Twisters kill at least 55 across the US South

LAFAYETTE, Tennessee (AP) _ Crews searched for more victims of deadly tornadoes that killed at least 55 people and injured hundreds more as they tore across five United States states, ripping off a shopping mall roof, demolishing mobile homes and blowing apart warehouses.

It was the country’s deadliest barrage of twisters in almost 23 years. Dozens of tornadoes plowed across Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama.The storms flattened entire streets, smashed warehouses and sent tractor-trailers flying.Houses were reduced to splintered piles of lumber.Some looked like life-size dollhouses, their walls sheared away.Crews going door to door to search for bodies had to contend with downed power lines, snapped trees and flipped-over cars.Hundreds of houses were damaged or destroyed.Authorities had no immediate cost estimate of the damage.President George W Bush gave assurances his administration stood ready to help.Teams from the Federal Emergency Management Agency were sent to the region and activated an emergency center in Georgia.Thirty-one people were killed in Tennessee, 13 in Arkansas, seven in Kentucky and four in Alabama, emergency officials said.It was one of the 15 worst tornado death tolls since 1950, and the nation’s deadliest barrage of tornadoes since 76 people were killed in Pennsylvania and Ohio on May 31, 1985.Nampa-APDozens of tornadoes plowed across Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama.The storms flattened entire streets, smashed warehouses and sent tractor-trailers flying.Houses were reduced to splintered piles of lumber.Some looked like life-size dollhouses, their walls sheared away.Crews going door to door to search for bodies had to contend with downed power lines, snapped trees and flipped-over cars.Hundreds of houses were damaged or destroyed.Authorities had no immediate cost estimate of the damage.President George W Bush gave assurances his administration stood ready to help.Teams from the Federal Emergency Management Agency were sent to the region and activated an emergency center in Georgia.Thirty-one people were killed in Tennessee, 13 in Arkansas, seven in Kentucky and four in Alabama, emergency officials said.It was one of the 15 worst tornado death tolls since 1950, and the nation’s deadliest barrage of tornadoes since 76 people were killed in Pennsylvania and Ohio on May 31, 1985.Nampa-AP