but 16 floors above, american rochelle stimey knows nothing about the blazing inferno below. no alarm, no phone call, no notice at all. her husband is in china away on business, and she's in her hotel room with her 7-year-old daughter sona, when something catches sona's eye outside their window. >> i noticed some smoke. then i noticed it was coming from straight down below the window. and then i heard people screaming. >> rochelle panicked, rushes to the door, only to discover the hallway is filled with smoke. >> my daughter yelled, we're going to die. there were no emergency lights in the hallway, so it was pitch black, and i wasn't confident that in smoky conditions with my daughter and myself upset that i could make it. >> so rochelle makes a tough decision. staying in the room is their best hope. >> i said, you know what, sona, the fire department is here. let's wait. they'll put out the fire and we'll walk down the stairs. >> turns out, it's the right choice. for many at the hotel, there would be no way out. the hotel has no sprinklers, no smoke detectors and no working

back in rochelle, the clean up is just now beginning. >> you have the gloves on and the boots on. how long do you think it will take to repair all of this? >> years. there is -- like i said -- generations that were but into these buildings and taken away in seconds. >> and here in rochelle illinois home after home were taken out. 28 million americans from texas to delaware are at risk for strong to severe storms tonight. abc news rochelle, i illinois. >>> still to come on abc7 news at 11:00 why parents of a child who fell through a skylight in the after school hours want the district held accountable. >> and self-driving cars may be more convenient, but they can be too uncomfortable for some in the driver's seat. >> and good fuse for this puppy -- good news for this puppy that spent five years getting passed over by families at a shelter. >> i am sandhya patel. we are in for spring warmth listen to this sweet symphony of flavor. beautiful! gorgeous! here comes the fruitful crescendo! incredible. pillsbury toaster strudel. if beethoven made breakfast. dude totino's blasted rolls. s

back in rochelle, the clean up is just now beginning. >> you have the gloves on and the boots on. how long do you think it will take to repair all of this? >> years. there is -- like i said -- generations that were but into these buildings and taken away in seconds. >> and here in rochelle illinois home after home were taken out. 28 million americans from texas to delaware are at risk for strong to severe storms tonight. abc news rochelle, i illinois. >>> still to come on abc7 news at 11:00 why parents of a child who fell through a skylight in the after school hours want the district held accountable. >> and self-driving cars may be more convenient, but they can be too uncomfortable for some in the driver's seat. >> and good fuse for this puppy -- good news for this puppy that spent five years getting passed over by families at a shelter. >> i am sandhya patel. we are in for spring warmth >>> the family of a novato boy who fell through a skylight should beheld responsible. they filed a claim with the district. the boy's attorney says it is too easy to get on the school's roof. the

back in rochelle, the clean up is just now beginning. >> you have the gloves on and the boots on. long do you think it will take to repair all of this? >> years. there is -- like i said -- generations that were but into these buildings and taken away in seconds. >> and here in rochelle illinois home after home were taken out. 28 million americans from texas to delaware are at risk for strong to severe storms tonight. abc news rochelle, i illinois. >>> still to come on abc7 news at 11:00 why parents of a child who fell through a skylight in the after school hours want the district held accountable. >> and self-driving cars may be more convenient, but they can be too uncomfortable for some in the driver's seat. >> and good fuse for this puppy -- good news for this puppy that spent five years getting passed over by families at a shelter. >> i am sandhya patel. we are in for spring female announcer: get on board for better sleep! it's sleep train's interest free for 3 event! get three years interest-free financing on beautyrest black, stearns & foster serta icomfort even tempur-pedic.

and chad, talk about rochelle, illinois, and you are talking about the damage and we are hearing from wrex and lindsey clark saying that five people were pulled out of the home and there is major damage there? >> not rochelle, itself, but this has been in the area of concern that we have have been talk g talking about back and forth in the newsroom, the storm is moved northwest of rochelle and maybe four or five mile and it is not a lot if you are living in new york city, but the town of rochelle compared to the suburbs, that is where the storm went through and we had a reporter, and a stringer to talk to us about this but it is a large and probably the f-4 tornado variety and wedge tornado on the ground, and number of towns were seriously damaged today, and we will probably be talking about this many more days to come, and this is a very bad event out there, don. >> you are looking at the twist twister on the ground right, there chad, that you are looking at. how widespread is this system, and how long do you expect this to continue? you said tonight, but this is going to go into tom

