Deadly Tornadoes Toll Mounts
By Mark E. Ruquet
NU Online News Service, May 7, 9:17 a.m. EDT ? Officials say it is still too early to give cost estimates, but in terms of human life, Sunday's storms that ripped across the South have taken a major toll.
By some estimates, about 40 people died from a number of storm cells that produced killer tornadoes that cut swaths of destruction through the South.
Worst hit were Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee, where thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed.
Kurt Pickering, spokesman for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, said there are 17 confirmed deaths, possibly 18, from a series of storms that hit the western and southern portions of the state and extended east, affecting about a third of the state. At least 30 counties have reported damages, and there may be more, he said.
In terms of human life, this is the worst storm to hit the state since 1974, when tornadoes devastated the state, he said.
He said 1,834 homes and 329 mobile homes were damaged; however, the numbers are preliminary and subject to confirmation. No cost estimates were available, he added, and they would be coming from the Insurance Services Office Inc. through insurance claims. He said damages could be exacerbated as rains in the east bring flooding.
"Depending on how much flooding we get, this could be one of the worst," he observed.
Mr. Pickering added, "We ain't done yet," as another series of storms, similar to those that passed through the state over the weekend, is beginning to form and could pass through the state later in the week.
Officials in Kansas said yesterday that there were 7 total deaths reported in 7 counties hit by the storm cells.
Susie Stoner, a spokeswoman for the State Emergency Management Agency in Missouri, said the number of dead in the state stood at 17. A report yesterday that 15 were killed when a National Guard Armory collapsed was incorrect. Only one person was killed. The storm cells struck 17 counties, affecting 50 communities there.
State and federal officials are still reviewing the extent of the damage to determine if they should be declared disaster areas.
Jersey City-based ISO's Property Claim Services said yesterday that the tornadoes that struck a total of 14 states were declared catastrophes.
A spokesman for ISO's modeling service, AIR Worldwide in Boston, Mike Gannon, said it would not have a figure on the cost potential from the weather events until later in the week.
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