Washington - Dozens of tornadoes touched down throughout the
southern United States late Tuesday and early Wednesday, killing at
least 48 people and injuring dozens more on the largest election day
to date in the 2008 presidential race, according to media reports
Wednesday.
The 67 twisters forced early closure of election stations Tuesday
night across some of the worst hit states - Tennessee, Arkansas,
Kentucky, Alabama and Mississippi - and ploughed down powerlines.
The collision of warm and cold weather fronts - unusual for the
winter time - was blamed for the havoc.
Tennessee had the largest death toll of 24, broadcast reports
said. Rescue officials were assessing the full extent of the damage
on Wednesday morning.
For the third time since 2001, the private Union University in
Jackson, Tennessee, was hard hit, trapping 13 students for five hours
and seriously injuring nine of them.
David Docker, university president, surveyed the damage as he
talked to reporters in broadcast footage, saying: 'To see what
happened on this campus with no loss of life is amazing.'
In a statement posted on its website, the university said that the
tornado had destroyed 40 per cent of the student dormitories and
delivered added damage to another 40 per cent of the living quarters.
The damage exceeded that of the 2002 storm by 15-fold.
In Arkansas, a boat factory completely collapsed 'with people in
it,' said Governor Mike Beebe in a telephone interview with MSNBC.
He said in addition to emergency services, the national guard and
forestry people were working to find missing people and clear damage.
'Local people are just helping their friends and neighbours and
it's amazing to see the rebuilding start less than 24 hours
afterwards,' Beebe said.
The tornadoes that struck across Arkansas caused at least
seven deaths, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. A spokesman for
the state's governor said rescue teams worked through the
night to discover survivors.
At least three people were killed in a mobile home park in
Kentucky, the National Weather Service reported, while heavy damage
was also reported in northern Mississippi as strong winds turned over
trucks on highways and destroyed buildings.
The storms came amidst the political frenzy of the largest
presidential party primary vote in US history, where voters in 24
states were picking their favoured nominee.
Both Democratic contenders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama
offered their condolences to the victims of Tuesday's disaster during
rallies in their home states of New York and Illinois on the night.
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