and this tornado near i-39 in rochelle, illinois. and this is fairdale, illinois, the american flag among the ruins. so many homes destroyed. this is fairdale from above. you can see the path the twister took. and we have team coverage this evening. ginger zee with the new storm track. but we begin with gio benitez in rochelle, illinois. gio? >> reporter: good evening to you. here in rochelle, illinois, take a look. home after home completely destroyed. there were 15 tornadoes reported yesterday, almost all of them in illinois. from the air, the footprints of the monster storms. swirls where they came through. from the ground, those images of what residents saw. tornadoes tearing through the town. the heaviest of vehicles not standing a chance. >> go! go! >> reporter: the remarkable 50-mile storm path ravaging illinois. longer than the distance between baltimore and washington, d.c. a dozen people inside a restaurant, rushing to the basement, trapped as the storm went right for them. including this man and his wife. >> when it hit, w

. >> there was a huge twister in northern illinois near the city of rochelle. officials say the severe storm killed one person in nearby fairdale. this is another view of the storms in northern illinois. residents of the neighborhood ran to their basements for shelter. >> we were here. it was hailing. we all thought it was going to miss us. we started getting calls from people in chain of the tornadoes headed our way. we quickly went down to the basement and could feel the tornado right over our house. came up to this. i feel like it's a bad dream. something i would watch on the news somewhere else. not in my neighborhood. >> emergency officials say the tornadoes and high winds caused multiple injuries widespread damage. take a look at this building leveled in rockford illinois. the fire department saying they are having a hard time accessing areas because of the damage and debris. >>> in missouri last night a severe storm blasted through chesterfield west of st. louis. some of the buildings destroyed. no one injured there because it was after business hours. t

and near i-39 in rochelle illinois. and this is fairdale illinois from above. you can see the path the twister took. and we have team coverage this evening. ginger zee with the storm track. but we begin with gio benitez in rochelle illinois. >> reporter: there were 15 tornadoes reported yesterday, almost all of them in illinois. from the ground, those images of what residents saw. tornadoes tearing through the town. the heaviest of vehicles not standing a chance. the 50-mile storm path ravaging illinois. a dozen people inside a restaurant rushing to the basement trapped as the storm went right through them. this is how bad, incredibly all 12 survived. this same storm system sending a school bus hydroplaning two days ago. back in rochelle the cleanup beginning. how long do you think it will take to repair this? >> years. there was generations put into building this and it was taken away in 30 seconds. >> reporter: 28 million americans at risk for strong to severe storms tonight. >>> and we want to get straight to alex perez, with a stunning portrait of the destr

in nearby rochelle, a close call. the twister shredded this restaurant, more than a dozen people trapped inside. >> we pulled in here and ran inside got a couple of pictures of the tornado right across the street here and the owner said in the basement. we went down in the basement. >> fire officials say fortunately, no one was seriously injured. the system also brought baseball sized hail and torrential rain. the wild weather was part of a line of severe storms that stretched from texas to michigan. authorities worked through the night and say they won't have a solid idea of just how severe the damage is here until later today. >> authorities think they hope that there was just that one fatality but they are going to be picking through the debris throughout the day to make sure everyone in this area is accounted for. >> live for us in rochelle, illinois this morning. nicole is here with more on the storms. this is what happens this time of year when we have the collision of air masses, right warm air cool air, and th

this was a popular restaurant in the town of rochelle. 12 people including diners and staff were inside the grubstakers restaurant when the tornado struck. it was a miracle. everybody made it into the basement just in time before the twister hit. they all survived though they were trapped in the basement for an hour and a half waiting for rescue crews to clear them. a few people had to be treated

this is rochelle illinois. best news to come out of this no deaths reported and that's truly amazing when you witness the devastation that took place across parts of illinois. let's talk politics now. hillary is making her move. a source close to the campaign confirms clinton is expected to formally announce her candidacy for the white house on sunday. that announcement coming with a video release on social media. a more subdued choice compared to the announcements from the republican candidates so far. our senior political correspondent brianna keilar joins me now. what happened to the big, you know maybe at a university or major venue. >> ted cruz had a big speech. rand paul had a big speech. hillary clinton back in 2007 when it was as well a video like this. a video she put out on social media. that's what we expect according to a source familiar with the campaign. her video coming out and she'll start traveling immediately to really try to bolster that announcement and talk about her message, which we have

