A fallen tree rests atop a crushed pickup truck after an early morning tornado moved through Caulfield, Mo., Thursday, March 1, 2007. Tornadoes swept through southern Missouri around dawn Thursday, damaging homes and businesses and killing at least one person a few hours after another twister touched down in neighboring Kansas, authorities said. A 7-year-old child died in the storm, and there were reports of people missing from the Caulfield area, said Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Marty Elmore. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Tornadoes Kill 13 in Alabama; Mo. Girl
Thursday, March 1, 2007 7:06 PM EST
The Associated Press
By BOB JOHNSON
ENTERPRISE, Ala. (AP) — Apparent tornadoes killed at least 13 people in Alabama on Thursday, including eight at a high school where students were trapped under a collapsed roof, state officials said. State Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Yasamie Richardson said eight fatalities "are in relation to the high school but whether they are all students or some students and teachers we're not sure."
House Speaker Seth Hammett, at the statehouse in Montgomery, announced that five people had died at Millers Ferry in west Alabama, where another apparent tornado tore into mobile homes.
Martha Rodriquez, a 15-year-old sophomore, said she had left the school about five minutes before the storm hit. When she returned, a hall at the school had collapsed, she said.
"The stadium was destroyed and there were cars tipped over in the parking lot and trees were ripped out. There were trees and wood everywhere. It was just horrible," she said.
More than 40 people were brought in to an Enterprise hospital as a violent storm front crossed the state.
The high school "appears to have been right in the path," said Paul Duval, a meteorologist with National Weather Service in Tallahassee, Fla., which monitors southeast Alabama.
At Millers Ferry, 66 miles west of Montgomery, trailer homes were flipped over and trees downed, said Bernadine Williams in the Wilcox County emergency management office.
No other details on the deaths there were immediately available.
The burst of tornadoes was part of a larger line of thunderstorm and snowstorms that stretched from Minnesota to the Gulf Coast. Authorities blamed a tornado for the death of a 7-year-old girl in Missouri, and twisters also were reported in Kansas.
Several school systems across Alabama closed or dismissed students early Thursday as the storm front approached from the west, extending the length of the state.
"The clouds were so dark that all the lights out here came on," said Walter Thornton, who works at the airport in Enterprise, 75 miles south of Montgomery.
President Bush, who visited New Orleans on Thursday, was briefed on the tornadoes by senior staff and called Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt, White House spokeswoman Dana Perrino said aboard Air Force One.
"He called to say he extended his condolences, wanted them to know he was thinking of them, the families and the citizens, and the federal government stands by to help," Perrino said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency was working with officials in both states, she said.
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Associated Press Writer Marcus Kabel in Caulfield, Mo., contributed to this report.