Tornado Kills 3 in Alabama; Over 100 Hurt

A tornado ripped across northern Alabama before dawn Thursday, killing at least three people and injuring more than 100. Teams looking for more victims in the rubble found a baby unharmed beneath two wrecked trailers.

About an hour before the tornado hit, lightning struck the office of the National Weather Service in nearby Huntsville. The service’s Birmingham office was able to issue a warning at 5 a.m., minutes before the twister raced through Arab, but police didn’t have time to warn everyone.

In the aftermath, rescue crews searched for people possibly trapped in the wreckage, rain pounded flattened barns, pink insulation dripped from trees and more wind shook cars creeping over littered roads.

No more victims were found--just one small miracle.

“We found a 1-year-old baby under two trailers,” firefighter Robert Reynolds said. “He was sitting there, not making a sound.”

When the Huntsville weather service office went down, Birmingham took over watching the radar, and the weather service said there was no delay in picking up the tornado and issuing a warning.

Police got the warning through deputies in a nearby county and were in the process of sending out siren vehicles to alert residents when the tornado hit, Lt. Danny Harvell said.

In Washington, Sen. Howell Heflin (D-Ala.) called for a complete accounting from the weather service.

Arab (pronounced AY-rab) is 30 miles south of Huntsville and has a population of about 6,300.

The town’s dead included a 4-year-old girl and two men, all killed in separate locations, Marshall County Coroner Dempsey Hibbs said.

Hospital officials said 66 people were treated Thursday morning, with 13 admitted and four transferred to Huntsville for additional care, and that they knew of 40 other people treated at two other hospitals.