overnight, crews try assessing the damage in the hard hit towns of rochelle and fair dale, which are about 80 miles west of chicago. >> when it hit definitely we new it hit. we didn't know how bad. >> in rochelle, raymond kramer and hills wife road out the storm in the balesment after restaurant, the tornado all but destroyed the building. firefighters rescued the couple, and about ten other people, an hour after the tornado plowed through. >> we told them here, ran inside, got couple of pictures of the tornado right across the street from us here, and the minute we went down in the basement ... >> not far away in fair dale at least one person was killed, homes and buildings in the town are now barely recognizeable. furniture and other belongings are scattered everywhere. officers have been going door-to-door helping survivors. >> tim ' very scared. >> the tornado was just one that touched down thursday it, as the powerful line of severe weather moved across the midwest. other tornados were reported in eye zero with a and missouri. >> now, with daylight arriving soon, crews will be a

he's live in rochelle illinois.ryan. >> reporter: alisyn powerful winds. you can hear them pushing through. you can see the damage pushing through. the semi tossed by the powerful winds. the restaurant you can see what people went through. you can see what people went through as the winds pushed through. >> [ bleep ]. oh my god. this is violent. >> reporter: it was the tornado outbreak. >> look at there goes cars. i saw headlights go flying. >> reporter: that residents in the hartland feared. >> oh, [ bleep ]. >> he's over! he's over! >> oh -- >> call 911. >> go. go. go. >> reporter: tornado watches crossing the midwest. >> oh, my gosh that's going right through. >> coming to fruition. >> reporter: over a dozen tornadoes crossing down over missouri illinois and iowa according to the national weather service. >> guys we can't stop. >> reporter: illinois the hardest hit. one tornado pummelling the city of rochelle leaving a path of destruction 25 miles long. >> we went down to the basement and could feel the tornado r

you're looking at rochelle illinois. the town hit hard as tornadoes ripped through neighborhoods leaving trees up ended and roots exposed. this man stands alone, solemn surveying the debris of what once was a home. now just a pile of rubble. we'll take you to the ground in just a moment. >> he's over. he's over. >> go! go! go! >> the storm chasers were out in force last night. we want to show you some of the incredible sights and sounds they captured. >> oh, it's hitting. it's hitting something. >> look there goes cars. >> what? >> i saw headlights go flying. >> oh, my god that's violent, you guys. >> that's got to be an ef-5. >> oh, it's hitting. it's hitting something. >> really frightening, right? ryan young is live in rochelle illinois to tell us more. good morning, ryan. >> reporter: good morning, carol. that really is some amazing video. you can see how scary and terrifying that video is. in fact we drove all night. haven't gone to sleep. we were covering the story. as you look behind what people were experiencing

kevin tibbles is live in rochelle. with a good morning to you. how is recovery going and look what a mess to clean up? >> reporter: well, alex this is all that is left of a popular restaurant where diners not only heard the tornado sirens but saw the tornado coming. they actually took shelter down here in the basement of the building which probably saved their lives. a dozen lives likely saved because of that warning. it took first responders about an hour and a half to get the peel out of here. but just down the road in tiny fairdale, too small for a warning system. they didn't fair so well. >> it was what meteorologists call can an ef-4. a tornado packing sustained winds of up to 200 miles per hour. buildings in tiny fairdale illinois, didn't stand a chance. >> we are here this afternoon to offer our condo lenses and console the families who had such devastating loss to offer our prayers to the two families who lost their loved ones. >> it was here that so far two bodies both of women in their 60s have been discovered in the wreckage. just a fe

this twister made a direct hit on the town of rochelle 80 miles west of chicago. the damage extensive. this is what's left of the restaurant in town that was completely demolished. first responders pulled people who were trapped out of the basement. >> when i looked out the window and i saw it it was huge. you know it was -- huge. it was coming right for us. and at that moment eva grabbed me. eva's the owner. and she said you know get to the basement. >> reporter: 12 people in all were pulled to safety. >> it was quite a job. but we got everybody out. appears to be minor injuries. none of our folks were hurt. >> reporter: the same tornado reportedly caused damage and injuries at the kraft food warehouse near ashton illinois. many homes in rochelle and surrounding communities were heavily damaged as the storm system continued to move northeast. the extent of injuries aren't yet known. kurt gregory, nbc news. >>> a wild police chase left a guard from the headquarters of the u.s. census bureau dead. police saying it started with a domestic dispute. a gunman kidnapped

