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More Than 230 Dead in Tornado Outbreak; Supercell Storms; Interview With Georgia Governor Nathan Deal; Deadly Tornados Ravage South; Making Of An Air Traffic Controller

Aired April 28, 2011 - 11:59   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

I want to get you up to speed.

The number of dead in the southern tornado outbreak surged pass 230 today. Alabama took the hardest hit, accounting for more than half of the deaths.

This tornado cut a five-to-seven-mile path through the heart of Tuscaloosa, home to the University of Alabama. The tornado bypassed the university campus, but did not spare neighborhoods, businesses just a half-mile away. The tornado itself was a mile wide at times, and the city's mayor is absolutely stunned, calling the destruction catastrophic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR WALTER MADDOX, TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA: I've been on the ground several times during the day and during the night, and I'm about to go back out again in the next few minutes. I don't know how anyone survived.

We're used to tornadoes here in Tuscaloosa. It's part of growing up. But when you look at this path of destruction that's likely five to seven miles long, and in an area a half a mile to a mile wide, I don't know how anyone survived.

It's an amazing scene. There's parts of this city that I don't recognize, and that's someone that's lived here his entire life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Thirty-two deaths are confirmed in Mississippi today. The state had a two-day run-in with this storm system. Damages reported in 50 of Mississippi's 82 counties.

Now, the tornado outbreak left a scar on 13 states. The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center says 164 tornadoes were reported on Wednesday alone. It may turn out to be the country's deadliest tornado outbreak since 1974.

From Mississippi, to Virginia, neighborhood after neighborhood is now in splinters. Rescuers are still combing for anyone who may be trapped in the wreckage.

Eleven people died in Georgia last night. Many of the deaths occurred when a hotel south of Chattanooga took a direct hit from a twister.

And nuclear regulators, they're keeping an eye on the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant. That is near Athens, Alabama. That is today, because the facility's three nuclear reactors automatically shut down after losing power due to the storms. Seven diesel generators kicked in to provide electricity to cool the nuclear material and prevent a meltdown.

Well, parts of the South are reeling from the devastating tornadoes and storms. We have live coverage from some of those hardest-hit areas.

Our meteorologist Reynolds Wolf, he is in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. And CNN's Rafael Romo is in Ringgold, Georgia.

I want to bring in Reynolds first.

And Reynolds, you're on the ground. Tell us what you are seeing.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What we're seeing a just a transformation.

Less than 24 hours ago, Suzanne, this tree was standing tall and this building was definitely whole. But at this point everything's different.

The storm that came through, this tornado, at times reported as being over a mile wide, with winds in excess of 200 miles an hour, toppled this tree which may have been 60 feet in height. Knocked it over, and you see devastation everywhere. The winds, sweeping all this debris all over the place.

And it's interesting. Where we step through, you'll find boards, you'll find insulation, a little bit of siding here and there, but every now and again you'll find kind of a personal item, a shoe, a sock, a teddy bear, something that meant an awful lot to someone.

This is a scene that we've seen all across parts of central Alabama, from Mississippi, over to Georgia, even into Tennessee and back in the Carolinas, just utter devastation. You see the trees here and there. In many situations, just ripped free of any of the vegetation. But you've got siding and other pieces of particle that are showing (ph) parts of it.

It's just an amazing, amazing thing to see.

And the thing that's sort of devastating when it comes to these storms is not just the winds, but rather, it's the debris that gets picked up and carried by those wind gusts topping 200 miles per hour, where any small piece of wood can become a deadly projectile. And that's really one of the big issues that we have in a situation like this. You've got to find a way to stay safe from those projectiles, from the debris, from that wind, and the safest place to be is below ground.

But unfortunately, many of the people that call this area home, they don't have the basements, they don't have the storm cellars. They try to get to the interior rooms of their home. But if you happen to be in a home like that, you're not going to survive. It's a bad situation.

MALVEAUX: And Reynolds --

WOLF: Some buildings are a little bit better than others -- go ahead, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Yes. You've been doing a lot of walking there. I mean, give us a sense of, how big is this area, this space? This was a neighborhood?

