One series of storms moved across the southeastern United States over a period of three days and wreaked havoc along the way. In their wake more than three dozen people are dead from the severe weather that brought tornadoes, hail and wind.
On Thursday Oklahoma and Arkansas were the first to experience the severe weather that spawned a line of storms hundreds of miles long. Nine lives were lost in those two states between tornadoes and deadly winds.
Friday the storms moved to the east and visited their destruction on Mississippi and Alabama. Seven fatalities were recorded including a mother and two of her children.
Mother Nature was not done yet and created an amazing display of storms as the weather system continued on its deadly path on Saturday. The Carolinas and Virginia were next on the hit list where as many as two dozen people have been killed.
The most destructive tornado struck near Sanford, North Carolina with dozens of homes and businesses reduced to rubble. A Lowe’s Home Improvement store suffered a direct strike collapsing the front half of the store. Miraculously no one was killed in the structure.
An untold number of homes and businesses have been destroyed in the severe weather outbreak. Trees and power lines were toppled and hundreds of injuries recorded.
The death toll from the three-day severe weather outbreak continues to climb with some accounts pegging the number at 45 or more. The Storm Prediction Center recorded 230 reports of tornadoes over the period and the event is by far the most extensive and deadly weather event thus far in 2011.
For more on this story visit the Natural Disasters Examiner.
Do you know what to do to protect yourself and your family when severe weather strikes? The same type of events that struck in recent days can and do occur in Colorado. Check out our Severe Weather Awareness series for more: