US storms kill 21, tornado roars through Mississippi city

Wednesday, 30 April 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

REUTERS: On a second day of ferocious storms that have claimed at least 21 lives in the southern United States, a tornado tore through the Mississippi town of Tupelo on Monday destroying homes and businesses, according to witnesses and emergency officials. At least one person was killed in Tupelo, a city of about 35,000 and birthplace of Elvis Presley. Power was out in much of the city, where officials imposed an 8 p.m. (0100 GMT) curfew.

Most of the deaths from the severe storm system occurred on Sunday when tornadoes tossed cars like toys in Arkansas and other states. Monday’s twister in Tupelo, one of several to tear across Mississippi, damaged hundreds of homes and businesses, downed power lines and tore up trees, the National Weather Service said. “It was real bad. We’re trying to pull people out,” Tupelo Police Chief Bart Aguirre, told Reuters, referring to emergency crews going house to house, searching damaged buildings. Some residential areas were closed off as emergency crews checked downed power lines and gas leaks. The storm system later pushed into parts of Alabama, where emergency officials said at least two people were killed at a trailer park near Athens, Alabama. Parts of western Georgia and Tennessee also were at risk as the system that spawned the tornadoes headed east toward the Mid-Atlantic states. Rescue workers, volunteers and victims have been sifting through the rubble in the hardest-hit state of Arkansas, looking for survivors in central Faulkner County where a tornado reduced homes to splinters, snapped power lines and mangled trees. Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe said at least 15 people had died statewide in the storm that authorities said produced the first fatalities of this year’s tornado season. The White House said President Barack Obama, who has been on a trip abroad, called Beebe to receive an update on the damage and to offer condolences. Nine of the victims on Sunday came from the same street in Vilonia, a town with a population of about 4,100.