WOLF: This is part of a neighborhood. And I'll show you once we cross over on this side -- we've got a crowd that's gathering over here -- you can see over here, Suzanne, you've got an apartment building.

Jonathan Sheer (ph) is our photojournalist.

John, I don't know if you can you show Suzanne and our viewers across America some of the roof damage.

You'll notice that it's free of some of the shingles. But then you'll notice, like, almost these punctures. That's from the debris hitting the side of it. So you'll notice we've got part of a neighborhood, part of this apartment complex. But then we also have part of an old armory on the other side of the street.

Jonathan, if we can pass over here, you'll notice -- again, we've got some people walking by. Some of these amazing trucks, some of these are up to five tons in weight, some straight ahead, toppled over by the strong wind gusts. So, it's a combination of a neighborhood and an apartment complex, and of course the old armory, which just shows many of these vehicles beyond repair, all due to the strong storm.

MALVEAUX: Just how strong and powerful that was. Reynolds, thank you so much.

Obviously, we want the people there to be safe and to seek shelter, and hopefully be able to pick up their lives again.

I want to get to the devastation out of Georgia now. At least 11 deaths confirmed in that state. Most of them around the town of Ringgold.

That is where Rafael Romo is. It's one of the hardest-hit towns.

And Rafael, give us a sense, if you will, what are people dealing with today?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, I'm standing in the parking lot of a church. This is Welcome Hill Baptist Church here in the town.

And one of the first things that caught my attention as we got here is this piece of debris here. This is actually what used to be the steeple of the church. It was torn off by the strong winds.

But if I can show you the church, the structure itself was basically untouched. But the tornado -- the church was basically missed by just a few feet. And as you can see, that group of trees right there, the tornado came right there, through that, and then after that it hit this assembly hall behind me. And as you can see, this part of the assembly hall is completely destroyed.

Now, earlier today, I had an opportunity to speak to a woman who lives in the neighborhood and has seen the amount of destruction and how people are coping, and she was telling me that one tree fell on one side of her house, but a bigger tree that would have probably destroyed the house and probably caused a lot of harm missed it. And she was just very grateful to be alive.

Let's hear what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM COOPER, RINGGOLD, GEORGIA, RESIDENT: The lord was looking after us and saved us from getting hurt. I mean, it's terrifying to look at it, and it's terrifying to know what could have been. It could have fallen right through.

The tree in the back that's laying long ways, as the house, could have fallen into the house instead. But all you can do is just thank the good lord that you're alive. You know?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And I also ran into a group of young men who were helping her, who were helping the Cooper family. They're not from here. They're from other counties, and this is something that you're seeing a lot here in this county.

People coming from other counties, trying to help. They bring their tools and just trying to bring food and whatever people need.

And something else. People here at this church, Welcome Hill Baptist Church, something that they wanted to point out to me was that I was showing you at first that cross on the ground that was destroyed by the storms and the tornado. They were pointing to another cross standing right there, and what they say is, "In spite of what happened, we're still standing on our feet" -- Suzanne

MALVEAUX: All right. We hope they keep the faith. Thank you so much, Rafael. Excellent reporting.

I want to track where these storms are right now.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MALVEAUX: I want to check "On the Rundown" what we are covering this hour.

First, of course, Chad will return to give us an update on what he calls -- it's the science of the supercell thunderstorm, and why these tornadoes are so ferocious.

Also, where do you start? Carl Azuz shows us how to get on the road to recovery.

Then, Wal-Mart says high gas prices are hurting its core customers.

And take a look at this, grown men playing with toy airplanes. "CNN In Depth," "Air Traffic: Out of Control," looks at FAA training techniques.

And I'll talk with a woman with big plans for the royal wedding. But she couldn't get a day off of work. We'll see how that turns out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The next thing I know, they're telling me I can't go. There's no coverage, we can't get you, and if you go, you're fired.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You quit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I turned in my resignation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Want to go directly to a Red Cross worker who is in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This is Suzanne Horsley, and she is at a shelter, I understand now.

Suzanne, if you would, first of all, I know you are a resident, you're a professor at the University of Alabama. And you narrowly escaped the tornado yourself.

