President Obama is preparing to visit Alabama after scores of powerful tornadoes devastated seven southern US states in the country’s worst natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. More than 300 people were killed — most of them in Alabama — when more than 160 twisters cut a swathe of destruction from Arkansas to Virginia.
Tornadoes are a fact of life in the US south and mid-west, but rarely are they as devastating as this. A state of emergency is in force in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Virginia.Obama has promised federal help to rebuild.Claudia Keen from Tuscaloosa in Alabama said: ‘We’re looking for our loved ones. We keep hearing people whining but we can’t find nobody.’
In some areas entire neighbourhoods were flattened. Up to a million people in Alabama alone were left without power. One witness said it sounded like a chainsaw.James Dixon’s house in Tuscaloosa was flattened. He said: ‘Hell, that’s exactly what it is. I’ve been through hell. But I can tell you this, even though I’ve lost everything I’m still blessed to have my life, to be here.’
Insurance experts have been reluctant to put a figure on the cost of the damage, though one said that once the full picture becomes clear the event will be of historic proportions.
President Obama is preparing to visit Alabama after scores of powerful tornadoes devastated seven southern US states in the country’s worst natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. More than 300 people were killed — most of them in Alabama — when more than 160 twisters cut a swathe of destruction from Arkansas to Virginia.
Tornadoes are a fact of life in the US south and mid-west, but rarely are they as devastating as this. A state of emergency is in force in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Virginia.Obama has promised federal help to rebuild.Claudia Keen from Tuscaloosa in Alabama said: ‘We’re looking for our loved ones. We keep hearing people whining but we can’t find nobody.’
In some areas entire neighbourhoods were flattened. Up to a million people in Alabama alone were left without power. One witness said it sounded like a chainsaw.James Dixon’s house in Tuscaloosa was flattened. He said: ‘Hell, that’s exactly what it is. I’ve been through hell. But I can tell you this, even though I’ve lost everything I’m still blessed to have my life, to be here.’
Insurance experts have been reluctant to put a figure on the cost of the damage, though one said that once the full picture becomes clear the event will be of historic proportions.
Libya, Italy join British and French aircraft
The world’s media has been shown around a building inside Muammar Gaddafi’s Tripoli compound targeted byNATO airstrikes on Sunday night. NATO says it was a communications base used to coordinate attacks on civilians. Government officials say 45 people were injured in the raid which they describe as an unsuccessful attempt on the Libyan leader’s life. “The leader is working from Tripoli, as you know he comes out to greet people now and again but the leader is well, is very healthy and is leading the battle for peace and democracy in Libya,” said Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim. State TV has aired pictures purporting to show Gaddafi meeting tribal leaders on Monday.
Meanwhile Italy says its war planes will join British and French aircraft in the bombing campaign. And rebels claim they have received promises of substantial financial help from Kuwait.
Tourists killed in Moroccan blast
It is still unclear what or who was behind the bomb attack in Morocco that claimed at least 15 lives yesterday.A blast ripped through a popular restaurant overlooking the Jamaa el-Fnaa square in Marrakesh – an area permanently packed with tourists.At least 10 of the deceased were foreigners, six of them French. Morocco’s Interior Minister Taieb Cherqaoui has already visited the site of this apparent terrorist attack. “Those who carried out this terrorist operation must know that we’re going to find them sooner or later,” he said. Experts say the choice of target fits the strategy of al Qaeda’s north African wing. But Paris has dismissed speculation its nationals were specifically marked out. “There is on thing we are sure of,” said Foreign Office spokesman Bernard Valero. “It’s that in the past few days or weeks, we hadn’t received or identified any particular threats against France”. The death toll makes this the worst attack in Morocco since 45 people were killed in suicide bombings in Casablanca in 2003. And it is likely to be another blow to the country’s tourism industry, already struggling to cope with the economic downturn.
Syria braced for day of rage protests
Activists in Syria have called on protesters to take to the streets against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in what they called a “day of rage.” The message was posted late on Thursday on a Facebook page entitled ‘The Syrian Revolution 2011’, calling on demonstrators to protest after Friday’s weekly Muslim prayers and defy a government crackdown on the movement. “To the youths of the revolution, tomorrow we will be in all the places, in all the streets … We will gather at the besieged towns, including with our brothers in Deraa,” the message written in Arabic said. Activists also said that gatherings would be held in other towns and cities across Syria. Deraa has been the epicentre of the unrest since protests began just over six weeks ago. Amateur footage posted online has shown security forces firing live rounds at civilians and tanks patrolling the streets. Similar demonstrations last Friday ended in chaos and bloodshed, with over 100 people killed.
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