Six killed in Oklahoma as twisters pound US
April 17, 2012, Tuesday
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SIX people were dead yesterday after more than 120 twisters tore through a wide swathe of the central United States over the weekend, leaving a trail of devastation from Texas to Wisconsin.
All six fatalities occurred in the state of Oklahoma, according to US news reports which had reported five dead shortly after the tornadoes hit.
Reports said a sixth victim who succumbed early yesterday in the hard-hit town of Woodward, population about 12,000, which also reported 30 people injured after being hit by a ferocious tornado.
The National Weather Service said that the immediate threat of more tornadoes had diminished yesterday but residents of so-called Tornado Alley - the Central Plains states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota where twisters are prone to strike - were bracing for the possibility of an especially violent storm season, according to meteorological forecasts.
And a report last month found that the traditional boundaries of Tornado Alley are expanding deeper into the US South and Midwest, meaning that the devastation could affect an even larger section of the population. The report was released in late March by the CoreLogic private research group, and found that Florida, Iowa, Louisiana and Mississippi have joined Kansas among the ranks of the most tornado-hit US states.
By early Sunday, over 120 tornadoes had been reported in the region, and the National Weather Service warned that "severe storms" were possible in a huge swathe of the country, from Texas to Wisconsin.
"It's really a devastating thing for our city," Woodward Mayor Roscoe Hill told reporters. "I think the main thing is all you can do is pray for us."
Gale-force winds and hail the size of golf balls leveled buildings, blew roofs off homes, uprooted trees and toppled power lines, leaving mounds of debris. Woodward County Emergency Manager Matt Lehenbauer told local media that at least 89 homes and 13 businesses were destroyed in the area.
The damage was estimated to be as much as US$283 million in the Wichita, Kansas area, The Kansas City Star said.
All six fatalities occurred in the state of Oklahoma, according to US news reports which had reported five dead shortly after the tornadoes hit.
Reports said a sixth victim who succumbed early yesterday in the hard-hit town of Woodward, population about 12,000, which also reported 30 people injured after being hit by a ferocious tornado.
The National Weather Service said that the immediate threat of more tornadoes had diminished yesterday but residents of so-called Tornado Alley - the Central Plains states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota where twisters are prone to strike - were bracing for the possibility of an especially violent storm season, according to meteorological forecasts.
And a report last month found that the traditional boundaries of Tornado Alley are expanding deeper into the US South and Midwest, meaning that the devastation could affect an even larger section of the population. The report was released in late March by the CoreLogic private research group, and found that Florida, Iowa, Louisiana and Mississippi have joined Kansas among the ranks of the most tornado-hit US states.
By early Sunday, over 120 tornadoes had been reported in the region, and the National Weather Service warned that "severe storms" were possible in a huge swathe of the country, from Texas to Wisconsin.
"It's really a devastating thing for our city," Woodward Mayor Roscoe Hill told reporters. "I think the main thing is all you can do is pray for us."
Gale-force winds and hail the size of golf balls leveled buildings, blew roofs off homes, uprooted trees and toppled power lines, leaving mounds of debris. Woodward County Emergency Manager Matt Lehenbauer told local media that at least 89 homes and 13 businesses were destroyed in the area.
The damage was estimated to be as much as US$283 million in the Wichita, Kansas area, The Kansas City Star said.
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