. >> i want to show you how one twister ripped through rochelle after emergency personnel is ripping through the city and ref i single structure in that area has been damaged. >> one homeowner caught chilling video as it made its way through the town. >> and what is frightening is where some crews were trapped inside of a restaurant. >> >> and it is frightening to see that the rob. >> yes it is a wedge tornado where it has the v-shape there on the ground. this is what it looked like on the radar. it is the classic echo hook and it traveled to the winds going to 150 miles per hour, and it could be an ef-4 or ef-5 that hit rochelle earlier. it went from chicago to wisconsin to the north, and down to cincinnati where tornado watches are in effect, and the area from the great lakes to the southern plain ss. tomorrow, all of the active weather will transition to the southeast, including houston the and atlanta and d.c. and almost 1,000 flights canceled today, and we will see big impacts for the flights to the bay area to the east coast as the severe weather continues to move off to east a

. >> there was a huge twister in northern illinois near the city of rochelle. the severe storm caused one fatality in nearby fairdale. this is another storm in northern illinois. residents of the neighborhood ran to their basement for shelter. >> we were here. it was hailing. we thought it would miss us. we started getting calls from people saying tornadoes were headed our way. we quickly went to the basement and could feel the tornado over our house. came up to this. i feel like it is a bad dream. something i would watch on the news somewhere else. not in my neighborhood. >> the tornadoes and high winds caused widespread danger. this building levelled in rockford rockford, illinois. the fire department said they tweeted having hard time getting access because of all of the debris. >>> and just west of st. louis in chesterfield, 15 buildings in an industrial area were damaged. no one was injured. officials say it was after business hours ands to still there got out as quickly as they could. >> a lot of wind and sideways rain. you could not see anything. i start

. >> reporter: the tornado destroyed a rochelle restaurant. emergency workers pulled survivors from the basement. >> i talked to another resident as this was going through. she went someplace else and came back and texted me and said the town was devastated. >> reporter: the storm also brought large hail and heavy rain. more storming are ahead of the weather front as it moves eastward. danielle nottingham, cbs news. >>> roads flooded by the heaven rain. some vehicles were completely submerged. eric fisher of our station has more. lots of tornado and storms. a lot of damaging storms broaden it out. these are all wind and hail damage reportsal all 'long into texas. we're tracking it eastward for friday. the warm air along the east coast and gulf coast. most of it will take the form of a squall line as we head into the afternoon. so from the mid-atlantic including philly/d.c. areas and reaching through atlanta and the i-10 corridor. headed for friday. couldn't rule out a few isolated tornados. targeting a risk of severe weather from philly down t

in nearby rochelle a close call.he twister shredded this restaurant. >> we pulled in here and ran inside and got a couple of pictures of the tornado right across the street and the owner said in the basement. >> reporter: fire officials say fortunately no one was seriously injured. the wild weather was part of a line of severe storms that stretched from texas to michigan. authorities worked through the night and say they won't have a solid idea of just how severe the damage is here until later today. now emergency crews don't think that there are anymore fatalities but they are going to be picking through all of the debris to make sure that everyone is accounted for. >> diane eastabrook reporting from outside of chicago. >>> more than 700 flights were canceled into and out of the chicago area on thursday. there are still delays this morning on flights headed to the east coast, and there is still a threat of severe weather today from the gulf north to the mid-land take region. >>> president obama is in panama this mor

. >> tornado destroyed a rochelle restaurant, emergency workers pulled survivors from the base: that storm was powerful enough to flip a tractor-trailer on its side. more warnings are up ahead as the front moves eastward now. >> good morning everyone, now it looks like part of the system could be headed our way. it is friday, april 10th, good morning, i'm ukee washington. >> i'm i erika von tiehl. will the storms affect nuts. >> absolutely, but thankfully no where near as severe as we saw in the picture. looking at the entire picture you have the classic comma shape going on right now the line of storms just extending anywhere from the canadian border all the way down, at this point even still into texas. this is what is moving through for us a lot more organization with the look of this now. so here's thousand sort of shakes out. you have the storm center up here, then your warmfront remember the stationary front that we have been dealing with the last couple days, that's lifting back up as a warmfront. the train cold front and the cold front really that setting up the clash in the

. >> reporter: a close call in rochelle. 12 people surviving in the basement of this restaurant as the tornado passed right by. >> we pulled in here and ran inside. the owner said in the basement went down in the basement. >> reporter: the powerful storms sweeping across the plains and midwest with several reported tornadoes flooding rains and damaging hail. the region's first widespread bout of severe weather hitting hard. bazi kanani abc news washington. >> boy, incredible photos tweeted by the rockford illinois fire department from fairdale. to give you an idea how bad the destruction was firefighters had trouble reaching some homes in the town of 200 just to check the residents. you can see why every single building has some sort of damage. some have damage of every sort. not known when residents can go back into their homes to collect theiren belongings. >> they're moving into the south and east. full forecast now from accuweather's justin povick. hello, justin. >> t.j. and reena, thanks. and good morning. a very active morning and active afternoon throughout the ohio valley and t

