AS Dilanda Puting Beliung Lagi, Lebih 20 tekorban

AS dilanda puting beliung, 18 maut

KANSAS CITY, Amerika Syarikat (AS) 11 Mei - Ribut petir dan puting beliung melanda di bahagian tengah Amerika Syarikat petang semalam, meragut sekurang-kurangnya 18 nyawa.

Puting beliung itu turut meranapkan bangunan dan menyebabkan ramai penduduk terperangkap di bawah runtuhan rumah.

Bencana itu membadai kawasan-kawasan yang masih belum pulih sepenuhnya akibat kejadian yang sama baru-baru ini.

Menurut Jabatan Kaji Cuaca Kebangsaan, sekurang-kurangnya enam orang terbunuh di bandar Picher di negeri Oklahoma yang mengalami kemusnahan yang meluas.

Pakar kaji cuaca Bill Davis dari Kansas City di negeri Missouri pula melaporkan 12 lagi terkorban di barat daya negeri itu, dengan 10 kematian dicatat dekat Seneca di Newton County, kawasan yang paling teruk dilanda puting beliung tersebut.

Pengurus Agensi Pengurusan Kecemasan Oklahoma, Michelann Ooten, memberi amaran bahawa angka kematian mungkin meningkat lebih tinggi.

Beliau berkata, sebuah kawasan kediaman yang mempunyai 20 blok bangunan di Oklahoma mengalami kerosakan besar akibat bencana tersebut.

"Pasukan penyelamat sedang berusaha mencari mangsa yang terperangkap di bawah runtuhan bangunan, dengan sejumlah besar daripada mereka dipercayai cedera," katanya.

Puting beliung turut dilaporkan membadai bahagian tenggara Oklahoma, dengan rakaman televisyen menunjukkan sejumlah besar bangunan dan rumah kediaman mengalami kerosakan teruk.

Di bandar Stuttgart di tenggara negeri Arkansas, puting beliung merosakkan sejumlah besar bangunan serta menyebabkan pokok-pokok tumbang.

Seorang wanita tua dilaporkan terperangkap dalam rumahnya yang roboh.

Puting beliung telah membunuh 13 penduduk di AS pada 5 Februari lalu dan meragut tujuh lagi nyawa pada 2 Mei lalu.

- AP



Rescue Crews Search for Survivors After Storms Kill 23 in Three States


Emergency crews searched through wreckage on Sunday from violent storms that killed at least 23 people in Missouri, Oklahoma and Georgia.

In Missouri, tornadoes tore through small towns in the southwestern section of the state, overturning cars and smashing buildings. Capt. Tim Hull of the Missouri Highway Patrol said Sunday morning that 14 people had been confirmed killed by the storm, which struck just after 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. He did not have a total number of people injured, but said area hospitals were treating people from the storm.

“Search and rescue is still continuing,” Captain Hull said in an interview.

Captain Hull said several of those killed were in their cars when the tornado touched down and others were killed when their houses were hit. Twelve of the confirmed deaths occurred in Newton County.

“It’s a rural area,” he said. “There are some small towns that were hit hard.”

Gov. Matt Blunt, of Missouri, said in an interview on CNN on Sunday afternoon that about 9,000 state residents were without power and could remain so for three to five days as crews worked to repair the electrical grid. He said emergency crews were “ensuring that we have found any potential survivors or anyone unaccounted for.”

The governor said at least 85 people had been injured by the storm and “some of those injuries are fairly severe.”

In a statement made at his departure on Sunday from Crawford, Tex., President Bush said the federal government would offer assistance to the states hit by the tornadoes.

“We send our prayers to those who lost their lives, the families of those who lost their lives,” he said.

The tornadoes first touched down on Saturday evening in Oklahoma. One roared through the small town of Picher, tearing buildings off their foundations and killing at least seven people, according to a statement from Oklahoma state emergency officials. The officials said 150 people in the town were injured. The tornado destroyed a 20-block area in the town, ripping down trees, power lines and utility poles, the officials said.

”I swear I could see cars floating,” Herman Hernandez, 68. told The Associated Press. ”And there was a roar, louder and louder.”

State officials were assessing the damage on Sunday afternoon.

“This obviously was a big storm,” Gov. Brad Henry of Oklahoma said in an interview on CNN on Sunday afternoon. “Looks like it had a swath about half a mile wide.”

The governor said he had spoken to Mr. Bush earlier on Sunday about federal assistance for the area, but he was first concentrating on meeting immediate needs.

“Right now our focus is on search and rescue and making sure the people on the ground are safe and have a place to spend the night,” he said.

Mr. Henry said the state had been making offers to buy homes in Picher because of environmental contamination from decades of zinc and lead mining. He said the storm would not stall the program.

“We are all committed to seeing the buyout through,” he said.

The same storm system moved into southwest Missouri and into Georgia, where at least two other people were killed in the town of Dublin, about 120 miles south of Atlanta, The A.P. reported.

On Sunday morning, Jane Lant was sorting through the debris of her bridal shop about 10 miles north of Seneca, The A.P. reported. A body wrapped in blue tarp lay next to the shop. Her husband’s feed store and a home across the road were also destroyed.

Ms. Lant said she was relieved that the store had closed an hour before the twister hit.

”We would have had people in here at 6 when it hit,” she said.

The National Weather Service estimated that at least eight tornadoes had been spawned in Oklahoma along six storm tracks, The A.P. reported. Three teams were dispatched to assess damage, a meteorologist, Steve Amburn, said.

According to statistics from the National Weather Service’s Web site, 2008 has seen a large number of tornadoes. So far this year, the weather service had received reports of 819 tornadoes, compared with an average of 539 tornadoes from January through May over the last three years.

This weekend’s tornadoes follow several outbreaks of violent weather earlier this year: 22 people were killed by tornadoes that touched down in four states on Feb. 5; two were killed in Georgia on March 14, and another seven were killed in Arkansas on May 2

By JOHN SULLIVAN
Published: May 12, 2008