BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -Vicious storms smacked the Deep South and toppled trees like dominoes as tornadoes howled through towns. Four deaths were reported Friday in Alabama, including a man killed when the storm tossed a mobile home nearly a quarter of a mile across a state highway.
Combined with earlier reported fatalities in Arkansas and Oklahoma, the confirmed death toll had risen to 13 by early Saturday ââ¬â the deadliest storm of the season so far.
Autauga County Chief Deputy Sheriff Nebulous Sedinger said three adult family members were killed around 11 p.m. Friday when a tornado ripped through homes in the Boone's Chapel community 24 miles north of the state capital of Montgomery.
The tornado hit and jumped and hit and jumped again, Sedinger said. It would do some damage and then move on.
Don Faulkner, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mobile, said heavy damage was also being reported in rural Washington County. He estimated around 40 percent of the houses in the area are mobile homes.
The system showed no mercy on Mississippi either as it rolled eastward, damaging or destroying dozens of homes, businesses and churches. Crews worked to clear roads, find shelter for displaced families and restore power to thousands.
In Marengo County in west-central Alabama, four separate tornadoes hit over the span of about five to six hours, emergency management director Kevin McKinney said.
They weren't simultaneous, they were back-to-back, he said.
The mobile home that had been tossed was a pile of rubble, along with another 30 homes or businesses that were destroyed, McKinney said. Four people had minor injuries.
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley declared a state of emergency for the entire state, and the first race of a busy weekend at the Talladega Superspeedway was postponed until Saturday morning.
The storms began late Thursday in Oklahoma, where at least five tornadoes touched down and two people were killed. The system then pushed into Arkansas, killing seven more. Dozens of others were hurt.
Rest of article: http://www.aolnews.com/story/spring-storms-kill-17-destroy-family-in/764731/
Combined with earlier reported fatalities in Arkansas and Oklahoma, the confirmed death toll had risen to 13 by early Saturday ââ¬â the deadliest storm of the season so far.
Autauga County Chief Deputy Sheriff Nebulous Sedinger said three adult family members were killed around 11 p.m. Friday when a tornado ripped through homes in the Boone's Chapel community 24 miles north of the state capital of Montgomery.
The tornado hit and jumped and hit and jumped again, Sedinger said. It would do some damage and then move on.
Don Faulkner, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mobile, said heavy damage was also being reported in rural Washington County. He estimated around 40 percent of the houses in the area are mobile homes.
The system showed no mercy on Mississippi either as it rolled eastward, damaging or destroying dozens of homes, businesses and churches. Crews worked to clear roads, find shelter for displaced families and restore power to thousands.
In Marengo County in west-central Alabama, four separate tornadoes hit over the span of about five to six hours, emergency management director Kevin McKinney said.
They weren't simultaneous, they were back-to-back, he said.
The mobile home that had been tossed was a pile of rubble, along with another 30 homes or businesses that were destroyed, McKinney said. Four people had minor injuries.
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley declared a state of emergency for the entire state, and the first race of a busy weekend at the Talladega Superspeedway was postponed until Saturday morning.
The storms began late Thursday in Oklahoma, where at least five tornadoes touched down and two people were killed. The system then pushed into Arkansas, killing seven more. Dozens of others were hurt.
Rest of article: http://www.aolnews.com/story/spring-storms-kill-17-destroy-family-in/764731/
