NWS: NE Mississippi tornado was highest-rated EF-5

(AP) -- At least one of the massive tornadoes that killed hundreds across the South this week was a devastating EF-5 storm, according to an analysis Friday by the National Weather Service, which suspects several others also were the worst of the worst.

After the first day of assessing storm damage, the weather service said the tornado that hit Smithville, Miss., at 3:44 p.m. EDT on Wednesday was an EF-5 storm. That's the highest rating given to assess a tornado's wind speed, and is based in part on damage caused by the storm.

The weather service said the half-mile wide Smithville tornado had peak winds of 205 mph and was on the ground for close to three miles, killing 14 and injuring 40.

It was the first EF-5 tornado to strike Mississippi since 1966, and the first EF-5 tornado in the United States since a May 25, 2008, storm in Parkersburg, Iowa.

Meteorologist Jim LaDue at the weather service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said he expects "many more" of the tornadoes that killed at least 297 people during Wednesday's brutal outbreak of severe weather will be rated EF-5.

[Go To The Original Article By Clicking Here]

At Least 72 Dead As Storms Sweep Through The South

Note from me: Living in Southeast Tennessee, I was directly affected by some serious storms. They came in waves. The first storm came around 9 AM EST, another wave came around 3 PM EST, once again a wave came in around 6PM EST and a final wave hit around 8PM EST. Power has been off for most of the day, coming back on around 5 PM EST only to go back off around 8 PM EST and returning around 1:30 AM EST. At my house, I consider myself VERY LUCKY only receiving torrential rains, wind exceeding 75 MPH and dime sized hail. I have no visible damage to my house, but the people in surrounding towns weren't so lucky. There were reports of many tornadoes, and hail up to the size of a baseball. In my 37 years living in Southeast Tennessee, I have never witnessed storms of this magnitude in my area. Below are a few pictures of damage in my area.

 Article:

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. –  A wave of tornado-spawning storms strafed the South on Wednesday, splintering buildings across hard-hit Alabama and killing 72 people in four states.

At least 58 people died in Alabama alone, including 15 or more when a massive tornado devastated Tuscaloosa. The city's mayor said sections of the city that's home to the University of Alabama have been destroyed and the city's infrastructure is devastated.

Eleven deaths were reported in Mississippi, two in Georgia and one in Tennessee.

News footage showed paramedics lifting a child out of a flattened Tuscaloosa home, with many neighboring buildings in the city of more than 83,000 also reduced to rubble. A hospital there said its emergency room had admitted at least 100 people.

"What we faced today was massive damage on a scale we have not seen in Tuscaloosa in quite some time," Mayor Walter Maddox told reporters, adding that he expected his city's death toll to rise.

[Go To The Article Which Includes A Video]