Can you give us a sense of what happened and how you actually managed to be safe?

SUZANNE HORSLEY, Well, Suzanne, I think we were quite fortunate. Our home was just at the very edge of a major distraction.

We were hiding in the bathroom with two of our neighbors who had been living with us since the last tornado on April 15th. I was in the tub with my dogs, and we were all just trying to take cover when we heard the storm go over, heard a tree fall on my house. You know, the power, of course, went off all before that.

It was quite frightening. I've never lived through anything like that before. But we were so fortunate that our home just has some tree damage, whereas some people in town don't even have a home at all. MALVEAUX: What was that like? Take us to that moment when you are in the tub with your two dogs, your neighbor, you're looking overhead, and this thing is passing over.

HORSLEY: You know, it was just surreal. It was a hard to believe that we were really seeing it.

We had been watching the news, and when the power went out we still had the radio on. And we were listening to the broadcasters almost screaming about how horrible the film looked. And here we are in the bathroom listening to this. And, you know, it was just the most frightening moment of my life.

MALVEAUX: What did you hear?

HORSLEY: We heard this incredible rush sound, and we heard more like a -- I didn't really hear the typical train engine sound that everybody hears. I think it was because we were on the outskirts of it. But we heard more of this incredible rush sound just as trees were falling, and it just was something I'll probably not forget.

MALVEAUX: Have you spoken to your neighbor and to your family today? Have you talked to them about how you're doing?

HORSLEY: I have. My husband actually is also a Red Crosser, so we've been working together trying to help with this response. And my neighbors have also stopped by the shelter today to see what they can do.

So there's not a lot we can do at our own home, and so it just made sense to put our training to work and come on out and try to do something.

MALVEAUX: And Suzanne, give us a sense of what that shelter is like. How many people are there? Are people reaching out to each other? How are they doing?

HORSLEY: Well, the shelter is a recreation center owned by the city. Last night we had 500 people spend the night.

Today, our numbers are going up. I don't have exact numbers yet, but our numbers are increasing.

People have been coming in on buses from different parts of town. They are reaching out to each other. They're hugging each other. They're sharing stories of where they were last night when the storm came through.

So people are coming in looking for missing loved ones. And if people can hear this, and they're in a storm-affected area, if they can go to redcross.org and register themselves on Safe and Well, people are looking for their family and friends. And if they could register on Safe and Well, that will help them locate their family members.

MALVEAUX: OK. Suzanne Horsley, thank you so much. And obviously we'll be putting that up so people can take a look at that and make sure that they can reach out to their friends and their loved ones.

Thanks again.

Our own Martin Savidge is in the Birmingham suburb of Pleasant Grove.

And Marty, there are search and rescue operations that are under way. Are they still searching now for people that they believe are alive, underneath the debris and the rubble?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are, Suzanne. But let me tell you the problem that they're up against, and we can show it to you.

As you look down this street here, but especially just about 50 yards away, you can see that massive tree, the tangle of branches and wires there. That is blocking the way for any heavy equipment.

They're trying to bring some other earth-moving equipment farther down the street in, because that's the only way they're going to clear that off the street. Those branches, those tree limbs are really too big for the average chainsaw. So they've got to get that cleared.

They've got get the light poles out of the way before they can get other equipment down there. And most of the search and rescue teams have been having to go in there on foot.

The problem is that if they do find people trapped, especially down in their basements, they need heavy equipment to get the house off of them in order to try to carry out the rescue. So, that's item number one, getting it cleared.

You can hear another team over here just on this side. They're going at it, but it's slow work. And they've been going at that tree for some time here. So it's a frustrating delay when it comes to trying to get heavy emergency equipment inside. They're doing the very best they can.

Fifteen teams, currently, last count we heard, that are searching inside of Pleasant Grove right now. The death toll officially was six, although when I spoke to the chief of police this morning, he expects it to be considerably higher by the end of the day.

However, we're hoping that, really, it's people have just simply been dispersed as a result of the storm, they'll be found OK, and maybe it won't be as bad as they fear. We'll have to wait and see -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And Marty, I want you to hold on there, if you will, because I want to bring in Chad just to give us an update on what we are seeing.

