At least 17 killed in US tornado storms
A system of powerful storms packing tornadoes moved through the south-eastern US, killing at least 17 people including five at an Alabama high school where students became pinned under debris when a roof collapsed.
Crews dug through piles of rubble beneath portable lights at Enterprise High School well into the night, looking for other victims. In the chaotic hours after the storm, reports of the death toll varied wildly.
With the search continuing, “the exact number is honestly not known,” said John Pallas, the Coffee County emergency management director in Enterprise.
The burst of tornadoes was part of a larger line of thunderstorms and snowstorms that stretched from Minnesota to the Gulf Coast.
As the storm moved east into the state of Georgia, authorities there reported nine deaths, including two at a hospital that was struck by a tornado.
Authorities also blamed a tornado for the death of a seven-year-old girl in Missouri, and twisters were reported in Kansas.
The storm struck the Alabama high school around 1.15pm local time yesterday. State emergency management spokeswoman Yasamie Richardson said some students were still trapped three hours later.
Erin Garcia, a 17-year-old student, said students had gathered in hallways at about 11am as a precaution. School officials wanted to send them home at about 1pm, she said, but the weather turned bad and sirens wailed.
Then, she said, the lights went out.
“I was just sitting there praying the whole time,” she said.
After the storm passed, she found the hallway she was in was spared, but a roof and wall collapsed on students in another hallway.
“People didn’t know where to go. They were trying to lead us out of the building. I kept seeing people with blood on their faces,” Garcia said.
More than 50 people were taken to hospital as the violent storm front crossed Alabama.
Officials opened shelters for those whose homes were damaged. The state sent in about 100 National Guardsmen, along with emergency personnel, lights and generators.
The system pushed eastward last night into the state of Georgia, where a tornado slammed into the Sumter Regional Hospital in Americus, according to hospital spokesman Ed Farr.
Two people were killed there and an undetermined number of people were injured, said Buzz Weiss of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency. It was unclear if they were in the building at the time.
Seven other people were killed in other parts of the state, officials said.
The tornadoes were the second to devastate a portion of the South this year. In early February, tornadoes ripped through a 30-mile path in central Florida, killing 21 and destroying hundreds of homes and businesses.
