zeb smith, the fire chief for fritch, texas. zeb, thank you very much. to all of you out there. >> ainsley: brian, you have been through. this you lived in california and lost everything. >> brian: everything. >> ainsley: what advice. >> brian: get everything you can and get it out. come back and get get in there until officials let you in it's like a war zone. there is nothing you can do. depending how much they have. they also, this is so much flatter. i was in malibu and that was up the hills so no one could even navigate. this this seems to be a terrain that is extremely flat. and i would say on the surface as a firefighter it might be easy to game plan against. it's like a war. >> steve: it's a wall of fire. imagine you are in that vehicle. looking screen left, you are driving forward, you don't know what's in that smoke. >> ainsley: don't know which way to go. >> steve: it's not just fritch, not just amarillo, in canadian, texas. they are under evacuation order until the roads were ordered closed and they asked the people to shelter in place. and t

. >> reporter: tyler mccain's family got out just hours before their home burned to the ground in fritchthe center of the panhandle. >> you want your house? >> reporter: mccain posted his 3-year-old daughter's emotional reaction on social media. tonight, the family is staying in a home offered to them by a stranger on facebook. >> we are the airbnb until monday. after that we have to figure out what we're doing. day by day, you know. >> reporter: while they are still assessing the damage here in fritch, these wildfires have now grown so large that a federal team is on its way to take over operations starting tomorrow morning. norah? >> norah: dave malkoff, thank you. for a look at how the weather will impact the fires in the days ahead, and tell us a potentially historic blizzard on the west coast, let's bring in meteorologist mike bartus. he is from our partners at the weather channel. good evening, mike. >> reporter: norah, good evening. unfortunately the weather is not helping matters across the lone star state. dry and we conditions until we can. wildfire with watches and red flag wa

the city of fritch had asked its residents to evacuate natural gas was actually shut down in that city on tuesday, residents were asked to limit the use of water so that fire trucks can have access to that. there's another town called canadian texas where the hospital had to evacuate all of its patients. one of the motel owners, they're spoke to cnn. she described the scene as armageddon. there was white ash covering the trees. she had to shut down her motel and get out for safety in another area. >> we saw >> we've heard reports of more than two 100 people sheltering in a church because they had nowhere to go. it is chaos residents are being asked to try to stay safe. and of course, these fires now spreading to neighboring oklahoma. and worse, and we're showing, as you're speaking, we're showing some of the images from canadian texas, from fritch texas where these conditions look horrible from yesterday, we'll see what happens today. lucy. thank you so much. let's bring in derek now, derek, what talk to me about what what what the conditions are. broadly, it's moved into oklahoma, at

an unfolding disaster impacting lives at historic rates guad venegas, nbc news, fritch, texas. >> right there, funnel, funnel >> reporter: i'm adrienne broaddus in the midwest where at least 11 reported tornadoes ripped through indiana, michigan and illinois on tuesday >> the skies got purple >> you can see it through the window >> reporter: at chicago o'hare, hundreds huddled in the airport's emergency shelters 40 miles outside the city, a confirmed tornado destroyed this apartment complex. more than 50 people now homeless. >> one of the residents did state that when they were laying in bed, they actually did see the roof raise up and come back down. >> reporter: incredibly, no fatalities. >> it was just going in a circle. everything was flying around with it, and then all of a sudden peace. >> reporter: residents and first responders getting a true scope of nature's wrath. the dangerous storm also dumping heavy rain, golf ball-sized hail, and winds across the region >> it was howling. the winds were like going really fast. >> reporter: the unforgiving conditions now moving east, all p

let's get you to the ground in fritch, texas. now, lucy kafanov. is there, lucy, what are you seeing? >> well, for at this area was deeply impacted by the fires that roared through here on tuesday. this area of fritch, texas is the population of just over 2000 people. they were all evacuated when the flames came through. now, while we here are not able to get close to the frontlines of the flames. there are still parts of this town that are burning. some homes were completely flattened and destroyed. we were able to get to one of the locations we met a neighbor who said it went up crazy fast. those were his words. he evacuated, he was able to get it back. his home still so standing, boris, but across the street for homes just completely destroyed they were wooden structures. >> there's nothing left. >> to those people will have to rebuild their lives. and this was a scene that was playing out and so many of these rural communities flames came so quickly fueled by those high winds and the really dry conditions. we did see some of the winds go down a

texas with the very latest lucy rihanna as you point out, we are in fritch texas. this is one of the areas that it's been devastated by these fires. this is a town with a population of roughly over 2000 people. they were evacuated yesterday when the fires came through, some of the structures are still burning. some of the fires are still going. you can see he, that pillow below billowing smoke back there. >> we were actually >> just over in that area speaking to some of the residents who had been able to returned to their homes to see what was left at our homes. we spoke to one individual who had lived in this area for about 30 years, life-long resident he described the terror terrifying moments as the flames approached their neighborhood, they evacuated. he said that the the homes across the street from him, his friends, his neighbors, completely destroyed. they went down in 30 minutes. it was crazy fast. those are the words that he used. and he actually saved one of his neighbors life. he had to knock on the door to wake them up to get them out of there, to get h

