Tornado outbreak rips across Deep South; at least 5 dead

摘要

Tornadoes and severe storms have torn through the Deep South, killing at least five people as strong winds splintered trees, wrecked homes and downed power lines. The tornado outbreak rolled into western Georgia early today. Meteorologists said one large, dangerous tornado moved through Newnan and surrounding communities in the Atlanta metro area. A day earlier, a sheriff in eastern Alabama said a tornado cut a diagonal line through his county, striking mostly rural areas. "Five people lost their lives, and for those families, it will never be the same," Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew Wade said at briefing yesterday evening. As many as eight tornadoes might have hit Alabama yesterday, said John De Block, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Birmingham. Multiple twisters sprang from a "super cell" of storms that later moved into Georgia, he said.