Search extends for US storm victims

US: Search and rescue teams combed through the rubble of destruction Monday from a wave of deadly tornadoes, looking for more victims in a disaster that has already claimed nearly 350 lives in the US south.

The grim search continued with more than 400 people unaccounted for following last week’s devastation around Tuscaloosa, raising fears that the death toll could mount.

Firefighters aided by sniffer dogs sifted through the wreckage of homes, buildings and looked under fallen trees in an area some two kilometers (1.2 miles) wide where a tornado swept through.

“We are tracking the whole area. We went from one sector to another with a group of 20 people and 10 dogs,” said Stuart Samples of Alpha Team K9 Search and Rescue, which has been working with local authorities.

Police have been restricting travel around the towns of Holt and Alberta, on the outskirts of Tuscaloosa, as the search for victims and possible survivors is carried out.

One team member told AFP that no storm victims were located on Sunday.

Tuscaloosa Mayor Walter Maddox said the high number of missing may simply be a question of communications being disrupted.

“My hope and prayer is that the number of missing, which seems so large and incredible, is that all of these are just those that haven’t been able to connect with each other,” he said, but added that “my sense is that we will have more fatalities.”

Alabama was worst hit, with 250 people killed and 2,219 injured.

Mississippi has confirmed 35 deaths, and its emergency management agency touched on the scope of the disaster in reporting 993 homes destroyed and another 2,527 damaged in the state.

There were also 34 deaths in Tennessee, 15 in Georgia, eight in Arkansas and five in Virginia.

The overall death toll of 347 is exceeded only by a tornado outbreak in March 1925 that left 747 people dead.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it estimated there were 312 tornadoes during the Tuesday-Thursday period.

In the local area around Tuscaloosa, some 5,000 properties have been damaged or destroyed, affecting an estimated 13,000 people.

In one area dotted by trailer homes and wood-and-metal structures on stilts, most of the structures were razed, with the tornado sending heavy appliances like refrigerators and washing machines flying in various directions.

“Here is my stepfather’s car,” resident Justin Boothe said, pointing to the wreckage of a vehicle dragged 30 meters (100 feet) and crushed under a tree.

Jerry Johnson left his home before the tornado hit and could not believe what he saw on his return. His house and everything that was inside blew up the street.

The corner gas station and general store called “Lucky Dollar” also disappeared.

“One hour after the tornado I came here and I asked the police: ‘Where’s the Lucky Dollar?’ And he told me, ‘You are standing on the property.’”

Daphne Hart, spokeswoman at the American Red Cross, said relief efforts may be protracted.

“This operation will take time,” she told AFP. “The devastation is immense.”

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano pledged the federal government would continue to support the stricken states, helping them “come to grips and recover from this really terrible swath of tornadoes that swept through the south.”

“That makes the sense of urgency for us even more acute when we see the type of damage we are seeing here today and the spirit of the people,” she told reporters in Smithville, Mississippi, on Sunday. Tuscaloosa, Tuesday, AFP