Powerful Earthquake Rocks China: Thousands Feared Dead; Severe Weather Strikes Across the Midwest
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Describe for us if you would Joan just how unnerving because there were a lot of people who are watching us right now who have never experienced what you've gone through a couple of occasions now. Would you describe for us how unnerving it is, frightening it is to be in the middle of an earthquake.</s>VOICE OF JOAN UHT, AMERICAN TOURIST NEAR QUAKE'S EPICENTER: It was very frightening. Because you don't know if it's going to go on and on, what effect it's going to have on the buildings. Because they could start falling apart. And when you get out on the street, or, you know, we got outside of the house, you didn't know where it was safe to be. So the maid let us out to the street, where it didn't have any buildings, you know, to fall on you. They were there too. It was a thoroughfare where there were traffic jams. We could hear sirens. And people were just clustered along the street. We were the only Americans on the street.</s>HARRIS: Yes.</s>UHT: Everybody else was Chinese. And they were frightened to death. That makes you even more frightened.</s>HARRIS: Joan, if you would, just hang on for just a second. Don't go anywhere. I just want to give folks watching us a bit of a reset on where we are on this story. Once again, top of the hour, welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM. Tony Harris and Betty Nguyen and a powerful earthquake rocks China. It has been the story of the morning. Three thousand people feared dead, that according to Chinese media. And that figure does not include almost 900 children buried in the rubble of their collapsed high school. Still waiting for updated information on that. The report does not say if the buried children are believed to be alive. The death toll from the 7.8 magnitude, and Joan Uht is on the line with us. She can testify to the intensity of this earthquake -- 7.8 magnitude quake is expected to continue to rise as rescuers search collapsed buildings. And Joan, is an American tourist. She is in Chengdu in Sichuan Province which is the epicenter of this earthquake. And Joan, given the damage, well, let me ask it as a question, how much damage have you been able to see?</s>UHT: Well, really, in this area, it's mostly residential around here. I haven't seen anything significant. I know in the house itself, pictures were, you know, askew on the walls. And the first floor, I think one piece of glass broke.</s>HARRIS: How about drywall? Are you talking about cracks in the drywall? Anything like that?</s>UHT: We haven't seen any cracks. It's really very unusual. On the second floor, things were flung off a desk. And pictures, again, askew. And, you know, kind of a little disordered on the second floor. The third floor took quite a hit, with TV sets on the verge of falling on the floor. You know, just -- that was a mess up on the - I haven't even gone up there. I haven't been up on the second story yet myself. I was just so unnerved.</s>HARRIS: Joan, if you would, it's another kind of question to the point of how unnerving something like this is. But tell us what it feels like, because I've been through an aftershock, which was a little crazy making for me. Give me a sense of what it's like, what it feels like, and what it does to your orientation, to your senses, when the ground starts moving.</s>UHT: Well, I mean, you just don't want to fall over, No. 1, because it was really violent. You want to find something to hang on to. And we were very fortunate, I had been on the second floor, and I came down to have tea with a friend. And if I had been on the stairs, it probably would have thrown me down the stairs. That's how powerful it was.</s>HARRIS: My goodness. So how fortunate do you feel?</s>UHT: Very.</s>HARRIS: Yes.</s>UHT: Very, I just feel so sorry for the people. I'm sure there are people who have been really hurt. Now, we did hear that all of the hotels were being evacuated. They wouldn't let people back in. And on television I saw people standing around in bathrobes.</s>HARRIS: Yes. Well, Joan, we can't thank you enough --</s>UHT: Well, you're very welcome.</s>HARRIS: -- for your time. Joan is an American tourist in Chengdu. That's in the Sichuan Province, the epicenter of the earthquake. Jaime FlorCruz is at our Beijing bureau and will be joining us, pardon me, in just a couple of moments.