Power Outages Begin in California to Prevent Wildfires; Typhoon Hagibis Makes Landfall in Japan, Leaving at Least One Dead
HOWELL: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from the ATL. I'm George Howell with the headlines we're following for you this hour.</s>HOWELL: For viewers on the West Coast, the race is on in southern California to contain several wildfires that are happening there. More than 30 homes have already been destroyed and tens of thousands of people have been forced to leave their communities. Take a look. Those fires playing out, this scene from Los Angeles. Some people are beginning to return home. Officials say the Saddleridge fire is just 13 percent contained. CNN's Paul Vercammen is there.</s>PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The focus for firefighters tonight as the winds kick up again is looking for those hot spots, making sure they keep them out, especially in homes that burned down. One of 31 structures just like that one behind me.</s>REP. BRAD SHERMAN (D-CA): Mandatory means mandatory. If you're instructed to leave, please leave.</s>VERCAMMEN (voice-over): Tens of thousands under mandatory evacuation orders after the Saddleridge fire exploded overnight in the San Fernando area of Los Angeles.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fire quickly evolved into a wind-driven fire.</s>VERCAMMEN (voice-over): It spread in what officials call an uncontrolled fashion, crossing major freeways. Officials are already starting to evaluate homes that have been lost to the fire and they say residents should not wait for someone to knock on their door to leave.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I don't want to tell family they lost a deputy because you stayed behind.</s>VERCAMMEN (voice-over): Despite the strong Santa Ana winds and the evacuation orders, some residents are staying put.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just decided to stay. My brother decided to stay. Our neighbors decided to stay.</s>VERCAMMEN (voice-over): Hoping to protect their homes a little longer.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know that they gave us notice but still I cannot leave. I know we're to leave, you know. The minute it is going to be very, very bad, then I have to leave.</s>VERCAMMEN (voice-over): The fire started around 9:00 pm Thursday, growing rapidly, engulfing more than 7,500 acres.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It appears there is a lull in activity there but don't be fooled. There's a lot of open fire line and potential for continued growth of the fire.</s>VERCAMMEN: They say the fire is 13 percent contained, although they didn't update that containment number at the last news conference. Also, that wind. They have extended the red flag warning into tomorrow evening -- reporting from Granada Hills, California, I'm Paul Vercammen.</s>HOWELL: Let's talk more about what is happening with Thomas Fuller, he is the San Francisco bureau chief for "The New York Times," not only reporting on the fires but also dealing with them in his own neighborhood. Thomas, thank you for taking time with us.</s>THOMAS FULLER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES: Happy to be on.</s>HOWELL: Let's start out with the latest on the fires. Fire crews report that the Saddleridge fire is growing.</s>FULLER: So yes, there are two fires in southern California. One of them has led to 100,000 evacuations. And a smaller fire has destroyed more structures but it has had fewer evacuations. But they are both being pushed by very strong winds that happen every year in the fall in California.</s>HOWELL: And talk to us about the forecast, the expectation, given that weather certainly is a main factor here.</s>FULLER: Yes, well, you know, California has this kind of desert climate in the summer months. In many parts of the state, it doesn't rain a drop from, you know, April until about, well, November. So by the time you get to late fall, everything is very desiccated. And when the winds whip up, that is the very dangerous combination that we're seeing now, that we saw last year. We had that horrific fire in northern California that killed 86 people. And then the year before that, it was right around the same time of year -- as a matter of fact it was almost two years exactly this week, that we had the fires that went through Wine Country north of San Francisco that did a tremendous amount of damage as well.</s>HOWELL: Also PG&E decided to turn off power, leaving people upset, angry and feeling helpless. What are you hearing?</s>FULLER: This has never happened before in California. Because of those fires in northern California the last two years.