Tornadoes leave trail of destruction in US
DALLAS: Powerful storms swept across the South in the United States yesterday after unleashing suspected tornadoes and flooding that killed at least eight people, injured dozens and flattened much of a Texas town. Three children were among the dead.
Nearly 90,000 customers were without electricity in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Georgia as of midday yesterday (local time), as the severe weather left a trail of destruction.
Two children were killed on a back road in East Texas when a pine tree fell on to the car in which they were travelling in a severe thunderstorm near Pollok, about 241km southeast of Dallas.
At least one person was killed and about two dozen others were injured after a suspected tornado struck the Caddo Mounds State Historic Site in East Texas during a Native American cultural event in Alto, about 209km southeast of Dallas.
In neighbouring Houston County, the sheriff’s office said one person was killed in Weches, 10km southwest of Caddo Mound.
There was widespread damage in Alto, a town of about 1200, and a tornado flattened much of the south side of Franklin, Texas, overturning mobile homes and damaging other residences, Robertson County Sheriff Gerald Yezak said.
The weather service said an EF3 tornado touched down with winds of 225.3kmh.
It destroyed 55 homes, a church, four businesses, a duplex, and part of the local housing authority building, authorities said.
Two people were hospitalised for injuries that were not thought to be lifethreatening, while others were treated at the scene, Yezak said.
Heavy rains and storms raked Mississippi into the night on Sunday as the storms moved east.
A man died after a tree crashed on to his trailer in northeastern Mississippi.
Nineteen residents were taken to hospitals, including two in critical condition. A tornado was reported in the area 225km southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, at the time.
National Weather Service meteorologist John Moore said a possible twister touched down in the Vicksburg, Mississippi, area, damaging businesses and vehicles.
The storm damaged a roof of a hotel in New Albany, Mississippi, and Mississippi State University’s 21,000 students huddled in basements and hallways as a tornado neared the campus in Starkville.
The storm also caused flash floods in Louisiana, where two deaths were reported. — AP