Twisters Kill Dozens In South

At Least 55 Killed, Hundreds Injured By Dozens Of Tornadoes That Plowed Across 5 States

(CBS/AP)  Crews searched Wednesday for more victims of deadly tornadoes that killed at least 55 people and injured hundreds more as they tore across five states, ripping off a shopping mall roof, demolishing mobile homes and blowing apart warehouses.

The victims were 28 people in Tennessee, 13 in Arkansas, seven in Kentucky and four in Alabama, emergency officials said. Among those killed were parents who died with their 11-year-old in Atkins, Arkansas, about 60 miles northwest of Little Rock. Hundreds more were injured.

The family died from trauma when their home "took a direct hit" from the storm, Pope County Coroner Leonard Krout said.

"Neighbors and friends who were there said, 'There used to be a home there,"' Krout said.

Nearby interstate 40 was closed. Roads in the region are littered with overturned vehicles, reports CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.

Ray Story tried to get his 70-year-old brother, Bill Clark, to a hospital after the storms leveled his mobile home in Macon County, about 60 miles northeast of Nashville. He died as Story and his wife tried to navigate debris-strewn roads in their pickup truck, they said.

"He never had a chance," Nova Story said. "I looked him right in the eye and he died right there in front of me."

There are reports in Atkins, that a mobile home was flung 300 feet and a man who lived in it is still missing, reports Cordes.

CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella reports that people in this part of the country are accustomed to tornadoes, but aren't expecting them this early in the year.

Just five weeks into 2008, there have been more than 200 tornado sightings nationwide; compared to 59 in an average year. Not only is this an active start to the season, but a deadly one as well. In all of last year, 81 people were killed in tornados; this year that number is already up to 57.

"It's cold air and warm air colliding," CBS Early Show meteorologist Dave Price explained to Cobiella, "but the bigger the temperature disparity, the more violent that reaction can be, as we just saw."

President Bush says the U.S. government will help those affected by a string of deadly tornadoes in the South.

"Loss of life, loss of property - prayers can help and so can the government," Mr. Bush said Wednesday. "I do want the people in those states to know the American people are standing with them."

The president says he has called the governors of Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee and assured them the administration is ready to help and to deal with any emergency requests.

He has asked state and local agencies for damage assessments to support a planned request for federal disaster relief.

The twisters, which also slammed Mississippi, were part of a spasm of winter weather that raged across the nation's midsection at the end of the Super Tuesday primaries in several states. As the extent of the damage quickly became clear, candidates including Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee paused in their victory speeches to remember the victims.

Before dawn Wednesday, the system moved on to Alabama, bringing heavy rains and gusty winds, causing several injuries in counties northwest of Birmingham. Three people were killed when a reported twister struck Aldridge Grove, in the northern part of the state near Decatur, said Brenda Morgan, deputy emergency management director in Lawrence County.

An apparent tornado damaged eight homes in Walker County, Ala., and a pregnant woman suffered a broken arm when a trailer home was tossed by the winds, said county emergency management director Johnny Burnette.

"I was there before daylight and it looked like a war zone," he said.

Northeast of Nashville, a spectacular fire erupted at a natural gas pumping station northeast of Nashville that authorities said could have been damaged by the storms. An undetermined number of people were reported dead.

Power was knocked out and the local hospital was running on generators. Only the emergency room had lights on.

Eight students were trapped in a battered dormitory at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., until they were finally freed. Tornadoes had hit the campus in the past, and students knew the drill when they heard sirens, said Union University President David S. Dockery.

At least two dormitories were destroyed. Dockery told NBC's "Today" that the drills and planning "saved those lives."

He said about 51 students were taken to the hospital and nine stayed through the night, but added "there are positive days ahead for them."

Well after nightfall Tuesday, would-be rescuers went through shattered homes in Atkins, a town of 3,000 near the Arkansas River. Around them, power lines snaked along streets and a deep-orange pickup truck rested on its side. A navy blue Mustang with a demolished front end was marked with spray paint to show it had been searched.

Outside one damaged home, horses whinnied in the darkness, looking up only when a flashlight reached their eyes. A ranch home stood unscathed across the street from a concrete slab that had supported the house where the family of three died.

Gov. Mike Beebe planned to tour Atkins on Wednesday.

In Memphis, high winds collapsed the roof of a Sears store at a mall. Debris that included bricks and air conditioning units was scattered on the parking lot, where about two dozen vehicles were damaged.

A few people north of the mall took shelter under a bridge and were washed away, but they were pulled out of the Wolf River with only scrapes, said Steve Cole of the Memphis Police Department.

In Mississippi, Desoto County Sheriff's Department Cmdr. Steve Atkinson said a twister shredded warehouses in an industrial park in the city of Southaven, just south of Memphis.

"It ripped the warehouses apart. The best way to describe it is it looks like a bomb went off," Atkinson said.

At the W.J. Matthews Civic Center in Atkins, a shelter was empty except for American Red Cross volunteers and a single touch-screen voting machine. The civic center had hosted an election precinct earlier Tuesday. Traffic was snarled on nearby Interstate 40, with tractor-trailers on their sides.

Officials do not know what started a fire at the Columbia Gulf Natural Gas pumping station near Green Grove, about 40 miles from Nashville. The blaze could be seen in the night sky for miles around, with flames shooting "400, 500 feet in the air," said Tennessee Emergency Management spokesman Donnie Smith.

