john: tonight on pbs news weekend, airstrikes pound beirut as israel expands its bombardment of hezbollah in lebanon. >> it was a night of terror. there is no solution to this except for the aggression to stop as quickly as possible. john: then, one year after the october 7th attacks on israel, a mother pleads for the return of her son who's being held captive by hamas. and how hurricane helene's destruction is putting a spotlight on insurance gaps in america. ♪

>> major funding for the "pbs news weekend" h been provided by -- >> consumer cellular, this is sam, how can i help you? >> thought i would let you know that with consumer cellular, you get nationwide coverage with no contract. that is kind of our thing. have a nice day. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the news hour. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs

station from viewers like you. thank you. john: good evening, i'm john yang. overnight, israel carried out the heaviest bombardment of beirut in its air campaign against hezbollah. massive explosions lit up the skies and plumes of thick smoke covered the city. civilians had been warned to evacuate their homes. they returned to ash and rubble. >> let all the countries talk to them and put pressure on them to stop the war and negotiate with each other. let them deal with it. what is the fault of the people? and those children who died? they left us with nothing, and we have become nothing. john: nearly a quarter of the lebanese population has been displaced in beirut. some live out of their cars or tents. special correspondent leila moana allen is in beirut tonight. leyla, the israelis have intensified both the scope and

the intensity of their bombardment of hezbollah in lebanon. where is the sense of where this goes from here? leyla: they have. and what's really been clear over the last few days is just how much that bombardment has intensified. a week ago, we were looking at certainly in and around beirut few strikes a day and they were regularly warnings for those. that's really changed now. last night was by far the most intense bombardment we've experienced he. at least 25 to 30 strikes throughout the night. incredibly intense strikes, shaking the whole city and flattening buildings across the suburbs of beirut, but also further as well. many, many people now packing up and running for their lives. now in the south of lebanon where they've been hitting harder and harder, initially what we were hearing was there was going to be bombardment of those southern villages south of the litani river, which is where the idf wants hezbollah to withdraw to. we initially saw that and those ground raids as well, but that zone has spread significantly.

we're now seeing evacuation orders for cities all the way up the south of lebanon. major populations. people streaming up the border to try to get out of those areas and really a lot of those southern towns have now been flattened. we're seeing quite incredible destruction of those buildings. what's also happening, of course, in this fight is that the idf is sending troops into the south of lebanon to fight with hezbollah troops on the border. they say, the idf, that they managed to clear 250 meters of subterranean tunnels used for transporting weapons over the last couple of days. they've managed to seal those with concrete, and there's also heavy fighting happening on the. -- on the ground. at least eight idf soldiers have been killed. hezbollah says they have killed many more. the idf hasn't confirmed those yet, but we're certainly seeing heavy fighting down there. john: you talk about people packing up and running for their lives. the head of the un refugee agency said that there is a major displacement crisis in lebanon now. talk about that.

leila: well, as you said, john, at least 1.2 million people have been displaced. that is 25% of the population of lebanon, and what we're seeing with this displacement, of course we know that at least 60,000 residents from the north of israel have been displaced for nearly a year now because of the hezbollah rocket attacks. but on the other side of the border, there isn't the capacity to house these people here in lebanon. there's been a major financial crisis which i have of course reported on for the newshour for 5 years here. the government is in complete disarray. there's no president. there's been no prime minister. there's been no government for 2.5 years, so they're not in a position to handle this. every morning you see more and more people spread out across the streets of the capital, across the streets of the central southern towns, they are sleeping on mattresses. they're sleeping on blankets, small children in the baking heat. it's pouring rain at night. they've escaped with really just plastic bags full of whatever they could carry. there have been some shelters that have been opened, some by the municipalities and a lot by local charities, but they just don't have the capacity. people are finding many of shelters closed and of course

all that money is just coming from local charities. we're seeing an enormous scale of human misery here and when these israeli evacuation orders come out, people say, well, of course, why don't they just clear leave to save their lives. they really have nowhere to go. they have short notice, but they really also just have nowhere safe where they believe they can be. they don't have the money for this, they don't have food, they don't have medicine, they don't have proper shelters. so we're seeing an incredible crisis spreading out across the streets of lebanon here and just a reminder that first there are no air raid sirens or bomb shelters in lebanon. so when people are running from these bombs, they are running out in the streets and taking shelter wherever they can. and secondly, most people in lebanon who are left here who have not managed to evacuate yet, don't have foreign passports, don't have visas. they can't get out of the country. they are stuck here. john: and in cases like this, there's also governments, foreign governments trying to get there. -- get their citizens out of the country. how is that going? leila: for many months now, western governments and

