Hundreds Killed in Southern Storms
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: We're here to cover the royal wedding, which is now just a few hours away. We will have a lot of coverage on that later tonight. But our hearts go out to everyone back home in the southern United States tonight who lost loved ones, lost homes or simply witnessed the devastation from some of the worst tornadoes ever experienced in this country. This one hit Philadelphia, Mississippi, and there were many, many more hitting half a dozen states. Alabama, of course, was the hardest hit. The terrifying video last night, we saw it, of a tornado bearing down on Tuscaloosa, Alabama, shot by a very brave cameraman for the University of Alabama. Expensive destruction in some places, total devastation. And now rescue and recovery. For that, I want to turn things over to John King in Atlanta.</s>JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Anderson. Breaking news tonight. People badly hurting here, one of the deadliest and most destructive storms on record. New numbers now, at least 294 lives lost, countless more injured. Half a dozen states across the South getting hammered. The destruction plain to see. Look here. This is Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This video taken there, and destruction all across the region. It boggles the mind and it breaks your heart.</s>WALTER MADDOX, MAYOR OF TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA: It's devastating. Our city's infrastructure has been absolutely decimated. We're facing an overwhelming situation in which we're short on men, materials and equipment.</s>KING: In and around Birmingham, similar devastation. These tornadoes were stronger than usual, cut a wider path than normal and stayed on the ground longer and as we said they seemed to be everywhere. But Alabama took the worst of it, with at least 207 fatalities there. And as in every disaster, that number sadly likely to rise. As for the damage, there's concern beyond just homes. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission tonight is monitoring Browns Ferry nuclear plant in northern Alabama. Reactors were shut down last night when they lost off-site power. Backup generators are now filling the gap. Alabama power officials say more than a third of a million customers still in the dark tonight. President Obama has declared an emergency for Alabama and dispatched his FEMA administrator there.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can't control when or where a terrible storm may strike. But we can control how we respond to it. And I want every American who has been affected by this disaster to know that the federal government will do everything we can to help you recover.</s>KING: Recovering in of course some very, very trying days ahead. Reynolds Wolf is on the ground in Tuscaloosa, right in the heart of it. Reynolds, given the fury of these tornadoes, the fury, are you surprised by the amount of destruction?</s>REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I got to tell you, I have never seen anything like this before. As you know, John, I'm from Alabama, I grew up here, I have also been a broadcast meteorologist for nearly two decades. This boggles my mind. I have never seen anything quite like this, by far, the worst thing I have ever witnessed.</s>KING: And so, Reynolds, these are super tornadoes, make the distinction for us. You're the expert. What separates a super from a regular tornado?</s>WOLF: What really separates a super tornado from just your average tornado is a super tornado is what they refer to on the enhanced Fujita scale an EF-4 or 5, an incredibly powerful tornado. And what makes it super is that they're so incredibly rare. Most tornadoes are on the EF-0 to EF-3. Many of them don't last very long, they are they weak, they form very quickly, then they dissipate within seconds, most of them. This one was truly one of the exceptions. This is a very, very large tornado that came through here, obviously very destructive, winds in excess of 200 miles per hour. I would not be surprised that by the time the reconnaissance is done by the National Weather Service that ends up being indeed an EF-4 or 5, a super tornado, John.</s>KING: And when you talk about the uniqueness of this, a lot of components, sadly, coming together. Is that right?</s>WOLF: Oh, absolutely. I mean, it was really the perfect recipe for these storms. You had plenty of moisture coming in from the Gulf of Mexico, relatively warm day, too, which really caused the atmosphere to destabilize. You needed a catalyst and we had a couple. One was a strong frontal boundary that came through the region. The second thing was the jet stream that also piled in. And if you happen to be a scientist, if you happen to be meteorologist, all those elements were easy to pretty see set up in the atmosphere. So the Storm Prediction Center out of Norman, Oklahoma, the local National Weather Service offices were all sending out the watches, the warnings, the advisories. This was something that many people in the community knew about. Local forecasters were certainly sending out the word. So, again, it was one of those situations where the components did come together. It was the perfect recipe, and it was a very detrimental one.