Forecasters downplay 3rd-day dire predictions
LOUISVILLE, Miss. — Ruth Bennett died clutching the last child left at her day care center as a tornado wiped the building off its foundation. A firefighter who came upon the body gently pulled the toddler from her arms.
“It makes you just take a breath now,” said next-door neighbor Kenneth Billingsley, who witnessed the scene at what was left of Ruth’s Child Care Center in this logging town of 6,600. “It makes you pay attention to life.”
Bennett, 53, was among at least 35 people killed in a two-day outbreak of twisters and other violent weather that pulverized homes from the Midwest to the Deep South. The child, whose name was not released, was alive when she was pulled from Bennett’s arms and was taken to a hospital. Her condition was not known.
As crews in Mississippi and Alabama turned from search-and-rescue efforts to cleanup, forecasters began to downplay their initially dire predictions of a third round of deadly twisters Tuesday. Meterologists said the storm system had weakened substantially by evening, although some tornado watches and warnings were still in effect for isolated areas.
In North Carolina, the National Weather Service reported tornado touchdowns in five counties Tuesday, but the twisters caused only moderate structural damage to homes and toppled some trees. Two cities in the state reported extensive flooding from the storm system. No injuries were reported.
One of the hardest-hit areas in Monday evening’s barrage of twisters was Tupelo, Miss., where a gas station looked as if it had been stepped on by a giant.
Francis Gonzalez, who also owns a convenience store and Mexican restaurant attached to the service station, took cover with her three children and two employees in the store’s cooler as the roof over the gas pumps was reduced to aluminum shards.
“My Lord, how can all this happen in just one second?” she said in Spanish.
On Tuesday, the growl of chain saws cut through the otherwise still, hazy morning in Tupelo. Massive oak trees, knocked over like toys, blocked roads. Neighbors helped one another cut away limbs.
“This does not even look like a place that I’m familiar with right now,” said Pam Montgomery, walking her dog in her neighborhood. “You look down some of the streets, and it doesn’t even look like there is a street.”
By the government’s preliminary count, 11 tornadoes — including one that killed 15 people in Arkansas — struck the nation’s midsection on Sunday, and at least 25 ravaged the South on Monday, the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center said.
Among those killed was 21-year-old University of Alabama swimmer and dean’s list student John Servati, who was taking shelter in the basement of a Tuscaloosa home when a retaining wall collapsed on him.
His death — and that of at least two others in Alabama — came the day after the third anniversary of an outbreak of more than 60 tornadoes that killed more than 250 people across the state.
In Kimberly, Ala., north of Birmingham, the firehouse was among the buildings heavily damaged.
Four firefighters suffered little more than cuts and scrapes, but the bays over the fire trucks were destroyed, and the vehicles were covered with red bricks, concrete blocks and pieces of the roof.
The trucks were essentially trapped, so the town had to rely on nearby communities for emergency help.
Louisville was also one of the hardest-hit areas, with officials reporting at least nine dead in and around town because of a powerful tornado with a preliminary rating of EF4, just shy of the top of the scale.
A team formed by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks was searching on Tuesday for an 8-year-old boy still missing from the community after rescuers found the bodies of his parents near their destroyed home. The boy was believed to have been with his parents when the tornado struck, said department Capt. James Crawford.
Sennaphie Yates arrived at the small local hospital in Louisville to check on her grandfather just ahead of Monday’s twister. As the funnel cloud closed in, staff members herded people into a hall.
“They had all of us against the wall and gave us pillows. They said, ‘Get down and … don’t get up,'” she said.
The winds knocked down two walls and tore holes in the roof. Doctors moved some emergency room patients to a former operating room and sent some to other hospitals.
Bennett’s day care center was not far from the hospital. Her niece Tanisha Lockett had worked at Ruth’s Child Care since it opened seven years ago.
She said all but the one child — a 4-year-old girl who had been in the center’s care since she was a baby — had been picked up before the storm.
On Tuesday, Bennett’s family and those who worked for her stepped over schoolbooks, first aid supplies and a Hooked on Phonics cassette as they tried to salvage paperwork.
