25 Killed In School That Collapsed During Quake; Hurricane Maria Winds Lashing The Dominican Republic; Dominican Republic Expects Dangerous Storm Surge; Risks Of Additional Collapse At School Building
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.</s>JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause live in Mexico City, where it has just turned midnight. We are following two big stories this hour. Here in Mexico, rescuers racing against the clock to find earthquake survivors trapped beneath the rubble. And in the Caribbean, Hurricane Maria is on to its next target after hitting a day it spent pounding Puerto Rico. But first to the deadly earthquake and the painstaking search for survivors. Mexico's President, Enrique Pena Nieto, says more than 50 people have been pulled alive from the debris of collapsed buildings. Rescue workers are not giving up just yet. And one school here in Mexico City, they've made contact with a 12-year-old girl trapped in the rubble of her school. There may be two others trapped with her, possibly more. The magnitude 7.1 quake killed at least 25 people in that school, all but four them were children, 230 are dead across the quake zone.</s>ANA CAROLINA OJERA TREVILLES, STUDENT: The empathy is like super strong from us because we were there. We know the people that are -- that were there. So, we are like super nervous because we're trying to know if they are safe if they are alive, and if they are in there, I don't know.</s>VAUSE: Joining me now, Journalist, Ioan Grillo. So, Ioan, good to see you. You were just telling me that your daughter goes to school not far from here. To see what's happening at this school right now must send chills, to say the least.</s>IOAN GRILLO, JOURNALIST: Yes, very close to home. My daughter goes to a school just around the corner of this street called Las Burucas. So, I drive past here once every day taking her to school and see the kids going in there. My daughter's 9-years-old.</s>VAUSE: She was, probably, the same age as this little girl.</s>GRILLO: Yes. So, she was, you know, extremely upset. She was describing how her classmates were crying, and she's still very, very tensed saying will there be a replica? Will there be another earthquake? You know, really upset by this. So, really to think that children in their -- what a child is going through being trapped in the rubble for 28 hours, you know. What is in their mind?</s>VAUSE: This rescue, though, there's so much focus on it. It's playing out live on national television. It seems symbolic in so many ways that if they can save this girl, that just means so much to this country at that point.</s>GRILLO: I think it's very good, the effort, to do that. And the fact that President Pena Nieto was here. He's not a popular president. So, to come here with a good gesture, to face the parents and to face the mother saying that, you know, our children in that school was a good gesture. And I mean, there's nothing stronger, I think, to human emotion than a young child, a young girl in a school like this trapped under. But I've been around, you know, all the great</s>VAUSE: And you've got this incredible civilian response. You know, I don't know whether it's leading the government response or whether it's supporting the government response, it's hard to say. How long can they keep this up? I mean, it's miserable here tonight -- it's raining, it's getting cold. You know this is going to go on for a long time.</s>GRILLO: Well, that response is incredible. And one thing about Mexico is all this big collective memory of 1985 and can drill into people the 1985 earthquake that pain. So, people really came out and they're now really -- it's really inspiring. A lot of the young professionals, young people coming out now. I think the energy can keep up. I know these people will have to go back to work, and they've got jobs do and you need people to work to keep the city moving. A real problem in disaster zones is when food starts to run out, water runs out. So, you need people working to keep the economy, to keep the machine going.</s>VAUSE: There's a commotion behind us right now.</s>GRILLO: Yes, there's -- I mean, there's constant movement like this at the site.</s>VAUSE: Yes. Usually, it seems that something is happening, we just don't quite know what it is. What about beyond Mexico City? Because, obviously, you know, this is wealthy part of the country, there are a lot of resources here. Beyond here, in those other areas that have been hard hit, is the government, you know, dedicating the same sort of resources? Are they getting the same kind of help that these people getting?</s>GRILLO: Not necessarily. I mean, it's a good point. I mean, we have -- Mexico City's on everyone's mind, especially this earthquake has hit middle-class neighborhoods like this one. This is a middle-class Mexico City neighborhood, the same as what other Condessa, Colanco, where businesses, where journalists are based -- a lot of journalist's homes are in those areas. But then, you go out to Puebla, to Morello State, and there are villages there, and we don't have a good idea about how bad the damage is in those places. And I'm sure there's not the same amount of marines, and military, and media attention that this place.