much. in our national lead today, a massive winter storm stretching across three time zones is to blame for more than 260,000 people without power right now. snow, sleet and ice have crippled a stretch from texas up to new england. portions of major interstates are closed. more flights closed. a driver in springfield, illinois, had his car get stuck on icy train trucks. he made it out before the train hit his car. derrick, this weather is creating all sorts of dangerous situations. reporter: yeah. you know, jake, we ve had blistering winds, blinding snow and a sheet of ice here across the central portions of the hoosier state including where i m standing at monument circle, downtown indianapolis. this storm is massive, stretching over 25 u.s. states, impacting over a third of the u.s. population. it is just incredible to see what it s done of the last night when we drove from south bends to indianapolis, the precipitation changed over to rain. now that the temperatures have
support that we have had from this president. now that tweet is a sample of what the white house public posture has been as the storm continues to royal the southeast, despite having the full weight and support of the administration, fema leaders are wisely cautioning those in the storm zones to play it safe. wait on local officials for citizens to return, that opens lines of assistance and other declarations will we anticipate to follow. jeff is so right, the eastern part of the state in the northeast quarter in particular really hammered by those blistering winds, obviously down power lines, a lot of damage possible, don t take it for granted. even if you feel like in your neighborhood things are back to normal, be careful, be safe,
terrain. casey stegall is there breathing in the thin air. hey, casey. hey, shep. last year 14,000 marines made their way through this particular center. that is more than 200 person increase from the year before. and the lessons being learned by the men and women here could, no doubt, one day save their lives. as if fighting a war wasn t hard and dangerous enough, try doing it in feet of snow, blistering winds, and mountainous terrain. you could move and communicate in this environment, you can pretty much do it effectively anywhere. medical skills are among the most important taught herehere. you have to consider frost bite hypothermia. conditions can turn badly quickly. if it sounds like i m out of breath, i am. not only are the conditions unforgiving we are also at 8500 feet. that brings up another concern
are getting intense training for warfare in the high sierras of northern california. reporter: just in the last 30 minutes we started to get a winter storm making its way through the area. earlier in the day you could see the peaks of those mountains, now you cannot because of the blowing snow and wind. there are mountains way up there marines way up there in the mountains and the skills they are learning, they tell us it could one day save their lives. as if fighting a war wasn t hard and dangerous enough, try doing it in feet of snow, blistering winds and mountainous terrain. you can communicate in this environment you can do it effectively anywhere. reporter: medical skills
learning to battle the elements as well as the enemy. casey steegel is in bridgeport, california, figuring out what this is about, casey, good morning. reporter: hey, bill, good morning, we re battling the elements as well, last year, 14,000 or so marines, came through this mountain warfare training center. that is a more than 200% in agrees from the year before. and no doubt the lessons the men and women are learning here could, one day, save their lives. as if fighting a war was not hard and dangerous enough. try doing it in feet of snow. blistering winds and mountainous terrain. you can move and communicate in this environment, then you can pretty much do it effectively anywhere. reporter: medical skills are among the most important taughts here. you have to kids frostbite, hypothermia, various stages of frostbite and conditions turn badly quickly. reporter: if it sound like