Dayton Daily News from Dayton, Ohio • 9

WWW.DAYTONDAILYNEWS.COM Friday, April 29, 2011 Page A9 By Randolph E. Schmid and Kristi Eaton Associated Press WASHINGTON Some of the killer tornadoes that ripped across the South may have been among the largest and most powerful ever recorded, experts suggested, leaving a death toll that is approaching that of a tragic of storms in 1974. a pretty good chance some of these were a mile wide, on the ground for tens of miles and had wind speeds over 200 said Harold Brooks of the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Okla. It may have been a single long-ranging twister that battered Tuscaloosa, and then covered the 60 miles to Birmingham, Brooks said. Only 1 percent of twisters reach the most powerful readings, but Brooks thinks several of those that left death and destruction in Alabama and other states Wednesday fall into that category.

Most tornadoes are weak, so most reasonably built structures survive them. The typical tornado is on the ground for a couple of miles and is a couple hundred yards wide with half the wind speed of the storms that bar reled through the region on Wednesday. It was the deadliest day for tornadoes since a series of twisters killed 329 people in 13 states in 1974. The worst day in recorded history for storm fatalities is March 18, 1925, with 747 deaths. big question is the tornado in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, is it the same one? I think they are the he said.

Chris Weiss, a tornado expert at Texas Tech University, said the storm that spawned that tornado formed in Mississippi and over 300 miles, and even for a super cell pretty Tornado outbreaks happen just about every year somewhere in the country. But this time conditions were just about perfect for the series of powerful storms, explained Jerry Brotzge, a senior research scientist at the Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms at the University of Oklahoma. He noted that a deadly tornado in Oklahoma in 1999 also was almost a mile wide. Deaths from twisters have been declining in recent years because of improved forecasts and increased awareness of them by people living in tornado-prone areas. While May is historically the busiest month for tornadoes, they surge sharply upward in April as warm weather begins setting in and dry western air collides with warm moist conditions moving north from the Gulf of Mexico.

Severe Weather death toll tops 290 in South By Greg Bluestein and Holbrook Mohr Associated Press PLEASANT GROVE, Ala. The death toll from storms, in which at least 290 people were killed across six states, seems out of a bygone era, before Doppler radar and pinpoint satellite forecasts were around to warn communities of severe weather. Residents were told the tornadoes were coming up to 24 minutes ahead of time, but they were just too wide, too powerful and too locked onto populated areas to avoid a horrifying body count. were the most intense super-cell thunderstorms that I think anybody who was out there forecasting has ever said meteorologist Greg Carbin at the National Weather Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla. you experienced a direct hit from one of these, have to be in a reinforced room, storm shelter or to survive, Carbin said.

The storms seemed to hug the interstate highways as they barreled along like runaway trucks, obliterating neighborhoods or even entire towns from Tuscaloosa to Bristol, Va. One family rode out the disaster in the basement of a funeral home, another by huddling in a tanning bed. In Concord, a small town outside Birmingham that was ravaged by a tornado, Randy family got a phone call from a friend warning them to take cover. They rushed to the basement garage, piled into a Honda Ridgeline and listened to the roar as the twister devoured the house in seconds. Afterward, they saw daylight through the shards of their home and scrambled out.

whole house caved in on top of that he said. than my boy screaming to the Lord to save us, being in that car is what saved Son Justin remembers the dingy white cloud moving quickly toward the house. me it sounded like the 22-year- old said. was a mean, mean roar. It was At least three people died in a Pleasant Grove subdivision southwest of Birmingham, where residents trickled back Thursday to sur vey the damage.

Greg neighborhood was somehow unscathed, but he remains haunted by the wind, thunder and lightning as they built to a crescendo, then suddenly stopped. is what I he said. is what you see in Oklahoma and Kansas. Not here. Not in the Alabama Gov.

Robert Bentley said his state had 204 deaths. There were 33 deaths in Mississippi, 33 in Tennessee, 14 in Georgia, in Virginia and one in Kentucky. Hundreds if not thousands of people were injured nearly 800 in Tuscaloosa alone. Some of the worst damage was about 50 miles southwest of Pleasant Grove in Tuscaloosa, a city of more than 83,000 that is home to the University of Alabama. The storms destroyed the emergency management center, so the Bryant-Denny Stadium was turned into a makeshift one.

School said two students were killed, though they did not say how they died. Finals were canceled and commencement was postponed. Sprawling, powerful storms brought death, destruction to six states. Perfect conditions Tornadoesaroundtheworld Stormbrewing Ln I gEV 0 uBB 4 SS 2 4 4 nL BSd 0 nL 4 8 0 Ln Sd nn; 0 Sd nn; 4 8 ud 8 4 nL Sd 4 8 SS ud 4 8 4 nn; BSd BdS 8 Vg 8 4 0 Sd SdB 8 7 vTe gV nn 4 I uB Ln SS Vg 0 2 2 4 Ln e0TTT 4 eT uB dB uB nn; ud 4 8 nn; nn; Vg 8 Andy Page cries as he sits with his cat, Ellie, in a pet carrier, in his demolished apartment Thursday in Trenton, Ga. Overnight storms devastated the northern Georgia and Chattanooga, area.

