Death toll hits 39 after U.S. tornadoes, storms

RALEIGH, N.C., (Reuters) – Three days of severe  storms and tornadoes in the southern United States have killed  at least 39 people, with hundreds of homes damaged or  destroyed, officials said today.
North Carolina accounted for the bulk of casualties and  property losses, with 22 people killed and more than 80 others  injured. Significant damage was reported in at least 15  counties and power was out to more than 200,000 people.
Seven people died as a result of the storms in Alabama,  seven died in Arkansas and one died in Mississippi, and two  people were killed in Oklahoma when a tornado flattened  buildings.
It appeared to be the deadliest U.S. storm since February  2008, when 57 people died from tornadoes in the south and Ohio  Valley, said AccuWeather.com meteorologist Andy Mussoline, who  said the 39 death roll may change.
“I would expect that total to rise, unfortunately,”  Mussoline said.
The storms began in Oklahoma on Thursday and then moved  through the South and the East Coast. There were 241 tornadoes  reported, with 50 confirmed.
North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue declared a state of  emergency on Saturday night and the National Weather Service  confirmed at least eight tornadoes in the state.
Statewide, high winds destroyed 60 homes and damaged 400  others, said Julia Jarema, a spokeswoman for the North Carolina  Division of Emergency Management.
“Many communities have downed trees, downed power lines and  a significant amount of debris on the roadways,” Doug Hoell,  the head of emergency services, said late on Saturday.
Progress Energy <PGN.N>, the main utility in eastern North  Carolina, said 220,000 customers were without electricity at  the peak of the storm, with 78,000 homes and utilities still  without power on Sunday morning.
The storm snapped hundreds of power poles and 30  transmission structures were damaged, company spokesman Mike  Hughes said. In some areas, twisters swept up poles and wires  and dropped them elsewhere.
“There are some parts where a tornado took the utility  structure away and we cannot find it,” Hughes said.