Storm Chaser Watch behind her, scotty. Narrator even if youre in a shelter, even if youre exactly where youre supposed to be during a tornado. For those one, two, three minutes when everything is falling apart around you, its chaos. Storm chaser that is one of the [indistinct] tornado. Storm Chaser Oh my god. Back up. Narrator and youre just at the mercy of Mother Nature. It really is a terrifying experience to go through. Storm chaser run it back oh, thats a trailer house. [theme music] welcome to violent earth. Im liev schreiber. 2023 set an all time record for weather and climate related disasters in the us. 28 events with losses over 1 billion. Wildfires, hurricanes, and floods are more frequent than ever. The earth is changing. Tonight, we delve into one of the most powerful natural hazards in the world, tornadoes. Terrifying vortexes unleashed from thunderstorms that can cause unimaginable destruction. Few examples of their power are more definitive than the 2011 twister that hit
Category 5 status as we give you a look at new orleans, one of many areas in the state where forecasters are warning of lifethreatening storm surge, catastrophic wind damage, major flooding and even tornadoes. The new orleans mayor will be giving us an update in a few minutes. We ll bring that to you live. Earlier today here on msnbc the mayor of baton rouge expressed the serious nature of this threat for the 14 million people in its path. We have become more resilient, but my greatest concern is making sure that people are safe and sound and listening to the messages that we ve been communicating with them. So that s my greatest concern. In terms of evacuation, everyone, just moments ago officials have shut down the interstate 10 causeway over lake pontchartrain. That s what we ve been showing you there as the winds are definitely picking up. Earlier today officials closed the floodgates to protect the area south of new orleans from flooding. Louisiana, in fact, bracing for a day of d
families outside of the facility desperate for news about their loved ones. i ve been looking for her ever since 10:30 tonight. please help me. in illinois, an amazon warehouse partially collapsed. i have no idea what s going on. we re worried sick. we want to know if he s okay. president biden offers federal support. this is one of those times when we aren t democrats or republicans. sounds like hyperbole, but it s real. we re all americans. we stand together as the united states of america. and so i say to all the victims, you re in our prayers. announcer: this is cnn breaking news. i m pamela brown in mayfield, kentucky, the epicenter of the deadliest december day for tornados on record. more than 70 people are feared dead from a devastating spring of tornados across a half dozen states. the death toll climbs, sunlight fades, temperatures are dropping as rescuers now battle darkness, the cold and the clock. winds ripped apart an amazon warehouse in western
alive. one woman who did manage to escape captured these terrifying moments on facebook live. we are trapped. please, y all, give us some help. we re at the candle factory in mayfield. please. please. y all y all, please, send us some help. somebody please send us some help. we are trapped. the wall is stuck on me. nobody can get to us. yeah, please. we can t move. andrea, calm down. y all, please, y all. pray for us. just get somebody to come and help us. and this video shows the silhouette of the path where the national weather service says a long path tornado may have traveled hundreds of miles from arkansas through central kentucky. so much destruction along the path, but let s begin in mayfield, kentucky where nadia has for hours. what are officials facing at this moment? reporter: yeah, the weather conditions is really a number one for first responders. remember, phil, people have been out here for hours going through the rubble, trying to find survivors and hav
the news. thank you so, much good evening everyone, i m laura coates and this is cnn tonight. our breaking news, a brand-new forecast for hurricane idalia, the storm rapidly intensifying as its lashing florida ahead of what is feared to be a catastrophic landfall on the states west coast in just a matter of hours. potentially deadly storm surge and hurricane conditions expected not only tonight, but also tomorrow. officials say that the surge could be a once in a lifetime event. idalia is now a category two, with maximum winds of 110 miles per hour. it is now forecast to become a powerful category four, before landfall tomorrow morning. we have got to 49 florida counties that are under states of emergency as we speak and as they are waiting to see what the next few hours will bring. we ll be covering everything as only cnn can tonight. we have got to teams out across the entire storm zone, we ve got chad myers in the cnn winter center, carlos flores is in tampa, brian todd is