Death Toll Hits Astonishing 201 in Southern Storm Aftermath
- Posted on April 28, 2011 at 8:45am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
- Print »
- Email »
PLEASANT GROVE, Ala. (The Blaze/AP) — Dozens of tornadoes spawned by a powerful storm system wiped out neighborhoods across a wide swath of the South, killing at least 201 people in the deadliest outbreak in nearly 40 years, and officials said Thursday they expected the death toll to rise.
Alabama’s state emergency management agency said it had confirmed 131 deaths, while there were 32 in Mississippi, 16 in Tennessee, 13 in Georgia, eight in Virginia and one in Kentucky.
The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said it received 137 tornado reports around the regions into Wednesday night.
“We expect that toll, unfortunately, to rise,” Gov. Robert Bentley told ABC’s “Good Morning America:”
One of the hardest-hit areas was Tuscaloosa, a city of more than 83,000 and home to the University of Alabama. The city’s police and other emergency services were devastated, the mayor said, and at least 15 people were killed and about 100 were in a single hospital.
A massive tornado, caught on video by a news camera on a tower, barreled through the city late Wednesday afternoon, leveling it.
Birmingham, AL
(Watch five frightening tornado videos from the storms in Alabama.)
By nightfall, the city was dark. Roads were impassable. Signs were blown down in front of restaurants, businesses were unrecognizable and sirens wailed off and on. Debris littered the streets and sidewalks.
College students in a commercial district near campus used flashlights to check out the damage.
At Stephanie’s Flowers, owner Bronson Englebert used the headlights from two delivery vans to see what valuables he could remove. He had closed early, which was a good thing. The storm blew out the front of his store, pulled down the ceiling and shattered the windows, leaving only the curtains flapping in the breeze.
“It even blew out the back wall, and I’ve got bricks on top of two delivery vans now,” Englebert said.
A group of students stopped to help Englebert, carrying out items like computers and printers and putting them in his van.
“They’ve been awfully good to me so far,” Englebert said.
Preston, MS.
The storm system spread destruction from Texas to New York, where dozens of roads were flooded or washed out.
The governors in Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia each issued emergency declarations for parts of their states.
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.
Bond, MS.
Around Tuscaloosa, traffic was snarled by downed trees and power lines, and some drivers abandoned their cars in medians.
“What we faced today was massive damage on a scale we have not seen in Tuscaloosa in quite some time,” Mayor Walter Maddox said.
University officials said there didn’t appear to be significant damage on campus, and dozens of students and locals were staying at a 125-bed shelter in the campus recreation center.
Volunteers and staff were providing food and water to people like 29-year-old civil engineering graduate student Kenyona Pierce.
“I really don’t know if I have a home to go to,” she said.
Storms also struck Birmingham, felling numerous trees that impeded emergency responders and those trying to leave hard-hit areas.
The Browns Ferry nuclear power plant about 30 miles west of Huntsville lost offsite power. The Tennessee Valley Authority-owned plant had to use seven diesel generators to power the plant’s three units. The safety systems operated as needed and the emergency event was classified as the lowest of four levels, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.
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, Miss. Meteorologists saw multiple wall clouds, which sometimes spawn tornadoes, and decided to take cover, but the building wasn’t damaged.
Tuscaloosa, AL
“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.
In Kemper County, Miss., in the east-central part of the state, sisters Florrie Green and Maxine McDonald, and their sister-in-law Johnnie Green, all died in a mobile home that was destroyed by a storm.
“It’s hard. It’s been very difficult,” said Mary Green, Johnnie Green’s daughter-in-law. “They were thrown into those pines over there,” she said, pointing to a wooded area. “They had to go look for their bodies.”
In Choctaw County, Miss., a Louisiana police officer was killed Wednesday morning when a towering sweetgum tree fell onto his tent as he shielded his young daughter with his body, said Kim Korthuis, a supervisory ranger with the National Park Service. The girl wasn’t hurt.
The 9-year-old girl was brought to a motor home about 100 feet away where campsite volunteer Greg Maier was staying with his wife. He went back to check on the father and found him dead.
