Storm Death Toll Rises to 173 in the South

FNC ^ | April 28, 2011 | FNC

[LRS]

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The death toll from severe storms that roared across the South has risen to 173 across five states with Alabama and Mississippi each reporting increases in the number of deaths in their states.

[nuconvert]

I’m getting confused on the numbers being used by the news media. Is this an accumulation over a couple days or just this outbreak of storms yesterday?
The news loves to sensationalize for the sake of headlines.

[LRS]

About the 1974 storm, I was living in Cincy, and was working overtime, and didn't know what was going on, until I left for home. They hit the Civil Defense sirens, which had not been done before except for air raid drills, and then I see this funnel cloud pass overhead. Just as I got home, I got stuck in the car as the largest hail stones I had ever seen started pounding around me. When a break came, I ran inside, the local TV channels started explaining what was happening, and the rest of the night was spent hunkering in the basement.

Now, if the population and its distribution back then been similar to today's, the loss of life would have probably been even more horrific, for people were ignorant at the time. Advances in Radar, better communications, and education of the public is so much better today because of the lessons learned in 1974, and those things saved lives yesterday...

[LRS]

I know what you mean about the numbers. I take it they are saying that was just yesterday’s toll. They were just saying that the Alabama EF5 storm traveled 200 miles!

[TSgt]

My parents often talk about that tornado. I was -2 then. ;)

Weather radios should be as mandatory as smoke detectors.

[Red_Devil 232]

FNC now updated deaths to 193. Tuscaloosa Tornado was a long tracker and on the ground for two hundred miles+.

[dirtboy]

Tuscaloosa Tornado was a long tracker and on the ground for two hundred miles+.

That is right up there with the Tri-State tornado that was on the ground 219 miles.

Sadly, I would not be surprised if the death toll tops 400. There are so many collapsed buildings that it will take rescue workers some time to check them all.

[LRS]

My family will tell you, that I am usually the first one to point out, that it is hard to say present day storms are more numerous or severe because in days of yore, these storms didn't get reported on like today's do, because things happened back then where people were not around, and the science is better today, etc.

But occasionally special things happen. The Super Outbreak of 1974 was one of those special days, and the Super Outbreak yesterday was another one of those historical moments....

[Red_Devil 232]

The weather guy, Rick, on FNC is saying 220 miles but that number is not yet confirmed by NWS.

[nuconvert]

It’s just unbelieveable. Yet the media has invested so much money in reporting the royal wedding that it’s hard to get much information

[dirtboy]

Now, if the population and its distribution back then been similar to today's, the loss of life would have probably been even more horrific, for people were ignorant at the time. Advances in Radar, better communications, and education of the public is so much better today because of the lessons learned in 1974, and those things saved lives yesterday...

However, some of these storms plowed right through major population areas.

And if you are in a building hit by an EF-5 and you are not below ground in a basement or shelter, you are potentially in harm's way, even if you are sheltering in an interior closet. That is what we are seeing now in the rising death tolls.

[digger48]

April 3/4, 1974 had been the benchmark for me

I lost my 86 year old grandma in that one. She was crocheting in a sunroom that's under the trailer..

I just happened to run across this picture of her house a couple years ago on a site dedicated to the storms that day

[janetjanet998]

death toll now over 200

[Dubya-M-DeesWent2SyriaStupid!]

Some of the watches here are wrong they are listed as tornado warnings when I sit in that city and we don’t even have a Tstorm or tornado watch yet.

http://kamala.cod.edu/svr/

[nuconvert]

Looks like Fox must have gotten an earful about not covering this story and they’ve finally decided to concentrate on it more.

[LRS]

The scale of this may just be sitting in.

[NCC-1701]

Has the idiot-in-chief made any kind of formal statement regarding this tragedy? I haven’t heard of one. Both of the Reagan made statements. The Bushes made them. Clinton, too. Still waiting for Barry to leave the golf course long enough to show faux concern for those of us in the hard hit southern red states (insert sound of crickets chirpping).

[rdb3]

Yeah, those storms and straight-line winds were no joke.

Good to see the sun again. Almost forgot what sunshine looked like.

If you can't appreciate the pure beauty of the violin after hearing this, something's wrong with your ears.

[Wyatt's Torch]

To be fair the idiot is going to Alabama tomorrow to visit Tuscaloosa and Cullman.

[LRS]

I think they just reported that the death toll is now at 246...

[caww]

You can see in some of the videos of that Tornado where it didn’t move...it just hung in one area...it was like a giant beast tramping thru those communities...awful stuff spinning with it.

It’s almost unbelievable on the ground for that many miles!