“We’re just trying to keep a smile on our faces,” said Jackie Ivy, an employee. “I cried all last night.”
Destroyed automobiles and remnants of homes cover the ground in a south Louisville, Miss., neighborhood, Tuesday, April 29, 2014. A dangerous storm system that spawned a chain of deadly tornadoes over two days flattened homes and businesses, and killed dozens from the Midwest to the Deep South. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
A demolished car sits on North Gloster Street across from what remains of a shell gas station in Tupelo, Miss, after a tornado touched down on Monday, April 28, 2014. At least three tornados flattened homes and businesses, flipped trucks over on highways and injured an unknown number of people in Mississippi and Alabama on Monday as a massive, dangerous storm system passed over several states in the South, threatening additional twisters as well as severe thunderstorms, damaging hail and flash floods. (AP Photo/Jim Lytle)
Hunter Allred attempts to coax out a cat that was underneath a home along Clayton Ave in Tupelo, Miss., Monday, April 28, 2014. Allred was helping the home’s owner who had returned looking for pets after a severe weather system blew through the South. (AP Photo/The Commercial Appeal, Brad Vest)
Ambulances gather outside the Winston Medical Center in Louisville, Miss., Monday, April 28, 2014 after a tornado hit the small hospital as well as several homes in the community. At least three tornados flattened homes and businesses, flipped trucks over on highways and injured numerous people in Mississippi and Alabama as a massive, dangerous storm system passed over several states in the South. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Buildings are damaged along Gloucester Street after a tornado in Tupelo, Miss., Monday, April 28, 2014.T ornados flattened homes and businesses, flipped trucks over on highways and injured numerous people in Mississippi and Alabama on Monday as a massive, dangerous storm system passed over several states in the South, threatening additional twisters as well as severe thunderstorms, damaging hail and flash floods. (AP Photo/The Daily Mississippian, Thomas Graning)
Buildings are damaged along Gloucester Street after a tornado in Tupelo, Miss., Monday, April 28, 2014.T ornados flattened homes and businesses, flipped trucks over on highways and injured numerous people in Mississippi and Alabama on Monday as a massive, dangerous storm system passed over several states in the South, threatening additional twisters as well as severe thunderstorms, damaging hail and flash floods. (AP Photo/The Daily Mississippian, Thomas Graning)
Buildings are damaged along Gloucester Street after a tornado in Tupelo, Miss., Monday, April 28, 2014. Tornados flattened homes and businesses, flipped trucks over on highways and injured numerous people in Mississippi and Alabama on Monday as a massive, dangerous storm system passed over several states in the South, threatening additional twisters as well as severe thunderstorms, damaging hail and flash floods. (AP Photo/The Daily Mississippian, Thomas Graning)
A responder shines his flashlight into the remains of several mobile homes as he searches for survivors in Louisville, Miss., early Tuesday morning, April 29, 2014 after a tornado hit the east Mississippi community Monday. Tornadoes flattened homes and businesses, flipped trucks over on highways and bent telephone poles into 45-degree angles as they barreled through Alabama and Mississippi on Monday, part of a storm system that killed at least nine people in the South and brought the overall death toll from two days of severe weather in the country to at least 26. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Justin Shaw, left, helps Nick Conway erect a flag pole at his home that was destroyed by a tornado, Monday, April 28, 2014, in Vilonia, Ark. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Nick Conway surveys his tornado destroyed home, Monday, April 28, 2014, in Vilonia, Ark. Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe has asked for a Major Disaster Declaration for Faulkner County, which was hit hardest by a deadly tornado that rolled through the state. (AP Photo/Eric GayAP Photo/Eric Gay)
DELETES REFERENCE TO DEATH TOLL – Quapaw, Okla., residents survey the damage in a residential neighborhood struck by a tornado on Sunday evening, April 27, 2014. A powerful storm system rumbled through the central and southern United States on Sunday, spawning a massive tornado that carved path of destruction through the northern Little Rock suburbs and another twister that hit in Oklahoma. (AP Photo/Tulsa World, Gary Crow) KOTV OUT; KJRH OUT; KTUL OUT; KOKI OUT; KQCW OUT; KDOR OUT; TULSA OUT; TULSA ONLINE OUT Gary Crow / For the Tulsa World