“She wasn’t hurt, just scared and soaking wet,” Maier said.
Her father, Lt. Wade Sharp, had been with the Covington Police Department for 19 years.
“He was a hell of an investigator,” said Capt. Jack West, his colleague in Louisiana.
In a neighborhood south of Birmingham, Austin Ransdell and a friend had to hike out after the house where he was living was crushed by four trees. No one was hurt.
As he walked away from the wreckage, trees and power lines crisscrossed residential streets, and police cars and utility trucks blocked a main highway.
“The house was destroyed. We couldn’t stay in it. Water pipes broke; it was flooding the basement,” he said. “We had people coming in telling us another storm was coming in about four or five hours, so we just packed up.”
Not far away, Craig Branch was stunned by the damage.
“Every street to get into our general subdivision was blocked off. Power lines are down; trees are all over the road. I’ve never seen anything like that before,” he said.
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,” Bowman said.
—
Mohr reported from Choctaw County, Miss. Associated Press writers Jamie Stengle in Edom, Texas, Andrew DeMillo and Nomaan Merchant in Vilonia, Ark., Jack Elliott Jr. in Jackson, Miss., Anna McFall and John Zenor in Montgomery; Bill Fuller and Alan Sayre in New Orleans, Dorie Turner in Atlanta, Bill Poovey in Chattanooga, Tenn., and Terry Wallace in Dallas contributed to this report.
Comments (53)
Sign In To Post Comments! Sign In
Popular Stories
Does Misstated Marathon Claim Prove Paul Ryan Is Dishonest? (POLL) 679 Comments
‘Jumah at the DNC’ Speaker: ‘Muslims Visited America Prior to Columbus’ & ‘It Was a Muslim’ Who Guided Him to the ‘New World’ 530 Comments
Paper Details Obama Admin’s Alleged Secret Note Sent to Iran: If Israel Attacks, We Won’t Get Involved 424 Comments
Obama: RNC Like Watching ‘Black-and-White TV’ Because Romney ‘Did Not Offer a Single New Idea’ 373 Comments
Roseanne Barr: Most Billionaires ‘Violent Pedophiles’ & ‘Heartless’ Cocaine Addicts 329 Comments
Faith
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 279 Comments- Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More
- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 285 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
‘Self-Proclaimed Messiah’ & Unification Church Leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon Has Died — Here’s His Life Story Read More
Business
President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 169 Comments- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 148 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know Read More- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 300 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 279 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
rdk
Posted on April 29, 2011 at 12:03amA lot of good people have been terribly damaged. Many will have nothing left. When rescue efforts are done there will be about 300 people killed in Alabama, alone. Is this the wrath of God or the random confluence of the jet stream, cold fronts, warm fronts, and moisture from the gulf? I surely do not know but I do know that there are people out there who need help very badly.They are black and white and every other color of human skin. They are Democrat and Republican and Independent and Libertarian and non-political. The state and Federal government will be there to organize and to help. Localities are sending forces to help; the National guard will help. Citizens can help with their contributions to responding agencies; that is the best I can do but I wish it were more.
Report Post »22hornet
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 8:39pmYea and your just an IDIOT..
Report Post »AllAmericanGirl22
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 5:14pmThat’s so sad. They need our prayers.
Report Post »Centralsville
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 3:37pmNormally these tornadoes would be occurring in tornado alley which is more sparsely populated but with the colder than normal temperatures the storms are forming farther south and east. Living in the middle of the country I have a deep respect for the damage and destruction they can cause. When a wide tornado sits down and slowly churns a path of destruction across the countryside it looks just like the bombed out villages from a war.
Report Post »Miomia
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 1:39pmDonate to the American Red Cross. Donate monies and blood. Prayers to all the people who lost love ones and all they have worked for all their lives totally destroyed in a matter of minutes.
Report Post »While people are experiencing the worst times of their lives BO & MO are taping on Oprah. He hasn’
t visited any of the states who have experienced these horrific storms. to witness the wreckage and to give comfort to survivors. How much did it cost the taxpayers for Michelle and Biden’s wife to fly to New York to tape the VIEW? How much did the taxpayers pay for them to fly to Chicago to tape the OPRAH show? Out of touch in the worst way. Americans deserve better than these two.
