Two Mississippi Students Were Injured When a Tornado Drops Bus on School
Pastor Dale Morgan
Tornado Hurls Bus Onto School Roof
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Two Mississippi Students Were Injured When a Tornado Drops Bus on School*
Jan. 11, 2008 —
Storms from Illinois to Louisiana are spawning rare January tornados,
including one twister that tossed a bus onto the roof of a school full
of children.
The bus was sucked into the tornado's funnel in Caledonia, Miss. The
huge vehicle was hurled like a toy on top of a high school gymnasium
about 2 p.m. when students were still in class.
Luckily students were safe inside the solid brick walls, but the
principal ordered everyone to take cover in the hallways.
Student Ryan Putnam said it was a terrifying experience.
"They had to move us all into one part of the school in the hallways. As
we were sitting there, a girl sitting in front of me, she just passed
out. I tried to shake her up, wiggle her and she wouldn't wake up,"
Putnam said.
Two students suffered minor injuries, but the damage could have been far
worse if the tornado hit while students were boarding buses.
Towns Under Water
Tornadoes and heavy rain storms pummeled Mississippi and were blamed for
the deaths of two motorists in separate crashes during the downpours.
In Alabama's Lamar County near the Mississippi line, at least two houses
were destroyed in Sulligent, the National Weather Service said.
And in nearby Vernon, rescuers freed a woman who was pinned in her
vehicle after a tree fell on it, said Don Dollar, an administrative
assistant with the city.
Seven inches of rain and melting snow this week caused record-breaking
floods in Illinois and Indiana.
Residents of Watseka, Ill., said it was the worst flooding they'd ever
seen, and half the town remained underwater today.
Three families on one street lost their homes and are crowded in a
neighbor's house. They've been bailing water out of the basement all
night to keep the house dry.
The Sugar Creek River is seven feet over the flood marker, but the water
seems to have crested. It may take several days for the area to dry up,
because the ground is frozen and the water has nowhere to go.
The western part of the country didn't duck the wild weather either,
with tornados reported in Washington state and Vancouver, Canada, just
across the border from Oregon. No tornados have ever been reported in
that part of the country.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.