New Page 4
NAIONAL STORM SUMMARY
APRIL 2011
1st-5th…An
enormous tree limb that crashed through a Georgia family's bedroom killed a
father and the young son he was holding in his arms Tuesday as a fast-moving
storm system pounded the South with tornadoes, hail and spectacular lightning.
At least nine people were killed around the region, including several who died
on roads made treacherous by downed trees and power lines. Paramedics found the
4-year-old boy, Alix Bonhomme III, wrapped in the arms of his father, Alix
Bonhomme Jr., in a sight so wrenching that even grizzled rescuers wept.
Miraculously, a younger son in the bedroom wasn't hurt, nor was Bonhomme's
fiancee, Marcie Moorer, who was sleeping in another room. Moorer, who was still
in pajamas hours later, said she still couldn't fathom what happened when the
storm rumbled through Jackson, a town about 45 miles south of Atlanta. Her
3-year-old son Iysic rode his tricycle around a relative's front yard as she
looked on. "I'm still in shock. It hasn't hit me yet," said a bleary-eyed
Moorer, who was planning to marry Bonhomme in July.
Later
in the day, she added: "I'm just happy I have Iysic. That's all I can think
about." The storms were part of a system that cut a wide swath from the
Mississippi River across the Southeast to Georgia and the Carolinas on Monday
and early Tuesday. Drivers dodged debris during the morning commute in Atlanta,
where one person was killed when a tree fell on his car. Georgia officials
estimated the damage at $32 million but that it would likely climb. The National
Weather Service had confirmed at least eight of the nearly two-dozen possible
tornadoes it was investigating in several states, though the damage in Jackson
was blamed on 60 mph winds that weren't part of a twister. The system that also
knocked out power to hundreds of thousands had moved over the Atlantic Ocean by
late morning. Crews were restoring power to many. In Augusta, Ga., a practice
round for the Masters golf tournament was delayed by 45 minutes while workers
cleaned up debris. One of Augusta National Golf Club's famed magnolia trees was
destroyed by the storm. In rural south Georgia, authorities said 45-year-old
Christopher McNair was found dead under debris after a mobile home in Dodge
County was ripped from its foundation by a tornado. Authorities say his body was
thrown about 100 yards from the trailer, and three other people in the structure
were injured. A relative, Ricky McNair, described a desperate search for the man
in an interview with WMAZ-TV. "Oh my God, I was hollering at the top of my
voice, hoping that he could hear me and hoping that I could hear him answer me,"
McNair said, choking back tears. "And when I found him, I just, I just broke
down." An unidentified Irwin County man was killed when a tree struck his home,
according to emergency officials. And 56-year-old Ronnie Taylor, a Colquitt
County road worker, was killed when he struck a large oak tree in the middle of
the road as he was driving to work early Tuesday. Memphis fire officials said an
87-year-old man found dead in his home Monday was electrocuted by a downed power
line. In southern Mississippi, a 21-year-old man was killed when his car struck
a tree that had fallen across a road, Copiah County coroner Ellis Stuart said.
The Georgia Department of Corrections said Robert Kincaid Jr., a state inmate
being housed in the Colquitt County Prison, was killed Tuesday morning during
storm cleanup when a tree fell on him. Elsewhere, emergency officials were
thankful the storm didn't do greater damage. And it wasn't limited to the South.
In Ohio at least three tornadoes were confirmed. Strong winds ripped off part of
the roof of an Ashland City, TN, elementary school gymnasium, but officials said
no children were injured. Seven people working at a plant in western Kentucky
were injured Monday when a possible tornado hit, but dozens others were spared
because they were on break at the time. "We're fortunate not to have any
serious injuries or death," Christian County Emergency Management Director Randy
Graham said. In Jackson, the mayor estimated it would take weeks - or longer –
to clean the wreckage. Some residents say they saw the sky turn an eerie green
hue as the storm struck. Bennie Battle, Moorer's stepfather, said he remembers
the sky lighting up as the worst of the weather hit. "It was just a lot of wind
and lightning," said Battle, who lives down the street from Moorer. "It was like
being in the middle of a laser show." Bonhomme Jr., a New York native whose
accent made him stand out, worked two jobs to support his family at the Family
Dollar and Little Caesars, both a short walk from their modest duplex. Friends
and neighbors said he was a devoted father who was always quick to strike up a
conversation. "He was a hard-working kid and a family man," said Tray Head, a
neighbor. "He was always in his yard playing with the kids. He was just about
the nicest guy I ever met." Firefighters swarmed Bonhomme's house after the
storm passed, trying to save the father and son. Head saw some rescuers cry
after they uncovered the bodies.
"You
never see them cry because they're used to seeing everything," he said. "But
when they saw that, they started bawling."
Low
pressure in the Mid-Atlantic brought precipitation and strong thunderstorms to
the country from central Florida through Eastern Massachusetts. Heavy rain also
fell in the central Appalachians. Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia both
saw heavy rain throughout the day. While strong thunderstorms were reported
throughout the region, no damage had been reported by late afternoon. A cold
front that dropped through the northern Rockies and Plains brought some cloud
cover and showers to the Rockies and Dakotas, but no significant precipitation
was noted outside of the mountains where some snow fell on the peaks. In the
Great Basin, showers were reported through eastern Nevada and western Utah.
