Friday, April 29, 2011 THE ROANOKE TIMES 7

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Section/Page/Zone: Main A/A007/Metro

Photos by Associated Press

Jason McCraine sits in the remains of a business in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Thursday, the day after a tornado ripped through the city. A meteorologist said the tornado that struck the city could be an EF5
— the strongest category, with winds of more than 200 mph — and was at least the second-highest category, an EF4.

SOUTH: Final count of storms may take days

FROM 1
Powerful tornadoes decimate the South
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Carbin said. The death toll across the South is climbing following the devastating
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The storms seemed to storms that passed through the region Wednesday.
hug the interstate highways April 27 tornadoes Reported tornadoes, April 2011
as they barreled along like 0 1 10 25 50 157
runaway trucks, obliterating
neighborhoods or even entire
towns from Tuscaloosa, Ala.,
to Bristol, Va. One family
rode out the disaster in the
basement of a funeral home, Detroit
another by huddling in a tan-
Omaha Chicago
ning bed.
In Concord, a small town Kansas City Virginia
outside Birmingham that Beach
was ravaged by a tornado,
Nashville
Randy Guyton’s family got Raleigh
Oklahoma City
a phone call from a friend Memphis Atlanta
warning them to take cover.
They rushed to the basement
garage, piled into a Honda
Ridgeline and listened to the Phillip Hartness carries his 3-year-old son, Shaun, as they look at a relative’s ruined home
roar as the twister devoured Thursday in Cleveland, Tenn. There were 33 deaths reported in the state. Austin
the house in seconds. After-
Miami
ward, they could see outside Not in the South.” how they died. Finals were of about 100 mph and stays on
through the shards of their Alabama Gov. Robert canceled and commencement the ground for a few miles,
AP
home and scrambled out. Bentley said his state had was postponed. said research meteorologist
“The whole house caved confirmed 204 deaths. There Tuscaloosa Mayor Wal- Harold Brooks at the Storm
in on top of that car,” he said. were 33 deaths in Missis- ter Maddox told reporters Prediction Center. final count. being a big week a week ago.”
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“Other than my boy screaming
to the Lord to save us, being in
that car is what saved us.”
At least three people died
in a Pleasant Grove subdivi-
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sippi, 33 in Tennessee, 14 in
Georgia, five in Virginia and
one in Kentucky. Hundreds if
not thousands of people were
injured — nearly 800 in Tus-
that police and the National
Guard were to impose a cur-
few at 10 p.m. Thursday, and
8 tonight. Authorities have
been searching for survivors
“There’s a pretty good
chance some of these were
a mile wide, on the ground
for tens of miles and had
wind speeds over 200 mph,”
In fact, Brooks said 50
to 60 reports — from the
Mississippi-Alabama line,
through Tuscaloosa and Bir-
mingham and into Georgia
Bentley said forecasters did
a good job alerting people, but
there’s only so much they can
do to help people prepare.
Carbin, the meteorologist,

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sion southwest of Birming- caloosa alone. so far, but Maddox said they he said. and southwestern Tennessee noted the warning gave resi-
ham, where residents trickled Some of the worst damage will begin using cadaver dogs Brooks said the tornado — might end up being a single dents enough time to hunker
back Thursday to survey the was about 50 miles southwest today. that struck Tuscaloosa could tornado. If that’s true its path down, but not enough for
damage. of Pleasant Grove in Tuscalo- A tower-mounted news be an EF5 — the strongest cat- would be one of the longest on them to safely leave the area.
Greg Harrison’s neigh- osa, a city of more than 83,000 camera in Tuscaloosa cap- egory of tornado, with winds record for a twister, rivaling a “You’ve got half an hour
borhood was somehow that is home to the Univer- tured images of an astonish- of more than 200 mph — and 1925 tornado that raged for to evacuate the north side of
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unscathed, but he remains
haunted by the wind, thunder
and lightning as they built to
a crescendo, then suddenly
stopped.
“Sick is what I feel,” he said.
“This is what you see in Okla-
homa and Kansas. Not here.
Publication Date: 04/29/2011
sity of Alabama. The storms
destroyed the city’s emer-
gency management center,
so the school’s Bryant-Denny
Stadium was turned into a
makeshift one. School offi-
cials said two students were
killed, though they did not say
ingly thick, powerful tornado
flinging debris as it leveled
neighborhoods.
That twister and others
Wednesday were several
times more severe than a
typical tornado, which is hun-
dreds of yards wide, has winds
was at least the second-high-
est category, an EF4.
The storm prediction cen-
ter said it received 164 tornado
reports around the region, but
some tornadoes were prob-
ably reported multiple times
and it could take days to get a
219 miles.
Brooks said the weather
service was able to provide
about 24 minutes notice
before the twisters hit.
“It was a well-forecasted
event,” Brooks said. “People
were talking about this week
Tuscaloosa. How do you do
that and when do you do that?
Knowing there’s a tornado on
the ground right now and the
conditions in advance of it,
you may inadvertently put
people in harm’s way,” he
said.

