I'm headed to the river, to go canoeing and fishing! Have a great weekend everyone, Jesse :)

Central US begins tornado cleanup
May 13, 2008 - 7:13AM


Survivors have begun cleaning up after a deadly blast of storms and tornadoes that killed 24 people in three central US states over the weekend.

Officials said this year was the country's deadliest for tornado-related deaths in a decade.

Several tornadoes combined to kill 24 people in Oklahoma, Missouri and Georgia over the weekend, raising the nation's 2008 total to about 100, the worst toll in a decade.

This year is on pace to see the most deaths   more...since 130 people were killed in 1998, the eighth highest total since 1950, according to the National Weather Service. The record is 519 tornado-related deaths in 1953.

Among those killed were a woman who took shelter in a broken-down car outside someone's home; three people who were rushing to reach a relative's house in their car; and four family members - Rick Rountree, his wife, his 13-year-old son, and his mother-in-law - who were in a van on the way to a friend's wedding when the twister, packing winds of 273km/h, struck the Seneca, Missouri, area on Saturday night.

In Picher, Oklahoma, 51km away, a man and a woman died when their car was blown into a lagoon. The body of another man from the car wound up in a tree nearby. A 13-year-old girl who was riding in the car was injured.

To date this year, 858 tornadoes have been reported in the United States, although that number probably includes numerous duplicate sightings of the same twister.

Harold Brooks of the National Severe Storms Laboratory said the highest number of tornadoes ever recorded through May 11 of any year was in 1999, when 676 tornadoes were counted. Brooks said he expected the number of confirmed tornadoes through mid-May of this year to end up in the 650-to-700 range.

Altogether, 15 people died in Missouri from the same storm that devastated Picher, where six were killed.

Two more people were killed in Georgia, where forecasters said at least six tornadoes touched down.

One of those twisters struck McIntosh County's emergency management centre, destroying the fire trucks and ambulances inside. Another man was killed in Alabama when his truck was hit by a tree limb as he was surveying storm damage.

The Environmental Protection Agency said it would check for high lead levels in Picher after the tornado blew through the heavily polluted former mining town where lead-filled waste is piled into giant mounds.

Miles Tolbert, Oklahoma secretary of the environment, said he did not believe there was any immediate hazard to the 800 residents. But he said more testing was needed.

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My area has been devastated by tornados!

My Aunt BobbySue! he,he,he!!!