devastation across the south. swarms of deadly tornadoes. >> oh, my god. >> one monster a mile wide. witnesses couldn't believe their eyes. >> that is incredible power. >> hundredsed dead. survivors stunned. >> fell down out in the backyard and cried. it's just overwhelming. >> neighborhoods leveled, trucks tossed, transformers exploding. >> it just danced through the town, ripping up everything. >> dramatic stories of rescue. >> we worked until dark pulling people out of the rubble. >> and survival. >> we just said, lofrd, help us.

just keep your hands on us and stay with us. >> tonight, from tuscaloosa, brian williams reports on the storm's path of destruction. and later tonight -- ann curry reports from london on the ceremony that made history. >> i william arthur philip louis. >> a royal couple gives us a dash of romance just when it's needed. magic and majesty. >> there was a huge sense of love and joy and friendship. >> the inside story of the wedding that's enchanted the world. >> reporter: and good evening, everybody, from tuscaloosa, alabama, where we're going to start off tonight because way too many neighborhoods look just like this one. this is a city and a state reeling from what is officially the deadliest outbreak of tornadoes in this country since the depression era. more than 300 people are dead,

hundreds, really thousands, have been injured. and almost everywhere you look in certain parts of this city, this region, it's been reduced to a wasteland. the pictures are unforgettable. some of the most dramatic images we've ever seen. the damage is among the worst we've ever seen in u.s. contemporary history. and, remember, the searching and the digging is still continuing tonight so the death toll is really, sadly, only expected to rise. tonight we want to trace the path of this destruction from state to state, really family to family, beginning with our own dennis murphy. >> when the ferocious roar had passed them by, terrified americans across the south emerged from the huddled safety of closets and bathrooms to find scenes of total devastation like this. and this. and this. entire towns wiped off the map in less than a minute, leaving behind sticks and concrete slabs

where once there were homes. >> i saw him two weeks ago, and that's his bed. those are his boots. >> the death toll is 300 and counting, two-thirds of those in alabama, the hardest hit state. thousands have been injured. >> we're still alive and have neighbors across the road who lost their lives. it was just an instant. here one minute and gone the next. >> the tornadoes that licked out of the leaden skies wednesday afternoon, tearing through state after state, will be recorded as the deadliest outbreak of these storms in almost 80 years. birmingham mayor william bell. >> entire buildings, churches, businesses, homes have just been blown away. >> across the south, volunteers and emergency workers from mississippi to virginia, picked through the rubble look being for survivors and recovering the dead. 2,000 national guardsmen have

been activated. 1 million customers are without power in the multistate ground zero of the storm as path. the dazed return to the ruins. >> keep us in your thoughts and prayers. we've got a lot of people who still haven't been found and a lot of people who are hurt and injured. >> in tiny smithville, mississippi, at least 13 people were killed, the grocery store, city hall, post office and police station all heavily damaged or destroyed. >> to see the people you see every day and our lives are totally shattered, but, you know, a lot of us are still living. that's the thankful part. >> not even the dead were spared. tombstones were toppled. >> i've got to see i've never seen devastation like this. >> president obama who called storm heartbreaking and nothing short of catastrophic today made a personal tour of the disaster zone that is the state of

alabama. >> in addition to keeping all the family's who have been affected in our hearts and prayers, obviously our biggest priority now is to help this community recover. >> the devastated storm had gathered itself together wednesday afternoon. television weather reporters became the town criers. >> we're looking for not only tornadoes in that area but 80-mile-an-hour wind and ffour- hail. >> a storm predicted and then there it was out the window, thick and black, swirling and unstoppable. tornadoes a mile wide. and the video record of it, images caught by frightened amateurs and storm-chasing pros alike, have given us a unique, jaw-dropping front-row look at the relentless fury of a tornado. >> dear god, be with us. >> twisters tearing through roads and fields in mississippi, starting to look like the end of the world in tuscaloosa, population upwards of 90,000. >> this is really an

extraordinary event. i mean, this may end up being one of the worst tornado outbreaks on record. >> reporter: christopher england, an employee at the university of alabama, took these scary pictures of the tornado's approach to tuscaloosa. >> i could feel the pressure up there and see power lines being snapped. i could feel the electricity in the air and different colors coming up through the funnel cloud. you knew that it wasn't good. >> the tornado slammed through with winds estimated at 150 miles per hour. it ripped open tuscaloosa. the mayor, walt matters. >> some people designate this a disaster. we would categorize this as -- >> out in the dark of evening, power lines down, people were dead and dying, injured, homes flattened and cars demolished. it sliced through the northwest corner of downtown birmi ing la and slammed into the suburb of

pleasant grove. the tornado was a mile wide when it came through, almost nothing remains in its path. most of the homes are gone from their foundations, cars and trucks crushed, trees, power lines, all part of a trail of debris and human sorrow as far as the eye can see. >> never seen anything like it. when i came out here, the only way i can describe what people describe as a war zone would look like. destruction everywhere. we worked until dark pulling people out of the rubble. some of them didn't make it. >> but the storm hadn't played p itself out, what started in mississippi, pummeled alabama, ultimately clipped georgia and headed to tennessee and on to virginia, bringing more death and destruction every mile of the way. and then it was gone, a freight train receding in the distance. by the morning light, the survivors could only start digging through the rubble to find their friends and neighbors, to see what was left. to begin to figure out what to

do next. >> reporter: storm that just about redrew the map in this area. and as we just saw, tuscaloosa was one of the hardest hit cities. whole neighborhoods here have just been wiped away. we got a tour of one of those areas from someone whose life has been forever changed by this monster storm. >> it's just totally staster, destr destroyed. >> reporter: if tony she'lly didn't know this was his own neighborhood, he might have no way of knowing today. >> this used to be your place. >> this used to be my place right here. i stayed in the second apartment here. >> reporter: that wednesday evening, the disabled army veteran went across the street to his local pigly willie to get food. as a manager of the drugstore was locking the door, he rushed tony in. >> he said, please come with me.

we went to the pharmacy store and got in the basement. >> by how many minutes did you miss this tornado? >> i would say about five minutes. about five minutes i this missed this. >> so you just barely got in. >> just barely got in, yes. yes. >> reporter: you saw a lot of things that day that are in your head now. how are you going to process all that/? >> i'm just going to pray about it. that's all i can do. i never lived through anything like this. i seen it on tv. >> reporter: what tony saw when he emerged convinced him he would be dead if he had stayed home. this just the heart of it, the absolute core of the tornado passed right where we're walking. this looks like t"the wizard of oz." and just today tony noticed parts of other neighborhoods deposited in his.

