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Graduation Days after Tornado; The Week on Wall Street; British Soldier Hacked to Death; Scam Artists Show up in Oklahoma; Jury Deadlocked in Arias Trial; Tornado Hits Family Already Hurting; Heavy Flooding in Central Texas

Aired May 25, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. And welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. A look at the top stories we're following at this hour now.

People in Moore, Oklahoma, are spending the holiday weekend digging out. We'll talk to one family who lost so much, but then they were so overjoyed to be reunited with their dog. What the dog symbolizes for this family coming up.

And perhaps the biggest question after a major interstate bridge collapses north of Seattle, just how safe are the nation's bridges. An alarming number of them may be in danger.

Also we're learning today that the British Secret Service may have tried to recruit one of the men accused of killing a British soldier in London. We'll get more from the terror analyst Paul Cruickshank in just a few minutes.

All right, Moore, Oklahoma, our first stop, is a town of mixed emotions today. Happiness as high school seniors get their diplomas, but also sadness as children lost too soon are laid to rest. There will be three funerals for victims today. Nine-year-old Emily Conatzer and Christopher Legg were in the Plaza Towers Elementary School, and Cindy Plumley was in her home in Moore.

Also today seniors from Moore's three high schools graduated. There was one ceremony this morning and then there will be two later on today.

Rene Marsh joining us live now from Moore.

So, Rene, this is a day of a lot of mixed emotions. Help prioritize it for us today from the perspective of the people there in Moore.

RENE MOORE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fred. You know, you mentioned it. One graduation already wrapped up. And then in just about two hours from now, we'll see a second graduation here. Roughly 2,000 high school graduates walking the stage to get their diplomas. But I would imagine this is not what they imagine graduation day would be like. But I can tell you the determination of this community, of these students, it truly is admirable.

They refused to cancel these graduation ceremonies despite all of the destruction that you see from block to block in this community.

I want to share with you just one story. There's a teacher at one of these graduations. She's been in education for 40 years. She's set to retire next year. And this tornado hit on Monday. She lost her home. And who came to help her? Her students. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHARON LISTON, TEACHER: We had probably 75 students that all of a sudden their caravanned down to my house, they piled out of the cars, we started them at one end of the three acres and it looked like a wall of students and with trash cans and trash sacks and they literally picked up every stick that's within that three acres there. They did an awesome job.

SAWYER TUMBLSON, GRADUATING SENIOR: My dad's house got hit. It was a direct hit. My mom taught at Briarwood so she lost her school. And my stepbrother was actually at the house when it was hit with our four dogs but I mean, they're all OK so that's all that really matters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: All right, so, Fred, I mean, just think about this. Graduation day is usually a conversation about the future, their profession, where they will go to college. But for many it is so hard to think about those things when you have scenes like this. And there are so many scenes like this here in Oklahoma. And you know the harsh reality is for some of these students here, many of them don't even know where their families will live.

Fred, back to you.

WHITFIELD: It's a complicated time. All right, thanks so much, Rene Marsh. Appreciate that. From Moore, Oklahoma.

So we're now also hearing some of the first 911 calls that came just after that tornado struck. The sounds are chilling. People desperate for help and first responders are overwhelmed by these calls. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Send people down. We're stuck under rubble. My leg is --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am. We've got a call. We'll get them up there as soon as we can.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please hurry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll get them up there as soon as we can. Thank you.

Moore, 911.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got a daycare full of babies. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need help bad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need help bad. We've got a daycare that just got cremated.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Moore, 911, where's your emergency?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's (INAUDIBLE). There's stuff all on top of us. We can't --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you in a closet?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. OK. Are you injured?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. Just can't breathe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Wow. Twenty-four people died in that tornado. We'll have much more in the recovery in Moore throughout the day.

All right, tonight an Anderson Cooper special report. Get an up close look from the storm chasers' point of view risking their lives to alert others about the disastrous storm. "STORM HUNTERS: IN THE PART OF DISASTER" tonight 7:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

All right. It's been a stormy Memorial Day weekend in parts of the U.S. Take a look at some of the flooding in San Antonio. More than nine inches of torrential rain hit central Texas that has left several roads under water as you see. People say they have had to rescue several people who were stranded in their cars on some of those flooded roads.