</s>VAUSE: What, what -- I mean, obviously, they're hard to get to. Is that the only reason why? Or is that there's a political</s>GRILLO: I mean, it's hard to get to do so. It's, you know, what people know. I mean, the media, ourselves, you know, the fact journalists live in these neighborhoods. They have children that go to schools in these neighborhoods. Government officials live in these neighborhoods. So, that -- and the fact they're very close to officials. I think that has played a big part as well. But you know, think about the earthquake, it's very democratic in its way of going -- hitting rich, a middle-class and poor that you see in slums, you see in the rich neighbors, and the middle-class neighborhood's devastation.</s>VAUSE: Norms there. Ioan, good to see you.</s>GRILLO: Thanks so much.</s>VAUSE: Appreciate you for being here. Thank you. One big relief, though, so far, there have been no major aftershocks since the quake happened. And more on that, Pedram Javaheri, brings us from the International Weather Center. So, Pedram, there was this expectation that there would, at least, you know, some powerful aftershocks, but so far, nothing, why is that?</s>PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, it's very unusual, John. And you know, the epicenter of this quake being about 400 miles away from the main fault line, well to the south of Cocos fault line that dives underneath the North American fault. That is why we think the aftershock has not occurred yet. But, typically, aftershocks occur in the decrease, what's reciprocal of time. Meaning, if he had a hundred of aftershocks the first day, you would get 50 on the second day, you would get about 33 on the third day and so on, and we have not seen that yet. But they can continue weeks, months, and sometimes years. In the case of Japan, several years of aftershocks were seen. But with a magnitude 7.1, you would expect to see a 6.1, that is still a probability across this region and of course in the 5s and 4s you get into the hundreds, even thousands of aftershocks expected, but this is a little different. And you take a look, of course, you're talking about people surviving across this region. Typically, the average human can make it three to five days, that is assuming no injuries, no trauma to the head, up to eight weeks without food, but keep in mind, you can't digest food without water. So, you've got to keep factors of metabolism, the fat stores in your body, the temperatures outside, all of these play a role. And we do have a tropical disturbance and it's trying to form down there, south of Acapulco, 50 percent chance says the National Hurricane Center that this could form. But, of course, the heavy rainfall you're seeing right now across Mexico City is the result of that disturbance across that region. Now, also following what's happening with Hurricane Maria. Impressive storm system because it spent five hours over the mountains of Puerto Rico, reemerging right now and the eye beginning to becoming more and more symmetrical here. This storm system approached the island -- an island that has 22 weather observation sites, knocked 21 of those observation sites out of service. And the fact, because the island is completely out power right now, the National Weather Service in Miami, responsible for forecasting for San Juan and for Puerto Rico at this hour. But the next story developing across this region is the significant storm surge -- four to six feet across portions of the east area of Hispaniola, nine to 12 feet above what is typically a dry ground. That's, you know, you assume two feet that move your car. You get up to four to five feet, that water comes into the first level of your home up to 12 feet. And keep in mind, Turks and Caicos do not have 12 feet to work with around the immediate coastline. So, that is complete submergence of the island in parts across that region. Where is the storm headed? You've got to look at Tropical Storm Jose, it is the longest living system we've had since 1980, going on 14 days. And the reason I say that is the steering environment that Jose is sitting in place could essentially be where Maria ends up as it kind of meanders of the Eastern United States. Look at the American model in red, the European model in blue. This is for this time next week, potentially. The storm system could still be with us as Maria parks off the Northeastern United States coastline. And again, at that point, there is tremendous air with the forecast, as far as a prediction of where it will end up. We think in the immediate future, this will get stronger over the very warm waters approaching the Turks and Caicos. It looks at this point, at best case here for Turks and Caicos, it could skirt about 40 or 50 miles east of the islands. But again, notice the counterclockwise spin that brings in tremendous storm surge on an island here that is essentially made of corals. So, you're bringing that and increasing the water levels up to 12 feet over what is typically dry ground. But you notice the forecast, keeps this as a hurricane going into the beginning of next week. And at that point, we're talking about concern for rip currents on the immediate coast, and the element of good news out of this is the water temperatures will want to cool. So, there is weakening that is almost, certainly, going to take place. But when you're talking about the Northeastern United States with a hurricane offshore, it is still a big deal, John.