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오바마 비상사태 선언: 미 남부 토네이도 161개 강타 273명 사망 |
Is this America's tsunami? 273 die and thousands of homes are destroyed as 161 tornadoes up to a MILE wide tear through South
By Daily Mail Reporter
The deadliest storms for 40 years have obliterated large swaths of land from Mississippi to Georgia, killing at least 273 people in six states, wiping out homes and businesses and causing a nuclear power plant to use back-up generators. The death toll, already staggering, continues to rise almost every few minutes as rescue workers pull bodies from the rubble. There are fears it could rise higher than the death toll recorded in 1974 when 315 people lost their lives in a single day when violent storms rocked several states. There were reports of more than 160 twisters crashing through the Southern states right up to the Northern states, according to the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center There were 184 dead in Alabama alone, the state emergency management agency confirm!!ed. It was the worst hit state that saw an enormous F5-category tornado rip through Birmingham yesterday leaving a path of devastation in its wake. Scroll down for video Enlarge
Wasteland: Overnight tornadoes leave part of Pratt City, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, in ruins. Houses were reduced to rubble while cars were tossed about like toys before being slammed into the ground by the deadly twisters Survivors: Search and Rescue teams with a dog hunt for victims in a collapsed building after a tornado swept through in Ringgold, Georgia Scene of destruction: A car lies overturned and buildings are reduced to firewood in Tuscaloosa, after a mile-wide tornado barrelled through destroying everything in its path Stormy skies: A police officer walks under a tangle of power lines and snarled signs after a tornado swept through Ringgold, Georgia What's left: Homes and businesses along McFarland Boulevard are completely destroyed in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Victims: People view the destruction caused by a tornado that swept through the town of Ringgold, Georgia, left, while over in Pleasant Grove, Alabama, Tiffany Wood carries clothes from her ruined home FACTBOX: Deadliest tornado days in U.S.
1) March 18, 1925: 747 people killed after tornadoes hit the U.S. Midwestern states of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. 2) March 21, 1932: 332 killed, most of them in Alabama, following a wave of tornadoes across the Southeastern United States. 3) May 17, 1840: 317 died, nearly all of them in the city of Natchez, Mississippi, after tornadoes hit Louisiana and Mississippi. 4) April 3, 1974: 310 killed in what is known as the 'Super Outbreak' when 148 tornadoes rampaged across at least 13 U.S. states over a 24-hour period. 5) May 27, 1896: 305 died after tornadoes hit Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky. 6) April 11, 1965: 260 killed in the 'Palm Sunday' tornado outbreak when twisters swept across Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. 7) April 5, 1936: 249 died, most them in Tupelo, Mississippi, following an outbreak of tornadoes in Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. 8) April 20, 1920: 224 killed in Mississippi and Alabama. 9) April 24, 1908: 224 died in tornado outbreak that hit Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. 10) April 6, 1936: 205 killed, nearly all of them in Gainesville, Georgia. Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Severe Storms Laboratory Barack Obama will travel to the state tomorrow to view the damage from the storms and meet with Governor Robert Bentley, state and local officials and families, the White House confirm!!ed. Mr Obama called the storms 'heartbreaking' at a press conference for the national security team shuffle today. Mr Obama said the federal government would do everything it could to help with the recovery effort. He has already approved Gov Bentley's request for emergency federal assistance, including search and rescue support. Gov Bentley said today he is asking Mr Obama for a major disaster declaration. According to FEMA, such declarations are made when an 'incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond state and local capabilities and that federal assistance is necessary.' At least 200 people died in six states, with Alabama hardest-hit, the Associated Press reported. The president added Alabama to stops tomorrow in Florida that include Cape Canaveral for the launch of the space shuttle, and Miami, where he is scheduled to speak at a college commencement. 'We were in the bathroom holding on to each other and holding on to dear life,' said Samantha Nail, who lives in a blue-collar subdivision in the Birmingham suburb of Pleasant Grove. There the storm slammed heavy pickup trucks into ditches and obliterated tidy brick houses, leaving behind a mess of mattresses, electronics and children's toys scattered across a grassy plain where dozens used to live. 