TUSCALOOSA (Reuters) - Tornadoes and violent storms left more than 220 dead in South America, destroying homes, overturning cars and uprooting trees and power lines, officials said on Thursday.
The deadliest series of tornadoes in nearly four decades in the United States stopped 131 people in Alabama, the state hardest hit.
"We expect the number to grow," Gov. Robert Bentley said in a telephone conference with the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA, for its acronym in English), Craig Fugate.
According to preliminary calculations, officials in other states reported 32 dead in Mississippi, 30 in Tennessee, 11 in Arkansas, 10 in Georgia, eight in Virginia and two in Louisiana.
Powerful tornados, over 100 in total, were combined with storms to leave a trail of destruction in its march of several days from west to east.
The Browns Ferry nuclear plant in Alabama will be closed for several days, perhaps weeks, for the repair of transmission lines. Up to a million people in Alabama were without electricity.
Fugate, the head of FEMA, said it was too early to have a confirmed death toll and the authorities are focused on rescue and recovery.
Much of the devastation occurred Wednesday in Alabama, where a massive tornado 1.6 miles wide hit Tuscaloosa, home of the University of Alabama, killing at least 15 dead, including some students.
"It sounded like a chainsaw. You could hear the debris hitting things. The only thing that rescued are some clothes and tools that were too heavy to be picked up by the storm. It does not seem real, "said Steve Niven, a student of 24 years.
Barack Obama President declared a state of emergency in the state and ordered federal aid delivery.
" Our hearts go out to all those who have been affected by this devastation and we are ready to continue helping the people of Alabama, "Obama said in a message on Twitter Thursday.
Tornadoes are part of everyday life in southern and central United States, but rarely are so devastating.
Shops, malls, drugstores and gas stations were demolished in one part of Tuscaloosa, a city of about 95,000 inhabitants in west-central Alabama.
"We have never experienced such weather event in our history," said the Tennessee Valley Authority, the U.S. company that operates the Browns Ferry nuclear plant and provide electricity to 9 million people in seven states.
The worst series of tornadoes recorded in the United States occurred in April 1974 when 300 people died, according to the National Storm Prediction in Oklahoma.
Alabama's governor declared a state of emergency and said he ordered mobilized about 2,000 National Guard members.
The governors of Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee also declared a state emergency.
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