Tornado, April 29: The death toll from the heavy storms and tornados ripping through the southern US has reached nearly 300 people with Alabama taking the brunt of the atmospheric turmoil.
Governor Robert Bentley told a press conference on Thursday that a total of 194 fatalities have been recorded so far in the US state of Alabama, as the worst outbreak of tornadoes in almost 40 years left a trail of destruction in at least six states, the Associated Press reported.
Reports put the death toll in the six states, including Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia and Arkansas as high as 295, marking the worst tornado outbreak since 1974 when a gigantic tornado left more than 300 people dead.
More than 160 tornadoes were reported on Wednesday alone and if more than 148 are confirmed that would set a new record for a 24-hour period, according to local reports.
Over a million people are without electricity and damage to power lines has forced the shutdown of Alabama’s Browns Ferry nuclear power plant. The extent of the damage has forced officials to declare a state of emergency in most of the disaster-hit states.
Tuscaloosa, a city of more than 83,000 and home to the University of Alabama, was one of the hardest-hit areas and the city’s police and other emergency services were destroyed during Wednesday storms.
Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama called the tornado damage “nothing short of catastrophic”, and vowed to do whatever it takes to ensure that the disaster relief efforts are fully and properly executed in the tornado-stricken areas.
“We can’t control when or where a terrible storm may strike, but we can control how we respond to it,” Obama said during a press conference at the White House.
Obama is expected to pay a visit to the worst-hit areas of Alabama on Friday and meet with Governor Bentley, state and local officials and families affected by the storms.
——–Agencies