26 Dead and Many More Still Missing in Historic West Virginia Flood

WEST VIRGINIA FLOODS CLAIM MORE LIVES …

The death toll had been at 23, until three more bodies were found in West Virginia’s devastating flood, bring the death toll to 26 as many more people are still missing as well. According to Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office, the 3 deaths were reported overnight in Elkview. Sadly, the death count is expected to climb as the historic floods have destroyed hundreds of homes, washed out roads and knocked out power to tens of thousands of people. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared states of emergency in 44 counties Thursday night and he activated 200 National Guard members to assist in eight counties and has authorization to activate as many as 300 more, if needed.

Search continues for missing people after West Virginia flooding.

 Three more bodies were found in West Virginia’s devastating flood, bringing the death toll from the natural disaster to 26 as authorities are still searching for missing people.

As the death count climbs , high waters and torrential downpours also destroyed more than 100 homes, washed out countless roads and knocked out power for tens and thousands of people.

Authorities said Saturday that people are still unaccounted for in the county hardest-hit by the floods, Greenbrier, the home of the famous golf course of the same name.

Record Flooding in West Virginia

West Virginia Flooding

11 People Killed as Deadly Tornadoes Hit the Dallas, TX Suburbs (VIDEO)

SAY A PRAYER FOR THOSE IN THE DALLAS, TEXAS AREA THAT WERE HIT WITH DEADLY TORNADOES LAST NIGHT …

Last night, tornadoes swept through the Dallas area leaving substantial damage and at least eleven people dead either from the storm or related traffic accidents.  The National Weather Service in Fort Worth said several tornadoes touched down in the Dallas area, although the full extent of damage would not be known until daylight Sunday.

The storm blew the roofs off homes and left vehicles mangled or turned upside down, churches damaged, power lines down, natural gas lines burst, trees toppled and debris strewn across neighborhoods. The damage stretched over about a 40-mile-long area from 20 miles south of Dallas to northeast of the city.

Joe Harn, police spokesman for Garland, about 20 miles northeast of Dallas, said five people were killed in vehicle accidents during the massive storm, but it’s unclear if all five were in the same vehicle or how they died.

Tornado in Sunnyvale, Garland, and Rowlett, Texas

CNN: Tornadoes, storms hit Dallas suburbs; 11 people killed.

Severe storms and tornadoes tore through north Texas, killing at least 11 people in the latest incident of deadly weather in the nation.

The storms hit Dallas suburbs Saturday evening, with Garland suffering the most casualties, authorities said.

Lt. Pedro Barineau with the Garland Police Department confirmed Sunday morning that eight people died in the storm that ripped through Garland.

Barineau said 15 people were hurt and 600 structures were damaged.

Three additional deaths were reported in Collin County, said Lt. Chris Havey, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office. Havey said officials don’t expect the death toll to rise, but they are sifting through debris and making sure no victims were overlooked.

In some neighborhoods in Garland, the storms ripped facades off houses, leaving gaping holes. Cars that had been in driveways ended up inside homes after the tornado barreled through, witnesses said.

Officials said earlier that five of the deaths were related to vehicles hit by a tornado in southeast Garland.

Garland resident Pat McMillian said the tornado left neighborhoods in darkness.

UPDATE I: Death Toll Rises in Dallas as Storms Sweep South.

At least 11 people were killed in the Dallas area Saturday night when 11 tornadoes swept North Texas, officials said.

The storm tossed cars off freeways and destroyed at least one apartment building, a recreation vehicle park and several homes across the suburbs northeast of the city, according to officials with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department and the Garland Police Department. About 50,000 people were without power, officials said.

“There’s been quite an impact in damage and potentially injuries and death,” said Rich Thompson, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service’s storm prediction center in Norman, Okla.

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In Rowlett, which borders Garland, at least three houses had collapsed, and the people who lived in them had not been found, said Detective Cruz Hernandez of the Rowlett Police Department.

Detective Hernandez said that the damage in Rowlett was extensive and that the police were seeking to rescue anyone trapped in their homes, although the effort was being hampered by continuing bad weather.

“We can’t get a good sense of it because it’s dark and it’s starting to rain right now,” he said.

On Sunday, Brian Funderburk, the city manager of Rowlett, said 23 people were injured when the city was directly hit by a large tornado. The city enacted a 24-hour curfew in areas affected by the storm to keep roads clear for residents and emergency operations.

At Least 7 Poeple Killed, Many Injured & Others Missing As Deadly Tornadoes Ravage the South Last Night (VIDEO)

SAY A PRAYER FOR THOSE AFFECTED BY THE KILLER TORNADO JUST DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS …

At least 7 were killed yesterday as deadly tornadoes ravaged the South from Mississippi to Arkansas to Tennessee. The severe weather caused tornadoes across the South, 12 alone were witnessed in Mississippi alone. According to reports, 24 tornadoes touched down across 6 states. As reported by ABC News, it will be a difficult Christmas for many families in the south after deadly storms and tornadoes devastated the region,  especially in Holly Springs, Mississippi, where a 7 year old boy was killed. The devastation is beyond words.

The mayor of Nashville, TN had asked businesses to let employees go hoe early to avoid the bad weather. When the tornado sirens went off late last night in Music City, thankfully it was mostly deserted. However, some were forced to take cover at the last minute as the severe weather came through. The winds and rain was incredibly severe and those not directly affected by the damage left in the wake of the tornadoes themselves, others lost power, including yours truly.

