TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Survivors and rescuers combed through destroyed towns and neighborhoods on Thursday, looking for belongings and victims after dozens of tornadoes ripped through the South overnight. The death toll continued to climb in Alabama, and at least 280 people in six states perished in the deadliest outbreak in nearly 40 years.
Deadliest days
People in hard-hit Alabama surveyed flattened, debris-strewn neighborhoods and told of pulling bodies from rubble after the storms passed.- Nearly 300 people were killed in six states on April 27-28 in one of the deadliest series of tornadoes to hit the United States in recent decades. Here is a look at the deadliest tornado days in U.S. history:
March 18, 1925: 747 people killed after tornadoes hit Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.
March 21, 1932: 332 killed, most of them in Alabama, following a wave of tornadoes across the Southeast.
May 17, 1840: 317 died, nearly all of them in the city of Natchez, Miss., after tornadoes hit Louisiana and Mississippi.
April 3, 1974: 310 killed in what is known as the "Super Outbreak" when 148 tornadoes rampaged across 13 states over a 24-hour period.
May 27, 1896: 305 died when tornadoes hit Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky.
Source: NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory
"We have neighborhoods that have been basically removed from the map," Tuscaloosa Mayor Walter Maddox said after surveying his city.
The death toll seems out of a bygone era — before Doppler radar and pinpoint satellite forecasts were around to warn communities of severe weather. Residents were told the tornadoes were coming up to 24 minutes ahead of time, but they were just too wide, too powerful and too locked onto populated areas to avoid a horrifying body count.
"These were the most intense super-cell thunderstorms that I think anybody who was out there forecasting has ever seen," said meteorologist Greg Carbin at the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center.
"If you experienced a direct hit from one of these, you'd have to be in a reinforced room, storm shelter or underground" to survive, Carbin said.
Map shows real-time reports of tornadoes, high winds and hail from April 23 through April 27, from the National Weather Service.
- Above: Map Tornado tracker
- Interactive Southern storms
msnbc.com news services msnbc.com news services
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Survivors and rescuers combed through destroyed towns and neighborhoods on Thursday, looking for belongings and victims after dozens of tornadoes ripped through the South overnight. The death toll continued to climb in Alabama, and at least 280 people in six states perished in the deadliest outbreak in nearly 40 years.
Deadliest days
People in hard-hit Alabama surveyed flattened, debris-strewn neighborhoods and told of pulling bodies from rubble after the storms passed.- Nearly 300 people were killed in six states on April 27-28 in one of the deadliest series of tornadoes to hit the United States in recent decades. Here is a look at the deadliest tornado days in U.S. history:
March 18, 1925: 747 people killed after tornadoes hit Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.
March 21, 1932: 332 killed, most of them in Alabama, following a wave of tornadoes across the Southeast.
May 17, 1840: 317 died, nearly all of them in the city of Natchez, Miss., after tornadoes hit Louisiana and Mississippi.
April 3, 1974: 310 killed in what is known as the "Super Outbreak" when 148 tornadoes rampaged across 13 states over a 24-hour period.
May 27, 1896: 305 died when tornadoes hit Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky.
Source: NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory
"We have neighborhoods that have been basically removed from the map," Tuscaloosa Mayor Walter Maddox said after surveying his city.
The death toll seems out of a bygone era — before Doppler radar and pinpoint satellite forecasts were around to warn communities of severe weather. Residents were told the tornadoes were coming up to 24 minutes ahead of time, but they were just too wide, too powerful and too locked onto populated areas to avoid a horrifying body count.
"These were the most intense super-cell thunderstorms that I think anybody who was out there forecasting has ever seen," said meteorologist Greg Carbin at the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center.
"If you experienced a direct hit from one of these, you'd have to be in a reinforced room, storm shelter or underground" to survive, Carbin said.
Storms ravage South: A state-by-state look at the impact
The fierce storm system spread destruction from Texas to New York
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42798817/ns/weather/Here's a state-by-state glance at the impact:
Alabama
- At least 194 have died people across the state, which suffered "massive destruction of property," Gov. Robert Bentley said.
- As of 10 a.m. ET Thursday, Alabama Power said 348,467 residents were without power, although the governor estimates that up to a million residents could be without power statewide.
- 2,000 national guard troops have been and were helping to search devastated areas for the missing.
- President Barack Obama — who will travel to Alabama on Friday — has spoken with Bentley and approved his request for emergency federal assistance.
- Some of the worst devastation occurred in Tuscaloosa, home to the University of Alabama, killing at least 36 people including some students. Video taken at the university showed a massive funnel cloud flinging huge pieces of debris through the air.
- 66 of 137 tornado reports the NWS Storm Prediction Center received on Wednesday came from Alabama.
- A Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear power plant in Alabama that lost power after the storms will be down for days and possibly weeks, but the agency said backup power systems worked as designed to prevent a partial meltdown like the disaster in Japan.
- At least 33 have been confirmed dead, and 120 injured, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.
- According to reports, Gov. Haley Barbour says he will ask President Barack Obama for federal relief.
- Damage has been reported in 50 counties, according to MEMA officials.
- NBC News reports 14 deaths across the state.
- According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, about 45,000 residents statewide are without power.
- Gov. Nathan Deal has declared a state of emergency in 13 counties, and additionally, says he will seek a federal declaration of emergency.
- According to NBC News, 33 people have died due to the storms.
- Bill McCollum, chief operating officer of the Tennessee Valley Authority, tells the Knoxville News Sentinel that more than 300,000 customers were without power.
- Eight deaths were initially reported but that was later lowered to five.
- One death reported.
No comments:
Post a Comment