2008's Tornado Toll Deadliest In A Decade

More trapped energy, more weather, with more power: Mild shock and disbelief barely registered in the nation of the most productive, overworked, underpaid, underinsured, vacation deprived, low paid slave/workers in the world, as they watched their bridges fall down, while their taxes, gas and energy costs continued skyrocketing to uncharted realms, while stagnating in unmovable traffic, and their government departments threatening to close due to lack of funds - On the bright side, the worldwide corporate 2% greedy guts, individually, had aplenty, more wealth than 30 nations combined, apiece.... irrelevant to who is paying for their errors (as in subprime loans).As common sense in science is lost with the continued stagnation of our energy base and deep troubling theoretical foundational issues in physics, so too, Civilization's Survival Parameters fly out of sight, out of mind, along with the values and morals inherent within new scientific understanding which new energy systems would reveal. Scientific Stagnation bodes an ill wind to evolution, sustainability, and survival as "cycles of humiliation, dumbing us down, violence, and Unrestrained Corporate Greed prompting resource wars with nuclear finality" join hands with global warming and ecological imbalance to precipitate the historical "rise and fall of civilization" - a Tsunami accelerating toward us with a far more spectacular event than the legends and myths of 'Atlantis and Lemuria"........ had more people known that Energy from Corn (or going backwards to a dimwitted concept of radioactive nuclear power application ) sounded a wee bit kindergartenish and senile for the twenty first century......the Future may have had a chance.

More Than 200 Hurt In Va. Tornadoes
SUFFOLK, Va., April 28, 2008
Deadly Tornado Strikes Southeast
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., May 9, 2008
Tornadoes, Storms Kill 22 Across U.S.
PICHER, Okla., May 11, 2008
2008's Tornado Toll Deadliest In A Decade
PICHER, Okla., May 12, 2008
Tornado Kills 1 In Northern Colorado
13 More Left Injured As Powerful Twister Tore Through Farm Town 70 Miles From Denver
WINDSOR, Colo., May 23, 2008
2 Dead From Midwestern Tornadoes
KANSAS CITY, Mo., May 24, 2008
Powerful Storms Kill 8 in Iowa and Minnesota
DES MOINES, Iowa May 25, 2008 (AP)

(AP) Survivors began cleaning up from a deadly blast of storms and tornados that killed 22 people in three central U.S. states over the weekend. Officials said this year is the country's deadliest for tornado-related deaths in a decade. In Picher, the devastation was complicated by the town's status as one of the most polluted sites in the nation. The government's Environmental Protection Agency planned to check Monday for high levels of lead, which can pose a health risk in the long term, especially to young children. Several tornados combined to kill 22 people in Oklahoma, Missouri and Georgia over the weekend, raising the nation's 2008 total to about 100, the worst toll in a decade. This year is on pace to see the most deaths since 130 people were killed in 1998, the eighth highest total since 1950, according to the National Weather Service. The record is 519 tornado-related deaths in 1953. On Saturday, a tornado with the second-strongest rating killed six people in the 800-population town of Picher, destroying a 20-block area and blowing dust off mountains of mining waste, or chat piles. Authorities patrolled the area overnight into Monday to prevent looting. The tornado's winds were estimated at 165 mph to 175 mph, and the damage track stretched 74 miles - 29 in Oklahoma and another 45 in Missouri, where 15 people were killed. On Sunday, storms rumbled across Georgia, killing one person. Because of Picher's pollution, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is unlikely to grant assistance to homeowners to rebuild in the northeastern Oklahoma town, said the state's emergency management director, Albert Ashwood. Many families have moved away to escape the lead pollution, taking advantage of state and federal buyouts in recent years. Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry, who toured the area by air and on foot Sunday, said the buyout program won't stop just because homes were leveled. He went so far as to say he would "guarantee" that those awaiting buyouts who lost their homes would be treated fairly. One of the homes those crews likely will examine will be that of Jeff Reeves, 43, who has followed his grandfather and father as Picher's fire chief. He has lived in Picher all his life and has watched it slowly decline. "With everything else that's going on here, I'm not sure there is a recovery," he said. Meanwhile, on the East Coast, heavy rain knocked out power to tens of thousands of customers, flooded roads and chased people out of their homes, mostly in the region near Washington, D.C.