BacktotheFounders
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 1:06pmTuscaloosa, Cullman and Birmingham were the hardest hit. Here are the Salvation Army’s places where you can donate in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. I couldn’t find an online site for Cullman.
http://www.uss.salvationarmy.org/uss/www_uss_tuscaloosa.nsf
http://www.birminghamsalvationarmy.org/
Report Post »Chicago Ray
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 12:37pmI hope they’re not expecting any sympathy from Chumpy Obozo the Clown.
Report Post »lambchop60
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 12:37pmthanks jjoy, i was just wondering about the salvation army
Report Post »awall1231
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 12:04pmits terrible that these people were hit by these tornados. whats even worse is that you can tell by all the destruction that it was a Liberal tornado. looks kind of like a democrat rally or Barry’s inauguration
Report Post »smak
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 1:37pm@ a Liberal tornado. looks kind of like a democrat rally or Barry’s inauguration
Oh brother. Give it a rest.
Report Post »jjoy
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 11:37amI am surprised that our president saw fit to call this a disaster since most of the storms occured in “red” states…
Report Post »smak
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 1:30pmCan’t you leave politics out of this -just for awhile at least.
Report Post »Rayblue
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 11:27amSupport your local Red Cross. They were there when we needed them after hurricane IKE.
Report Post »One week after the disaster, Red Cross was delivering hot meals from a van to anyone who needed them. They are the best, kindest down home folks you’ll ever meet. They follow disasters because it’s their calling to assist the unfortunate and helpless.
Support the Red Cross. They need donations now. They will BE there when the next crisis comes.
FEMA can take a flying leap.
jjoy
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 11:43amIf you REALLY want to help, give your support to The Salvation Army…
Report Post »2AM
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 12:20pmthey are already there with food and water and are coordinating relief efforts. Franklin county didn’t have a red cross. They are being supported by the Lauderdale county branch. It is a horrible mess down there.
Report Post »ANR2007
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 11:22amI pray for everyone who had their homes and lives lost in this storm. I live in Florida and knowing how close to home is was is scary. We have torandos and hurricanes but nothing like this here. I cannot imagine what they are going though. I wish I had the expenses to take time from work drive to Alabama and help these people clean what is left. This is why we need our military here in the US and not over in some other country cleaning up their mess. We need them home and helping with our disasters here that are happening all over! My prays and thoughts are with everyone involved in this disaster
Report Post »2AM
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 10:55amI live in the Shoals area in North AL. There is damage in communities all around us and we were spared. My sister’s boyfriend and I are grabbing a chainsaw and heading down to Phil Campbell. Baptist Campus Ministriesfrom the University of North Alabama is working with at least one church in the area to help with the relief effort. I know a lot of people that are doing the same thing. Tell FEMA to stay out of the way. Please pray for the victims and their families.
Report Post »BeginAgain
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 10:48amI live in the area. It started yesterday morning at 5 am with 100 mile per hour winds. Through out the day the storms became worse and the total devastation started.
Please do not use this tragedy to be for or against global warming or anything else political. People here are hurting. Good, decent Americans were killed, maimed, lost loved ones, have no home left, and are finding it difficult to find their faith. DO NOT ADD TO THEIR TRAGEDY.
Have some respect, say a prayer and leave your political views until we can at least find all the victims and give them a decent burial.
Hurting in Alabama
Report Post »lketchum
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 11:51amAmen! It is a mess down here. Some of our business buildings are simply missing and we have yet to account for all our staff. Communications are down all over and even text messages fail. We have a long way to go. Please pray for those killed and injured and their families. In Jesus name, I pray and give eternal thanks for his blessings.
Report Post »lambchop60
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 10:40amour thoughts and prayers go out to all the families that have lost loved ones in these terrible floods and storms . we need to find out who is taking donations . the people need help
Report Post »Bonnieblue2A
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 10:15amAgain, please, if you are able, donate blood or funds to the American Red Cross or your local agency sending emergency relief to those devistated by these storms. There but for the grace of God go any of us.
