Wilma Barrels Across South Florida
AP - 26 minutes ago
NAPLES, Fla. - Hurricane Wilma plowed into southwest Florida early Monday with howling 125 mph winds and pounding waves, swamping Key West and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of people as it began a dash across the state toward Miami and Fort Lauderdale. At least one death in Florida was blamed on the storm. The same storm that brought ruin over the weekend to resort towns along Mexico's Yucatan Coast came ashore in Florida as a strong Category 3 hurricane, but within 2 1/2 hours it had weakened into a Category 2 with winds of 110 mph

http://news.yahoo.com/fc/world/tropical_storms_and_hurricanes

Wilma Kills 6 in Fla.; 6M Without Power
AP - 19 minutes ago
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Hurricane Wilma knifed through Florida with winds up to 125 mph Monday, shattering windows in skyscrapers, peeling away roofs and knocking out power to 6 million people, with still a month left to go in the busiest Atlantic storm season on record At least six deaths were blamed on the hurricane in Florida, bringing the toll from the storm's march through the tropics to 25. After a slow, weeklong journey that saw it pound Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula for two days, Wilma made a mercifully swift seven-hour dash across lower Florida, from its southwestern corner to heavily populated Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach on the Atlantic coast.

http://news.yahoo.com/fc/world/tropical_storms_and_hurricanes

Reuters - Mon Oct 24, 7:59 PM ET
A Key West resident walks in the flooded North Roosevelt coast boulevard after Hurricane Wilma hits Florida's southern west coast October 24, 2005. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

Heavy Rain Continues to Soak Northeast

By WAYNE PARRY, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 11 minutes ago

TRENTON, N.J. - A seventh straight day of rain across much of the soggy Northeast trapped motorists, delayed airline flights and sent streams surging over their banks Thursday.

Flood warnings covered parts of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, and residents in some New Jersey communities were urged to evacuate their homes.

Northern New Jersey received as much as 4 1/2 inches of rain in 48 hours, and forecasters said some areas of the state could get two more inches by Friday. A deluge over the weekend dumped about 5 inches across the state and as much as 10 in a few spots.

The rain was expected to continue through Saturday.

Across the Northeast, at least 10 people have died since last weekend because of the downpours, and four others were missing in New Hampshire.

The National Guard handed out thousands of sandbags in New Jersey's Essex and Passaic counties. Inmates from the Passaic County jail were pressed into duty at a public works garage filling the bags with road sand normally used during snowstorms.

Debbie Baglione was moving most of her possessions from the first floor of her home upstairs.

"The river is a foot away from my patio," said Baglione, of Fairfield. "I have a crawl space that's full of water."

Water also lapped at the foundations of some Bergen County homes, and officials there expected rivers to swell even more.

"We're just bracing for the next storm," said county Executive Dennis McNerney. "But we're not building an ark just yet."

In New York City's Central Park, close to an inch of rain had fallen by midmorning Thursday, on top of 4.26 inches on Wednesday.

Water covered dozens of highways and roads around the region, including part of the Garden State Parkway, and police rescued people from a vehicle that had stalled in floodwaters in Jersey City.

Incoming flights at two of the region's three major airports were delayed by more than an hour and a half.

In Connecticut, thousands of homes and businesses lost power, including the University of Bridgeport, which canceled classes Thursday. The downpours came after a dry spell across much of the region.

"We literally had a drought meeting the day before. I highly suspect when we get together next week, the drought for the time being is over," said Douglas Glowacki, an environmental analyst with the state of Connecticut.

New Jersey activated its emergency management office, getting high-water rescue vehicles and swift-boat rescue teams ready.

The rain-swollen Raritan River was being closely watched in Bound Brook and Manville, where flooding from Tropical Storm Floyd in 1999 proved devastating.

Alstead, N.H., a town of 2,000, suffered the most damage from last weekend's flooding. At least 12 homes were washed away and dozens more were damaged heavily. Other parts of southwestern New Hampshire also suffered serious damage.

State lawmakers were organizing a fundraising effort — originally planned to help Katrina victims and now aimed at helping New Hampshire's own.

State Emergency Management Director Bruce Cheney told lawmakers Thursday that the area should escape further flood damage as long as less than 3 inches of new rain falls. That could be a close call: The National Weather Service forecast 2 to 3 inches.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051013/ap_on_re_us/severe_flooding

AP - Thu Oct 13,11:18 AM ET
A truck passes through a flooded area of Huntington, N.Y., Thrusday, Oct. 13, 2005. Days of heavy rain in the area have lead to flooding. Flood warnings covered parts of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. Residents of at least three New Jersey communities were being evacuated by early Thursday. (AP Photo/Ed Betz)

Hurricane name in 2005

Season's 23rd Tropical Storm Forms

By MICHELLE SPITZER, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 53 minutes ago

MIAMI - Tropical Storm Beta formed Thursday in the southwestern Caribbean Sea, extending this year's record of named storms in the Atlantic hurricane season.

Beta is the season's 23rd tropical storm, the most since record keeping began in 1851. The disturbance formed Wednesday night and warnings were issued for the entire Caribbean coast of Nicaragua. The storm was also expected to bring heavy rain across western Panama and Costa Rica.

Forecasters said it was not expected to threaten the United States.

Richard Knabb, hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center, said it was not unusual to get storm activity toward the end of hurricane season, which ends Nov. 30.

"It may not be over with Beta, but let's hope so," he said.

At 8 a.m. EDT, it was located about 70 miles south of San Andres Island and about 135 miles east-southeast of Bluefields, Nicaragua. A hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning has been issued for the islands of San Andres and Providencia. Heavy rain and strong winds were expected there Thursday.

A tropical storm warning has been issued for the entire Caribbean coast of Nicaragua and adjacent islands. Hurricane conditions are possible in the next several days, forecasters said.