</s>KING: And, Reynolds, you mentioned your experience, you're from Alabama and almost everybody I have talked to, sheriffs and the like, mayors and the like from the region who have been through so many tornadoes, they are all saying never anything like this. Why?</s>WOLF: It's just something of the sheer power. We have had tornadoes. One of the first tornado stories I ever covered was the Palm Sunday tornadoes back in 1993 that struck Piedmont, Alabama, killed 11 people in a church. It was a horrible experience. But as bad as that storm was, certainly the tornado was not that big. It was not on the ground for that length of time. This is something that just defies really logic. It's hard to believe that there was something this destructive causing this much damage. You have to remember, John, this was nearly a mile wide, possibly it may end up being a mile wide for a good part of its duration on the ground on a path that went over 15 miles. That doesn't happen, John, but it did in this situation.</s>KING: Reynolds Wolf on the ground in Tuscaloosa, in the heart of it. Reynolds, thanks. Stay safe, my friend. President Obama scheduled to visit the area tomorrow. FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, already on the scene. States of emergency in effect across the region tonight, and again at least 207 lives lost in Alabama, where medical personnel have treated upwards of 1,700 people. A doctor in Tuscaloosa says his city looked like an atom bomb hit. You heard from the Tuscaloosa mayor, Walter Maddox, a moment ago. He joins us. Mayor Maddox, are you with us? The mayor will be with us momentarily. When we get out connection to the mayor, we will get to him. We have across the region now. We said the death toll is mounting here in Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, deaths reported in all those regions. As you look at the pictures and as you talk to officials across the region, everywhere you turn, in all of these states, people are saying they have never seen anything like it. Why? They say the tornadoes stayed on the ground longer, they say they were wider, as Reynolds Wolf just told you, and they came through and through these towns. The devastation just crazy here. I want to move now to Douglas Woodward. He's an emergency room physician at the Druid City Hospital, Tuscaloosa's main trauma center. Dr. Woodward, when this tornado hit Tuscaloosa, you're at home with your family and you took shelter. The tornado missed your house but you had the urge obviously to do your job and spring into action. Tell us about that.</s>DR. DOUGLAS WOODWARD, ALABAMA: Yes, sir. I was at home with my wife and two children. We were watching the tornado coming on the news channels, so we knew that it was heading for our home. So we got my son and my daughter Hanna (ph), my son Nate (ph) in out storm room. We watched as the storm approached. You could hear it and seeing debris in the sky and the sky spinning and clouds low to the ground. We wondered if we were going to take a direct hit. It sure looked like that for a moment . But it passed and then my wife, Angela, who is an emergency department physician along with me, we knew we needed to be at the E.R. based on the local news coverage. We saw that heavily populated areas had been struck by the tornado so we knew they were going to need all the help they could get, so we made our way to the emergency department.</s>KING: You say you made your way. You're a doctor of medicine, but a chain saw, you had to use a chain saw to get there?</s>WOODWARD: That's correct. We live out in the country, so there's plenty of trees you need to cut. So I threw the fuel and the saw in the back of my Volkswagen and took off out of the neighborhood. And on the road that takes us through our neighborhood, that's where the downed trees were. I initially cut through a few until I was able to cut to an area and I saw the extent of the path. I had no idea the path was so wide. There were large power lines, power cables down. So I put the chain saw up, knowing there was no way I was going to be cutting my way out of there, so I started off on foot.</s>KING: And tell me what you found along the way, not only in terms of the devastation you got to see, but the injuries, the hurt.