SENECA, Mo. — Stunned survivors picked through the little that was left of their communities yesterday after tornadoes tore across the Plains and South, killing at least 22 people in three states and leaving behind a trail of destruction and stories of loss.
At least 15 people died in southwestern Missouri. In the fading mining town of Picher, Okla., at least six people were killed, and at least one person died in storms in Georgia.
Susan Roberts, 61, stared at the smashed remains of her classic 1985 Cadillac sitting on her living room floor — the only thing left of her Seneca home. A woman who had apparently sought shelter in the car died there, she said.
“That is what is tearing me up,” Mrs. Roberts said. She had warned the woman, who stopped to change a tire as Mrs. Roberts and her 13-year-old grandson drove away from the rental house, to escape. The tornado hit just minutes later.
“I’m from Kansas. I grew up watching storms,” she said. “If I didn’t have my grandson with me, I probably wouldn’t have left.”
The same storm system earlier hit Oklahoma, where at least six people died and 150 people were injured in Picher.
The town, once a bustling mining center of 20,000 that dwindled to about 800 people as families fled lead pollution there, was a scene of overturned cars, smashed homes and mattresses, and twisted metal high stuck in the canopy of trees.
The area is part of a Superfund site, and residents have been asked to take part in state and federal buyouts in recent years.
“From what I’ve been able to determine, that wouldn’t have any bearing on whether a disaster declaration would come forth,” said Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesman Earl Armstrong.
As the system moved east yesterday, one of at least six tornadoes in Georgia killed a person in Dublin, about 120 miles southeast of Atlanta, the National Weather Service said.
The small town of Kite was destroyed by the storm, said Caroline Pope, a spokeswoman for the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department. Close to 1,000 people live in the community, she said.
Storms later yesterday in North Carolina destroyed several mobile homes, but there was no word on injuries, said Patty McQuillan of the state police.
White House officials said President Bush has talked with governors to express his condolences for the lives lost and to discuss needs for recovery.
In Missouri, the tornado hit the rural area about eight miles north of Seneca and continued east, said Keith Stammer, director of emergency management in Jasper County.
Nearly 20 people were hospitalized in Newton County, he said.
In Arkansas, a tornado caused significant damage in Stuttgart, but no one was seriously injured, said Weather Service meteorologist Joe Goudsward.
Tornadoes killed 13 people in Arkansas on Feb. 5, and seven were killed in an outbreak May 2.
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