And the governor of Washington State says it will cost $15 million to fix that bridge on Interstate 5 that collapsed Thursday. New surveillance video showing the moment when the bridge fell into the Skagit River. Remarkably no one died. An 18-wheeler may have caused the collapse after it hit one of the overhead beams.

NTSB inspectors plan to spend as many as 10 days investigating that accident. More than 600,000 bridges in the U.S. are in some sort of danger according to the American Society of Civil Engineers.

All right. In news about your money, the Dow scratched out a small gain Friday to end the week in a positive note. As Zain Asher explains, there is some good news, good economic news as well.

ZAIN ASHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. The economy, it took a big step forward this week. New jobless claims fell to a five-year low showing layoffs are slowing. And new home sales are on track to post the best selling rate since 2008. It's still far below the peak hit in 2005, but this is shaping up to be the second full year that new home sales have risen.

Analysts say the numbers could be even better if it wasn't for tight credit conditions and the fact that there aren't many homes on the market.

Yahoo! is spending more than $1 billion to buy tumblr, a blog site. It's the biggest purchase yet for Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer who's been shaking up the company in a quest to turn it around. The move is designed to help Yahoo! tap into a younger audience.

Carnival shares plunged 4 percent Tuesday. The cruise ship operator slashed its earnings forecast for the year. Carnival has been cutting prices to win back customers, but it hasn't been as successful as expected. The company continues to struggle after the Triumph was stranded at sea with no power for five days.

Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company pays its fair share of taxes. Cook was on Capitol Hill facing tough questions about the company's practice of holding profits in Ireland, where it pays 2 percent tax rate. In the U.S. the top corporate tax rate is 35 percent. Apple complies with the law that has taken advantage of loopholes in the tax code. Still Apple paid $6 billion in U.S. taxes last year.

That's a wrap of the week in business news -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Zain.

All right, in a moment, we'll go to London to find out if the British Secret Service missed a chance to get the man suspected of killing a British soldier in broad daylight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: New information today in the brutal killing of a British soldier in the streets of London. A childhood friend of one of the accused attackers is now under arrest in London as well. He revealed that the British Secret Service tried to recruit one of the suspects in the killing. He also said he had seen changes in his friend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABU NUSAYBAH, MICHAEL ADEBOLAJO'S FRIEND: I believe certain events that happened to him recently kind of had an impact in shaping that change. And although that change wasn't necessarily on that became overt, you know, aggressive, it just became more kind of -- you know, reclined and less talkative. And so (INAUDIBLE). He wasn't his bubbly self.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Police say the friend was arrested following the interview on suspected terrorism offenses not relating to that killing that was caught on videotape the other day.

All right. I want to bring in Paul Cruickshank, he's a CNN terror analyst and joins me now from London. So, Paul, good to see you. So we're hearing today this man was on the radar of the British Secret Service that they may have tried to recruit him. Does that sound plausible?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, Fredricka, we understand that they were indeed on the radar screen, these killers of British Security Services, the British domestic intelligence service MI5 for a number of years. Perhaps even as many as eight years. But they were on the fringes of investigations into terrorism plots not thought to be directly linked to terrorist plots.

Now one of the killers Michael Adebolajo was actually part of a British extremist outfit called Al-Muhajiroun, which is very supportive of al Qaeda's ideology. And part of this grouping for many years. So it's possible that's why British Security Services were first aware of him, Fredricka.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Because --

CRUICKSHANK: But this is not -- yes, go ahead.

WHITFIELD: I was to say, because reportedly he had been seen at a number of rallies that would take place fairly regularly throughout different parts of London because reportedly he was caught on lots of videotape, news coverage even, of being kind of in the crowd. So he was a face that even -- it takes place in the U.S. when there are regular gatherings, there are certain faces that are watched by authorities who continue to go to some of those rallies to keep an eye on things, right?

CRUICKSHANK: Well, that's absolutely right. And this group was very much being monitored by British security services. This is a group which sort of openly proselytizes looks at meetings and protests. And the suspect Michael Adebolajo actually attended several of these meetings. So he would have very likely been on the radar screen of British security services. But this is not necessarily a catastrophic intelligence failure by the British here.

They're literally looking at thousands of Islamist extremists in the United Kingdom. And it's just very, very difficult to know which ones are actually going to take action. Most of them obviously don't, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And we've heard from the president of the United States this week talking about domestic terrorism and the complications that come with that. You know, whether it'd be abroad, you know, or here, you know, in the U.S., it is perhaps one of the hardest things to detect when you talk about, you know, counterterrorism work. But there in Great Britain where there is extensive history on trying to deal with extremist individuals, extremist groups.