Its maximum sustained winds were near 40 mph and was moving northwest near 4 mph. Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 35 mph.

Beta is expected to produce 10 to 15 inches of rain across western Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua, forecasters said.

Last week Tropical Storm Alpha formed, which was the first time a letter from the Greek alphabet has been used because the list of storm names was exhausted. The previous record of 21 storms stood since 1933.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051027/ap_on_re_us/tropical_weather

AP - Thu Oct 27, 6:37 AM ET
This image provided by NOAA Thursday Oct. 27, 2005 shows tropical storm Beta. At 5 a.m. EDT the center of tropical storm Beta was located about 75 miles south of San Andreas Island and about 140 miles east-southeast of Bluefields Nicaragua. Beta is moving toward the northwest near 5 mph with maximum sustained winds near 40 mph. Beta formed Thursday in the southwestern Caribbean Sea, extending this year's record of named storms in the Atlantic hurricane season. Beta is the season's 23rd tropical storm, the most since record keeping began in 1851. (AP Photo/NOAA)

Tornado Kills 15, Injures 200 in Indiana

38 minutes ago

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - A tornado ripped across southwestern Indiana and northern Kentucky early Sunday, killing at least 15 people, wrecking homes and knocking out power to thousands, authorities said.

The tornado touched down near Henderson, Ky., and jumped the Ohio River into Indiana at around 2 a.m.

Indiana homeland security spokeswoman Pam Bright said 15 deaths had been confirmed in the state's southwest corner around Evansville.

Of those killed, Bright said 10 people died on the southeast side of Evansville in the Eastbrook Mobile Home Park, and that victims were still being pulled from the debris by late morning.

Bright said the park, with about 350 homes, was devastated by the twister.

"We're treating the trailer park as a mass disaster area," Eric Williams, chief deputy of the Vanderburgh County sheriff's department, told the Evansville Courier & Press.

Five others were confirmed dead in adjoining Warrick County, east of Evansville, where the Ohio River city of Newburgh was struck after 2 a.m., Bright said.

The tornado developed in a line of thunderstorms that rolled rapidly eastward across the Ohio Valley during the morning. The National Weather Service posted severe thunderstorm warnings for sections of northern Ohio.

The damage path through Newburgh, eight miles east of Evansville, was about three-quarters of a mile wide, and extended for roughly 20 miles, Assistant Fire Chief Chad Bennett told CNN. He said emergency sirens sounded, but most people didn't hear them because it happened in the middle of the night.

No deaths were reported in Kentucky, said Michelle King, a dispatcher with the Henderson County sheriff's office.

At the Ellis Park racetrack, between Evansville and Henderson, Ky., the Henderson County Sheriff's department said about half of the track's grandstands had been destroyed, along with horse barns and housing units.

There were conflicting reports of injuries at the track. Paul Kuerzi, the track's vice president and general manager, said several people were injured, but Larry Koerber of the Henderson County emergency management office told MSNBC there was one minor injury. Koerber said four or five horses were dead.

Mike Roeder, a spokesman for utility company Vectren, said 25,000 homes were without power, mostly in Warrick County. There also were reports of natural gas leaks.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051106/ap_on_re_us/midwest_tornado

Indiana April 31, 1974

Indiana

The largest tornado outbreak in Indiana history occurred during the afternoon and early evening hours of April 3. At least 20 tornadoes caused 49 fatalities, 768 injuries, and property losses to 5,966 families. There was a brief tornado touchdown at 9:30 a.m. CDT in an open field in Boone County; however, the major outbreak began about 2:20 p.m. CDT in the south-central part of the State and ended shortly before 8:00 p.m. in the northeast. In all, 39 counties had damage (compared with 20 counties that had damage during the Palm Sunday storms of 1965, which killed three times as many people in the State). Nine people were killed in mobile homes. Most of the tornadoes in Indiana moved at speeds of 50 to 60 mph and several were visually observed to have multiple funnels.



http://www.april31974.com/images/hanoverindianatornadophotos.html

The '53 Tornado:

When Indian Legend Proved a Curse. By: John Young. It killed 114 people and tore out Waco's heart. It will be 50 years ago. next Sunday, yet the pain still tears at so many. ... the 1953 Waco tornado would have been worth a laugh for those who ...www.baylor.edu/soe/crossroads/index.php?id=23477

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=Tornado+in+Indian&sm=Yahoo%21+Search&fr=FP-tab-web-t&toggle=1&cop=&ei=UTF-8

At Least 22 Dead After Ind., Ky. Tornado


By DEANNA MARTIN, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 15 minutes ago

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - A tornado tore across western Kentucky and Indiana early Sunday, killing at least 22 people as it cut through a mobile home park and obliterated trailers and houses as residents slept.

The tornado, with winds of at least 158 mph, hit a horse racing track near Henderson, Ky., then jumped into Indiana around 2 a.m.

"It was just a real loud roar. It didn't seem like it lasted over 45 seconds to a minute, then it was calm again," said Steve Gaiser, who lives near the Eastbrook Mobile Home Park in Evansville.

At least 17 people were killed in the mobile home park, according to Eric Williams of the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Department.

More people were believed to still be trapped in the debris, and National Guard units were called in to help with search-and-recovery efforts. At least 200 people were injured during the storm.

"They were in trailer homes, homes that were just torn apart by the storm, so they're just now getting in there trying to find people," said deputy Vanderburgh county coroner Annie Groves. "It's just terrible."

Rescuers on the scene since 2 a.m. reported seeing children wandering the area looking for their parents and parents searching for missing children. Children's bicycles and other toys were strewn amid the debris of aluminum siding, mattresses, chairs and insulation.

