Monster Tornado in Alabama.
My deepest sympathy go out to all the people in the EEUU , for the
devastation caused by this latest dreadful tornado to strike the Southern States .
From all here in Australia our hearts and prayers are with you .
Southern storms batter Alabama as weather system produces deadly ...
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Washington Post - 20 minutes ago
As AP reported: Chris Wragge talks to University of Alabama employee, Christopher England, about the amazing video he shot of a tornado in Tuscaloosa. ...
19 Answers
I can't believe the string of weather we've been seeing across the South. My heart goes out to all who live there. We have a niece in Arkansas that we've been worrying about everytime the news comes on. So far the storms are passing just to her south.
Here are a couple truly awe-inspiring videos of the storm as well as pictures of its aftermath. My immediate thoughts when I first saw this this morning were with my brother-in-law who just recently moved to Alabama, but after seeing all the devastation, it is truly impossible for your heart not to go out to all those affected by the storm.
It is so devastating, Ray. The reports are still coming in. Here is another picture of the damage near Tuscaloosa.
I did not hear this news until I read this thread. I havn't been watching t.v. My thoughts and prayers do go out to all those in Alabama and those affected by the storm. I hope Ken is ok. I hope he posts on this thread when he can. I thought I would answer this thread for the sake of putting it back on top. Just incase anybody else missed this thread and does not watch much t.v.
Amor y paz
The Weather Channel just reported 281 confirmed deaths. Most of them are in Alabama. Tuscaloosa is such a beautiful place. I still am not able to reach family in the Decatur area. The power there may be out for days or weeks.
I am terribly sorry for the news I am hearing right now.
I hope you are all OK! My thoughts and prayers with you Sally, Ray, Dogwood, Leatha, Sandy and all who live in these affected areas...
Please friends... take care and caution.
There have been too many natural disasters throughout the world this year. This tornado in Alabama, the US, is such an awful disaster. Unfortunately, there are many friends of ours in the affected area of it.
Like our thoughtful member, ray76, my sympathy go out to all the people in the affected area, especially, the members of SpanishDict. The South of the US is a wonderful land and I hope that the tornado will not cause serious problems affecting the development of the region and the life of the people here.
Unbelievable. 160 tornadoes, I can't begin to imagine it. My thoughts go out to all those living in the area, and I hope it doesn't spread to involve even more states. Keep well friends!
The deadliest group of tornadoes since 1974. The warning systems are so much better now that even in the worst tornadoes people are usually able to get somewhere safe. There were so many tornadoes over such a wide area this time many more people where at risk.
In watching the news tonight it seems that there had been a line of storms go across the state in the morning that wasn't too bad. When there were more warnings in the afternoon, some people didn't take them seriously. If they had only taken precautions, most of them might still be alive.
This is just the beginning of tornado season. There may be a lot more before July gets here.
An apartment complex was in ruins Thursday in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The University of Alabama campus was mostly spared. * TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A day after enduring a terrifying bombardment of storms that killed hundreds across the South and spawned tornadoes that razed neighborhoods and even entire towns, people from Texas to Virginia to Georgia searched through rubble for survivors on Thursday and tried to reclaim their own
In Tuscaloosa, Ala., Francine Rollins and Rondroka Long surveyed the rubble of their Rosewood neighborhood on Thursday after the storms swept through. More
At least 285 people across six states died in the storms, with more than half — 195 people — in Alabama. This college town, the home of the University of Alabama, has in some places been shorn to the slab, and accounts for at least 36 of those deaths.
Thousands have been injured, and untold more have been left homeless, hauling their belongings in garbage bags or rooting through disgorged piles of wood and siding to find anything salvageable.
While Alabama was hit the hardest, the storm spared few states across the South. Thirty-four people were reported dead in Tennessee, 33 in Mississippi, 15 in Georgia, 7 in Virginia and one in Kentucky. With search and rescue crews still climbing through debris and making their way down tree-strewn country roads, the toll is expected to rise.
“History tells me estimating deaths is a bad business,” said W. Craig Fugate, the Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, in a conference call with reporters.
Cries could be heard into the night here on Wednesday, but on Thursday hope was dwindling. Mayor Walt Maddox said that the search and rescue operation would go for 24 to 48 more hours, before the response pivoted its focus to recovery.
“They’re looking for five kids in this rubble here,” said Lathesia Jackson-Gibson, 33, a nurse, pointing to the incoherent heap of planks and household appliances sitting next to the muddled guts of her own house. “They’re mostly small kids.”
President Obama announced that he was coming to Alabama on Friday afternoon, saying in a statement that the federal government had pledged its assistance.
Gov. Robert Bentley toured the state by helicopter along with federal officials, tracking a vast scar that stretched from Birmingham to his hometown, Tuscaloosa. He declared Alabama “a major, major disaster.”
“As we flew down from Birmingham, the track is all the way down, and then when you get in Tuscaloosa here it’s devastating,” Mr. Bentley said at an afternoon news conference, with an obliterated commercial strip as a backdrop.
An enormous response operation was under way across the South, with emergency officials working alongside churches, sororities and other volunteer groups. In Alabama, more than 2,000 National Guard troops have been deployed.
Across nine states, more than 1,680 people spent Wednesday in Red Cross shelters, said Attie Poirier, a spokeswoman with the organization. The last time the Red Cross had set up such an elaborate system of shelters was after Hurricane Katrina, a comparison made by even some of those who had known the experience firsthand.
