Deadly tornadoes!

[Marty-Mar]

Nov. 11 — Emergency crews searched for survivors Monday in vast fields of tangled debris after dozens of pulverizing tornadoes roared through nine states, killing at least 35 people and injuring more than 200 others. Dozens of homes and buildings were destroyed and the governor of Tennessee, the state hit hardest by the onslaught, said that 140 to 150 people had been reported missing.COLD AUTUMN AIR sweeping eastward that clashed with warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico spawned the wide band of storms, which stretched from Louisiana to Pennsylvania. The death toll included 17 in Tennessee, 11 in Alabama and five in Ohio. Pennsylvania and Mississippi reported one death each.
At least 65 people were injured in Tennessee, 50 in Alabama, 30 in Mississippi and 21 in Ohio.
Tennessee Gov. Don Sundquist told MSNBC TV that between 140 and 150 people had been reported missing, though he was hopeful that most were merely isolated by the destruction.
“The power’s out and the telephone lines are out,” he said. “We expect most of those people will be found.”
“It’s mass destruction, death,” said Ken Morgan, an officer in nearby Oliver Springs. “Mossy Grove is destroyed.”
Some people died as they became trapped in cars and homes, while others frantically tried to escape the churning storms.
The tornadoes flattened dozens of homes throughout the region and left tens of thousands without power. Winds hit an estimated 140 mph in Tennessee and the storms carried torrential rain and hail the size of golf balls.

TENNESSEE: TWO WAVES





In Mossy Grove, about 40 miles west of Knoxville, a tornado cut a swath five to six miles long just before 9 p.m. Sunday, killing at least seven people.
Authorities were kept away from assessing much of the damage because toppled trees and power lines were blocking roadways, and they feared the death toll would rise as searchers combed the debris.
The tornadoes in Tennessee came in two waves. Late Saturday and early Sunday, twisters skipped across western and middle Tennessee, killing three people. On Sunday night, another line of storms crossed the state — this time south and east of Nashville.

Two people, including a 10-year-old boy, were killed and 15 people were injured in Coffee County when two mobile home parks, three houses and a church were damaged near Manchester, about 60 miles southeast of Nashville.
Outside Manchester on Interstate 24, William Fischer’s tractor-trailer rig, weighted down with tractor parts, was blown off the road.
“It actually picked me up and spun me around,” said Fischer, 29, of Lexington, Tenn. His rig landed upside down but he suffered only bruises. Asked how he could be so calm in recounting what happened, he said: “I don’t panic easy.”
About an hour later, a tornado ripped through Mossy Grove, damaging at least a dozen houses, said Steven Hamby, director of the Morgan County emergency management center. The dead include a 4-month-old child. Four people were killed in neighboring Cumberland County.

ALABAMA: ‘THIRD OF TOWN GONE’
Carbon Hill, Ala., was in a similar situation as a nighttime swarm of tornadoes and storms belted the area and sent giant hardwood trees crashing down on small houses and mobile homes.

Jean Mayfield weeps in front of her destroyed home in Carbon Hill, Ala., on Monday.

“I reckon about a third of the town is gone,” said Terry Murray, part of a crew surveying the damage.
Seven people died there and three elsewhere in Alabama, said Walker County Deputy Coroner Bob Green.





Local storm coverage
• Birmingham: Deadly twisters in Alabama
• Knoxville, Tenn.: Twister strikes Morgan County
Ohio cities
• Cincinnati: Tornadoes strike northwest Ohio
• Cleveland: Families survive storms, use basement
• Columbus: Central Ohioans awake to storm damage






Green was at the scene where the bodies of two women were found: “They were lying down off the side (of a road),” he said. “It was bad, Carbon Hill had a bad time.”
Near Carbon Hill, Sheryl Wakefield survived, but her sister and niece died in their mobile home, its metal frame twisted around a broken tree.
Wakefield had joined her son, his wife and their three little girls in a concrete storm cellar and were not harmed, but their home was destroyed. “My son doesn’t even know where his home is. It’s gone. It’s just gone,” she said.
Randall Garrison’s house was damaged but can be repaired. Some of his neighbors were not as fortunate.
“Two mobile homes beside us are gone,” said Garrison, who was on his way home from church. “My two outbuildings are blown away. The house right beside me, it took off its foundation. I thank God he had me at church.”

[Redfield]

I saw this on the news. It's horrible how such a "freak act of nature" could happen.