continues on this american morning. and good morning to you. welcome to american morning. it s thursday, february 10th. i m kiran chetry. good morning to you all. i m t.j. holmes. so glad you re here with us. we re going to begin with breaking news a fireball and an infern toe. two homes below up in allentown, pa pap the fire chief says now eight homes in total are destroyed. at least two city blocks had to be evacuated. all the people living there told to get out. there are reports that six people are missing. firefighters now sifting through the debris. there were 500 people in total that had been taken to shelters. the chief says that gas is fueling this fire, but that is not confirmed at this point. also, this morning, a u.s. congressman has abruptly quit his job. he has resigned from congress after it was revealed he sent e-mails and a picture of himself without a shirt on to awoman who was not his wife. deb feyerick live in amherst, new york, with this devel
reporter: winter may still be 15 days away, but a fierce storm crippled the midwest and south east. it brought a foot of snow and freezing rains to 12 states and a band from north dakota to south carolina. reporter: the highway patrol in north carolina reported 500 weather related wrecks over the weekend. in high point, a man and woman were killed onize icy highway roads and a 6-year-old survived and is in critical condition. in wisconsin, they re used to the weather. the main streets are plowed well. and off of the main streets, they re not. reporter: air travelers were stranded after cancellations of thousands of flights. half of the nation is bracing for frigid temperatures as a cold front bares down on the u.s.. it shoves the jet stream from alaska and south underneath it and into the atlantic ocean. when you draw air from alaska, it will be cold. reporter: this puts the sunshine state on a freeze watch with temperatures in the mid-30s. bernadette woods ha