Strong storms hit Alabama, kill two (Reuters)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) – Search and rescue team combed through debris in Alabama after powerful thunderstorms pummeled the state early on Monday, killing at least two people and leaving heavy damage just hours after tornadoes struck portions of Arkansas.

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley declared a state of emergency after the predawn storms hit the Birmingham area, with the towns of Center Point and Trussville just to the northeast of the city hit particularly hard.

Two people were confirmed dead, according to Pat Curry, Jefferson County's chief deputy coroner; one in Clay, a city of roughly 10,000 people, and another in the western part of the county.

Earlier, an emergency management official had reported three deaths.

"We have major, major damage," said Bob Ammons, a Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) official, referring to Center Point, Trussville and some unincorporated areas of the county.

About 100 people were treated for injuries, said Jefferson County EMA spokesman Mark Kelly.

Last April, massive tornadoes tore through Alabama killing more than 240 people, including 64 in the Jefferson and Tuscaloosa areas.

On Monday, in St. Clair County, Alabama, spokeswoman Katie Reese said a local fire department estimated some 36 homes had been damaged, and some of them destroyed.

The possibility for sporadic thunderstorms in the region lingered, according to AccuWeather.com senior meteorologist Henry Margusity, but overall the severe weather was calming down.

THOUSANDS WITHOUT POWER

Clean-up and recovery efforts were under way across Alabama on Monday afternoon.

Food safety inspectors had been dispatched to assess damage and power outages at retail food establishments, state officials said, adding that any compromised products would be taken off shelves.

Search and rescue efforts were ongoing, according to Matt Angelo of the Center Point fire department. The injury count in that area northeast of Birmingham remained at about 12, he said.

At nearby Parkway Veterinary Clinic animals were being transported to a safe location after the structure sustained a direct hit during the storm, a spokeswoman said.

Earlier, rescue crews were dispatched to investigate reports of an overturned mobile home with people trapped inside, said Debbie Orange, city clerk for the city of Clanton, about midway between Birmingham and Montgomery. No injuries could be confirmed.

A preliminary report from the weather service's storm prediction center indicated a radio station in Clanton, Alabama was destroyed and a 302-foot (92-meter) transmission tower "toppled" due to the severe weather.

A tornado is suspected, but not yet confirmed, in the radio station destruction, according to the National Weather Service.

In Tennessee, the worst storm damage was in the middle of the state, with downed trees and power lines. In western Tennessee, structural damage resulted from winds whipping up to 65 mph, meteorologists said.

These were the latest in a series of powerful January storms to have torn through the Southeast.

On Sunday, twisters downed trees and powerlines in Arkansas leaving thousands without power.

A tornado ripped into an area outside of Fordyce, some 70 miles south of state capital Little Rock, damaging houses and felling trees and power lines as it moved, according to Accuweather.com.

The National Weather Service in Little Rock rated the Fordyce area tornado as an EF2, on a scale that ranges from EF0 to EF5, the most severe. The town of just under 5,000 people was one of the hardest hit areas in a series of storms that struck Arkansas on Sunday night.

Significant damage occurred to houses northwest of the small town, the city's country club and a set of transmission towers, it said in a statement.

The weather service has reported as many as eight possible tornadoes may have touched down on Sunday night in Arkansas, which was pelted by soft-ball sized hailstones and buffeted by winds gusting up to 70 miles per hour.

By Monday, almost 8,000 customers across Arkansas were still without power, according to utility provider Entergy Arkansas, Inc.

(Additional reporting by Tim Ghianni in Nashville, Suzi Parker in Little Rock and Kelli Dugan in Mobile, Alabama; Writing by Dan Burns and Lauren Keiper; Editing by Greg McCune and Sandra Maler)

View the original article here

Rare January Tornado Kills Two in Alabama (ContributorNetwork)

The Associated Press reports two people have died in Alabama due to a fast-moving line of severe storms. Officials have seen damage patterns that are concurrent with an EF2 tornado, although that has not been determined by National Weather Service officials at this point. If a tornado did touch down, it is a rare weather phenomenon in January for the U.S.

Tornadoes don't normally form in the winter, yet over the past three years winter time severe storms have made headlines.

Data

The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center states an average of 17 tornadoes struck the U.S. in January over the past three years. There were six in 2009, 30 in 2010 and 16 in 2011. Preliminary data in 2012 indicate there have been 13 possible tornadoes this year as of Jan. 17. No deaths have been reported in the previous three years until the streak was broken this year.