Are authorities saying that something has changed, that there is something different about the way in which homegrown terrorists are conducting their work these days and that makes it that much harder for authorities there to try and tackle?

CRUICKSHANK: Well, absolutely. There's this emerging trend of lone wolf terrorism. Al Qaeda itself is actually encouraging this. This is a group which is under pressure from drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen. And they're telling followers in the West don't come and join us, don't come and train with us. Stay home and launch attacks over there. And so very, very difficult to detect some of these plots when you just got one or two or three individuals that are not connecting with overseas terrorist groups.

They're not in touch with a lot of people over the phone or by e-mail. Just very, very hard to stop these sorts of plots, Fredricka. And it is an area of real emerging concern in the United States. There've been several dozen Islamist terrorist plots in the last recent years and most of them have been of the lone wolf variety.

WHITFIELD: All right. Paul Cruickshank, thanks so much for joining us from London today.

Back here in the U.S. now, Oklahoma. The storm is gone but now the price gougers and scammers just might be out. We'll tell you what is being done to stop it before it happens.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. Live pictures right now. You're looking at some pretty serious flooding there. You've got rescuers who are in rafts and you've also got residents who have taken to anything that floats because of the kind of flooding that has taken place there in San Antonio, Texas.

Live pictures right now out of Bear County. And you could see the vastness of the water. Unclear exactly where this is in San Antonio whether that used to be once a road or if that is a river or a creek that has simply overflooded the banks. But again some rescues are taking place there. That looks like some first responders that are right now in that raft looking perhaps for anyone who may be in trouble.

These helicopter shots coming live from our affiliate WOAI there. Shots freezing up there but it's a live shot taking place there out of San Antonio, Bear County. We'll give you more as we find any more details about the kind of flooding and the scale of the flooding taking place right now.

Meantime, still picking up the pieces from tragedy from earlier in the week in Oklahoma. For some people in Moore, the city of Moore, this is the hardest time of their lives. They have lost loved ones, their livelihoods and their homes. And the most sickening part might be that some people are trying to take advantage of that situation.

Eric McPike has that part of the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some are here, more are coming. Oklahoma Inspector Julie Bays says scam artists show up in the wake of every disaster.

JULIE BAYS, PUBLIC PROTECTION CHIEF, OKLAHOMA ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE: The problem is a lot of times these victims are vulnerable, they are in shock. And so they're easily taken advantage of.

MCPIKE: As if victims haven't lost enough, looters are coming in to grab more.

ROBERT GUIDRY, MOORE, OKLAHOMA RESIDENT: There's copper wiring and copper that goes to your air-conditioning units. That sells real high. It's $3.50 a pound. So I mean, you get some of that and you can get rich pretty quick.

MCPIKE: Local police have already started making arrests.

SGT. JEREMY LEWIS, MOORE, OKLAHOMA POLICE: The last I checked we've had around 10 to 20 arrests for various things throughout the actual even. That will probably start to increase being the area was just opened up today. So today is the first day that we don't have checkpoints at every entrance.

MCPIKE (on camera): There are also persistent rumors about price gouging in area. Police say they fielded calls that businesses in the area are charging $40 for a case of water. Now they say those are just rumors, but there are also complaints about hotels and gas stations charging much more than usual in this area, too.

With all of the potential scams, what is your biggest concern?

LEWIS: Contractors. Contractors that aren't legit contractors. Contractors that are here just to rip people off as quick as they can and get out of town.

MCPIKE (voice-over): Officials are warning victims to stay away from unfamiliar people offering to clean up debris or repair their roof with payment up front.

LEWIS: We tried to warn residents of vehicles, you know, with magnets on them. Obviously out of state vehicles. Anyone asking for money up front, wanting to do, you know, all of the repairs really quickly. We just don't want anyone signing contracts right now. Let, you know, some of it soak in. Don't make any rash decisions.

MCPIKE (on camera): Officials are warning people all over the country who want to donate to the victims to watch out for suspicious solicitations that could be coming from fake charities.

Erin McPike, CNN, Moore, Oklahoma.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So in the wake of the devastating tornado in Oklahoma this week, the Federal Trade Commission has issued a warning to consumers. Be on the lookout for -- the nation's Consumer Protection Agency reminds people to look out for scams because it often follows disasters. And if you are asked to make a charitable donation to help people in disaster-affected areas, before you give, be sure your donations are going to a reputable organization that will use that money as promised.