</s>BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we do have severe weather here to tell you about, because our other big story is this. You're looking at it right there, picking up the pieces in the plains, and the southeast, after a series of violent storms and tornadoes over the weekend. At least 22 people killed across Oklahoma, Missouri and Georgia. A deadly Midwest tornado just ripped through this part of Oklahoma. The twister was a mile wide at times. And all that is left of this house, you see it there, just the bathroom. Tornadoes also tore through Arkansas. The high winds crumpled sheet metal like it was just paper, snapped utility poles like matchsticks. Several cars flipped over. Georgia has declared a state of emergency in six counties on Sunday. President Bush has already promised federal aid for the hardest hit areas. And the head of FEMA will be touring those regions tomorrow. Let's talk now about Picher, Oklahoma. Because it is one of the areas hardest hit. Our Susan Candiotti is there. And she's going to be showing us around. Susan, what a tail especially of people, just trying to save themselves and their children?</s>SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And they'll be starting to offer counseling for those who did survive. Six people were killed. Everybody knows everybody in this small community, of anywhere from 800 to about 1,000 people or so. But just to give you a sense of the utter destruction, I mean, you see this pile of rubble, yes. But the force of those winds are so strong, in a tornado this size, an EF-4, as it's described, that it can actually strip the bark off of a tree. Look at this. Smooth, the bark. And then you walk over here and have to worry about the dangers, because people will be coming back in to retrieve their belongings, and what they can salvage. I mean, you see this all over the place, you really have to be careful wherever you walk. Because injuries, people are very worried about that, and sanitation as well. Yesterday we spent part of the day with John Hutchison and his family. His wife is in the hospital. But his daughter and two grandchildren, all of them survived this storm by huddling together in a closet. And their whole house was moved about 70 feet from where they were to where they landed. And yet they came out of it alive. Take a look.</s>CANDIOTTI: John, as we look at the foundation here of your house, is this all that is left?</s>JOHN HUTCHINSON, TORNADO SURVIVOR: That's it.</s>CANDIOTTI: What was it, a one-story house? Two-story house?</s>HUTCHINSON: It was a one-story, three-bedroom.</s>CANDIOTTI: Three bedroom and it's all gone.</s>HUTCHINSON: Yes.</s>CANDIOTTI: It's all gone.</s>HUTCHINSON: It's all over there by the tree.</s>CANDIOTTI: Can you show me where you and the family were bunkering down?</s>HUTCHINSON: Yes.</s>CANDIOTTI: Be careful. Over here.</s>HUTCHINSON: This was the closet. There was a bathroom right here. And there was a closet door going to each bedroom on each side. But we got in this closet right here and we all huddled down together on the floor.</s>CANDIOTTI: But the storm shoved you way over here. Where did you wind up?</s>HUTCHINSON: Under this door just on the other side of this little table. And my wife was right next to me. She had the little grand baby in her arms.</s>CANDIOTTI: How old?</s>HUTCHINSON: About two.</s>CANDIOTTI: About two.</s>HUTCHINSON: And my daughter, Tressy, was just on the other side of her with the other grand baby. She's about 4. Between 4 and 5.</s>CANDIOTTI: So all of you were under this --</s>HUTCHINSON: Well, I was right here. My wife was here with one grandbaby. And Tressy was holding the other one. We was all laying right there. We all walked out alive.</s>CANDIOTTI: Now, if you want to get an idea of what Mr. Hutchison was staring in the face before he and his family took shelter, you're looking at it now. A home video shot by Wesley Schultz. He was driving along. He stopped actually to fill up with gas right here in town. Looked up and saw this monster funnel cloud coming right at him. Had the presence of mind to pick up a camera to get a shot of it, and then quickly got him and his children out of dodge. Now, Mr. Hutchison and other people took shelter. But they survived. Others did not. I want to briefly show you, this is the gravel pit. You can call it a chat pile. It is the mining waste from the lead and zinc mines that were operating until the 1970s that were shut down by the federal and state government. A massive cleanup was under way. There was contamination caused by these mines, and also there were cave-ins. That's what prompted the federal home buyout program and cleanup. Now the question is going to be for all the people who own these homes, are they still going to get that buyout. Will they have to go to their home insurance and/or will they get assistance from FEMA. Authorities are trying to sort all this out. Who knows how long it will take. They say they're trying to do it quickly to get these people some answers. Back to you, guys.