Five other people were confirmed dead in neighboring Warrick County, east of Evansville, where the Ohio River city of Newburgh was hit. No deaths were reported in Kentucky.

The storm reduced homes to splinters and scattered debris across the countryside. Entire blocks of buildings were nothing but rubble.

Indiana homeland security spokeswoman Pam Bright said about 100 of the 350 or so homes in at the Evansville mobile home park were destroyed and 125 others there were damaged.

Larry and Christie Brown rode out the storm inside one mobile home.

"Man, it was more than words can say," Larry Brown said. "We opened the door and there wasn't anything sitting there."

Chad Bennett, assistant fire chief in Newburgh, told CNN that sirens sounded, but most people didn't hear them because it happened in the middle of the night.

The tornado developed in a line of thunderstorms that rolled rapidly eastward across the Ohio Valley. The National Weather Service had posted severe thunderstorm warnings for sections of northern Ohio.

Ryan Presley, a weather service meteorologist in Paducah, Ky., said a single tornado touched down near Smith Mills in western Kentucky, jumped the river and cut a 15- to 20-mile swath through Indiana's Vanderburgh and Warrick counties.

The tornado appeared to be at least an F3 on the Fujita scale, which ranges from F0, the weakest, to F5, the strongest. An F3 has winds ranging from 158 mph to 206 mph, and the tornado that hit on Sunday may have been even stronger, Presley said.

Warrick County Sheriff Marvin Heilman said the victims included a woman who was eight months' pregnant, her husband and a young child in the rural town of Degonia Springs. A teenage girl was also killed near Boonville, and her father was critically injured, he said.

Tim Martin, 42, was at his parents' mobile home when they heard the wind and then the tornado picked up the home and shoved into the neighbor's yard.

He and his parents escaped unharmed, but they heard several neighbors calling for help. A nearby mobile home was overturned, and another appeared to have been obliterated.

"All I could see was debris," he said. "I thought it was a bad dream."

Patty Ellerbusch, 53, said she and her husband were in bed at their hilltop home in Newburgh when a relative called and warned them of the tornado. They heard a low roar and ran for the basement.

She made it downstairs, but her husband did not. He was blasted with shattered drywall, wood and other debris as the tornado shredded the home's roof.

"He was running down the hallway, and it knocked him down and ripped his glasses off. He said it felt like being in a wind tunnel," she said. The storm stripped the roof off the couple's home and destroyed their barn.

Bright said it was the deadliest tornado in Indiana since April 3, 1974, when an outbreak of several tornadoes killed 47 people and destroyed 2,069 homes.

The Ellis Park racetrack, between Evansville and Henderson, Ky., had significant damage to barns, the grandstand and other buildings, and some workers were injured, said Paul Kuerzi, the track's vice president and general manager.

"It appears at this point that three horses have died from injuries suffered in storm. It's too early to know if any other horses were injured," Kuerzi said. About 150 horses in training were stabled there.

Mike Roeder, a spokesman for utility company Vectren, said 25,000 homes were without power Sunday. There also were reports of natural gas leaks.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051106/ap_on_re_us/midwest_tornado

AP - Sun Nov 6, 4:15 PM ET Debris from mobile homes litters the area of Eastbrook Mobile Home Park in the aftermath of a tornado in Evansville, Ind., Sunday. Nov. 6, 2005. The tornado ripped across southwestern Indiana and northern Kentucky, killing at least 20 people, wrecking homes and knocking out power to thousands, authorities said. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Tornado Rips Through Ky., Ind.; 22 Killed

By DEANNA MARTIN, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 56 minutes ago

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - A tornado with winds exceeding 158 mph ripped a path of destruction through western Kentucky and Indiana as residents slept early Sunday, reducing homes to splinters and leaving entire blocks of buildings in rubble. At least 22 people were killed and 200 others injured.

Rescuers who reached the hard-hit Eastbrook Mobile Home Park shortly after 2 a.m. found children wandering in the broken glass and debris, looking for their parents, as parents called out for missing children.

One child was pulled alive from the debris more than 12 hours after the storm hit. But searchers said they were uncovering more bodies than survivors — at least 17 victims in the mobile home park alone.

"They were in trailer homes, homes that were just torn apart by the storm," Deputy Vanderburgh County Coroner Annie Groves said. "It's just terrible."

All around, broken tree limbs, chunks of insulation, furniture and children's toys littered the ground as rescuers listened for survivors and used forklifts to move crushed mobile homes and cars.

The tornado, the deadliest to hit Indiana since 1974, struck a horse racing track near Henderson, Ky., then crossed into Indiana.

"It was just a real loud roar. It didn't seem like it lasted over 45 seconds to a minute, then it was calm again," said Steve Gaiser, who lives near the Eastbrook Mobile Home Park in Evansville.

Five people were confirmed dead in neighboring Warrick County, east of Evansville, where the Ohio River city of Newburgh was hit.

Chad Bennett, assistant fire chief in Newburgh, told CNN that sirens sounded, but most people didn't hear them because it happened in the middle of the night.

Three members of a family — the mother, eight months' pregnant, her husband and their young son — were killed in their farmhouse near Degonia Springs, Warrick County Sheriff Marvin Heilman said. A teenage girl died near Boonville, and her father was critically injured, he said. No deaths were reported in Kentucky.

The tornado developed in a line of thunderstorms that rolled rapidly eastward across the Ohio Valley.

Ryan Presley, a weather service meteorologist in Paducah, Ky., said a single tornado touched down near Smith Mills in western Kentucky, jumped the river and cut a 15- to 20-mile swath through Indiana's Vanderburgh and Warrick counties.

The tornado appeared to be at least an F3 on the Fujita scale, which ranges from F0, the weakest, to F5, the strongest. An F3 has winds ranging from 158 mph to 206 mph, and the tornado that hit on Sunday may have been even stronger, Presley said.