Tornadoes, Storms Kill 22 Across U.S.
PICHER, Okla., May 11, 2008
(AP) After flying over the wreckage of a town flattened by a tornado, Gov. Brad Henry said Sunday he expects the toll of deadly storms on Oklahoma to stop at six. Before walking through a 20-block area smashed by a twister, Henry got an aerial view of the damage in this town, once a bustling mining center of 20,000 that shrank to 800 people as families fled lead pollution. "There are certainly real challenges in the days and months ahead but we Oklahomans are excellent at responding to challenge, to adversity, to disaster," Henry said. "We come together. We help each other out." Henry said he had spoken with emergency officials, who lowered the death toll from seven to six and reported that everyone who had been reported missing had since been found. At least 14 others were killed when the same storm system produced a tornado in neighboring Missouri. Two additional storm-related deaths were reported in Georgia. Residents said the tornado created a surreal scene as it moved through town. "I swear I could see cars floating," said Herman Hernandez, 68. "And there was a roar, louder and louder." Broken glass was strewn around the inside of 30-year-old Michael Richardson's home, but a wrapped Mother's Day gift and a laptop computer were left unscathed on the kitchen counter. Some homes were reduced to the foundation, others lost several walls. In one home, the tornado knocked down a bedroom wall, but left clothes hanging neatly in a closet. A Best Western hotel sign was blown miles before coming to rest against a post. Frank Geasland, Ottawa County's emergency manager, said a government-sponsored buyout of homes in the town left some residences vacant, and this may have prevented a greater loss of life. He said evidence of storm damage could be seen in a 15-mile path through the county, with a 20-block swath the hardest hit area in the 5:39 p.m. twister. Proof of the tornado's power could be seen Sunday in the mattresses and twisted metal sent high into the canopy of trees. "The federal government will be moving hard to help," President Bush said. "I'll be in touch with the governors and offer all of the federal assistance we can." Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., was in Picher Sunday and said he has been in touch with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and that he would work with Henry to request and expedite government aid to help with the damage. The area is part of a Superfund site and residents have been asked to take part in state and federal buyouts in recent years. "From what I've been able to determine, that wouldn't have any bearing on whether a disaster declaration would come forth," Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesman Earl Armstrong said. The National Weather Service sent out a tornado warning at 5:26 p.m., 13 minutes before the tornado hit Picher, said David Jankowski, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Tulsa. Tornado sirens warned residents to take shelter. Many families have moved away from Picher to escape the lead pollution left by mining operations. The towering piles of mining waste, or chat, had debris from the flattened homes scattered onto them by the storms. The tornado could be the final straw for those remaining residents who have been reluctant to leave, said John Sparkman, head of the local housing authority. "I think people probably have had enough," he said. "This has just affected so many lives. "There's just nothing to build back to any more." Dozens of emergency vehicles from around the state could be seen in the area Sunday morning, amid overturned cars and dogs roaming freely. At one home, a basketball goal planted in concrete had its metal support twisted so the rim hung only about 3 feet above ground. Ed Keheley, an area resident who'd been involved with a trust to buy out Picher residents, was headed to town to help out Saturday night when his path was blocked by debris. When he stopped his vehicle and got out, he heard a woman screaming and looked over to see her hand reaching out of debris. "She was sitting in the bathtub, she had curlers in her hair and she wanted out of there," Keheley said. Keheley and several others were able to pull the woman from the debris. This was the deadliest tornado in Oklahoma since a May 3, 1999, twister that killed 44 people in the Oklahoma City area. "People were just wandering up and down the streets. Some had blood on them, some were dazed," Keheley said. Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. George Brown said Picher's victims included an infant. "We've seen homes that were completely leveled to the foundation," Brown said. "In a few of these homes you would have had to be subterranean to survive." Geasland said dozens of people were injured, some seriously. The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management reported 150 injuries. "Trees are toppled over, ripped apart," he said. "There are cars thrown everywhere. It looks like a bomb went off, pretty much." Brown said 32 people were transported to Integris Baptist Hospital in the nearby town of Miami. Of those, 26 were treated and released. The National Weather Service estimated that at least eight tornadoes had been spawned in Oklahoma along six storm tracks. Three teams were dispatched to assess damage, determine exactly how many separate tornadoes had touched down and assign each one a rating, meteorologist Steve Amburn said. In Seneca, Mo., about 20 miles southeast of Picher near the Oklahoma state line, crews on Sunday combed farm fields looking for bodies and survivors. Ten of the dead were killed when a twister struck near Seneca. Nineteen people were hospitalized in Newton County, which includes Seneca, said Keith Stammer, acting spokesman the county emergency operations. He did not know the extent of their injuries. Susie Stonner, a Missouri emergency management spokeswoman, said it was unclear how many homes were damaged or destroyed. But she said Newton County officials had initial estimates of 50 homes damaged or destroyed there. On Sunday, storms rumbled across Georgia, killing at least two people in Dublin, about a 121 miles southeast of Atlanta, authorities said. Weather officials had not yet confirmed whether the storms produced any tornadoes. The two bodies were found in the rubble of a mobile home, said Bryan Rogers, the Laurens County administrator. Two children were also found in the wreckage but they were unharmed, Rogers said. In storm-weary Arkansas, a tornado Saturday night collapsed a home and a business, and there were reports of a few people trapped in buildings, said Weather Service meteorologist John Robinson. Tornadoes killed 13 people in Arkansas on Feb. 5, and another seven were killed in an outbreak May 2. In between was freezing weather, persistent rain and river flooding that damaged homes and has slowed farmers in their planting.