lucy kafanov live from fritch, texas. thank you so much >> listen to >> problems for boeing. have been pilot after last month's door plug blow out at 16,000 feet, how it could know expose the company to criminal liability based on a previous settlement they made with the federal government pete muntean explains just a moment >> how do i look? >> perfect, good boy. >> we are a young how can it let me do my work and some pride >> sorry >> streaming exclusively on max >> my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis helped me back now with sky rizzi, i'm all in with clear skin. >> thanks again we've >> sky rizzi three out of four people achieved 90% clear skin at foreman and most people were clear even at five years. >> sky >> rosie, it's just four doses a year after to starter doses, serious allergic reactions and an increase it's risk of infections or lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your dr. if you have an infection or symptoms had a vaccine or planned to >> now the time ascii, your dr. about tagged rosie, the number one dermatologist it's prescribed biologic and psoriasi

morgan chesky is in fritch, texas. what are you seeing there? what's the latest from crews battling these fires? >> it's tough in every direction. fritch is affected by the wendy deuce fire, and the fire to the north of us is at 3% containment. the concern is now, kate, we did have a small snowstorm come this morning which a lot of people were excited to see because they thought it would help the firefight, but what's come with it after the snow has fallen is wind. that's a real concern right now because should it shift at all, it could open up a whole new firefight here and resources are spread so thin across this vast portion of the panhandle, bigger than rhode island here. it's about having the right people at the right place and that's incredibly tough to do. driving to this scene today, it was surreal to see fields covered in snow but smell the smoke from yesterday's wildfire. that is helping in certain areas, but more windy weather is really causing a lot of concern for everyone here. nobody is breathing easy right now. >> morgan, give us

he's a 30 year resident of fritch, texas he was home when that fire rolled through on tuesday and described the terrifying moments even shared some of the video that he shot of those terrifying moments when the flames went down this street as he tried to get away to safety. now, his home was miraculously somehow in unscathed and all of this, but the four homes across the street has neighbors his close friends by now, completely damaged. he also described jumping into action when the flames came through, running across the street to his friend his neighbor, also named danny, knocking on the door, getting that man to safety. danny survived his home completely destroyed. take a listen it came this way, really fast and the authorities were trying >> to evacuate everybody. and smoke was everywhere. he just barely got out he only had the shirt on his back and his dogs. he lost everything >> now, the wet weather, the snow is going to help dampen the fires a little bit today, but the big question is, how much is going to be left? warning once this cold front, this weather moves out of the area we a

texas counties are still under evacuation orders and all the residents evacuated from the town of fritch are being told some homes are still on fire and they can't get return firefighters in some areas overwhelmed by the blaze >> out, everybody hi winds are the greatest threat now, on tuesday, wind gusts exceeding 60 miles per hour fueled the greatest destruction >> with us now is jeff qizan, texas ranch or who has lost land and livestock in the fires. thank you so much. >> for >> being with us this morning. sorry for what you've been going through. just walk us through what the last 24 hours have been like for you >> will actually been since monday, we started fighting this fire when it reached us came from the west we fought it all rest of the de and up to 07:00 the next morning? then we got a little bit of a break and it broke out again about a 30. so it finally pretty much burned through us yesterday afternoon. or day before yesterday? and so we're we're we're in the clear now >> can you give us a sense of what you lost biggest thing we >> lost was our grass. we did lose some cattle

. >> more than 40 homes damaged in fritch, texas. residents told to evacuate. now just outside amarillo, the country's primary nuclear weapons facility, pausing operations as the fire raged nearby the city of canadian, northeast of amarillo was surrounded by fire. anyone who had not evacuated was told to shelter in place. >> we're just going to have to regroup. we can't. we can't stop it. >> the fires crossing into oklahoma, prompting more evacuations as farther north in nebraska, this fire erupting in the summer like heat. but overnight, a powerful storm front triggering weather whiplash, temperatures plunging in some areas from the mid 80s to the mid 20s in a matter of hours. saint louis dropping from 86 degrees to 26. the storm triggering at least four suspected tornadoes outside of chicago downing trees and ripping roofs and facades off buildings. passengers at busy o'hare airport were told to shelter away from windows as flights were grounded during the storms. the air traffic control tower briefly evacuated back in texas. officials say it could take days