Tim Martin, 42, was inside his parents' mobile home at Eastbrook when they heard the wind, and then the tornado picked up the home and shoved it into a neighbor's yard.

Martin and his parents escaped unharmed, but they heard several neighbors calling for help.

"All I could see was debris," he said. "I thought it was a bad dream."

A nearby mobile home was overturned, and another had been obliterated.

Patty Ellerbusch, 53, said she and her husband were in bed at their hilltop home in Newburgh when a relative called and warned them of the tornado.

They ran for the basement, but her husband didn't make it before the tornado hit. He was blasted with shattered drywall, wood and other debris as the tornado shredded the home's roof, she said.

"He was running down the hallway, and it knocked him down and ripped his glasses off. He said it felt like being in a wind tunnel," she said.

About 100 of the 350 mobile homes at Eastbrook were destroyed, and 125 others were damaged, Indiana homeland security spokeswoman Pam Bright said.

Bright said it was the deadliest tornado in Indiana since April 3, 1974, when an outbreak of several tornadoes killed 47 people and destroyed 2,069 homes.

Tornadoes can occur anytime of year, but peak tornado season in the United States lasts from March through the summer months, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The Ellis Park racetrack, between Evansville and Henderson, Ky., had significant damage to barns, the grandstand and other buildings, and some workers were injured, said Paul Kuerzi, the track's vice president and general manager.

Kuerzi said three horses died from injuries suffered in storm. He said it was too early to know if any other horses were injured. About 150 horses in training were stabled there.

Another tornado hit downtown Munfordville, in south-central Kentucky, a few hours later, destroying at least 25 homes and damaged dozens of others, as well as businesses. "It was frankly a miracle that no one was killed," Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051107/ap_on_re_us/midwest_tornado

Reuters - Sun Nov 6, 8:09 PM ET
Dozens of mobile homes are levelled to the ground in the Evansville Mobile Home Park after a tornado ripped through the area in Evansville, Indiana November 6, 2005 in Evansville, Indiana. (Jamie Rhodes/Reuters)

Tornadoes Prompt Evacuation of Iowa Town


By MELANIE S. WELTE, Associated Press Writer
16 minutes ago

WOODWARD, Iowa - Tornadoes swept across central Iowa on Saturday, damaging homes in several towns, ripping up farms, and chasing college football fans from an open stadium and into a nearby basketball arena for shelter.

No injuries were immediately reported, but authorities Saturday evening were evacuating Stratford, a town of about 746 residents 23 miles northwest of Ames.

"They're evacuating the whole town. Part of it was damaged by a tornado — a good portion of it," said Officer Luke Field of the Ellsworth-Jewell-Stanhope Police Department.

National Weather Service meteorologist Craig Cogil said it appeared that at least three tornadoes touched down.

In Ames, football fans awaiting the start of the Iowa State Cyclones' game against the University of Colorado were cleared from the stands and moved into Hilton Coliseum as the tornado sirens sounded.

Ames Police dispatcher Pam Litchfield said there were reports of a building blown apart in the city, but it wasn't clear if it was a home.

A Boone County dispatcher confirmed that at least two tornadoes hit there, with major damage in the Boxholm and Pilot Mound areas, a few miles south of Stratford. A convenience store in Woodward, 30 miles south of Stratford, was also damaged by the storm.

Richard Albracht, 59, had headed for his basement in Woodward when he saw shingles start to fly and heard the sirens.

He said he went outside after the storm passed and found several homes damaged and an empty restaurant with only one wall left standing.

"It's pretty bad. There's houses destroyed and roofs off of houses," he said.

John Kiley and his wife were watching television at their home in rural Woodward when they heard the warning.

"I saw it two, three minutes before it hit," Kiley said. "My wife said go to the basement. I said no. We got in the car and went down the road. I looked out, it hit our house."

His house, barn, garage and another building were severely damaged. Many of his sheep were injured by the storm, neighbor Doug Jimeson said.

"There were sheep everywhere," Jimeson said. "Some of them have broken legs."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051113/ap_on_re_us/midwest_tornadoes

Tornadoes Barrel Across Midwest, Southeast

By RYAN LENZ, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 34 minutes ago


MADISONVILLE, Ky. - Tornadoes barreled across the Midwest and portions of the Southeast, knocking out electricity and damaging buildings in several states. The storms killed at least one person.

Meteorologists said a cold front moving east collided with warm, unstable air to produce severe thunderstorms and funnel clouds across Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Tennessee. Tornadoes also were spotted in Indiana and Illinois.

"We heard a weird sound coming through, kind of a whistle," said Penny Leonard, 37, who sought shelter in the basement of a hospital in the western Kentucky town of Madisonville. "I thank God I'm safe."

In some parts of community, the roofs of homes were caved in, walls were blown out and entire buildings were blown off foundations. Some water pipes sticking from the ground gushed water.

Trees around the area were shorn off at the top, and chunks of wood were blown into sections of U.S. 41. Police cruisers and fire trucks lined the streets, setting up checkpoints.

Jayne Barton, a spokeswoman for the Regional Medical Center in Madisonville, said 22 people were treated for storm-related injuries ranging from minor cuts and bruises to head trauma.

Lori King, public information officer for the Marshall County Emergency Management Services, said the coroner reported one storm-related death, but no other information was available Tuesday night.

In Tennessee, even Henry County's emergency officials had to scramble for shelter when their offices took a direct hit from a tornado. They moved into the county mayor's office in the courthouse in Paris, about 90 miles west of Nashville.

Brenda Magee, who lives in Paris and works at Mohon International, a furniture manufacturer, was just arriving at work when the storm system hit.

"They told us to get inside," she said. "We were there for about 10 minutes under tables, dust and everything swirling around. It was a big roar. We heard it hit."

