announcer: from abc news, this is world news now with john muller and diana perez. good thursday morning. begin with a wild weather that is impacting one in five americans this morning. a dangerous line of storms, packing twisters, drenching rains and fierce winds. at least 17 tornadoes reported since yesterday including the one that ripped through belmond, iowa, destroyed businesses and homes in a flash. abc s ginger zee reports. reporter: the atmosphere is fully charged. tornadoes touching down in iowa and illinois. high risk is off the charts. that s when we are really sounding the bell as loudly as we can to let people know that you really need to take this seriously. reporter: the national weather service outside chicago abuzz. you could see the thunderstorms, gather together and coalesce into a series of lines and segments that could produce damaging wind gusts. reporter: the chaos could produce a derecho, its calling card, often ominous shelf clouds
look at the shower! look at that [ bleep ] cookie. did you really think this group of women was going to finish that cookie? you know what? that reminds me, actually, i never got the chance to try that [ bleep ]cookie. ooh, delicious. i think i ll one of diana s favorite movies right there. while hilarious, not even the funniest clip. people say it is funny. the clip from bridesmaids being a bridesmaid can be pretty stressful. imagine doing it 14 times. and three of those times as a maid of honor. my gosh. nas that is what one woman had to do, and she has all the dresses to prove it.
nearby homes, reducing them to their foundations in a matter of minutes. this giant wildfire forcing more than 9,000 residents to flee. let s go! i m not sure if my house is lost. i just don t know. reporter: when cindy milsap first saw the fire, she rushed home to save what she could but was stopped by a roadblock. my son was at home. he got some things out. he is out. he is safe. my dog is out. so, everybody is out that i care about. reporter: officials say one person has been reported missing, and they re still surveying the area. guys are going in to check homes. they re actually having to abandon the roads because of the direction and travel of the fire. reporter: this is just one of several wildfires burning in colorado right now. this one in rocky mountain national park. and another near canyon city, forcing officials to evacuate 900 prisoners. with so many areas needing assistance, officials say resources are running thin.
trees. because, you know, one of those branches could fall down at any time. reporter: there is good reason. last year a derecho caused at least $1 billion in damage from chicago to washington, killed 13 people and left millions without power. larry jacobs, abc news, new york. there are watches, warnings posted across a broad area of the eastern part of the country. our coverage continuing now with accuweather meteorologist jim dickey. good morning, jim. good morning, john, diana. threat for dangerous thunderstorms here today. all this as an area of low pressure moves its way towards the eastern seaboard. a strong low for this time of year at that. now, the areas in particular we re keeping an eye on, through midday here, leftovers from overnight and early morning thunderstorm activity. that moved their way into west virginia. portions of kentucky. east tennessee. but then through the afternoon that s when storms really get going. watching the i-95 corridor, philadelphia throug
carabello back in. it s really like when you are training. not worried how high. you are getting out there. worried about getting the guys in. all this for us? they were smiling when they were out there. they knew we were out there and that we were coming for tethem smiling. he has been working high in the sky for 15 years. back on terra firma he had one thing to say to the rescue workers who risked their lives to save him. i appreciate it. they were great. i mean, they got us off fast, professionally. it was great. thanks a lot, guys. reporter: as the drama unfolded 44 stories above the ground, we watched chunks of glass falling out of the sky right here on manhattan s 8th avenue. fortunately no one was hurt here on the ground. as the rescue continued up there. it is now up to city inspectors to figure out what went wrong. abc news, new york. you wonder if the guys will ever go back on a scaffold. i have a hunch they probably will. check that out. are you afraid of heights