>> it's unbelievable. >> reporter: there's a vehicle looks like it's part of the house, upside down. look at that. >> yeah. >> reporter: so i don't imagine these side streets were visible from here. >> you couldn't see those streets. >> reporter: you can almost see downtown. >> downtown. >> reporter: it rearranged the map. >> yeah. >> reporter: these poles are made of -- >> concrete. concrete. this pole -- this is -- this was not here. concrete poles. >> reporter: what do you do tomorrow? what do you do the next day? >> well, brian, i just keep praying and hoping for the best, you know? >> reporter: for 27-year-old stephanie dozier, this tornado now officially makes her a two-time survivor. >> we seen it coming. we was, like, outside. they was playing -- we was playing cards. >> reporter: stephanie, her two young sons and her fiance are now at this shelter in tuscaloosa two days after riding

out the tornado in their apartment. >> then all of a sudden i looked back and then i say, there go the tornado. we seen it coming towards us. we ran in the house for cover. we got in the kitchen, i jumped over my kids and kofred them and it busted out all the windows and stuff in the house and a tree fell over on my mother's truck. it just seemed like it was sitting instead of moving. it was just in one area. >> reporter: you knew your job was just like that, like a mother bird. >> yes. cover my kids. >> reporter: cover them up and protect them. >> i was saying, lord, please protect us and shield us from any harm and tainger. that was about it. i just kept saying it over and over. protect us and watch over us. just kept reestpeating myself. >> reporter: sounds like it worked. >> it really did. >> reporter: stephanie and her family moved to tuscaloosa just two months ago from enterprise, alabama, where they lived through a killer tornado that almost wiped out the town in '07. how many tornadoes do you think you have to put up with in your

lifetime? >> i hope no more. this is the second one. i hope not to go through the third one. they say three three strikes a you're out. >> reporter: you should be done with two. >> i'm hoping to be done. >> reporter: just miles from stephanie's apartment, this couple was riding out the storm in their bathtub. >> they say the tornado will be there in five minutes, three minutes, the people on the radio were screaming about how horrible the storm looked. we're just sitting there listening to this, and then as we heard the winds wush over, we heard the trees fall on the roof and then it was over. >> reporter: by their side as the storm approached? their dogs and two neighbors. what was it like on final approach, when it was coming? >> just kind of seemed so unreal to you, you know. you're sheltered but you kind of think, oh, this isn't going to come that close. then when you hear the freight train sound that they always

talk about, i looked at suzanne and suzanne looked at me and our neighborhoods and said, oh, my god. >> reporter: could you feel a vacuum? could you feel it in your ears? >> yes, you certainly could. and it was just that incredible feeling of something approaching that was so huge. >> reporter: your whole world had changed by the time you went back outside. >> absolutely. >> reporter: when they emerged they found this, a large oak tree had fallen on their home but thankfully they were unhurt. and about the smocks they're wearing? they are both with the red cross. joe works for the red cross, she's been a volunteer for six years, traveling to help victims of other catastrophes. now there's one right here. >> so your job now is comforting and helping and hearing of needs and filling them, right? >> yeah. >> as long as it takes. >> our red cross chapter was damaged so that's why we are here and not at the chapter. he's been cleaning that out and we're here at the shelter.

>> reporter: meanwhile, who's taking care of you and the damage you suffered? >> the neighbors that we were hoping are now helping us. >> reporter: that is how it works. >> that's how it works in tuscaloosa. >> reporter: there you go. and when we come back, the life or death decision faced by one family here.

of. >> we're back here in tuscaloosa where it was all so sudden and random. surviving a tornado often simply means avoiding the wrong place at the wrong time. a family here in hard-hit alabama had a choice between two places for shelter. the question is, did they pick the right one? their story from josh mankiewicz. >> reports we're getting of massive damage here, particularly on the west and northwest sides of town. an unbelievable day across alabama. >> jeff morrow is a meteorologist for the weather channel. over a 20-year career, his mission has been covering destructive storms. yet nothing prepared him for this. >> we were setting up on the south side of birmingham. you watched it go right in front of us. it's this huge black seething mass of clouds. a lot of power flashes, a lot of

transformers going. it was almost like looking at a movie. >> reporter: morrow reported live as the storm ravaged birmingham. >> large pieces of corrugated metal falling here. >> you guys do a great job of staying detached of something while reporting of it. was this unnerving, frightening? >> it was unnerving. knowing wherever it comes in there's going to be total destruction. if we go out to cover a tornado, the damage, aftermath, it's a smaller area. this is incredible. it goes on for miles and miles and miles of the same kind of destruction. the path is generally anywhere from a quarter mile to about a mile wide. that is incredible power. >> and this tornado was headed straight at vicki wood. >> to me, this was the safest place that we could be. >> when warnings came that pleasant grove, a suburb of birmingham, was about to become the buckle of the tornado belt, vicki had her daughter and family come to her big house, and they all headed to the

basement. >> it was a loud roar, and we knew that the brunt of the storm was here on us. >> they waited, and the storm passed. >> we came out here, there's no major damage. we thought, well, it missed pleasant grove. we're okay. >> but what had become of tiffany's house less than a mile away? >> this is where my living room was. >> you can't get in the door. there is no door. >> there's no door. there's stairs but there's no door. >> we crawl in the window, the large window, which is where my daughter's room was. >> inside and outside her home, tiffany and her mom found complete destruction. >> i was standing actually in the road and i was trying to find her house. i was right in front of it. it was just total devastation to see everything gone. >> what swept away tiffany's house and so many others is as stunning to see as it is heartbreaking. trees sheared off, metal bent

into hideous sculptures, and block after block suffering from nothing less than blunt force trauma. >> hang on, hang on, baby. >> everywhere in pleasant grove, there's the knowledge that this week marks a tipping point in their lives. before and after. sometimes just a few yards meant the difference in whether or not a home survived. this house is in pretty good shape. but just on the other side of the street, most of them are a total loss. what are you going to do? of. >> move. >> somewhere where the wind doesn't blow as hard? >> i just can't look at this every day. it's too much. so i'll stay around, just not here. >> randal matthews of asheville, alabama, is also still here, and that's no small achievement. living in this trailer with his wife and 5-year-old son, randal took his family to what he thought was a more secure place

to ride out the approaching tornado. a neighbor's solidly built home. >> we all got in the house and we weeasn't in there two secondi seen glass flying and just a big explosion. when i woke up, we was all on the ground. >> this is what's left of that home. miraculously, everyone in the house survived, but not without injury. randall's arm was broken, his wife and son injured. but all of them had to wait hours for medical care because all the roads were blocked. >> it was pouring down rainment my son and my wife, they were crying. >> could you tell how seriously they were injured? >> no, sir, i couldn't tell because i couldn't move. >> his son zeland suffered a head injury. >> i got some boo boos. >> but was well enough to be released today from alabama's children's hospital.