</s>NGUYEN: My goodness. What a number of issues they have on their hands. And most of them are just trying to figure out where do I go next. All right. Susan Candiotti joining us live. Thank you for that. Well, there is more help for Florida fighters this morning. One hundred additional firefighters are expected to be called to help battle this brush fires in Brevard County. Fires have burned more than 2,000 acres there, and threatened some homes. Now, farther up the East coast, brush fires forced the evacuation of about 400 homes in Cocoa, Palm Bay and Daytona beach. Heavy smoke forced the closing of interstate 95 along a 15-mile stretch yesterday. But it is back open this morning. And we understand a news conference is happening right now, in Daytona Beach, Florida. Let's take a listen.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, some of those in Bayberry here, that evacuation order has been rescinded. So it's not quite that high total now. But again, that could change today as fire conditions, you know, as the events play out.</s>QUESTION: Do you have any indication that --</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have no indication one way or another yet. Basically everything was dedicated yesterday to either trying to get people out of the way of the fire, or try to contain the fire. Today, you know, with daylight and more resources available, I'm sure they'll be dedicating some investigators to determining the cause.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainly. Every home in the area was threatened. The burning embers from one of these fires can fly a mile to a mile and a quarter away from the fire. So, just because a home isn't immediately adjacent to it doesn't mean it's not threatened. But there were plenty of homes that were adjacent. Fortunately, you know, through the efforts of the fire department and forestry firefighters, no homes were severely damaged or lost. But the potential was certainly there.</s>QUESTION: There were people throwing buckets of water on the fire. But really, how do you plan to get this under control?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, fortunately Florida has some of the best wildland firefighters in the world. So as bad as conditions can be, we've got the people with the training and experience and the equipment, that we will get it stopped eventually. The water drops that you're talking about from the helicopter are just basically kind of a short-term attempt to knock down the fire intensity, which will allow the ground crews to get in. Basically, you can't put a fire out from the air. You have to be on the ground. And the helicopter can assist the ground forces by knocking down hot spots, and doing reconnaissance. But the tractors have to get in there, and basically create a firebreak between where the fire's burning and the fuel ahead of it. And the stronger the wind is blowing, the wider that break has to be. So we've got some heavy tractors in there creating very wide fire lines, and then we have crews patrolling them. So that if a burning ember were to cross the line, hopefully we'll be able to spot it immediately and respond</s>NGUYEN: So we've been listening to a news conference out of Florida, dealing with the firefights there. And the firefighters who are helping, we understand 100 additional firefighters are on the scene trying to put out this wildfire. The big concern, though, is burning embers moving into neighborhoods and then catching homes on fire. Let's take you now to the CNN severe weather center and Rob Marciano. Rob, the question right now, is mother nature going to cooperate with them trying to fight this fire?</s>ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Not today, Betty. We've got, this is all from the storm that brought the tornadoes to Oklahoma, throughout the southeast, now it's kind of cranking itself up across parts of the northeast. So that's the main problem. Get rid of this map, I want to get to another one. It's the second and it's going to show the winds that are driving down across Florida. And with that, we've got dry air. We've got winds that are gusting at times 20 to 30 miles an hour. And this is not good for firefighters. So we've got relative low levels of humidity, northwest and west winds kicking off the land. And even at this hour of the morning, we're seeing between 10 and 20 miles an hour. And the threat for today will be extreme fire danger. That's one step above just plain old critical. Tomorrow, slight relief. We go to critical as opposed to extreme. So, the next two days are going to be very bad there. Where the rain is, is up across the northeast. The center of the low is here. That's helping drive some of those winds across Florida. It's also helping drive winds into parts of the northeast. A quick shot of Daytona Beach. Here you go. WFTV, our affiliate right there. These fires - well, I can't see it on this monitor, but you probably can't see the smoke from there. Nonetheless, Florida under fire danger for sure as we go through today. We have areas in Delaware that are evacuating along the coast, Kent County specifically, because of the heavy rains and the strong winds that are pushing water onshore. Jersey also seeing some flooding. We've got delays at the airports. All the major airports are seeing traffic delays at this hour. Two hours and five minutes at La Guardia. Newark at almost two and a half. And Philly, same deal. So, all sorts of headaches we're trying to get through here.