Severe Storms Slam Southeast U.S.

Officials say Tennessee was the hardest hit, with hail, high winds and torrential rains leading to 17 deaths, including a firefighter participating in rescue efforts. The storms claimed eleven lives in Alabama, five in Ohio, and one each in Pennsylvania and Mississippi. More than 200 people were injured across the region.

Thousands of people were without electricity on Monday. Rescuers combed through debris looking for survivors, while the newly homeless looked for ways to cope with the devastation.

“Yesterday, we had a nice brick house and four vehicles. Today, we don’t own a toothbrush,” Susan Henry of Mossy Grove, a rural community in Tennessee, told reporters.

Mossy Grove lost 12 of its 20 homes, many of them reduced to rubble. At least 40 people were listed as missing in surrounding Morgan County on Monday. Authorities believed those missing had probably survived the storms, but were unable to communicate with family members due to downed telephone lines and blocked roads.

Survey teams from the National Weather Service estimated that the winds may have reached 207 to 260 miles per hour, making the tornado an F4 category storm. This is the second most severe rating on the Fujita scale, which measures tornado intensity in terms of the damage left behind.

High winds toppled giant hardwood trees in Carbon Hill, Alabama, sending them crashing into houses and mobile homes. Winds also peeled off the roof of an elementary school. Seven people died in the Carbon Hill area, including two women found lying by a road.

Forecasters say the severe weather was a result of unseasonably high temperatures clashing with a cold front from Canada. Under such conditions, they say, tornadoes are not unusual this time of year.