randall's wife is in intensive care, six months pregnant she's expected to survive along with the couple's unborn daughter. >> it happened in the blink of an eye. so fast. >> today vicki and tiffany wood are sorting through the clothes and personal items tiffany was able to salvage. and both say they feel fortunate. >> this can all be replaced. but when you're looking at a child whose face is swelling because they've got trauma and they can't get help and the parents are frantic because the only way out is to walk, i mean, it put a whole new perspective on what we were coming to look at. >> reporter: just some of the unbelievable stories in this region. we'll take a break, and when we come back, a hairraising ride with one of the storm chasers, the people who run into these storms to give us the pictures that become the record of this monster.

this next story is the story about storm chase others. you probably seen their exploits on cable at night on no fewer than three or so channels.

you've definitely seen their work. when most rational, sane people are leaving a storm zone, they are the men and women going in. the upside is, you've seen their work and they'll leave us with the videotaped record of this storm and others. one such storm chaser story tonight from nbc's lester holt. >> reporter: eastern mississippi, wednesday afternoon. dark clouds gather. to the trained eye behind the camera, it's clear this could be very bad. >> it could produce right now. >> watch as the winds begin to swirl, and then something rarely caught on camera. out of thin air, a tornado is born. instead of seeking shelter, the cameraman guns it, racing forwards a storm that would eventually devastate parts of alabama later in the day. >> large tornado. >> 24-year-old andy gabrielleson

is a storm chaserment he's been on the hunt for the perfect storm for nine years. of the 200 tornadoes he's seen, he says this is one of the most dramatic. >> i could hear the wind whipping against my car. >> reporter: during tornado season he leaves home in minnesota and moves to the plains, near the action. his car is outfitted for the chase, cameras mounted, laptop installed on the dash. >> i had my map pulled up so i knew where i was going. i turned all my cameras on. i just basically immediately getting into the car it's like push, push, push, spin, turn. within less than a minute probably it increased ten times. the power of a tornado is something that -- it's just very hard to describe. it can be very frightening. it completely just takes your breath away. >> those sparks aren't lightn g lightning. they're electrical transformers erupting and power lines collapsing. >> i've got trees falling.

you know, the wind was probably 50, 60 miles an hour. i could see the funnel itself, just tearing into the ground, just absolutely ripping stuff up. i have a respect. i don't know that i have a fear. i feel like if i had a fear i wouldn't storm-chase. >> reporter: soon andy will be out there again, chasing. tornado season is just getting started. >> reporter: and let's talk about tornadoes. the raw material for the storm chasers. jim cantore of the weather channel's been nice enough to join us tonight after nonstop coverage these past two days. let's talk about this science. there's a lot of raw material out there. there's some myths in the tornado business, no urban areas, that they don't survive across mountains or hills, and the weather's been so violent lately, all those myths have gone by the boards. >> well, they have. we can start last year with new york city. >> reporter: brooklyn, new york. >> a week ago tonight probably at this very time. lambert field in st. louis and the surrounding fields getting

hammered. >> what's happening to our weather? >> there's more storms out there. you know what? anyone with a phone is a cameraman. so you're going to document more storms. i think that is attributing certainly the inflating totals. but cities have never been immune, neither have mountains, to storms. with such a juiced-up jet stream during the winter, houses buried 30 feet under snow, all we did was fast-forward to april, record warmth, instability, active jet stream equals a recipe tore disaster. and we've seen that. >> reporter: this seems like something else entirely. at the center of the tornado that came through here, at the center of a big storm like katrina, it is basically as much energy as nature can produce on earth, correct? >> the kind of tornadoes that moved through on april 27th make up 0.4% of all the tornadoes. in this country, that's about 1,300 a year, which we really have added to especially this past month. the historic months with may

coming. that ace scary thing. >> reporter: is the definition of "tornado alley" changing? carved out of karns cannes, missouri, oklahoma, that was what we always thought was where they were going to pop up. we're in alabama. >> and that's april. dixie alley as we call it in the south is march april time. this is performed above anyone's expectations. and like most metemeteorologist never did we think we'd surpass the death of the super outbreak. but you needed to be underground for the kind of storms that moved through here. >> reporter: and back up to the previous question, the people who have been watching this coverage saying it's something we're doing. got to be something we're doing because we didn't have weather like this when i was a kid, we didn't have weather like this a few years ago. what do you say to them? >> well, the science says we can't prove anything yet. but the human in me says, okay, if it's raining harder and if

the earth is warmer, which we know it is, and the jet stream and everything else is trying to compensate for that. and extremes will eventually wind up as more extremes. as you can see, it's pretty extreme. >> reporter: jim cantore, always a pleasure. thanks for joining us. when we come back here tonight, a doctor trying to protect his patients and his own son at the same time.

>> reporter: time to talk about the first respond erresponders. in a disaster this scale, the scale and quick thinking of the first responders, doctors, police officers, rescue crews can make all the difference in places like this. but that's an especially tough job for those like the doctor in this next story who know their own loved ones are directly in the path of an approaching storm. here's nbc's keith morrison. >> behind the wall of tuscaloosa regional hospital a worried oncologist david hinten got the warning. he helped usher patients to shield them forred radiation treatments.

>> perfect place to be. >> it would it take an atomic bomb to damage that. >> the doctor sneaked to look outside that cement bunker. >> and the tornado was right there. >> roaring along, whipping up god knows what. and that's when something awful clicked in dr. hinten's brain. the tornado was headed dead center to where his son lived. >> i'm afraid i'm seeing a tornado killing my son. >> he ran then, the moment he could, sprinted to his car, careened down the street to his son's neighborhood. >> it was about the scariest thing i've ever faced in my life. the tv went out and james' mother herded everybody into this hallway in the center of the house where they waited. what did it sound like?