So what is being done about these scams and fraud perhaps? John Doak is the state insurance commissioner of Oklahoma.

Good to see you.

JOHN DOAK, OKLAHOMA INSURANCE COMMISSIONER: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: All right. So you warned earlier in the week that it will not be tolerated if Oklahomans are taken advantage of. How do you control that however?

DOAK: That's right. Well, we've got very good controls in the process here. This isn't Oklahoma's first rodeo. We've been through this before. Here in Moore, they've got very, very good best practices with the city of Moore. All licensed contractors have to be registered with the local city if they're -- whether they are in state or out of state. And that's going to be enforced very, very strictly by all law enforcement.

We just had a meeting with the many, many of the insurers here of Oklahomans Insurance Department offices in Oklahoma City. We had over about 50, 60 of them there. We had the chief of police from Oklahoma City. We had other law enforcement folks there. We've instituted a badge. If you can see this, we registered over 1800 licensed adjusters and brokers that have come in from out of state into Oklahoma. Oklahoma adjusters as well.

But they must be carrying this badge. And it's got my signature on the back and it also has our anti-fraud number. But our folks are going to be embedded with local law enforcement. Our anti-fraud unit is going to be very, very active. But any consumer that's out there that has an adjuster coming to their home today, and there's a lot of appointments today because most of the area is open.

The consumers, whether they're with one of the named brand companies should ask for this I.D. badge. They'll be carrying it around their neck. And again this is a best practice that we've learned from from the tornado summit that we have in Oklahoma City on an annual basis. We've have learned this from Tuscaloosa, Hattiesburg, and Joplin, this is a best practice. We have been able to institute it. So good consumer protection up front. But again there's many, many different types of scams and contractors that will be coming in and we know that our partnership with the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office and statewide law enforcement is going to be very effective.

WHITFIELD: Because it's bound to happen. There is lots of precedence in which you referred to whether it'd be after, you know, Hurricane Andrew or even Katrina. I mean there are people who will tell the tale of really being, you know, on their last dime. They've got nothing. And someone comes along and entices them just as we saw in Erin McPike's piece just prior to talking to you.

So have you seen any evidence of that? I mean, have you -- have you noticed or heard any stories from people who have already been approached by people who are trying to take advantage of others, opportunists?

DOAK: Yes, there are always opportunists, Fredricka, in circumstances like this. And our hearts go out to, you know, those that have lost loved ones. But now for folks that'd be taken advantage of, exploitation of the elderly or insurance fraud, any type of scheme will really not be tolerated. And it's a combined effort between all the agencies in the state of Oklahoma. This is not just an Oklahoma Insurance Department effort or an attorney general's effort.

This is a statewide effort to work with local law enforcement to crack down and make sure that these contractors are taking, you know, adhering to local laws. But one of the things that we see most out of major natural catastrophes not just in Oklahoma but around the country is exploitation of elderly. And we want to make sure that we're sending that message. We're going to have fraud units, law enforcement, marked, unmarked working in the areas, taking pictures of cars, you know, looking to see are they in state, out of state, are they registered or not.

And all that is going -- it's already begun. So we're not waiting for two or four weeks later just to find out that we have a problem. We're partnering with the National Information Crime Bureau, was going to be here. The Oklahoman Insurance Department has a very close relationship with them, and we'll be using all media outlets, social media, billboards, cell phones to be able to make sure we can get to those folks or get -- work on those tips that may come in.

WHITFIELD: All right. Commissioner John Doak, thanks so much. You've got a lot on your plate. All the best to you.

DOAK: We do.

WHITFIELD: And all the Oklahomans that need your help. Thanks so much.

DOAK: Thank you, ma'am.

WHITFIELD: OK. So are you prepared for a disaster? In our 3:00 Eastern hour today, HLN consumer adviser Clark Howard shows you some simple steps that you can take to make sure that you are not financially wiped out when disaster strikes. He helps you get everything in order before something terrible like this happens.