Outbreak of 2008

Fox News reported in early January 2008 that eight people died due to severe storms that struck the Midwest. Heavy flooding swept away three people in Indiana when five inches of rain melted snow that contributed to the massive flooding. A tornado in central Arkansas killed one resident and a separate tornado killed two people in Missouri.

An EF3 tornado hit northern Illinois, the first tornado to hit Illinois in January since 1950. The storm track of the 2008 tornado was 13.2 miles long and about 100 yards wide.

Wisconsin also had a tornado spawned by the same storm system that struck Illinois. It was the first January tornado in Wisconsin since 1967. Two tornadoes formed in southeast Wisconsin as a stationary front helped produce a lot of moisture.

Why January Tornadoes?

If the weather is right, temperatures can rise across the contiguous 48 states in January. South winds and sunny skies are usually needed for such conditions to form ahead of colder temperatures coming from the north and west.

In the 2008 outbreak, tornado warnings and severe weather happened across portions of eight states. Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana and Oklahoma. Cities in several northern states such as New Jersey and New York ahead of the storm front moving through those areas. Cities that had severe weather also saw record high temperatures.

In 2010, a tornado passed over Huntsville, Ala. Southern states are more likely to see winter time tornadoes as temperatures are higher in places like Louisiana, Alabama and Florida. Sometimes warm winds and weather systems in the Gulf of Mexico and tropical Atlantic Ocean can blow up into the U.S. mainland and increase temperatures. Then colder air comes from Canada to cause a sudden temperature drop that can form tornadoes.

William Browning is a research librarian.

View the original article here

Storms kill at least two in Alabama (Reuters)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) – Search and rescue team combed through debris in Alabama after powerful thunderstorms pummeled the state early Monday, killing at least two people and leaving heavy damage just hours after tornadoes struck portions of Arkansas.

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley declared a state of emergency after the predawn storms struck the Birmingham area, with the towns of Center Point and Trussville just to the northeast of the city hit particularly hard.

Two people were confirmed dead, according to Pat Curry, Jefferson County's chief deputy coroner, one in Clay, a city of roughly 10,000 people, and another in the western part of the county.

Earlier, an emergency management official had reported three deaths.

"We have major, major damage," said Bob Ammons, a Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency official, referring to Center Point, Trussville and some unincorporated areas of the county.

About 100 people were treated for injuries, said Jefferson County EMA spokesman Mark Kelly.

Last April, massive tornadoes tore through Alabama killing more than 240 people including 64 fatalities in the Jefferson and Tuscaloosa areas.

On Monday, in St. Clair County, Alabama, spokeswoman Katie Reese said a local fire department estimated some 36 homes were damaged, and some of them were destroyed.

The possibility for sporadic thunderstorms in the region lingered, according to AccuWeather.com senior meteorologist Henry Margusity, but overall the severe weather was calming down.

Clean-up and recovery efforts were under way across Alabama Monday afternoon.

Food safety inspectors had been dispatched to assess damage and power outages at retail food establishments, state officials said, adding that any compromised products would be taken off shelves.

Search and rescue efforts were ongoing, according to Matt Angelo of the Center Point fire department. The injury count in that area northeast of Birmingham remained at about 12, he said.

At nearby Parkway Veterinary Clinic animals were being transported to a safe location after the structure sustained a direct hit during the storm, a spokeswoman said.

Earlier, rescue crews were dispatched to investigate reports of an overturned mobile home with people trapped inside, said Debbie Orange, city clerk for the city of Clanton, about midway between Birmingham and Montgomery. No injuries could be confirmed.

A preliminary report from the weather service's storm prediction center indicated a radio station in Clanton, Alabama was destroyed and a 302-foot transmission tower "toppled" due to the severe weather.

A tornado is suspected, but not yet confirmed, in the radio station destruction, according to the National Weather Service.

In Tennessee, the worst storm damage was in the middle of the state, with downed trees and power lines. In western Tennessee, structural damage resulted from winds whipping up to 65 miles per hour, meteorologists said.

These were the latest in a series of powerful January storms to have torn through the Southeast.

On Sunday, twisters downed trees and powerlines in Arkansas leaving thousands without power.

A tornado ripped into an area outside of Fordyce, some 70 miles south of state capital Little Rock, damaging houses and felling trees and power lines as it moved, according to Accuweather.com.

The National Weather Service in Little Rock rated the Fordyce area tornado as an EF2, on a scale that ranges from EF0 to EF5, the most severe. The town of just under 5,000 people was one of the hardest hit areas in a series of storms that struck Arkansas Sunday night.

Significant damage occurred to houses northwest of the small town, the city's country club and a set of transmission towers, it said in a statement.

