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At Least 15 Die as Tornadoes Sweep Southeast At Least 15 Die as Tornadoes Sweep Southeast
(about 3 hours later)
At least 15 people were killed and 43 more injured in Georgia and Mississippi after severe weather on Saturday unleashed a swarm of tornadoes in the Southeast. ATLANTA — At least 15 people were killed and 43 more injured in Georgia and Mississippi after severe weather on Saturday unleashed a swarm of tornadoes in the Southeast.
Catherine Howden, a spokeswoman for Georgia’s emergency management agency, confirmed that there had been 11 storm-related deaths, and 23 people injured, in central and southern parts of the state. She said there had been up to 20 reports of tornadoes.Catherine Howden, a spokeswoman for Georgia’s emergency management agency, confirmed that there had been 11 storm-related deaths, and 23 people injured, in central and southern parts of the state. She said there had been up to 20 reports of tornadoes.
Ms. Howden said that the severe weather in Georgia continued to take a toll and that it was not expected to stop until late Sunday night. On Sunday, the state’s governor, Nathan Deal, declared a state of emergency in seven counties. Ms. Howden said that the severe weather in Georgia continued to take a toll and that it was not expected to stop until late Sunday night. The state’s governor, Nathan Deal, declared a state of emergency on Sunday for seven south-central Georgia counties: Atkinson, Berrien, Brooks, Colquitt, Cook, Lowndes and Thomas.
A statement on the website of Mississippi’s emergency agency said that a tornado there had caused extensive damage in the southern part of the state, killing at least four people and causing more than 20 injuries. “These storms have devastated communities and homes in South Central Georgia, and the state is making all resources available to the impacted areas,” Mr. Deal said in a statement. He said that he was prepared to expand or extend the emergency declaration, and that the state was likely to seek help from the federal government.
The state’s governor, Phil Bryant, called for a state of emergency as power lines and debris littered Mississippi’s roads. George Wetzel, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Ga., said that in the last three days a strong low-pressure system had moved east across the Southern states, which had been unseasonably warm in recent days, with moisture moving north from the Gulf of Mexico.
The weather also caused damage in parts of Alabama, Louisiana and Texas, though information on whether anyone had been killed or injured in those states was not immediately available on Sunday morning. A statement on the website of Mississippi’s emergency agency said that a tornado there had caused extensive damage in the southern part of the state, killing at least four people and injuring more than 20. Gov. Phil Bryant called for a state of emergency as power lines and debris littered Mississippi’s roads.
Sunday is expected to be another dangerous day in the South; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued a “high risk” severe weather outlook for Georgia, and parts of Alabama and Florida. Since Saturday morning, 30 reports of tornadoes were recorded in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi, according to the agency. In Georgia, an intense round of thunderstorms that started Saturday morning produced a number of tornadoes, and a second round overnight Saturday produced flooding rains, including more than six inches that fell in a 24-hour period just east of Albany.
A third wave of storms had begun in some parts of the state on Sunday morning and were expected to last into the late afternoon.
On Sunday morning in Adel, Ga., Jeff Lane, a county commissioner, was surveying the wreckage at the Sunshine Acres trailer park, where he said that all of the county’s eight deaths had occurred. He said that search and rescue crews were still coming through the community. Photographs of the park showed an open field surrounded by thin trees, strewn with splintered wood, scraps of metal sheeting and trashed cars.
“It’s like a bomb had been dropped out here, at ground level,” Mr. Lane said in a telephone interview. “You’ve got mobile-home frames that look like spaghetti noodles. We’ve tried to evacuate as many as we can. But it’s raining real hard, and we’re getting ready to start another round of storms.”
Charles McDowell, the pastor of Barney United Methodist Church in Barney, Ga., a small community known for its peach crop, said that the electricity was out in the area, and that services had been canceled on Sunday morning. “A lot of my people have physical damage,” he said. “Some of the roofs are ripped off, trees are down, and of course the power is off now.”
The weather also caused damage in parts of Alabama, Louisiana and Texas, though information on whether anyone had been killed or injured in those states was not immediately available on Sunday, which was expected to be another dangerous day in the South.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued a “high risk” severe weather outlook for Georgia and parts of Alabama and Florida. Since Saturday morning, 30 reports of tornadoes were recorded in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi, according to the agency.
Mr. McDowell spoke on the phone from his home in Valdosta, about 20 miles from Barney, on Sunday morning. He had received reports that his modest country church, with its white vinyl siding, had not been damaged. But with the latest round of powerful storms ginning up, he said he would remain hunkered down at home. In the meantime, he said was consoling his flock of about 50 people by cellphone.
“As a church, we’re praying for each other,” he said. “We’ll re-evaluate the situation tomorrow and see if there are any practical helps we can give the people.”