DELETES REFERENCE TO DEATH TOLL – First responders, volunteers and firemen gather on Main Street in Quapaw, Okla. after a tornado struck the city on Sunday evening, April 27, 2014. A powerful storm system rumbled through the central and southern United States on Sunday, spawning a massive tornado that carved path of destruction through the northern Little Rock suburbs and another twister that hit in Oklahoma. (AP Photo/Tulsa World, Gary Crow) KOTV OUT; KJRH OUT; KTUL OUT; KOKI OUT; KQCW OUT; KDOR OUT; TULSA OUT; TULSA ONLINE OUT
A officer talks to people at 15th and Military following Sunday’s tornado in Baxter Springs, Kan., Sunday April 27, 2014. A powerful storm system rumbled through the central and southern United States on Sunday, spawning a massive tornado that carved through Little Rock’s northern suburbs and another that hit Oklahoma and Kansas. (AP Photo/The Joplin Globe, Roger Nomer )
John Ward, an automobile and RV dealer, looks at tornado damage to one of his trucks in Mayflower, Ark., Sunday, April 27, 2014. At least 16 people died Sunday night in Arkansas as a tornado carved an 80-mile path of destruction. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)
A man walks past a wrecked automobile and RV on Interstate 40 in Mayflower, Ark., Sunday, April 27, 2014. A powerful storm system rumbled through the central and southern United States on Sunday, spawning a massive tornado. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)
Travel trailers and motor homes are piled on top of each other at Mayflower RV in Mayflower, Ark., Sunday, April 27, 2014.A powerful storm system rumbled through the central and southern United States on Sunday, spawning tornadoes. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)
This photo provided by James Bryant shows tornado damage, Sunday, April 27, 2014 in Mayflower, Ark. A powerful storm system rumbled through the central and southern United States on Sunday, spawning several tornadoes, including one that killed two people in a small northeastern Oklahoma city and another that carved a path of destruction through several northern suburbs of Little Rock, Ark. (AP Photo/Courtesy of James Bryant) MANDATORY CREDIT
An SUV is buried under wreckage, the result of a storm that hit Quapaw, Okla., Sunday, April 27, 2014. A powerful storm system rumbled through the central and southern United States on Sunday, spawning tornados. (AP Photo/Miami News-Record/Jim Ellis
Twisted trees and power lines remain in a residential block near Military Avenue following the tornado in Baxter Springs, Kan., Sunday, April 27, 2014. A powerful storm system rumbled through the central and southern United States on Sunday, spawning a massive tornado that carved through Little Rock’s northern suburbs and another that hit Oklahoma and Kansas. (AP Photo/The Joplin Globe, Roger Nomer )
A K-9 rescue unit walks along Military Street in Baxter Springs, Kan., April 27, 2014, as they survey the damage from Sunday’s tornado. A powerful storm system rumbled through the central and southern United States on Sunday, spawning a massive tornado that carved through Little Rock’s northern suburbs and another that hit Oklahoma and Kansas. (AP Photo/The Joplin Globe, Roger Nomer )
Residents view damage from a Sunday night tornado in Baxter Springs, Kan., Monday, April 28, 2014. The tornado left a trail of shattered homes, twisted metal and hanging power lines. One person died, but it was not clear whether the death was related to the storm. Volunteers were meeting early Monday to discuss cleanup efforts. Emergency officials say 60 to 70 homes and 20 to 25 businesses were destroyed or damaged in the town. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
A tornado-damaged home is covered by tarps in Baxter Springs, Kan., Monday, April 28, 2014. The tornado left a trail of shattered homes, twisted metal and hanging power lines. One person died, but it was not clear whether the death was related to the storm. Volunteers were meeting early Monday to discuss cleanup efforts. Emergency officials say 60 to 70 homes and 20 to 25 businesses were destroyed or damaged in the town. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
A piece of a pole hangs from a power line near tornado damage in Baxter Springs, Kan., Monday, April 28, 2014. The tornado left a trail of shattered homes, twisted metal and hanging power lines. One person died, but it was not clear whether the death was related to the storm. Volunteers were meeting early Monday to discuss cleanup efforts. Emergency officials say 60 to 70 homes and 20 to 25 businesses were destroyed or damaged in the town. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
