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Blast of tornados kills seven in US
Little Rock, Arkansas (AFP) May 2, 2008 At least 19 tornados ripped across four US states Friday leaving seven dead in Arkansas including a teenage girl and flattening homes and businesses, local officials and media said. Van Buren County sheriff Scott Bradley told CNN that three members of the same family were killed in his area. "The house they were in sustained a direct hit, was totally destroyed." Some 28 homes had been completely destroyed and 10 others damaged when the tornados struck around 8:30 am just as people were preparing to leave for work and school in the south-central state, he said. "I think we probably had more fatalities, had we not had the warning," he said, adding clean-up operations had already begun with the whole community pitching in to help those who had lost everything. "For these families that have taken a direct hit from this tornado, it looks just like a bomb hit a house. There's nothing left but the foundation. "Everything you own is gone. Everything is strewn for miles and miles. It's just totally devastating for a family to lose everything." In Siloam Springs, southern Arkansas, a 15-year-old girl was killed while sleeping when a tree fell on her room when the first wave of tornados struck at about 4:30 am, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported, citing police. Her 10-year old brother, sleeping in the same room, was slightly injured and hospitalized, they said. A father and son were also reported killed when a tornado hit their home in nearby Conway County, the local emergency services said. And at least one person was killed in the town of Hensley. The storms damaged property, uprooted trees and blew out electric services to thousands of homes and businesses across the state. In the town of Southside, the tornado tore the roof off the new Baptist Church, which had not yet even opened for services, while the high school, which was rebuilt after a tornado destroyed it in 1988, was also damaged. Heavy damage was reported in the town of Damascus, and at least 100 homes were damaged in nearby Cleburne County. Tornadoes also struck in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri, in a storm system that was headed toward Illinois, northeast of Arkansas, ABC television reported. "The roads are hard to get through and some are impassible. There is just a lot of widespread damage", Robert King, a Missouri police spokesman, told the Kansas City Star. The National Weather Service had tornado warnings in effect for much of Arkansas at midday Friday. They were the third wave of tornadoes to hit Arkansas this year. Thirteen people were killed in February and dozens injured in the north of the state. Then in April several tornadoes touched down in central Arkansas, damaging hundreds of homes but causing no injuries. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Weather News at TerraDaily.com
Deadly tornado blasts Atlanta, leaving two dead
Washington (AFP) March 15, 2008The governor of the US state of Georgia declared a state of emergency Saturday after a violent tornado blasting winds up to 130 miles per hour tore through downtown Atlanta, killing two people. |
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