter its beginning to look a lot like black friday again. Stores opening early. I got everyone up at 6 00 in the morning to come. Reporter the scrambling, the sales. Shoes for 23. It was 10 off. Reporter but this is the day after christmas now becoming a shopping phenomenon of its own. An American Express study claims today could be bigger than black friday and cyber monday. 66 saying they expected to shop today compared to 45 on black friday and 47 cyber monday. For many, its about the deals. A few more gifts. We did well. All of our bags are in the car. Reporter or more likely a Little Something for themselves. The sales are better the day after christmas than before then. Right after christmas because theres such seasonal products the best deals are going to be on toys, books, movies, and music. Reporter but its also about returns. Those gifts that didnt quite fit. Didnt look good. Looked too girly. Reporter the National Retail federation expects americans to return some 15 of holiday sales. But not all stores make it easy. I think my number one tip in getting back the full money is returning it within ten days. Then you get the price that you paid for it. Reporter experts say keep it in its original packaging. Have the receipt. If you bought it online, see if you can return it in a store. Think about an exchange. It can be quicker. And what if you got a gift card you dont think youll use . Target and walmart Just LaunchedGift Card Exchange programs. You wont get full value, but the stores hope their cards will be worth it. As you can see, its not slowing. Still a lot of shopping and returning going on across the country tonight. One more tip for you. If you do have a return, bring some form of id. A lot of stores are requiring it this year. Crisis kristen, one of the ways they are trying to combat return fraud. A lot of great tips there. Thanks so much. Heading overseas now, the Iraqi Military said today their forces have pushed deeper in ramadi. Iraqi forces are backed by air support from an International Coalition led by the united states. If they retake ramadi, it would be one of the most important victories. The terrorist group swept through onethird of iraq last year. In europe tonight a warning about a potential new shooting or bomb attack has led to increased security throughout the continent. Word of this new warning came from the police in vienna. Nbcs Kelly Cobiella has the latest. Reporter Vienna Police said the tip came from a friendly Intelligence Service warning of a possible bomb or gun attack between christmas and new years. Police say they found no evidence of a plot, but theyve increased security at big events and crowded places as a precaution. Its been six weeks now since the gun and bomb attacks in paris that left 130 dead. Capitals throughout europe have been on heightened alert. In fact two weeks ago swiss authorities stepped up security around the United Nations headquarters in geneva because of what authorities there called a specific terror threat. Todays tip comes as a new audio message believed to be from isis leader al baghdadi was released. The first said to be from him in seven months. Its 24 minutes long. In it, the isis leader threatens israel, criticized the saudi led coalition, and says isis is getting stronger. We cannot verify the authenticity of the message, but our partners at flash point says it does appear to be from baghdadi. Kelly, thank you very much for that report. Beyond concern about physical attacks, there are growing worries in this country about the threat of cyber attacks. That could disable key parts of our infrastructure and cause disruption of government agencies. Nbcs Stephanie Gosk has that story. Reporter the bowman dam about 20 miles from new york city may not look like much, but it reveals troubling vulnerabilities in u. S. Infrastructure. Two years ago the Computer System that controls the dam was hacked. This cyber attack surely serves as a bucket of ice water to the face. It was a Crystal Clear wakeup call that cities, municipalities or utilities could be targets. Reporter a hacker group with links to iran told cyber threat analysts at flash point that an organization named sobh cyber jihad claimed responsibility. Even though the hack of the bowman dam did not put many people at risk, there is reason to be concerned. Its important because its hard to tell whether these are test cases trying to develop tools and techniques that could work on a larger scale. Reporter city officials had just put in a new floodgate that could be operated remotely from the internet. Which means that Something Like this dam could be vulnerable to hackers a world away. Some sectors like the financial industry have made strides in security, but others including utilities, power, and water have lagged behind. Between 2010 and the 2014 the department of energy has been hacked 159 times. The adversary is out there. They are smart. They are persistent. They are constantly probing our networks. Reporter the city of rye is now encrypting communications between computers, sending the message that even a small graffiti covered dam needs protection. Stephanie gosk, nbc news, rye, new york. And in texas tonight authorities are investigating what theyre calling a suspicious fire at a mosque in houston. It happened yesterday afternoon after friday services ended causing significant damage. No one was injured. Muslim officials called on authorities to investigate a possible bias motive given recent incidents targeting mosques. The Houston Fire Department promised a complete and thorough investigation. When nightly news continues on this saturday, as drones become more and more popular, the restrictions mount. Well take a look at a big nofly zone. Sales of drones in this country soared this holiday season. By some estimates, 1 million of the Unmanned Aircraft have been sold in the u. S. This year. And along with their increasing popularity, a growing list of nofly zones including airports and parts of downtown washington, d. C. Many drone owners may be surprised to hear of another restriction our National Parks. Heres tom costello. Reporter there may be no better view of a national treasure. Skimming the river and tree line, brian needles drone camera captured a gorgeous day at a National Park in virginia. Spectacular waterfalls, wild birds, and kayakers. It also landed him in a heap of trouble. It was wonderful. It was one of the most beautiful places anywhere around here. Then some problems