NPR 2010-09-13

At this hour, some of the San Bruno, California residents whose homes were not heavily damaged by Thursday's natural gas pipeline 1 explosion are returning to their homes. Bob Hensley of Capital Public Radio says officials may be shocked at the condition of the neighborhood.

Residents returning to their home will have to provide identification to prove they live in the neighborhood, part of which is leveled. They'll be personally escorted to their home by officials, according to San Bruno City Manager Connie Jackson.

"Residents will go home in stages. Again, this is for our residents' safety and privacy."

Residents whose homes that are heavily damaged or destroyed will meet with officials tomorrow to discuss their situations. At least four residents are confirmed dead. The local coroners are examining the remains 3 of other apparent victims. For NPR News, I'm Bob Hensley.

Firefighters from 20 states are making some progress against a ten-square-mile wildfire near Boulder 4, Colorado. They hope that it'll be fully 5 contained by tomorrow night.

Hurricane Igor continues to gain strength in the Atlantic Ocean. The National Hurricane Center says it's now a Category-4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 135 mph. Senior Meteorologist Michael Bromwich says Igor has become very strong just a day after forming.

"Igor has strengthened pretty quickly this morning. If we occasionally do see these, you know, storms strengthen very quickly, sometimes by as much as 30 or 40 mph in a day. So, Igor does appear to be undergoing a, you know, what we call 'rapid intensification 6'."

At this point, Igor is not expected to be a threat to land.

The top Republican in the House says his party has a "great opportunity" to pick up seats in the midterm elections this November. He predicts voters from all parties will support GOP candidates. NPR's Allison Keyes reports.

Ohio Congressman 7 John Boehner says there's a rebellion among voters like he's never seen. And though he admits it would be an upheaval 8 battle for Republicans to wrest 9 control from Democrats 10 in the House, Boehner told CBS's "Face the Nation" he thinks his party's message is resonating with the public.

"There's a lot of Americans that are engaged in this election—the Tea Party folks, Republicans, independents, and for that matter, there are a lot of Democrats that I've talked to over the last several months who are going to show up and vote for Republican (this time).”

…opposition parties. They claim that Erdogan was attempting to politicize the judiciary and undermine Turkey's secular 11 institutions. But those arguments failed to persuade the majority of voters and Erdogan is claiming a significant political win with general elections coming up. Analysts 12 say the AK Party will attempt to parlay this victory into a third term in office next year. Peter Kenyon, NPR News, Istanbul.

Weather forecasters are keeping an eye on Hurricane Igor, which continues to gain strength in the Atlantic. It just formed yesterday; already it's a Category-4, the second strongest. Right now, Igor is not expected to be a threat to land.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Police in San Bruno, California say there are still five people missing after Thursday's natural gas pipeline explosion. At least four people are confirmed dead; nearly 60 people were injured. The explosion and fire destroyed dozens of homes in a neighborhood in hills overlooking San Francisco.

A wildfire that destroyed 169 homes in the foothills near Boulder, Colorado is close to being fully contained. Grace Hood 2 from member station KUNC reports more displaced residents are being allowed to return home.

On Sunday, Boulder fire officials opened some but not all of the Mountain Pines subdivision. So far, about 2,000 people have been allowed to return home. Meanwhile, firefighters are still working to fully contain the ten-square-mile blaze. Right now, it's more than 70% contained and that number is expected to increase with full containment 13 on or before Monday. The wildfire began almost one week ago and has been labeled "one of the most destructive" in Colorado history. For NPR News, I'm Grace Hood.

In men's tennis, the final in the US Open is about to get underway. Top seed Rafael Nadal is facing third seed Novak Djokovic. Nadal is trying for his first win at the US Open and that would give him a career Grand Slam. And that, says Djokovic, might make him hard to beat.

"It's gonna be definitely a tough one. Rafa is just playing fantastic tennis. He's gonna to be very motivated to win this title because it’s the only title he hasn't won in majors."

Djokovic made it to the finals by a five-set combat victory over Roger Federer. This will be the first US Open men's final since 2003 without Federer.