Tornadoes, wildfires in South leave trail of death

Birmingham, Ala. — Tornadoes that dropped out of the night sky killed five people in two states and injured at least a dozen more early Wednesday, adding to a seemingly biblical onslaught of drought, flood and fire plaguing the South.

The storms tore through just as firefighters began to get control of wildfires that killed seven and damaged or wiped out more than 700 homes and businesses around the resort town of Gatlinburg, Tenn. In Alabama, the weather system dumped more than 2 inches of rain in areas that had been parched by months of choking drought.

At least 13 confirmed twisters damaged homes, splintered barns and toppled trees in parts of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee, the National Weather Service said. Tombstones were knocked over in the cemetery behind the badly damaged Rosalie Baptist Church, near where three people died in northeastern Alabama.

“It looks like the rapture happened up there,” said church member Steve Hall, referring to the end-times belief of many Christians.

“Are we thinking the Lord is trying to get our attention?” said the pastor, Roger Little.

A suspected tornado was responsible for the death of a husband and wife in southern Tennessee’s Polk County, while an unknown number of others were injured, said Tennessee Emergency Management Agency spokesman Dean Flener.

In the fires around Gatlinburg, the names of those killed have not been released. Three bodies were found Tuesday in Chalet Village North, an area of vacation rental cabins, another three were found Wednesday afternoon in a home on Campbell Lead Road, and one was discovered in a burned-out hotel off U.S. 321.

The search continues for others who might have been killed or injured but not discovered because of blocked roads and power outages.

Officials estimate the wildfires have consumed more than 15,000 acres in the Great Smoky Mountains.