started. Reporter thats the shadow of a Police Helicopter forcing his drone down. Those are the feet of two park police officers. Brian was busted, fined actually. He didnt know it, but National Parks are nofly zones for drones. Yes, theres plenty of breathtaking drone video online. Arches National Park, the grand canyon, zion, the smoky mountains. The trouble, says the park service director, drones are disruptive to both people and wildlife. That can interfere with lets say nesting birds. We had an incident with a drone chasing big horn sheep and actually separating the adults from the young. Reporter these spectacular images from yellowstone National Park were also captured by drone. Its the scenery that attracts people from around the world. I can sit here for hours and just gaze at this. Reporter nature lovers who come just for this. Primarily im here for the photos. Reporter not this. It just destroys the ambiance, is that it . It does. Maybe not for the user that has the drone, but for the rest of the public it can be very disturbing. Reporter its more than the noise. One drone crashed into lake yellowstone. A park diver had to get it out. He was fined and banned from the park for one year. The fines for flying a drone in a National Park can range from less than 100 to more than 1,000 depending on whether any wildlife is disturbed or the park sustains any damage. Looking at his drone video, brian needle says he gets it. Definitely with the increase in popularity and everybody is getting one, i could see with dozens or hundreds of them out there on a singular day, it would be a big problem. Reporter brian paid the 70 fine and says hell be back to the park, but without his drone. Tom costello, nbc news, rock creek National Park. Stunning video thats for sure. Up next, another popular gift and how some are finding out the hard way use at your own risk. Theyre said to be one of this years hottest Christmas Gifts hover boards. And if you got one, you might want to Pay Attention to what happened to some people when they tried them. Turns out the scooters are not the easiest thing to get the hang of. Some who found that out the hard way have been posting videos of themselves on social media to prove it. As far as we know, none of these folks suffered any serious injuries. One man who wasnt so lucky was a republican congressman. He wound up with an arm injury after taking a turn on the hover board he got for his children for christmas. Like most phone calls it began with hello, but this one came from the International Space station from a british astronaut who was trying to call home. While he may have the right stuff, he got the wrong number. He later apologized on twitter for his mistake, reassuring the lady on the line that it was not a prank call. Dialing Long Distance can still be tough. Indeed. Well, one note from out of this world tonight. An update on star wars the force awakens. Nothing will stand in our way. The latest Box Office Estimates are in and they continue to impress. The movie set a Christmas DayBox Office Record of 49. 3 million sales in north america, doubling the previous Christmas Records over the last eight days, it has brought in more than 440 million in ticket sales and counting. And were back in just a moment with a story of American Pride and passion and why one man deserves an ovation. Finally tonight, weve heard countless stories over the year about american factories closing and moving their operations overseas, but when that happened at a famous maker of american guitars, one man decided there just had to be a way to keep the company here. We get his story tonight from nbcs kevin tibbles. Reporter the sound of true craftsmanship, of precision and pride and survival. The iconic ovation guitar with its molded body and precise sound has been a favorite of musicians from Glen Campbell to melissa etheridge. But a year ago after almost 50 years all production was moved to factories overseas. The shop here in new hartford, connecticut closed. Its artisans out of work. I tried. To be honest with you, it broke my heart. Reporter enter darren wallace, an employee of 22 years, who simply refused to exit quietly. I couldnt imagine seeing an american brand, an iconic brand like ovation, just go away. Reporter he prayed a new owner could be found and spent hundreds of hours maintaining what little equipment was left. Just in case. And when new buyers appeared, they were so impressed they announced production here would resume. It speaks to the passion and the commitment that he had and the belief he had that there was a place for what this brand has meant to so many people over the years to be perpetuated and to keep going. Reporter today those first new works of art are slowly taking shape. My dad used to say try to do something for a living that you would do on your own without having to get paid for it and i do that. I build guitars. Once i put my hands on one, ive been playing them ever since. Reporter the members of Reo Speedwagon who have played ovations for decades even stopped by to celebrate. Good luck getting this sucker away from me is all ive got to say. Reporter a lesson in persistence and passion and the music lives on. Kevin tibbles, nbc news, new hartford, connecticut. This is something to celebrate indeed. And that is nightly news for this saturday. For all of us here at nbc news, have a great night. Cold. And getting colder in the bay area. Were tracking tonights freezing and below freezing cold and getting colder. In the bay area. Were tracking tonights freezing and below freezing temperatures. How low they are going to drop and when you can expect a warmup. Good evening. Im terry mcsweeney. Peggy has the night off. Well get you that story in a moment. New details about a Deadly Police shooting it it appears the man summoned police to the home. It happened last night on webster street. Police say the suspect allegedly called 911 to report a false emergency so police would come. The man charged armed with a knife. It was a butter knife. Two officers fired weapons, the suspect later died at the hospital. His identity has not officially been released. The mercury news reports that the man was seeking at a Mental Health facility. Get ready to see more of this, frost on roofs and roads. Were under a freeze warning. If you thought last night was cold you are in for an unpleasant surprise. Marianne is standing by but lets start with rob mayeda. Rob, how cold is it going to get tonight . The stage is set for a