At least 11 dead in Central US in new round of tornadoes

ap / yahoo news ^ | May 10, 2008 | ANDALE GROSS

[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.

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Associated Press writers Murray Evans in Oklahoma City and Chuck Bartels in Little Rock, Ark., contributed to this report.

[nw_arizona_granny]

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.

[phil1750]

Officials have now labeled the Picher, Ok tornado as an F-3. When it got to Missouri it had strengthened but classification hasn't been announced yet. I measured the damage myself yesterday it was over a mile wide. My Mother's house took a direct hit, and withstood. Roof and siding damage, 100 year old oaks (6) down in her yard. Thank God she wasn't home.

[nw_arizona_granny]

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.

[GnuHere]

Our local news (Springfield) says the Newton Co one was EF-4! Glad your mom was not home.

[Onelifetogive]

19 dead in Missouri, Oklahoma after new round of tornadoes

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.

[prairiebreeze]

I agree with your first point, not so sure I share your dire level of prediction, though.

Good point.

[Rushmore Rocks]

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.

[nw_arizona_granny]

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.

[mygirl1983]

god bless all affected by the tornadoes

[mygirl1983]

Thank you for sharing your viewpoints,even though I disagree with you.
It’s very imprudent to judge a government’s behavior by ideology.

[massgopguy]

Where’s the disaster relief from Myanmar and China?

[Onelifetogive]

not so sure I share your dire level of prediction, though

I said "slowly"...

[Onelifetogive]

It’s very imprudent to judge a government’s behavior by ideology.

I tried to be careful with my comment. I did not wish to minimize the severity of the disasters, nor did I wish to make political points using other people's deaths and misery.

But I think it is very important to be clear WHY certain disaster are massive in scale while others are managed successfully. I think government ideology is critically important in this. Millions have died from starvation, exposure, flooding, disease, etc. under communism and other tyrannical governments. There are few examples of this (if any) in free societies.

Ignoring history is also imprudent.

[McCoMo]

I live about 4 miles west of Neosho Missouri. My house was missed, thankfully, however it destroyed my dairy barn, killed several neighbors and friends (not to mention a bunch of my livestock), and destroyed a large number of my neighbors homes. It even plucked a couple of our chickens... they are now running around with nothing but a few tail feathers. Ripped a tree out of the ground 50 feet from my house, but did not even disturb a shingle on the house (we got SO lucky). Among the cattle that survived, I had to put 6 down immediately, and 8 more over the next day. They had injuries ranging from broken legs to being impaled on a 2x4.

From the way it is looking, the folks around here who lost everything are not going to be seeing much, if any, assistance from the govt, and the Red Cross set up their unit in Joplin, about 25 miles away from any tornado damage.

The tornado was an F4, which stayed on the ground for over 70 miles. Where it passed by my place, it was about 3/4 mile wide. All of these pics were taken within 1/2 mile of my house.

The trees along my driveway.
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My neighbors RV got wiped out. The RV had been sitting on this slab by the boat. Left the boat untouched.
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The above 3 pics are what remains of a house. The girl who lives here saw the storm coming, ran inside and got into an interior closet. That closet is about all that remains of the house. 2x4's came punching thru the walls when she was in there.
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You can see the injuries this poor fella suffered, on his neck and right rear flank. The following couple pics are what remains of the barn he was in..
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The follwing two pics are of a home of a nice gentleman who has lived here for 50 years. He lost everything.
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Moved off of foundation about 50 feet...
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If you look carefully, behind this vehicle you can see what looks like the remains of a large desk. It is actually the floor of a mobile home which no longer exists. The lil old lady who lives here is such a sweet lady. She had just left about 5 minutes before the hit to go pick up her grandchildren. Good thing. The rest of her home is in a lake.
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A bunch more miscellaneous pics...

[McCoMo]

Sorry about how that last post looks screwy. Having trouble getting the formatting right when posting pics.

[McCoMo]

Correction to caption..

Says “you can see what looks like the remains of a large desk”

Should say “large DECK”

[greyfoxx39]

Ping to #54

So sorry to hear of your losses, Mc...you were very lucky to escape with your life. Prayers for you, your family and your neighbors.

[Tennessee Nana]

Sunday afternoon we had extreme, unusual wind in SE TN..

It was sunny but too windy and unpleasant to sit on the back deck during a Mother’s day cook out...

That’s the worse that happened here...

I’m so sorry that others suffered such loss...

Prayers for all those effected...

[Marysecretary]

Dear God. I’m glad you’re okay. My heart goes out to all of you.

[McCoMo]

Thanx for the concern. My family made out ok. Lost a few things, but they are just things, and insurance covers most of it. We came out very lucky, we know how blessed we are.

I did hate having to look over the rifle sights at the cattle I put down. Makes ya feel sick, seeing them looking up at you with those big eyes, trusting you to help make things ok.. and having to shoot them. The kid, wife, and I had raised several of them from the bottle and we had gotten pretty attached to them. I literally vomitted when I was done. My wife and son took that really hard. I feel like sh*t for having to do it. However, I guess I got lucky there too... one neighbor had to put 22 of his cattle down.

As bad as that is, losing the neighbors and friends is the worst. But at least we did not have to do the deed, or even see it, with them.

Kinda hard to deal with in some ways... we just keep reminding ourselves how well we have it and thanking God for protecting us.