It's unbelievable. They're trying to get heavy equipment in, but there are so many trees that are down. You see power lines are down. They can't even get to those homes where they hope to find people.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: They need much bigger equipment than a 16-inch Craftsman chainsaw. They need major equipment. And the government, the state and the federal government, sending equipment in as fast as they can. Also, mutual aid from many other states coming in to put power lines back up.

They also have equipment that they're bringing with them. But you will hear the sound of chainsaws in that state for months.

MALVEAUX: You can only imagine the mood of the people there. One of the things I noticed was that it's devastated and it's desolate. There are not people around. I mean, those are folks that are in shelters.

How did this whole thing happen? Talk about these supercells that you had mentioned before.

MYERS: A supercell is a storm that's all by itself. Let me take you back over here to my little machine.

A supercell, when you see it on radar -- and you'll know it, because it will have a hook echo on the bottom for at least some of its life -- this is what a supercell looks like. This is not the one from last night, but this is an image.

Right there is the hook. That's the hook echo itself. There's a little low-pressure center that's actually developing here, and eventually that low-pressure center turns into a major tornado.

You'll have hail above it, north of it. You'll actually have the debris getting blown out. And that's where the tornado was sucking up debris, sucking up buildings, sucking up shingles and everything, and taking those and throwing them in the jet stream, and then downwind. And it was raining debris on towns, downwind, literally.

The town hadn't even seen rain yet, but yet pieces of other people's houses were being thrown at it from up above. Now, here's what it actually looks like. It is a complicated map. I'm going to take you to it.

The (INAUDIBLE) is right here. The cell goes very high in the sky. You'll see these -- and you might even see something like cauliflower on top of it. That's called an overshooting top.

Then you have the jet stream that's blowing across here. As the entire storm, almost like when you pull the drain on your tub, it eventually goes down like this. Everything in the world wants to spin if it's moving, because the whole world is spinning around it.

You don't realize it, but right now I am moving 800 miles per hour. Can't tell because everything else is moving 800 miles per hour. But as the Earth is spinning around, making a day into night, that's how fast we are going.

And so the spin comes up into the storm, the entire storm spins. Eventually, that focus of all of that rotation, all of that angular momentum, gets focused down into one spot, and that's down on the ground, and that's the tornado.

When you have a bunch of storms that are all banging into each other, you don't get F-4, F-5 tornadoes. When you have a storm all by itself, like we had a couple of them yesterday, here, here, here, here, not battling tops, all by themselves, that's when you get this type of structure.

MALVEAUX: And Chad, explain to us, because we've heard that the United States has more tornadoes than any other country in the world.

MYERS: That's true.

MALVEAUX: Is that true? And tell us why.

MYERS: That's absolutely true. I don't have quite the map to show it to you here, but I can get most of it.

What do we have over here? We have the Rocky Mountains. What do we have down here? We have the Gulf of Mexico.

What do we have up here? We have cold air that comes down in a cold front.

The Rocky Mountains will make a trough, will make a low-pressure center -- it's called a lee-side trough. It makes the jet stream sometimes turn like this.

When the jet stream turns like this -- think of jet stream like an interstate. The little pieces of low pressure will run through that jet stream in streaks, in little -- you'll know when you're flying from New York to L.A. It takes you five hours. When you fly from L.A. to New York, it takes you four hours.

And you say, how did they get there so fast? Because they were going with the jet stream.

And as that jet stream moves in, we get moisture, which is humidity -- you need that for a storm. You can get cold air -- you need that for a storm -- and you can get dry air from the Rocky Mountains called the dry line. So many things come together in America, and we don't have that situation in any other country.

MALVEAUX: All right. Chad, thank you. Appreciate it.

MYERS: You're welcome.

MALVEAUX: We are following another story. Gas prices, $4 for gas. It's not only hurting you, it's hurting big retailers. We're going to tell you what Wal-Mart is worried about.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Cities and states around the South are surveying the damage from ferocious and deadly weather that ripped across the region. Tornadoes and storms killed more than 230 people, 11 in Georgia.

Joining us on the phone is Governor Nathan Deal. He is in Ringgold, Georgia, where he is getting a look at the situation there.