</s>VAUSE: OK. Pedram, thank you for the forecast, thank for the update. Let's get the very latest, though, from the Caribbean. Polo Sandoval is in the Dominican Republic in Punta Cana, and also Nick Valencia standing by in San Juan, in Puerto Rico where Maria has been. But let's start with Polo. So, those winds, Polo, they're kicking up as the rain increasing, what are you experiencing there right now? And how are residents there preparing for the, you know, arrival of Maria?</s>POLO SANDOVAL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, John. Those winds certainly continue to kick up and that's because the eye of Hurricane Maria is still about 70 kilometers just offshore here. We are not expecting a direct hit, however, those outer bands, certainly, do have that damaging potential, as you can see behind me there with those palm trees just waving in the wind. Tonight, there are, really, thousands of tourists who are spending the night here. They are hunkered down; many of them -- some of which I had an opportunity to speak to only made it as far as the Punta Cana airport. There were headed back to the United States. There were some flights to Spain, South America. They didn't make it much further than that. You see the airport shut down earlier because of some of these wicked winds. They do expect, and again, I use the word expect, the airport to reopen at noontime tomorrow according to officials that we heard from earlier today. However, at this point, really, those people can only wait and see what happens. Back to the other question that you asked -- the preparations. We certainly saw some of that, in fact, here at the hotel that we're using for shelter and to bring you some of these live pictures. Many of the guests have been moved into some of the more interior rooms, to the more of the sought-after rooms. Some of those oceanfront suites and villas are empty tonight because of those safety precautions. And finally, I should mention this, John, a lot of the focus right now is not necessarily on what we're seeing right now, but what we could see in the days ahead. Officials here in the Dominican Republic, using Puerto Rico as an example that they are seeing, potentially, even more, rain than what they witnessed during the main event itself. That is something that we could see here as well. Irma, Jose, these are a storm that is dumped an incredible amount of rain in the Dominican Republic, leaving streams swollen and the ground saturated, which means some of the precipitation we'll see in the coming hours and perhaps days could lead to devastating flooding, John.</s>VAUSE: Well, Polo, with that in mind, let's go to Nick Valencia who's in San Juan, Puerto Rico. And Nick, there are some incredible devastating flooding right now in Puerto Rico, along with a lot of other problems with damage to infrastructure. This is not over, not by a long shot for Puerto Rico.</s>NICK VALENCIA, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The core of the hurricane has come and gone, John, but the outer bands of that system still remains so much. So, the weather is still a factor. You talk about flooding, there's still a flash flood warning in effect not just for San Juan, but the entire island territory. We had a chance to see exactly just the extent of the damage and in around San Juan. We wanted to try to give our viewers a better perspective and understand the extent of the damage. But the problem was, we couldn't get very far because of so many downed trees, down power lines, telephone poles. It made it very hard for our crew to get passed about three miles outside of the city. It took us about an hour and a half to get that short distance. And what we saw was incredible devastation, catastrophic devastation. A heavy police presence, police checking in on businesses, going in to make sure that they were not being looted. We saw residents also out hours after the storm, already cleaning up debris to try to get a semblance of normalcy. But this is anything but normal, John. You know, it may look like it that way, looking behind us here, but that's because we have the luxury of a generator here at the hotel that we're at -- tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans aren't so fortunate. There are still of them -- thousands of them in shelters, thousands without power, thousands without clean running water. John.</s>VAUSE: OK. Nick, thank you. Nick Valencia there live in Puerto Rico, and also Polo Sandoval live in the Dominican Republic. Thank you, both. We will take a short break. And then, coming back from disaster, how one group is helping victims of both Hurricane Maria and the earthquake here in Mexico. Also, ahead, the U.S. President reaches out to his counterpart in Mexico offering help, more on that in a moment.