These fellow Americans need help and it has to begin with US.
Report Post »celestialfire
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 10:38amSamaritans Purse is a great organization to donate to for disaster relief. They are based in North Carolina close to the disaster and are fast on the scene.
Report Post »Sinista MACE
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 10:03amPlease listen.
You can stop tornadoes!
Using an electrified grid, suspended mechanically above the level of houses and buildings using inflatables or some type of elevators, you can ground a tornado the same way as a lightning rod.
The vortex is created by the hot updrafts, cold downdrafts, and ALSO by electrical charges. I would say the electrical vortex is more fundamental than the vortex created by the cold and hot air interacting, and that in fact, the thermodynamic aspect is a EFFECT of magnetohydrodynamics.
An aluminum-coated balloon charged with the proper polarity and grounded with a conductive tether could also siphon off the electrical energy contained within the storm, reducing or eliminating the vortex.
You could also use laser-induced plasma channels to create a virtual wire connected to the cloud deck to siphon off the electric charge.
It is like discharging a capacitor.
Between two oppositely charged parallel-plate capacitors, there are multiple vortices of positive and negative. They will cause a strip of aluminum to levitate between them and spiral within the field.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqgslPPHvDw
Discharge the capacitor and the vortex stops, because you have no separation of charges (electric potential).
Report Post »DogWithA_Bone
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 11:39amIs that the same “Flux Capcitator” that they used on Back to the Future? Really?
Report Post »SimpleTruths
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 1:39pmI bet you have a lot of freeze dried food and gold stashed away somewhere don’t you?
Report Post »Sinista MACE
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 2:19pmNope, just a regular capacitor.
The flux capacitor is called a memory resistor, or “memristor”.
Report Post »RedPillPatriot
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 3:24pmWe’ll get right on building that grid and setting up balloons in all neighborhoods in the south and midwest! Thanks for the tip, right after we complete the nationwide high-speed rail.
signed, Obama.
Report Post »Sinista MACE
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 4:41pmThis is about saving lives, not transporting everybody to FEMA Labor Camps via high speed rail.
Report Post »Dannowood
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 10:02amReality check. Unfortunatly with devistation comes the creepy underhanded fly-by-night contractors. Please be wary of out of towners.
Report Post »Try to use only local contractors who are licensed, bonded and insured. If anyone has any questions E-mail me: daniel2137@netzero.net and I’ll give you my Ph #. Do not be scared, I’m Free. God can pay me later ( if he wants to). I despise rippoffs because it gives the honest contractors a bad name.
fishstx777
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 11:05amtotally agree with you not only is this a disaster and people are vunerable, but there are a lot of americans that need work right now hire american legal contracters and american workers maybe some that were victims of this disaster.thank you for pointing this out.True American and like you I will pray for those that have been devastated.
Report Post »ramburner
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 9:45amOnce again I say, the tornado’s of the past were devastating and destructive, but very FEW lives were lost. Our society continues to shake their fist in God’s face and ignore and try to discredit Him. What with Tsunami’s, earthquakes, record cold and snow depths, mud slides, volcanic action and all of these events happening like never before in history; We ARE living in the last times. Protect yourself; read Romans 10:9-13 and DO it today.
Report Post »Sinista MACE
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 9:45amOmg.
Report Post »Dannowood
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 9:35amPraying for those devistated by the storms. May God be with and comfort all affected.
Report Post »kurwa
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 8:58amThis is climate change at work. And this is why, we in the absence of local emergency response teams we need a coordinated fully funded disaster response team
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 9:09amSo, there were no tornadoes before the SUV was invented?
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 9:10amIf you are talking about man made climate change then no; this is just nature readjusting itself in a pattern covering decades of time. We as humanity deals in a few years for seeing and concluding changes, while the facts are, the earth regulates herseflf on a decades long series of cycles.
The man made involvment in ‘climate change’ is a myth, a lie, a fabrication admitted to by the UN and other scientists who were fabricating and distorting data for their own agendas.
