Tornadoes sweep through south
UNITED STATES: Tornadoes ripped through rural southern Georgia yesterday, killing at least 12 people, flattening much of a mobile-home park and prompting the governor to declare a state of emergency in seven counties near the Florida border.
The storms were the latest violent weather in the southeast that also killed four people in Mississippi, on Sunday.
In Georgia, eight people were killed in Cook County, with two more deaths each in neighbouring Brooks and Berrien counties, according to the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency.
‘‘These storms have devastated communities and homes in South Central Georgia, and the state is making all resources available to the impacted areas,’’ said Georgia Governor Nathan Deal. ’’These storms have resulted in loss of life, numerous injuries and extensive property damage.’’
Deal said that as state officials assess the damage, he is prepared to expand his emergency declaration as needed. He also said it was likely that he will request federal emergency aid.
President Donald Trump said he had spoken to Deal about the storms and ‘‘expressed our sincere condolences’’.
‘‘We’ll be helping out the state of Georgia,’’ Trump said.
He also said Florida and Alabama had been affected, but did not mention the deadly devastation in Mississippi on Sunday. Tornado damage near Hattiesburg cut across a 25-kilometre area, prompting Governor Phil Bryant to declare a state of emergency and leading officials to estimate that damage could soar above $200 million.
The largest devastation appeared to happen in Adel, Georgia, a town of about 5300, where authorities said seven people were killed. A tornado there tore through a mobile-home park and reduced an entire neighbourhood to rubble, said Nathaniel Fixberry, an Air Force staff sergeant who drove to the scene to try to help.
Fixberry said he and a friend who are assigned to Moody Air Force Base, some 30km away, took medical supplies and drove to the scene after Fixberry’s wife, Kathleene, was called into work at South Georgia Medical Centre as a nurse in the nearby city of Valdosta to deal with a ‘‘masscasualty event’’.
‘‘I would say there was upwards of 10 to 12 homes that were hit,’’ Fixberry said. ‘‘It was hard to tell – nothing was left.’’
– The Washington Post