10-16th…Jamy
Garden's house began to rumble with the approach of a tornado that at one point
measured three-quarters of a mile wide. Then the windows shattered, spraying her
with glass. Using her cell phone as a
flashlight, she fled downstairs and called her grandmother. On Sunday, she
returned home, wandering her backyard in a blood-splattered hooded sweat shirt,
her right hand and left knee wrapped in gauze. Around her lay a tangle of tree
branches, twisted siding, broken glass and a canoe that wasn't hers. The tornado
that struck the evening before damaged more than half of Mapleton, a town of
1,200 in western Iowa, Mayor Fred Standa said Sunday. He estimated about 20
percent of the town was "almost flat."
The
huge, centuries-old trees the town was named for had been pulled out
of the
ground and wrapped around houses and tossed on top of cars,
Standa
said. In one case, a huge motor home had been flipped on its side.
"It's
not a pretty sight," Standa said. "It's something nobody has seen in this town."
Garden's house survived, but everything inside was tossed around. Her two dogs
were safe, but she hadn't yet found her cat.
"I
don't know where our gazebo went," she said. "The garbage can right
there,
that was in the front yard. The shed is gone. I don't know what
else
to tell you. This is the most tumultuous thing I've ever
experienced by far." The tornado destroyed 12 to 15 blocks in the southwest
corner of Mapleton when it struck about 7:20 p.m. Saturday, Monona County
Sheriff Jeff Pratt said. The tornado destroyed about 100 homes beyond repair,
and has displaced an estimated 500 to 600 residents, he said. The tornado was on
the ground for three and a half miles and measured three-quarters of a mile wide
at one point, according to the National Weather Service office in Valley, Neb.
The twister was measured to be on the lower end of an EF3, which carries wind
speeds of 136 to 165 mph. The tornado was one of several reported in Iowa. The
weather service said it had confirmed a total of four smaller twisters that
touched down
near
Early and Nemaha, damaging several homes. In Mapleton, the roof was blown off a
high school, power lines were downed and homes and buildings were destroyed.
Pratt said two people were taken to hospitals with minor injuries. The weather
service said it had received reports of 14 to 16 injuries, the most severe a
broken leg. Utilities also were damaged, and gas fumes filled the town,
prompting officials to shut off service. Pratt said gas service will remain off
for the next two weeks, but electricity should be restored in the next day or
so. The smell of natural gas hung thick in the air Sunday as forklifts and
pick-up trucks hauled debris down streets lined with fallen trees. Tamara Adams,
37, piled branches on the curb, next to the 30-foot-tall tree that rested on top
of her house. She said she closed her outside basement door just as the tornado
tore the roof off a store that sits diagonal from her house. "That sound," she
said. "I'll never get it out of my head. It had a life. You could hear it
breathing and growling." Terry Siebersma, who runs a downtown liquor store with
his wife, was manning his shop when he heard the tornado sirens and saw the sky
turn green. In the distance, he saw the twister swirl into view. "It was almost
like the movies," he said. "It was loud really loud." Siebersma, 53, said he
rushed to the basement. Upstairs, he heard bottles breaking. He emerged several
minutes later, and the store looked fine. He said he walked to a back storage
room and discovered the roof missing and one wall on the verge of collapse. Gov.
Terry Branstad issued an emergency proclamation covering Mapleton and
surrounding Monana County on Saturday so the state could send services to
respond to the storm, his office said. He toured Mapleton on Sunday afternoon.
Branstad said it was too early to know whether the tornado qualified for
federal aid. "Whatever state resources are needed, we're going to provide," he
said. Monana County is in the same region of western Iowa where four Boy Scouts
died in a tornado that struck a scouting ranch in June 2008. The National
Weather Service said the tornado that hit the 1,800-acre Little Sioux Scout
Ranch in the Loess Hills had an estimated wind speed of 145 mph.
24th…-30th…Severe
storms popped up across the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi River Valley
on Monday. The system obtained energy as flow around it pulled in moisture in
from the Gulf of Mexico. This produced warm and humid conditions along a front
that triggered heavy showers and thunderstorms from the Great Lakes to Texas.
Warmer and more humid conditions in the South allowed for these storms to turn
severe. Nickel to quarter size hail was reported in Wylie and Garland, Texas,
with winds estimated at 45 to 55 mph. Meanwhile, multiple trees and power lines
were blown down by strong wind gusts across Arkansas and Oklahoma. The system
even produced tornadoes, with multiple tornadoes spotted across Shelby county in
Tennessee. Rainfall totals varied between 1 to 2 inches, with up to 3 inches in
areas of severe thunderstorm activity. Coffeyville, Kansas reported a mid-day
total of 3.10 inches of rain. The northern side of this system brought lighter
rainfall and less intense winds to the Midwest and up the Ohio River Valley as
the system extended toward the Northeast. Rainfall totals ranged around a half
of an inch across the Midwest, with winds around 20 mph.
Jim G. Munley, jr.
http://www.jimmunleywx.com