And Governor, I know that you had just completed an aerial tour. Can you tell us what you saw, the extent of the damage?

GOV. NATHAN DEAL (R), GEORGIA: Well, the damage is horrendous. We have toured primarily the northwestern corner of the state, and we will be going back south in just a few minutes to see the damage that was there.

As you may know, we had multiple tornadoes that went across our state yesterday. The confirmed death toll I am told now is up to 14 in Georgia, and we have declared some 16 counties as emergency areas for assistance. We are certainly fortunate that we did not have any more deaths than we did, and I think a lot of that is attributed to the fact of the early warnings and people taking shelter, because this was a series of devastating tornadoes that came across our state, and the property damage and the loss of homes and businesses is a tremendous loss to our state.

MALVEAUX: Governor, can you give us a sense of whether or not there are any crews that are still searching for people who may be trapped or missing? Do we have a sense of whether or not there are still people out there alive who are under rubble?

DEAL: We are told that there are still searches ongoing, that there are some individuals who are unaccounted for. We don't know if they are simply trapped somewhere or not, but that is an ongoing search and rescue effort being done by state, as well as local, law enforcement officials and EMS and fire service people. So it is an ongoing effort.

MALVEAUX: Do you have any idea how many people are unaccounted for?

DEAL: No, I really don't. I hope there are not very many, but we do know that there are some who are still unaccounted for.

MALVEAUX: Are there places where people could go to register or to communicate with each other to say, hey, I'm OK, I'm safe?

DEAL: I'm sure that there are those sites. I don't have that information at my fingertips.

We do have a contact number though for our state at the governor's office. And I can give you that. It's 404-656-1776.

We have our GEMA, which is our Georgia Emergency Management Association organization here on the scene with me. Our commander, our director of that, is with me on this tour. And we've got people working all across the state in the affected areas.

MALVEAUX: And Governor, you've declared emergencies in several counties. Are you confident that you have the resources necessary to deal with this recovery effort and to deal with the search and rescue?

DEAL: Well, we are certainly going to be making a request of FEMA, asking for federal assistance, because we do not have the financial resources to do what is necessary, and we are hopeful that we will get federal assistance.

MALVEAUX: What do you need most right now?

DEAL: I'm sorry?

MALVEAUX: What do you need most right now as governor of this state to actually help people who are in need?

DEAL: Well, we need the kind of assistance that the FEMA can give us in terms of restitution for local governments who are incurring costs of clearing debris, removing power lines, restoring transportation on the ground, and also hopefully to have loan assistance for businesses and for families that need to either rebuild their place of business or to acquire other housing. And those will be of primary importance to us and federal assistance in that regard is really crucial.

MALVEAUX: Governor Deal, thank you so much for joining us here at CNN NEWSROOM.

DEAL: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Faced with this kind of devastation, how is a community really supposed to rebuild? Our CNN's Carl Azuz is outlining the long road to recovery.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Here's a rundown of some of the stories we are working on.

Assessing the damage. We have got the latest on the nuclear power plant that was hit in last night's storm.

And how the towns that were knocked down by this natural disaster can get back up.

And later, now they are in charge of getting your flight safely on the ground. We're going to show you how they're actually trained.

So, after getting knocked down like this, how does a community get back up? Our CNN's Carl Azuz, he's going beyond the headlines to talk about recovery. What it would look like from a town that was hit by the disaster.

And Carl, I mean, it was really unbelievable. When the sun came out, we saw these pictures, unbelievable devastation. A lot of people with their own personal tragic stories, but we want to provide a sense of hope, as well. That there is -- it's a long road to recovery but people can recover. CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR, "STUDENT NEWS": They can. And there are several things that sort of play a role in that recovery, Suzanne. We'll be talking about compassion, connection and communication. When I mention compassion, I don't just mean help from within a community but also that help that comes in from outside, whether it is financial aid, volunteering. And a lot of folks have said prayer helps a town rebuild.

There are a couple of pieces of rice that towns who have suffered through disasters like this have for towns that are suffering right now. One, communication and connection. Networks. Make sure everybody is talking to everybody else. That includes government workers, police and fire departments, and volunteers. These networks help people prioritize, getting help to where it is need first.

