CNN Students news 2011-04-18

(CNNStudentNews)--April18,2011DownloadPDFmapsrelatedtotoday'sshow:TranscriptTHISISARUSHTRANSCRIPT.THISCOPYMAYNOTBEINITSFINALFORMANDMAYBEUPDATED.CARLAZUZ,CNNSTUDENTNEWSANCHOR:AcouplestorieswefirstreportedonFridayhavedevelopedandchangedovertheweekend,Sotoday,CNNStudentNewsiscatchingyouup!I'mCarlAzuz.Let'sgetthisshowstarted!FirstUp:Storm-StruckSouthAZUZ:Itwasthekindofforecastwedon'tliketohear:PredictionsoftornadoesascoldaircombinedwithwarmairinastormsystemsweepingacrosstheSoutheast.Thismapshowsyouwhowasinthepathofthestormsovertheweekend.Severalstateswereaffected.Morethan40peoplewerekilled.Atleast23ofthosedeathswereinNorthCarolina.Ofthe100+tornadoesseenduringthisstorm,wedon'tknowyethowmanyofthemtoucheddowninNorthCarolina.Butthere'snodoubtthestatewasthehardesthit--aCNNmeterologistdescribedtheeffectsasepic.TJHolmesfromCNNSundayMorninggivesyouaglimpseofthekindofdamagethesestormsleftbehind.(BEGINVIDEO)UNIDENTIFIEDMALE:Holycrap!T.J.HOLMES,CNNANCHOR:Transformersexploded.Carstossed.Treestoppled.AllmadeforawildspringnightinpartsoftheSoutheast.InAlabama,therearereportsoftornadoestouchingdowninatleastsixcounties.ThiswomaninTuscaloosaranintoherhallwayasthestormhit.UNIDENTIFIEDFEMALE:IgotinthehallwayIcouldhearthis,Idon'tknowwhatkindofnoise,awhizzing,crackling.Itscaredme.HOLMES:InnearbyBirmingham,heavywindsknockeddownpowerlinesandtoreoffroofs.FurthersouthinWashingtonCounty,Alabama,alargetornadowasreportedontheground.Thishousewasflattened;tossedyardsfromitsfoundation.InMississippi,folksarewakinguptoastateofemergencyin14counties.AtwisterrippedthroughInterstate20inClinton.UNIDENTIFIEDFEMALE:Thefunnelcrowddroppedrightthereatthelaundromat.Andwewereluckyweevengotinthedoor.Anditjustcrossed,wentbehindusandcrossedI-20.Inlikefiveminutes,itwasover.HOLMES:Evenblewoveran18-wheeler.Italsorippedthroughlocalbusinessesandhomes.UNIDENTIFIEDFEMALE:Atfirst,weheardalotofwindblowingandsomethingsoundedlikeatrain,awhistle.Then,allofasudden,we'veseenlikeablackfunnelcloud.UNIDENTIFIEDMALE:Wesawpeoplestandingoutside.Wedidn'tknowwhy.So,wejustdecidedtogoandsee,too,andwesawallthisdamageouthere.HOLMES:IntheAtlantaarea,atornadowatchwasineffectformostofthenight.Heavyrainandhailblastedseveralcounties,fallentrees,pummeledhomes.Whenthiswomancametocheckonherparentsafterlargetreeuprootedandfellthroughtheirroof.TABITHAOWENS,PARENTS'HOMEHITBYTREE:IthoughttheLordwaslookingafterthembecausemydaddywasrighttherenexttothatwindowandthetreebarelymissedhim.(ENDVIDEO)TexasWildfiresAZUZ:BlackHawkhelicopters.Bootsonthegroundfromdozensofstates.Itsoundslikeamilitaryoperation.It'swhat'sbeenassembledtobattleTexas'ragingwildfires.BetweenFridayandSunday,thesizeofthewildfiresdoubled.Hundredsofthousandsofacres--that'slikeahundredsofthousandsoffootballfields--haveburned.Andweatherconditionsaren'thelping:It'sbeenhot,dryandwindy,andthatdoeslittlebutfantheflames.IsThisLegit?STANCASE,CNNSTUDENTNEWS:IsThisLegit?Ontheperiodictable,theatomicsymbolforuraniumisUr.Notlegit!ThesymbolissimplyUforthisradioactiveelement.DamagedNukePlantAZUZ:Uraniumistheelementthatfuelsnuclearpowerplants.Andwhenthemachinesthatcontrolthenuclearreactionsbreakdown,youcouldhaveameltdownoraradiationleak--somethingverydangeroustohumans,totheenvironment--somethingwe'reseeinginJapanrightnow.TheFukushimaDaiichinuclearpowerplantwasbadlydamagedafterJapan'searthquakeandtsunami.Now,thecompanythatownsithasanestimateofhowlongthiswilltaketofix:sixtoninemonths.Partoftheplan:buildconcreteshellsaroundthedamagedreactorstokeepradiationlevelsincheck.AndonlywhentheareaisdecontaminatedfromradiationwilltheJapanesegovernmentlettensofthousandsofpeoplereturntotheirhomesinthearea.HonoringVictimsAZUZ:Thefactthatsomeoftheeventswerecanceledforraindidn'tstoppeoplefromremembering.SaturdaywasthefourthanniversaryoftheVirginiaTechshooting--thedeadliestmassshootinginAmericanhistory.Hundredsofpeoplehitthepavementontherunforremembrance.It'sonewaytheshootingvictimswerehonored.Peoplethereobservedamomentofsilence,whilesomesurvivorsoftheevent--andfamilymembersofthevictims--attendedamemorialservice.It'ssomethingVirginiaTechstudentssaythey'llneverforget.JONATHANGAINES,VIRGINIATECHDOCTORALSTUDENT:It'sverysymbolicofreally,nothingstoppingthiscommunityfromremembering.Nothingisreallygoingtostopusfromrememberingthe32thatwelostonthatday.CHRISTINEBINGHAM,VIRGINIATECHSOPHOMORE:Everybodyisrememberingit.Everybodyiskindofshowingtheirrespect,evenMotherNatureOnlyOneOptionAZUZ:Ournextstorytoday:nobaggedlunches.Ifit'spackedfromhome,youcan'tbringittoapublicelementaryschoolinChicago.ThepolicyatLittleVillageAcademyhasbeeninplaceforyears.Theprincipal,whoisauthorizedtomakeandmaintainthisrule,saysit'smorehealthyforkidstoeatschoolfood.Andunlesstheyhaveamedicalcondition,they'renotallowedtopacklunchesfromhome.Noteveryoneagreesfromthis.Manystudentsdon'tlikethepolicy.Criticssayitshouldbeuptoparents--nottheschool--todecidewhatstudentseat.AndtheChicagoTribunefoundthatsomestudentsdon'teatlunchatallandthatthosewhodo,sometimesthrowitaway.BlogPromoAZUZ:Thispolicydoesprovideextradollarsforthes