Death toll from a devastating line of thunderstorms that swept across the South hits 12.
Pastor Dale Morgan
Nov 17, 2:44 AM EST
*Death toll from a devastating line of thunderstorms that swept across
the South hits 12.*
By ESTES THOMPSON
Associated Press Writer
RIEGELWOOD, N.C. (AP) -- A tornado flipped cars, shredded trees and
ripped mobile homes to pieces in this little riverside community early
Thursday, killing at least eight people, authorities said.
The disaster brought the two-day death toll from a devastating line of
thunderstorms that swept across the South to 12.
Kip Godwin, chairman of the Columbus County Commission in North
Carolina, said authorities had concluded their search of the area where
the eight people died - a cluster of mobile homes and an adjacent
neighborhood of brick homes - and had accounted for everyone.
Twelve people were hospitalized, including four children in critical
condition, hospital officials said.
The storms, which began Wednesday, unleashed tornadoes and straight-line
winds that overturned mobile homes and tractor-trailers, uprooted trees
and knocked down power lines across the South.
In Louisiana, a man died Wednesday when a tornado struck his home. In
South Carolina, a utility worker checking power lines Thursday during
the storm was electrocuted. In North Carolina, two people died in car
crashes as heavy rain pounded the state, dropping as much as five inches
in some areas.
Off the coast, a Coast Guard helicopter lowered a pump to a fishing boat
that was taking on water in 15-foot seas about 50 miles from Charleston.
One crewman was aboard the 34-foot boat, which the Coast Guard escorted
back to land.
The tornado that struck Riegelwood - situated on the Cape Fear River
about 20 miles west of Wilmington - hit shortly after 6:30 a.m.
"There was no warning. There was no time," said Cissy Kennedy, a
radiologist's assistant who lives in the area. "It just came out from
nowhere."
As many as 40 mobile homes were damaged before the tornado crossed a
highway and leveled three brick homes. About 100 people were left
homeless, and dozens planned to sleep at a shelter at a nearby
elementary school. At least two of the dead were children, Columbus
County Sheriff Chris Batten said.
Household debris, including carpet and a laundry basket, was scattered
along a road. The storm dumped a minivan in a ditch, and an open
refrigerator that still had food inside was filled with rainwater.
County Commissioner Sammie Jacobs said that four to five mobile homes
were demolished, and that there were "houses on top of cars and cars on
top of houses."
"We've stepped across bodies to get to debris and search for other
bodies here this morning," Jacobs said.
The storm knocked out power to 45,000 customers in North Carolina. But
the electricity was back on in most places by mid-afternoon.
The storm system also caused minor flooding in the Washington area,
where rescuers grabbed several people stranded in their vehicles, and
slowed commuters along most of the East Coast.
The storm also knocked out power, which delayed Amtrak service in the
Northeast corridor, spokeswoman Tracy Connell said. Service was halted
between Baltimore and Washington until at least 6 a.m. Friday, Connell said.
In upstate New York, emergency workers were rescuing more than 200
residents from their homes and cars roofs in the Binghamton area,
authorities said. Sections of Interstate 88 were closed after mudslides
caused a multi-vehicle crash, seriously injuring one person.
Drivers abandoned vehicles in high water, and rain washed out several
roads and flooded hundreds of basements, police said.
Rain had eased or stopped in most areas by Friday evening as the system
moved north and east.
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Associated Press writer Mike Baker in Raleigh contributed to this report.