Several more die as storms pound South for second day:
Several people have died in a wave of thunderstorms that’s blowing down trees and damaging homes and businesses across the South.
The deaths have occurred from Arkansas to Alabama.
As of Thursday morning, the death toll was staggering — at least 61 killed in Alabama alone, a number that was likely to increase.
The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said it received 137 tornado reports around the region so far, including 66 in Alabama and 38 in Mississippi.
Source: Associated Press
A tornado that touched down Wednesday morning in western Ohio snapped and uprooted several trees and damaged the roof of an RV dealership.
Many residents of New Carlisle in Clark County were angry because the tornado sirens didn’t go off until the storms had passed through.
In Butler County, tornado sirens were activated after a deputy spotted what looked like a funnel cloud forming. However, the National Weather Service could not confirm the report, and NWS meteorologist Andrew Snyder said it was unlikely a funnel cloud developed in the area.
The deputy made the observation at approximately 7:55 a.m. and the Butler County Emergency Management Agency subsequently notified all dispatch centers to activate tornado sirens under their control, according to EMA Director Jeff Galloway.
The emergency agency follows a well-defined protocol for when to activate sirens, Galloway said.
When the NWS issues a tornado warning or when there is a “credible eyewitness account of either a funnel cloud or tornado on the ground,” sirens are activated, Galloway said.
Galloway said the deputy saw a funnel cloud forming to the ground and continued tracking it into the St. Clair Twp. area.
“He’s a very credible eyewitness, and when he told me that, I immediately had the dispatch centers set the sirens off.”
After sirens were sounded, the Butler County Jail went into lockdown and Miami University issued a message alerting students and staff of the reported funnel cloud and advised them to take shelter.
The EMA has trained approximately 200 weather spotters in the past two years to identify hazardous conditions, according to Galloway. “Deputies, police chiefs, fire officials are all determined to be a credible witnesses,” Galloway said. “It takes a coordinated effort to alert residents of any dangerous conditions.”
Residents today can expect more rain, anywhere from 1 to 3 inches. If estimates hold true, the region will break the 74-year-old record of 13.86 inches of rain for a single month.
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