EmergencyNet News Special Report
04/09/98 08:05CST
Storms Rampage Across Alabama, Mississippi, GeorgiaBirmingham, AL (EmergencyNet News) -- Emergency management officials have declared a state of emergency in parts of three states after fierce storms rumbled through parts of the Southeast yesterday and last night. National Guard troops have been called out to assist in areas west of Birmingham, AL, where damage is thought to be especially severe and several deaths have been reported. The death toll in all three states is reported to be at least twenty (20) and may rise as rescue crews continue to sift through the debris that was once homes and businesses. At least 100 other people have been reported injured, and several people are still believed missing. Rescue/recovery efforts continue in several areas.
Tornados reportedly touched down at several locations; they were accompanied by high winds, rain and hail. Tens of thousands of people are without power throughout the Southeast. Business districts suffered heavy damage and have been closed down in Cobb County and DeKalb County, Georgia. The bad weather is also being blamed for causing dozens of traffic accidents, including one on Interstate 75, south of Atlanta, GA that involved more than 10 vehicles.
EmergencyNet News is still gathering additional information from our correspondents in the field and will provide additional reports as circumstances warrant.
ESR CLOSE UP
TORNADOES KILL 18 IN ALABAMABIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA (EmergencyNet News) - Tornadoes swept through Alabama and Georgia on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. At least 18 people were reported killed by the twisters. The Alabama Emergency Management Agency said there were 16 deaths in Jefferson County and two deaths in St. Clair County. Dozens of people were reported injured.
A tornado destroyed a church and a fire station in Oak Grove, located west of Birmingham. Some people in the church were injured, but there were no one was killed.
The Alabama EMA said that the communities of Rock Creek, Sylvan Springs and Birmingport in Jefferson County were hardest hit. At least 100 homes and businesses were damaged by the tornadoes in Alabama. The National Guard has been called out to provide support. Golfball size hail was reported east of Castleberry.
Numerous tornadoes were reported in Georgia. Damage was reported north and northwest of Atlanta. One twister destroyed a gas station and part of a shopping plaza and caused minor damage to apartment buildings early Thursday morning.
Cobb County Police said the wind overturned a woman's car as she tried to make a turn. A flash flood warning was issued in the Atlanta area as Peachtree Creek rose seven feet during a two-hour period. It was expected to rise to three feet above flood stage on Thursday morning.
| "It was very similar to what an atomic bomb would do" -- Sheriff Jim Woodward of Jefferson County, Alabama |
ESR CLOSE UP
DEATH TOLL FROM A NIGHT OF TORNADOES RISES TO 42
From the ERRI Watch Center
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA (EmergencyNet News) - The death toll left in the wake of a series of deadly tornadoes in the southeast stands at 42. In Alabama on Thursday, where 32 people died, rescue crews went from one wrecked house to another searching for victims. A helicopter equipped with a sensor to detect body heat was brought in to help find victims. Tracking dogs where also used to sniff out anyone dead or alive. Among those found alive was a 9-month-old baby.
The same violent weather killed five people in Georgia and one in Mississippi. In Alabama, nearly all of the dead were in small towns located west of Birmingham. Most of the houses looked as if they had exploded. More than 40 people were injured several of them in were reported to be in critical condition. The Alabama Emergency Management Agency said there were 187 injuries in two counties.
Experts say the storms were the latest in what has become the deadliest U.S. tornado season in 14 years. In 1984, tornadoes killed 122 people. On 28 March 1984, 57 people were killed in a single day of tornadoes in the Carolinas.
Alabama officials said 150 homes were destroyed and 300 heavily damaged. Another 400 homes suffered minor damage. In the town of Rock Creek, a tornado hurled one victim into a tree and flung others across streets and yards.
The most powerful tornado cut a 15-mile long swath about a mile wide, destroying a high school, a fire station and damaging two churches. Wind speeds reached an estimated to 250 mph.
An elderly 89-year-old couple were found dead in a ditch two blocks away from where their home once stood.
In northern Mississippi, a 16-year-old boy was killed when a storm destroyed the mobile home he was in.
The storm system swept into Georgia early Thursday, with high winds and heavy rain and hail. Two people were killed in the Dunwoody area northeast of Atlanta, one when a tree fell on a house. Two hundred miles to the southeast, one death was reported at Fort Stewart. A woman and a 13-year- old girl were killed in a mobile home community just south of the base.
In Hall County, Georgia, three people died in a structure fire that was caused by lightning.
Throughout the hard-hit Birmingham area, homes were reduced to rubble. Overturned cars and household furniture littered streets and yards.
Sheriff Jim Woodward of Jefferson County, Alabama, said, "It is very similar to what an atomic bomb would do if it was dropped in a neighborhood."
(c) Copyright, EmergencyNet NEWS Service, 1998. All Rights Reserved. Redistribution without permission is prohibited by law.
The ERRI EMERGENCY SERVICES REPORT is a subscription publication of the EmergencyNet NEWS Service, which is a part of the Chicago-based Emergency Response and Research Institute. This publication specializes in Law Enforcement/Fire/EMS/Disaster and Medical Issues.
Emergency Response and Research Institute
6348 N Milwaukee Ave, Suite 312, Chicago, Illinois 60646 USA
773-631-ERRI Voice/Voice Mail
773-631-4703 Fax
773-631-3467 Computer/Modem - EMERGENCY BBS
Internet e-mail: webmaster@emergency.com
WWW page: http://www.emergency.com
Telnet: emergency.com
Return to the Disaster Operations page