</s>NGUYEN: You're just as busy over there as we are over here, Rob.</s>MARCIANO: Get through it. It's only Monday.</s>NGUYEN: That's true. Happy Monday to you. Speaking of being busy, we want to check now on our breaking news out of China. Thousands feared dead in an earthquake there. Plus, almost 900 children believed buried in the rubble of their collapsed school. So let's get you right to CNN Beijing bureau chief, Jaime FlorCruz. Jaime, we're looking at numbers between 3,000 and 5,000 already reported dead, or feared dead.</s>JAIME FLORCRUZ, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, Betty, and that could still rise, the death toll could still rise, because the rescuers and rescue teams are just barely able to reach the epicenter. The epicenter is in a very mountainous, lush area. In fact, the habitat of the giant pandas in Sichuan the province. But also, it's home to about 110,000 people. So we're talking a lot of people who live in houses that are usually three, four-story houses, made of bricks, or of flimsy materials. And many of these structures are believed to have collapsed and have cost many of the people to be trapped in the rubble. And that's why we are just beginning to hear that the rising toll from 3,000 to almost about 5,000 people dead so far -- Betty.</s>NGUYEN: Jaime, Chengdu is the area where the epicenter was. Talk to us about this area. Are there a lot of high-rises? You talk about buildings being collapsed, but what is centered in this area?</s>FLORCRUZ: Well, Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan Province, which is still about 150 kilometers, or about 50 miles away from the epicenter. The epicenter itself is a county that is mountainous. I've been there a few years ago to report on the pandas. That's where the panda reserve area is located. It's lush, it's mountainous. But it's only about 50 miles away from Chengdu, but it took me about four hours to drive from Chengdu to the panda reserve area. So you can imagine how difficult it is to reach this place, and how difficult it will be for the rescuers to reach those who are trapped in the collapsed structures in the places where they have been, where the epicenter is right now.</s>NGUYEN: And Jaime, we haven't even begun to talk about the number of people injured. We're just talking about the people feared dead, feared under all that rubble. But when it comes to injuries, I'm seeing a number around 10,000 people who might be reported injured at this hour. Is there enough emergency personnel, enough crews to handle not only the rescue operation, but the injured?</s>FLORCRUZ: Well, 10,000 is probably a very conservative estimate right now. As I said, they are just beginning to restore communications there. Transport and telecommunications were cut off after the earthquake. The Chinese are very good at organizing rescue and medical operations in natural disasters like this one. Because of their top-down government structure, they're able to muster enough manpower, and goods to send to these disaster areas. The Chinese People's Liberation Army is usually very good at responding to these emergencies, and they're in fact leading the operations right now. A lot of the operations may in fact involve using things by hand. For example, wading through the rubbles of collapsed structures to rescue people who are trapped there. And many of these will have to be done by the People's Liberation Army soldiers -- Betty.</s>NGUYEN: A lot of work to be done. Time is of the essence. As people are indeed trapped under rubble. Considering how many are affected by this 7.8 magnitude quake, a very powerful quake. Jaime FlorCruz, joining us live from Beijing. Thank you, Jaime. And CNN I-Reporters in China are sending us their photos. Take a look at this. This one from Michelle Christenson, a daughter of a diplomat in Beijing. Michelle says she was sitting at her computer when the quake. It made her feel very dizzy and see the walls shaking there a little bit. She said the quake shook her house and made the lights sway as evident in that shot. Well, this picture from Yi Wei Ang who lives 30 minutes from downtown Beijing and granted Beijing is about 900 miles away from the epicenter. This I-Reporter says school was evacuated. Everything in the neighborhood was relatively calm. Residents are now bracing for those aftershocks. In other news, help for cyclone survivors. CNN exclusive video, you have to see this, a U.S. aid plain arrives in Myanmar. More flights are planned. We have so much more on this story we are covering for you. That's ahead here on the NEWSROOM.