Downed power lines and trees made many roads in the outlying areas of the county impassable, delaying searches by sheriff's deputies and officers for residents in the worst-hit areas.

"Numerous homes there were damaged, some completely destroyed," Henry County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Faye Scott said. "It's major destruction."

The Henry County Medical Center treated 13 patients and admitted two with non-life threatening injuries, mostly cuts and bruises, said Sandra Sims, hospital spokeswoman.

In Tennessee's Montgomery County, the hardest hit area was Cunningham, just south of Clarksville. Four mobile homes, a camper and two houses were destroyed, while the Cunningham Market had its roof caved in by a tornado.

"It looks like a war zone," said Ted Denny, spokesman for the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department.

Forecasters said Tuesday's conditions were similar to those that produced a tornado on Nov. 6 that caused 41 miles of damage from Kentucky into the Evansville, Ind., area and killed 23 people.

Back in Madisonville, Ronnie Austin, 59, returned to a home split in two and blown off its foundation. His wife crawled out of the rubble and was taken to the hospital.

Austin said he had a generator and flood light and planned to stay at the house all night.

"I got too much stuff floating around. I'm just going to stay here all night and go through it in the morning," Austin said.

___

Associated Press writers Beth Rucker in Paris, Tenn., and Joe Biesk in Frankfort, Ky., contributed to this story.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051116/ap_on_re_us/severe_weather

2 DEAD AFTER STORMS WRACK SOUTH, MIDWEST

Posted: Wednesday, November 16, 2005 at 10:00 AM EST
By AccuWeather.com News Director Steve Penstone



STATE COLLEGE, PA (AccuWeather.com) -- The intense line of storms that tore through five southeastern and midwestern states on Tuesday is being blamed for at least two deaths.

A Kentucky Division of Emergency Management official reports one person was killed when a mobile home overturned and caught fire in western Kentucky. In Indiana, a teenager was killed when she lost control of her car on a flooded roadway near Indianapolis.

The collision of the cold front and warm air pushing up from the south produced severe thunderstorms from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes, and spawned funnel clouds in Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, Illinois and Tennessee, while tornadoes were reported in Indiana and Illinois.

The Emergency Services command center in Henry County, TN took a direct hit from a tornado, forcing officials to relocate to the mayor's office in Paris, TN. A tornado touched down near Madisonville, KY, destroying 20 to 30 buildings and injuring at least 22, three of them critically.

Madisonville is about 50 miles south of Evansville, IN. AcccuWeather.com meteorologists say Tuesday's storm front was the third in nine days to produce deadly tornado activity. On Nov. 6 twenty-three people died when a twister tore through the Evansville area. Six days later one person was killed when a group of tornadoes developed in Iowa.

Behind the cold front 1 to 5 inches of snow fell across the northern Plains. Des Moines, Iowa officially recorded 3.9" of snow, breaking the previous record for November 15 of 1.5", set in 1997.




According to AccuWeather.com Chief Meteorologist Elliot Abrams the front will continue moving to the east today, and the strong winds will redevelop this afternoon along a line from the Carolinas to New England. Abrams adds there is the potential for wind damage in the major cities along the I-95 corridor.

http://wwwa.accuweather.com/news-weather-headlines.asp

Tornadoes Rip Across Midwest, Killing Two

By JIM SALTER, Associated Press Writer
32 minutes ago


ST. MARY, Mo. - Powerful tornadoes ripped across southern Missouri and southern Illinois during the night, destroying homes along a path of more than 20 miles and killing two people, officials said Sunday.

Several other people were injured as the storm system pounded the central Mississippi Valley with hailstones as big as softballs, high wind and torrential rain.

It was not immediately clear how many tornadoes struck the area straddling the Mississippi River from Missouri into Illinois. The twisters were part of a long line of stormy weather that stretched from the southern Plains up the Ohio Valley.

The worst damage was along a rural stretch of Highway 61 near St. Mary in Perry County, about 80 miles south of St. Louis, emergency management director Jack Lakenan said.

A twister caught a pickup truck on the highway and hurled it beneath a roadside propane tank, killing both people in the vehicle, Lakenan said. The wreckage of the pickup was wedged beneath the tank.

Also near St. Mary, mobile homes were tossed and a brick ranch house was split in half. Several people were injured and two were taken to a hospital in St. Louis.

"Best we can figure, five or six homes were destroyed and another five or six were badly damaged," Lakenan said.

Across the Mississippi River in Illinois, a tornado damaged several homes and businesses in the small town of Fults, and injured one person, said meteorologist Ron Przybylinski.

One person was injured by flying glass in Bremen, Ill., authorities said.

The Missouri Highway Patrol said the tornado near St. Mary had wind of 113 mph to 206 mph. Softball-sized hail caused more damage and heavy rain prompted flash flood warnings in southern Missouri. The heaviest rainfall was 3 to 4 inches about 100 miles east of St. Louis in Illinois, said Jon Carney of the National Weather Service.

In Missouri's Jefferson County, just south of St. Louis, high wind struck a new subdivision, destroying seven homes. Five people were hurt, but the extent of their injuries was unclear, the National Weather Service said.

High wind tore the roof off a McDonald's restaurant in the tourist town of Branson.

Elsewhere, storms scattered across the West gave Arizona a break from a prolonged dry spell, with Phoenix getting an inch of rain Saturday after a record 143 days without a drop. More than a foot of snow fell at higher elevations in northern and eastern Arizona.

Snow and sleet in the San Francisco area Saturday caused a 28-vehicle pile just north of the Golden Gate Bridge in which two people were killed.