Deadly Tornado Strikes Southeast
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., May 9, 2008
(CBS/AP) Authorities began combing through the wreckage Friday caused by a reported tornado that killed one person and injured three others in central North Carolina. A possible tornado touched down on the outskirts of Greensboro late Thursday as severe storms swept across the Southeast, damaging homes and businesses in at least three other states. Earlier in the day, an apparent tornado also wrecked a shopping area in Mississippi and strong winds flipped a mobile home in Alabama. Gusts of over 60 mph were reported in Alabama where residents said they had little time to react, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann. "I thought the building was coming up, splitting apart on top of us," said one resident. In south-central Tennessee, at least four homes and a few barns were damaged. In North Carolina, a person in a small truck was killed after the vehicle was overturned in a parking lot west of Greensboro, said Alan Perdue, emergency services director for Guilford County. He did not have other details. The storm also knocked down a wall at a distributing business, sending one person to the hospital, Perdue said. Two other people were hurt while in vehicles, but details were not immediately available, Perdue said. None of the injuries was considered life threatening. The storm left numerous trees and power lines down, some on top of homes, in its wake. Authorities were also combing through wreckage in a mostly industrial area outside of Greensboro, and getting a better look at the damage as daylight broke. The North Carolina Highway Patrol said the storm blew several tractor-trailers off Interstate 40 but could not confirm the number.

More Than 200 Hurt In Va. Tornadoes
SUFFOLK, Va., April 28, 2008
(CBS/AP) Three tornadoes ripped through Virginia on Monday, with one hop-scotching across the southeastern part of the state and leaving behind a 25-mile trail of gutted homes and tossed cars. At least 200 people were injured. Residents of some of the hardest hit neighborhoods in this town outside Norfolk were forced to evacuate their homes, with buses taking them to nearby shelters. Police closed roads, steering people away from streets with downed power lines. Fallen trees and power cables covered the streets in a section of the city. A vending machine was tilted on its side, leaning up against a pile of rubble that had been the general store in a small shopping district. "It's just a bunch of broken power poles, telephone lines and sad faces," said Richard Allbright, who works for a tree removal service in Driver and had been out for hours trying to clear the roads. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine declared a state of emergency for the areas of southeastern Virginia struck by the twisters. The National Weather Service confirmed that tornadoes struck Suffolk, Colonial Heights and Brunswick County. Meteorologist Bryan Jackson described Suffolk's as a "major tornado." Jackson said the Brunswick County tornado was estimated at 86 mph to 110 mph, and cut a 300-yard path of destruction. The first tornado touched down around 1 p.m. in Brunswick County, said Mike Rusnak, a weather service meteorologist in Wakefield. The second struck Colonial Heights around 3:40 p.m., he said. The third touched down multiple times, between 4:30 to 5 p.m., and is believed to have caused damage over a 25-mile path from Suffolk to Norfolk, Rusnak said. At least 200 were injured in Suffolk and 18 others were injured in Colonial Heights, south of Richmond, said Bob Spieldenner from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. In Colonial Heights, the storm overturned cars and damaged buildings in the Southpark Mall area. Suffolk city spokeswoman Dana Woodson said the area around Sentara Obici Hospital and in the community of Driver, located within the city, were hardest hit. The hospital was damaged but still able to treat patients. Insulation, wiring and twisted metal hung from the front of a strip mall in Suffolk that was stripped bare of its facing. Cars and SUVs in the parking lot outside lay strewn about, some lying on top of others. Countless witnesses shuddered at their brief but violent brush with Mother Nature. "All the glass and everything started going and you could see cars flippin'," Terrance Brunson told CBS News. "He said get down," Glenna Brunson said, "and I got down and all the windows just blew out." Several of Gregory A. Parker's businesses and his pre-Civil War-era home in Driver were damaged in the tornado. The porch was blown off his Arthur's General Store. At another store he owns, the tin roof was rolled up like a sardine can. The facade of his home collapsed and the windows were blown out. Inside, furniture was tossed about. "I hate to say it sounded like a train, but that's the truth," Parker said. His wife, Ellise, rode out the storm in the first-floor bathroom of an antique store. The building lost its second story. His brother, Craig S. Parker, owns the general store that sells hunting and fishing supplies. Parker is spending the night with his sister, who lives nearby. "I don't even think a leaf blew off at her house. That's how tornadoes are," he said. CBS News correspondent Andrea Stassou reported people tearing through the rubble in search of survivors. "That building is demolished and we just start ripping stuff out looking for people," said Andrew Currence. "First we initially saw one lady upside down and as I was digging in a different area to try to get to her, another lady's hand popped out and startled me." Sentara hospital spokesman Dale Gauding said about 60 injured people were being treated there, and he expected most to be released. "We have lots of cuts and bruises" and arm and leg injuries, he said. The hospital's windows were cracked, apparently by debris from a damaged shopping center across the street. Southside Regional Medical Center treated one storm victim with minor injuries and was poised to receive more, hospital spokeswoman Terry Tysinger said. Property damage also was reported in Brunswick County, one of several localities where the weather service had issued a tornado warning. Sgt. Michelle Cotten of the Virginia State Police said a twister destroyed two homes. Trees and power lines were down, and some flooding was reported. About 18,000 Virginia Dominion Power customers were without service, mostly in the Northern Neck. Laura Southard, a state emergency management spokeswoman, said the damage assessment will be done Tuesday.


