RAGING STORMS CLAIM 27 LIVES : ARKANSAS TOLL COULD SURGE, GOVERNOR WARNS.Byline: Paisley Dodds Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Tornadoes and springlike thunderstorms thunderstorms a storm characterized by thunder and lightning caused by strong rising air currents; identified as agents of animal disease because of their involvement causing (1) spasmodic colic; (2) lightning strike; (3) injuries of cattle acquired in stampedes initiated by storms. swept across Arkansas on Saturday, flattening buildings, sweeping away mobile homes and flooding whole subdivisions. As many as 20 people were killed and 200 injured. Storms also killed as many as seven people in Mississippi, Kentucky, West Virginia West Virginia, E central state of the United States. It is bordered by Pennsylvania and Maryland (N), Virginia (E and S), and Kentucky and, across the Ohio R., Ohio (W). Facts and Figures Area, 24,181 sq mi (62,629 sq km). Pop. and Ohio. Four people were missing in rising flood waters in Ohio. A search suspended Saturday night because of darkness was expected to resume at daybreak today. Four people died in Arkadelphia, Ark., one of the hardest hit areas. ``It's horrible. The whole downtown is gone,'' said resident Jeremy Cox. Police Chief Bob Johnson said one mobile home was left standing out of about 60. Bill Pruett, 53, said a twister crushed five trailers in the park he owns in Little Rock. ``It was like playing chess - it would take one house and then leave one, it would take another one and then leave one,'' he said. Neal Wright, 11, heard sirens and alerted his deaf grandfather by making swirling motions with his hands. The two escaped before a tree fell on their house, demolishing it, said Sharon Wright, the boy's mother. Gov. Mike Huckabee warned Arkansas's death toll could rise. ``The No. 1 concern is that we've got people buried under debris,'' he said. Huckabee said the state may have been hit with as many tornadoes in one day as struck all of last year. ``This was an absolutely extraordinary event of weather,'' he said. Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the federal agency responsible for coordinating emergency planning, preparedness, risk reduction, response, and recovery. The agency works closely with state and local governments by funding emergency programs and providing technical head James Lee Witt James Lee Witt (born January 6, 1944) was Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) during the administration of President Bill Clinton. Witt was born in Paris, Arkansas, and was raised in Dardanelle, in Yell County, Arkansas. briefed President Clinton by cellular phone during the intermission of the Broadway musical ``Chicago,'' White House spokesman David Johnson said. The Clintons are in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of for the weekend celebrating their daughter's birthday. ``The president is quite concerned with the situation, both with friends and family there and that being his home state,'' said Johnson, adding the president may go to Arkansas to survey the damage as early as today. Hundreds of homes in the Little Rock area were damaged, and two hospitals were treating 80 people. ``This is as bad as I've seen it,'' said state police Lt. Robert Felcher. The storms pulled the roof off Leah Wooten's house in southwest Little Rock. Heavy rain, strong wind and downed power lines were reported across Arkansas, said Ray Briggler, a spokesman for the state Office of Emergency Services emergency services Emergency care '…services …necessary to prevent death or serious impairment of health and, because of the danger to life or health, require the use of the most accessible hospital available and equipped to furnish those services' . CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: College Station in south Little Rock, Ark., was one of many communities inundated in·un·date tr.v. in·un·dat·ed, in·un·dat·ing, in·un·dates 1. To cover with water, especially floodwaters. 2. by bad weather. Associated Press |
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