Nine months after deadly tornados hit Alabama killing more than 238 people the state is again looking for victims and assessing the damage. This time though, the tornado is a rare January storm and has killed two people and left plenty more injured.
"Right now, we are in the search-and-rescue phase," said Jennifer Ardis, press secretary to Gov. Robert Bentley, a Republican, who declared a state of emergency Monday for all 67 Alabama counties. "It's important to search and find those people that are injured. Once that is over, we will begin to move into the recovery phase."
The worst damage caused by the storm is in Jefferson County near Birmingham.
"The storm destroyed homes, toppled trees and knocked out power," said Chief Deputy Randy Christian of the Jefferson County sheriff's office "An 82-year-old man died in his home as a result of the storm."
Another victim is a 16 year old, "died when her home took a direct hit from the storm as she and her family slept," Christian said.
More than 100 people are injured and 250-300 homes have been destroyed.
Severe thunderstorms spawned the tornados, large hail, damaging winds and flash flooding across the state.
National Weather Service meteorologists toured the state's hardest-hit areas Monday and confirmed that a tornado struck the town of Clay. Wind speeds from this tornado were estimated at 150 mph.
By Ryan Bockmier
No comments:
Post a Comment