Powerful Storms Kill 8 in Iowa and Minnesota
Powerful storms packing tornadoes kill at least 8 in northeast Iowa and Minnesota
By HENRY C. JACKSON Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa
Severe thunderstorms packing large hail and tornadoes rumbled across the nation's midsection on Sunday, killing at least eight people and damaging dozens of homes, authorities said.
Iowa Homeland Security administrator Dave Miller said seven of the dead were killed by a tornado in northeast Iowa — five from Parkersburg, 80 miles northeast of Des Moines, and two from nearby New Hartford. At least 50 injuries were reported.
"Occasionally we have a death but we have warning system. Seven deaths. It's been a long time since we've had those kinds of injuries and deaths reported," Miller said.
Witnesses reported parts of Parkersburg — particularly the town's south side — were reduced to rubble, including most of the town's high school and homes.
A tornado also struck just to the east in the nearby town of Dunkerton and elsewhere in Black Hawk County, where there were reports of homes damaged or destroyed. Dunkerton has fewer than 800 residents and New Hartford has about 700 people.
At least 20 people were unaccounted for in Minnesota after a swift storm blew through the St. Paul suburb of Hugo, damaging about four dozen homes, City Administrator Mike Ericson said. Many of them could be out of town for the holiday weekend, he said.
A 2-year-old child was killed and the child's sibling was critically injured and taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Washington County Sheriff Bill Hutton said. The children's parents also were hospitalized with injuries sustained in the family home.
"It's horrible," Ericson said. "The citizens are very shook and scared." Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced plans to meet with city officials and tour the storm-ravaged city on Monday.
Residents reported a tornado touching down in the area, but that hadn't been confirmed by the National Weather Service. Emergency crews descended on the town to look for those who hadn't been accounted for and to assess the damage.
Roughly 300 to 400 homes were evacuated in the storm-damaged area because of concerns over hazards including downed power lines and leaky gas lines, Ericson said. The city set up a shelter at an elementary school, but American Red Cross spokeswoman Courtney Johnson said all but one of the families was able to find a place to stay with friends or relatives.
Hugo Public Works Director Chris Petree said his family took shelter in the basement before the storm lifted his house off the ground and completely wiped out the second floor.
"I put my daughter down first, my wife on top of her and then I bear-hugged on top of them," Petree said.
As he huddled in his basement against a foundation wall with his wife and 2 1/2-year-old daughter, Petree said they heard the thunderous sound of their house coming off the ground.
"All you hear is glass breaking and wood tearing and breaking in half," Petree said.
In Wisconsin, a tornado watch was issued for most of the state until 2 a.m. Monday. The advisory spanned all but the far northwest and extreme southeast corners of the state.
Softball-sized hail was reported in Wisconsin's St. Croix County, the weather agency said, while residents in Barron and Polk counties were warned that the storm could produce hailstones the size of golf balls and winds of 60 mph.
In Illinois, the weather service issued a tornado warning for Jo Daviess County through Sunday. Tornado watches were issued for counties including LaSalle and DeKalb. Portions of southern and central Illinois were under thunderstorm watches.
About 100 people have died in U.S. twisters so far this year, the worst toll in a decade, according to the weather service, and the danger has not passed yet. Tornado season typically peaks in the spring and early summer, then again in the late fall.
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Associated Press writer Joshua Freed in Hugo, Minn., contributed to this report.