Deadly Tornado hit southern states leaving 48 dead

Residents in five Southern states tried to salvage what they could Wednesday from homes reduced to piles of debris, a day after the deadliest cluster of tornadoes in nearly a decade tore through the region, snapping trees and crumpling homes. At least 48 people were dead.

The dead included 24 people in Tennessee, 13 in Arkansas, and seven in Kentucky, NBC News said. Three were killed in Alabama, emergency officials said. Among the victims were Arkansas parents who died with their 11-year-old in Atkins, about 60 miles northwest of Little Rock.

The family died from trauma when their home “took a direct hit” from the storm, Pope County Coroner Leonard Krout said.

In many places, the storms struck as Super Tuesday primaries were ending. As the extent of the damage quickly became clear, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee paused in their victory speeches to remember the victims.

The president said he called the governors of Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee and assured them the administration stood ready to help and to deal with any emergency requests.

Well after nightfall, would-be rescuers went through shattered homes in Atkins, a town of 3,000 near the Arkansas River. Around them, power lines snaked along streets and a deep-orange pickup truck rested on its side. A navy blue Mustang with a demolished front end was marked with spray paint to show it had been searched.

Outside one damaged home, horses whinnied in the darkness, looking up only when a flashlight reached their eyes. A ranch home stood unscathed across the street from a concrete slab that had supported the house where the family of three died.

In Memphis, high winds collapsed the roof of a Sears store at a mall. Debris that included bricks and air conditioning units was scattered on the parking lot, where about two dozen vehicles were damaged.

Let’s just pray for those who perished. May they rest in peace.