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Survivors Dig Out After Tornadoes

By ROXANA HEGEMAN,
AP
Posted: 2008-05-12 15:01:25
Filed Under: Nation News, Natural Disaster
SENECA, Mo. (May 12) -- Stunned survivors picked through the little that was left of their communities Sunday after tornadoes tore across the Plains and South, killing at least 22 people in three states and leaving behind a trail of destruction and stories of loss.

Photo Gallery

Mike Gullett, AP

Path of Destruction

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Weekend tornadoes swept through the nation's midsection, killing at least 22 people in three states. Six people were killed in Picher, Okla. Here, Jean Euran is comforted by a friend during clean up in Picher, Okla., Sunday. Euran lost everything in the storm.

At least 15 people died in southwestern Missouri. In the fading mining town of Picher, Okla., at least six people were killed, and at least one person died in storms in Georgia.

Susan Roberts, 61, stared at the smashed remains of her classic 1985 Cadillac sitting on her living room floor - the only thing left of her Seneca home. A woman who had apparently sought shelter in the car died there, she said.

"That is what is tearing me up," Roberts said. She had warned the woman - who stopped to change a tire as Roberts and her 13-year-old grandson drove away from the rental house - to escape. The tornado hit just minutes later.

"I'm from Kansas. I grew up watching storms," she said as she walked through the debris. "If I didn't have my grandson with me, I probably wouldn't have left."

The same storm system earlier hit Oklahoma, where at least six people died and 150 people were injured in Picher.

The town, once a bustling mining center of 20,000 that dwindled to about 800 people as families fled lead pollution there, was a surreal scene of overturned cars, smashed homes and mattresses, and twisted metal high stuck in the canopy of trees.

"I swear I could see cars floating," said Herman Hernandez, 68. "And there was a roar, louder and louder."

Photo Gallery

Mike Gullett, AP

Tornadoes of 2008

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May 10: Tornadoes in Missouri, Oklahoma, Georgia and Alabama killed 26 people. Above, Tiffany Tush leaves her sister's home in Picher, Okla., May 11. This has been the deadliest tornado season in 10 years. Click through the gallery to look back at some of the storms.

Ed Keheley was headed to town to help out Saturday night when he heard a woman screaming. He looked over to see her hand reaching out of debris.

"She was sitting in the bathtub, she had curlers in her hair and she wanted out of there," said Keheley, who along with several others pulled her out.

The area is part of a Superfund site, and residents have been asked to take part in state and federal buyouts in recent years.

"From what I've been able to determine, that wouldn't have any bearing on whether a disaster declaration would come forth," said Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesman Earl Armstrong.

One storm victim's child was initially reported dead, but state emergency management spokeswoman Michelann Ooten later said the infant was actually alive at a Tulsa hospital.

As the system moved east on Sunday, one of at least six tornadoes in Georgia killed a person in Dublin, about 120 miles southeast of Atlanta, the National Weather Service said.

The small town of Kite was destroyed by the storm, said Caroline Pope, a spokeswoman for the Johnson County Sheriff's Department. Close to 1,000 people live in the community, she said.

"From what they're telling me, it's gone," she said from the dispatch center in the jail, which was operating on a generator because the power was out.

Storms later Sunday in North Carolina destroyed several mobile homes, and six people were slightly injured, said Patty McQuillan of the state police. And in South Carolina, a possible tornado damaged several homes, but no injuries were reported, said Charleston County spokeswoman Jennie Davis.

President Bush has talked with governors to express his condolences for the lives lost and to discuss needs for recovery, according to the White House.

"The federal government will be moving hard to help," Bush said.

In Missouri, the tornado hit the rural area about eight miles north of Seneca and continued east.

Jane Lant climbed over splintered wood to go through the mud-caked remains of her bridal shop.

"I just feel so awful, going through this rubble when they are out looking for bodies," she said as she motioned to the search dogs wandering the field behind her. An unidentified body lay under a blue tarp nearby.

Among the dead were five family members of her neighbor who had been going to a wedding when the tornado caught their vehicle in front of her store, she said.

Next door, her husband's feed store also lay in shambles. But one bright moment came Sunday when rescuers heard chirping from the mound and found a half-dozen chicks. They had rescued about 100 the night before.

Susie Stonner, spokeswoman for the state Emergency Management Agency, said it was unclear how many homes had been damaged. But she said officials in Newton County, which includes Seneca, had initial estimates of 50 homes damaged or destroyed there.

In storm-weary Arkansas, a tornado caused significant damage in Stuttgart, but no one was seriously injured, said Weather Service meteorologist Joe Goudsward.

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 homes and has slowed farmers in their planting.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-05-10 22:16:45
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1235 comments

lawstenozden 02:28:42 PM May 13 2008

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More EVIDENCE of the HAAEP device in Alaska, designed by the military, to wreak damage and destroy innocent people's lives and property so that they will be consumed with their struggles and unable or unaware of the criminal abuse used against them....ah, USA proud!

morninglry52 07:52:42 AM May 13 2008

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At least you can hear and see a tornado coming and try to get out of it's way..but an earthquake?

morninglry52 07:51:01 AM May 13 2008

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I fear the day when New York City collapse during a earthquake. It is built on tunnels.

pkgregz02 06:50:37 AM May 13 2008

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Where is the aid that is sent all over the world at? America needs to take care of our own

miakity33 09:39:46 PM May 12 2008

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This is not divine, this is not global warming, this is the nature of living on earth. The climate changes and tornadoes happen each and every year. We are amidst a climate change, with a little help of global warming, however, it is the season. Not every change in weather patterns can be the cause of global warming.

Its awful, the loss and pain these people suffer.

jgingersoll 09:32:25 PM May 12 2008

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cindyallthetime 06:57:19 PM May 12 2008

Report This! go to www.earthchangesmedia.com if you want to learn something about global warming
--------------
Nothing to learn other than curiosity since its a normal cycle of things. Unless your trying to test the therory that its man made, then you give us to much credit.

nsurone 09:09:52 PM May 12 2008

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Since the 21st century began, this planet has been hit with quite a number of cataclysmic events: tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc.--many in areas where they wouldn't normally occur.
Makes one wonder if Judgement Day is finally coming.

tandlarr 08:51:04 PM May 12 2008

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duzacm 07:57:41 PM May 12 2008

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Why do people decide to live in places like that? And sad to learn that they cannot get insurance for wind dammage,, My prayers go out to them...
===================================
sould they live on the coasts? hurricane ally
california? earthquake and brush fire haven?

evelyna13a 08:48:28 PM May 12 2008

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I was wondering if the aide the usa sent to Burma that they refused could perhaps be sent here for these people.

susanswrd 08:40:32 PM May 12 2008

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dreamseeker72 07:53:53 PM May 12 2008 /// So glad you and your family are ok. I was in ARK visiting last week when sirens went off. Did not hit county we were in but several other counties were hit and there was loss of life. It is scary stuff. My nephew and his daughter woke up to what sounded like a freight train (a few years back) and they we hit by a tornado. Both had some injuries but not life threatening. My prayers are with you all as this tornado season continues.

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