The National Weather Service says one of the tornadoes that killed hundreds in the South had winds of 330 kilometres per hour and was the first EF-5 tornado in Mississippi since 1966.
HO/Reuters
NORMAN, OKLA. — The National Weather Service says one of the tornadoes that killed hundreds in the South had winds of 330 kilometres per hour and was the first EF-5 tornado in Mississippi since 1966.
The death toll of the violent U.S. storms is now at 318 — the most from a twister outbreak since 1932.
That’s the highest rating given by the weather service for tornado damage.
The weather services said Friday the tornado hit Smithfield, Miss., at 3:44 p.m. EDT on Wednesday. It was a half-kilometre wide and was on the ground for close to five km, killing 14 and injuring 40.
The assessment is preliminary, based on photos taken Thursday and consultation with experts. It will be confirmed later this year after further inspections.
OBAMA VISITS DEVASTATION
Gas station lines, looting and the discovery of smashed heirlooms sapped survivors’ energy Friday around cities shattered by the deadliest tornado outbreak in nearly four decades.
President Barack Obama landed in devastated Alabama to console victims, while authorities worked to overcome damaged infrastructure and even a shortage of body bags in one town.
As Obama stepped off a plane at the airport in hard-hit Tuscaloosa, rescuers and survivors combed the remains of neighbourhoods pulverized by Wednesday’s outbreak.
The president’s arrival drew a muted response from Tuscaloosa resident Derek Harris, who was pushing a grocery buggy down a street where virtually every home was heavily damaged. The 47-year-old and his wife hoped to use the cart to salvage a few belongings from his home.
“Hopefully he’ll give us some money to start over,” Harris said of Obama. “Is FEMA here? The only place I’m hearing anything is at the Red Cross centre.”
Some were more upbeat about the president’s visit, including 21-year-old Turner Woods, who watched Obama’s motorcade pass on its way to tour damaged areas. “It’s just really special having the president come here,” she said. “It will bring more attention to this disaster and help get more help here.”
The situation was dire about 90 miles to the north in the demolished town of Hackleburg, Ala., where officials were keeping bodies in a refrigerated truck amid a body bag shortage. At least 27 are dead there, and searches for the missing continue.
The only grocery store, the fire and police departments and the school are destroyed. There’s no power, communications, water or other services. Fire Chief Steve Hood said he desperately wants scores of flashlights because he doesn’t want people using candles due to the fire hazard.
“We don’t have water to put out any fires,” he said.
People have looted a demolished Wrangler jeans plant, and authorities locked up drugs from a destroyed pharmacy in a bank vault, said Stanley Webb, chief agent in the county’s drug task force.
“If people steal, we are not playing around. They will go to jail,” he said.
Elsewhere, drivers hunted for fuel for cars and generators after many gas stations were shuttered by widespread power outages.
In rural northeast Alabama, a line of 25 to 30 cars formed early Friday at the Fuel-Z in Crossville in hopes its generator would be fixed soon. The station had been the only one open for many miles until a generator part failed Thursday night.
An employee said the repair might take until Saturday, but Natasha Brazil and her boyfriend weren’t going anywhere in their Dodge Durango SUV. She lives about 10 miles away but said she only has enough gas for another mile or two after getting to the station around 10 p.m. the night before, too late to fuel up before the generator broke down.
“We’ve been sleeping here all night. Well, I wouldn’t call it sleeping, crammed in the back of an SUV,” she said. She’s tried calling family and friends for help, but with the power out since Wednesday, she figures everybody’s cellphones are dead.
Those who took shelter as the storms trickled back to their homes Thursday, ducking police roadblocks and fallen limbs and power lines to reclaim their belongings.
They struggled with no electricity and little help from stretched-thin law enforcement. And they were frustrated by the near-constant presence of gawkers who drove by in search of a cellphone camera picture — or worse, a trinket to take home.
The storms did most of their damage in Alabama, where more than two-thirds of the dead had lived. As many as a million homes and businesses there were without power, and Bentley said 2,000 National Guard troops had been activated to help. The governors of Mississippi and Georgia also issued emergency declarations for parts of their states.
With files from Canadian Press
