Nation & World

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Do you have a news tip? newstips@heraldnet.com | 425.339.3400   Published: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 Tornado deaths may hit a record this year Associated Press Nearly 100 people have died in U.S. twisters so far this year, the worst toll in a decade, the National Weather Service said, after a weekend of deadly storms killed about two dozen people. The danger has not passed yet: Tornado season typically peaks in the spring and early summer, then again in the late fall. The U.S. death toll from tornadoes this year is the highest since 130 people were killed in 1998, according to the weather service. The highest number of tornado-related deaths came in 1953, when 519 people died. To date this year, 858 tornadoes have been reported in the U.S., although that number probably includes numerous duplicate sightings of the same twister. All together, at least 26 people died in Missouri, Oklahoma, Georgia and Alabama after the severe, tornado-spawning storms erupted Saturday over the Southern Plains and swept east. The toll was lowered by one after a woman who was reported dead after taking shelter in a broken-down car in Seneca, Mo., was instead found critically injured. More than a third of the 23 people killed by a tornado that smashed parts of Oklahoma and Missouri over the weekend died in cars; experts say vehicles are one of the worst places to be during a twister. According to data from the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center, 49 of the 705 deaths -- or about 7 percent -- attributed to tornadoes from 1997 to 2007 were people who were in vehicles when the storm struck.

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