Another thing to keep in mind -- documenting. That helps get the money to where it needs to go. When I say documenting, I mean documenting the hours the volunteers work. If a private contractor is hired. If somebody brings in a piece of equipment to clear debris, write down the person who did it and the number of hours he worked, because if the area is declared a federal disaster area, this will help get the money to those people who need it in the places where it is most needed, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Excellent advice. I just talk to the governor of Georgia, and he was saying, yes, he is declaring a state of emergency. People are going to need to be compensated. What do you think is the best-case scenario for recovery?

AZUZ: For the answer to that, I would probably suggest Greensburg, Kansas. This is a town several years ago, 2007, was totally flattened. You see some pictures of it here. Ninety-five percent of the town utterly destroyed. There were 1,400 people who lived there, small town. Half of them left. Eleven people died in the tornado.

But they did a couple of things afterward that could serve as a model. For one, they decided to rebuild greener. Greensburg got greener. What they did was they dedicated time, they put money -- it takes more time and money to rebuild a green town where buildings consume 42 percent less energy. So, residents stayed longer in their FEMA trailers. They had had some private donors. I remember reading Leonard DiCaprio was somebody who helped out with this.

Another thing, too, that this town did that helped recover after this disaster -- it was time, it was patience, and essentially they were able to kind of get back on their feet and sort of serve as a model. It took a while, it took some money, and they got it together, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Carl, thanks. Really good information. Really appreciate it. Little bit of hope here.

AZUZ: Always.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks, Carl. AZUZ: Thank you.

MALVEUAX: A nuclear power plant in the path of a killer storm. Find out how it actually fared amid so much of the devastation. I'm going to talk to a plant spokesman.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We're getting new information out of Alabama. The death toll rising now from those deadly tornadoes. It was once 149. We are being now told that it has risen 162. 162 people have died in Alabama because of the severe weather and those thunderstorms.

We're also getting more information now. President Obama will be touring areas of Alabama. That is going to be happening tomorrow. And he will be meeting with the governor of Alabama obviously to talk about federal assistance, federal aid, the role of FEMA and other agencies that will be involved in trying to help Alabama and other states get the critical need that -- resources that they need after these devastating tornadoes.

Tuscaloosa, Alabama took a direct hit from a powerful tornado. At least 36 people were killed when the twister flattened parts of that city. The mayor says he doesn't know how anybody even survived this. He says that the damage to the city's water system and police and fire stations is making the whole thing much, much worse. He described the situation earlier on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOICE OF MAYOR WALTER MADDOX, TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA: We are facing an overwhelming situation in which we are short on men, materials and equipment. Fortunately, the governor has been outstanding and state EMA resources, hopefully, will begin to flow -- have flowed and will continue as we continue search and rescue. Recovery efforts probably will not begin for another 24 to 48 hours. Our focus right now is finding citizens who are hurt and finding those that are missing so we can then begin to process recovery.

Today, search and rescue -- I told our team at 5:30 this morning that search and rescue was our primary focus. Then we'll transition into recovery mode. But I think the thing we all have to understand, this is not a matter of hours or days; we're talking about a matter of months. Our water system is crippled. Our infrastructure is crippled and we've got families who have absolutely lost everything, including family members. And it is tragic and it is a dark hour for our city.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Tuscaloosa Mayor Walter Maddox. He's going to be a guest during the next hour on CNN NEWSROOM to give the very latest information.

Now, this storm system knocked out power to a Alabama nuclear plant. The nuclear regulatory officials now monitoring that situation. I want to bring in Travis Brickey (sic). He is a spokesman for the Brown's Ferry Facility. He joins us by phone from Chattanooga.

And Mr. Brickey (sic), if you can, first of all, is there any time that safety was compromised at your nuclear plant?

BILL MCCULLUM, TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY (on the phone) : Actually, Suzanne, this is Bill McCullum with Tennessee Valley Authority in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

And no, safety was not compromised at the plant, although this is a devastating storm of historic proportions, as you just heard the last story. The Brown's Ferry Plant is designed to withstand severe storms of even greater magnitude than this. When the connection to the power grid was lost, all three units safely shut down as designed, and power was supplied by the on-side diesel generators. And the three units are currently being brought to a cold shut-down condition where we'll await restoration of the power grid.