. >> reporter: more than 40 homes damaged in fritch, texas. the hot, dry conditions fueling fires across the plains, from texas to nebraska, and colorado, where a fire monday threatened the air force academy near colorado springs. and david, tonight, governor abbott is declaring a state of emergency for 60 counties, saying these wildfires are devastating. and as of right now, forecasters say they expect conditions to improve overnight, but they could get worse once again by the end of the week. david? >> david: let's hope they get a reprieve from these conditions. mir mireya, thank you. >>> we turn now to the race for the white house. this evening, the primary in the bat battleground state of michigan, and the test for president biden. the potential protest vote from people angry over his response to israel's continuing military operation in gaza. the voters say they want to send a message. the question tonight, how big will that protest vote be? and what michigan's popular governor, democrat gretchen whitmer, says about voters who want someon

. >> brian: governor abbott issuing evacuation orders, we spoke to fritch, texas earlier. there are hot spots everywhere. we are watching close. we did have a lot in the hundreds on the south side of the community. our firefighters worked with public works going house to house it seems like every small city, everybody responding to fires. >> ainsley: several agencies working to contain the fires. scary images, images of cattle running for their lives with fire behind them, people driving. you have seen the video, you can barely see it. how do you know which direction to go? >> brian: there is some communication, with the sun up, we find out what they do today. bring in aaron o'connor. aaron, great to see you. the sun is up, what is most learned moment for you? >> aaron, i was in texas on sunday and it was hot and dry. over the last 48 hours, now you have windy conditions. i was reading with smokehouse fire in the panhandle area, it burned 450 square miles and it is zero percent contained. is that what you understand at this point. >> smokehouse creek fire is estimated to b

. >> i don't think a lot of the folks that live in the fritch area are probably going to be preparedtown. some homes were completely lost. some honestly are still standing and just fine. >> small communities with only a few thousand people are bearing the brunt of massive wildfires that have spread over several counties and 500 miles. >> we don't know exactly what caused those fires but basically as soon as they got started they took off. >> nighttime images shot from a plane look apocalyptic. the largest of the fires now more than a half million acres is the state's second largest ever. >> it's bad. look how quick it's spreading. >> view from the ground is no less terrifying. >> it's still emotional. this is our life. we have been here for 50 years. it's pretty tough. >> incredibly, there are no reports yet of deaths or serious injuries. the damage to buildings, ranches and livestock is still being tallied. now towns are just trying to get the basics. >> main priority is to get power back on because, with power, then we can get water. then we have at least our basic functioning, uti

coming to you >> want water >> in these are truly terrifying situations and we spoke about the city of fritch last hour, which had asked residents to evacuate last night, natural gas was turned off there. this warnings officials are dana facebook post that they need a massive 75,000 volt industrial generator to help get their water backup because the power is out this is a really scary situation they've got a 2000 acre blaze and then they're also impacted by the smokehouse creek fire. and so a lot of the residents are struggling with a scenario they're in canadian texas also, one motel owner told cnn that it looks like armageddon. there was light. does and smoke all over the area. she had to evacuate. she had to shut down her motel so many different places men's couldn't get out in time and so they had to shelter and local churches and local gymnasiums and local schools. >> we are >> hearing from the weather service that the winds are supposed to be a little bit more tame today but that does not mean that folks are in the clear. again, those wildfires spreading. texas doesn't have all of the

meanwhile, the city of fritch, one of the areas that was a vacuum he weighted residents were asked to limit the water use that fire trucks could be filled they are also that city asking for outside help to bring their water system back online after that massive wildfire knocked out power their canadian texas, another area that was very hard hit by the blades it's one of the motel owners they are told cnn that look like armageddon. all of the trees are covered in white ash. the local hospital there had to evacuate all of their patients due to the fire on tuesday in other parts of the panhandle, people had to take shelter in schools, in churches not safe enough just to stay home, the blaze, just so powerful there now we are learning those fires spreading to neighboring oklahoma, that to you all right. >> thanks to lucy kafanov for that report. >> we're now joined by brick brooke mcquiddy. she is in childress, texas, forced to evacuate from her town in her mother's home, was burned at brooke. thank you so much for being with us this morning. just walk us through what you went through las

we are team and i actually managed to make our way to fritch texas. we left amarillo er here this is as far as we could get now, this is an area population roughly 2000 people it is in hutchinson county which has been very devastated by that large smokehouse creek wildfire. this entire area has been evacuated and there are still homes on fire as we speak wolf, we are not actually able to access that area. you can see the roadblock behind me. police have been turning cars around to my right is a church that was used as a shelter for most of yesterday for families to have to flee the flames, to seek refuge, to find safety they have been evacuated from here to a different area where it is a bit safer, where there are more services available to them. and i have to say on our way here driving from amara perillo, we saw miles and miles of scorched earth. there were still little fires along the sides of the road. a lot of smoke, the visibility was incredibly low we also encountered crews dropping power lines to try to keep things safe or to try to stop more