Meatpie
28-04-11, 12:53 PM
At least 150 devastating tornadoes have obliterated large swaths of land from Mississippi to Georgia, killing at least 200 people in five states, wiping out homes and businesses and causing a nuclear power plant to use back-up generators.
The death toll, already staggering, continues to rise almost every few minutes as rescue workers pull bodies from the rubble.
Alabama was the worst hit. An F5-category tornado ripped through Birmingham yesterday leaving a path of death and devastation in its wake.
While in Tuscaloosa, a city of more than 83,000 and home to the University of Alabama, a mile-wide twister barrelled through late yesterday afternoon, tossing houses and cars into the air like they were toys. Homes were reduced to fire wood and uprooted trees littered the streets.
The city's police and other emergency services were devastated, the mayor said, and at least 15 people were killed and about 100 were in a single hospital.
By nightfall, the city was dark. Roads were impassable. Signs were blown down in front of restaurants, businesses were unrecognisable and sirens wailed off and on. Debris littered the streets and sidewalks.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-0-0BCD633A00000578-360_964x678.jpg
Residents survey the destruction after a tornado hit Pratt City, Alabama, just north of downtown Birmingham, Alabama, on Wednesday
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-0-0BCD652E00000578-911_964x606.jpg
Homes and businesses along McFarland Boulevard are completely destroyed in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-0-0BCD633E00000578-351_964x569.jpg
Residents survey the destruction after a tornado hit Pratt City. A wave of severe storms laced with tornadoes strafed the South
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-1381398-0BCD956D00000578-514_964x467.jpg
Rescue workers search for casualties after the deadly tornado touched down in Birmingham, Alabama on Wednesday
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-0-0BCD6CBA00000578-588_964x611.jpg
A tornado moves through Tuscaloosa on Wednesday. A wave of severe storms splintering buildings across parts of the Alabama university town
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-0-0BCD690600000578-670_964x657.jpg
Homes and businesses are completely destroyed along 15th St. in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-0-0BCD639B00000578-602_964x604.jpg
Two young men on bikes look at how homes and businesses have been completely destroyed in Tuscaloosa
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-1381398-0BCD94F500000578-712_964x656.jpg
People stand outside the Saint Mary Primitive Baptist Church that was totally destroyed when a fierce tornado hit Pratt City, just north of downtown Birmingham, Alabama on Wednesday
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-0-0BCD401E00000578-410_964x683.jpg
A funnel cloud approaches Tuscaloosa, where widespread damage occurred from the storm
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-0-0BCD65A100000578-152_964x649.jpg
A car lies overturns and buildings destroyed in Tuscaloosa
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-0-0BCD993100000578-786_964x654.jpg
Michael Dunn is hugged by his mother Patricia Dunn as they stand in the road that led to his house which was completely destroyed after a tornado touched down on Wednesady in Concord, Alabama
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-1381398-0BCD95E100000578-249_964x499.jpg
Tamisha Cunningham, who suffered a leg injury when her home was destroyed by a tornado, looks over the devastating scene while waiting for medical care, near Athens, Alabama
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-1381398-0BCD73FA00000578-25_964x652.jpg
A home and car in the Forest Lake neighbourhood of Tuscaloosa are destroyed after a tornado ripped through it
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-1381398-0BCD98B900000578-891_964x634.jpg
Extensive damage is seen after a tornado ripped through parts of Concord, Alabama
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-1381398-0BCD7FF100000578-201_964x642.jpg
A woman sifts through the destruction of a former T Mobile office after a tornado struck on Wednesday in Tuscaloosa
The death toll, already staggering, continues to rise almost every few minutes as rescue workers pull bodies from the rubble.
Alabama was the worst hit. An F5-category tornado ripped through Birmingham yesterday leaving a path of death and devastation in its wake.
While in Tuscaloosa, a city of more than 83,000 and home to the University of Alabama, a mile-wide twister barrelled through late yesterday afternoon, tossing houses and cars into the air like they were toys. Homes were reduced to fire wood and uprooted trees littered the streets.
The city's police and other emergency services were devastated, the mayor said, and at least 15 people were killed and about 100 were in a single hospital.
By nightfall, the city was dark. Roads were impassable. Signs were blown down in front of restaurants, businesses were unrecognisable and sirens wailed off and on. Debris littered the streets and sidewalks.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-0-0BCD633A00000578-360_964x678.jpg
Residents survey the destruction after a tornado hit Pratt City, Alabama, just north of downtown Birmingham, Alabama, on Wednesday
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-0-0BCD652E00000578-911_964x606.jpg
Homes and businesses along McFarland Boulevard are completely destroyed in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-0-0BCD633E00000578-351_964x569.jpg
Residents survey the destruction after a tornado hit Pratt City. A wave of severe storms laced with tornadoes strafed the South
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-1381398-0BCD956D00000578-514_964x467.jpg
Rescue workers search for casualties after the deadly tornado touched down in Birmingham, Alabama on Wednesday
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-0-0BCD6CBA00000578-588_964x611.jpg
A tornado moves through Tuscaloosa on Wednesday. A wave of severe storms splintering buildings across parts of the Alabama university town
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-0-0BCD690600000578-670_964x657.jpg
Homes and businesses are completely destroyed along 15th St. in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-0-0BCD639B00000578-602_964x604.jpg
Two young men on bikes look at how homes and businesses have been completely destroyed in Tuscaloosa
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-1381398-0BCD94F500000578-712_964x656.jpg
People stand outside the Saint Mary Primitive Baptist Church that was totally destroyed when a fierce tornado hit Pratt City, just north of downtown Birmingham, Alabama on Wednesday
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-0-0BCD401E00000578-410_964x683.jpg
A funnel cloud approaches Tuscaloosa, where widespread damage occurred from the storm
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-0-0BCD65A100000578-152_964x649.jpg
A car lies overturns and buildings destroyed in Tuscaloosa
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-0-0BCD993100000578-786_964x654.jpg
Michael Dunn is hugged by his mother Patricia Dunn as they stand in the road that led to his house which was completely destroyed after a tornado touched down on Wednesady in Concord, Alabama
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-1381398-0BCD95E100000578-249_964x499.jpg
Tamisha Cunningham, who suffered a leg injury when her home was destroyed by a tornado, looks over the devastating scene while waiting for medical care, near Athens, Alabama
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-1381398-0BCD73FA00000578-25_964x652.jpg
A home and car in the Forest Lake neighbourhood of Tuscaloosa are destroyed after a tornado ripped through it
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-1381398-0BCD98B900000578-891_964x634.jpg
Extensive damage is seen after a tornado ripped through parts of Concord, Alabama
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/28/article-1381398-0BCD7FF100000578-201_964x642.jpg
A woman sifts through the destruction of a former T Mobile office after a tornado struck on Wednesday in Tuscaloosa