"Tornadoes leave at least 54 dead across South."
Tornadoes and thunderstorms flattened the land and shattered lives across the U.S. South on Tuesday and Wednesday, killing at least 54 people and injuring more than 150in the deadliest such storms in nine years.
There were unconfirmed reports of 69 tornadoes swirling across those states and northward into Indiana, according to the National Storm Prediction Centre in Norman, Oklahoma.
The death toll rivaled that of a series of tornadoes in May 1999 in Oklahoma, Texas and other states, when about 50 people were killed, the center said.
The weather service and state officials said that in addition to the 30 killed in Tennessee, there were 13 dead in Arkansas, seven in Kentucky and four in Alabama. Injuries were widespread, with 149 people hurt in Tennessee alone.
Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen said he was shocked by the intensity and scope of a storm that "just literally sat on the ground in wide areas" along a track that was as much as 400 miles wide. Tornadoes typically kill about 70 people in the United States each year.
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear described a trail of devastation in his state seen from the air.
"In the path of it there is nothing left and on either side of it things are standing just like nothing has happened. It's an amazing picture to see."
Mississippi reported no deaths but about 11 injuries after two tornadoes ripped across an industrial park and in Jackson, Tennessee, a tornado damaged most of the student housing at Union University, injuring more than 50 students, though none of the injuries was life threatening.
US Killer Tornadoes of 2008
Feb 5-6 :- As many as 50 tornadoes struck this day, and at least 11 separate killer tornadoes caused 58 deaths in 4 states. Tennessee was the hardest hit with 32 deaths; 13 died in Arkansas, 7 in Kentucky, and 6 in Alabama. Three fork lift operators were killed as a tornado cut a swath through warehouses, factories, 120 homes and a mall in southeast Memphis. Two died in Madison County homes. The tornado then destroyed 17 buildings on the Union University campus, injuring more than 50 students, many of them trapped in dormitories. The deadliest tornado hit Sumner and Macon counties in Tennessee, killing 23 people. Three died in Hardin County, and one died in Fayette County.
Six people were killed in Alabama. A home was leveled in Lawrence County, killing a couple and their teenage son. In Jackson County, one woman was killed as her home in Pisgah was destroyed.
Seven died in Kentucky. Four deaths were in Allen County. The storm may have been in the same family as the deadly Tennessee tornado. In Muhlenberg County, a couple and their daughter were killed in a mobile home. There were thirteen deaths in six different Arkansas counties.
