The News-Star from Monroe, Louisiana • Page 5

-v 1 The News-Star vv From 1A Saturday, March 3, 2007 5A Tornadoes danger early, often a i AP unpopulated areas or were simply not reported if they did little or no damage. Today the popularity of video cameras and computers means twisters tend to get recorded and reported more readily. Question: Does 1 Nino cause tornadoes? Answer The Storm Prediction Center says El Ninos and La Ninas changes in sea surface temperature in the tropical Pacific adjust large-scale weather patterns. "But in between those and tornadoes, there are way too many variables to say conclusively what role El Nino or La Nina has and it certainly does not directly cause tornadoes." Question: So, what does cause them? Answer. The traditional answer is "warm moist Gulf air meets cold Canadian air and dry air from the Rockies," but it's really more complicated than that.

Tornadoes occur in strong storms called supercell thunderstorms that have rotating updrafts caused by the differences in wind direction at different heights in the atmosphere. That's call wind shear. The storm downdraft also rotates and from this process the tornado develops. killed in the outbreak, were they the first tornado deaths this year? Answer No. There were 2 tornado deaths in January and 21 in February, most when storms and tornadoes cut across Florida.

Question: How many deaths occur from tornadoes in an average year? Answer It varies a lot from year to year but the average is about 60 deaths. Question: What was the deadliest tornado? Answer There were 695 people killed in the Tri-State Tornado that swept across Missouri, Illinois and Indiana on March 18, 1925. The Super Outbreak occurred on April 3-4, 1974, when 315 people died in some 145 tornadoes that battered Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia and West Virginia. Question: What is the record month for tornadoes? Answer May 2003 holds the record with 543 tornadoes confirmed. Question: Has the number of tornadoes been increasing? Answer: It's hard to say.

More are being reported, but in past years many might have occurred in DECOR West www Ftoof Garland Brasawell helps recover medical records from a doctor's office Friday at Sumter Regional Hospital in Americus, Ga. Doctors, nurses evacuate hospital smashed by storm 21 20 Cypres Street Monro, LA 71 291 651.8123 oWoo 355.9043 Mobil ingOne AnciDeoof om T7 said Judy Legg, secretary for the police chief. The main road to the hospital was littered with power lines and trees. High winds threw vehicles from a parking lot into the building. Pipes also burst, flooding four operating rooms with two inches of water.

By daybreak Friday, residents began to sift through the wreckage scattered across the town of 17,000. At the hospital, a woman who was visiting her sick father had a broken pinky finger that later had to be amputated. Some nurses suffered cuts and bruises. But all patients had been safely evacuated within hours of the storm. Anesthesiologist Tun Powell was among those who showed up for work after the storm.

By dawn, he could see cars stacked like dominoes in the parking lot and trees that had been driven through the hospital's brick walls. He stifled a chuckle as he explained the night's ordeal to a friend. "It was a hell of a night to be on call," he said. Associated Press AMERICUS, Ga. Doctors and nurses struggled to evacuate patients after a tornado smashed a Georgia hospital, filling it with glass, dirt and debris, and flooding operating rooms with murky water.

No one inside Sumter Regional Hospital was seriously hurt, but the storms quickly rendered the medical center unsafe for its 100 patients. After the storms passed, hospital staff carried patients down stairs, either in wheelchairs or atop mattresses. Off-duty employees showed up for work. And volunteers from nearby homes helped translate for Spanish-speaking patients. "It was surreal," said Dr.

Rick Oster, an internal medicine specialist. "They came to work as if this was their own house." Outside, dozens of ambulances from neighboring communities pulled up to help the four-ambulance fleet in Americus. Most arrived unsolicited after hearing Cv It: AP Associated Press WASHINGTON The violent storms that claimed lives in the Midwest and Southeast are part of an annual pummeling that sees an average of 1,000 tornadoes hit the United States. So far this year, there have been more than 150 twister reports. Some questions about tornadoes with answers compiled from the National Climatic Data Center, National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Question: Is it early in the season for tornadoes to occur? Answer Not really. National Weather Service meteorologist Dennis Feltgen reports twisters can occur in any month. Early in the year they tend to occur more often in Florida and the Gulf Coast, shifting to the Southeast region in March and April and into the Plains later in the summer. Question: How many were there in this outbreak? Answer: There were 31 reported on Thursday. So far this year therp have been 29 tornado rev '-its in January and 89 in February.

Question: Several people were 4 pi. WHAI UMWW (WD I Oorvna Bonrn Manager r-ir High Speed DSL or Wireless (whore available) starting at $39 9r) per month ft ns A worker clears downed trees in front of Sumter Regional Hospital. early reports that the fleet had been damaged or destroyed by the storm. But hospital officials said all their ambulances were in servioe "They came because they know we respond to their emergencies," cimcK(m(cE WAREHOUSE LIQUIDATION! We are a factory authorized clearance center for several mattress and furniture manufacturer's. All items are brand new in the factory packaging! All mattress sets come with factory warranty! 5 pc.

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