Margaret Bashir News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Yes, it normal but we have to do a better job, the government has to do a better job of's being done and so we can move beyond fear and make ourselves safer. >> joshua cath, thank you. >> happy new year. midwest, deadly floods caused 22 deaths. charles hadlock joins me now from eureka, missouri. what are people doing to get to safer ground? i can see all of the water behind you still. >> reporter: the good news is that the water is now receding. we're in eureka, missouri, earl year today you needed hip boots to get around town. the water is receding, city crews are scraping up the mud and de...

>> describe for us the mood, if you will, and the atmosphere among those families. we've been hearing from a few different people -- >> reporter: people are carrying on. there was a lot of shock at first when the fire started. but once things seemed to be under control, people have proceeded calmly. i think there was a bit of nerves at the beginning, panic. my biggest concern, as spectator, there might be some stampede or something because there were so many people but there wasn't. authorities have -- hundreds of security people on the street here anyway. they really controlled the cloud. >> ...

Public officials can say look, we have a large fire in 63-story hotel, we'll suspend the fireworks so firefighters can do their work, please go home. they had to make calculations. i'm sure they'll give their reasons. they might have got through with it with nobody else got hurt and it may be a side issue. the major issue, can they get this fire put out without any loss of life? i think that's yet to be seen. >> stay with us. back out to dubai. joining us on the phone is margaret bashir, reporter for voice of america, currently in dubai. we spoke to a short while ago, you give us an update on ...

The whole day. they were starting street closures at 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. local time. they were locking down the area. i've been here a few days. gates have been up they haven't had the crosswalks closed off until today. they have let people know there will be street closures and things. it was very much, i wouldn't say lockdown situation but very tight security. you felt a security presence everywhere. >> give us a sense, if you will, now in terms of the fire from where you're seeing, you said the fire where you're standing -- >> reporter: i'm looking aat build, it's the north side on fire. the...

Went forward with them. >> all right. we'll ask you to stay on with us, if you will, margaret, if you can stay as we continue coverage. let's bring back in chief vincent dunn, are you with us, still? >> yes, i am. you are harding there, again, some very contrasting eyewitness accounts with the official government line that the fire has been 90% contained. they haven't said 100%. it's a question i posed to bobby halten, can those two statements be true, that from a average eyewitness account you could see the building, you can say wow it looks very much on fire. but from a firefighter's perspec...