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US in Shock as Worst Tornadoes in 70 Years Rip Through South
April 29, 2011

Alabama was the worst-hit state with the death toll reaching 204, with more than 1,700 injured. (AFP Photo) Alabama was the worst-hit state with the death toll reaching 204, with more than 1,700 injured. (AFP Photo)
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mamaku
9:16am Apr 30, 2011

i'd like to express my deepest condolences by the tornado that happened in US.May God bless all the victims and survivors during this time and always

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Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Shocked Americans sifted through the rubble on Friday after the worst US tornadoes in decades carved a wide swath of destruction across the South and claimed at least 313 lives.

Small communities were virtually wiped off the map, and officials warned that the toll would rise as rescuers uncovered more dead in the debris.

Disbelief was written on faces across eight states crippled by the ferocious spring storms — the deadliest tornado outbreak to strike the United States since 332 people were killed by a rash of tornadoes on March 21, 1932.

Families picked through the remains of homes, businesses and schools, bearing witness to scenes of devastation more common in war zones or after earthquakes.

In Alabama, the worst-hit state, the toll reached 210, with more than 1,700 hurt and up to a million left without power.

US President Barack Obama and the first lady, Michelle, were scheduled to travel to the state on Friday for a firsthand look at a still unfolding tragedy.

Obama declared a “major disaster” in Alabama and ordered federal assistance to state and local recovery efforts, including grants for temporary housing and home repairs and loans to cover uninsured property damage.

States of emergency were declared from central Oklahoma to Georgia, and governors called out the National Guard — including 2,000 troops in Alabama — to help with the rescue and cleanup.

In Mississippi, which suffered more than 30 casualties, Governor Haley Barbour told CNN that Wednesday “was just as bad as I can ever remember. Some people will make the argument it is as bad as it has ever been.”

As the day dragged on, rescue workers scrambled to find missing people and rescue survivors trapped in the rubble.

Many homes looked as though they had been blown inside out, with the walls down and furniture spilling into the street.

In a parking lot at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa — where 36 people were confirmed dead — tornadoes left behind 20 smashed cars, many of them piled on top of one another.

Owen Simmons, a furniture store employee, pointed to a black cross and a zero below it painted on the side of his house.

“It means that the rescue team has already checked my home and they found no victims. That’s what really matters,” he said.

Tuscaloosa Mayor Walter Maddox told CNN that his town’s infrastructure had been completely devastated.

“I don’t know how anyone survived,” he said. “There are parts of this city I don’t recognize.”

Twisters that famously rip through America’s “Tornado Alley” are formed when strong winds, bringing storms from the north, interact with warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico.



Agence France-Presse