Survivors view deadly storms' ruin

Toll from twisters reported at 22

By Roxana Hegeman | Associated Press

May 12, 2008

SENECA, Mo. — Stunned survivors picked through the little that was left of their communities Sunday after tornadoes tore across the Plains and South, killing at least 22 people in three states.

At least 15 deaths occurred in southwestern Missouri. In the fading mining town of Picher, Okla., at least six people were killed, and at least one person died during storms in Georgia.

Susan Roberts, 61, stared at the smashed remains of her classic 1985 Cadillac while sitting on her living room floor—the only thing left of her home in Seneca, Mo. A woman who apparently had sought shelter in the car died there, she said.

Roberts had warned the woman, who stopped to change a tire as Roberts and her 13-year-old grandson drove away from the rental house, to flee the area but the tornado hit just minutes later.

"I'm from Kansas. I grew up watching storms," Roberts said as she walked through the debris. "If I didn't have my grandson with me, I probably wouldn't have left."

The same storm system 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 has dwindled to about 800 people, was a scene of overturned cars, smashed homes and twisted metal stuck in trees.

"I swear I could see cars floating," said Herman Hernandez, 68.

Ed Keheley was headed to town to help out Saturday night when he heard a woman screaming and then saw a hand reaching out of debris.

"She was sitting in the bathtub; she had curlers in her hair and she wanted out of there," said Keheley, who with others rescued her.

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 town of Kite, Ga., was reported destroyed.

In Missouri, a tornado hit the rural area about 8 miles north of Seneca, said Keith Stammer, director of emergency management in Jasper County.

Next door to Roberts, Jane Lant climbed over splintered wood to go through the mud-caked remains of her bridal shop.

Among the dead were five family members who were going to a wedding when the tornado caught their vehicle in front of her store, she said.

Susie Stonner, spokeswoman for the state Emergency Management Agency, said Newton County, which includes Seneca, had about 50 homes damaged or destroyed.