Americas

Americas

Tornadoes cause damage to southern U.S.

02 March 2012 22:22 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A powerful storm system ravaging the U.S. Midwest moved south on Friday, hitting Alabama and Tennessee with apparent tornadoes that left houses shattered, and businesses damaged, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

According to Huntsville Times, a local newspaper in Alabama, two tornadoes touched down and hit northeast Alabama about 10 minutes apart, between 9 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. local time. It cited witnesses as saying they felt buildings shaking in Huntsville.

It said local properties suffered extensive damage, with lots of trees torn down, and a definite path of damage was left by the tornadoes. Damage is visible for about three-quarters of a mile, and at least four people were injured. Residents were assessing damage to a high school, prison and other locales.

An apparent tornado also damaged a state maximum security prison about 10 miles from Huntsville, but no inmates escaped. Alabama Department of Corrections spokesman Brian Corbette said there were no reports of injuries, but the roof was damaged on two large prison dormitories that each hold about 250 men.

"It was reported you could see the sky through the roof of one of them," Corbette was quoted by Fox News as saying. A portion of the prison fence was knocked down, but the prison was secure, he said.

The Limestone Correctional Facility in Capshaw houses more than 2,100 inmates, including more than 200 inmates who have tested positive for HIV and are segregated.

Authorities are confident that storms that hit Limestone and Madison counties were tornadoes, but it will be up to the National Weather Service to confirm them, Alabama State Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Yasamine August was quoted as saying.

Tornadoes were also reported in Tennessee’s Chattanooga, with reports of at least 24 injured. Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office confirmed weather-related injures, but no deaths. Bradley County mayor’s office also confirmed multiple homes damaged in Charleston.

The first tornado outbreak of the week began Tuesday night and left 13 dead across Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Tennessee, and battered parts of Kentucky as well