10 Killed as Tornadoes Wreak Havoc Across the South

Tornadoes swept across parts of the South on Thursday, ripping off roofs in downtown Nashville and splintering mobile homes in rural areas. At least 10 people were killed in the storms.

No deaths were reported in Nashville, but heavy damage to buildings forced police to patrol downtown to prevent looting.

Four people, including a young brother and sister, were killed before dawn by tornadoes in rural parts of Arkansas and Tennessee. Three people were killed when a twister touched down in the evening in west Tennessee near the Alabama border, and three people died in powerful storms in southern Kentucky.

More than 100 people have been killed by tornadoes so far this year, all but two in Southern states.

“People heard it but couldn’t see it,” Manila, Ark., firefighter Michael White said of the early morning twister that was cloaked by darkness and sheets of rain. “It passed probably 400 yards from my house. There was so much lightning and rain, I didn’t see anything.”

A cold front that stretched from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi Valley was responsible for Thursday’s severe weather across much of the South and Midwest.

The earlier storm hit Manila, in northeastern Arkansas about 230 miles west of Nashville, about 3 a.m., killing Casey Lomax, 2, and Brittni Lomax, 5. Their parents were injured.

An hour later, a tornado spawned by the same storm killed Paul and Peggy Kolwyck in Roellen, Tenn., about 50 miles east of Manila. Their bodies were found 200 to 250 feet from their trailer home, which was torn apart.

Two tornadoes struck Nashville in the afternoon. About 100 people were injured, police and emergency management officials said. A man who was hit by a falling tree in Centennial Park was seriously hurt.

Cecil Whaley of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said most of the injuries were from flying glass and none were believed to be life-threatening.

The Tennessee Oilers’ football stadium, which is about one-third complete, was among the structures damaged.

“Parts of the stadium were being tossed around like Popsicle sticks. I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Rodney Stanford, who was at a nearby restaurant.

The twisters knocked out power to about two-thirds of downtown. All downtown state and city government offices were ordered closed today, as were city schools.

Mayor Phil Bredesen also asked businesses to voluntarily close for the day. “The downtown area is really unsafe at this point.”

Three people in Tennessee’s Wayne County on the Alabama border were killed Thursday evening by twisters. Powerful storms killed at least three people in southern Kentucky; two died in Barren County and one in adjacent Metcalfe County.

Barren County Deputy Coroner Tim Gibson said he didn’t know if the deaths were the result of a tornado but suspected they were.

“From the devastation and destruction I’ve seen at the scene, I don’t see how it could help from being [a tornado],” he said.

Gov. Don Sundquist declared Nashville a disaster area.

The Metro-Nashville Fire Department’s headquarters was so badly damaged that some of its equipment was trapped under debris, spokeswoman Jean Ridley said.

Outside Nashville, 13 homes were destroyed and 130 homes were damaged, Whaley said.

The twisters were part of a series of storms that hit Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Michigan late Wednesday and Thursday. More than two dozen people were injured in the earlier storms, and 65 railroad cars were knocked off the track near Flora, Ill.

Storm damage at Western Kentucky University prompted officials to cancel all classes for today.

A tornado in eastern Michigan cut a 6-mile-long path through Sanilac County. Damage to more than two dozen homes was reported.