Posted on 05/10/2008 8:52:08 PM PDT by prairiebreeze
A tornado that spun across the Oklahoma-Missouri border killed several people as severe storms raked the nation's heart Saturday, taking at least 11 lives, mangling buildings and trapping people in rubble in the storm-weary region.
At least six people were killed as the tornado flattened the northeastern Oklahoma town of Picher before the funnel struck about 15 miles away near Seneca, Mo., and killed at least three, authorities said.
The death toll in Oklahoma could climb, said state Emergency Management spokeswoman Michelann Ooten. The tornado in Picher — a depressed and pollution-scarred mining town that many residents had already fled — caused major damage in a 20-block area, she said.
"I know they are going through the rubble, trying to find people missing," she said. "There are numerous injuries."
At least five people died in southwestern Missouri after the storms plowed through, the National Weather Service said. Three people died after the Picher tornado hit near Seneca, about 15 miles away in Newton County, said meteorologist Bill Davis.
Other tornadoes were reported near McAlester and Haywood in Pittsburg County and in rural Pushmataha County, both in southeastern Oklahoma.
Television footage showed some destroyed outbuildings and damaged homes west of McAlester and near Haywood. At a glass plant southwest of McAlester, the storm apparently picked up a trailer and slammed it down on garbage bins.
"These are rural areas that we are in," Pittsburg County Undersheriff Richard Sexton told KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City. "These are good people coming together at this time."
In storm-weary Arkansas, a tornado collapsed a home and a business, and there were reports of a few people trapped in buildings, said Weather Service meteorologist John Robinson.
Central Park Elementary School in the northwest Arkansas city of Bentonville had roof and window damage, and damage was also reported at Pine Creek Center School.
The storms remained active into the evening as they swept eastward, with watches and warnings abundant across a wide swath of the Plains and South.
Rescuers were trying to free a man trapped in his vehicle in western Tennessee after a tree fell on it during thunderstorms, Memphis firefighters said.
Tornadoes killed 13 people in Arkansas on Feb. 5, and another seven were killed in an outbreak May 2. In between was freezing weather, persistent rain and river flooding that damaged residences has slowed farmers in their planting.
___
Associated Press writers Murray Evans in Oklahoma City and Chuck Bartels in Little Rock, Ark., contributed to this report.
OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - At least 16 people were killed on Saturday in Missouri and Oklahoma after tornadoes swept through the area, authorities in the two states said.
Hope everyone's okay...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc_WKBymCEY
The tornado actually killed 12 people.
That was the same tornado that Democrats politicized the war about, saying that the Kansas National Guard didn't have any equipment to help out because supposedly it was all in Iraq, which of course was a lie.
I wonder if Democrats will be politicizing this latest round of tornadoes in a similar manner.
Amen
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014263/posts
A bad night indeed.
I would assume so. When all of life is a political game, nothing is beyond politics.
Maybe that is what happened to those extra 7 states he was talking about the other day.
The tornado got em..
When I left KS for CA many years ago, everybody said I was crazy to move to the land of earthquakes.
God, please be with the grieving families. Ease their pain.
Pitcher, OK is (was) a town of about 300 in extreme NE Oklahoma.
Per reports on the Tulsa TV news, the twister was 2/3 mile wide and took out about 20 blocks of the town (abt. 2 miles).
Most of the destruction was in residential areas. The downtown area did not get hit. The twister hit about 5:30 p.m.
This system is just pushing across Mid-TN. Kinda intense.
good find
yes, prayers for all victims
Prayers for the victims & their families. And for all the people in these areas.
That’s what we heard, 20 blocks of town, just gone.
Not good.
Just now heard 16 dead.
Yes, prayers for them, and their loved ones...
Looks like we are under a tornado warning again. Tornado spotted crossing I65 just south of Huntsville which means it is probably headed my way since I live in SE HSV. It just popped up without warning.
Hope you were missed by any tornados..I have a girlfriend from high school that lives in Huntsville too, hope you are all okay, I haven’t looked at the tv for the weather updates..
Amen
It is so funny how Obama’s little “mistake” has been shut down the rabbit hole. Suddenly everybody remembers Katrina even if 10,000 was also a much much larger number than who really were dead in that natural disaster(did I say natural? I meant Anthropogenic as it was caused by Gorebal Warming). I also remember the politicization of the California wildfires.
And it all leads to the Iraq War. That if we didn’t have troops over there, we would be having them putting out wildfires, servicing people in New Orleans(oops, those busses were already flooded, sorry), and making sure that a hippie protest didn’t become too unruly(oops again, I guess that Liberals like it when the National Guard are government bureaucrats but not when they do their actual job). It is insane.