The weather service has reported as many as eight possible tornadoes may have touched down Sunday night in Arkansas, which was pelted by soft-ball sized hailstones and buffeted by winds gusting up to 70 miles per hour.

By Monday, less than 8,000 customers across Arkansas were still without power, according to utility provider Entergy Arkansas, Inc.

(Additional reporting by Tim Ghianni in Nashville, Suzi Parker in Little Rock and Kelli Dugan in Mobile, Alabama; Writing by Dan Burns and Lauren Keiper; Editing by Paul Thomasch and Greg McCune)

View the original article here

January Tornadoes Turn Deadly in Alabama (ContributorNetwork)

A severe line of storms that started in Arkansas and Missouri moved eastward, leaving a trail of destruction from high winds and tornadoes in the Midwest and the South. According to MSNBC, at least three people are dead in Alabama, and homes and businesses were destroyed in several states and thousands without power late Sunday and early Monday.

* The Storm Prediction Center of the National Weather Service posted preliminary data from the overnight storms and it included 22 tornado reports.

* In Arkansas, the SPC reported tornadoes were spotted near Fordyce, Coy, Slovak, Lodge Corner, DeWitt and Burks. The counties were Cleveland, Dallas, Lonoke, Prairie, Arkansas and Crittendon.

* In Mississippi, tornadoes were spotted near Trebloc and Lauderdale.

* In Tennessee, there was a possible tornado report in Dickson.

* MSNBC reported that in Alabama, the three deaths occurred near Birmingham. Center Point was hit especially hard. Tuscaloosa, which saw death and destruction from tornadoes in April, suffered damage.

* Accuweather.com reported a fourth fatality had occurred in Alabama.

* Accuweather also reported damage in the Paradise Valley, Millbrook and Clanton areas in Alabama. In Clanton, a tornado is believed to be behind the destruction of a radio station and transmission tower. A report from Millbrook stated winds knocked down trees and power lines and tore apart fences and metal buildings.

* There were reports of severe damage, downed trees, snapped power lines and debris blocking roads in several areas around Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana. The SPC received numerous reports of high winds and wind damage, lightning and power outages across parts of these states.

* In Arkansas and Tennessee, there were reports of tractor-trailers and signs blown over on Interstates, according to the SPC.

* Large hail was reported to the SPC from several states, with multiple reports of quarter-sized hail in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois and Kentucky. Some locations reported hail that was half-dollar in size and larger. There was a report of hail the size of a hen's egg in Calloway County, Ky., and at least one report of hail the size of softballs in Jefferson County, Ark.

* Following overnight high winds, the ferry at Cave-in-Rock, Ill., was closed temporarily, as reported by WPSD-TV. The ferry transports travelers the Ohio River between Illinois and Kentucky but high winds that continue in the region on the heels of Sunday night's storm system are still creating dangerous conditions in the area and the decision was made to close the ferry until weather conditions improve.

Tammy Lee Morris is certified as a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member and is a trained Skywarn Stormspotter through the National Weather Service. She has received interpretive training regarding the New Madrid Seismic Zone through EarthScope -- a program of the National Science Foundation. She researches and writes about earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, weather and other natural phenomena.

View the original article here

Alabama Schools Chilly Places for Immigrants, Notwithstanding Weather (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | It's not the weather than makes the Alabama schools too chilling for immigrant children this season. It's a new immigration law requiring parents to document citizenship or lack thereof when enrolling their children in public school.

With a judge upholding the state's right to require verification of citizenship status Thursday, Hispanic students fled the schools in droves, according to media reports. Supporters and opponents of the law can bicker over the true intentions behind it, but the people affected by it define its effects. They did so this week in keeping their children away from the school bureaucracy.

There's nothing to fear, school officials keep saying. But take a close look at what they're asking for and their assurances don't ring true. To enroll in an Alabama school, a family must now provide:

* A birth certificate documenting a child's place of birth;

* In the absence of a birth certificate, a signed, sworn statement providing the place of birth.

But that's not all. The failure to provide documentation results in the recording of the child as an illegal alien.

This law can't fulfill its purpose of documenting the undocumented because it relies on faulty methodology. The assumption that anyone failing to supply proof of citizenship is an illegal alien is likely to grossly inflate the number of illegal aliens reported to be attending school. Language and cultural barriers are two likely reasons Hispanic families might not provided documentation, even if their children are in the country legally.

The fact children might be legal while one or both parents isn't is another wrinkle. But might the over-counting inevitably resulting from presumption of illegal states be just what the anti-illegal alien movement wants? It's understandable people would question the motives behind a law so obviously biased.