particularly the united states government and the uk government have been warning citizens you should leave. please get out while you still can. please get out while there are a commercial options. there have been warnings that this crisis was going to escalate. now the united states says that they have managed to evacuate 5 -- help and assist 500 us citizens in the last couple of weeks. they ran a flight on october 4th where they managed to get 150 further people out. that was a flight that they ran themselves a they say they've assisted nearly 2000 people over the last few weeks with seats on commercial flights. now we a reaching a point where those evacuation options are becoming much more difficult . they have military flights for multiple western countries that are flying people out. but the issue here is that right now the only airline flying in and out of beirut airport is the national carrier middle east airlines, all other airlines have ceased to fly and they are flying through smoke. they're flying through shards of bomb fragments when they land. just to give you a sense of how close we are to these

explosions, beirut is only about 13 miles square, the center of the city, at about 40 miles squared, the whole of the wider city, including the suburbs, that airport is right next to the southern suburbs that are being bombarded every hour of the day. so that's what people have to get through. one of the roads, the old road to the airport, was hit yesterday. the main highway is still open. the airport is still functioning, but we don't know for how long. in 2006 when the war happened, israel did hit that airport and put it outf commission and because the two borders here are with israel and with syria crossing them is not an option for most people. so we may soon see military aircraft carriers and speed boats coming and taking people to cyprus and turkey from the ports here. that's the fear that we could be seeing a mass evacuation by sea for anybody who hasn't left yet. john: the u.s. state department says that they are working to get a ceasefire in lebanon. of course they've been trying to get a ceasefire in gaza for months without much success. what do you think the chances are of success here? leila: there seems at the moment very little chance of a

ceasefire. what we're seeing here, of course, is with the october 7th anniversary coming up tomorrow. huge tensions across the region. everybody is expecting some significant attacks on both sides of the border and of course everybody also waiting for what israel's response will be to iran's huge missile aack on the country earlier this week. the united states and other allies of israel have urged them not to target iran's nuclear facilities or any major infrastructure to try not to escalate. but what we've really see happening is israel increasingly not listening to its western allies, saying we are now in this position where we need to defend ourselves a we will do whatever is necessary. israel says that this fight is against. -- against hezllah. but much of the infrastructure they're hitting, we are seeing huge civilian high rises being hit. we're seeing medical infrastructure being hit, 100 medics at least have been killed in justhe last couple of weeks. there were 28 medics killed here in 24 hours, not just hospitals which are being ruck, but also ambulances, civil defense going and trying to dig civilians out of buildings.

that forms a part of the larger issue here which is that not only have things become so polarized in this region, one side or another, but in the rest of the world across the west, people have such incredibly strong feelings on either side about this conflict. and what we've seen is the complete dehumanization of civilians on both sides of this conflict, whichever side it is that wants support. and a real lack of what used to be the fundamental principle here that civilians must be protected in all cases. people here are absolutely terrified that they feel no one in the international community is understanding the extent to which civilians are being affected by this escalating conflict, and they just see that getting worse and worse. there's real fear. across the region now that this could turn into an absolutely brutal all-out war in which hundreds of thousands of lives are affected forever. john: leila malana allen in beirut tonight. thank you very much. on israel's other military front

in gaza, an airstrike on a mosque this morning killed at least 26 people. the mosque was sheltering displaced people near the main hospitaln deir al-balah. the israeli military said it was targeting hamas militants. nearly 42,000 palestinians have been killed since fighting began after the october 7th attacks. the gaza health ministry does not differentiate between civilians and militants, but says most of the casualties have been women and children. and in southern israel, a woman was killed and 10 people wounded in a shooting and stabbing attack in be'er sheva about 60 miles south of tel aviv. it happened at the city's central bus station. police killed the attacker and said they're treating it as a terror attack. and president biden ordered 500 more active-duty troops to north carolina to help with cleanup efforts from hurricane helene. as the death toll rose to at least 230 people, officials worked through the weekend to recover more bodies. potentially hundreds are still missing. in hard-hit asheville, north carolina, community organizers say they're trying to get

much-needed food and drinking water to residents, while figuring out how to get people to the polls on election day. >> asheville is an especially politically active community under all circumstances. and you see how busy it is now. it's going to be busier on election day. folks are going to get it together and help their neighbors figure out how to get to the polls because this is such an important election. john: as the recovery from helene goes on, the southeast is keeping an extra eye on the gulf of mexico. that is pernod hurricane milton is rapidly intensifying. it is expected to become a major hurricane by monday, and approach florida by midweek. still to come, an israeli mother pleads for the return of her son being held captive by hamas. and why insurance gaps can make it harder to recover after natural disasters.