'If it wasn't for our concrete walls, our home would be gone like the rest of them,' she added. In Alberta, Alabama sirens blared, and people, who had lost everything either sobbed or yelled out for their missing family members. People covered the bodies of their neighbours with blankets as they lay in the ruins of their destroyed homes. 'I was in the bathroom in my house at 915 Alberta Drive when the tornado hit,' Fred Jackson, 48, told Tuscaloosa News. 'The earth went to moving,' he said. 'Roots were pulling up. Everything was moving. The house is destroyed. We had to get out through a window. 'We're just trying to find cover before the next one hits,' he added. Businesses in the area were reduced to rubble. One Steak-Out driver, who moved to the area after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans told Tuscaloosa News: 'It happened too fast to be scared. This is exactly what New Orleans looked like, but on a smaller scale.' Many are still missing in the neighbourhood and it is feared this is the story across the six states. Katherine Honnicutt, told the News she was forced to throw a mattress over her bedridden father, who couldn't be moved from his bed as the tornado swept through Alberta. She had just enough time to to make sure he had an opening so he could breathe before she and other family members dashed to a wardrobe for shelter. 'I lived here for 32 years, and this is the worst I have ever seen,' she said. 'I was standing at the door and saw it coming.' In Tuscaloosa, a city of more than 83,000 and home to the University of Alabama, a mile-wide twister barrelled through late yesterday afternoon, tossing houses and cars into the air like they were toys. Homes were reduced to fire wood and uprooted trees littered the streets. It looked more like a war zone in the end. The city's police and other emergency services were devastated, Mayor Walt Maddox said. The storm had, he added, been 'a devastating blow.' Widespread: The map shows the path of the tornadoes as they stretched from Alabama and up to Virginia
'I don't know how anyone survived,' Maddox told CNN. 'We're used to tornadoes here in Tuscaloosa. It's part of growing up. But when you look at the path of destruction that's likely five to seven miles long in an area half a mile to a mile wide...it's an amazing scene. There's parts of the city I don't recognise, and that's someone that's lived here his entire life.' It is thought there could be a million people without power in the state. By nightfall, the city was dark. Roads were impassable. Signs were blown down in front of restaurants, businesses were unrecognisable and sirens wailed off and on. Debris littered the streets and sidewalks. Ruins: An aerial view of tornado damage shows entire blocks of homes in ruins in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Forecasters say it is the deadliest storm for 40 years Sculpted: Hunks of metal lie in a twisted mess after being torn apart by a tornado that swept through Ringgold, Georgia 'When I looked back, I just saw trees and stuff coming by,' said Mike Whitt, a resident at DCH Regional Medical Center who ran from the hospital's parking deck when the wind started swirling and he heard a roar. On Thursday morning, he walked through the neighbourhood next to the hospital, home to a mix of students and townspeople, looking at dozens of homes without roofs. Household items were scattered all over the ground a drum, running shoes, insulation, towels, and a shampoo bottle. Streets were impassable, the pavement strewn with trees, pieces of houses and cars with their windows blown out. Dr. David Hinson was working at the hospital when the tornado hit. He and his wife had to walk several blocks to get to their house, which was destroyed. Several houses down, he helped pull three students from the rubble. One was dead and two were badly injured. He and others used pieces of debris as makeshift stretchers to carry them to an ambulance. 