Bob Hessee checks out property owned by a friend and damaged by a tornado Sunday evening in Baxter Springs, Kan., Monday, April 28, 2014. The tornado left a trail of shattered homes, twisted metal and hanging power lines. One person died, but it was not clear whether the death was related to the storm. Volunteers were meeting early Monday to discuss cleanup efforts. Emergency officials say 60 to 70 homes and 20 to 25 businesses were destroyed or damaged in the town. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
The remains of a home damaged by a tornado Sunday evening stands in Baxter Springs, Kan., Monday, April 28, 2014. The tornado left a trail of shattered homes, twisted metal and hanging power lines. One person died, but it was not clear whether the death was related to the storm. Volunteers were meeting early Monday to discuss cleanup efforts. Emergency officials say 60 to 70 homes and 20 to 25 businesses were destroyed or damaged in the town. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
A trail of debris, bottom, leads along the path of a tornado-devastated neighborhood in Vilonia, Ark., Monday, April 28, 2014, after a tornado struck the town late Sunday. The most powerful twister this year carved an 80-mile path of destruction through suburbs north of the state capital of Little Rock, killing at least 16 people. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)
A tornado’s path is seen in an aerial photo made over Baxter Springs, Kan., Monday, April 28, 2014. A tornado damaged dozens of buildings and injured at least 25 people on Sunday. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
Two men stand in front of a destroyed house in Mayflower, Ark., Monday, April 28, 2014, after a tornado struck the town late Sunday. A tornado system ripped through several states in the central U.S. and left at least 17 dead in a violent start to this year’s storm season, officials said. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)
Houses are destroyed in Mayflower, Ark., Monday, April 28, 2014, after a tornado struck the town late Sunday. A tornado system ripped through several states in the central U.S. and left at least 17 dead in a violent start to this year’s storm season, officials said. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)
A tornado’s path is seen in an aerial photo made over Baxter Springs, Kan., Monday, April 28, 2014. A tornado damaged dozens of buildings and injured at least 25 people on Sunday. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
Homes and businesses are wrecked in downton Vilonia, Ark., Monday, April 28, 2014 after a tornado struck the town late Sunday. The most powerful twister this year carved an 80-mile path of destruction through suburbs north of the state capital of Little Rock, killing at least 16 people. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)
People walk between two destroyed houses in Mayflower, Ark., Monday, April 28, 2014, after a tornado struck the town late Sunday. A tornado system ripped through several states in the central U.S. and left at least 17 dead in a violent start to this year’s storm season, officials said. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)
Ambulances gather outside the Winston Medical Center in Louisville, Miss., Monday, April 28, 2014 after a tornado hit the small hospital as well as several homes in the community. At least three tornados flattened homes and businesses, flipped trucks over on highways and injured numerous people in Mississippi and Alabama as a massive, dangerous storm system passed over several states in the South. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Buildings are damaged along Gloucester Street after a tornado in Tupelo, Miss., Monday, April 28, 2014. Tornados flattened homes and businesses, flipped trucks over on highways and injured numerous people in Mississippi and Alabama on Monday as a massive, dangerous storm system passed over several states in the South, threatening additional twisters as well as severe thunderstorms, damaging hail and flash floods. (AP Photo/The Daily Mississippian, Thomas Graning)
Buildings are damaged along Gloucester Street after a tornado in Tupelo, Miss., Monday, April 28, 2014.T ornados flattened homes and businesses, flipped trucks over on highways and injured numerous people in Mississippi and Alabama on Monday as a massive, dangerous storm system passed over several states in the South, threatening additional twisters as well as severe thunderstorms, damaging hail and flash floods. (AP Photo/The Daily Mississippian, Thomas Graning)