“It reminds me of home so much,” said Eric Hamilton, 40, a former Louisianan, who was sitting on the sidewalk outside the Belk Activity Center, which was being used as a Red Cross shelter in south Tuscaloosa.
Mr. Hamilton lived in a poor area of Tuscaloosa called Alberta City, which residents now describe merely as “gone.” He wiped tears off his cheeks.
“I’ve never seen so many bodies,” Mr. Hamilton said. “Babies, women. So many bodies.”
Officials at the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center said they had received 137 tornado reports on Wednesday, with 104 of them coming from Alabama and Mississippi. Over all, there have been 297 confirmed tornadoes this month, breaking a 36-year-old record.
Southerners, who have had to learn the drill all too well this month, watched with dread on Wednesday night as the shape-shifting storm system crept eastward across the weather map. Upon hearing the rumble of a tornado, or even the hysterical barking of a family dog, people crammed into closets, bathtubs and restaurant coolers, clutching their children and family photos.
Many of the lucky survivors found a completely different world when they opened their closet doors.
“We heard crashing,” said Steve Sikes, 48, who lives in a middle-class Tuscaloosa neighborhood called the Downs. “Then dirt and pine needles came under the door. We smelled pine.
“When you smell pine,” he said, gesturing, by way of a conclusion, toward a wooden wreck behind him, so mangled that it was hard to tell where tree ended and house began.
Some opened the closet to the open sky, where their roof had been, some yelled until other family members pulled the shelves and walls off them. Others never got out.
This is all so awful 
. I'm keeping everyone in the south in my thoughts
Ray, we regained power this afternoon in Chattanooga, TN. At the worst time, there were 119,000 residents out of power. But we did not receive the brunt of the storm. We had 1 confirmed dead from the storm in Chattanooga.
Immediately to our south about 10 miles, a McDonalds and Taco Bell were destroyed. Both buildings were occupied with customers and employees when the storm hit. It is feared that many tourists may have exited the nearby freeway to seek shelter in these restaurants. For that reason, no one is certain how many people are missing.
To the west of Ringgold, in Trenton, GA, the city is under curfew. That city is situated on top of a mountain. Both these cities are so isolated that film and images are not now (to my knowledge) widely circulated at this time. Eight known dead in Ringgold, at least that many in Trenton.
To the east of Chattanooga, the community of Oltewah, TN, has 8 confirmed dead from the storm.
The highest death toll at this time is in the Dekalb county (Alabama) region just south of the Tennessee border. At lasts count, that county has 35 confirmed dead.
From that point traveling west to Huntsville, AL, the storm appears to have left power and communication down to the point that reports are unclear or inadequate.
I don't like to rattle off statistics. They tend to minimize or dehumanize the effect of the disaster. The Red Cross has established several shelters in churches and civic centers in the areas most effected. As usual for the south, helpful community volunteers are abundant and, at this time, the Red Cross and local agencies have indicated that enough volunteers have been enlisted. They are requesting equipment (chain saws, ATVs) to assist in the search and rescue of people still missing.
I worked directing traffic shortly after the storm yesterday, trying to re-route motorists away from streets obstructed by trees and downed power lines. Most communities have told citizens to stay off the streets (particularly after dark), since emergency crews need full access to effected areas.
This is the worst storm I have ever seen.
President Obama is scheduled to tour the aftermath of Alabama’s deadly tornadoes Friday as his administration’s approach to emergency management faces its first major test.
On Thursday, Obama vowed that “the federal government will do everything we can” to help states recover from storms he called “nothing short of catastrophic.”
Late Wednesday, the president declared a federal emergency in Alabama and dispatched Craig Fugate, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to inspect the damage.
Fugate, a former Florida state emergency management director, said Thursday that the federal government will take its cues in offering aid from state leaders.
“This is a response being conducted by local responders,” Fugate said, adding that FEMA will maintain “a support role.”
Even before the storms struck, FEMA had already placed several management assistance teams on standby, based on weather reports. The teams include many disaster-relief experts. By Thursday evening, the agency had sent several dozen staffers south, with others expected to arrive Friday.
This is a letter that I have just received from one of our friends , I am worried for her.
Hola Dundee....I am fine, but I can't say the same for some of my neighbors. Diana has been without electrity for a couple of days. A good many houses and cars have had trees fall on then and on the south side of the city homes have been flooded and the contents ruined. There have been two deaths here in town that have been attributed to the flooding. I suppose that the autopsies will prove if that is so or not. Actually all of the pumps were working full blast, but they simply could not keep pace with the amount of water that fell in such a short time. More than than seven inches fell in just a matter of hours. Please don't worry about me as the worst storms have hit in other states.
We must all heed these warnings that we have been getting and stop this wanton
consumption of our finite resources, try ,please try and help our planet repair
the damage that we have caused , get behind your Governments and insist on a
"carbon Tax" that is the least that we can do , I am quite a worried old guy.
Dear People Living In Tuscaloosa, Alabama,
I am so sorry to hear about the terrible news. I hope that the ones reading this are doing okay, and hopefully alive.(: Hahaha kidding, anyways, this is one of the reasons why we should always be thankful about little things because when something drastic like this comes along, we know that God did this for a reason. I hope that Tuscaloosa recovers fairly quickly, and that everyone keeps safe and healthy. We wish you the best and I will make sure to pray each and everyday for you guys and I hope this whole storm clears out soon. Take care and remember, always be thankful and grateful for what you have because once a natural disaster comes along your way, like this dreadful storm, you'll regret about all the things you've done, or haven't done.
-leenearene3
