Midwest cleans up from tornadoes, more storms forecast
Baku, March 2 (AZERTAC). Residents of storm-tossed Midwestern towns searched for photographs and mementos from their ruined homes on Thursday as the death toll from a line of tornado-producing storms rose to 13, while more storms bore down on the region.
President Barack Obama spoke with the governors of the storm-hit states Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee and Kansas to offer condolences and help, the White House said. Illinois Governor Pat Quinn asked for federal help to assess the damage to the southern third of his state, a precursor to formally requesting federal aid.
Six people died in Harrisburg, Illinois, the worst loss of life from the line of "super-cell" storms that marched across the Midwest and produced 35 tornado reports from late Tuesday through Wednesday. A powerful tornado virtually demolished a Harrisburg residential neighborhood and shopping district. Another 100 people were injured in the Illinois city, authorities said.
Another nine people in Kansas suffered storm-related injuries that required hospital care, state emergency management spokeswoman Sharon Watson said. Power company crews were out on Thursday restoring electricity, and several residents sifted through rubble for something to salvage. Occasionally, a chain-saw roared to life, breaking the quiet.
The storms were also blamed for three deaths in Missouri, and three others in Tennessee as the violent weather moved eastward, officials said.
This week`s deadly storm outbreak raised concerns that this year could see a repeat of 2011, when 550 people were killed by twisters, the most in nearly a century.
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