HARRISBURG, Ill. (AP) — Crews cleared splintered plywood and smashed appliances from small-town neighborhoods Thursday, a day after tornadoes killed 13 people in the Midwest and South. But the forecast held a menacing possibility: More twisters may be coming, and they could be even stronger.
Damaged communities tried to take advantage of the brief break in the weather, mindful of one meteorologist's warning that by Friday, both regions would again be "right in the bull's eye."
Skies were sunny in the southern Illinois community of Harrisburg, where Darrell Osman was back in the rubble of his dead mother's home, trying to salvage what he could before more storms roll in. When he arrived, a neighbor handed him his mother's wallet, which the storm had deposited in a truck near her home.
If another twister hit the same area, the blow to the town would be grave, he said.
"On a personal level, I think I've been hit as hard as I can be hit, but it would be disheartening for this community," Osman said.
National Weather Service meteorologist Beverly Poole said severe storms are expected to roll through the region again after midnight Thursday and linger into early Friday, possibly bringing hail and rain.
Then yet another system is expected to arrive Friday afternoon.
Poole says both rounds of violent weather carry the potential of more tornadoes.
The weather service planned to bring a severe-weather specialist to the region's command center to provide up-to-the-minute information before and during the storms.
Osman awoke before Wednesday's storm because he was alerted by his special weather radio. He said early warning equipment was essential.
"The peace of mind you get from it sitting on your dresser is well worth the cost," he said.
Ryan Jewell, a meteorologist with the Storm Prediction Center, said the next system is forecast to take a similar path as Wednesday's storms and has the potential for even more damage.
On Friday, he said, both the Midwest and South will be directly in the danger zone.
At least 16 tornados were reported from Nebraska and Kansas across southern Missouri to Illinois and Kentucky, according to the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., an arm of the National Weather Service.
Six people were killed in Harrisburg when blocks of homes were flattened by the storms.
In Missouri, one person was killed in a trailer park in the town of Buffalo, while two more fatalities were reported in the Cassville and Puxico areas.
A tornado also hopscotched through the main thoroughfare of the country music mecca of Branson, Mo., damaging some of the city's famous theaters just days before the start of the town's crucial tourist season.
Three people were reported killed in eastern Tennessee — two in Cumberland County and another in DeKalb County.
And in Harveyville, Kan., a man whose home collapsed on him was taken off life support Wednesday evening. An EF2 tornado with winds up to 130 mph had demolished much of the tiny community.
Some people don't take storm warnings seriously, Osman said, but "they might change their thinking now."
"I always took them seriously," he added. "I always felt those sirens were there for a reason."
The National Weather Service listed the Harrisburg tornado as an EF4, the second-highest rating given to twisters based on damage. Scientists said it was 200 yards wide with winds up to 170 mph.
Adding to the danger, it hit as many slept — a timing research meteorologist Harold Brooks called unusual but "not completely uncommon."
Brooks, with the NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Okla., said perhaps 10 percent of tornadoes happen between midnight and 6 a.m., a time when the danger level rises because the storms are harder to spot and it's harder to get the word out.
"If you're asleep, you're less likely going to hear anything, any warning message on the danger," Brooks said.
That didn't appear to be the case in Harrisburg, where the mayor expressed gratitude for storm spotters he credited with saving lives.
At Harrisburg Medical Center, staffers were alerted to the tornado's approach by the sheriff's department some 20 minutes ahead of time.
"We get these calls periodically, and often it's a false alarm," said the center's CEO, Vince Ashley. "But we get them often enough that everyone knows what to do."
Nurses hustled patients into the hallways and away from windows, closing the doors behind them. They were fighting to close the last of the heavy, steel fire doors at the end of the hallway when the tornado came.
Seconds later, Ashley said, windows started shattering, walls shook and ceiling tiles rattled.
The fierce winds blew some walls off some rooms, but no one was hurt.
Some portions of the hospital were so badly damaged they will have to be completely rebuilt.
Nearby, Amanda Patrick was rousted by the sirens with about five minutes to spare.
She called Donna Rann — her neighbor and co-worker at the U.S. Forest Service — to alert her but got no answer, then thrust herself into a bathtub as the twister blasted through.
"Not trying to be holy, I got on my knees and said, 'God, watch over me,'" she said.
The winds shifted the tub as the walls buckled above her. In a T-shirt and pajama pants, she crawled shoeless into the rain and muck.
She called out for Donna and her husband, Randy, but heard nothing back. Both died in their duplex across the street.
Hours later, tears streamed down Patrick's face as she grieved.
"A couple weeks ago, there was a bad storm, and I looked out the window to check on them," she said, sobbing. "Donna texted me and said, 'I saw you in the window.' She was checking on me. That's the way we were, always just looking out for each other."
This time, she said, "they didn't have a chance."