Report Post »NOKOOLAIDDRINKER
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 9:44amKurwa You have no idea what your talking about. You make no sense. Your probably too young and dumb to realize that bad weather is cyclical (just like SNOW says)! Hurricanes, heavy snows and major tornadic seasons are naturally occurring. Do your research or just grow up a little more before you BLATHER about things you know nothing about! And GLOBAL WARMING AND CLIMATE CHANGE are BS! Those terms were created in the minds of EVIL people who only want the money of hard working AMERICANS for their own nefarious purposes. You are just one of their gullible and useful idiots! Grow up, learn some common sense and how to think for yourself!
To all my fellow southerners impacted by these horrific storms, you are in my prayers!
Report Post »ChiefGeorge
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 11:09amYea, how about that Hurricane that wiped out Galveston, TX at the turn of the century?
Report Post »BacktotheFounders
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 12:24pmKurwa, you need to review your elementary school science textbook. I live in Alabama, and I can tell you that when the warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico meets the cooler air from the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, that sets up the conditions for tornadoes. These phenomena have been occurring for hundreds of years, long before anyone ever heard of the fake science of “global warming.”
Thank you all for your prayers for us. It helps to know that someone cares. If you can send only a dollar or two to the relief groups, especially the local churches who are turning out in force to feed those who have been made homeless, please do. If a million people sent one dollar, think how much good that can do. Samaritan’s Purse is a good organization.
There were a lot of people who had been treated and released from a hospital who were just standing outside because they had no home to go to. They were bussed to a shelter. Please help if you can.
Report Post »right-wing-waco
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 2:05pmThere have been more tornadoes since we cut back on CO2. Maybe we need more SUV’s and need to burn more fossil fuels, releasing more CO2. It’s out of balance.
Report Post »right-wing-waco
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 2:08pmAll joking aside, this is real hard to watch. I cannot imagine losing everything and having no place to go for shelter. My heart and prayers go out to all effected.
Report Post »DagneyT
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 8:51amMany prayers are needed for these victims of the storm. May God be with them.
Report Post »KOCHLEFFEL
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 9:59amDon’t pray so much, but send money for the victims and help them.
Report Post »DogWithA_Bone
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 11:36amAsk Seek and Knock… Prayer is more powerful than any force on earth…
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 8:47amGod be with the families of the fallen and support them in this time of ultimate grief and losses; please be with those injured in physical, in mental, in soul and caught in grief and loss, comfort them and aid them in swift and full recoveries. Let what rises from the ruins be a renewal in faith and of the will Americans have to overcome all challenges and adversity with your guidance.
Report Post »DagneyT
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 8:52amIn Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
Report Post »sissykatz
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 8:58amWhat a beautiful prayer Snow.
In God’s name we Pray… Amen.
Report Post »Gold Coin & Economic News
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 9:42amKind of looks like Japan. God be with them.
Report Post »Marylou7
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 10:07amSNOWLEOPARD
Let what rises from the ruins be a renewal in faith and of the will Americans have to overcome all challenges and adversity with your guidance.
________________________
Amen!
Report Post »PATTY HENRY
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 2:03pmGOD BLESS them. Obama/family were en route to FLA for Shuttle Launch…nice of him to stop by in ALABAMA…too bad he couldn’t stop by NC (oh, right, he was in LA raising campaign $) …SORRY but the man has brought out the bitter in me.
I guess we can PRAY and then call SALVATION ARMY with donations. NO area is safe. PREPARE folks…put your passports; bank records; insurance policies in safe place…keep your cell phones with you at all times. Make sure you have medical (bandages etc)….PREPARE ….PRAY.
Report Post »tommee
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 2:06pmAny word from Pat Roberts yet?
Report Post »tommee
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 2:09pmOOPS!! Typo… I meant Pat Robertson! Surely God must be venting his wrath for some reason. What’s the story Pat?
Report Post »ZOMBIE JESUS LOVES ME
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 3:40pmI heard that The 700 Club just implied that the storms were God’s punishment in response to so many Southern communities tolerating homosexuals in their churches.
Report Post »