737 set to land behind a cargo plane. what have we learned? good day, i m andrea mitchell live in washington. one year ago today, an explosion ripped through the deep water horizon well, killing 11 rig workers. the world saw the first pictures of what would become the nation s worst oil disaster the following afternoon. developing this hour right now on andrea mitchell reports, look at those pictures. helicopters and boats searching for any sign of 12 people now missing after an explosion on an offshore oil rig. these pictures just into msnbc shows the rig on fire last night off the coast of louisiana. that platform is still burning and is tilting about 70 degrees. most of the รง126 workers were evacuated safely. they will be arriving back on land tonight. 15 were taken to area hospitals. seven are believed to be in critical condition. and so it began. one year later, a new opinion research poll today shows 51% of americans are optimistic that the gulf will eventually re
waterfront businesses have been evacuated and restaurant owners are contending with several feet of water pouring into their businesses. but could this have been prevented? melissa malay is live on the waterfront where folks are wondering why those floodgates were not closed as the river rose, melissa. absolutely, good evening. that s right. the big question is why. why weren t those floodgates up on a day when the potomac river was three feet above flood stage. we are told by d.c. fire officials that the gates were put up or down the decision lies with the management company. the spokesman for that company said they were not sure that was indeed true. crews have been out here all day bringing in the crane and pumping water out of the courtyard out of businesses and out of restaurants. hundreds of people were evacuated today as power and gas in the buildings went out. the entire first level of that garage was completely flooded. 60 cars had to be pulled to higher, dryer
houses and it looked like my granddaughter had been playing with a doll house or a paper apartment and it s all shattered and spread everywhere. reporter: what makes this outbreak most remarkable though isn t the hundreds of reported tornadoes, but how long they were on the ground. and we re dealing with very long-track tornadoes that are tracking on the ground anywhere from 20 to upwards of maybe even 80 miles. reporter: for those who survived, the tales are harrowing. it s a very, very terrifying experience. there s no way to describe it. reporter: more than 100 made it out of this lowe s store after a manager pushed every everyone to the back. felt an incredible wind inside and a noise just prior to us getting into the hallway. it was deafening. there was a deafening roar over our heads. reporter: the huge crowd kept alive by mere secondses in a region now left with a long, long recovery. reporter: and back live now. you don t have to go far to see anothe
oil spill one year later. hundreds of fisherman are getting ready for the upcoming shrimping season, hoping against hope that the catch will be good fluff to allow them to stay if business next year. lehrer: robert macneil previews his upcoming series of newshour reports on autism. that s all ahead on tonight s newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: okay, listen. somebody has got to get serious. i think. we need renewable energy. .renewable energy is vital to our planet. you hear about alternatives, right? wind, solar, algae. i think it s got to work on a big scale. and i think it s got to be affordable. so, where are they? it has to work in the real world. at chevron, we re investing millions in solar and biofuel technology to make it work. we ve got to get on this now. right now.oah7 moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. pacific life. the william and flora hewlett foundation, workin
week s news. woodruff: tom bearden returns to the u.s. gulf coast to see the environmental costs of the oil spill one year later. hundreds of fisherman are getting ready for the upcoming shrimping season, hoping against hope that the catch will be good fluff to allow them to stay if business next year. lehrer: robert macneil previews his upcoming series of newshour reports on autism. that s all ahead on tonight s newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: okay, listen. somebody has got to get serious. i think. we need renewable energy. .renewable energy is vital to our planet. you hear about alternatives, right? wind, solar, algae. i think it s got to work on a big scale. and i think it s got to be affordable. so, where are they? it has to work in the real world. at chevron, we re investing millions in solar and biofuel technology to make it work. we ve got to get on this now. right now.oah7 moving our economy for 16