Severe Storms Kill 27 in South, Midwest USA
By KRISTIN M. HALL, Associated Press Writer
Mon Apr 3, 7:17 PM ET
Tornadoes shredded homes to their foundations, hail tore holes in the
rooftops and high winds toppled even freight cars as a line of violent
storms cut zigzagging paths of destruction that killed at least 27
people across the nation's midsection.
The worst damage from Sunday night's storms occurred along a 25-mile
swath of rural western Tennessee, where 23 of the deaths occurred and
state troopers using dogs searched for more victims amid the rubble of
brick buildings and toppled trailers.
"Most of the houses, you can't count. They're just gone," said Roy
Childress, who was part of a church relief crew that was delivering
food and water to survivors Monday.
The dead included an infant and the grandparents who had been
babysitting him. A young couple and their two sons, ages 5 and 3, were
also killed, their bodies found 800 yards from their house.
"It basically took my life away. I don't really care if I see daylight
tomorrow," said Larry Taylor, the boys' grandfather and the only
funeral director in rural Bradford. He was planning to bury the family
in two separate caskets, with each child alongside one of his parents.
"I'd give everything I had for that not to have happened,' he said
through tears. "Those little boys were my life."
Severe storms also struck parts of Iowa, Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri,
Ohio, Illinois and Indiana. Strong winds were blamed for at least three
deaths in Missouri. A clothing store collapsed in southern Illinois,
killing one man.
In Arkansas, Logan Hawley tried to escape by driving with a group of
other people to a tornado shelter.
"We couldn't see anything," Hawley said. "It was just brown in front of
us." The car crashed at an intersection, so the six people inside had
no choice but to sit terrified as the tornado passed.
"I just closed by eyes and hoped it was a dream," he said.
The brunt of the storms, some packing softball-sized hail, blasted an
area between the small town of Newbern, about 80 miles northeast of
Memphis, to Bradford. Twenty-three people were killed, including an
infant and the grandparents who had been babysitting him. A family of
four was also killed.
Officials estimated 1,200 buildings were damaged in Gibson County,
where eight people were killed and 17 others hospitalized in critical
condition, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.
Gov. Phil Bredesen asked President Bush to declare Dyer and Gibson
counties federal disaster areas.
"Our first priority is helping those impacted to get back on their feet
quickly and to bring back a sense of normalcy at a time when they need
it most," said Bredesen, who planned to visit the area Tuesday.
The Tennessee Valley Authority estimated that more than 15,000
customers were without power at midday Monday.
The storms developed after a cold front approaching from the West
slammed into a mass of warm, humid air, said Memphis meteorologist Jody
Aaron. A tornado in Dyer County apparently had winds of 158 to 206 mph.
The weather service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said it
had preliminary reports of 63 tornadoes.
About a half-dozen tornadoes struck Arkansas and one destroyed nearly
half the town of Marmaduke, according to a fire department official.
Authorities cordoned off the town after a gas line ruptured, and three
people remained unaccounted for Monday.
"Almost every single structure in Marmaduke has minor to moderate
damage but almost 50 percent of it is totally destroyed," acting fire
commander Chris Franks said. Much of the town also was damaged by a
tornado in 1997.
Brick shells were all that remained at some houses, while corrugated
metal used as roofing stood draped around several trees. The storm
rolled railroad cars onto their sides, several feet away from the
nearest track.
Hail 4 inches in diameter slammed right through the roof of one mobile
home in Arkansas, weather service meteorologist Newton Skiles said.
About 30 miles from Newbern, a tornado caused extensive damage to the
southeast Missouri city of Caruthersville, although Mayor Diane Sayre
said there were no known deaths in the city of 6,700.
In southern Illinois, a man died when a clothing store collapsed in the
St. Louis suburb of Fairview Heights. An off-duty police officer
survived for nearly an hour in the store's debris before he was pulled
to safety.
"I'm so blessed," Doug Young said Monday from his hospital bed in
Belleville, where he had a bruised chest and 10 stitches in a knee. "I
was thankful to God that he delivered my prayers."
In downtown Indianapolis, tornado-force winds shattered dozens of
windows in an high-rise office building. The storm hit just after
thousands of people had left a free outdoor concert by John Mellencamp
held as part of the NCAA men's Final Four basketball tournament.
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On the Net:
Storm Prediction Center: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/
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