I really hate to think about this, as it is a tragedy thread but you made a good point Gunservative. No matter what, Democrats will spin any natural disaster to their point of view. That is what happens when you believe that the government should always be around to help and that mankind creates apocalyptic natural disasters by the stuff that comes out of our cars.
Along with Post 1: Prayers involved. Thank goodness only 11 people were killed. (Personally living in one of the powerhouse countries is beneficial in that the casualty rates due to natural disasters go down each year. I remember reading about the casualty numbers for the Galveston hurricane. That makes Katrina look like a babysitter)
That is horrible.
I know in Alabama we sometimes worry about tornados. One touched down in a nearby city and the bits of damage were astounding.
Ever since then I have feared tornados and wondered what I would do without a basement if one came.
Dunno what’s going on in Macon GA but all the sirens went off a little while ago and now all the local TV stations are off the air. I’m about 15 miles west and we got POUNDED about 20 minutes ago. Anybody else around these parts know anything?
OK, they’ve got one TV station back up. Thankfully, it appears what came through here was nowhere near as bad as what they had out west in OK and Missouri.
Unconfirmed reports so far but it looks like Macon got hit with 2 twisters-one on the north side and one south. The west side(Lizella) got hit pretty hard also.
This is getting old-one missed me by less than a quarter-mile last year(the same one that hit Enterprise Ala) and another one went a couple miles north earlier this year. I don’t have a basement.
I’m SW of Columbia, SC in Lexington County. The radio woke us up about 5:00 with a tornado warning, but it wound up taking a track just south of us. Pouring rain right now, but no thunder/lightning/hail. We planted our garden yesterday, and I told hubby that at least he wouldn’t have to run the sprinkler today.
Seriously, though, prayers up for all those affected by this weather. Weather Channel is showing some severe damage.
Reports of LOTS of damage in and around Macon but thankfully as yet no fatalities. I pray that holds up.
Well, just reported 7 injuries near Dublin-it’s east of Macon.
Just reported one fatality near Dublin.
Bibb county sheriff is saying do not leave your home.
Macon PD says they have at least 5 entrapments across the city.
It’s all heading east into southern SC. All you folks best keep your eyes and ears open.
I have a bad feeling there will be more dead before this is over.
That would be RAT-mouth-puppet Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
My home state elected a stinker in that little piece of donkey work.
I am very thankful and fortunate to live in California.
Best of luck to all those affected by these storms.
FNC is reporting a Tornado Warning for Central Ohio ... Columbus area
They are saying spotters have seen a tornado on the ground
My prayers go out to all.... I have family in Pontotoc county and don’t know how they are...
Prayers for the families who lost loved ones and the folks who suffered damage during these storms.
I always wanted to live in a Hobbit Hole!
There are a lot of ways to accomplish this very worthwhile goal. I looked into various concrete home construction methods. “Tilt up” wall construction is fast and ultra strong as well. This is the way “big box” stores go up in a matter of weeks. It also works at the residential level.
My wife was aghast at the thought of such a structure until she saw the "Lord of the Rings" and now affectionately refers to the home as her "Hobbit Home." You know what really sold her? It was the total lack of maintenance. As we age, the stuff we used to do in home repairs and upkeep we can no longer do (as well) and it's becoming a definite threat to long term health.
Thanks for the ping, interesting.
There have been several in the Kingman area over the past 30 years....they are difficult to resell.
Several of them were built near washes and known flood zones, that I never fully understood, unless it was for the soft earth that would be there.
I am thankful that your mother is safe and the house survived.
It must have been a real nightmare to live through and now to look at the damage to the area.
Our local news (Springfield) says the Newton Co one was EF-4! Glad your mom was not home.
I'd say this is the biggest difference between living in a free country and living under tyranny. Tens, or hundreds of thousands die in tyrannical countries when bad weather happens. Freedom allows people to earn enough to buy shelter and safety. Freedom allows people to move away from danger. We are slowly giving up our freedom. We are likely slowly moving toward the Myanmar/China type disasters.
I agree with your first point, not so sure I share your dire level of prediction, though.
Good point.
I finally was able to reach my family members in Newton County. They are all okay, just some structural damage to their homes. But, two of our friends died in the storm.
We were out of state attending our granddaughter’s college graduation and didn’t hear the news until we got home last night.
Mother Nature is a fickle mistress. So very sad.
It is good that your family is safe, but I am sorry that you lost friends.
I can imagine that the damage is very bad, for many of the residents.
god bless all affected by the tornadoes
Thank you for sharing your viewpoints,even though I disagree with you.
It’s very imprudent to judge a government’s behavior by ideology.
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