CNN 2010-06-07

AZUZ: Around 25 percent of those tornadoes 2 form in an area that's called Tornado 1 Alley 3. Colorado is part of that, and it's where this tornado showed up on Monday. These pictures are amazing; look at this. Twisters like this one can sometimes do a lot of damage. But early reports indicated no injuries or major problems with this one, just a lot of power lines knocked down. Tornado Alley sees a lot of twisters pop up in the spring. But forecasters point out that these storms can happen anywhere, at any time.

Attorney General Eric Holder 4 says he's launching a criminal investigation 5 into the Gulf 6 of Mexico oil spill. And down in the Gulf, there's more bad news for the fishing industry. Officials have closed off more waters to fishing. Nearly a third of the Gulf now is off limits. Meanwhile, BP is starting the "cut and cap" plan. We told you about this yesterday. They're going to cut part of the leaking oil well and then put a cap on it. Hence, cut and cap. Making the cut, though, could increase the flow of oil spilling into the Gulf by up to 20 percent. Now, you've heard a lot from Rob Marciano since this oil leak started. He's one of our reporters covering the story from down on the Gulf Coast. Today, he explains how hurricane season could impact the oily situation.

Almost five years later, signs of Hurricane Katrina are still evident in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. And this year's NOAA hurricane forecast calls for up to 23 named storms. Oil from the BP spill is already in the barrier wetlands here.

I'm scared to death. You saw Pass a Loutre. You saw the pelicans 7. Imagine a storm rolling that oil up and bringing it in here and laying it down.

That's just the kind of unimaginable devastation 8 that Dauphin Island, Alabama is trying to avoid.

What you see here is the tide is down right now. So, the water is below the basket.

The Alabama National Guard is erecting 9 a four-and-a-half mile barrier to keep the oil from impacting protected wildlife here. The baskets are filled with a polymer powder which can turn the wet oil into a solid, making it easier to collect by hand. But what happens to these oil barriers if a major hurricane hits?

They'll be gone just like everything else around here too. That category five will take out the houses and take out every building and structure on this island, probably.

We're out on part of the thick oil here in the Gulf of Mexico. What does the oil do for hurricanes? Well, it would have a hard time developing right over the oil, because the oil actually suppresses evaporation 10. But that's actually one of the ways that the water actually cools. So, between the lack of evaporation and the darkness of that oil, actually heats up the Gulf. This is going to actually feed it, if anything, and bring it onshore and everything with it, including this big mess.