Rain, cold add to the misery of tornado-hit southern states
Source: Agencies |
May 5, 2011, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
RAIN added to the misery of those in several Southern states in the United States trying to salvage what they could from homes badly damaged by deadly twisters, leaving them shivering in unseasonable temperatures of around 10 degrees Celsius.
Though the sun was supposed to be out again yesterday in Birmingham, Alabama, temperatures the next couple days are forecast to be cooler there and in other areas of the South where many lost everything, including coats, sweat shirts and sweaters, leaving them with little to protect themselves from the chill.
The rain also didn't make the grim search for possibly more bodies under splintered homes and businesses any easier. The death toll in Alabama was reduced after officials started counting again because they were worried some of the victims might have been tallied twice.
Officials believe 236 people died in Alabama, accounting for about two-thirds of the 328 people killed in all, making it the country's deadliest twister outbreak since the 1930s Great Depression.
The financial and economic toll is far from being calculated.
Besides homes, hundreds of factories and other businesses were destroyed, and many others were left without electricity, throwing thousands out of work. It comes in an area where many people were struggling to make ends meet even before the twisters flattened neighborhoods in Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Mississippi. Unemployment in March ranged from 9.2 percent in Alabama to 10.2 percent in Mississippi.
Curtis Frederick, 28, couldn't find any work to provide for his three children aside from delivering newspapers. Then a twister wiped out his mobile home park in Tuscaloosa. "There's a lot of people that need help. We're struggling already from the economy being so bad."
In Birmingham, former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice toured an aid and donation center in a neighborhood of her home city that was heavily damaged. She grew up in the city and still has family there. "You realize that with every home that's flattened, there are dreams and memories that have gone with that home. So this is a very human tragedy," said Rice.
It's tough to predict how long it'll take for the stricken areas to recover, but the rebuilding projects could at least soften the economic blow. "The rebuilding is huge," said Sam Addy, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama. "That brings in a lot of jobs and cash flow into the local area. For the larger economy, it's a loss."
Though the sun was supposed to be out again yesterday in Birmingham, Alabama, temperatures the next couple days are forecast to be cooler there and in other areas of the South where many lost everything, including coats, sweat shirts and sweaters, leaving them with little to protect themselves from the chill.
The rain also didn't make the grim search for possibly more bodies under splintered homes and businesses any easier. The death toll in Alabama was reduced after officials started counting again because they were worried some of the victims might have been tallied twice.
Officials believe 236 people died in Alabama, accounting for about two-thirds of the 328 people killed in all, making it the country's deadliest twister outbreak since the 1930s Great Depression.
The financial and economic toll is far from being calculated.
Besides homes, hundreds of factories and other businesses were destroyed, and many others were left without electricity, throwing thousands out of work. It comes in an area where many people were struggling to make ends meet even before the twisters flattened neighborhoods in Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Mississippi. Unemployment in March ranged from 9.2 percent in Alabama to 10.2 percent in Mississippi.
Curtis Frederick, 28, couldn't find any work to provide for his three children aside from delivering newspapers. Then a twister wiped out his mobile home park in Tuscaloosa. "There's a lot of people that need help. We're struggling already from the economy being so bad."
In Birmingham, former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice toured an aid and donation center in a neighborhood of her home city that was heavily damaged. She grew up in the city and still has family there. "You realize that with every home that's flattened, there are dreams and memories that have gone with that home. So this is a very human tragedy," said Rice.
It's tough to predict how long it'll take for the stricken areas to recover, but the rebuilding projects could at least soften the economic blow. "The rebuilding is huge," said Sam Addy, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama. "That brings in a lot of jobs and cash flow into the local area. For the larger economy, it's a loss."
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