Page has several cats and Ellie was the last one he was looking for. Chattanooga Times Free Press photo by Angela Lewis Tuscaloosa, neighborhood reels after deadly tornado By Jay Reeves Associated Press TUSCALOOSA, ALA. Tish Daniels gingerly stepped over boards and nails that used to be homes, businesses and churches as she gave a history of the ruin that is Alberta City. She pointed out obliterated buildings like missing teeth in a broken mouth. used to be a church.

That used to be a she said Thursday. gone. That was a bookstore. That was a transmission shop. That was a car That was before a gargantuan tornado ripped a path hundreds of yards wide through the neighborhood a few blocks east of the University of Alabama.

twister wiped rows of homes and businesses out of existence. The area resembled the Mississippi coast communities by Hurricane Katrina six years ago. Piles of rubble lined the sidewalks. A woman, too distraught to talk, staggered down the street. my she cried, cupping her hands to her face.

Alabama student Kristin Wolfe carried an injured dog down the middle of University Boulevard, the main drag, after digging the animal out of some rubble. The head rolled in her arms, and it growled weakly when someone approached to try and give it water. think going to make she said. Within moments, the animal died. Wolfe and some Air Force ROTC cadets left it by the side of the road, unable to do anything more.

All day Thursday, hundreds of people walked in a long, sad line down the four-lane street, which connects Alberta City to the university. Some came to take pictures and shoot video of what had been a bustling community of apartments and low-slung shops catering to the college crowd: tanning shops, cheap restaurants. Others came to search the wreckage of their own homes, carrying off a case of soft drinks here, a sack of clothes there. At least 290 people in six states are dead from the tornadoes that swept across the South; more than 200 of them died in Alabama, including more than 30 in Tuscaloosa, a city of some 80,000. In Alberta City and elsewhere, rescue crews were still searching wrecked buildings for more victims.

Numbers tell only part of the story for places like Alberta City places that at the moment exist more in memory than they do in any physical sense. Lonnie Golightly picked through the crumbled planks that had once been his house, looking to salvage some of his belongings. He held up a striped tie. used to have a lot of nice he said softly. Scraps of debris blew like tumbleweeds across University Boulevard.

The hood of a sports car was peeled back like the lid of a sardine can, resting against its windshield. A sheet of tin building material was wrapped around a light pole in front of the Alberta Baptist Church, which was missing most of its roof and its brick facade. Jessica Monaghan wipes a tear away as she surveys tornado damage Thursday in Smithville, while her nine-month-old son Glade Scott sleeps. A tornado Wednesday afternoon destroyed much of the small community. Associated Press photo by Rogelio V.

Solis Twisters likely among largest, strongest A funnel cloud approaches Tuscaloosa, on Wednesday. A single long-ranging twister may have covered 60 miles from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham, said Harold Brooks of the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Okla. Birmingham News photo by Don Kausler Jr. The Dayton Area Chapter of the American Red Cross has deployed two volunteers to help mobile feeding teams in areas of Alabama affected by tornadoes Wednesday. Spokeswoman Soteria Brown said the chapter will remain on alert and deploy more volunteers if necessary.

Anyone wishing to donate funds to help the disaster relief efforts can visit dac.redcross.org to make a secure, online donation. Donations can also be made by calling (937) 222-6711. Dayton Power Light is also deploying personnel to aid in power restoration as part of their mutual aid assistance agreements with neighboring utility companies. About 250 linemen as well as tree trimming contractors were scheduled to leave the Dayton area this morning. During the February ice storm, bene from more than 800 technicians helping to restore service to Ohio customers through the mutual aid network.

Katie Wedell, staff writer Red Cross volunteers go to Alabama Deadly storm system Storms that spawned tornadoes have left at least 290 people dead across six southern states. Death toll by state: Alabama 204 Mississippi 33 Tennessee 33 Georgia 14 Virginia 5 Kentucky 1 South braces for rising Mississippi By Cain Burdeau Associated Press NEW ORLEANS A surge of water not seen since the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 is forecast in coming days to test the enormous levees lining the Mississippi River on its course through the Deep South, adding another element of danger to a region raked by deadly tornadoes and thunderstorms. and governors issued warnings Thursday and declared states of emergency. Authorities along the swollen waterway in both states are warning nearby residents to brace for the possibility of any River boat casinos in Mississippi are closing and levee managers are readying sand bags and supplies to the rising river along hundreds of levees where the river crosses en route to the Gulf of Mexico. going to do everything we can to prepare for the worst-case scenario while we still are hoping for the best Louisiana Gov.

Bobby Jindal said. States argue about plan to break Mississippi levee Article on B8.