>> it sounded like a jetliner flying over at low altitudes. theb our eardrums started to pop. >> walls were breaking and in that little hall they crouched and held each other and they survived. grandma got a bump on the head. that was it. they picked out of the rubble and james heard all around -- >> you could hear people hollering their names and stuff, saying, where you at? trying to find each other. just -- >> here was century-old oaks torn up and laced with laundry, whole houses smashed, tossed, blended, clothes, books, toys. most of the people on this block of cedar crest survived,ed huddled in their center of the house shelters. most. not all. we can't know, we'll never know, where the three people who lived in this house crouched to hide from the storm, in what inner room they tried to find sanctuary. the house is smashed up against

the next one. there's a refrigerator in the tree that flew across the street. kitchen sink under a car by the curb, the water running in what used to be the kitchen. some kind of memorial fountain. it was here, dr. hinten wound up, maybe there was someone to save. >> i actually had my stethoscope on so it was obvious i was a doctor. so when they found somebody down the street, they yelled for me to come try to help. >> three young people, one already dead, two barely breathing. the doctor did what he could, fashioned makeshift gurneys. they were still alive on their way to the hospital. but -- >> i was told they died about 1:00 in the morning that morning. i think it was the worst thing i've ever seen. i mean, i'm an oncologist and i deal with people that frequently have poor outcomes. but i've never seen anything like this. >> no. nor has tuscaloosa. 600 wounded people extremed through the hospital's emergency

ward that night, hundreds still in the hospital now. and dr. hinton's son is not among them. here he is, because dennis hinton with his girlfriend and a cousin hud il elled under a mattress in the one little space center house that somehow stayed intact. >> i told them both i loved them, then i was praying for us. i said, god, please help us get through this, because it did not look good. >> when it stopped, there was a car in his bedroom, the other bedrooms just gone. they brushed themselves off, shaking still. and there was his dad running toward him. >> i started waving my hands, you know, telling him, here we are, we're alive. and you know it just killed me to see his face and the anguish that he had thinking we were dead. >> had you ever seen that look on his face before? >> no, i haven't. we embraced, and told each other we loved each other.

>> now people drift back to pick through the personal bits the wind deigned to leave intact chgt and life the way anyone has known it on cedar crest is done. >> reporter: and one more word here tonight about first responders. since the tornadoes struck tuscaloosa, northstar ambulance has responded to more than 100 requests for help, often transporting several injured patients in their units at one time. three of their finest have been kind enough to push through one more night shift and stay up with us tonight. charles stewart, bobbi-banks and rick shriver with us. charles, every squad has the grind about training, has the person saying, we've got to have a drill on saturday, sunday, because training is everything. they tell me you are all about training and they tell me it's why everything worked so smoothly. can you admit to that? >> i am the education director

for northstar. >> reporter: and how did it go? >> it went pretty smoothly for us. we, again, responded to everything, every call that came in, we responded right out the gate as soon as things began. we train all year round for these kind of things. we train on a regular basis with tuscaloosa fire department, dch, all the other agencies here for mass casualty incidences so that we can be prepared when these things happen. >> reporter: bobbi, i'm told this was your first day as a supervisor? >> yes, sir, it absolutely was. >> reporter: that's unbelievable. i saw a patient today walk up to a member of the nationaled guard and just get treated in a shopping center parking lot. how did you possibly triage, prioritize all the calls? >> well, actually, as soon as the tornado was over, we responded immediately, or we lifted our doors manually because we had no power, so we just immediately knew that there was people out there that had to

have our help. >> reporter: did you send out the rigs jenngenerically? >> yes. we sent one within two blocks so that was very hard hit. we actually were a lot of us in the base when it hit so we saw it, we raised our doors, immediately responded. triaging, as far as that's concerned, where people were running to the ambulance wanting help, we averaged probably three and four and five patients at at a time taking them in. >> reporter: did i hear correctly this was your first day as an emt? >> as a paramedic/emt, yes, sir. >> reporter: how did it go for you? >> it went very well. it just came out of nowhere and we were prepared. we responded, and we did the best that we could do. >> reporter: how much rest have you had since, any of you, wednesday afternoon? anything of consequence? couple hours here and there? >> very little. >> reporter: that's why it's called baptism by fire. our thanks on behalf of everyone

watching, thank you folks and thank you very much for being with us and telling your stories. weem take another break. when we come back, talk about all the places people sought refuge during this storm, one of the strangest places ever to ride out a tornado. in this case, it worked. [ coach ] in albuquerque, citi pre-approved my mortgage.

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>> reporter: we're back here in tuscaloosa. we heard a lot of steories of survival, the man who put on a helmet, pulled a mattress over himself. a lot of people rode it out in the tub. one story was unique. we have it tonight from nbc's chris hansen. >> lisa rice and her daughters

pick through the rubble of what once was their brand new home in a small town 20 miles outside of chattanooga, tennessee. just a day before they were at the salon when they heard a tornado was about to strike. >> my husband works for the georgia power company, and he called and said, get ready, it's coming. >> lisa knew she needed a plan. as a teacher, she had been through tornado drills. this time it was for real. the building had no basement so she told her daughters, who are 19 and 21, there was only one possibility. >> i said, if something happens, we're all getting in that tanning bed. it's in the central location of the building. i told my husband, if something happens, that's where we're going to be. >> the girls, whose names ironically are skye and stormy, followed their mom's instructions. all three piled into the green tanning bed in the middle of the room. so you're huddled in this tanning bed. >> uh-huh. >> i thought we were going to die. >> how about you? >> i said, everything is going

to be all right. just pray, just pray, just pray. we just started praying. >> the tornado ripped the roof off the building, the tanning bed's roof remained shut. >> it's a miracle. it stayed closed. the lid never raised up or anything. >> lisa and her daughters felt the storm had passed, but that was just one storm. another twister was moving up the valley behind where i'm standing, bearing down on the heart of ringgold, georgia, population just under 3,000. and one of the town's native sons was watching as the horror was about to unfold. >> god bless ringgold. oh, god be with them. >> the tornado had traveled 35 miles from trenton to ringgold and had picked up power. >> just danced through the town, ripping up everything, and it was the most horrific thing i've ever seen. >> mccracken posten is a lifelong resident and former georgia state representative. >> every time it would hit a transformer, it would just be

like an explosion. you just knew that this was bad, and there's nothing you could do about it. and, you know, this is a small town. we all know each other. >> 50% of the town's businesses were wiped out. what's the worst part about this for you? >> just knowing that there are families who lost their loved ones. all of this property can be replaced and be rebuilt. you know, just the human losses, that's the stuff that you can't replace. >> one of my high school teachers was killed. and you can back the u-haul. >> connie was down in the valley when the tornado hit. she and her 17-year-old son fled to their basement. what were your son and you doing? >> holding each other. >> and what did you say to him? >> that i loved him. we're lucky to be alive. i'm so glad you're okay. >> today we were with connie as she returned with friends and family to gather anything she could from her demolished home.

