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Fatal Tornadoes Rip Through North Carolina |
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The News -
Natural Disasters
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April 16, 2011 |
At least ten people were killed Saturday among widespread damage caused as violent tornadoes tore through North Carolina.
Buildings were crushed, including a hardware store filled with customers on a busy Saturday afternoon, trees were toppled, power lines downed and tractor-trailor trucks and cars overturned by the tornadic activity, which extended three days of fatal severe weather that has pummeled the Midwest and South.
The Weather Channel reported Saturday's tornado tracked across a 50-mile stretch beginning in southwest North Carolina. Dr. Greg Forbes reported that all of the tornado activity reported on Saturday, nearly three dozen reports, was within the state of North Caroliina. More than 200 tornadoes have been reported during the three-day storm.
In North Carolina's capital, a tornado damaged homes and a business, and stranding hikers in western part of the state with flooding. There were no immediate reports of injuries. The Virginia Department of Emergency Management reported on its Twitter feed that at least eight houses were destroyed and four people injured.
A mechanic at a tire shop in Raleigh said he took shelter in his truck while co-workers squeezed into an interior room when the storm hit. "It was one hell of a storm," said Bryan Jackson. "I started to see the roof vibrate and then the roof separated and it was gone."
The area south of downtown Raleigh was littered with snapped telephone poles, downed wires, broken glass and roofing debris.
Emergency crews continued to respond into the evening to storm-related incidents, including power outages, downed power lines, fallen tree limbs and extensive building damage, said Raleigh fire Lt. Adam Stanley in a News & Observer report.
Tornadoes have raked the South since Thursday night. On Friday seven people died in Alabama, seven in Arkansas and one in Mississippi. Two people were killed on Thursday night when a tornado flattened buildings in the town of Tushka, Okla.
There were numerous reports of tornadoes across North Carolina on Saturday afternoon. Several homes were demolished in Roxboro, NC, with another one completely destroying a Lowes hardware store in Sanford, NC.
The National Weather Service said high winds also destroyed mobile homes in North Carolina's Lee County. The weather service reported nickel-sized hail near Darlington, South Carolina, and a flash flood near Table Rockin the state.
"It appeared the tornado tracked a mile or two away from our office,'' said Gail Hartfield, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, on The Weather Channel. The NWS office in Raleigh was evacuated for a short period of time on Saturday because of the storm.
Tornado warnings remained in effect across numerous counties, as the storms moved across the state at approximately 50mph.
"We're still getting lots of reports, some multiple reports of a lot damage in downtown (Raleigh), and in areas south of downtown Raleigh area," Hartfield said. "
"This has been an amazing, incredible day of tornadic thunderstorms. It's been extremely long-tracked, storms that have had an extremely long life. It's really quite amazing."
Vicious storms and howling winds smacked the Deep South, killing at least seven people in Alabama including three family members whose homes were tossed into nearby woods.
In Alabama's Washington County, about 50 miles north of Mobile, a mother and her two children were among those killed, said state emergency management agency director Art Faulkner. One person was reported dead in Mississippi's Greene County.
Combined with earlier reported fatalities in Arkansas and Oklahoma, the confirmed death toll had risen to 17 by early Saturday -- the nation's deadliest storm of the season. |
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