As much as 1 1/2 feet of snow fell during the weekend in the mountains of California's eastern San Diego County, and one illegal immigrant died Saturday after getting caught in the freezing weather.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060312/ap_on_re_us/severe_weather

Tornadoes Rip Across Midwest, Killing 10

By JOHN O'CONNOR, Associated Press Writer
23 minutes ago

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Swarms of tornadoes killed at least 10 people across the Midwest, shut down the University of Kansas and damaged so much of Springfield on Monday that the mayor said "every square inch" of town suffered some effects.

The violent weather started during the weekend with a line of storms that spawned tornadoes and downpours from the southern Plains to the Ohio Valley.

On Monday, a second line of storms raked the region, with rain, hail and fierce wind tearing up trees and homes from Kansas through Indiana, and blizzards to the north cutting off power to thousands and shutting down schools in South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Illinois' capital was hit hard twice in 24 hours, first by a tornado and then strong wind early Monday that blew debris through the city. Power lines were down across Springfield, trees uprooted and windows blown out.

Mayor Tim Davlin said he expected "every square inch of Springfield" will have suffered some effect from the storms.

"It's just unreal," Davlin told The (Springfield) State Journal Register early Monday from the city's Emergency Operations Center.

Most major roads into the city were closed, and one man was reported missing after his home was destroyed. The roof was torn off a Wal-Mart store, and police were searching damaged homes and businesses Monday for people who could be trapped, said city spokesman Ernie Slottag. At least 19 people were treated for minor injuries.

Most of Springfield was without power, and thousands of homes outside the city were blacked out elsewhere in Illinois.

The tornado that struck Springfield on Sunday had made a two-hour pass through central Illinois.

The Scott County, Ill., sheriff's department confirmed that a tornado touched down in Manchester, a town of about 300 people, although there were no immediate reports of injuries.

"It's a mess over there," Scott County sheriff's department dispatcher Rosann Lindsey said of Manchester. "A lot of buildings are down over there."

The Chicago area also was struck by high wind, with gusts to 70 mph in suburban Tinley Park, and roofs were blown off apartment buildings in suburban Bridgeview. Localized flooding was reported in the Chicago and Quad Cities areas.

Missouri was hardest hit by the weekend storms, with at least nine people killed and hundreds of homes and businesses destroyed or damaged. Hail as big as softballs pounded parts of the state.

Bobby Ritcheson, 23, said he watched as a neighbor was killed south of Sedalia, Mo.

"The trailer came down right on top of her," Ritcheson said.

Homes were destroyed along a path of more than 20 miles south of St. Louis, officials said.

The vast weather system arose as moist air from the Gulf of Mexico collided with cold Canadian air, said Philip Schumacher of the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls, S.D. The system dumped 20 inches of snow in parts of western South Dakota and knocked out power and closed schools as it moved into Minnesota and Wisconsin.

"It is a sign that spring is coming," said Schumacher. "You start getting stronger low-pressure systems, and they're able to bring in stronger south winds, which tend to bring up more moisture."

At the University of Kansas, where 60 percent of the buildings were damaged by weekend storms, Provost David Shulenberger said classes were canceled Monday because of safety concerns about debris falling from roofs. The Lawrence campus was littered with trees, roof tiles and window glass.

Two trees fell through Rhonda Burns' mobile home in Lawrence early Sunday.

"If the wind had shifted that tree just a few inches, I wouldn't be talking to you," she said.

Tornadoes also destroyed dozens of homes Sunday in Oklahoma and Arkansas.

"It was over before you knew it," said Greg Kospar, 41, of Bentonville, Ark. "The house is gone."

Missouri authorities reported nine people killed, including four whose bodies were found in the rubble of homes near the town of Renick.

Another storm victim was found in Indiana, where several people had to be rescued from cars stalled in rapidly rising water. Flood warnings were posted Monday for large areas of southern and central Indiana.

___

Associated Press reporters F.N. D'Alessio in Chicago, Noah Trister in Bentonville, Ark., David Lieb in Sedalia, Mo., Garance Burke and Margaret Stafford in Kansas City, John Milburn in Lawrence, Kan., and Jim Salter in St. Louis contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060313/ap_on_re_us/severe_weather

Five Deaths Blamed on Plains Snowstorm

By DIRK LAMMERS, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 14 minutes ago

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - A powerful storm dumped more than a foot of snow in the Plains, closing schools and roads and forcing residents to man shovels Monday during the first day of spring.

Hundreds of schools were closed in Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado and South Dakota, and at least five deaths were blamed on the storm. Spring officially began at 1:26 p.m. EST.

Myron Williams, who raises livestock near Wall, was busy shoveling a foot of snow from gates and feedlots on his property. The rancher said the work was hard but the precipitation was welcome.

"We're glad to have the moisture," Williams said. "Nothing's free, so you've got to pay for everything."

Twenty-five inches of snow was reported in central Nebraska, parts of South Dakota had up to 18 inches, northeast Colorado had at least a foot, northwest Kansas had up to 10 inches and parts of the Oklahoma Panhandle got half a foot.

Several stretches of Interstate 80 were closed in Nebraska, the State Patrol said. Parts of Interstate 70 were closed in western Kansas, and in Colorado more than 150 miles of the highway were shut down.

In South Dakota, a stretch of about 200 miles of I-90 was reopened Monday. The highway had been closed from Rapid City to Chamberlain because of the heavy snow and tractor-trailers that had gotten stuck.

The storm postponed the final day of the South Dakota Legislature's 2006 session, and forced Nebraska's Legislature to cancel its Tuesday meeting.

Also Monday, at least two tornadoes touched down in rural Oklahoma as a wave of thunderstorms moved across the state.

Heavy rain soaked parts of the South over the weekend. Up to 8 inches of rain was reported in northern Texas, causing flooding around the Dallas area. Waters subsided Monday, and the storms may have eased chronic drought.

"It is definitely going to help with the drought, but it is not going to reverse it," said weather service meteorologist Stacie Hanes.