kevin tibbles, nbc news rochelle, illinois tonight, hillary clinton finds herself in a familiar position on the eve of a campaign anonsment. a clinton re-run is being met with fanfare and some skepticism from voters. nbc's kristen welker has our report tonight from clinton's campaign headquarters in brooklyn. kristen, good evening. >> reporter: peter, good evening. we are learning tonight that clinton's campaign message will focus on ways she plans to help the middle class. and she'll draw sharp distinctions with republicans over the economy. it echoes president obama's strategy from back in 2012. all this as she tries once again to make history. >> who are you running for? >> hillary! >> reporter: with just hours until the big announcement members of the super pac rallied in downtown manhattan. >> i am over the moon. we've been waiting for hillary for a long time. >> reporter: but will the presumed democratic front runner be a different candidate than she was eight years ago? congresswoman carol maloney says she already is. >> i feel that she can't take anything for granted. she knows t

our ryan young is live in rochelle, illinois. you've been talking to some people who rode this out in sho storm shelters and are now left with this recovery. take me there. >> reporter: we really are hearing those amazing stories, especially from 12 people who were inside a restaurant who said they actually saw that storm coming toward them. they all ran to a storm shelter. as the door closed, the roof collapsed on top of it. and for two hours, they were trapped on the inside. and then all of a sudden they started smelling fuel, gas. and they thought they were going to die there. somehow, someone was able to get cell phone service and was able to call 911. and firefighters had to cut the roof to free them from that storm shelter. you're hearing stories of survival all over this place. we're hear now because the governor is expected to come in this area and start touring some of the damage. when you talk to people, they all talk about how big that funnel cloud was. in fact, they've been watching the video. they've been watching cn

. >> reporter: in rochelle illinois at least 30 homes damaged most beyond repair. the storm targeting both officials and civilians as it rolled through the center of town. >> we went to work and helped the other people that need the help and i got there this morning 5:00 o'clock to see that my house was gone. >> reporter: and here in fair dale the town virtually wiped off the map where the twister hit just about every building sustaining major damage. >> we went down the basement. 12 of us in the basement until finally got us opened up to come out. >> reporter: as the search and rescue mission continues the community is coming together helping with food and shelter. local officials warning it could take a long time before the town is back on its feet. >> it's a devastating incident. the hardest part is just things don't get done quick enough. >> reporter: air travel is back to normal after more than 800 flights were cancel at chicago airports due to the bad weather. in fairdale illinois, mike tobin fox news. >> more severe storms in kentucky much this video shot ye

l illinois last night, devastated the tiny towns of fairdale and rochelle. a 67-year-old woman was killed in her home and several others are still unaccounted for in a town about 80 miles west of chicago. they say fairdale looks like a bomb went off. >> we are trying to track down all of the members of the community that have left the area. some of them we already know and many of them we don't know where they went to but we know that many people left during the immediate aftermath. >> storm chasers captured video of a massive tornado as it ripped through rochelle. even recorded the moment the twister crossed the highway right in front of them. >> oh, my god. this is violent. you guys it is right there. right there. >> we're good oh, my gosh. >> there goes cars. i saw headlights go flying. >> you need to stop. >> no, keep going. >> we will go slow. >> my god, we need to see if everybody is all right. we need to go. >> this video shows strong winds taking on a tractor-trailer, sending it tumbling to its side. here is what you're driver said he witnessed while

back in rochelle, there were multiple reports of injuries. north of that city, a storm chaser said he spotted homes with only their foundations remaining. one couple rescued after being trapped by debris. >> the building blew down and fell on the two doors that had to be lifted to get out. our car is sitting right over there. >> it's wiped out. >> the severe weather threat continues for some at this hour so let's check in with derek, who is following these developments. this is serious stuff. >> it really is. the national weather service earlier on thursday night here in the united states, they declared this as a particularly dangerous situation. severe weather still ongoing for some but it is improving for many. this is, in fact, what is called a wedge tornado. hope i will you can get those videos up in just a second. you can see it on your screen. that is a very large tornado. now it's the national weather service's job to determine whether this was an ef 4 or 5 tornado but look at the damage that was caused by this particular tornado. home

