Tornadoes Sweep Across Southern U.S., Killing at Least 269 in Six States
Tornadoes Ravage U.S. South, Killing Hundreds in Six States
Jessica McGowan/Getty Images
An employee of a demolished oil change shop hangs his head while resting on the pile of debris where the shop once stood in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S.
An employee of a demolished oil change shop hangs his head while resting on the pile of debris where the shop once stood in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S. Photographer: Jessica McGowan/Getty Images
April 28 (Bloomberg) -- Tornado watches were posted from Georgia to Maryland today and after a series of lethal storms tore through the U.S. Southeast and killed scores in its path. ABC News' Yunji De Nies talks about the storm damages with Melissa Long on Bloomberg Television's "In the Loop." (Source: Bloomberg)
Alabama's Governor Robert Bentley
Jessica McGowan/Getty Images
Robert Bentley, governor of Alabama, talks to the media during a press conference in the aftermath of Wednesday night's storms in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Robert Bentley, governor of Alabama, talks to the media during a press conference in the aftermath of Wednesday night's storms in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Photographer: Jessica McGowan/Getty Images
The worst day of tornadoes in 37 years tore through the U.S. Southeast, killing hundreds of people, causing millions in damage and cutting power to a nuclear plant.
At least 280 people died in six states, with Alabama hardest-hit, as high winds tore apart homes and businesses, the Associated Press reported. As many as a million people were without power, Alabama’s governor said. Earlier this week the same weather system killed 11 people in Arkansas.
It was the deadliest single day for tornadoes in the U.S. since April 3, 1974, when 310 people died, according to AccuWeather Inc. President Barack Obama will travel to Alabama tomorrow to survey the damage.
As the system pushed onto the Eastern Seaboard today, thunderstorms caused hours-long delays at airports in New York, Newark, Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL), AMR Corp. (AMR)’s American Airlines and other large carriers canceled about 1,300 flights today on top of 1,000 yesterday because of weather disruptions, said FlightAware.com, a Houston-based firm that tracks aviation data.
Damaging winds and large hail were reported yesterday in 21 states from New York to Arkansas, according to the U.S. Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, which had warned of a major outbreak of tornadoes.
Disaster Declarations
The governors of Mississippi, Virginia and Tennessee declared emergencies and Alabama Governor Robert Bentley activated the state’s National Guard to deal with damage reported in 18 counties, according to state websites.
Insured losses will be in the hundreds of millions and total damage may reach $1 billion, said Jose Miranda, director of client advocacy for catastrophe risk modeler Eqecat Inc. in Hackensack, New Jersey.
Obama issued a disaster declaration for Alabama late yesterday.
“In many places, the damage to homes and businesses is nothing short of catastrophic,” Obama said today at the White House.
Tuscaloosa, a city of 93,000 in the west-central part of the state and home to the University of Alabama, was among the hardest-hit areas. Much of the damage there was along a busy, six-lane boulevard, Julie Kenny, owner of the downtown Café J coffee shop, said in a telephone interview today.
‘Completely Gone’
“There is a lot of student housing in that area and a lot of that was devastated and lots and lots of businesses were completely gone,” Kenny said.
In the Pratt City neighborhood about five miles northwest of downtown Birmingham, stretches of streets looked like refugee thoroughfares as people carried belongings from wrecked homes past piles of rubble, roofless buildings and fallen trees.
Barbara Wells, a trucking company recruiter, said the storm took off the back of her house.
“We heard the walls when they collapsed, and I actually saw the walls go in and I told my daughter, I said, ‘Come out of your room, now,’” Wells said. “I told her to hold onto me and don’t let go.”
In addition to Alabama, storm-related deaths were reported in Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia and Kentucky, AP said.
Reactors Shut
The Tennessee Valley Authority shut all three reactors at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant in Alabama yesterday after the storms caused a brief power outage, Barbara Martocci, a company spokeswoman, said in a telephone interview. With other reactors offline for seasonal maintenance, U.S. nuclear output fell to the lowest level in more than 10 years.
Each of the reactors at Browns Ferry, 84 miles north of Birmingham, has the capacity to generate more than 1,000 megawatts, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Combined, they produce enough to power 2.6 million average U.S. homes, based on Energy Department statistics.
Yesterday’s vicious storm outbreak was caused by warm, wet air pushing north from Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana, AccuWeather said. It collided with cooler air, while winds from the south and the southwest combined to allow rotation.
April has been marked by heavy rains that have threatened to drive the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to record flood levels, and by destructive tornadoes, thunderstorms and hail that have left a trail of death and damage from New York to the Gulf of Mexico.
To contact the reporters on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net
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