'We just did the best we could to get them out and get them stabilized and get them to help," he said. "I don't know what happened to them.' Wreckage: 24 hours earlier Viral Gajjar was sitting in his bedroom, in Ringgold, Georgia, but after the tornado devastated his family home, it's all he can do to sift through the rubble Picking up the pieces: Mandy Coolidge picks out family photos tangled in the branches of a downed tree in Pleasant Grove, Alabama, left, while right, just down the road in Birmingham, Vicki Wood searches through what's left of her daughter's home Remains: Residents survey the destruction after a tornado hit Pratt City. A wave of severe storms laced with tornadoes strafed the South Aftermath: An emergency worker picks through the wreckage of a destroyed home in Smithville, Mississippi as storm clouds loom once more Map of destruction: The red triangles show the 161 reports of tornadoes on Wednesday from the Southern to the Northern states Animated map shows storm movement for today The Tennessee Valley Authority shut all three reactors at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant in Alabama yesterday after the severe storms and tornadoes caused a brief power outage, Barbara Martocci, a company spokeswoman, said. Each of the reactors at the plant, 84 miles north of Birmingham, has the capacity to generate more than 1,000 megawatts, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Also in Huntsville, meteorologists at a National Weather Service office were forced to take shelter in a reinforced steel room when they observed multiple wall clouds, which sometimes spawn tornadoes. Support: University of Alabama Air Force ROTC cadet Kristin Wolse, left, carries a dog she and other AFROTC students rescued from a house hit by a tornado in Alberta, Alabama, but the dog later died, while, right, Faye Hyde sits on a mattress in what was her yard in Conord, Alabama as she comforts her two-year-old granddaughter Sierra Goldsmith Dolls house: The front of a home in Pratt City, Alabama, is ripped clean off by a fierce tornado that was on the ground for more than 100 miles Obliterated: John Boxmeyer climbs through what used to be the living room of a friend's home, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, as they try to salvage anything from the rubble Elsewhere, 32 people were killed in Mississippi, 30 in Tennessee another 14 people were reported dead in Georgia, eight in Virginia and one in Kentucky. Damaging winds and large hail were reported in 21 states from New York to Arkansas, according to the U.S. Storm Prediction Center, which had warned yesterday of a major outbreak of tornadoes. President Barack Obama said he had spoken with Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley and approved his request for emergency federal assistance, including search and rescue assets. About 1,400 National Guard soldiers were being deployed around the state. 'Our hearts go out to all those who have been affected by this devastation, and we commend the heroic efforts of those who have been working tirelessly to respond to this disaster,' Obama said in a statement Gone: Residents and others walk by the remains of the First Baptist Church in Smithville, Mississippi, following a tornado that flattened the town Trapped: Rescue workers search for casualties after the deadly tornado touched down in Birmingham, Alabama on Wednesday Funnel: A tornado moves through Tuscaloosa on Wednesday. A wave of severe storms splintering buildings across parts of the Alabama university town Sunlight: Homes and businesses are completely destroyed along 15th St. in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Cycling: Two young men on bikes look at how homes and businesses have been completely destroyed in Tuscaloosa
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: THE FORECAST
The storm system that has battered the South of the country over the last two day is heading into the Eastern and Northern regions, according to forecasters. Severe thunderstorms, torrential rain, hail and some isolated tornadoes are all predicted to sweep down through the Eastern seaboard on Thursday afternoon and into the early hours of Friday morning. Weather warnings are in place for New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, into the Carolinas and some parts of Florida. The threat level in the South remained high on Thursday, according to the National Weather Center, but meteorologist Steven Weiss said they had seen the worst of the severe weather. He couldn’t rule out the possibility of tornadoes hitting the Eastern regions but is not expecting any to be the size of the ones that touched down in Alabama and Mississippi on Wednesday. As the map on the right shows there is a 5 per cent chance of New York being hit by a tornado with the threat rising to 10 per cent north of the state. The front is expected to move out into the Atlantic overnight leaving cooler, dryer weather in its wake. The severe weather in the South had been caused by a serious of elements, that when put together, created the perfect conditions, Mr Weiss said. ‘There has been a very active weather pattern for the last several weeks,’ he said. ‘There was a fairly pronounced jet stream interacting with a humid air mass. It was very unique in terms of atmospheric set up. In Huntsville, meteorologists found themselves in the path of severe storms and had to take shelter in a reinforced steel room, turning over monitoring duties to a sister office in Jackson, Mississippi. Meteorologists saw multiple wall clouds, which sometimes spawn tornadoes, and decided to take cover, but the building wasn't damaged. 