Tornado caught on tape as it hits highway lined with cars

Officials in tornado-ravaged areas were searching for missing people Thursday after a spring-like storm system swept across the southeast, killing at least seven people — including a 7-year-old boy.

The storms — which the National Weather Service called a “particularly dangerous situation” for an area that spanned eastern Arkansas, northwest Mississippi, northeast Louisiana and western Tennessee — destroyed homes and caused power outages on Wednesday.

It was the first such warning anywhere in the country in a year and a half.

The youngest victim of the severe weather was a 7-year-old in Holly Springs, Mississippi, who was killed in a van on Highway 7 as storms swept through the town, according to Marshall County Coroner James Anderson. Tree limbs and debris covered the highway Thursday, and emergency crews worked to restore downed power lines.

Three people were killed and two others were missing in Benton County, Mississippi, county coroner Shane Ward said late Wednesday. The dead were two men and one woman, all approximately in their 60s. Crews were going house-to-house Thursday to make sure all residents were accounted for.

The other victims were in Tennessee and Arkansas. A man and a woman were killed in Perry County, Tennessee, but no details were made public about their deaths. In Atkins, Arkansas, 18-year-old Michael Remus was killed when a tree crashed into the bedroom she was sharing with her 18-month-old sister. The toddler was taken to a hospital after being safely pulled out of the home by rescuers.

UPDATE I: Search on for 3 Missing After Mississippi Storms.

Authorities say teams of searchers are looking for three people still missing in Mississippi after Wednesday’s tornadoes.

Mississippi Emergency Management Agency spokesman Greg Flynn said Thursday a 35-person team was out looking for the two unaccounted people in Benton County, where he said at least two people died in the storms.

Flynn said another team was searching for the missing person in Tippah County, just southeast of Benton.

Search Continues for Missing US Cargo Ship El Faro Caught in Hurricane Joaquin … 28 Americans Aboard Cargo Ship

The search continues for the missing US flagged cargo ship El Faro which left Jacksonville, Florida, en route to Puerto Rico on Tuesday.  According to accounts, at 7:20 a.m. Thursday, the Coast Guard said it received notification that the ship had lost propulsion and had a 15-degree list as the ship was caught in the middle of Hurricane Joaquin. There has been no communication with the ship since. There are 33 crew members aboard the cargo ship, 28 of which are Americans that is currently lost at sea.

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Search crews are continuing to look for a U.S. cargo ship caught in Hurricane Joaquin, one day after a life ring from the ship was found.

U.S. Coast Guard, Navy and Air Force planes and helicopters are looking for the El Faro across a broad expanse of the Atlantic Ocean around Crooked Island today. They resumed their efforts at first light.

The U.S. Coast Guard found a life ring Saturday – the first trace of El Faro. The discovery serves as validation that search crews are in the right area.

Two additional life rings have been found, the Coast Guard said, but it’s unclear if they belonged to the ship.

The 790-foot cargo ship vanished 72 hours ago, near the eye of Hurricane Joaquin. The ship is carrying 28 U.S. citizens, as well as five Polish nationals.

El Faro was traveling from Jacksonville, Florida to San Juan, Puerto Rico as Joaquin churned over the Atlantic Ocean. The ship sent a distress signal at 7:20 a.m. Thursday saying it had lost electricity, was taking on water and listing at 15 degrees.

UPDATE I: Search for missing cargo ship in Bahamas enters third day.

Search-and-rescue crews found three life rings in waters to the northeast of Crooked Island in the Bahamas, about 75 miles (120 km) from the ship’s last known position before it went missing, the Coast Guard said on Sunday.

The Coast Guard confirmed that one of the life rings was from the El Faro.

“Because we found a life ring doesn’t tell us anything more than that we are searching in the right area,” said Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Bobby Nash.

The Coast Guard and U.S. Air Force sent out four C-130 search and rescue planes at dawn on Sunday, and at least one Coast Guard ship was headed to the area, Nash said.

Floods in Utah Kill 16 and Four Are Still Missing (VIDEO)

THE SEARCH CONTINUES FOR 4 PEOPLE AFTER FLASH FLOODS IN UTAH …

As flash floods swept through the small town of Hildale along the Utah-Arizona border, two vehicles carrying women and children from a park were washed away by a flash flood barreling down a canyon. Sadly, the death toll has climbed as flash floods carried away vehicles. Search crews continue to look for the missing.

Two vehicles carrying women and children from a park were washed away by a flash flood barreling down a canyon near the Utah-Arizona border, leaving 12 people dead and one person missing, officials said Tuesday.

It was not the only deadly incident attributable to the fast-moving water. In Zion National Park’s Keyhole Canyon, four people who were canyoneering were killed and three are missing, National Park Service officials said.

At least six children and three women died in the vehicles that were swept away in the border area, according to Utah officials in the city of Hildale and with Washington County Emergency Services.

Three people survived Monday’s flood, including a boy who was found walking around a creek, said Hildale Mayor Philip Barlow.

Two survived by escaping from their vehicle, he said. The youngest fatality was a child about age 4, said Hildale Assistant Fire Chief Kevin Barlow.