MALVEAUX: So, for those who are in the area and who are keeping a close eye on this, these are reassuring words here that there is no danger, there's no compromise to the safety out of this nuclear plant. Is that correct?

MCCULLUM: Absolutely not. The plant performed exactly as designed. The units have been brought to a safe condition. Of course, they can't operate until there's a restoration of the power grid. But the plants are in a safe condition and will be maintained in safe shut-down condition until the power grid is restored.

MALVEAUX: Are they vulnerable at all to this kind of activity when you see the kind of power of these storms and these tornadoes that we saw over the last 24 hours?

MCCULLUM: Not at all. They're actually designed for storms much stronger and tornadoes much stronger than the ones that we saw in the area. Even though this was a storm of historic proportions in terms of the waves of storms and numerous tornadoes that came through the area that the plant structures and equipment were undamaged.

MALVEAUX: How did the nuclear power facility prepare for this? Was there any kind of procedure that was in place for the tornadoes, or did it just kick in after the fact that it happened?

MCCULLUM: I know there are procedures in place prior to any occurrence like this. Our personnel trained regularly on procedures for natural events or loss of the power grid as part of our standard procedures and training for operations at the nuclear facility.

MALVEAUX: So in your assessment, everything worked as it should have?

MCCULLUM: Absolutely. The equipment worked exactly as designed.

MALVEAUX: All right, thank you very much. Bill McCullum, we appreciate your perspective and obviously your words of reassurance to the people who are in that area and beyond.

To find out more on how you can help in the recovery after the tornadoes, go to CNN.com/impact.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was in this house with my 89-year-old aunt and my seven week old granddaughter. And how in God's name we survived, I cannot tell you. I just remember dirt blowing all in my face, me falling on the baby and five seconds and it was over with.

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MALVEAUX: Stories, amazing stories, of survival, but so many scenes of utter devastation from tornadoes that ravaged the south. The storms killed at least 247 people in six states. Alabama was one of the hardest hit. Emergency officials say the death toll there has now risen to 162.

I want to bring in Chad.

And, Chad, we're looking at pictures. We've seen some of these pictures. Just unbelievable. This out of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. And I know that there are other areas people are wondering, are they in danger? Are there more tornadoes to come?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: There's still a slight risk today. There really is -- something. And the map shows it. We have severe thunderstorms possible even into New York City later today. And then the potential for something to be rotating anywhere from about Philadelphia southward to north Florida. That's where the potential exists, at least for right now. For the next three or four hours.

MALVEAUX: And those who are in Tuscaloosa, look at -- just take a look. What were they -- what did they --

MYERS: We just got this video in.

MALVEAUX: What were they dealing with?

MYERS: Well, I think what you notice the most are the pieces of the earth, pieced of the ground, pieces of buildings that are in the air and how -- this tornado was literally scouring the earth clean. What was there, the buildings that were there, were knocked down. They were gone. The people that were in those buildings, unless they were underground, were killed or seriously injured. We know that the hospital there -- just look -- it looked like a triage unit. It literally did. They didn't know what to -- they had so many people, it looked just like massive car wrecks all over the place. And these people were all injured by debris.

The National Weather Service did a fantastic job getting the warnings out. The weathermen around there did a fantastic job telling even people to put on your bicycle helmets, put the kids' bicycle helmets on.

MALVEAUX: Really? MYERS: Just try to protect your head. Get under anything. Get under everything that you have. Get under pool tables. Get under air hockeys. Get under the stairs. Get in your basement. Anything to protect you from what is going to be falling on top of you.

MALVEAUX: And there are still people today who need to take precautions.

MYERS: A few. Anywhere from east of D.C. all the way down to the eastern and the low country of South Carolina. It will quickly move offshore in three to four hours and it will be over. When you see it go by, it's not coming back. This isn't one round after another. Like Alabama. Some places in Alabama had three tornadoes come by within 10 miles of their town. One. And then an hour later, another. An hour later, another. It was a day yesterday like I've never seen.

