Deadly Tornado Strikes Southeast

1 Dead As Severe Weather Sweeps Across Region; Twister Blows Trucks Off N.C. Highway

(CBS/AP)  Authorities began combing through the wreckage Friday caused by a reported tornado that killed one person and injured three others in central North Carolina.

A possible tornado touched down on the outskirts of Greensboro late Thursday as severe storms swept across the Southeast, damaging homes and businesses in at least three other states.

Earlier in the day, an apparent tornado also wrecked a shopping area in Mississippi and strong winds flipped a mobile home in Alabama. Gusts of over 60 mph were reported in Alabama where residents said they had little time to react, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann.

"I thought the building was coming up, splitting apart on top of us," said one resident.

In south-central Tennessee, at least four homes and a few barns were damaged.

In North Carolina, a person in a small truck was killed after the vehicle was overturned in a parking lot west of Greensboro, said Alan Perdue, emergency services director for Guilford County. He did not have other details.

The storm also knocked down a wall at a distributing business, sending one person to the hospital, Perdue said. Two other people were hurt while in vehicles, but details were not immediately available, Perdue said. None of the injuries was considered life threatening.

The storm left numerous trees and power lines down, some on top of homes, in its wake. Authorities were also combing through wreckage in a mostly industrial area outside of Greensboro, and getting a better look at the damage as daylight broke.

The North Carolina Highway Patrol said the storm blew several tractor-trailers off Interstate 40 but could not confirm the number.

[pfd572]

First: My heart aches for all these people who have been affected by the latest round of tornadoes.

2nd: While there have been worse or equal years with tornadoes, they are happening on a much more regular basis (as in yearly), which can be attributed to global warming. To say there is no cause and affect from man''s bad trusteeship of the planet is naive, at best.

[drdavedmd]

OJ doesn''t have to confess to anyone that he did it. We already know that he did. We don''t need to hear these type of stories. It is NOT newsworthy. Not interested. He''s a murderer, end of story.

[Marie Zarankevich]

It is really too bad that so many people are so ignorant and gullible as to swallow every hyper-rev put out by the sensation-grabbing media headline mill. -- The only thing coming apart in this world are the minds of the people believing all this garbage. -- Fear mongering has become a lucrative profession, apparently. -- What ever happened to common sense?

ajmystic, I for one agree with you. Too bad these kids no a days don''t listen. They think since they have the Internet, they have all the answers.

[ajmystic]

I am 58 years old and have lived in Indina the majority of my life. I have lived in all parts of the state and tornados are nothing new to any part of Indiana. We will continue to have tornados, hurricaines, earthquakes, and other natural disasters as long as we live. Global warming is not making these things happen any more frequently or severely. It is a well known fact that weather patterns run in cycles. Right now we are seeing a repeat of the tornado cycle. In another 60 years or so, the same thing will happen again. I agree that global warming is not a good thing and we should make every effort to stop it, but it cannot be blamed for every natural disaster that happens. The Earth will reclaim what is hers naturally, regardless of what we humans do. Face it, bad weather is a fact of life. Adjust and go on.

In short (lol) why aren''t these statistics brought up when there is an outbreak of tornadoes? Everyone wants to start blaming it all on Global warming. The 1925 outbreak was one of the worst, and there were a heck of a lot less cars and trucks on the roads. Heck, there were even fewer roads.

out-break of March 18, 1925, seven tornadoes traveled 437 miles and caused 746 deaths. The Palm Sunday outbreak of April 11, 1965, spawned 31 tornadoes, which had paths totaling 853 miles, and killed 256.

That was before anyone started talking about global warming. The earth has a way of taking care of itself.

Talk to the people that were around in the seventies from the area called the tornado alley. The year 1973 went down in history as the year of the tornado. More than 1,100 tornadoes were reported--an all-time high. The first quarter of 1974 was just as busy, but severe weather forecasts generally were confined to a few watch areas on each storm day. This pattern was broken on Monday, April 1, when 11 severe weather watch areas were issued and more than 20 tornadoes developed from Alabama and Mississippi through the central States into Indiana and Ohio. Three deaths and much property damage were attributed to tornadoes. The storms of April 1 served to alert the forecasters to the potential for widespread outbreaks, and the impact of these storms was fresh in the minds of many people when they heard the watches and warnings of April 3. In Alabama and Tennessee, where severe damage occurred on both days, many lives were saved during the April 3-4 disaster because the public took protective actions that might not otherwise have been taken had it not been for the April I storms.

[missybelle-2009]

FASTUS, you''re out of line. AL2008, hush up about "we" the people. Don''t speak for me. Global warming is not a good thing, however earth has had changes of weather patterns, etc. since before man walked the earth. Have you heard about the ICE AGE?

FASTUS, I reported your post as abuse because this is a blog for conversation, not free advertisement.

[al2008-2009]

I%u2019m appalled at the governor%u2019s lack of response to the global warming thunderstorms and tornadoes. We have no comprehensive strategy in place whatsoever, let alone a detailed plan of action to mitigate the effects of these tornadoes, and mother earth continues to suffer while the governor%u2019s office refuses to go forward and do what%u2019s right for mother earth.
.
How long must we sit idly by while our mother continues to suffer from the warming taking place at a feverish pace? How long must our mother suffer before we have proper c02 taxes put into place? How long must the destruction of mother earth take place before we finally put responsible plans into action? How long must we wait until we beef up our corn ethanol production? At least Obama wants to cut c02 pollution by 80%; he is definitely our best hope.
.
We the people call upon the governor to implement a comprehensive antiglobal warming strategy at once and work in coordination with state and federal officials; these tornadoes and storms continue to worsen and the quicker we stop the warming the sooner we will see these storms cease. We need action now.