The death toll from severe storms that struck five southern US states jumped to a staggering 193 after Alabama canvassed its hard-hit counties for a new tally of lives lost.
Alabama’s state emergency management agency said it had confirmed 128 deaths, up from at least 61 earlier.
“We expect that toll, unfortunately, to rise,” Alabama Governor Robert Bentley told ABC television yesterday morning.
Photo: Reuters
Mississippi officials reported 32 dead in that state and Tennessee raised its report to six from one. Another 11 have been killed in Georgia and one in Virginia.
The fierce storms on Wednesday spawned tornadoes, winds and flash floods that wiped out homes and businesses, forced a nuclear power plant to use backup generators and prompted the evacuation of a National Weather Service (NWS) office.
US President Barack Obama said Washington would be rushing search and rescue assistance to Alabama.
States of emergency were declared in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Oklahoma, and governors called out the National Guard to help with rescue and cleanup operations.
The NWS had preliminary reports of more than 300 tornadoes since storms began on Friday, including more than 130 on Wednesday alone.
Alabama was especially badly hit, caught by two lines of storms and an evening tornado that tore through the city of Tuscaloosa, home to the University of Alabama.
Tuscaloosa Mayor Walter Maddox told CNN that the tornado had “obliterated blocks and blocks” of his city.
“My wife and I were watching the weather coverage until the monster was right up on us,” Tuscaloosa resident Will Nevin told the Birmingham News newspaper. “Then it was the mad dash to the bathroom where the lights flickered, pulsed and finally gave up.”
A tornado also struck the city of Birmingham and officials were still assessing the damage.
The NWS issued a rare “high-risk” warning of tornados, hail, flash flooding and dangerous lightning for parts of Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. It warned that severe weather could also strike 21 states from the Great Lakes down to the Gulf Coast and across to the Atlantic, and tornados were reported as far east as Virginia and Maryland.
Storm victims across the region were trapped in homes, trailers and cars by falling trees. Hail the size of golf balls cracked windows.
Roads were washed out or rendered impassable by fallen trees and power lines across the region. Homes, schools and businesses were flattened, flooded and set on fire by lightning.
“Our citizens have endured days of consecutive severe storms and flooding,” Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear said. “We stand ready to assist any community in need, and we urge Kentuckians to remain on alert until this storm system finally passes.”
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