</s>FULLER: The largest electricity company in the state decided to turn off the power for millions of people. It was a deliberate power cut that lasted for some people several days. We're at the tail end of that now. But you can imagine that, you know, a society that is very much connected to the grid online, interconnected, really struggled when the power went off. We had just very strange juxtapositions. I mean, this was happening just at the doorstep of Silicon Valley, this was happening in the very wealthy San Francisco Bay area, although not in San Francisco itself. And it was happening all the way up to the Oregon border. So you had this very wealthy, developed state, the fifth largest economy in the world, having this tremendous power cut, deliberate power cut. And the idea is that electrical equipment in the past has caused a number of very serious fires, including the one that killed 86 people last year. And so if you turn the power off, the idea is that you might be able to prevent one of these horrible fires.</s>HOWELL: I've never, as a reporter, been right in the center of a story that I was reporting on like you are doing right now. You are dealing with this. You've written about your personal reflections of the power outages and fires as they make their way to your front door. What is the situation right now in your neighborhood?</s>FULLER: Things have calmed down a lot. We had -- I'm in a suburb of San Francisco. And we had quite a hectic week, where the power went out. And several hours later, there was a fire directly across from my house. And so many neighbors were evacuating. And all the while, we were supposed to be writing about it. It wasn't a very large fire, only about 50 acres. But it really brought home what many people have suffered through in, of course, much more serious conditions than what we had here. But you know, fire is such a threat for every community across California at this time of year. Things are so combustible that you do have dozens of dozens of fires in a month, some of them as small as the one we had here. But then you also have these huge conflagrations that authorities can do very little to solve.</s>HOWELL: It must be very difficult obviously to watch this yourself and so many other people who are in the same situation. Thomas Fuller, we wish you safety and we'll stay in touch with you.</s>FULLER: You're welcome. Thanks so much.</s>HOWELL: Now to Japan, where several areas are under the highest weather warning as a powerful typhoon gets closer and closer. That storm has already caused damage. At least one person was killed and five others injured when a tornado touched down near Tokyo. CNN is live in the capital city. Paula Hancocks on the streets of Tokyo with us. Paula, tell us more about the preparation for this storm and the impact it's already had.</s>PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: George, there is an emergency weather warning out now from Japanese officials. That's for Tokyo and also for the surrounding areas, so greater Tokyo. There's five levels they can call. They've called for level five, the highest, saying that it is very important that people do everything they can to protect their lives. They are making sure that residents know that this is a dangerous storm. Now it has been lessening in intensity as it approaches landfall but it is still a very dangerous typhoon. Now we understand there have also been more than 250,000 residents that are now under evacuation order, meaning they should seek shelter, official shelters, or try to protect themselves. There's hundreds of thousands more that are under advisories of evacuation. We also know that there is a serious concern about the level of rainfall, the amount of water that is falling at this point and is in the rivers. Half a dozen of those rivers have a level four flood warning, which is the second highest it can get to. When it gets to level five, they have flooded. One of the rivers has already broken its banks. The typhoon has not reached this particular area yet, so there is a real concern among authorities about the potential for record-breaking rainfall from this storm.</s>HOWELL: Paula Hancocks on this story. We'll continue to watch this with you. Thank you.</s>HOWELL: Now to an incredible feat of human endurance and athletics. A Kenyan distance runner became the first person to run a marathon in less than two hours' time. It is amazing to look at this. Eliud Kipchoge won in Vienna in 1:59:40. He smashed the previous record, which was his own, by about 1:40. He spoke with Richard Quest last year about whether he believed a sub two-hour marathon was in his reach.</s>ELIUD KIPCHOGE, MARATHON RUNNER: The professors intends to buck minister (ph) saying it there is no one even that came close before the</s>RICHARD QUEST, CNNMONEY EDITOR AT LARGE: Somebody will run under two hours. Will it be you?</s>KIPCHOGE: It might be me. It may be another person. But I know a human being can run under two hours.</s>HOWELL: Wow. Here's the thing, today's race was an unofficial marathon. That means that it will not be recognized by the sport's governing body because it was not an open competition. Still ahead, it may be a limited deal but it is a deal nonetheless. The U.S. and China call a halt to their trade war. CNN is live on the story in Shenzhen. Plus, a mission not so possible. One that was scary for a man who climbed to the top of a plane to protest. That story ahead as NEWSROOM continues. Stay with us.