___
Jim Salter and AP photographer Mark Schiefelbein in Branson, Mo., Rochelle Hines in Oklahoma City, Okla., and Janet Cappiello in Louisville contributed to this report.
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HARRISBURG, Ill. (AP) — Crews cleared splintered plywood and smashed appliances from small-town neighborhoods Thursday, a day after tornadoes killed 13 people in the Midwest and South. But the forec...
HARRISBURG, Ill. (AP) — Crews cleared splintered plywood and smashed appliances from small-town neighborhoods Thursday, a day after tornadoes killed 13 people in the Midwest and South. But the forec...
As residents in downstate Harrisburg, Ill., continue to recover from the tornado that devastated their town and killed at least six people early Wednesday, residents...
IF YOU REALLY WANT TO HELP OUR NATION, THEN, READ ON.
KATRINA, RITA, WILMA, GUSTAV, IKE, IRENE, THE TORNADOES THAT DESTROYED GREENSBURG, KS., JOPLIN & BRANSON, MO., HARRISBURG, ILL. AND OTHERS MAY HAVE BEEN PREVENTED, WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGIES TO DO SO. OUR DEDICATED PUBLIC OFFICIALS ARE AWARE OF THIS, AND,.....NONE CARE.
Gus A. Rodriguez, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Ph. 954-741-1410
Tavito: IF YOU REALLY WANT TO HELP OUR NATION, THEN, READ
I grew up 7 miles from Harrisburg & have been in the destroyed neighborhood hundreds of times before the storm. Sad to see this.
Here is a link to video my friend Chris made just an hour or two after the tornado. He was going to check his grandmother's house and had to walk through because there was too much rubble in the way to drive.
Tornados in FEBRUARY and MARCH? And you dfon't think there is anything unusual about this year, 2012. Look over the jeadlines, school killings lie we've never had before, and now, tornados in what's supposed to be winter.
afretired1984: Tornados in FEBRUARY and MARCH? And you dfon't think there
We all share the sheer terror and destructive force of bushfires (wildfires), floods and hurricanes (cyclones), but all of my emotions are challenged when I see the indiscriminate brutality of tornados.
I could never imagine the sadness.
Let the best of human kindness shine on future days.
WellReadAussie2: We all share the sheer terror and destructive force of
The Midwest is subject to this devastation yearly but they certainly don't get the press and government concern that Katrina did and does. These are mostly working folk can are suffering. THEY usually just suck it up and start all over again.
twoshoes4u: The Midwest is subject to this devastation yearly but they
I wonder if Eric Cantor is going to require Spending Cuts to cover the costs of helping these people.
This type of action is NOT what the USA is about. We help each other at times like this and worry about the bills afterwards. When we have to ASK where the money is going to come from BEFORE helping Americans in need, but are more than willing to give repeated unfunded Tax Breaks for the Wealthy......we have lost our way in the United States of America.
AFRescue143: I wonder if Eric Cantor is going to require Spending
I have been to "tornado alley' once. I have an aunt in Indiana. She has lived there for 30+ years, and supprisingly, no tornados in the immediate vicinity, yet. As soon as she heard of this tragedy/disaster, she packed a bag and moved to DC temporarily.
I will nevver understand how residents of states that are in 'tornado alley' just continue to choose to live there. Suprisingly, 'tornado alley' is NOT as I had originally thought it was. I always thought 'tornado alley' was every state on either side of the Mississippi River, and it's not.
ae12wrangell: I have been to "tornado alley' once. I have an
Actually, regardless of where anybody live's, there will be some type of disaster. In case you ever wondered, the safest state to live is North Dakota, but it will get way too cold
Every single state has some kind of disaster. I live in NY, and have been the 'victim' of a Hurricane's Gloria, Ivan, Irene, Bob, and a few other hurricane's. There was a 'tornado' although USGS does not refer to it as such.
Every single state has had an earthquake. In fact, where you are, the earth under your house is being monitored by official's at USGS. Every sq. inch of every state has been shaken by an earthquake. Some as high as 8.9, some a small/minor as 0.1
(Source; US Geological Survey)
ae12wrangell: Actually, regardless of where anybody live's, there will be some
Actually, there are 5 tornado allies, I think is the number now.
Your fear depends on what you were raised with. I've been in tornadoes, I'm afraid of them, but not as afraid as I am of an earthquake. A tornado you've, got a chance, earthquake you have no place to run.
Justdontgetit: Actually, there are 5 tornado allies, I think is the
Earthquakes are all over the United States. Pick a state, any of the 50. Now, pick any village/city in that state. More than likely it has had an earthquake, - 8.9 in Alaska or as small as 0.1
(Source; USGS)
ae12wrangell: Earthquakes are all over the United States. Pick a state,
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First Posted: 03/ 1/2012 1:54 am Updated: 03/ 1/2012 2:24 pm