right to the weather channel's chris warren in the wisconsin dells who's watching it all for us this evening. chris? >> reporter: lester, where i am right now might seem okay for now. but parts of the midwest right now are seeing some very strong storms. tonight promises to be the main event. think about this. when you think about that when you think about this. the fact that yesterday we saw

weather channel meteorology chris warren is with us from merrill, wisconsin. chris, good evening. >> reporter: good evening to you. it was a wild ride for the family who lived here. they found shelter, the family, just before a tornado ripped off the top of their home. they were in the basement, and it's easy to see just by looking at this that these violent storms made their mark. in merrill, wisconsin, sirens warned residents of an imminent threat. the ominous tornado's arrival caught on video. once the storm blew through, the residents reassessed the damage and relived the nightmare. >> the roof came off, i pushed my wife on the basement floor, i covered her. scared the det out of me. >> fortunately, the storm claimed no lives here, only property. >> don't go any further, bro. >> a tornado that was part of the same weather system had already rolled through iowa, flattening parts of the small midwestern town of mapleton. damaging 60% of the town, leaving behind torn debris, shredded insulation, and sentimental belongings. >> in virginia, ten people were injur

meteorologist chris warren with us tonight from the weather channel. chris, what have you cooked up this time? >> reporter: brian, we are watching a strong spring storm, and it is bearing down on the northeast. it's going to bring heavy snow, a lot of rain and some very strong winds, leading possibly to power outages and some travel concerns. the satellite/radar, show where the clouds and rain are right now showing a very disorganized system, but it will be taking shape. it will be coming together tonight into tomorrow. when it's all said and done, this is what we're looking at. in some places, like in concord, a foot to a foot and a half of snow. in hartford, connecticut, 5 to 8 inches. brian, the thing is, even though the big cities are going to be seeing just regular old rain for the most part, you don't have to go very far to where people will be shoveling the snow. >> chris warren, part of our unbelievable spring coverage of 2011. chris, thanks. >>> the news is still reverberating this week after last week's page one story in "the new york times" s

for more on that, we are joined by the weather channel's chris warren. chris, what's it look like? >> lester, we are facing the first major severe outbreak of the season. we are watching this developing system coming out of the rockies. and as it does, starting tonight, we have the threat for severe weather. we could see hail, large hail, we could also see damaging wind and possibly tornadoes. this threat continues into tomorrow and look at the extent of this. we are talking more than 20 states potentially affected by this, more than 70 million people and the threat moving off to the east. we could see a widespread tornado outbreak during the day on your monday and into monday night. lester, potentially dangerous situation when these storms happen during the overnight hours. >> chris warren, thanks. >>> when "nbc nightly news" continues this sunday, a grim new assessment about that nuclear crisis in japan. >>> and later, making a difference, bringing children's stories back to life. >>> government officials in japan said today it may take months before leaking radiation can be stop

right to the weather channel's chris warren in the wisconsin dells who's watching it all for us this evening. chris? >> reporter: lester, where i am right now might seem okay for now. but parts of the midwest right now are seeing some very strong storms. tonight promises to be the main event. think about this. when you think about that when you think about this. the fact that yesterday we saw some extremely strong storms. and yesterday was just a teaser. >> get back! >> reporter: a quarter mile wide twister tore through western iowa this weekend. storm chaser andy gabrielson was right in its path. >> it happened so fast. we were about 50 yards away from it. we actually blew out the back window in my xterra. we had a dust swirl. before we knew it we had a full-blown large tornado on the ground. >> reporter: with winds up to 165 miles an hour, the tornado plowed through the small town of mapleton, injuring 14 people, uprooting 100-year-old trees and virtually flattening 12 city blocks. the violent storm comes after days of summerlike heat in some parts of the country, while many others

chris warren from the weather channel is in merrill, wisconsin. good morning. >> reporter: take a look at this. this is what's left of an old gas station. over here, the top of an outbuilding, the roof torn off. beside it you see a house almost completely gone. those two cars were in the garage. the garage is now somewhere else. keep in mind this is just some of the damage from what was a very destructive weekend. [ sirens ] >> reporter: as a twister approached and the sky grew black, tornado sirens sounded here in merrill. more than half a dozen twisters hit wisconsin sunday night. in merrill it destroyed and damaged dozens of home sending two people to the hospital with injuries. >> it's a lot of damage. it's pretty much wiped out. >> reporter: many roads with impassable due to downed trees leaving emergency workers struggling to make their way through the areas blocked by debris. >> get back! >> reporter: in western iowa a quarter mile wide twister tore through the town of maple ton. storm chaser andy gabrielson was there as a tornado roared th

this season's breakout stars, chris warren and the warblers will be here for a special life performancetalie morales is standing in for ann at news desk. good morning. >> good morning. possibilitiab possible tornadoes for the southern plains. meanwhile another step to recovery after the devastating tornados in north carolina. kerry sanders is in colerain, north carolina, with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. officials in north carolina are still calculating the costs associated with the tornadoes. 22 dead in this state alone. more than 800 homes damaged or destroyed. the costs will go into the tens of millions of dollars. again today, schools are closed as families try to figure out what to do next. survivors say the shock is starting to wear off and strength is taking over. not only physical might but the determination to stay put and rebuild. in bertie county, kids cut class from the schools that were open monday to lend a hand. in raleigh, ronald and joyce who moved here from new york say they are overwhelmed by the generosity of neighbors. >> oh, it's be

of benjamin grant that warren buffett just follows and charlie munger espoused to what happened during the financial crisis and i think the preliminary draft of my name is chris. came out in july two thousand and eight i sent it to warren buffett he looked at it he liked it and in there of course i'm a big critic of the rating agencies and all along i've been criticizing the rating agencies were in some a distribution list in february of two thousand and seven i wrote a letter to the f.c.c. and by the way he. gives me feedback on it and i wrote to the f.c.c. saying that the rating agency should have her an arrest her own designation revoked that the aaa ratings were phony i gave an example of a phony product that was rated triple a that within a year the principals of the investors lost ninety percent of their principle and i was warning about it when the product first came out was rated aaa and that was in my letter to the f.c.c. which is still on their website so it's not as if he didn't have the facts in hand yet but when i read we're going to let me jump in here i mean the f.c.c. has letters every day they go letters two or three times from people who poi