you live in an area where several relatives also have homes. six, to be exact. >> exactly. >> how many of those homes are still standing as we sit here today? >> one. unbelievable, huh? >> still, she considers herself lucky. her second cousin, his wife and two children, who live about a mile away, were all killed. an entire family wiped out. >> the little girl's a friend of mine, chelsea was a friend of my son's. >> four others were also killed in ringgold. will this community ever recover? >> it will be years. >> reporter: let's talk about another natural disaster. still fresh on a lot of minds here in the american south. that's hurricane katrina and the botched government response. the man in charge of the government's response back then, michael brown, perhaps remembered best as brownie, faced a separate storm of

criticism for how he handled things. but these days, there's a new man in charge with a career of disaster experience behind him. nbc's lester holt spoke with the new man in chart of fema, the administrator craig fugate. >> when you saw the forecast on thursday, what started happening? >> we're getting reports in saying there's a lot of damage, there's people missing but it doesn't give you a sense of how big this was. you know, we made a decision, we weren't going to go in and assess, we weren't going to be able to wait. we needed to go to the president and say, sir, we don't have a lot of information but this is very bad and getting worse. yesterday we got here and as i was flying over, i counted over 200 homes totally destroyed. i wasn't even halfway here. we realized this was definitely a major disaster. >> when it gets this bad and when people see fema come to town, they're going to want to hold you accountable in the same way of katrina. is that fair? >> it's always fair. our job is to support the governor and local team. >> but is katrina a benchmark

for you? when it's this bad and you come in and everyone wants help, are you thinking about that experience? >> no. i've always looked at it from the standpoint you deal with the disasters as they come. a lot of people are looking back at katrina. i think we learned lessons but we're trying to look forward so we don't, a, repeat mistakes we made but also understand as bad as this is there could be other disasters that could be worse. >> is it easy to get this wrong? >> yes. there's a tendency to be cautious and not over-responds. my approach has always been from the local to state and federal level speed is of an essence. >> does politics, the fear of criticism ever haunt you or get in the way of prot success? >> not me. a lot of people would say, you're doing this because of this or that. i do this for one reason. that's people lost their homes, survivors. i always try to put it in the context of, this is their second day. many people have gone back to their homes, there's nothing left. they're putting in the baskets

the last things they can salv e salvage. should they be waiting another week? >> how do you view the people who live in these homes right now who are out of these homes? >> they're the survivors. you know, a lot of times we talk about zasdisaster victims. over time what i learned is, that's really a patronizing term. they're the survivors. they're ultimately going to have to get control, make decisions and move forward. i need to respect that, and i need to understand that, from my perspective, they're not somebody waiting for me to come tell them what to do. they're going to start doing the things they need to do. that's what a survivor does. >> reporter: the new man in charge at fema. while we can try to give you numbers and charts and graphs that try to describe the devastation here, in the end nothing will ever say more about what happened here this week than the images and sounds that were captured in those terrifying minutes during and then the long sad hours after this disaster.

>> it was the scariest thing i've ever seen. i mean, it looked exactly like the films that you see of it. >> entire buildings, churches, businesses, homes have just been blown away.

>> there's nothing you can say that's going to fix this or make it better or bring them back. >> had neighbors across the road here that, you know, lost their lives. here one minute and gone the next. >> it's the worst thing we've ever seen as far as any kind of storm damage. >> all you can do is start cleaning up.

>> reporter: and after those images and sounds, after all of this, can you blame the millions of americans today who sought a little distraction by watching some of the coverage of the royal wedding in london? that's why we have a second hour tonight. when we come back, ann curry will join us from london as we take you moment by moment through the big day. for us, for our team on the ground here, i'm brian williams. stay with us. our coverage will continue right after this.

>> announcer: their lips may be sealed but our insiders kiss and tell. >> they looked embarrassed a bit. >> william driefg his bride away from buckingham palace. it was totally unexpected. >> announcer: on the road to "hap happily ever after. welcome back. i'm ann curry in london at buckingham palace. even as our thoughts remain focused on those devastated by the storms at home, there is another story we want to bring you tonight, a far happier one. with much of the world watching, two young people began a new

life today and a new chapter in the history of the british royal family. the wedding of will and kate is the kind of skeptical the prettyish do so well and haven't seen for 30 years. at the enter lt centcenter of in who started the day as a commoner but ended it as a princess. tonight, the royal wedding as it happened. as dawn broke over westminster abbey, the air crackled with anticipation. this was the day millions around the world had been waiting for, the royal wedding of prince william arthur philip louis and catherine elizabeth middleton. ever since the royal engagement six months ago, the entire country has thrown itself into a frenzy of preparation. all leading up to this one giddy day. >> how did you get such a front row seat? >> because i stayed here and

slept here for five days. >> i came here to see history being made. this is going to be such a big moment. >> you have a tiara on your head. >> i do. i slept in it. >> the skies were overcast but the mood on the ground was jubilant. people have been standing out here for some say five days here in front of westminster abbey, where it's all supposed to happen, and the wedding is still 4 1gss 2 hours away. finally at 8:15 a.m., the great north door of the abbey opened up. the ips soon arrived, foreign dignitaries and prime p ministers, including britain's david cameron. >> i slept on the -- of charles and diana's wedding all those years ago. you feel quite an attachment to this whole event. >> there were also celebrities, elton john and david, the beckhams, guy ritchie, and rowen atkinson, aka mr. bean.

and among those lucky enough to get inside, some special guests of the bride. it had been 350 years since a non-arift toe craft like kate middleton married a future king and she and her family invited working people from their hometown of bucklebury. >> she came out, it was absolutely wonderful. really stunning. >> from the groom's side, there was ben fogel, a british television presenter and nbc news special correspondent who traveled to africa with the prince last year. >> if i had to come up with one word, it's unforgettable. but that's probably a sentiment going around all london, england, the world today. >> and there were william's bud countries from the royal air force. >> i don't get on well him because he's a prince. i don't get on with him because he's a junior officer in the air force. i get on well him because who he

is, genuinely a nice person. >> william also invited people from the charities he supported. nick booth had some personal insight into the groom. >> he's been relaxed in the run-up to it, a lot of buildup, a lot of decisions to take. finding that personal union through the middle of it has been very important. >> prince william was a headliner even before he was born. and today would be the biggest headline of his adult life. at 10 after 10:00 he left his london home clarence house to make the five-minute jofrny to westminster abbey. joib jo joining him, his brother and best man prince harry. vernon and carla ord had traveled from grand rapids, michigan. >> oh, my! oh, look at this. >> wow! >> and harry's looking quite

dapper as well. >> today was a national holiday, with 5,000 street parties organized across the uk, including this one where an estimated 80,000 people had gathered, including kate snow. >> this is hyde park, we're in the middle of london. it's sort of like their version of central park in new york city. and this is billed as the biggest watch party in the world. >> bringing order to the crowds, 5,000 police officers, some of whom were as much caught up in the excitement as they were controlling it. >> i can't wait to see the dress. and everybody else's dresses, too, especialliy the queens. >> horse guards were here, captain james hume had jitters about his horse. >> i'm nervous because of the horse, my horse, william, hasn't been necessarily that well re e

