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Tornadoes kill 7 in US
02/03/2007 09:07 - (SA)
Bon Johnson
Tornadoes ripped through Alabama and killed at least seven people on Thursday, including five at a high school where students became pinned under debris when a roof collapsed.
As night fell on Thursday, crews dug through piles of rubble beneath portable lights at Enterprise High School, looking for other victims.
"The number could very well increase as the search effort continues through the night," state emergency management spokesperson Yasamie Richardson said.
The burst of tornadoes was part of a larger line of thunderstorms and snowstorms that stretched from Minnesota to the Gulf Coast. Authorities blamed a tornado for the death of a 7-year-old girl in Missouri, and twisters also were reported in Kansas.
In the chaotic hours after the storm, reports about the death toll varied widely. At one point, state officials said as many as 18 people were dead. Richardson later said that miscommunication at the scene was to blame.
"Any time you have a disaster of this magnitude, there is confusion at the scene," Richardson said.
Students trapped for hours
The storm struck at the high school around 13:15 on Thursday, and Richardson said some students were still trapped three hours later. Erin Garcia, a 17-year-old senior, said students had gathered in hallways around 11:00 as a precaution. School officials wanted to send them home around 13:00, 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.
Fifty people hospitalised
More than 50 people were hospitalised as the violent storm front crossed the state. One person died elsewhere in Enterprise and one in rural Millers Ferry, where a separate storm wrecked mobile homes, Richardson said.
Officials opened shelters for those whose homes were damaged. The state sent in about 100 National Guardsmen, along with emergency personnel, lights and generators.
In bad weather in the central US, strong winds and heavy snow caused whiteout conditions in eastern Nebraska that forced the shutdown of 120kms of a major interstate highway. The storm was blamed for the death of at least two people - a North Dakota couple who were killed when their car overturned as snow and freezing drizzle covered the road.
Associated Press writer Marcus Kabel in Caulfield, Missouri, contributed to this report. - Sapa-AP
- SAPA
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