Georgia Neighborhood Hit Hard as Storms Tear Through Southeast
VANIER: In the coming hours, the warring parties in Syria will take another stab at ending the nearly 6-year-old civil war. It's been a year since the last attempt. Delegates from the Syrian opposition and the government have been arriving in the capital of Kazakhstan. This new round of negotiations was organized by governments of Turkey as well as being backed by Iran.</s>CURNOW: Samsung is blaming bad batteries for causing its Galaxy Note 7 phones to catch fire.</s>VANIER: Investigators say the overheating stemmed from poorly designed batteries from two different suppliers. Samsung launched the phone last August and killed off the troubled device in early October.</s>CURNOW: At least 12 people are dead in central China after a landslide slammed into a hotel on Friday. State media reports the bodies of 10 victims have been found. Piles of rocks and dirt buried part of the building. Over a dozen people were eating lunch on the ground floor restaurant were trapped. Rescuers pulled five people from the rubble, but two of them died on the way to the hospital.</s>VANIER: Severe storms have been tearing through the southeastern United States. They have killed at least 14 people in central Georgia. CNN's Polo Sandoval went to a central Georgia neighborhood that was hit very hard by the weather.</s>POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Authorities have now been able to complete the search-and-rescue recovery efforts yet because of the ongoing threat of severe weather. As a result, what is perhaps the hardest hit neighborhood, that you may be able to make out behind me remains closed off. Because of the darkness, because of the distance, you might not be able to see too much. So, take a look at some of the pictures shot in the region. You can see the widespread devastation. The Sunshine Acres neighborhood, a mobile home park, according to authorities, is where at least seven people lost their lives. The owner and the manager of that property are posting a statement online for his residents saying, quote, "It is with deep sorrow that I write this. The majority of Sunshine Acres is no more due to a tornado. The majority of Sunshine Acres was destroyed. Most everyone is OK. There are still some missing." That manager referring to what are at least five people that are still unaccounted for. So, there is concern and the death toll could rise. And know we're hearing some of the remarkable stories of survival, including a 24-year-old husband and father that I spoke to here who says, after I rode out the storm, he joined rescue efforts and helped rescue at least three children from the rubble. Polo Sandoval, CNN, Adele, Georgia.</s>CURNOW: Thanks to Polo for that report. Let's get the latest on this deadly weather. Pedram Javaheri joins us now. This is all unusual, isn't it?</s>PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is, absolutely. This time of year, we're, climatologically, this third week of January is what it should be the coldest time of the year across north America. And of course, the temperatures have been well above normal, spawning numerous tornadoes. You take a look. January averages 36 tornadoes for the month. It is among the quietest times of the year. You take a look at the perspective, 94 tornadoes, is what we've seen so far across the United States. And in fact, that's over 260percent of what is considered normal for this time of year. So of course, the concern remains very high. The storm system so impressive. We were looking at some of the observations coming in from the storm reporters and the officials on the ground. And one person spoke to an official there at a grocery store who is reporting that once the tornado came through, they actually had the biscuit there's -- the cans of biscuits were beginning to pop because of the pressure drop within the storm in that vicinity of southern Georgia. That kind of speaks to the significance of the storm. And still very active. 800-mile stretch there from places such as Key Largo out north off the Carolinas where we're seeing thunderstorms left and right. When you work your way towards southern Florida, almost seven million people underneath a tornado watch at this hour. We do have a tornado warning in effect right now with radar-indicated rotation right there. Palm Beach Gardens northwest of Palm Beach on into Jupiter. We know it's in the very early morning hours, and we often say tornadoes, of course, very deadly. But when you put them into the overnight hours, they're about twice as likely to kill than the daytime hours for obvious reasons. We're watching that threat very carefully across Florida at this hour. I want to show you how these tornadoes spawned significant damage over parts of the United States. We talk about the number of tornadoes that we saw across the southern United States. And that number in the past three days alone sat somewhere around 41 reports of tornadoes. You can see where they're scattered about the southeast. Climatologically, we should be into the 30s for the entire month. And we see that number. And you compare that to what has occurred with these storms we know of at least 22 fatalities now, and you compare to 2016 which was, in fact, one of the quietest years in terms of fatalities for tornadoes. In fact, the quietest in 30 years where only 17 live were lost. You notice what happened a couple of years ago, with the break across Alabama where over 500 lives were lost. It speaks to the significance of an event that is taking place in the heart of the winter season across parts of the southern United States. The storm is migrating to the north and east. As it sets up across this area, very heavy rainfall around the Carolina on into parts of the eastern United States. Wind gusts around New York City, around Philadelphia could be anywhere from 50 to 60 miles per hour over the next 24 hours. It's certainly going to impact travel across this region. And we know any time you get into densely populated cities with tall buildings, and specifically, we look at winds to really begin to funnel and intensify even more. So, again, something worth noting here with wind damage potential over the next day or so around the northeastern U.S. -- guys?</s>CURNOW: Thank you so much. Folks need to stay safe. Pedram, appreciate that update.</s>JAVAHERI: Thank you.</s>VANIER: All right. And like many of our viewers across the U.S., Robyn Curnow was watching Sunday football before coming to work.</s>CURNOW: It was great. We're in Atlanta, and we now know who will play in Super Bowl</s>LI. VANIER: Two high-powered defenses and one team looking for their first ever title. We'll have the action from Sunday just ahead.