Posted on 04/28/2011 12:00:03 AM PDT by dragnet2
Deadly tornadoes, thunderstorms tore through the south Wednesday killing more than 70 people in four states.
This is latest round of storms to hit the region over past several days.
At least 77 deaths are being blamed on the severe weather, according to the Associated Press.
The majority of those deaths were reported in Alabama with 61 people killed – including 15 in the city of Tuscaloosa alone.
Mayor Walter Maddox confirmed that 15 people died Wednesday in Tuscaloosa, Ala., a city of approximately 180,000 leveled by an estimated mile-wide tornado.
A tornado moves through Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Wednesday, April 27, 2011. A wave of severe storms laced with tornadoes strafed the South on Wednesday, killing dozens of people around the region and splintering buildings across swaths of an Alabama university town.
"I'm in my car at corner on McFarland. Milo's Hamburgers isn't there anymore," Tuscaloosa resident Phil Owen told ABC News affiliate WBMA.
"We have way over 100 injuries throughout the city of Tuscaloosa," Mayor Maddox said Wednesday. "We have hundreds of homes and businesses destroyed and hundreds more damaged."
Maddox said the National Guard were being dispatched to devastated areas across the state the Associated Press reported.
President Obama declared a state of emergency for the search and rescue response in Alabama, and Gov. Robert Bentley told WBMA he expected him to declare another one to help pay for the cleanup.
In confirming the state of emergency, President Obama said federal officials had their eye on the storms and would offer help as needed.
"Michelle and I extend our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives because of the tornadoes that have swept through Alabama and the southeastern United States," he said in a written statement.
August said the damage and destruction from on Wednesday's severe weather has left some Alabama residents with no place to go.
"We are opening shelters throughout the state to make sure folks who have nowhere to go, tonight, will have somewhere to go, out of the weather," said August.
Fatalities in Georgia, Mississippi
Crystal Paulk-Buchanan, a spokeswoman for Georgia emergency management in Atlanta, said four people have been killed so far.
In addition, at least 11 were dead in Mississippi, ABC News confirmed.
at least one person killed in Tennessee Wednesday.
The weather system was expected to move into Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky overnight and into the Carolinas by Thursday morning.
I am glad it is helpful in some way. It is very hard to be here and not be able to help you good folks. I am checking to see when they might let volunteers come to help, or see what might be helpful to send. Please do let us know if you hear of any information along that line.
May God bless, FRiend.
Tatt
Can you provide a Twitter link? Thanks!
Don’t expect Obama to visit these folks;it’s beneath him.
I am very sorry to hear about your loss.My thoughts are with you and everyone who endured this horrible storm.
Amen.
From Twitter per TXStormChasers:
WHNT reporting at least 70 dead in Tuscaloosa alone.
WHNT Live feed:
http://www.whnt.com/
Morgan County,AL EMA doing a presser on WHNT now.
TVA has severe damage to main transmission lines all over Northern Alabama. Local utility saying it will take at least 48 hrs AFTER TVA restores power to them, to restore local power.
I don’t understand your comment. There wasn’t just one round of killer storms. I was criticizing Obama for not making a statement after the first round, and before this round of storms.
Here was the first round, on 4/16/11:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/16/us-usa-weather-deaths-idUSTRE73F1AB20110416
Only 16 killed, it says. Then this week’s round that has apparently killed more than 200.
Was my comment not clear? If it wasn’t, now it is.
I’m sorry to hear of your loss.
My condolences to you and your family.
Weather Advisory
Current Conditions: Classes and Normal Operations Suspended; Update on Final Exams and Commencement
1:00 p.m., Thursday, April 28
Normal operations are suspended as recovery efforts continue. The University will not conduct final exams next week as scheduled.
Students will have the option of accepting their existing grades as of April 27, 2011, or they can take a final exam at a later date. For those students who request to take a final exam, faculty will have the option of scheduling the final exam on site when normal operations resume or via distance education means.
This schedule change includes all enrolled students except those in the School of Law and School of Medicine. Their academic calendars vary and they should be in touch with their faculty for confirmation of their exam schedule.
Faculty should communicate with their students via e-learning or their normal means as facilities are restored. Students should know that not all faculty will have communication capabilities immediately.
Commencement exercises scheduled for May 7, 2011, have been rescheduled for Aug. 6, 2011, when May and August graduates will be recognized.
These steps are being taken to allow students impacted by the storms to return to their homes while recovery efforts continue in the Tuscaloosa area.
These changes are in keeping with academic guidelines that are part of the emergency operations and recovery plans for the campus.
=====================
No way UA could handle large family groups a week after the massive destruction. Not to mention city services, which are practically non-existent right now. All hotels will be full of displaced families.
Decatur City Schools closed until further notice. No Power for water or sewage.
Ok. I see. Sorry. I’ll go check out how many freepers were calling out O to declare states of emergency 10 days ago.
I read somewhere that O’s admin was watching the progress of storms carefully.
And really...what would have expected the WH to declare before deadly storms roll through an area that everyone with a TV or radio knows what is coming.
Seriously. What would you have liked to have happened. I’m really curious.
death toll now 273
I’m so sorry. Prayers on the way.
I would have expected him to make a statement immediately after the storms of the 16th, saying he was saddened by the loss of life and the destruction, and that they were monitoring the situation to determine what level of federal assistance was needed.
But he waited on that type of statement until this week’s storms, as far as I can tell. If he made such a statement and I missed it, I will apologize.
Thank you much sir. It’s ok. She’s already dancing. I can feel it.
May the Lord watch over them all and comfort those who have suffered through this.
Please accept my condolences for your loss.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.