Alabama's law also requires illegal aliens to incriminate themselves. In the media, the schools promise that parent answers won't be used to support deportation efforts, but that's not exactly what the law says. Under federal law, a state can't refuse this information to Homeland Security and Alabama expressly permits the information to be used for purposes consistent with federal law.

We won't use it against you is also today's answer. What happens next year or the year after when Alabama looks at its inflated count and decides that the cost of educating a slew of illegal immigrants is prohibitive? The Supreme Court has already spoken on the issue of kicking undocumented aliens out of public schools in Plyler v. Doe.

Preservation of a state's limited education budget for lawful students isn't sufficient justification, so Alabama would have to show a substantial state interest warranting exclusion of undocumented alien children from its schools to withstand a constitutional challenge. How much easier to pull out those incriminating documents and turn them over to police or immigration authorities. To do that would require a confidentiality waiver from the State Attorney General, but in a political climate hostile to immigrants, how hard would that be to obtain?

View the original article here

Tornado-delayed graduation finally held at Alabama (AP)

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – About 3,300 University of Alabama graduates have finally gotten the chance to walk in cap and gown, more than three months after a tornado hit Tuscaloosa and forced their commencement to be postponed.

The university held graduation exercises for its class of 2011 on Saturday and Friday night. The school awarded 4,770 degrees in all during three ceremonies, with about 70 percent for students who were to graduate in May but had to wait because of the deadly twister that struck near campus on April 27.

Several hundred people attended a candelight memorial service Friday night for the six students who died in the storm. All six received posthumous degrees.

University spokeswoman Cathy Andreen told The Associated Press on Saturday night that the memorial service was "an emotional ceremony but I think it meant a lot to the family and to everyone else who was there."

"It gave us a chance to bring some closure to everything that happened in April," she said.

Among those to attend the memorial service was Cecilianne King. She received her bachelor's degree in psychology on Saturday but is still coping with the death of her roommate Ashley Harrison.

"I'll be thinking of Ashley all the time because she's going to be with me," King told The Birmingham News.

During the morning ceremony, Ashley's parents, David and Darlene Harrison, went on stage and accepted the posthumous degree from the business school on behalf of their daughter. Darlene Harrison wiped away tears as she held the degree. The Texas couple both wore badges with a photo of their smiling daughter.

"It's amazing the love the university has shown," Darlene Harrison said afterward, according to the newspaper.

Others who accepted posthumous diplomas were relatives of Danielle M. Downs, Melanie Nicole Mixon, Morgan M. Sigler and Marcus Jeremy Smith. Storm victim Brandon Scott Atterton's mother could not attend.

The EF-4 twister that ravaged Tuscaloosa was among 62 tornadoes that hit Alabama on April 27, leaving dozens dead.

View the original article here

FEMA Drops the Ball Again, This Time with Alabama Tornado Victims (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | The Federal Emergency Management Agency, the government agency assigned to assist victims of natural disasters. The agency has a history of mismanagement, with Hurricane Katrina victims and now in the April and May tornado outbreaks in Alabama.

April and May saw the worst outbreak of tornadoes in the United States in 60 to 80 years. The Joplin, Mo., tornado in May had the highest death toll of any tornado since the 1920s. As of Monday, 153 people have died from the May 22 EF5 tornado.

From April 25-28, many Southern states saw a super tornado outbreak. States hardest hit were Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. 334 confirmed tornadoes across 21 states claimed 332 lives. The April 25-28 outbreak was the largest since the 1927 Tri-State outbreak. April 27 saw the single most widespread tornado damage since the 1936 Tupelo-Gainsborough outbreak.

FEMA is responsible for disaster assistance, particularly with organizing rescue and clean-up efforts and providing financial assistance. It is a government-run, taxpayer funded agency. Chief among the complaints about FEMA have been poorly trained staff, confused organization and leadership, inadequate and ineffectual disaster response plans and worst of all lack of coordination in getting emergency supplies to disaster sites.

FEMA only just announced that trailers for the April 25-28 and Joplin tornado victims were ready. It's been almost two months since the April tornadoes and almost a month since the Joplin tornado. In Katrina, the FEMA trailers caused many health problems with formaldehyde. If delays in getting trailers ready for victims are because of formaldehyde health issues, it doesn't take that long for the smell to dissipate.

FEMA has a history of being parsimonious with federal disaster money, too. Instead of administering grant money to the disaster victims it was intended for, it tends to make victims jump through too many complicated hoops to get it. That's what's happening in Alabama. Many homeowners and tenants who are applying for disaster relief are being denied assistance.