a massive tornado crossing a highway in rochelle illinois. >> we have a live shot now from fairdale, illinois from our wls helicopter. that town hit so hard every single home in the town was hit and now the storms are moving east this morning threatening millions. our extreme weather team has been tracking it all through the night. ginger starts us off. >> this is an area where i covered for years. i used to work in chicago. so to see this and know the towns and watch a wedge tornado come across someone in tear backyard just watching it suck and vacuum. it was 1 of more that 230 severe reports from texas to north carolina up to wisconsin and michigan but right there along the wisconsin state line in northern illinois the worst of it happened and that's where we find our gio benitez in rochelle. >> reporter: ginger good morning to you. what an unbelievable storm. we're talking about 20 homes destroyed. and just take a look here on this side we've got a semi truck totally on its side and on the other side of me you've got a restaurant completely destroyed. in parts of illinois this is

i want to show you that this is the greater rochelle area. this is chicago. so we're talking about the north western sections of illinois. the u.s. state of illinois. what we have done is we put the radar on during that particular moment in time when the tornado crossed just north of the rochelle area. i want to point out that shading of purple and deep red. that's called a debris ball. that's something that radar will pick up on with the large wedged tornados. dust and various articles from the ground including shrapnel from vehicles or tree debris or trucktures is actually showing up on our radar so something fascinating to actually see that that particular moment in time, of course this is roughly about eight hours ago. at the moment we do still have one tornado watch box in effect for the next two hours or so. this is into indiana, portions of ohio and kentucky. this does include the greater louisville area. we do have storms moving through as we speak. none of them are tornadic but certainly strong gusty winds and the possibility of large dangering hail

rochelle. >> all indications this crisis will worsen. reporting live from beirut. explained what needs to be done to solve this crisis. >> first of all it's important -- that the sight recognized that they shared responsibility to rescue people. and that means also to allocate a profit of resources. but then it's most important for people for example the syrians who were one of the main groups. the conflict to come to europe for a better future and to find peace. it is also good if ensure that they can be transferring regularly to europe are vettenned. for example our humanitarian problems and then it is equally important to better reflect on strategic states. or somalia, there are countries in war to ensure a solution is found there. otherwise, of course, people would always attempt to depart and to find a better future in europe, or elsewhere. >> saudi led coalition forces continue to carry out air strikes. the capitol was hit the airport there was the main target in the latest air raids. at least 20 of them had houthis positions inside the province and is a stro

south of here another town hit hard by another storm in the tornado was the town of rochelle.ere was severe damage there. severe whether is jorchb going this morning. we have tornado watches across parts of kentucky and ohio. severe weather watches, as well. that's going to be a concern. the flash flooding will be something to watch for. later this afternoon, the risk for severe storms will spread across parts of texas, the gulf coast, and up into the mid-atlantic. isolated tornados, damaging winds and large hail will be possible. heather, let's head over to you. >> be careful out there. thank you so much. we appreciate it. >>> chaos in our nation's capital. a security guard has died an being shot at the u.s. census bureau. the gunman now in custody after leading police on a wild chase that ended in a shoot-out. it all started when the unidentified suspect kid nached a woman that he knew and forced her into a car. now the two were seen arguing near the census bureau gates in maryland. security guard lawrence buckner was shot as he approached the car. he died at the hospital. t

back to you rochelle. >> daniel reporting live from havana cuba.ou. >>> huge oil reserves have been found under the united kingdom's second largest airport. it is expected to be worth billions of dollars, but only between 3 and 15% is likely to be accessible. paul brennan has more. >> reporter: the rolling countryside of england's southern counties is about as far away as you can get from a typical image of an oil field. but there is a bonanza of black gold. >> it's like a big sponge 1,500 feet thick, with vast amounts of oil in it. with three big limestones that you can effectively suck the oil out of the sponge. >> reporter: the latest announcement focuses on the area under horse hill one, a well just two miles north of london's airport. the oil company claims by drilling deeper than previous wells, it has found new data indicating the possibility of massive oil reserves as much as 100 billion barrels might be down there. it's important to look at what the company is actually saying in its statement, and the statement is peppered with caveats. it

we didn't know how bad. >> in rochelle, raymond kramer and his wife road out the storm in the basement of a restaurant. the tornado all but destroyed the building. firefighters rescued the couple. about ten other people an hour after the tornado plowed through. >> we pulled in here and ran inside, got couple of pictures of the tornado right across the street from us here, and in the basement, went down in the basement. >> not far away in fair dale at least one person was killed, homes and buildings in the town are now barley recognizeable, furniture and other belongings are scattered everywhere. officers have been going door-to-door helping survivors. >> i'm really scared. >> the tornado was just one that touched down thursday, as the powerful line of severe weather moved across the midwest. other tornados were reported in iowa, and missouri. >> now, we should mention at least seven people were hurt in the storm, at this hour, officials there in northern illinois do not believe that anyone is missing in any of the debris in those two towns but police and firefighters will be going arou

