On Wednesday, dozens of tornadoes ripped through Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia and Kentucky bring the death toll from the severe weather to more than 248. This was the deadliest outbreak in nearly 40 years.
Emergency management agencies said they had confirmed 162 deaths in Alabama, while there were 32 in Mississippi, 32 in Tennessee, 13 in Georgia, 8 in Virginia and 1 in Kentucky.
One of the hardest-hit areas was Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Tuscaloosa is a city with a population of more than 83,000 and to the home of the University of Alabama.
Much of the destruction was within the vicinity of McFarland Boulevard and 15th Street. No damage was seen in the downtown area or on the University of Alabama campus.
From every indication it appears that Alabama's Gov. Robert Bentley and Tuscaloosa's Mayor Walt Maddox and their respective teams were unprepared for what has become the most violent storm in Alabama's history.
Addressing the press today, Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox said, "We have utter destruction." He also added, "We have neighborhoods that have basically been removed from the map,” “The number of injuries is more than 600 and approximately 44,000 homes are without power.” "We're in an urgent phase of search and rescue," Maddox also added, "Our fire and rescue department has set out a grid search in three primary areas of the city that include Rosedale, Forest Lake, Cedar Crest and Alberta.”
"We will not begin to shift over to the recovery phase until we are absolutely certain that everyone that is missing is accounted for." Maddox said he had just finished observing some of the damage from 500 feet in the air.
"To say the least, it is massive," Maddox said. "I would estimate on a 3- to 4-mile stretch. In some parts, it's more than a half-mile wide."
UPDATE 04/29/11
As of today's date, the death toll has risen to 313.
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Hello, we are desperately searching for Kenneth Goff and his daughter Donna Anderson. Kenneth is missing both legs and lives on 6th Avenue. Donna lives in Mobile and we aren’t sure if she went to help her father during the storms or not. We live in Georgia. Any help or direction you can give us would be appreciated more than you know.