FEMA says tornado victims' homes which are missing walls, roofs and functional utilities show "insufficient damage" to qualify for help. Some homeowners have been able to get help from their insurance policies, but others have gotten trapped in red tape. These people having been living this way for nearly two months now.

FEMA isn't alone in dropping the ball on disaster relief. In Cordova, Ala., the single-wide FEMA trailers were banned. Because of health risks? No. The mayor thinks the trailers aren't pretty enough. Mayor Jack Scott explained that he didn't want "run-down trailers parked all over town years from now".

In February 2006 a report came out stating that the problems with FEMA existed before Hurricane Katrina. Some critics say the agency failed in its response to Hurricane Andrew back in 1992. That was 13 years prior to Katrina and still the agency was rife with unaddressed internal problems. Now in 2011, it seems FEMA still doesn't seem to be learning from its mistakes, nearly 20 years later.

Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben writes from 22 years parenting four children, 25 teaching K-8, special needs, adult education and home-school and six years in journalism.

View the original article here

Alabama residents cope with stress after deadly storms (Reuters)

TUSCALOOSA, Ala (Reuters) – Emeel Salem Jr. cried as he drove through Tuscaloosa on Saturday for the first time since the April 27 tornado ravaged the Alabama town.

"I'm missing turns because the landmarks that used to be there aren't there," said Salem, a University of Alabama alumnus who plays minor league baseball for the Tampa Bay Rays organization.

The Forest Lake home he rented during the off-season was gone. Where the home once stood, he could see Druid City Hospital, a view he didn't have before the storm.

"I knew it would hit me hard," he said. "I didn't realize I'd be overcome with emotions."

Salem said he wasn't worried about himself, but about fellow residents who lost everything.

It's a common response known as secondary traumatic stress or compassion fatigue, said Karla D. Carmichael, an assistant professor of counselor education at the University of Alabama.

Many of the state's residents are dealing with similar emotions in the storms' wake, and mental health experts are taking action to help.

The Alabama Department of Mental Health and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have partnered to activate Project Rebound, a federally funded program agencies use to assist residents when a natural disaster occurs.

Teams of counselors are on the ground helping residents in hard-hit areas, and the state will be able to hire more counselors for community outreach and educational services with FEMA's help, said John Ziegler, director of the public information office for the state's mental health department.

The state will open a call center to provide free crisis counseling as soon as counselors are hired and trained, he said.

"It's later, after the emergency crisis, that people begin to feel the weight of their emotions, and their loss and their grief," Ziegler said.

Roughly two-thirds of Alabama was ravaged by tornadoes on April 27. More than 230 residents died, including 43 in Tuscaloosa alone.

CHANGED LANDSCAPE FUELS STRESS

Though many of Tuscaloosa's 95,000 residents didn't lose a home or a relative, they have seen the devastation and felt the loss of neighborhoods, businesses and their sense of security.

Residents can no longer purchase craft supplies at Hobby Lobby, shop for discounted items at Big Lots, have a burger at Milo's or pick up coffee at Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. All those businesses were destroyed in the storm.

"Everybody in Tuscaloosa potentially has secondary traumatic stress to some degree or another," Carmichael said. "There's going to be an increase in substance abuse, compulsive behavior, over-spending, over-eating, gambling, addiction."

Children are not immune from the destruction.

The city's Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant was leveled during the storm. In the days following the tornado, Carmichael talked with kindergartners and first-graders who knew the Chuck E. Cheese character lived there and wanted to know where he had gone and whether he was okay.

"Chuck E. was taken care of just like everybody else," Carmichael told the schoolchildren. "Chuck E. has a new home. He is staying with friends until they build Chuck E. Cheese's back."

Alabamians who survived the tornadoes may experience depression, guilt, difficulty sleeping, fatigue, nightmares or extra worry in the wake of the disaster, experts said.

The Family Counseling Service in Tuscaloosa has been offering free counseling since the tornado and is now seeing residents come in for treatment.

At first, they feel shock and disbelief, followed by anger and resentment. There will be a sense of loss of what used to be before reaching the stage of acceptance, said Larry Deavers, the center's executive director.

There will be progression and regression as the city recovers, and it is normal for residents to experience different degrees of those stages, he said.

"It doesn't mean you can wrap a bow around it and be done with it," Deavers said. "That's just the way humans are developed and the way we process loss."

"The intensity of those emotions right now is temporary. The key is to allow one another to talk or not to talk."

(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Jerry Norton)

View the original article here