19 dead as severe storms hit large parts of southern US
This photo from the city of Monroe, Louisiana yesterday shows the damage after tornados ripped through southern US states, killing at least 19 people. Officials are still gathering information on the extent of the “catastrophic” damage caused by the storms.
Severe weather has swept across the southern United States, killing at least 19 people and damaging hundreds of homes from Louisiana to the Appalachian Mountains.
Many people spent part of the night early yesterday sheltering in basements, closets and bathroom tubs as sirens wailed to warn of possible tornadoes.
Eleven people were killed in Mississippi, and six more died in northwest Georgia. Two other bodies were pulled from damaged homes in Arkansas and South Carolina.
The storms blew onward through the night, causing flooding and mudslides in mountainous areas, and knocking out electricity for about 750,000 customers in a 10-state swath ranging from Texas to Georgia up to West Virginia, according to poweroutages.us.
The National Weather Service tallied hundreds of reports of trees down across the region, including many that punctured roofs and downed power lines. Meteorologists also warned the mid-Atlantic states to prepare for potential tornadoes.
In Georgia, Murray County Fire Chief Dewayne Bain told WAGA-TV that two mobile home parks were severely damaged, with five people killed and five others hospitalized after a line of narrow line of storms left a five mile long path of destruction. Another person was killed when a tree fell on a home in Cartersville, the station reported.
Mississippi’s death toll rose to 11 early yesterday, the state’s emergency management agency tweeted, promising details later in the morning.
In Arkansas, one person was killed when a tree fell on a home in White Hall, the Jefferson County Department of Emergency Management said.
In South Carolina, a person was found dead in a collapsed building near Seneca as the apparent tornado struck the city around 3:30am yesterday, Oconee County Emergency Management Director Scott Krein said.
Several apparent tornadoes spun up in South Carolina, where dozens of homes appeared damaged in a line from Seneca to Clemson.
Emergency officials were working to open shelters in the North Carolina mountains, where up to 13 centimeters of rain fell in a few hours.
In Chattanooga, Tennessee, at least 150 homes and commercial buildings were damaged and more than a dozen people injured, but none of their injuries appeared to be life-threatening, Chattanooga Fire Chief Phil Hyman said.
“It’s widespread damage that happened extremely fast,” he said. “I advise people to stay in their homes. As far as safety is concerned, we still have active power lines that are down.”