her name is tracy rochelle williams and she's 25 years old. she was last seen on hospital drive in cheverly around 1:30 yesterday afternoon wearing a hospital gown. williams' picture is on the screen described as 5'6" and weighing about 175 pounds. please call police at 301-699- 2601 if you have any information on tracy rochelle williams' whereabouts. >>> a woman is now in custody over last month's stabbing after station manager. according to our partners at wnew march 15 the incident happened. she pulled a knife on the manager when she was told she couldn't ride the train for free. he was hospitalized but will recover [ inaudible ] that's the latest from the magazine's publisher. the decision comes despite a scathing columbia journalism school report. it found the magazine acted recklessly by publishing an article that falsely accused phi kappa psi fraternity members of gang rape. now uva students are hoping to put the scandal behind them. >> there's been a little disappointment that no actions have been taken against the reporter but also th

we heard you were on the way to rochelle, one of the hardest hit areas.ing there as we speak. lay it out for us. what all happened in illinois last night? >> starting from the western part of our state we had tornadoes that developed and we had strong storms that were occurring throughout the last couple of days and these tornadoes developed. they went east and then northeast. in from iowa and out through the northeastern part of the state into wisconsin. we had multiple reports of tornadoes in the air and on the ground. but the two communities that we saw the most impacted were in rochelle and also in dekalb county, illinois. >> do you have any update at this point on the human toll? we've been told only one person has been killed in this awful storm system. any news on that front? >> yeah. that still remains the same. we did have one individual that unfortunately lost their live due to the storm. we also had several people that were taken to area hospitals. at least six of which are still admitted in the hospital and receiving care. so there has been so

we didn't know how bad. >> reporter: in rochelle, raymond kramer and his wife rode out the storm in the basement of a restaurant. the tornado all but destroyed the building. firefighters rescued the couple and about ten other people an hour after the tornado plowed through. >> we pulled in here and ran inside, got a couple of pictures of the tornado right across the street from us here and the owner said in the basement. we went down in the basement. >> reporter: not far away in fairdale, at least one person was killed. homes and buildings in the town are barely recognizable. furniture and other belongings are scattered everywhere. officers have been going door to door helping survivors. >> i was really scared. >> reporter: the tornado was just one that touched down thursday as a powerful line of severe weather moved across the midwest. other tornadoes were reported in iowa and missouri. don champion, cbs news, new york. >> at least seven people were injured when a tornado hit northern illinois as well. back to you. >> mike, thank you. >>> that is what brings us to today, that same syst

rochelle. >> that's it. i'll see you again in an hour. hour. >> on "america tonight", snuffed out? quitting tobacco draws users who never started. maintain's christof putzel on vapping and lighting up. also tonight a contaminated catch? >> i quit shrimping with them. i didn't go shrimping anymore. >> "america tonight's" michael okwu five years after the bp oil spill. is the gulf catch safe to eat? thanks for joining us, i'm joie chen. it is high season on the gulf coast and it's a grim anniversary. five years since the worst oil spill in u.s. history. on april 20th, 2010, the deep water horizon rig exploded, leaking over 200 million gallons into the gulf of mexico. while sunshine has returned to the shore there are still deep questions about what lies beneath the surface. "america"america tonight"'s michael okwu returned to the water with those who say they know best, just how much has changed. >> reporter: what kind of fish are you catching in these waters? >> puppy drowns all kinds. >> point ocean indian tribe tucked deep in the wetlands of southern louisiana. for more than 40 ye

jonah hull, al jazeera la rowe rochelle. >> go to aljazeera.com for analysis and opinion. opinion. >> police officers are expected to use lethal force when they deem necessary. trusted with enforcing our laws. yet just 1% of departments across the country require a college degree. >> if we raise the bar will we get people who are willing to go into harm's way have guns pointed at them? >> plus, a quarter-century after a teenager went to jail for

when i spoke with rochelle mayor chet olson i told them to do their homework and keep track of their expenses but that it was a longshot for federal help. i made it clear that the delegation and i stand ready to help any way we can and particularly working with the governor. as so often the case when a disaster like this strikes the first responders, friends and family members waite wasted no time you rushing to the friends and businesses of the people who were damaged. i have no doubt the area will clean up and rebuild. terrible mourn the loss of life heal the wounds of those who were injured and start tomorrow to make another day. for the families of the women who lost their lives and for everyone who lost homes and property our thoughts are with you. mr. president, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order the senate stands in recess until a. >> last month the "l.a. times" reported california would run out of water in a year

