31
January, 2013
The
tornado caused significant damage in Adairsville, Georgia.
One
person died in that town and another died in Tennessee, authorities
reported. At least 17 people were injured in Georgia, two critically.
The
Adairsville death marks the first person killed by a U.S. tornado in
220 days, a record for most consecutive days without such a fatality,
said CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen.
The
storm churned eastward, prompting severe thunderstorm and flash-flood
warnings in eastern Tennessee and western portions of the Carolinas.
The front has led to nearly 400 reports of severe wind and 20 of
tornadoes over two days, from Texas to Pennsylvania.
In
the Adairsville storm, winds caused significant damage to a motel and
a manufacturing plant, according to Craig Millsap, fire chief and
interim emergency management director for Bartow County. The motel's
guests are believed safe and workers at the Daiki plant have all been
accounted for, he said.
Daiki
employees hid in a kitchen and bathroom as the tornado snatched the
roof off and left much of the plant in ruin. Two workers suffered
minor injuries.
The
driver of a commercial truck that was overturned near Adairsville
said the storm "grew legs and just started accelerating."
He told CNN Atlanta affiliate WGCL he was unscathed. "There is
no way in the world that if you see this debris behind me I should be
alive."
The
National Weather Service reported major structural damage and
overturned cars in downtown Adairsville, where a news crew for CNN
affiliate WSB-TV witnessed a tornado form and touch down Wednesday
morning.
The
death came when a building collapsed, Millsap said.
Nine
people in Bartow County suffered non-life-threatening injuries,
according to the Georgia Emergency Management Agency
The
storm caused major damage on and near Interstate 75, the Georgia
Department of Transportation said. The weather service, citing
emergency management officials, said dozens of cars had been
overturned near Exit 306 at Adairsville
Officials
reported up to 100 homes damaged in Bartow and Gordon counties.
Georgia emergency officials reported eight injuries in Gordon County,
north of Adairsville. Two of the injuries were described as critical.
"There
have been a number of entrapments and deputies, firemen and emergency
personnel have all been working to free those people," said
Gordon County Chief Deputy Sheriff Robert Paris. "I don't
believe we have any more trapped at this time."
The
tornado struck a subdivision that also was hit by storms in 2011,
Paris said. "This one appears to be much, much worse. But this
was almost the same path. There were some people that had to go
through both of them."
Gov.
Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency for both counties. State
officials late Wednesday afternoon said they had no reports of anyone
unaccounted for, but searches of homes and businesses were
continuing.
Trees
and power lines were down as the result of a possible tornado in
Georgia's Gilmer County, the weather service said.
In
Tennessee, a 47-year-old man died early Wednesday when high winds
toppled a tree onto a roof in Nashville, the Tennessee Emergency
Management Agency said. CNN affiliate WSMV said the victim was in a
building next to a home.
Other
injuries were reported in Chester, McNairy and Henderson counties,
emergency management spokesman Jeremy Heidt said.
The
National Weather Service also reported severe weather or damage
Wednesday in Texas, Mississippi and Alabama. Tornadoes were confirmed
in Marion County, Kentucky, and Harrison County, Indiana.
Northern
Florida, eastern Georgia, much of South Carolina and portions of
North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland were under a tornado watch
Wednesday evening.
CNN
meteorologist Chad Myers said the massive storm system was 1,000
miles north to south, moving east in a belt that will eventually
stretch from New York to Florida.
"If
it's hot and humid where you are, then you are still in the danger
zone," Myers said. "Storms can still be coming to you
tonight. ... The cold air is on the back side of it."
The
strong cold front causing the severe weather brought huge extremes in
temperature readings. Thermometers reached the low 80s in parts of
southeast Georgia and South Carolina, the 50s in Tennessee and the
30s in Illinois.
WFIE:
Storms blow new roof off tri-state church
Earlier,
in Alabama, the storms blew the metal roof off a building in
Sheffield, CNN affiliate WHNT said. The storm also damaged a church
steeple in Rogersville, the station reported.
In
Kentucky, winds blew off much of the roof of the Penrod Missionary
Baptist Church and damaged several homes, CNN affiliate WFIE
reported.
In
Nashville, the weather service listed dozens of damage reports across
the region: a funnel cloud was reported early Wednesday in Jackson
County, there were dozens of reports of downed trees and power lines,
and law enforcement reported damage to homes and businesses.
CNN
affiliate WSMV also reported the partial collapse of an office
building in Mount Juliet.
"I
built it myself to take an event like this. And it looks like a
freight train hit it," the station quoted building owner Dewey
Lineberry as saying. "It's just destroyed. It laid the building
down on top of cars, it put the building on top of people. It's
unbelievable."
Workers
who were inside the building when the storm hit took cover under
mattresses, the station said.
The
storm came dangerously close to WSMV, the station reported: Workers
had to move to a safe room when a buzzer in the newsroom alerted them
of storm danger around 4 a.m. Wednesday, the station reported.
CNN
iReporter Matt Davis said overnight storms damaged a historic brick
structure on Fairvue Plantation in Gallatin, Tennessee.
"The
plantation was a horse farm. Those (structures) have been standing
there for 100 to 200 years. It was sad to see those collapsed and
caved in. It's historic to the neighborhood," the high school
student said.
On
Tuesday, the storms raked Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, among
other places, with heavy rain and high wind.