>> this is pbs news weekend from the david and rubenstein studio at w eta in washington, home of the pbs news hour, weeknights on pbs. john: during the october 7 attacks on israel, 250 men, women and children were abducted by hamas militants and taken to gaza. 117 have been freed, and eight others rescued by israeli soldiers. for the loved ones of the more than 60 hostages believed to still be alive, the past year has been a nightmare without end. nick schifrin spoke with a mother of one of those who is still being held captive. ♪ nick: for alon ohel, music is life. ♪ nick: he started playing when he was nine. his mother says music helps define him.

♪ nick: today, his piano is silent, its lid kept open. >> the fact that it is open, it makes, it's like, like, come home. it's like energy. come home and play. come home and play. come home and play. and you make sure that he will play again. nick: 365 days ago, ohel was in the nova music festival. the deadliest location, of the deadliest day, in israeli history. a video shows ohel pulled into a pickup truck, destined for gaza. ever since, there has been no video proof of life. idit ohel doesn't need one. >> i can feel him. you know, i talked to him. i have a conversation with him. like, not a real conversation, i don't like get on the phone and talk to him. but i, like i close my eyes and, and i think about him.

he's my son. i held him in my belly for nine months. i still feel like there is a thread, like there's a red thread that comes from my, you know, my belly and it's moving and it goes wherever he goes. and it's still connected with him every day. and every day i check in in my mind. if i see it and i see it, it's like moving and it's around him and it's in his belly and it's like the cord, umbilical cord. >> time is running out. nick: like many hostage families, she urged the government to accept a ceasefire, especially after hamas murdered 6 hostages last month. >> this is very scary. this could happen again. i hope not. so it wouldn't have happened if they were freed like a month and a half, freed before. nick: meaning through a ceasefire. through a deal. >> obviously. yeah. nick: but there has been no

ceasefire in gaza, or from hezbollah rockets in northern israel, where she lives. and so after a rocket alert, we sit in her safe room, also alon's room. >> i'm thinking about the fact that whatever happens in the north, the hostages will be the same deal that will stop everything, a cease fire and it will be over with. nick: until then, they come to tel aviv's hostage sque, summoned by solidarity, and a piano with a mother's message to the world and to alon, you are not alone. and from japan, to france, back to israel, idit ohel has created more than 40 yellow pianos. across 10 countries. >> a pianist that comes and plays, he gives to alon.

because when you play for somebody, you give something from yourself to somebody else. music is his life, so music is part of him. so wheyou play for him, it will get to him somehow. that's what i feel. nick: and she feels him here too, that's the shirt he wore when he was kidnapped. >> it's like he's sitting here and he's playing in my mind's somehow. ♪ nick: for pbs news weekend, i'm nick schifrin. ♪ john: with at least 230 peole dead across six states, hurricane helene is proving to

be one of the deadliest u.s. storms in recent memory. and, property and economic losses are estimated to be as high as $250 billion. but the insurance industry says that as little as $5 billion of that is covered by insurance. after weather events like hurricanes, tornadoes and flooding that climate change is making more frequent and more severe, homeowners can get a rude awakening about what their insurance does and doesn't cover. jeffrey schlegelmilch is director of the national center for disaster preparedness at columbia university. in western north carolina, which has really got hard hit by flooding in this storm, it's estimated that fewer than 1% of the households were covered by flood insurance. what does that mean for the recovery? what does that mean for homeowners? what does that mean for the region? jeffrey: yeah, unfortunately, what this means is that for many of the people who are affected by the flooding, they're not going to have the additional funds that would be made available through their homeowner's insurance or business insurance or plans like that.

there are some mechanisms through federal programs and federal assistance that we would expect to see, although that generally is at a much lower amount. and can generally take some of those programs can take a little bit longer to come to fruition. so it just means that people will have less access to some of those financial resources than those that were fortunate enough to have insurance. john: could that also mean that there's some places that just won't be rebuilt? jeffrey: possibly, yes. unfortunately, when we see disasters like this, we'll see areas that are high visibility that do get rebuilt very quickly, but it becomes a sort of a very big challenge in terms hat resources do you have and would you want to rebuild? would you want to put in all of your own money above and beyond what little assistan you can get to rebuild. it certainly does mean that we should expect to see a slower recovery and one that is much more dependent on public assistance or philanthropic assistance that would come from the mechanisms like we would see in a higher insured area. john: beyond north carolina across the country, are there many households that lack flood insurance that probably should have flood insurance?

