164 TORNADOS IN 24 HOURS IMPACT 7 SOUTHEASTERN

164 TORNADOS IN 24 HOURS IMPACT 7 SOUTHEASTERN STATES ALABAMA HIT BY EF 5 STORM DEATH TOLL REACHES 290 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27 THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2011 Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of North Carolina, USA

DEADLIEST DAY SINCE 1974 • Wednesday (April 27 th) was the deadliest day of tornadoes in the United States since April 3, 1974, when 310 people lost their lives.

IMPACTED STATES/DEATHS • ALABAMA/184+ • • • TENNESSEE/33 MISSISSIPPI/32 GEORGIA/14 ARKANSAS/11 VIRGINIA/8 LOUISIANA/2

TORNADOES: COLLISIONS OF WARM AND COLD AIR MASSES Tornadoes are a typical seasonal occurrence in the Southern USA, BUT rarely are they as violent as they were in 2011.

CURRENT TORNADOES ATTRIBUTED TO COOLING OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN Cooling of Pacific Ocean and warming of Gulf of Mexico waters could cause continuation of USA’s severe weather in May.

TUSCALOOSA, AL: EF 5 STORM WITH 466 KPH (280 MPH) WINDS APRIL 27, 2011

TUSCALOOSA, AL: A MILE-WIDE STORM; APRIL 27, 2011

Tuscaloosa, a town of around 95, 000 in the west-central part of Alabama, had shops, shopping malls, drug stores, gas stations flattened in one section of the city, while the University of Alabama canceled exams and rescheduled graduations.

The University of Alabama, which was damaged, but not badly, canceled exams and rescheduled graduations.

PRATT CITY, AL (NEAR BIRMINGHAM): APRIL 27, 2011

PRATT CITY, AL: APRIL 27, 2011

PRATT CITY; AL: APRIL 27, 2011

PRATT CITY; AL: APRIL 27, 2011

PLEASANT GROVE, AL: APRIL 27, 2011

DEBRIS ACROSS HIGHWAY

Alabama's governor declared a state of emergency and ordered the deployment of 2, 000 National Guardsmen, while Governors in Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Virginia were also declaring states of emergency.

President Obama, who declared a state of emergency for Alabama and ordered federal aid, will visit Alabama on Friday (29 th) to view the damage and meet with the Governor.

Insurance experts who were hesitant on Thursday to estimate damage costs, believed they would run into the mid-level billions of dollars, with the worst impacts in Alabama’s cities of Tuscaloosa and Birmingham.

BROWNS FERRY NUCLEAR POWER PLANT IN ALABAMA A SAFE SHUTDOWN

Over 1 million people without power in Alabama.

BROWNS FERRY NUCLEAR POWER PLANT • “The reactors will remain shut until we have restored the reliability of the transmission system, " said Ray Golden, spokesman for the Tennessee Valley Authority, which owns the 3, 274 -megawatt plant.