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US storm kills 2
18/10/2007 21:29 - (SA)
Paris, Missouri - High winds from a possible tornado struck rural northeastern Missouri early on Thursday, killing a couple in a mobile home, authorities said. Several twisters hit in the southwest part of the state without causing major damage.
A tornado also touched down in the Florida Panhandle, damaging a shopping mall. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Truett said there were reports of a possible tornado in northeastern Missouri, but they had not been confirmed.
Wind pummelled the two Missouri victims' trailer shortly after midnight. They were inside when the storm struck, but their bodies were discovered about 122m from where the mobile home was found, troopers said.
Killed were Kent Ensor, 44, and Kristy Secrease, 25. Secrease managed a hog farm owned by Ensor; the couple had been dating for about a year, friends said.
Five hospitalised
High winds in the area downed trees, power lines and utility poles. Authorities say some of the falling trees left minor damage to homes in several counties.
A tornado touched down in Pensacola, Florida, damaging the city's major shopping mall, as a line of violent thunderstorms made their way across the western Panhandle.
Lindsey Lassiter, manager of the mall's Express for Men store, said the ceiling in her store was damaged and that water was pouring in.
Jack Cullen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mobile, Alabama, confirmed that a tornado touched down shortly before noon.
Authorities said two tornadoes touched down on Wednesday in southwest Missouri. No injuries were reported, but a home near Chesapeake was reportedly destroyed, and a barn was badly damaged.
High winds in Jefferson City blew down the remaining flag pole at the Capitol. Winds had blown down the Capitol's other flag pole in August.
In the St. Louis area, nearly 10 000 customers of the AmerenUE utility were without power on Thursday morning from wind, lightning strikes and downed trees. The southern Illinois town Murphysboro had to shut down schools because classrooms lacked power.
Truett said that in the Midwest, high winds are mixing with warm, spring-like weather on the ground. "That's a real good setup for severe weather," he said.
On Wednesday night, a powerful storm brought heavy rain, high winds, hail and a possible tornado to Oklahoma. The system injured more than 30 people and damaged about 25 mobile homes and travel trailers. Five people remained hospitalised on Thursday, three in serious condition, said Tina Wells, spokesperson for the Emergency Medical Services Authority.
- AP
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