Buildings are damaged along Gloucester Street after a tornado in Tupelo, Miss., Monday, April 28, 2014.T ornados flattened homes and businesses, flipped trucks over on highways and injured numerous people in Mississippi and Alabama on Monday as a massive, dangerous storm system passed over several states in the South, threatening additional twisters as well as severe thunderstorms, damaging hail and flash floods. (AP Photo/The Daily Mississippian, Thomas Graning)
Hunter Allred attempts to coax out a cat that was underneath a home along Clayton Ave in Tupelo, Miss., Monday, April 28, 2014. Allred was helping the home’s owner who had returned looking for pets after a severe weather system blew through the South. (AP Photo/The Commercial Appeal, Brad Vest)
Destiny Simmons sits in the rubble of her home that was destroyed by a tornado as she talks on a cell phone, Monday, April 28, 2014, in Vilonia, Ark. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Residents of Four Corners look at the damage left by a tornado that hit their small community about 20 miles from Louisville, Monday, April 28, 2014. Tornados flattened homes and businesses, flipped trucks over on highways and injured numerous people in Mississippi and Alabama on Monday as a massive, dangerous storm system passed over several states in the South, threatening additional twisters as well as severe thunderstorms, damaging hail and flash floods. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Nick Conway surveys his tornado destroyed home, Monday, April 28, 2014, in Vilonia, Ark. Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe has asked for a Major Disaster Declaration for Faulkner County, which was hit hardest by a deadly tornado that rolled through the state. (AP Photo/Eric GayAP Photo/Eric Gay)
Workers flip a fallen wall as they search through homes destroyed by a tornado, Monday, April 28, 2014, in Vilonia, Ark. Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe has asked for a Major Disaster Declaration for Faulkner County, which was hit hardest by a deadly tornado that rolled through the state. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Constance Lambert embraces her dog after finding it alive when returning to her destroyed home in Tupelo, Miss., Monday, April 28, 2014. Lambert was at an event away from her home when the tornado struck and rushed back to check on her pets. (AP Photo/The Commercial Appeal, Brad Vest)
Justin Shaw, left, helps Nick Conway erect a flag pole at his home that was destroyed by a tornado, Monday, April 28, 2014, in Vilonia, Ark. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Jodi Walls pushes a box of belongings out of a friends house while cleaning up after a large tornado made its way along Clayton Ave in Tupelo, Miss., Monday, April 28, 2014. (AP Photo/The Commercial Appeal, Brad Vest)
Justin Shaw, left, helps Nick Conway erect a flag pole at his home that was destroyed by a tornado, Monday, April 28, 2014, in Vilonia, Ark. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
An American flag stands limp in front of a gas station-convenience store that had its roof mangled by a tornado on Monday, April 28, 2014, in Tupelo, Miss. With parts of the U.S. recovering from deadly tornadoes, more heavy storms are making their way across the South. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz).
Dust and debris fly as workers flip a fallen wall as they search through homes destroyed by a tornado, Monday, April 28, 2014, in Vilonia, Ark. Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe has asked for a Major Disaster Declaration for Faulkner County, which was hit hardest by a deadly tornado that rolled through the state. (AP Photo/Eric Gay
Residents survey damage along a street in Tupelo, Miss., Monday, April 28, 2014. Tornados flattened homes and businesses, flipped trucks over on highways and injured numerous people in Mississippi and Alabama on Monday as a massive, dangerous storm system passed over several states in the South, threatening additional twisters as well as severe thunderstorms, damaging hail and flash floods. (AP Photo/The Daily Mississippian, Thomas Graning)
Greg Lunsford photographs a home destroyed by a tornado in his neighborhood, Monday, April 28, 2014, in Vilonia, Ark. Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe has asked for a Major Disaster Declaration for Faulkner County, which was hit hardest by a deadly tornado that rolled through the state. (AP Photo/Eric Gay