The couple killed with their adult daughter were in their mobile home near Greenville in western Kentucky when a tornado went through their trailer park.

On Jan. 8, tornadoes were reported in Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. Two died in the Missouri storms.

[rocksspeak]

The Bible does say we are living in the last days.. It does say that natural disasters and unnatural disasters will increase until God''s Kingdom steps in.
God does care about all meek individuals, he is seeking out those who want good, those who are willing to be a part of this world-wide-brotherhood. All humans are one family in Gods eyes, no one country is better then another. His Government will restore earth. He is educating people in his requirements, preparing them for this new system. War, famine, sickness, natural disasters, wickedness, will be gone.
Yes things are bad- and will get worse until that time, but it will not be the insurance companies, or better shelters, nor men''s governments that protect or save the ones who survive. Only those who befriend God will survive. They know why the bad things are happening and are clearly informed as to what happens next.

It is not rocket science, but more a willingness to be taught, to follow his ways. A kind of meekness, that allows for humbleness, a willingness to listen, seek, change, learn, and look to him- instead of ourselves- or men''s solutions-.. Isaiah 2:2-4 Psalms 37:8,9,10.

[amazedd]

Bad Storm!

[amazedd]

Posted by photomont at 02:19 AM

A Winch?

[rushlimpdrug]

Posted by TheGateway1 at 04:45 AM

Interesting that those tornadoes you mention were in March and May.

The tornadoes of THIS year have started in January and February.

[zootallures2]

Should I put a sympathy card together and collect dollars for you scummy amerikkkan *** pigs? Like you didn''t do for me you arrogant 9/11 false flag bombing swines?

[photomont]

There should be chain''s installed drilled into the ground so when if there is a storm you can reach under your car and hook it up in parlking spaces to hold down car''s from the storm throwing it in the tree or home and that will save lives and property

[croft777]

This is really sad and my prays go out to the families who lost loved one.

Our weather is a big concern today. Whether it be global warming or the hands of God, its getting worse every year that goes by.I don''t want to sound like a Jehovah Witness or anything, but take a good look around at the world today, scary huh. Ask yourself this: Can we stop the weather? Can we stop the terrorism? Can we stop the Greed? Can we stop religious fighting, or how about the morals of people today. Gay marriages, s*x slaves, the battering of women and children, need I say more. These are the signs folks,its just a matter of time. Better keep your eyes on Israel, thats where its all suppose to take place.

[sgtrds]

Before I hit the sack I just wanted to point out that there is a story of a young Marine hero on this site who was killed on his 3rd tour in Iraq and no one seems to have noticed. I''''''''m sure that his parents and family are checking the posting a lot and it sure would be nice if some folks could drop the young man a thank you to make the family feel better. Sort of like signing the book at a funeral it makes the survivors feel better that people care.

Goodnight

[tbweb]

Global Warming.

It''s only gonna get far worse than this.

This is really bad news. There aren''''t many times that this many people get killed.

Posted by george2221 at 05:17 PM : Feb 06, 2008,,,

The Government will classify this as an "Act of God" not an "Act of Global Warming!"

[zootallures2]

Pray to Rockefeller and Rothschild... your real god you believe in. See if they come and help you with their trillions of riches. Grass Honkeys!

[zootallures2]

Mr. Bush said Wednesday. "I do want the people in those states to know the American people are standing with them."

Yea, like you dogs stood with the people in the WTC as your own military blew up the towers.

[zootallures2]

oops. Collateral damage. Just a bunch of grass honkeys anyway.

[ubrew12]

Orbit_joshg said: "People are dead. Americans. Black, White, atheist, Christian, keep your politics for now, just show respect."
These people are dead because of Global Warming. They were killed by the warming deniers of the last 25 years. Sorry, but that''s the truth as I know it, and I''ll say so to help prevent those 30 from becoming 300, if you don''t mind.

[huber004]

My heart and prayers go out to the families of this awful tragedy. God be with you, during this time of sadness.

[orbit_joshg]

My "15 miles radius" comment is the Northern Metro Nashville area - Sumner, Macon, and Trousdale.

[orbit_joshg]

I''d just like to stress yet again, that over 30 people died within a 15 mile radius within a blink of an eye.

Regardless if it was global warming or not, the basic facts still stand.

I hope you commenters remember that this can happen anywhere at anytime. If you have an decency, atleast drop the "global warming" topic and save it for another headline..

Not here.

People are dead. Americans. Black, White, atheist, Christian, keep your politics for now, just show respect.

[tbweb]

Like God said, behold, I come quickly!

[kennergirl]

why does god hate southerners anyway?

Posted by joyous88 at 04:17 PM : Feb 06, 2008


God doesn''t hate southerners. My God doesn''t HATE.

[rushlimpdrug]

looked for the hick chicken hawk hawkspring''s comment
didn''t find it.

Guess he''s laughing about global warming as he drops another log in the fire.

Must be true that "Ignorance is bliss"

[oldpilot954]

I don''t have a hugh amount of sympathy for some insurance companies. However, insurance companies are getting hit from two different directions. As I understand it, they traditionally invested the premiums and used the profit to offset what they paid out. The stock market in recent years has been a cruel place and so they have lost some of their profit source. The other issue is that building costs have gone through up drastically so that what 20 years ago cost $45K now costs $120K to replace.