the tornado was reported in rochelle illinois and i was actually following that at home.seen what i seen. >> other emergency officials are telling cnn they have been trying to warn local residents well before now about how to prepare for situations like what just happened. do you think that planning's been effective? >> absolutely. absolutely. we always train for the worst. that's what we do. you never expect it but you know a situation like this you can only prepare as much as possible. our guys did a valiant effort last night on the scene and they were able to make several rescues immediately while incoming vehicles and even ambulances were still coming on to the scene. >> without getting too graphic, can you give us an idea of how the two individuals who died, how they were killed? >> i really can't say other than those two victims were in an area of the town where approximately 17 to 20 homes were leveled to the foundation. nothing, nothing left. huge debris piles. >> chad connell, thank you so much for speaking with us. we appreciate it. >> no problem. >>> when we co

. >> reporter: rhonda kayhill and rochelle croft are plotting their next, well expedition. >> there iss in between the dunes. if you can come up through a valley. >> reporter: the two working moms are embarking on a unique venture, putting their friendship to the test as they trade the mountains of montana for this. morocco's sahara desert. >> the the rally is the longest and hardest off-road all female road rally in the world. it is dead reckoning navigation no gps, no electronics of any kind. >> reporter: armed with just a compass and maps from the 1950s, hundreds of women from all over the world compete in this annual race. >> go, go, go! >> reporter: this all female motorsport competition is in its 25th year and is the only one of its kind. rochelle and rhonda are part of team usa. >> i'm driver she is navigator. >> i'm as excited as i am terrified. i spent three or four months just going over maps and practicing my calculations. >> reporter: teams must navigate their way across an average of 1500 miles of the sahara over nine days driving the shortest distance between a series of

completely destroyed or damaged in the storm there was a close call for the people in the nearby town of rochell. they hid out in a basement of a restaurant. it hit wisconsin and parts of the upper midwest bringing flooding rain to damaging hail and the several tornados we've been talking about. today emergency responders will continue to search through the debris as they try to make sure everybody is accounted for. >> to get a accountability for the residence that live in the community and the potential rescues are made. >> reporter: more than 150 flights at chicago o'hare airport was cancel or delayed. with more stormy weather expected today there could cancellations and delays at airports across the countriment if you're flying out check the status of your flight before you head out. eva pilgrim channel 6 "action news." >> this story is developing a philadelphia firefighter was treated for smoke while putting out flames in frankford. the action cam was on the scene before 2:00 a.m. in the 1700 block of bridge street. heavy smoke poured out of the home after the fire was how out. no other inju

jonah hull, al jazeera la rowe rochelle. >> go to aljazeera.com for analysis and opinion. opinion. >> police officers are expected to use lethal force when they deem necessary. trusted with enforcing our laws. yet just 1% of departments across the country require a college degree. >> if we raise the bar will we get people who are willing to go into harm's way have guns pointed at them? >> plus, a quarter-century after a teenager went to jail for murder a 41-year-old man walked out of prison this week. the judge's sudden decision focused on one former new york city detective and many more shock exonerations would may be coming. >> did you ever think you would see this day? >> i'm ali velshi. our special conk coverage of the cost of injustice begins right now. >> the state of texas has executed an innocent man. how to make unreasonable decisions under stressful situations. >> the cost of injustice lifetimes lost as a result of wrongful convictions. tonight an exclusive look at how we got to this breaking point. you've seen the headlines but you have never seen this. let me s

reporter: residents in rochelle illinois wondering how they can put back together the pieces of their lives. since the storm hit the sheriff has been working nonstop. >> i was born and raised in this community and it's a privilege to be able to serve them. reporter: for him, deft station has been personal. >> as all of you know my house is gone. reporter: that storm front headed east and from texas to delaware, there will be warnings for extreme weather though the destruction is not expected to be nearly as severe. in new york lona zack, abc 7 news. maureen: what a mess. what a mess. doug: indeed. maureen: what about us? doug: we got pretty lucky today. nasty stuff in richmond virginia east right now we'll get to in a minute. first, i want to share some really good news. look at the cherry blossoms from today. the national park service announced today that the cherry blossoms are officially full bloom. if you remember some time ago when you made the prediction of being full bloom, 11th or the 13th. they were a day early. pretty good prediction. i wonder if they do stock investments, t