Tornadoes hit Oklahoma and Kansas as deadly storms move east
Baku, May 25 (AZERTAC). At least six people have been killed in Oklahoma and Kansas as a new round of tornadoes struck the central and southern US, barely 48 hours after the deadliest twister in modern history hit the town of Joplin, Missouri, killing 130.
Authorities in Dallas evacuated the airport and a baseball stadium on Tuesday night when the violent storms moved east, wreaking havoc across a region already suffering from a severe year for tornadoes.
Passengers were told to leave planes and move into a basement beneath an airport terminal building. Even the storm prediction centre in Oklahoma City was forced to evacuate. In Joplin, hundreds remain missing and the recovery effort has been interrupted by bouts of severe weather. Officials estimate 8,000 buildings were destroyed and two emergency workers were struck by lightning. The high death toll spurred calls for an overhaul of the tornado system to help ensure people can get out of danger.
Storm sirens sounded more than 20 minutes before the tornado hit Joplin just before 6pm on Sunday - more than the 13 or 14-minute average warning time - according to Greg Carbin, the meteorologist who heads the weather services storm prediction centre.
But forecasters have growing concerns that people - especially those living in tornado-prone areas of the south and central US, are not treating the warnings seriously, or that they are not getting through in time.
There were similar complaints after last month`s deadly tornadoes in Alabama and other southern states when thunderstorms blew down power lines and weather service systems, leaving mobile phones as the only means of communication.
National Weather Service`s (NWS) preliminary estimate is more than 100 tornadoes have occurred during the month of May 2011.
April 2011 set a new record for the month with 875 tornadoes. The previous record was set in April 1974 with 267 tornadoes. The average number of tornadoes for the month of April during the past decade is 161.
The previous record number of tornadoes during any month was 542 tornadoes set in May 2003. NWS records indicate 321 people were killed during the April 25-28 tornado outbreak. NWS records indicate 361 people were killed during the entire month of April 2011.
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