jeffrey: yes, and this is for a couple of different reasons. one of them is that the the flood maps that we use to actually tell us where the areas are at the highest risk don't necessarily cover risk both in terms of our current knowledge, but also integrating climate change into that. in particular, they are not really great at smaller riverine basins, the kinds we see in more of the the mountainous areas like we see in western north carolina. if you are in one of those floodplains in one of those maps, most likely your lender is going to require you to have insurance. outside of that, it's not necessarily something we think about or look at, if you are not in one of those maps and not required to get flood insurance. john: are there places that might not have been one on one of those maps in the past, but given the changes from climate change, given the more intense, more severe storms that it ought to be prudent now? jeffrey: absolutely, and i think all homeowners, certainly those who would have the means to do so should take a look at what flood insurance would cost even if they're not necessarily in a floodplain. it's worth noting that

oftentimes this is related to risks or if you're in a lower risk area, it shouldn't cost as much, but we are seeing storms like this. we've seen 1000 year flood events. we've seen flood events that are are hitting areas with very little coverage of flood insurance because these are areas that typically weren't at risk historically, but we're seeing larger and larger claims than we have before. john: and help us understand flood insurance. this is not insurance from private insurance companies, right? jeffrey: the insurance you buy comes from a private insurance company just like any other kind of insurance, but it's backstopped by the national flood insurance program at something like 95% of all of the policies that are issued or issued through the national flood insurance program. so that's ultimately backstopped by the federal government who then has enges in some relationships with different uh -- different t dollars through the treasury, but also increasingly through things like reinsurance markets and other types of private markets to help cover that. you would still go and purchase this the way you would other

kinds of insurance through a private insurer, but it is ultimately backstopped through the national flood insurance program. john: what's this doing to the insurance industry with greater storms, bigger storms, and hurricanes in florida, wildfires in california. jeffrey: yeah, to be totally honest, it's putting them under . a lot of insurers are pulling out of areas with high hazards. we've seen this in california and other wildfire prone areas. we're seeing it in markets like florida and louisiana, where they're just increasing losses as a result of storms, and they have to pay out these record payouts. they just don't have a recourse in order to stay viable in doing business in these circumstances, so it's putting tremendous pressure on the insurance industry. so at a time when we are seeing increased need for it in terms of having the resources to recover from a disaster, we are seeing many insurers not able to afford to stay in the game here, making it more expensive or nonexistent to people who would need to access it. john: there's some people who the losses from these events is encouraging or incentivizing people to live in dangerous

areas. do you say to that? jeffrey: this is a really important and it's part of the point. reason. so the national flood insurance program is at short term extensions since 2017. i think everybody agrees that this is a problematic situation , that we are actually artificially reducing the cost, reducing the financial risk of living in places that are actually exposed to hazards. to that though that i say is that a lot of people are already living there. you already have your homes there. we saw this a decade ago when they tried to right size the insurance rates. if you are in a riskier area, those subsidies start to go away. then you saw entire communities with homes, how you build generational wealth, all of a sudden uninsurable or insurable at a cost they could not afford, property values dropping off because of this. in the abstract, it is absolutely true. we are creating what economists call a moral hazard where basically, not properly diss

incentivizin living in dangerous areas. but the fact of the matter is people already live there and this is a major part of our economic viability as individuals, as businesses, as communities. and we don't really have a good answer on how to right size the risk with so many homes already there. so it's a big challenge and that's reflected and not really having a long-term extension of the national flood insurance program or really a long-term game plan on how we're going to fix this problem with the insurance. john: no good answer on right sizing the risk, but if you were to change this program to make it better, make it work better for both sides, what would you do? jeffrey: well, i think the key to this is not actually increasing the size of the insurance market, and that'll help with some things in terms of increasing risk pools, but it's actually preventing the damage from disasters in the first place. one of the things that's really important to remember is that even if 100% of these homes in western north carolina and that were affected by hurricane helene were covered by flood insurance, they would still be destroyed. the physical damage would still be there. so insurance helps to transfer the financial risk.

it doesn't transfer the physical risk. and so that's where we need much more money put into building codes, disaster mitigation, climate mitigation, reducing emissions, all the things that prevent this from happening and study after study shows that that actually savea heck of a lot more money by preventing the loss of lives and livelihoods and damage to properties and it's really the only way to truly take pressure off the back end. because what's really draining the insurance isn't necessarily just the design of the insurance, but the fact that there are huge payouts because of the damage that's being caused as a result of of these major events. jy: jeffrey schlegelmelch of columbia university, thank you very much. jeffrey: thank you. ♪ john: that is pbs news weekend for this sunday. i'm john yang. for all of my colleagues, thanks for joining us.

have a good week. >> major funding for the "pbs news weekend" has been provided by -- ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. this program wasade possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] ♪

>>

-the biggest mistake people make in life is thinking they have time. time to do the things they really want after they finish something else. but the fact is the only thing we truly have is the present moment and what we do with it. ready to say goodbye to me, lulu? today's lesson -- moving beyond perpetual planning to the highly gratifying art of doing, all in our home state of california. hurry up, tobbie dawn. we got stuff to do here. first up, a road trip with friends to another place close to home yet never ventured to... when we get a chance to drive on highway 49 is special, right? -it is. -...where a majestic valley