April 29, 2014 -- Updated 2021 GMT (0421 HKT)
Forecasters urged millions of Americans to keep an eye on the weather Tuesday, warning of tornadoes, winds and hail. FULL STORY
|
Deadly storm kills 31
Death toll from severe storms at 35; 70 million remain under threat
April 29, 2014 -- Updated 2011 GMT (0411 HKT)
Deadly storm claims 35 lives
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: At least 12 storm-related deaths in Mississippi, official says
- Roughly 70 million people are warned of severe weather
- Tens of thousands remain without power after Mississippi, Alabama storms
- Millions more are at risk Wednesday
Are you there? Please send your videos, pictures and text to iReport, but please stay safe.
(CNN) -- [Breaking news update, 4:06 p.m. ET]
The death toll from
storms that struck Mississippi has climbed to 12, Greg Flynn of the
Mississippi Emergency Management Agency told CNN on Tuesday. That brings
the number of fatalities from the storm system that struck portions of
the Midwest and South to 35.
[Original story published at 3:24 p.m. ET]
70 million Americans under threat of severe weather
From Missouri to New
York, Michigan to Florida, forecasters urged millions of Americans to
keep an eye on the weather Tuesday, warning of tornadoes, high winds and
hail spawned by the storm system that's killed 31 people in the last
two days.
Roughly 70 million people
are being warned of a slight to moderate risk of severe weather in the
eastern half of the United States, according to the National Weather
Service. That was a slight downgrade from an estimated 75 million people
earlier in the day.
Mississippi and Alabama
-- where tornadoes Monday caused widespread destruction and several
deaths -- were again in the bull's-eye for the worst of Tuesday's
forecast.
Photos: Tornadoes slam several states
South hammered by more than 50 tornadoes
Third of the country under weather threat
Twisters leave death and destruction
Tens of thousands were
without power in those two states, where suspected tornadoes chewed
through homes and businesses late Monday. At least 13 people were killed
in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee on Monday. Those deaths are in
addition to 18 others reported in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Iowa from
storms Sunday.
In Tupelo, Mississippi,
employees at a Steak Escape restaurant survived by huddling in the
bathroom as the storm destroyed the building around them, Mayor Jason
Shelton told CNN's "New Day."
"That was just a miracle of God," he said.
Anthony Bishop and his co-workers also had a close call when the storm hit their lube shop.
"Right as it ripped the roof off the building ... we all jumped in the pit," Bishop told CNN affiliate WMC-TV. "Heard blocks hitting cars above me, glass flying all around the pit where we were."
Tuesday's threat
The National Weather
Service's Storm Prediction Center said nearly 2.5 million people in
parts of Alabama and Mississippi were at moderate risk of tornadoes,
damaging winds and scattered large hail.
Risk areas stretched from the Great Lakes south to the Gulf of Mexico and east to the Atlantic Ocean.
The threat was expected
to drift slowly east, putting parts of Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas
and Mid-Atlantic states at a slight risk of severe weather Thursday,
according to the Storm Prediction Center.
'It hurts to look'
Monday's storms left a trail of damage through several Mississippi and Alabama communities.
Mississippi authorities confirmed eight deaths there. Three people died in Alabama and two in Tennessee, according to officials.
Mississippi Gov. Phil
Bryant said the twisters inflicted "severe damage" around the town of
Louisville, about 90 miles northeast of Jackson.
Storm chaser: I am done
Watch storm sweep across Memphis
Meteorologist takes cover during live TV
Winston Medical Center, Louisville's major hospital, was among the buildings hit.
In Tupelo, buildings
near a major commercial district on the city's north side were "wiped
away," Scott Morris, a reporter for the Northeast Mississippi Daily
Journal, told CNN's "The Lead."
Numerous trees and power lines were down, and "quite a few buildings are destroyed up there," Morris said.
The storm destroyed Britney Butler's home in Tupelo, WMC-TV reported.
"It hurts to look,
because I won't come home tonight," said Butler, who still managed to
smile after discovering her dog had come out unscathed. "Oreo means the
most to me."
As things got ugly, Matt Laubhan, the chief meteorologist at Tupelo television station WTVA, took charge. He ordered station staff to take cover before walking off the set himself.
"Basement. Now ... let's go," Laubhan said.
Two people died in Lincoln County, Tennessee, near the border with Alabama.
Part of an elementary
school there was torn away, the building's roof was ripped off and the
storm hurled a school bus into the school, CNN affiliate WSMV reported. The bus and school were empty at the time, the station said.
Alabama also hit hard
One of the three Alabama deaths was a 21-year-old University of Alabama student from Tupelo, according to the school.
Jon Servati was a member
of the school's swimming and diving team, the school's athletic
department said in a statement. He died from injuries suffered at an
off-campus home, the school said.
The other two deaths came at a trailer park near Athens, about 22 miles west of Huntsville.
The storm reduced a
complex of houses and duplex apartments in the town to rubble. Downed
power lines and gas leaks made the area dangerous, CNN's Brian Todd
reported from Athens.
Authorities in Limestone
County, where Athens is located, asked people to stay off roads
wherever possible Tuesday. Emergency crews need unimpeded access to
roads, and extensive damage and downed power lines make travel
hazardous, authorities said in the message transmitted by the National
Weather Service.
In Jefferson County,
Alabama -- site of the state's largest city, Birmingham -- a fire
station was hit, as was a church. People were trapped for a time in the
church, but no one was seriously injured, Horace Walker, a spokesman for
county's emergency management agency, told "New Day."
About 90,000 homes and
businesses were without electricity Tuesday afternoon, according to
Brian Corbett of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency. About 10,000
customers remained without power around Jackson, Mississippi, Entergy
Mississippi reported.
Act II
Monday's storms were Act
II of a powerful weather system that brought punishing thunderstorms to
the central United States. Suspected tornadoes spawned by those storms
on Sunday killed 15 people in Arkansas, two in Iowa and one in Oklahoma,
authorities in those states reported.
Sunday's hardest-hit
area was Faulkner County, Arkansas, where a suspected tornado shattered
homes, tossed tractor-trailers and killed 11 people in the towns of
Vilonia and Mayflower, including one death newly reported by authorities
on Tuesday. Two children were among the dead.
CNN's Carma Hassan, Martin Savidge, Ed
Payne, Chad Myers, Tina Burnside, Shawn Nottingham and Jill Martin
contributed to this report.
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