recent recently. >> meanwhile, the other william, prince william, arrived at the abbey in full uniform attire. you've just seen william for the first time. how did he look? >> oh, gorgeous. >> absolutely fantastic. >> quite glamorous. all the business on. >> really good. >> this morning he and kate received their wedding gift from the queen, the new title of duke and duchesss of cambridge. william's early arrival at the abs bey 40 minutes before the ceremony meant he had time to greet some of the guests. >> this morning when he walked into the church, he looked calm, smiled at a few people he knew at the west door. >> meantime, members of kate middleton's family were making their way to westminster abbey, a seven-minute trip from the goring hotel but long from where they began. carroll middleton comes from working class people. for middletons, this was a

journey of personal transformation. >> i think it was very clear that the middletons wanted to keep this a family occasion. all this talk of commoners and royals, they looked very much of like a class act. >> from buckingham palace, members of the royal family were also making their way to westminster abbey. among them, princess eugenie and beatrice, daughters of fergie and prince andrew. at 10:45, prince charles arrived with his wife, camilla, dutch is's of cornwall. 30 years before, the standard for royal speck kell als. all of this may have been weighing on the queen's mind this morning as she made her way to westminster abbey. finally, the wedding party arrived. the young bridesmaids and pages led by maid of honor and sister

pippa middleton. there were 1,900 people inside the church. outside, the crowds were bursting with anticipation. >> i want to see her dress. >> the dress! >> all of them were waiting for a glimpse of the royal bride. at 10:50, they got their first tease, kate middleton surrounded by bodyguards stepped into her car and made her way toward westminster abbey. but the best-kept secret was still to come. everyone was waiting to see that dress.

kate middle pton's drive to westminster abbey was just less than eight minutes, the final beats of a drum roll that had been thundering for months. here was the bride at last, her father by her side, a thin veil hardly ab securing that

signature smile. and the world was waiting to be let in on the best-kept secret of the day. >> seeing kate's dresses is one of the main reasons i'm here camping out in the freezing coiled. i want to be the first to see it with my own two eyes. >> i think it's created a lot of curiosity and excitement. everyone wants to know what it's going to look like. >> i'm very excited to see this dress. >> diamonds, whoo! >> well, just about every tidbit of wedding detail had been released to the media in advance -- >> five minutes to kate! >> the dress and who designed it were a complete mystery. >> who's monitoring the dress? >> the huge windows of her rolls-royce revealed a v-shaped neckline and long lace sleeves. no surprise since bare arms for a bride in westminster abbey might never do. >> immediately i'm thinking of what we were going through at the same time 30 years ago. >> elizabeth emanuel created

diana's iconic gown. she was as curious as any well-wisher camped along the route. >> i think it's an absolute miracle that the secret hasn't gotten out. i have no idea. nobody knows. we'll only know the minute she steps out. >> at precisely 11:00 in london, as if on cue, the clouds parted, the sun emerged, and the wait was over. the cameras and the world took in kate's moment. she emerged waving to the crowd sister pippa carefully arranging the eight-foot train. this is what the future of the british monarchy looks like. and while eyes around the globe were watching history unfold -- >> the bride just walked in. >> this is so exciting!

>> i'm sorry. i nearly cried. >> all the tightly held details about the dress were quickly spilled online and via twitter. >> aww! >> the fabric, ivory satin. the lace, hand-cut english and french chan tilly. and designer? though she had flatly denied it up untiltoday, sarah burton from the avant-garde house alexander mcqueen did the honors. yet there was nothing too modern about this picture. in fact, kate had only taken a few steps into the church when words like "classic," "retro," and the name grace kelly were forming in the minds of many. for those assembled in the pews, kate's entrance was a breathtaking sight, says claudia bra bradbury. >> seeing kate come into the abbye was the best moment of the

day/the whole year. she had the veil over her face and the tiara was glinting and sparkling. >> inside the apbey, e's bright smile momentarily flickered, replaced with a nervous grin. look closely, and you can see her hands tremble as she moves down the aisle. >> i thi she had a moment of, wow, that's an awfully long aisle to walk down. >> but most of the guests simply saw a beautiful bride. >> under her veil, truly sort of a magical princess. stuff of legend and stories and cartoons. >> the dress had to be stately, memorable, historically fabulous. >> avril graham is the beauty editor of harper's bazaar. >> the dress she chose and the design that sarah burton gave us today, i don't think there's one fashion editor that would say it

was a thumbs-down. it was a thumbs-up all the way. it was tip-top, fashion fabulous. >> fashion designer carolyn herrera agreed. >> for me, stunning. beautiful. the dress is classic, but at the same time very regal. and the good thing about that dress is that it looks sensational on her. >> kate's something borrowed for the day was the diamond halo tiara designed by cartier and lent to her by the queen. she did her makeup herself. >> i have this fresh from the palace. kate middleton did her own makeup. >> the hair beneath her veil fell loosely. it is said kate just wanted to be sure that william would recognize her at the altar. but it wasn't time for the princess to see his bride just yet. though, as guests later told us,

that didn't stop best man harry, from steeling a peek. >> when she came up the aisle with her father, prince william had his back to him, prince harry turned, saw, whispered something. >> harry said something which seemed funny i could see his shoulders shaking. >> harry was almost going to his brother, oh, she looks lovely. >> few could argue that kate had not succeeded with her first duty of the day. >> she took my breath away. i don't think there was a dry eye in the house. >> i think we have something historically wonderful that will stand the test of time and beautifully worn by kate middleton. >> but on this day, one opinion mattered most. and it didn't take long for prince william to offer his.

when we return, the vows as william and kate become man and wife and a commoner becomes a princess. we'll be right back.

p. it was a long walk down the abbey aisle. by now the whole world had seen that dress, everyone except the man who mattered most. at last, william saw her and

whispered the words every bride, even a princess to be, wants to hear from the man she's about to marry. nick booth was watching. >> when he first arrived it at the altar, he clearly looked and said, you look beautiful. >> that was lovely. >> lip readers also say william also joked to catherine's father, saying, quote, we were supposed to just have a small family affair. the service began with a tribute to william's mother princess diana, the hymn that played 14 years ago in this church at her funeral. >> dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the sight of god and in the face of this congregati congregation. >> as the words echoed through the abbey, william and catherine were solemn.

