Tornados Ravage South; at least 280 dead

[Ed Anger]

It's sunny here right now.

Yeah, it is okay right now. Which means they get a day of working on washed out roads before they get washed out again.

[Valmy]

Anyway, I think the Ohio is expected to crest today.  Downtown Louisville is = threatened with catastrophic damage.  This has been the wettest April in the history of the city.

I'm sick of the wet.

We are in the middle of a horrible drought with no end in sight.  I would love to take some off your hands.

[Ed Anger]

Anyway, I think the Ohio is expected to crest today.  Downtown Louisville is = threatened with catastrophic damage.  This has been the wettest April in the history of the city.

I'm sick of the wet.

We are in the middle of a horrible drought with no end in sight.  I would love to take some off your hands.

I'd love for you to have some. This shit isn't good for grapes.

[Scipio]

Flooding has closed all of the casinos in Tunica, MS until further notice.  Power be out all over the place.  Luckily, our urbanites are dazzling, so Jackson will have a healthy glow tonight.

[OttoVonBismarck]

I was staying with my grandparents one summer in SW VA and I was like 7 or 8. I remember distinctly that I had just learned the "fact" that tornadoes couldn't hit in the mountains.

We were driving to visit my great-grandparents (my family is notoriously long-lived) and a bad storm was coming through. We were right in town with a wooded hill to our right and houses to our left. The wind was really bad and suddenly we heard loud crashes and trees started falling over. Before we knew it a funnel cloud comes right over the hill not too far behind us, any trees in its path were knocked over. It actually started physically pushing the car forward despite my grandfather locking the breaks. He then intentionally drove through someone's flower bed / yard and into a side street to get distance from it.

As quickly as it appeared it was gone, I have no idea what it was rated but it was relatively weak, it was knocking over small trees and such. It passed directly through several houses without causing any notable damage.

Still was amazing to actually see one, they almost look so strange that actually seeing it you sort of wonder "is this for real?"

[Caliga]

I saw a tornado down in Houston once.  It looked badass.  Good thing I didn't have a house in its path or anything.

That's the weird thing: that sort of severe weather is dangerous as hell, but it's almost mesmerizing to watch.  A very dangerous supercell came through my area the other night (with accompanying tornado warning).  It was pitch black but whenever lightning lit it up, which was extremely often, it was totally awesome to watch... and I mean awesome in the original sense of the word, not valley girl awesome.   Oddly enough it wasn't even raining or windy where my house is, but the storm was only like 3 miles to my south.

[Caliga]

Flooding has closed all of the casinos in Tunica, MS

What will those poor fake Indians do to make a living now?

[Ed Anger]

I got to see one in 2000 when Xenia Ohio turned on its tornado magnet and got hit again. The supermarket a street or so from the hospital got pulverized.

Sorta interesting viewing the funnel cloud FROM the hospital.

[Ed Anger]

http://www.twitvid.com/4W6PU

Notice the stadium. Roll Tide.

[garbon]

That was my thinking too.

Oh? What do you know about Alabama?

[Grey Fox]

That was my thinking too.

Oh? What do you know about Alabama?

Bubba Gump Shrimps!

[lustindarkness]

I can report that my family and my house are ok. A lot better than others can say.

[Caliga]

I can report that my family and my house are ok. A lot better than others can say.

This morning someone said Birmingham got slammed too... is that right? I knew Tuscaloosa got its ass kicked, but didn't hear anything about Birmingham...

[lustindarkness]

I can report that my family and my house are ok. A lot better than others can say.

This morning someone said Birmingham got slammed too... is that right? I knew Tuscaloosa got its ass kicked, but didn't hear anything about Birmingham...

Yeah.

A devastating daylong sweep of tornadoes ripped through Alabama on Wednesday, killing at least 128 people while smashing houses, businesses and government buildings.

The worst path of destruction started in Tuscaloosa and cut across the heart of metro Birmingham, a path where at least 26 lives were lost. A second tornado in Walker County killed 13.

Rescue crews worked late into the night to free those trapped in homes and businesses and to dig through the rubble for bodies.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley declared a state of emergency and mobilized about 1,400 Alabama National Guardsmen. The damage was so widespread that it'll likely be days before the full death toll and property destruction are assessed across the state.

Hardest hit was metro Birmingham, where at least 26 people were confirmed dead as of late Wednesday -- 13 in Walker County, 11 in Jefferson County, including a child whose parents have not been located, and two in St. Clair County.

"We are going to retrieve the bodies we can right now," said Jefferson County Chief Deputy Coroner Pat Curry. "In a situation like this, the first step is to make sure we have a positive ID."

Fifteen deaths were counted in Tuscaloosa County and more than 100 injuries.

"This is probably one of the biggest outbreaks in the Southeast in quite some time and that's saying something given the recent ones we've had," said Tom Bradshaw, National Weather Service meteorologist in the Southern Region headquarters in Fort Worth.

The enormously wide tornado that roared through Birmingham about 6 p.m. was from the same supercell system that produced the tornado that touched down just south of downtown Tuscaloosa, said Jim Stekovich, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service Birmingham office. "We've had -- just as predicted -- a massive outbreak of strong, violent tornadoes today," Stekovich said.

From: http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/04/street-by-street_search_effort.html

[Caliga]

Jesus... yeah this sounds like the one I mentioned earlier that tore through Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana back in the 30s or so.  I think the death count from that one was over 600 after all was said and done.  Hopefully this one doesn't approach that figure.