In Dallas, the body of a woman was recovered from a creek. Officials believe high water swept her car off a road Sunday night.

In Colorado, one person was killed Sunday in a traffic accident on a slush-covered road, the State Patrol said. And authorities said a woman reportedly suffering from Alzheimer's disease was found dead Monday after she wandered away from her home.

Two motorists died on an icy highway in southwest Nebraska on Sunday, authorities said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060321/ap_on_re_us/severe_weather

Tennessee tornadoes’ death toll climbs to 12

Second wave of violent weather in a week strikes state, wrecks homes




Pieces of building material litter the ground in front of the Metro Baptist Church in Goodlettsville, Tenn., on Friday after a tornado hit the area.
View related photos NBC VIDEO

Updated: 1:45 p.m. ET April 8, 2006
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Residents labored Saturday to begin rebuilding a day after tornadoes killed 12 people in Tennessee, the second wave of violent weather to hit the state in less than a week.

“We’ll get on our feet again,” Bernard Tavers said as he surveyed the demolished homes and piles of rubble in his neighborhood.

Crews worked to clear away the wreckage and restore services, but some people could be without electricity for a week, officials said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12208345/

Tornadoes Tear Through N. Texas, Killing 3

By PAUL J. WEBER, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 28 minutes ago

WESTMINSTER, Texas - Tornadoes swept through two North Texas towns after dark, reducing houses to bare concrete slabs in a path of destruction that left three people dead and 10 injured, officials said Wednesday.

An elderly couple were found dead in a destroyed home in the tiny town of Westminster, about 45 miles northeast of Dallas. A teenager was found dead in another location, Collin County spokeswoman Lee Hornsby said.

"It sounded like a regular thunderstorm, then it went crazy," said Cathy Dotson, who huddled on the floor with her 13- and 10-year-old grandchildren when the tornado hit Tuesday night. "I could actually feel my house move. I looked outside my window, and all I could see was gray."

About a quarter-mile down the street from Dotson's house, another couple left a sheet of paper held down by two rocks that read "Harry and Mary Donaho are fine" and gave their daughter's phone number.

Jeri Tishmack, of nearby Van Alstyne, said she stayed on the phone with her parents throughout the storm as they crouched in the living room between a sofa and a small table.

"It sounded terrifying," Tishmack said. "All I heard was a really high-pitched sound."

At least six homes were destroyed in Westminster. Hornsby said a tornado also hit near the town of Anna, a community of 6,500 residents a few miles west of Westminster.

Another tornado in the Texas Panhandle town of Childress knocked down a wall at the local high school, and broken power lines sparked treetop fires, officials said. Gas lines were broken and downed trees blocked roads, but there were no reports of injuries.

In southeast Oklahoma, three tornadoes touched down and the region was pelted with hail, but no severe damage or injuries were immediately reported, officials said. The National Weather Service received reports of a tornado near Olney in Coal County and two others near Stringtown.

Storms also raked Arkansas early Wednesday, toppling trees, damaging roofs and downing power lines. A FedEx truck was blown into the median of Interstate 530 near Redfield, Ark., and at Bentonville, the wind speed hit 62 mph.

___

Associated Press writers Matt Joyce in Dallas and Jeff Latzke in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060510/ap_on_re_us/severe_storms

Ice Leaves 300,000 Without Power in South

1 hour, 3 minutes ago


ATLANTA - Freezing rain and ice jolted the South on Thursday, closing schools, snarling traffic and knocking out power to about 300,000 customers from Atlanta to Charlotte, N.C.

The outages were caused by ice — up to half an inch thick — that formed on tree limbs and fell onto power lines. About 190,000 were reported without power in western North Carolina and South Carolina's upstate, 57,000 in the Atlanta area and nearly 50,000 across parts of northeast Georgia.

Ten school systems were closed in Georgia and more than a dozen closed in North Carolina, where mountain communities in the western part of the state were told to expect 1 to 3 inches of snow and sleet.

The weather also caused delays of more than an hour at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Forecasters expected the temperatures to increase above freezing across much of the region by Thursday afternoon, but then dip back into the 20s overnight.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051215/ap_on_re_us/ice_storm

One Dead, 450,000 in Dark After Icy Storm
By PAGE IVEY, Associated Press Writer
48 minutes ago


COLUMBIA, S.C. - A blast of freezing rain across Georgia and the Carolinas on Thursday closed schools, snarled traffic and caused power outages to more than 450,000 customers. At least one death was blamed on the storm when an ice-laden tree crashed through a man's house.

"Ice is our greatest nemesis, much worse than snow," said Lucinda Trew, spokeswoman for Duke Power, the main provider of electricity in the hardest-hit parts of the Carolinas.

The widespread outages were caused by the ice that formed on tree limbs and fell onto power lines. In Kannapolis, N.C., just north of Charlotte, N.C., authorities say the weight of that ice buckled a 100-foot-tall tree that crushed 58-year-old David Ralph Jones while reclined on a couch in his living room.

While electricity was quickly restored to some, outages by early evening still totaled 260,000 in South Carolina's upstate, 113,000 in western and central North Carolina, 55,000 in northeast Georgia and 34,700 in the Atlanta area.

"The trees and power lines are down everywhere on the road. It's just dangerous to be out," said Rebecca Neal, who was using blankets to keep warm in her powerless Greenville home and thinking about finding a hotel for the night.

Earlier in the day, Neal had gone to her job at a public relations firm, only to find that her office didn't have power either.

School systems canceled or cut short classes across north Georgia, the affected parts of the Carolinas and into western stretches of Virginia.

Mountains of North Carolina and Virginia were being hit with a hazardous mix of snow and sleet.

"Snow we can plow. Ice we can't," said Virginia Department of Transportation spokesman Chuck Lionberger.