>> therefore, if any man can show any just cause why they may not lawfully be joined together, let him now speak or else hereafter forever hold his peace. >> a hush in the abbey. watching from the front pews, the queen, prince charles and camilla, and dozens of other members of the royal family. across the aisle, the bride's relatives, her mother carroll and maid of honor pippa middleton. by the altar, best man prince harry. the archbishop of canterbury, the church of england's top cleric, led the vows. >> i, william arthur philip louis, take thee catherine elizabeth, to my wedded wife. to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer. >> but this thoroughly common

couple dispensed with some traditions. like diana, catherine chose not to include the word "obey" in her vows. >> for richnesses or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish till death us do part. >> a blessing for the ring fashioned from a piece of welsh gold given to william by the queen. >> bless, o. lord, this ring and grant that he who gives it and she who shall wear it may remain faithful to each other and abide in thy peaces and favor and live together in love until their lives end. through jesus christ our lord, amen. >> william tried to place the ring on catherine's finger. it wasn't easy, but then on it went. simon johnson, a guest who knows william from his role as president of the football association, caught that.

>> yeah, it looked to me as though he had two or three attempts to get the ring comfortably on her finger. >> soon after, the words everyone was waiting for. >> i pronounce that they be man and wife together in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost, amen. >> outside, the crowd roared its approval. >> one of the best things about being there is when you hear the cheers coming from outside. because you really get the reaction. inside you don't quite dare cheer, do you? >> be who god meant you to be, and you will set the world on fire. >> a sermon from the bishop of london, the minister who helped comfort prince william in the days and weeks after his mother's death. and the reading of a prayer composed by the bridal couple. >> god our father, we thank you for our families, for the love

that we share, and for the joy of our marriage. >> finally, the walk down the aisle as a married couple. first, a couurtsy to the queen. the new princess catherine had a big smile for the congregation on her way down. >> everybody was craning to see it, whenever you were in the church everybody was straining to get a great view. >> not quite everyone. >> actually, i don't think i could see anything at that stage. i was too misty-eyed. it was very tear-jerking. >> even one of william's raf colleagues, sergeant ed griffiths had a moment. >> when i saw william and kate walking out together hand in hand, sent a little shiver down

my spine. it was lovely, it was fantastic. >> a scant hour earlier, catherine middleton entered westminster abbey a commoner. now she was leaving on the arm of the future king of england, married to the man she loves and a country who already seems to love her. waiting just outside the abbey, tens of thousands of well-wish ers and a fairy tale carriage to carry a new princess to the palace.

at noon outside westminster abbey, anticipation was at a

fever pitch, cameras ready, necks straining. and then eight minutes later, the chime of church bells signaling the newlyweds were about to appear. with that first glimpse of the beaming prince and princess, the chorus of giddy screams erupted. in nearby hyde park, the throng of 80,000 watching on giant jumbotrons tossed confetti into the air. >> for the thousands of people watching here in hyde park on big monitors, it's as if they were in there, too, in the abbey, experiencing the ceremony, laughing, crying, caught up in all the emotion. >> reporter: the first people the royal couple set eyes on were the 24 armed force members lining the path to their horse-drawn carriage, many specially chosen because of their personal connection to prince william. >> the military is extremely important to william. after all, he's a commissioned army officer. he's now an raf search and rescue pilot. >> then preparing to travel the

1.5-mile processional route to buckingham palace, william doned the white gloves and black cap finishing off his uniform and climbed into this carriage. the carriage has both historical and know na stal jik significance. his parents rode in the same carriage. >> another nod to diana, the engagement ring, the carriage she rode in. clearly he wanted her to be part of his day. >> today the carriage was esc t escorted by four white horses. as it pulled out of westminster abbey, everyone was happy to see william talking happily to his wife. >> the smiles on their faces, the look of glee and the support of everybody as they exited the abbey, it must have just been a joyous occasion for them. >> riding in the second and third carriages, prince harry

and pippa middleton, and two page boys and kate's four briedz remains. clem me was a bridesmaid for diana in 1981 and loved looking at the girls. >> they looked really, really sweet. the dresses were perfect. the little boys looked adorable, too, with their military gear on. >> the queen traveled in a fourth enclosed carriage and charles, camilla and kate's parents followed in the fifth. all eyes were on the newlyweds. as they smiled broadly, waving cheerfully, the crudeowd estima at 1 million seemed mesmerized. everyone wanted a good peek. >> just to see kate's dress and the whole atmosphere. >> vernon and carla, the couple that had traveled all the way from grand rapids, michigan, to experience this historic day, had staked out a prime viewing

spot and they were determined to capture it on camera. >> we don't have a hand to wave. >> maybe not, but it worked. vernon snagged one of the best candid shots s of the day. once all the carriages had passed -- >> may we join you? >> -- vernon and carla had a new mission, getting to the palace to witness the next most highly anticipated moment. >> i think i got everything i wanted to see except the kiss. >> falling in line with a jube i lent flag-waving crowd, carla couldn't resist the chance to do a little role-playing. >> oh, i forgot, i need the queen's wave. >> she's waving back at you. >> even for the members of the household cavalry who were leading the parade, the excitement of being part of this day was palpable. >> as soon as the bells go off, everything just starts tingling. you feel a buzz, everything's just -- the adrenaline really kicks in at that moment.

>> as the newlyweds approached buckingham palace, the cheering got louder. even the horses seemed to sense the frenzy. >> pulls the reins further and further through your hands. >> with the royal couple's 14-minute ride to the palace over, there was now a momentary hush in the air as everyone awaited their arrival on the balcony for their first public kiss. [ male announcer ] washington, d.c.

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they had come from all over the world to witness grandeur. no one seemed disappointed after the royal procession passed by on its way to buckingham palace. it's been said that an englishman, even if alone, will form an orderly cue. today there were an estimated 500,000 examples of that as an enormous crowd followed the newlyweds' path to the palace where they all hoped to witness the first public kiss. >> it will be well controlled. this is the metropolitan police. we don't do -- nice and civilized and very british. i hope. >> chief inspector ed sherry was one of the london bobbys in charge of crowd control. >> worth looking behind you now. >> in 29 years as a bobby, inspector sherry says this was one of the largest crowds he's

ever seen. >> you've got to start looking for your friends and which side you're going to go to, left or right. >> in the middle of the pack walked a pair of yanks, vernon and carla ord from grand rapids, michigan. a royal wedding is always a pageant of tradition, representing centuries of protocol. correspond gr correspond area graphed down to the last curtsy. but in 1981, prince william's parents charles and diana had introduced something spontaneous. it was only a peck, stiff and awkward, but it was a crowdpleaser. five years later, prince william's aunt and uncle, prince andrew and sarah ferguson offered their subjects a lengthier smooch, but not by much. of such things tradition is made. this year, even a public display of affection, was on the

