Death Toll rises in Deadly Southern USA tornado

Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Tornadoes swept through Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois late yesterday, killing at least 47 people and causing a deadly explosion at a natural-gas pipeline near Nashville before heading east.

The ``extremely dangerous'' twisters, spawned by unseasonably warm temperatures, prompted the first high-risk weather alert issued in February in 10 years, AccuWeather.com said. Heavy rain, damaging winds and hail are possible from the Carolinas to southern New Jersey today, AccuWeather said.

``Tornadoes in February, especially this many and this strong, is a rare event,'' Buddy Rogers, spokesman for the Kentucky Emergency Management Office, said by phone. ``We have seven deaths, and if we're fortunate that number won't rise.''

The twisters first struck in the late afternoon, killing 24 people in Tennessee, 13 in Arkansas, seven in Kentucky and three in Alabama, the Associated Press reported, citing emergency officials. Authorities were searching for any other victims, including in the wreckage at a Sears mall store in Memphis, Tennessee, where the roof collapsed, the newswire said.

About a fifth of Arkansas's counties reported storm-related damage from floods, tornadoes and wind, said spokeswoman Renee Preslar of the state Emergency Management Department. At least four tornadoes touched down in the state.

Pump Blast

The number of deaths following the blast at a Columbia Gulf Transmission Co. pumping station wasn't immediately known, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office in Trousdale County, Tennessee, said today. The fire was put out early today and gas flows may be diverted around the damaged pumping station, Kelly Merritt, a spokesman for Houston-based Columbia Gulf Transmission, said in a phone interview.

Snow last night fell from the central Plains to southern Lake Michigan, Accuweather said, and was forecast to move into New York and New England. Atwood, Kansas, had 10 inches (25 centimeters) as of 4 a.m. local time. Bethany, Missouri, picked up 6 inches, and winds and white-out conditions threatened motorists, the private weather forecaster said.