Fierce Planet

Midwest Devastated by Tornado Swarms

As deadly twisters ripped through 12 states in the Midwest and the South on Friday, they obliterated homes, leveled towns, and killed at least 38 people. Hardest hit were Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.

The National Weather Service reported that the four twisters to hit Kentucky were the worst in the region in 24 years.  “In Indiana, a tornado packing 175 mph winds hit the town of Henryville, and stayed on the ground for more than 50 miles. Three tornadoes in Kentucky had wind speeds up to 160 mph.”

The Associated Press In West Liberty, Ky., reported the aftermath for Doris Shuck. The storms took her home, leaving only the basement and front porch. “I could hear the glass and hear the wood breaking. I just thought the house is going to fall on top of me,” she said. She had scrapes and bruises.

The town of Marysville, Ind., population about 1,900, was “completely gone,” Clark County sheriff’s Maj. Chuck Adams told NBC News.
Paige Colburn, an emergency management officer at the Huntsville-Madison County Emergency Management Agency, told msnbc.com that the damage in Alabama covered a 4- to 5-mile swath in northern Madison County. “The reason that it is so wide is because we’re not talking about one tornado. We’re talking about a very large super-cell that spawned several smaller tornadoes,” she said.

As survivors try to recover and search and rescue teams continue their efforts to find missing and injured residents, the American Red Cross has launched a multi state relief operation. To learn more about helping, visit www.redcross.org

Midwest Leap Day Tornado Outbreak

Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska were slammed by deadly storms around 1 a.m. today. Massive damage, injuries and fatalities have been reported in Branson, Mo; Buffalo, Mo; Harveyville, Kansas; and Harrisburg, Illinois.

Small towns in Illinois and Kansas were hit hard. At least nine deaths are blamed on the tornadoes.

Tornado Forming in Kansas

According to a KRMG news article, a man at a hotel in Branson, Mo. told KRMG, “Next thing I know the entire building is starting to shake. I believe there’s 12 floors to the hotel. You could hear windows being blown out and you could see debris out the window,” Corey Hall said. “The storm hit from both sides. It just basically went over the top of the hotel.”

The Christian Science Monitor quoted Branson’s Mayor “We were blessed with several things—the time of year and certainly the time of day, when people were not in their vehicles or outdoors,” said Mayor Raeanne Presley, noting that during Branson’s peak season, up to 60,000 visitors would have been in the city on any given day and staying in many of the hotels that were damaged.

Tulsa World News posted a historic record of previous Leap Day tornado outbreaks.  The growing reports indicate that 2012 may be the worst Leap Day outbreak yet.