Keep abreast of weather alerts, officials say

Few communities in
the region have reliable
warning systems for
storms.
By Jeff Sturgeon
jeff.sturgeon@roanoke.com
381-1661
Desi Sowers and her fam-
ily hid in the basement of their
Pulaski County home during
Wednesday night’s storm, her
attention affixed to weather
reports that governed their
every move.
The Snowville family first
descended when storm cells
boiled to threatening size on
an online map.
Several hours later, when
the radar cleared, they judged
it safe enough to return
upstairs and go to bed.
“Had it not been for my lit-
tle iPad and the apps on there,
we wouldn’t have known what
was going on because we lost
our satellite signal,” she said.
One thing worse than
enduring a bad storm is being
in the dark about how bad it
truly is.
Because widespread power
outages did not occur, many
had good access to the Nation-
al Weather Service alerts that
flood TV, the Web or radio
when hazardous weather
looms or strikes.
But to stay informed, you
had to have both a working
device and electricity. And,
unless you had a high-tech
weather radio or lived in one
of the few communities with a
siren, you had to stay up until
it was over.
In another New River
Valley home, Stuart Meese
of Christiansburg stared at
his smartphone and his wife
focused on her laptop for
much of the night.
“We definitely did not want
to go to bed,” Meese said.
If you’re counting on a
government warning siren
to blare the alert when torna-
does strike, including in the
middle of the night while you
are sleep, you’re going to be
disappointed.
Most communities in
Southwest Virginia do not
have sirens and, in those that
do, the storm may be so loud it
drowns the warning out.
Officials said it’s up to
people to stay informed.
“The big thing is pay-
ing attention to the weather
and knowing what a tornado
watch means and what a tor-
nado warning means,” said
Bob Spieldenner, spokesman
for the Virginia Department
of Emergency Management.
James Day is the police
chief and head of emergen-
tornado protection, he said. But the sirens are not loud
WEATHER SAFETY AT A GLANCE The National Weather enough to penetrate build-
The National Weather Service issues watches and warnings Service reports on its web- ings.
site that the radios cost $50 to And while the noise echoes
for such threats as thunderstorms, flash flooding and
tornadoes. Tune in to local news media, weather websites or $200. They are tuned to con- off-campus, most noncampus
the radio for up-to-the-minute information. tinuous weather broadcasts residents live too far to hear it
and can be programmed to even if they are outside.
TERMINOLOGY: remain silent but emit a warn- As did many communities,
A watch: Conditions are favorable for hazardous weather to ing tone when a weather alert Roanoke had civil defense
develop. Usually lasts five to eight hours and covers a large goes out for the community in sirens to warn residents of a
geographic area of possibly several states. This is the time to which the user lives. nuclear attack during the Cold
prepare to take shelter. Alerted, the user can then War, but those sirens no lon-
listen to the report. With their ger operate, city emergency
A warning: Hazardous weather is imminent or occurring.
backup batteries, they set management coordinator
Usually lasts 45 to 60 minutes and covers an area of one to
the standard for emergency Mike Guzo said.
four counties. Upon the issuance of a warning, take shelter
weather information. After the Sept. 11, 2001,
immediately.
On the campus of Virginia attacks, city officials explored
Suitable shelters: Basement of a house or an underground Tech in Blacksburg, six out- the possibility of obtaining
shelter are best, but any solid structure is a good choice. If door sirens poised to alert sirens to warn residents of
no other alternative exists, choose a spot in the center of a the campus community were terrorist attacks or severe
building away from windows, such as a closet or a bathroom. turned on in the overnight weather, but it was decided
Get under a mattress for cover. Avoid vehicles and highway hours Wednesday. they were too costly.
underpasses. Once the National Weath- And, until recently, there
Emergency supplies: Basic recommended items include er Service issued a tornado hadn’t been a weather-based
some food and water, medicine, an emergency radio and a warning for Montgomery need.
flashlight with extra batteries. County, Virginia Tech police “Prior to 2008, the pos-
triggered a nine-minute siren sibility of tornadoes in Roa-
blast at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, noke was laughable,” Guzo
cy services for the city of town, the chief urges resi- university spokesman Mark said. A weak tornado skipped
Bedford, which was struck by dents to have radios, because Owczarski said. The sirens through South Roanoke in
a tornado in 2002. the siren is just one tool and went off again at 12:53 a.m. June 2008.
Bedford won a Depart- imperfect. when the weather service If severe weather contin-
ment of Homeland Security “We beg people to pur- issued a new tornado warn- ues, Guzo said he’ll talk with
grant with which it installed a chase an emergency weather ing for the county. city leaders about obtaining
siren near downtown in 2005. radio,” Day said. “They will This is in keeping with sirens. He did not know how
It wails an alternating tone for give an in-house warning emergency plans that call for much they would cost, but
three minutes when there is a where you will be certain to triggering the sirens — which said it would be expensive to
tornado warning and a steady hear it rather than trying to can emit a wail or a voice mes- cover all of Roanoke.
tone for three more minutes rely on the tornado siren.” sage — amid any emergency
when it’s all clear. That and a safe, sturdy such as bad weather, Owczar- Staff writer Amanda Codispoti
However, even in this structure to hide in maximize ski said. contributed to this report.