Meantime, people are looking through the rubble of the Oklahoma tornado not just for their belongings, the material things, but they are looking for their beloved pets as well. We have an amazing story and a beautiful picture of a woman being reunited with her dog, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Part two of the sentencing phase of the Jodi Arias trial starts in July. After almost five months of testimony juries convicted her of first-degree murder. But they couldn't decide whether she should get life or death this week. So now a new jury will decide her fate, but Jodi Arias says as she was betrayed by the jury that convicted her. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What was your reaction when the jury came back with a unanimous verdict of guilty in the first degree?

JODI ARIAS, CONVICTED MURDERER: I'm trying to think how I could describe it. I felt like -- it felt like a huge sense of unreality. I felt betrayed actually.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: By whom?

ARIAS: By the jury. I was really hoping that they would see things for what they are. And I just felt -- I felt really awful for my family and what they might have been thinking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And what about the victim's family? Well, how are they doing now that they have to wait even longer for Arias' fate to be decided? Here's Jane Velez-Mitchell.

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST, "JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL": Fredricka, I am here outside the Maricopa County Courthouse in Phoenix, Arizona, and I got to tell you I'm standing right on this spot when I got word that upstairs on the fifth floor the jury had decided they cannot reach a decision on Jodi Arias whether she should be put to death or whether she should live.

And I was surrounded by trial watchers. People who have been here in court every day and we all gasped. And we looked at each other and everybody was, what now? What is going to happen now in this case? It seems to be like a runaway freight train. Well, we know that there's a status conference on June 20th right here at the courthouse. And then a retrial on the penalty phase is set for July 18th.

Now make no mistake, she's still guilty of murder one in the vicious killing of Travis Alexander. She stabbed him 27 times, slit his throat ear to ear, shot him in the face. What will be decided is simply whether Jodi Arias should live or die. But to do that, they would have to get 12 new jurors.

Where are they going to find 12 people who haven't formed an opinion about this case given all the publicity?

And there's also Jodi Arias herself. Could this open a Pandora's box. She was on the witness stand for 18 days in the case. If she -- if she manages to get on that witness stand again, could she hijack this case again?

And then there's the cost. That's going to cost a lot of money, that retrial in the penalty phase. So there's speculation that some kind of deal, a plea deal could be reached between now and when the parties are expected back in court in which death would be taken off the table. But the family of victim Travis Alexander would be assured that Jodi Arias would never see the light of day again. That she will remain behind bars for life.

But that is just speculation. We really don't know exactly what is going to happen. But we're going to wait and see.

Back to you, Fredricka.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: All right. We're watching a serious situation of flooding in Texas, San Antonio, Texas. You're looking at first responders right now in the raft. We're not sure, however, when you see the power lines, this really could indicate that this is a -- once a road now, you know, taken over by water. But we are seeing that there have been some rescues that have taken place here. There's been something like 9.5 inches of rain that has devastated this area of San Antonio, Texas, and now resulting in some serious flooding here.

It's not clear how many people but it looks like at least in this water here they are now able to walk a bit. But it looks like thigh high water there in San Antonio or at least this section of it. Of course, when we get more information on the kind of rescues that are taking place there in central Texas, we'll bring that to you.

All right. Meantime, we are still talking about the devastation that has hit Moore, Oklahoma, and neighborhoods and beyond. And out of the debris, we're also seeing some glimmers of hope.

Case in point, Barbara Garcia and her dog Bouser. They had survived the Oklahoma tornado. But at first she didn't know that. Their touching reunion was actually filmed by a CBS News crew. And that clip has gone viral on the Internet being viewed by more than three million people. Three million times at least.

Take a look at the emotional moment before we start she even knew that her dog had survived.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA GARCIA, TORNADO SURVIVOR: I was holding my dog, I was sitting on the stool, holding my dog. This was the game plan through the years. You know, to go in that little bathroom. And the electric never went off because the electric went off in the bathroom about the same time I felt the stool come up out of the floor. And I rolled around a little bit. And when it stopped, I was right there. That press stove cooker is what I saw.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You were lying there in the rubble?

GARCIA: Yes. And I never lost consciousness. And I hollered for my little dog and he didn't answer or didn't come. So I know he's in here somewhere.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The dog, the dog, the dog, hi, puppy.

GARCIA: Bless your little bitty heart. Help me.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can you get him?

GARCIA: Come on. Well, God just answered one prayer to let me be OK. He answered both of them because this was my -- my second prayer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Clearly her dog just finally heard her voice and decided OK, it's safe to emerge. And so there Miss Garcia and Bouser reunited.

