Page 3 - ARUBATODAY

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up front Monday 3 april 2023
32 dead as tornadoes torment from Arkansas to Delaware

From Front homes. One woman had a
laceration to her face and
By ADRIAN SAINZ, ANDREW other parts of her body and
DeMILLO and BEN FINLEY was flown out by a helicop-
Associated Press ter. Another man was freed
WYNNE, Ark. (AP) — Resi- from the rubble of his home
dents across a wide swath by rescuers who used
of the U.S. raced Sunday to chainsaws to slice through
assess the destruction from the debris.
fierce storms that spawned Jeffrey Day said he called
possibly dozens of torna- his daughter after see-
does from the South and ing on the news that their
the Midwest into the North- community of Adamsville
east, killing at least 32 peo- was being hit. Huddled in
ple. The storms tore a path a closet with her 2-year-old
through the Arkansas capi- son as the storm passed
tal and also collapsed the over, she answered the
roof of a packed concert phone screaming.
venue in Illinois, stunning "She kept asking me, 'What
people throughout the re- do I do, daddy?'" Day said,
gion with the scope of the tearing up. "I didn't know
damage. what to say."
The number of deaths con- After the storm passed, his
tinued to grow Sunday. daughter crawled out of
"While we are still assess- her destroyed home and
ing the full extent of the drove to nearby family.
damage, we know fami- Elsewhere, Illinois Gov. J.B.
lies across America are Pritzker traveled Sunday to
mourning the loss of loved Belvidere to visit the Apol-
ones, desperately waiting lo Theatre, which partially
for news of others fighting collapsed as about 260
for their lives, and sorting people were attending a
through the rubble of their heavy metal concert.
homes and businesses," Frederick Livingston, Jr.,
President Joe Biden said in was pulled from the rubble
a statement. but didn't survive. He had
Biden earlier declared gone to enjoy the concert
broad areas of the country Damage from a late-night tornado is seen in Sullivan, Ind., Saturday, April 1, 2023. with his son, Alex.
major disaster areas, mak- Associated Press "I couldn't save him," his son
ing federal resources and told WLS-TV. The father and
financial aid available for storms that hit Friday night County, east of Memphis, All squeezed into the bath- son were standing side by
recovery. into Saturday were report- according to Patrick Shee- room of the cinder block side when debris began
Gov. Sarah Huckabee ed in Alabama and Missis- han, director the Tennes- basement Friday night as raining down. "It happened
Sanders in Arkansas, where sippi. see Emergency Manage- the tornado approached so fast." The governor said
at least five people were Residents of Wynne, Arkan- ment Agency. and made whooshing 48 others were treated in
killed, already had de- sas, a community of about Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee sounds like a washing ma- hospitals, with five in criti-
clared a state of emer- 8,000 people 50 miles (80 ki- drove to the county Sat- chine. cal condition. Pritzker also
gency and activated the lometers) west of Memphis, urday to tour the destruc- "As it ripped the roof off, planned to visit Crawford
National Guard. Tennessee, woke Saturday tion and comfort residents. the shower curtain fell," Mi- County, about 230 miles
Confirmed or suspected to find the high school's He said the storm capped lam, 26, said Sunday. "So (370 kilometers) south of
tornadoes in 11 states de- roof shredded and its win- the "worst" week of his time I'm trying to dig through the Chicago, where three peo-
stroyed homes and busi- dows blown out. At least as governor, coming days shower curtain and see. I ple were killed and eight
nesses, splintered trees and four people died. after a school shooting in saw darkness and then rain injured when a tornado hit
laid waste to neighbor- Ashley Macmillan said she, Nashville that killed six peo- started to fall." around New Hebron.
hoods. her husband and their chil- ple including a family friend Then absolute terror. "We've had emergency
The National Weather Ser- dren huddled with their whose funeral he and his "And the house — I crews digging people out
vice confirmed Sunday dogs in a bathroom as a wife just attended. watched it pick up and of their basements be-
that a tornado was respon- tornado passed, "praying "It's terrible what has hap- move … about six inches cause the house is col-
sible for damage to several and saying goodbye to pened in this community, and then pick up and it lapsed on top of them, but
homes near Bridgeville, each other, because we this county, this state," Lee was gone." luckily they had that safe
Delaware. One person was thought we were dead." A said. "But it looks like your "I was just thinking it's gonna space to go to," Sheriff Bill
found dead inside a house falling tree seriously dam- community has done what take the tub, like we're go- Rutan said at a news con-
heavily damaged by the aged their home, but they Tennessean communities ing to be gone," she said. ference.
storm Saturday night, Dela- escaped unhurt. do, and that is rally and re- A piece of wood fell over That tornado was not far
ware State Police reported. Chainsaws buzzed, as bull- spond." them. So did a mirror. "We from where three people
It may take days to confirm dozers plowed into debris. Rachel Milam lived in the were fine and just thankful died in Indiana's Sullivan
all the recent tornadoes. Utility crews restored power basement with her 6-year- that we made it out alive," County, about 95 miles (150
The dead included at least as some neighborhoods old daughter, while her Milam said. kilometers) southwest of In-
nine in one Tennessee began recovery. mother and her mother's Milam, who works as a dianapolis. Several people
county, five in Indiana and Tennessee recorded at boyfriend lived upstairs in nurse, soon joined oth- were rescued overnight,
four in Illinois. least 15 deaths, including their home on the outskirts er neighbors in digging with reports of as many as
Other deaths from the nine fatalities in McNairy of Waynesboro, Tennessee. people out from wrecked 12 people injured.q