tornadoes struck across oklahoma, kansas, and iowa, causing widespread damage and climbi claiming the lives three people. right now, more than 16,000 customers are without power across oklahoma as strong winds brought down trees and power lines. joining us now from oklahoma is scott gibbons. deputy sheriff, thank you for being with us. what are the conditions on the ground there this morning? much better than last night we got some visibility we got crews working to clear debris and power lines off the roadway, giving us access that we didn t have last night to some of the more rural areas, addresses and locations that we weren t able to check to our satisfaction last night. just how significant is the damage i know overnight there were concerns about people being trapped in their homes where does the search and rescue effort stand this morning? we don t have any outstanding folks that we believe are still entrapped that we re aware of. that may change just based on the
world. i m kim brunhuber. more flooding could impact millions of people in california this weekend. officials warning they re not out of the woods yet. we ve got the forecast just ahead. plus, we ll look at the difficulties the white house has with business as usual as president biden is facing a special counsel investigation. and russia claims it has recaptured a town in eastern ukraine as we hear of a new assault on kyiv. a live report from the capital city just ahead. we re looking at the large-scale destruction after severe storms and tornadoes swept through the southeastern united states on thursday. at least nine people were killed, seven in alabama and two here in georgia including a 5-year-old boy. the massive cleanup effort is already underway. at least 37 possible tornadoes shredded trees and homes, knocked down power lines, and sent debris flying. the governor surveyed some of the damage in the city of selma saying it s the worst she had anticipated. my gli
the storm right now packing maximum sustained winds of 125 miles per hour. it is expected to strengthen further over the next 24 hours, and that s alarming to hear. ian is expected to hit florida s west coast late wednesday into thursday, and nearly 7 million people along the coast, including really all of tampa bay, a facing the risk of a life-threatening storm surge there. and people, they are all being urged to get out of harm s way and to do it now. tampa s mayor warning residents, if you can leave, just leave now. those are his words. florida s governor, ron desantis, announcing that the tampa bay airport will be closed starting tonight at 5:00 eastern time. he also expect he has also expected, desantis to speak at any moment from tallahassee. we ll give you detainee on those preparations from the storm and bring you his update live in just moment. we are covering this dangerous storm. the only way cnn can. let s go first to our carlos flores, who joins us in tampa
you are live in the cnn qwest newsroom, i m paula reid in washington. a monster winter storm has claimed the lives of 16 people and has cut power and electricity. the u.s. department is declaring an emergency for the texas power grid to aid its capacity and this is due to a shortage of electricity. the emergency declaration allows the state s energy provider to exceed environmental emissions limits until usage drops. in new york, a dire situation. hundreds of people have likely been trapped inside their vehicles since yesterday. that includes an 85-year-old grandmother and her son. they ve been turning the car on and off for heat and to save gas. sub-zero temperatures are widespread across the country and more than 750,000 customers remain without power. the power grid operator for 13 states is now asking residents to reduce their power usage to avoid widespread outages. holiday travel by road and air has been disrupted, and today alone more than 2600 flightses have be
protests continue in iran. police have arrested more than 700 people at least 35 people have been killed. world powers condemn the self styled referendums being held in parts of ukraine on whether to join russia. good evening and welcome to bbc news. the labour leader, sir keir starmer, has arrived in liverpool ahead of the start of the party s annual conference. he s condemned the package of tax cuts unveiled yesterday, by the chancellor calling them tory casino economics , which he says are gambling with the finances of every family in the country. the government insists its package of measures, including scrapping the top rate of income tax, will help kickstart economic growth. here s our political correspondent, iain watson. labour has been out of power for more than a decade but they now believe their political fortunes could be turning around. just as their party conference gets under way, liz truss has made the political dividing lines with the opposition far