Well, guess what, Garcia didn't have homeowners insurance, but people around the country have seen that reunion and they have since offered donations and even veterinary help to assist.

All right. These stories just highlight just how important people's pets are to them. You're about to meet a family who was simply overjoyed to find their basset hound, Sadie. There's a live shot right now. We're about to talk with them. And you know what, that came after hours that had to lapse before they were all reunited. So it's an incredible story. Stick around for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The tornado that ripped through 17 miles of Moore, Oklahoma, was on the ground for 40 minutes. But it took some families hours to finally reunite. One is the Rhoads family. Mom Heather was at work in Oklahoma City. Her two children 8-year-old Alex and 6- year-old Leann were at Plaza Towers Elementary, the school that took that direct hit. Well, it took Heather hours to reunite with them.

The family's home in Moore took a direct hit as well. The only one there at home at the time was the family dog Sadie. And it took even longer to find the dog. But the Rhoads did find her and surprisingly she is OK.

The Rhoads family is going to have quite the story to tell. They're joining me now live.

Heather, your family has been through an awful lot. Even before this tornado hit just within the past two years, you lost your mother to breast cancer. You lost your husband in a car crash. Sadie, your dog, was in that car crash and survived. So give me an idea of just what Sadie symbolizes to you, especially after that desperate search to find her.

HEATHER RHOADS, MOTHER: She really just symbolizes hope. She -- you know, she's been through a lot. And one of those things that you can hover down low and you can keep on taking, you know, you're just kind of have to hanker to your bearings and you can always make it through.

WHITFIELD: Well, you know, Heather, you look around you and you see, you know, your neighbor's homes destroyed, your home destroyed. You know, there is a lot going on in your life right now. And at the time of that storm you were at work. You weren't sure how the kids were doing. Your kids happened to be in that elementary school that took the direct hit.

Kind of take me back in the search for your kids, the search for your dog, how all of this has kind of come together for you. First that day, Monday, that the storm hit. It takes you hours to get to that school. Tell me what happened.

RHOADS: It actually didn't take me as long to get to the school. It did take me hours to find the kids. They were doing their best to tell you where your kids were at. But I had a really good friend there and because my kids had lost their father a year ago, they were really reluctant to leave anybody but her. And so they walked with her down to the triage center. And then another teacher ended up walking them back, which I -- you know, given the lack of communication at the time, I didn't know that. So I chased them for about three and a half hours before we were able to locate them and be reunited.

WHITFIELD: What was that moment like?

RHOADS: Absolutely blissful. I mean, it's just -- it's just such a warming feeling. I have been told they were OK, but OK is kind of relative. I mean, that's like living and breathing at time. To know that they were -- had very little physical injuries. I mean, they've got some bumps and scrapes and bruises, but overall, they're great. And so it's just -- it's just wonderful. It's this big sense of relief off your shoulders.

WHITFIELD: My goodness. And then you and the kids, did you end up going to your home and then make the discovery of what happened to your home?

RHOADS: I pretty much assumed that it was gone because everything else down that street was basically gone. I was more worried about finding them. And so once I kind of located them, we left and headed to my father's house. He lives a few miles away, but his house wasn't harmed in the tornado so we went there to kind of rest and regroup and be together.

WHITFIELD: Now you knew your dog Sadie was at home. Your dog being a real survivor. Survived the car crash that your husband was involved in. Your late husband was involved in. And then how did you find your dog alive?

RHOADS: A lot of family and friends knew that she was missing and they started looking for me since I was trying to put things together with the house and get things situated. And they sent me a picture from a shelter and said, is this her? And I'm like, my gosh, she -- that's my dog. And so they went and got her and brought her to me.

WHITFIELD: And there we've got all the pictures, some of the pictures that you were able to recover. And I understand a very sacred memento of your husband, a wedding ring that was located in the rubble, the debris of your home. All the best to you. The Rhoads family. Thanks so much for your time.

RHOADS: You're welcome. WHITFIELD: And all the best. Thanks so much, Heather.

All right, coming up, there's devastating flooding taking place in San Antonio, Texas, now. A live report, coming up next.

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WHITFIELD: We're watching right now some pretty severe flooding taking place in San Antonio. Can you believe that rainfall of up to 10 inches taking place just today has now resulted in this severe flooding in some parts.

You're seeing in some locations besides rivers and creeks that have just swollen in other areas you're seeing roads have been simply swallowed by a lot of water. And that has resulted in some rescues that are taking place as well.