</s>WOODWARD: Yes, there were a lot of homes that I didn't even know existed as they were concealed by the trees previously. But with the trees down, you could see flattened homes, lots of building materials, the insulation, siding, particle board, everything scattered. And as we got into higher populated areas, there were a large -- moderate number of people standing, looking somewhat in shock. But we were able to ask if there were any injuries, me and a couple of gentlemen that I met walked down the streets looking for injured patients. We saw several with deep lacerations, extremity injuries. Some of them had some pretty significant</s>KING: Dr. Woodward, we applaud your work, especially amid personal devastation right there in the neighborhood. We will keep in touch with you. Good luck in the days ahead. Let's try again. We have reestablished our connection we believe with the Tuscaloosa mayor, Walter Maddox. Mayor Maddox, thank you for your time on this tough night for you community tonight. We heard you at the top of the program say you had neighborhoods that had been removed from the map. Help us now as you have a better sense of the damage. How extensive is it?</s>MADDOX: It's going to be very extensive. We're talking hundreds of millions of dollars within the city itself. We now have 38 confirmed fatalities, 900 reported injuries as a direct result of yesterday's tornado and we still have over 40,000 homes within the city that do not power.</s>KING: Well, 40,000 homes without power. How are the efforts going? With the destruction all across the region like this, one of the issues, normally, Georgia might send Alabama help, Mississippi might send Alabama help, but everybody is hurting. Is that causing delays?</s>MADDOX: Absolutely. We lost our entire environmental services division, including our entire fleet, which has really hampered our relief efforts. The governor and his staff have been excellent. We have had 14 requests to the state EMA. They have honored all 14 requests, including moving up to 1,000 National Guardsmen that will be on the streets of Tuscaloosa in the next 12 hours.</s>KING: And help us understand your challenge obviously as you look at the devastation around you and we show the pictures to our viewers. So many people have lost their homes, so what is your shelter situation, how many people homeless right now?</s>MADDOX: Well, we're going to have hundreds, if not thousands of people homeless. And as we extend out this the next 72 to 96 hours, that's going to be a huge humanitarian issue for us. Right now the city is critically short of men, materials and equipment. Fortunately, the state EMA is coming to the plate, but we lost a lot of our internal infrastructure during the course of the tornado. We lost a lot of fire units, police units, and our critical environment services unit, which has really crippled our efforts.</s>KING: You say crippled your efforts. You say the state is giving you help. One of the questions that always comes up after tragedies like this is not only town to the state and then state to the federal. What is your sense of the response and the reaction so far, especially given the scope of the challenge?</s>MADDOX: I have been very pleased. The governor has been there every time I called him. I know that he's had conversations with the president and the president has been really supportive. The main thing we will need from the federal government is reimbursement. This is going to cost the city tens of millions of dollars in a very tough economic time. And so the biggest thing we will need is the reimbursements coming from FEMA. State EMA is doing an outstanding job and the governor of giving us the equipment and resources to help our citizens.</s>KING: Mayor, you're laying out your challenges, the public official. Reflect for me a moment if you can just personally as you have gone around your community today at what you have seen and what it's done to you.</s>MADDOX: My heart's broken. There's no way you -- there's no way you can walk on these streets where I have grown up, and the 93,000 citizens that I represent, and see the pain in their eyes, the look of what has happened to us. This has clearly been a dark hour for me personally, and for our city. But I am confident. I believe that we will come out of this stronger and a new day will dawn for the city of Tuscaloosa. We have a resilient spirit here and it's going to be on display for the world to see.</s>KING: Mr. Mayor, we thank you for your time and we wish you the best and you're in our thoughts and prayers in the challenging days ahead. Thank you, sir.</s>MADDOX: Thank you, John.</s>KING: Thank you. In a moment, I will check in with CNN's Martin Savidge, he's in Birmingham, Alabama. And will talk with a woman -- you won't believe this -- she saw her family's home reduced to nearly total wreckage, all except for one lifesaving room -- Anderson.</s>COOPER: Thanks a lot. We will have more on the deadly storms next. Remember to check in with us on Facebook. You can follow me on Twitter @AndersonCooper. Still ahead, the latest on the building anticipation for the royal wedding here in London, the last-minute preparations at Westminster Abbey tonight and Buckingham Palace. Also, a look at the comparisons between Kate Middleton and Diana, princess of Wales. The royal watching experts weigh in.