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Deadly storms, twisters hit US
02/03/2007 12:11 - (SA)
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| Debris from roof damage at the Hawthorn Suites is scattered in front of the hotel, after a severe storm moved through Columbus, Georgia. (James Parton, AP)
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Enterprise, Alabama - A system of powerful storms packing tornadoes moved through the south-eastern US late on Thursday, killing at least 17 people, including five at an Alabama high school where students became pinned under debris when a roof collapsed, state officials said.
Crews dug through piles of rubble beneath portable lights at Enterprise High School well into Thursday 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.
Snow, blizzards
The tornadoes were the second to devastate a portion of the south this year. In early February, tornadoes ripped through a 50km path in central Florida, killing 21 and destroying hundreds of homes and businesses.
Also on Thursday, the central US was dealing with heavy, wet snow and blizzard conditions that shut down hundreds of miles of interstate highways amid white-out conditions.
Schools closed in several states, and hundreds of flights were cancelled. Two people were killed when their car overturned on a slick road in North Dakota, and one person died after shovelling snow in Nebraska.
- AP
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