One dead in Illinois as tornadoes roar across Ohio Valley

WAVE-TV

Several homes were badly damaged when a tornado touched down in Fern Creek, Ky., near Louisville.

Updated at 6:08 p.m. ET: A woman was killed Friday when her mobile home rolled over during a severe storm in southern Illinois, authorities said.

Jefferson County, Ill., Coroner Eddie Joe Marks said Pat Brown, 61, was killed and a teenage boy suffered minor injuries when Brown's home toppled as heavy rain, hail, winds and possible tornadoes swept through the Opdyke area. It wasn't immediately clear whether a tornado hit the home.

The National Weather Service reported at least six confirmed tornadoes and relayed reports of numerous other unconfirmed twisters as storms moved across southeastern Missouri, southern Illinois and western Kentucky.


Several homes were damaged in Fern Creek, Ky., near Louisville, including at least two that had their roofs torn off, NBC News reported.

 

Joe Sullivan, a meteorologist with the weather service, told the Weather Channel that the damage was consistent with a tornado with winds of 110 mph or even higher. 

No casualties were immediately reported in the Kentucky storms, Jody Johnson, a spokeswoman for Louisville MetroSafe, told NBC News.

Even before Friday's tornadoes, 2012 was off to an unusually active beginning of tornado season.

Greg Forbes, a severe weather specialist for the Weather Channel, said 117 tornadoes had been confirmed this month through Thursday, well above the 10-year March average of 87. January and February were also above their 10-year averages.

"Keep in mind we are only at the beginning of the tornado season," Forbes said.

The Weather Channel

The peak months for tornadoes are usually April, May and June, and "while we do not know exactly how active the rest of the tornado season will be, you should make sure you are prepared," he said.

The Weather Channel: Tornado risk by month and location

John Baiata, Ioanna Dafermou, Naima Lynch and Ziad Jaber of NBC News contributed to this report by M. Alex Johnson of msnbc.com.

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Discuss this post

OH DAMN! I'm a 61 yr OLD WHITE WOMAN who just got back from the store . I was wearing my HOODIE sweatshirt !!! Damn good thing I didn't get shot! That would be a hard thing to explain! OLD WHITE DISABLED WOMAN GETS SHOT for wearing HOODIE! CRAP! I'll have to be alot more careful from now on..................jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez

  • 3 votes
Reply#1 - Fri Mar 23, 2012 6:40 PM EDT

You are on the wrong message board. On this one people argue over weather and climate change.

  • 3 votes
#1.1 - Fri Mar 23, 2012 7:05 PM EDT
Reply

Was it a white tornado?

  • 1 vote
Reply#2 - Fri Mar 23, 2012 7:07 PM EDT

May the next one land on your house since you think this so funny.

    #2.1 - Fri Mar 23, 2012 7:35 PM EDT

    nothing funny about racism

      #2.2 - Fri Mar 23, 2012 8:04 PM EDT
      Reply

      Aw, c'mon guys, tornadoes ain't funny. I managed to survive a couple growing up in western Kansas and saw our barn destroyed and horses and cattle maimed.

      • 3 votes
      Reply#3 - Fri Mar 23, 2012 7:12 PM EDT

      Look go and ask your Rep Boehner what you should do, Remember voting has consequences, so pull yourselves up by the bootstraps and dont ask for nooooo Big Gubment aid

        Reply#4 - Fri Mar 23, 2012 7:18 PM EDT

        How about you double your taxes to pay for it all?

          #4.1 - Fri Mar 23, 2012 8:29 PM EDT
          Reply

          Why do people have such a mental blowout when someone mentions socialism? It is neighborly to help the people next door when a tornado destroys their house. Why can't that extend to the entire nation helping in an organized fashion that makes sure everyone gets the help they need every time. It should not only be like group insurance, it should be group insurance on a national scale without people making a profit from someone else's tragedy. Capitalism is obscene in some circumstances, just as socialism is in others. We need both, applied where they are a good, reasonable, and logical fit. And the victims of this storm need help just like everyone else that was affected so far.

          • 6 votes
          Reply#5 - Fri Mar 23, 2012 7:48 PM EDT

          Thank you, softdude, for the common sense post and the courage to stand behind your convictions. You have my admiration and respect.

          • 1 vote
          #5.1 - Fri Mar 23, 2012 10:59 PM EDT

          Most people railing against socialism don't really have a clue as to what it means. If you favor public schools, public roads, unemployment insurance, police, firefighters, ems, social security, medicare...well you just might be a socialist. To many confuse it with communism, and let's not forget the right wing reinforcing this misconception. They rail against socialism while pleading for pork to take home to their district for public projects. For those who don't get it, that's hypocrisy.

            #5.2 - Sat Mar 24, 2012 6:33 PM EDT

            SanityCheck, the only differences between Democratic socialism and Republican socialism are the recipients of their largesse. Republicans prefer socialism for corporations and the upper class while Democrats prefer socialism for the hourly working men and women of this country and the deserving underprivileged and less fortunate among us.