The wintry mix was blamed for a school bus accident in Cherokee County, on the northern end of suburban Atlanta. The driver swerved to avoid a large tree branch that had fallen across the road, forcing the vehicle's rear tires to slide off the road. None of the 23 students aboard the bus was injured.

The National Weather Service said the freezing rain was expected to continue in the region through Thursday evening and overnight temperatures were forecast to dip into the 20s. Ice accumulations were expected to be as much as three-quarters of an inch, which could lead to more snapped limbs and power lines.

Duke Power's Trew said there was no timetable when power would be restored but a warming trend Friday would help, with 7,500 workers being dispatched to the task.

"Temperatures are slowly warming, degree by degree, so the melting is under way after a very significant ice storm," said Doug Outlaw of the National Weather Service office at the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051216/ap_on_re_us/ice_storm

AP - Thu Dec 15, 2:49 PM ET
An ice covered pine tree rest on a Blue Ridge Parkway sign near Asheville, N.C., Thursday Dec. 15, 2005. More than a quarter of an inch of freezing rain fell over the area forcing the closing of the scenic highway. (AP Photo/Alan Marler)

Nor'easter Dumps Nearly Two Feet of Snow

By SAMANTHA GROSS
1 hour, 6 minutes ago


NEW YORK - A major storm slammed the mid-Atlantic and Northeast states with nearly 2 feet of windblown snow on Sunday, nearing record levels as it blacked out thousands of customers and shut down air travel from Washington to Boston.

Wind gusting to 40 mph blew the snow sideways and threatened coastal flooding in New England. And in a rare display, lightning lit up the falling snow before dawn in the New York metro area.

By late morning, 22.8 inches of snow had fallen in Central Park, the city's second heaviest snowfall on record, surpassed only by the 26.4 inches that fell in December 1947.

"This is a dangerous storm," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said as he urged people to stay home.

The storm interrupted a relatively mild winter — and came right after America's warmest January on record. The country's average temperature last month was 39.5 degrees Fahrenheit, 8.5 degrees above average for January, according to the National Climatic Data Center. The old record for January warmth was 37.3 degrees set in 1953.

On Sunday, New York City had more than 2,500 snow plows and salt spreaders at work, along with snow-melting machines that could dispose of up to 60 tons of snow per hour, officials said.

Elsewhere, 21 inches of snow had fallen at Columbia, Md., between Baltimore and Washington, and thousands of customers in that state had no electricity. Hartford, Conn., and Wayne, N.J., reported 19 inches and Philadelphia's northern and western suburbs measured up to 18, the National Weather Service said.

"It's going to be a menace trying to clean it up," Wayne Mayor Scott T. Rumana said Sunday.

Radar showed snow falling from eastern Virginia to Maine as the nor'easter crawled up the coast.

Whiteout conditions were reported around Philadelphia and Trenton, N.J., with northerly wind gusting to 40 mph.

Few people ventured out into the storm if they didn't have to.

"I'm just out to get some doughnuts and coffee, then I'm going right back home," said Chris Vasili of East Brunswick, N.J. "It's not too good out here right now."

Karen Gulley of Mansfield, Mass., took her two young children to Boston to visit the New England Aquarium, but their plans changed to snowman-building because of the storm.

"It's their favorite thing to do," Gulley said.

Emil Krupczyn, a mechanic for the U.S. Postal Service, didn't let the snow interfere with his 200-mile drive home to upstate New York from Manhattan, but he figured the journey would take about six hours.

"There's no rushing in this stuff and if you don't have no place to go, don't go," he said as he waited for a street to get plowed.

The possibility of coastal flooding was a major concern for Massachusetts, said Peter Judge, spokesman for the state's Emergency Management Agency. Meteorologists predicted 2 1/2-foot storm surges from Cape Ann to Cape Cod with seas off the coast running up to 25 feet.

More than 80,000 customers were without power in Maryland, according to Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. spokeswoman Linda Foy. She said it could be at least 24 hours before power is fully restored.

"It's taking us a long time to even get to the locations where we can begin the restoration process," Foy said.

Power also was out at thousands of homes and businesses in New Jersey, New York's Long Island and Connecticut.

Most airlines canceled all flights at LaGuardia Airport, some of them until Monday, said Steve Coleman, spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Hundreds of flights were canceled at Kennedy and Newark airports.

Delta said it also canceled Sunday arrivals and departures at Washington, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, Providence, R.I., and Hartford, Conn.

New Jersey Transit suspended all bus service statewide, although most rail service continued operating. Amtrak reported a few cancelations and delays but said most trains remained in service.

However, the storm was good news for ski resorts after an unseasonably warm January dragged down business.

"The best thing for us is it puts snow in customers' back yards and they think of snowboarding and down hill (skiing)," said Carol Lugar, president of Mohawk Mountain in Cornwall, Conn., which had up to 1 foot of snow by late Sunday morning.

"I personally love the snow," she said. "I like snow shoveling. If you shovel snow all winter you can paddle a kayak or canoe all summer."

___

Associated Press writers Nahal Toosi and Desmond Butler in New York City; Bruce Shipkowski in Trenton, N.J.; Sarah Brumfield in Baltimore, Stephen Singer in Hartford, Conn.; and Brandie M. Jefferson in Boston contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060212/ap_on_re_us/snowstorm

AP - Sun Feb 12, 12:01 PM ET
A pedestrian takes a walk across from Brooklyn's Prospect Park after more than a foot of snow fell during the winter's first major snowstorm to strike the Northeast, Sunday, Feb. 12, 2006, in New York. A major storm slammed the mid-Atlantic and Northeast states with nearly 2 feet of windblown snow on Sunday, nearing record levels as it blacked out thousands of customers and shut down air travel from Washington to Boston. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)