schedule. that is what this throng want d wanted to see. there were other ways to witness the historic kiss, of course. even the partiers in hyde park could see it on jumbotrons. but there was something about this people's procession that felt authentically british. >> it's inspiration really to wait for the right person and the prince. yeah. >> i just love romance and i love the royal family. i'm from south africa so we love the royals there and i had to be here today. >> some came dressed in elaborate costumes. others riding high on their parents' shoulders. >> king and queen they're going to be, and i'm so proud i was here today to watch it along with everyone else. >> at 8:25, the newlyweds walked out of the palace to greet their subjects. everything was right on schedule. vernon and carla from grand rapids made it to the palace in time. >> so we're at the circle of

buckingham palace. >> awaiting the kiss. >> everybody is pretty excited. >> kiss kiss kiss kiss! >> then just a minute later, the royal couple delivered on that promised public kiss. and the crowd roared its approval. short and sweet. for prince william who famously avoids public displays of affection, this was perhaps one of his least favorite moments. according to the palace schedule, the royal air force was supposed to cap off this now-traditional balcony kiss with a dramatic flyover. but there was a glitch. the planes were nowhere in sight. then, a little more than a minute later, the future king and queen gave it another go. this time the flyover was on time. three vintage world war ii planes followed by a modern

fighter jet formation. the crowd below seemed satisfied with the effort, particularly eric and sarah carson who traveled all the way from houston, texas, for this moment. >> true love. the royal kiss was definitely true love. it was unique. it was simple, elegant. >> for vernon and carla ord, this vacation was the trip of a lifetime. and even though others who saw it all on tv may have had a better view -- >> i can't wait to hear what the head count is. >> reporter: -- the ords will be able to tell everyone back home that they were witnesses to history. >> just to be right here down in all of this action, all of the excitement that everybody is feeling, people just diving into the fountain to get a better view, it was just out of control. it's really cool. >> i don't know that we're ever going to have a chance to do it again. >> the royal family only spent five minutes on the balcony before taking the queen's cue,

heading back inside. >> my favorite moment of both of them together was right as they stayed on the balcony together by themselves and at the last moment they turned to go in. he took her hand first. then she made one last glance and then she goes in. that was just beautiful. it showed how much he loves her. >> after months of planning and preparation, the wedding of william and kate had gone off without a hitch. not only had they carried on traditions both old and new, but they may have begun a tradition of their own with the surprise that was on no one's schedule.

by midday, london was in a frenzy of celebration. in the streets and parks, a wild citywide bash as the royal couple moved from the balcony to a quieter gathering. the queen's private reception, private though about 650 people were invited. no cameras were allowed, but we got an exclusive inside peek with the help of guests like wedding conductor christopher warren green and his wife rosemary furnace. >> the whole family mingled with the guests. >> it was there that william paid tribute to his new wife.

nbc special correspondent ben fogel was himself a guest. >> another key moment was when prince william asked everyone to raise their glasses to mrs. wales. so he didn't refer to her as a duchess or a princess but as mrs. wales. >> the prince of wales made a speech and then william made a speech, and they were very amusing. there was a lot of laughter. >> very amusing. >> earlier this week, the palace gave us a preview of what the royal chef was planning. the reception guests were served quail eggs with celery salt, miniature pudding with roast beef and a traditional english gift called bubble and squeak. don't ask. >> kate was st >> the cake was stunning, about seven layers. it had beautiful icing. >> impressive, too, that the new duchess of cambridge was clearly not worried about grease stains. she wore the dress to lunch.

and, as the invited guests were quietly toasting the happy couple, hundreds of thousands of uninvited were doing the same. just not as quietly. kate snow was in hyde park. >> while the queen was hosting her official reception at buckingham palace, this was the people's reception in hyde park. about 80,000 people in the end stayed for much of the afternoon. the only difference here? they had to pay for their drinks. >> and they clearly had a lot of drinks. it is a wedding after all. >> long live the queen! >> lovely as it all was, the crowds got few surprises this morning. unless you count that second kiss. but, after the reception, it happened. from the gates of buckingham palace came a vintage car decked out in weddi inding regalia and behind the wheel was william. he decided to take his bride for

a spin in a really hot car, his father's aston convertible. the crowd went wild and wedding guests were enchanted. >> it was wonderful because the princess came down in her beautiful dress and she had to get the dress with the train into this convertible car. >> car? it's an aston martin. darling, really. >> the back plate read "just wed." and the "l" on the front is a joke from william's friends. it stood for "learner". >> in the uk when you're a learner driver, you have an "l" on your car. it shows you're in the early stages so you're just learning. it's sort of tongue-in-cheek just saying to the world, give us some time. >> the queen gave the car to charles in 1969 for his 21st birthday. it was more than a decade later that william's mother, princess diana, was photographed lounging on the hood. it's described as sea shell

blue, but prince charles has made it green. it's defas the aften martin pas the crowds, a chopper overhead paid tribute to the happy couple. it was an raf air sea chopper flown by members of william's squadron, the b-flight 22 squadron. >> i think that's really cool that they did it their own way. lovely for everyone, i think lovely that they're not the last shot of them is not on the balcony kissing and quite formal. in fact, it's them sweeping down for another party. >> which could go on all night. more on that and the next fabulous dress of the day when woe come back.

after today's afternoon reception, william and kate headed back to clarence house for some downtime. but late tonight we caught what may be the last glimpse of them today as they headed back here

to buckingham palace for that exclusive party for 300 people. kate had a brand new white strapless evening gown with a simple shrug to ward off the evening chill. the couple motored off to meet their closest friends and dance the night away. it was a wedding that is already the stuff of dreams for countless would-be princes and princesses. and we leave you now with one more look back at this special day, with a wish that the new couple finds much happinesses i their future. i'm ann curry. for all of us here at nbc news, good night from london. ♪ ♪ forever could never be long enough for me ♪ ♪ to feel like i've had long enough with you ♪

♪ forget the world now we won't let them see ♪ ♪ but there's one thing left to do ♪ ♪ now that the weight has lift ed love has surely shifted my way ♪ ♪ marry me ♪ today and every day ♪. >> i catherine elizabeth take thee william arthur philip louis as my wedded husband. >> with this ring i thee wed. >> i pronounce that may be man and wife together in the name of the father, the son and the holy ghost.

♪ you wear white and i wear out the words i love you and you're beautiful ♪ ♪ marry me ♪ today and every day ♪ marry me ♪ say you will say you will ♪ marry me ♪ today and every day

♪ marry me ♪ say you will say you will ♪ marry me ♪ say you will say you will ♪ marry me -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com