Tornadoes sweep US South, one killed, dozens injured
06 Feb 2008 07:09:04 GMT Source: Reuters
(Corrects state to Mississippi from Tennessee in 7th paragraph) WASHINGTON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - A powerful storm system with multiple tornadoes collapsed the roof of a mall in Memphis, trapping people inside, and trapped students in dormitories at a college in Jackson, the Nashville Tennessean reported on Tuesday. A least one fatality was reported, the newspaper said, and other media reported dozens of injuries, some serious. No deaths were reported in the mall collapse but there were injuries reported and "several parties," were trapped in debris, the newspaper said, citing Memphis police. The full extent of the injuries and damage to the mall, several nearby buildings and the dormitory at Union University were still being assessed, it said. Cars parked on the campus were also damaged. CNN reported as many as 86 injuries and an unknown number of fatalities from the storm system, which swept through Arkansas before moving into Tennessee. Several media reported at least four polling stations in western Tennessee, where voting in the state's presidential primaries was underway, were closed early because of the storm. ABC affiliate WAPT in Jackson, Mississippi, reported on its Web site that a 50-foot wall had collapsed at the Sears store in the Hickory Ridge Mall in southeast Memphis and a building caught fire along State Line Road at Airways Boulevard. Citing local officials, WAPT reported that an unknown number of people were trapped in a nearby industrial plant. The Tennessean, citing the Fayette County Sheriff's Department, said one man was found dead north of Somerville, Tennessee. The death was storm-related but no details have been reported, the newspaper said. Power outages and downed trees and other damage have been reported across Shelby County in western Tennessee, it said.