'We have to take shelter just like the rest of the people,' said meteorologist Chelly Amin, who wasn't at the office at the time but spoke with colleagues about the situation. She said the extent of the damage statewide is still unknown. 'I really think with the rising of the sun, we'll see the full extent of this,' she said. A Louisiana police officer was killed in Choctaw County, Mississippi, on Wednesday morning when a towering sweetgum tree fell onto his tent as he shielded his young daughter with his body. No service: People stand outside the Saint Mary Primitive Baptist Church that was totally destroyed when a fierce tornado hit Pratt City, just north of downtown Birmingham, Alabama on Wednesday Get ready: A funnel cloud approaches Tuscaloosa, where widespread damage occurred from the storm
Emotional: Michael Dunn is hugged by his mother Patricia Dunn as they stand in the road that led to his house which was completely destroyed after a tornado touched down on Wednesady in Concord, Alabama Lieutenant Wade Sharp, who had been with the Covington Police Department for 19 years, was described by his colleague Captain Jack West as ‘a hell of an investigator’. In Mississippi, a man was crushed in his mobile home when a tree fell during the storm, a truck driver died after hitting a downed tree on a state highway and a member of a county road crew was killed when he was struck by a tree they were removing. In eastern Tennessee, a woman was killed by falling trees in her trailer in Chattanooga. Just outside the city in Tiftonia, what appeared to be a tornado also struck at the base of the tourist peak Lookout Mountain. Tops were snapped off trees and insulation and metal roof panels littered the ground. Police officers walked down the street, spray-painting symbols on houses they had checked for people who might be inside. Mary Ann Bowman, 42, stood watching from her driveway as huge tractors moved downed trees in the street. She had rushed home from work to find windows shattered at her house, and her grandmother's house next door shredded. The 91-year-old woman wasn't home at the time. 'When I pulled up I just started crying,' she said. Disbelief: Tamisha Cunningham, who suffered a leg injury when her home was destroyed by a tornado, looks over the devastating scene while waiting for medical care, near Athens, Alabama Flattened: A home and car in the Forest Lake neighbourhood of Tuscaloosa are destroyed after a tornado ripped through it
Fallen trees: Extensive damage is seen after a tornado ripped through parts of Concord, Alabama
Searching: A woman sifts through the destruction of a former T Mobile office after a tornado struck on Wednesday in Tuscaloosa Melanie Cade, 31, of Choctaw County, Mississippi, patched holes in her roof after it was heavily damaged overnight and was in bed with her three children when the storm hit. ‘The room lit up, even though the power was out’, she said. ‘Stuff was blowing into the house, like leaves and bark. Rain was coming in sideways. I didn't care what happened to the house. I was just glad we got out of there.’ A tornado struck the northern Alabama community of Cullman on Wednesday, damaging a hospital, ripping the roof off the courthouse and pummeling a number of residences, authorities told CNN. It comes as President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Alabama, authorising the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate relief efforts in the state. A storm which brought severe weather to the South earlier this week has moved east at the same time a cold front moved across the Deep South - producing conditions conducive for tornadoes. The mid-Atlantic region from western New Jersey to South Carolina has the highest chance to be hit by damaging winds today, according to the U.S. Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. The area has a 30 per cent chance of gusts of about 70 miles per hour and a 10 percent chance of getting hit by a tornado, according to the center. The rest of the eastern U.S. from the Canadian border at New York to Florida has a 15 per cent chance for high winds and a 5 per cent chance of tornadoes, according to the center. The worst tornado outbreak in the U.S. was in April 1974, when 148 hit 13 states over a 16-hour period. Some 330 people were killed in the storms and a total of 267 tornadoes hit the U.S. in the month Perfect storm: Chris England, of the University of Alabama, recorded the moment when a tornado arrived in the town of Tuscaloosa Maps: These diagrams for Wednesday show the incredible storms experienced by America over the last few days Watch the amazing video of a tornado in Tuscaloosa Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
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