CNN 2011-04-19

A couple stories we first reported on Friday have developed and changed over the weekend so today, CNN Student News is catching 1 you up! I'm Carl Azuz. Let's get this show started!

It was the kind of forecast we don't like to hear: Predictions of tornadoes 3 as cold air combined with warm air in a storm system sweeping 4 across the southeast. This map shows you who was in the path of the storms over the weekend. Several states were affected 5. More than 40 people were killed. At least 23 of those deaths were in North Carolina. Of the 100+ tornadoes seen during this storm, we don't know yet how many of them touched down in North Carolina. But there's no doubt the state was the hardest hit -- a CNN meterologist described the effects as "epic 6." TJ Holmes from CNN Sunday Morning gives you a glimpse of the kind of damage these storms left behind.

Holy crap!

Transformers exploded. Cars tossed. Trees toppled. All made for a wild spring night in parts of the Southeast. In Alabama, there are reports of tornadoes touching 7 down in at least six counties. This woman in Tuscaloosa ran into her hallway as the storm hit.

I got in the hallway I could hear this, I don't know what kind of noise, a whizzing, crackling. It scared me.

In nearby Birmingham, heavy winds knocked down power lines and tore off roofs. Further south in Washington County, Alabama, a large tornado 2 was reported on the ground. This house was flattened 8; tossed yards from its foundation. In Mississippi, folks are waking up to a state of emergency in 14 counties. A twister ripped through Interstate 20 in Clinton.

The funnel 9 crowd dropped right there at the laundromat. And we were lucky we even got in the door. And it just crossed, went behind us and crossed I-20. In like five minutes, it was over.

Even blew over an 18-wheeler. It also ripped through local businesses and homes.

At first, we heard a lot of wind blowing and something sounded like a train, a whistle. Then, all of a sudden, we've seen like a black funnel cloud.

We saw people standing 10 outside. We didn't know why. So, we just decided 11 to go and see, too, and we saw all this damage out here.

In the Atlanta area, a tornado watch was in effect for most of the night. Heavy rain and hail blasted several counties, fallen trees, pummeled homes. When this woman came to check on her parents after large tree uprooted 12 and fell through their roof.

I thought the Lord was looking after them because my daddy was right there next to that window and the tree barely missed him.

Black Hawk 13 helicopters. Boots on the ground from dozens of states. It sounds like a military operation. It's what's been assembled to battle Texas' raging wildfires. Between Friday and Sunday, the size of the wildfires doubled. Hundreds of thousands of acres -- that's like a hundreds of thousands of football fields -- have burned. And weather conditions aren't helping 14: It's been hot, dry and windy, which does little but fan the flames.