              #5.3 - Sun Mar 25, 2012 5:24 PM EDT
              Reply

              Thank you Katforpeace. I haven't laughed so much and all due to a wrong post.

                Reply#6 - Fri Mar 23, 2012 7:56 PM EDT

                Is southern Illinois in the Ohio Valley? After seeing so many towns and cities destroyed by 175 mph winds I agree there is nothing funny about tornadoes. I have had hail hit my house three times in two years and the tail of the tornado did not land. Here. Middle Tennessee in the Ohio Valley.

                • 1 vote
                Reply#7 - Fri Mar 23, 2012 8:20 PM EDT

                The Ohio Valley does not refer to the state of Ohio, it refers to the area along the Ohio River and the Ohio River watershed. Southern Illinois is part of the northern boarder of the Ohio River, and is part of the Ohio Valley.

                  #7.1 - Sat Mar 24, 2012 2:15 PM EDT
                  Reply

                  Isn't Illinois one of the states FEMA is "not" going to help,.....yet our fruit-loop president is trying to bypass the congress and GIVE the Muslim Brotherhood $1 1/2 BILLION$$$$$? What a country. Such smart people.

                  • 2 votes
                  Reply#8 - Fri Mar 23, 2012 9:18 PM EDT

                  So Freddy: How many more dreams of nightmares do you want to spread throughout the unintelligent world you live in?? Get over your brain cramp will you, first you shouldn't use others misfortune to spread misinformation, nor should you talk about things you haven't a clue about go bacxk to being a Republican Repeatagain, Only next timre read and get facts to share and include where the facts came from, and please do not include the boys room wall on the right.

                  • 1 vote
                  Reply#9 - Fri Mar 23, 2012 9:32 PM EDT

                  Hope that they move in to a non-mobile home with a basement. Condolences and prayers go to the victim's family and friends.

                    Reply#10 - Sat Mar 24, 2012 12:12 AM EDT

                    But mr grover, the gop, & the rushbo needs to take full responsibility for these tornadoes & man-made global warming. It's because the rushbo has sooo carefully worded his global warming message that his ditto heads have been completely mislead again.

                    For instance. Does the rushbo mean that global warming is not caused by co2 the gas that is made by man-made engines found in cars, boats, planes, lawn mowers. No. No. He doesn't mean that. Then what does he mean. You need to ask him.

                    And look at the rushbo's track record. Hehehe. He used to say that global warming was being caused by volcanoes. Hehehe. People used to say just look at the usgs web site. It says volcanoes have nothing to do with global warming. Remember that. Until lots of volcanoes began to erupt all over the place. And then the temperatures began to drop. And scientists got the idea how the planet could be cooled if we made all these erupting volcanoes. I tell you it made an ass out of the rushbo. That was 4 years ago.

                    Anyway, so now his minions are insisting that the coal fired keystone pipeline be built. And that this country should become the gasoline refiner for the world because we can sell cheaper gasoline than anybody because we are the only country that hasn't signed kyoto & without the carbon tax.

                    I tell you mr grover, the gop, & the rushbo should just fess up and tell people the truth. That they are the cause of global warming and that if the creator has a problem with that that the creator should take it out on them. Like he did the nazis after ww2.

                      Reply#11 - Sat Mar 24, 2012 1:01 AM EDT

                      It has been two weeks since the big March 2 storms here in the Louisville area, and we had another in Jefferson County yesterday. There were also tornados here February 27. Its a matter of time before one comes down on our home. We've had progressively more violent weather over the last decade, but people react when you point this fact out in fear that they will be compelled to drive less. I've resigned myself to the fact that nothing will be done to reverse the trend, not at least until things get much worse if that is what they do. If this Spring does not see many more violent storms in the Ohio Valley I will be pleasantly surprised. This was the warmest Winter and earliest Spring of my lifetime, and last year saw the highest volume of rainfall in recorded history for the county. Something has changed. People like to think they are in control in their cars, with their AC and so forth. Sooner or later reality barges in. We have no idea what we are doing to the only habitable environment we have, or where this will end, but why would we take the risk of destroying it if we had an alternative? I guess people are uncertain, but a lot of that is short sighted, self interested, willful blindness to the obvious.

                        Reply#12 - Sat Mar 24, 2012 10:16 AM EDT

                        Prayers be with the survivors and help them to deal with all the suffering that these storms have caused. May they receive comfort. Tornadoes are a part life unfortunately, just as other natural disasters. They have nothing to do with politics and no God doesn't cause it. Although, many say that as belief and not the good things. It's a part of this system of things. Government can't do everything. And, look at the situation this country is headed to. Do you really think that changing governments or going to socialism is going to help. Look at the history of world governments.

                          Reply#13 - Sat Mar 24, 2012 11:29 AM EDT
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