Killer Tornadoes Rip Through South Killing Dozens
BET.com News Staff & Wire Services Posted March 2, 2007 – At least 21 people, including eight at a high school in Enterprise, Ala., are dead after a series of tornadoes, cut through southern Alabama ripped apart a high school and pinned students under a collapsed roof.
A state emergency management spokeswoman says it's not known if all of the victims killed at the school were students, or students and teachers.
When parents heard the news, they rushed to the school to find out about their children. One man, according to The Associated Press, passed out when he was told his son had died.
Throughout the night, crews dug through tons of rubble beneath portable lights at the school, looking for other victims.
The fast and furious storm struck about 1 p.m. Thursday and in seconds turned Enterprise High School into rubble.
Witness said the school looked like a bomb dropped on it. Buses were demolished and houses in a nearby neighborhood were flatted. Some residents, who lost everything, said they were just grateful to be alive.
The same fierce storm that tore through Alabama also hit southern Missouri, where a 7-year-old girl was killed and her parents and brother were injured when a tornado hit their mobile home.
In Georgia, storms that swept through the southwestern part of the state killed at least nine people and caused an unknown number of injuries, said spokesman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, Buzz Weiss. There were also mutliple injuries and extensive property damage, including phone and power outages.
A Bush spokesperson says the president was deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life. He called the governors of the states affected to extend his condolences and "wanted them to know he was thinking of them, the families and the citizens." And Bush told Alabama Governor Bob Riley and Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, "The federal government stands by to help."
According to the White House, FEMA is working with officials in both states.