We understand according to fire officials in San Antonio at least one person has died from this flooding and three are unaccounted for.

We've got on the line with us right now Christian Bove of the Public Information Office of the San Antonio Fire Department.

Mr. Bove, please give us an update now. You're looking for at least three others. What are the circumstances of them being missing?

CHRISTIAN BOVE, SAN ANTONIO FIRE DEPARTMENT: It's been an extremely busy morning for the San Antonio Fire Department. We received nearly 200 calls for high water rescues. Well, luckily not all of those (INAUDIBLE) actual rescues. There are some (INAUDIBLE) but it's going to the rushing waters and pulling people from the vehicle. Fortunately we did have one fatality, a 29-year-old female who was swept away from her vehicle and her body was found up a creek a while.

We also have at this time at least one male that's unaccounted for. And right now the waters are too high to continue to search for that person but we are continuing that search. And it's a fluid situation so we continue to receive calls about other water rescues taking place.

WHITFIELD: My goodness. And we're talking about flash flooding. We're looking at live images right now from our affiliate showing one man who's on the top of a roof. And actually these are images that we're just now getting in. These are tapes images on a roof top right there. The rescues that are taking place. That's what we're talking about, right, Mr. Bove?

BOVE: Yes, that's correct.

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WHITFIELD: That we're talking about --

BOVE: There are several, I think, that are taking place as we speak.

WHITFIELD: Trying to get people off rooftops. BOVE: And as I mentioned I'm in the phone so -- from early this morning nearly 200 calls for high water rescues of (INAUDIBLE) or another.

WHITFIELD: And you described a 39-year-old woman who was in her vehicle, got out of the vehicle and now we're talking about flash flooding and this happens all too often. This water comes so clearly, someone is in their vehicle. They get out of the vehicle.

What's your best advice to people when they get in that kind of situation?

BOVE: The best advice is to avoid the situation to begin with. Obviously, you know, we hear every single time it rains to turn around, don't drown, but people still avoid it. If you do find yourself on that situation where the water is beginning to rise, if you're able to safely get out of your vehicles as soon as possible do so, get to higher grounds. If your vehicle is already submerged, it's going to go against your best instinct but it's actually better to wait until the complete vehicle is submerged.

The pressure isn't going to allow you to open your door until that point so wait until the entire vehicle submerged then you will be able to open your door, hold your breath, swim out to higher ground and just hang on to something that you can, and wait for the rescue.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Incredible situation. We know you have your hands full.

Christian Bove of the San Antonio Fire Department, thank you so much.

Looking at various images here from our affiliate in the area of San Antonio, seeing this flash flooding and what it has resulted in. We're talking about swallowing creeks rivers. We're also talking about roads that have been just submerged by this water that comes as a result of about 10 inches of rain.

Meteorologist Karen Maginnis is going to join us right after this short break to give us some idea what might be net for the folks here in San Antonio.

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: All right. Right now the problem is flooding in a very big way in San Antonio, Texas.

Meteorologist Karen Maginnis is in the Weather Center and this flash flooding coming as a result of a whole lot of rain earlier, right?

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: This is a one-day event. Fredricka, back in 1998 it was several days. And some areas picked up about 22 inches of rain. There is a comparison between these two. This 10-plus inches of rainfall right around San Antonio, this happened just today. It has set a daily rainfall total. Want to show you one of the broader pictures. Why did this happen? All this moisture being attacked from the Gulf of Mexico and this was essentially training, meaning one cell would move over and then another one, and I am sure it was frightening for people to see this volume of rainfall and currently there is a flash flood emergency. The one fatality that we have reported so far, a woman, who was found in the flood waters and her abandoned car. They say, don't drown, turn around. And that's what you need to do.

What do we expect for San Antonio as we go through the afternoon and evening hours? This is already tapering off. But already this has been severe. Earlier we did see some rescue operations. Numerous rescues, water rescues have taken place, they -- the rescuers on the ground, in the flood waters, looking for a man on a roof. They got him. He was fine, Fredricka. But we'll stay on top of the story.

WHITFIELD: Wow. We certainly will. Thank you so much, Karen Maginnis. Appreciate that. We're going to be back in an hour or so, 3:00 Eastern Time with much more on the flooding now devastating the area of San Antonio, Texas.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Much more in the NEWSROOM one hour from now.