‘IT’S JUST TOTAL DEVASTATION’
World snapshot Death toll from wild Christmas weather hits 43 after lethal tornado tears through Texas
AT LEAST 43 people have been killed after severe storms swept across the southern and central US over the Christmas holidays, with a tornado beating a path of destruction near Dallas.
Flooding, tornadoes and severe thunderstorms have devastated seven states since Christmas. Eleven people were killed in Texas, five in Illinois, eight in Missouri and 19 in the southeast.
The full extent of damage from Saturday’s storms along a nearly 64km stretch near Dallas came into clear focus yesterday. Local officials estimated as many as 1000 homes were damaged or destroyed and vehicles were mangled when power lines fell and trees were toppled. Heavy rain, wind and falling temperatures have so far hampered clean-up efforts.
Eight of the Texas fatalities came when a destructive tornado hit Garland, about 32km northeast of Dallas, where 15 others were also injured.
“It is total devastation,” Garland police spokesman Lieutenant Pedro Barineau said. “It is a very difficult time to be struck by such a horrible storm the day after Christmas. This is a huge impact on our community and we’re all suffering.”
The weather service said an EF-4 tornado, the secondmost powerful with winds up to 320km/h, hit the community about 6.45pm on Saturday. At least three people who died were found in vehicles.
Dallas County Sheriff spokeswoman Melinda
Urbina said the winds “tossed cars around”, hurling them off highways.
The destruction in Garland was so overwhelming that Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins declared the city a disaster within minutes of seeing the toll first-hand.
It was the latest in a succession of freakish winterweather w events across the country, from heavy snow in New Mexico, west Texas and the Oklahoma Panhandle, to flash flooding in parts of the Plains and Midwest.
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency due to a blizzard and ice storm warning out west and flood warnings in the east.
In neighbouring Arkansas, officials said it appeared a tornado touched down in the town of Bearden, tearing roofs off buildings and uprooting trees. No fatalities were reported.
Further north, rain caused devastating flash flooding in Missouri and Illinois.
Six people died when two separate vehicles drove into flooded roadways in southcentral Missouri, police said.
On Saturday, three adults and two children drowned in southern Illinois when the vehicle they were riding in was swept away and sank in a rain-swollen creek.
The toll in the southeast rose to 19 on Sunday when Alabama authorities found the body of a man, 22, whose vehicle was swept away. A five-year-old’s body was recovered on Saturday.y