MALVEAUX: Chad, thank you so much. And we're going to have more after the break. Thanks, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

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MALVEAUX: The search for tornado victims. Two hundred and forty- seven confirmed dead already and getting a true measure of the destruction that goes on for mile after mile. Neighborhood after neighborhood. We're going to keep you posted throughout the day on CNN.

But we are also taking a look at some other stories.

Time to go cross-country for stories CNN affiliates are covering.

First stop is Missouri. That is where levees protecting the town of Poplar Bluff on the Black River have been breached in several places. That has forced the evacuation of hundreds of people. Spring storms that dumped more than 15 inches of rain in the area over just the past couple of days.

Now to Florida, where this large brush fire is burning about three miles from shuttle Endeavour's launch pad. It was likely sparked by lightning and is not expected to affect tomorrow afternoon's launch at the Kennedy Space Center.

In Arizona, hundreds of protesting students shut down a meeting of the Tucson Unified School District. They don't like a proposal that would change ethnic studies from a core requirement for graduation to an elective.

And it is a high-stress job with one low-tech approach to the training. Check it out.

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CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Do you think the traveling public would be surprised at the air traffic controllers who are directing their flights in and out of airports are actually learning to do it with model airplanes?

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MALVEAUX: Search and rescue efforts are intensifying right now in communities across the south. Powerful storms have left a trail of devastation. More than 240 people are confirmed dead in six states. And most of the deaths are in Alabama. We are assessing the damage, tracking new thunderstorms stretching from New York to Georgia.

But right now, want to take a look at some other stories that are in the news.

This week our CNN In-Depth coverage "Air Traffic Out Of Control" goes inside the complex world of air traffic controllers to better understand the safety concerns. Now, the training program to become one is quite intense. Our CNN's Casey Wian shows us how it's done.

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CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This may look like a grown man playing with a model airplane, but he's actually an instructor at the FAA's air traffic control training facility. And this is what they call their low-tech classroom. It's actually a scale model of an airport runway with all kinds of different aircraft.

WIAN (on camera): Do you think the traveling public would be surprised at the air traffic controllers who are directing their flights in and out of airports are actually learning to do it with model airplanes?

TODD POOLE, FAA INSTRUCTOR: I would say probably 80 percent of our time is spent on the job training plugged in working live traffic. Here's an opportunity where we can use simulation training and it gives us an opportunity to stop problems, set up different scenarios that we might not see while we're doing live training out in the field.

WIAN (voice-over): The Federal Aviation Administration is six years into a 14 year push to train 20,000 air traffic controllers to replace those facing mandatory retirement.

POOLE: You know, the students off the street, Casey, probably have more of a hard time with the language, the phraseology and that's why we give them, on the very first day, we give them a phraseology guide to try and get them used to the language of air traffic control.

WIAN (on camera): Twin Cessna 1-2-8 Charlie cross runway -- oh, man.

WIAN (voice-over): We find that out first-hand trying to operate the high-tech simulator.

WIAN (on camera): American 2-1-5-6 heavy.

POOLE: Economy tower.

WIAN: Economy tower, line up and wait.

So I messed up there. I forget to tell them the runway.

POOLE: Not too bad. Not too bad. That's just minor.

WIAN: That's a little disconcerting how difficult it is and knowing that some students actually come in here having as much trouble as I do. By the time you get them out of here, they're ready to go?

POOLE: You know, our purpose here is to screen the students and see, can they be trained out in the field. You know, we don't make an air traffic controller in seven weeks. We can't do that.

WIAN (voice-over): One in five students don't complete the training. Those who do still must spend one to three years in a tower before they're fully certified.

SUNNY LEE-FANNING, ACTING SUPT., FAA ACADEMY: We've got the sophistication in terms of the technology. We've got the people that are experienced to be able to train the people that are coming in. So rest assured that that is occurring.

WIAN: And rest assured I won't be guiding your flight.

Casey Wian, CNN, Oklahoma City.

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MALVEAUX: CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Randi Kaye, who's in for Ali Velshi.

Hey, Randi.