Video: Deadly tornado strikes Japan

A tornado tore through an area just northeast of the Japanese capital Sunday, killing a teenager and injuring dozens more. It destroyed scores of homes and left thousands without electricity.

Deadly Tornadoes ~ VIDEOS

5 dead, 29 hurt in Oklahoma

WOODWARD — Five people were killed and several others injured and homes and businesses were damaged when a tornado touched down in Woodward.

The Woodward News reported two people southwest of Woodward near the Tangier Blacktop area, two children in the Hideaway Trailer Park and one other person were killed. Numerous injuries have been reported.

Read more: http://newsok.com/deadly-tornado-hits-woodward-at-1220-a.m./article/3666724#ixzz1s8RqZ24n

New tornado warning test underway

In a test starting Monday, five National Weather Service offices will use words such as mass devastation, and catastrophic, in new warnings based a storm's expected impact. However, you'll only see and hear these tests if a tornado develops.

VIDEO: Tornado in Dallas Area

TORNADOES tore through the US city of Dallas this morning, tearing roofs off homes, tossing trucks into the air and flattening semi-trailers.
The US National Weather Service reported at least two separate "large and extremely dangerous" tornadoes south of the twin Texas cities of Dallas and Fort Worth.
Several other developing twisters were reported as a band of violent storms moved north through the metropolitan area. Officials had no immediate information about injuries.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world/massive-tornado-hits-texas/story-fn6sb9br-1226318098008#ixzz1r0f1aAEm

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

VIDEO ~ Tornadoes rip through Oklahoma

Storm chaser describes string of dangerous storms.

Baby Girl “Angel” Found Alive In Indiana Field After Family Killed In Tornado ~ Video

Yahoo News:

A baby girl who was discovered in an Indiana field following Friday’s devastating tornadoes is in critical condition at a Kentucky hospital, according to the Associated Press.



When the child was found Friday night, she was first taken to a hospital in Salem, Ind. Melissa Richardson, a spokeswoman for St. Vincent Salem Hospital, said authorities are trying to determine how the child wound up in the field alone, since her family lives in New Pekin, Ind., about 10 miles south of where the she was discovered.

Richardson says the girl is at Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville, Ky.
Though neither her name nor her family’s name have been released, a hospital spokesperson in Louisville told ABCNews.com that the family has been identified, though they did not say whether they were alive.

The girl was discovered about 30 miles west of Marysville, a 1,900-person town described by Clark County Sheriff’s Department Maj. Chuck Adams as “completely gone.”

Another dramatic rescue took place in Henryville, Ind., the birthplace of Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Col. Harland Sanders, which is about 10 miles away from Marysville

The twister approached right after the town’s elementary, middle and high schools — which are all housed on the same campus — were dismissed early due to severe storm warnings.

Several school buses saw the tornado approaching and returned to school. According to NBC’s Today show, 11 children on one of the buses made it into a school building just before the bus was thrown into another building. Several other empty buses were propelled hundreds of feet.

Glenn Riggs, the principal at Henryville Elementary School, told NBC’s Today show that he and about 40 students and faculty found shelter at the school, lying on the floor of three small offices.

“There was like a decompression,” Riggs said. “It felt almost like your skin was going to be peeled off your face and your ears popped. And of course people were a little upset — some of the children were upset.”

“It was just crash, bang, break …” he said about what it was like when the twister struck. “We knew the school was going up around us, and then the ceilings began to fall apart, and it was like a dust in there for probably about a minute. And then it did stop.”

Another school bus driver decided to pull over and ask a local resident to use their house to shelter the children.

“We got on the buses, we started heading to my house and the tornado was following us,” one student said. “Luckily this woman was so generous to let us stay in her basement.”

Though the schools were almost completely destroyed, no injuries to either students or staff were reported.

The children who remained at the schools during the tornado were taken to the local Henryville community center, where they reunited with their parents.

The deadly storms, which stretched from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes, have killed at least 30 people in four states — Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Alabama — and destroyed two small towns in Indiana in the second deadly tornado to have occurred this week

Tipton Oklahoma Tornado and Storm Chaser Car Rolls Over 11-7-2011

Andy Gabrielson shoots video of a large tornado near Tipton, OK on Monday, November 7, 2011. His car rolls when he has some steering problems. Andy immediately jumped in another car and kept chasing !!!

Oklahoma Thunderstorm Produces 

Massive Tornado !!!

Churchill Downs hit hard by possible twister !!!

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - The famed Churchill Downs horse race track, longtime home to the running of the Kentucky Derby, was hit by a possible tornado Wednesday, knocking down parts of barns and chasing out horses that ran loose before being corralled.

Hours after the storm hit, officials had no reports of injuries to humans or horses at the track that draws the attention of horse racing fans worldwide the first Saturday of each May.

Elsewhere in the city, high water from torrential rains briefly trapped a couple of people in their cars, a mayor's spokesman said, and a hospital reported that it treated two patients hit by falling trees.

The National Weather Service said radar tracked a confirmed tornado south of downtown near the track and the University of Louisville campus about 8:10 p.m. Though no races are run on Wednesdays, a simulcast of races elsewhere was being shown at the track, and a Texas Hold 'em poker tournament was being held, officials said.

At least nine of the track's 48 backside barns were damaged, as was the chapel. The barn damage, displacing about 200 horses, was in an area of the track where workers live in apartments above barns. One barn was flooded by a water main break.

"It's a hell of a mess back here," track spokesman John Asher said of the barn area where the damage was concentrated.

Louisville fire Capt. Salvador Melendez said safe areas were found for the horses overnight at the track. The track said it was arranging for the possible evacuation of about 150 horses to the nearby state fairgrounds. Keeneland Racetrack in Lexington also offered stall space if needed, Asher said.

The powerful winds also damaged living quarters for about 100 people who work in the stable area, and arrangements were being made to provide them temporary shelter, the track said.

Much of the track was spared, including the iconic twin spires above the clubhouse overlooking the finish line that were apparently not damaged, said track President Kevin Flanery.

"Clearly we've got several barns with significant damage and we're just trying to make sure people and the animals are safe first," Flanery said.

Security guards told reporters that some horses had gotten loose for a time but were later caught. At least 1,300 horses were stabled at Churchill, said vice president of racing Donnie Richardson.

Several people taking part in the poker tournament said they saw the rotation in the clouds and then saw swirling winds touch down along the backstretch and skip diagonally through the barn area, Asher said.

"Clearly in their eyes it was a tornado." Asher said. A National Weather Service team will determine whether a tornado or straight line winds did the damage.

Trainer William "Jinks" Fires had to find new living quarters for 24 horses in a barn that had part of its roof torn off. Water was knee-high in the barn after pipes broke.

"I was home in my pajamas," he said. "But it didn't take me long to get here."

Other trainers offered empty stall space for the horses he trains.

"Anyone who had an empty stall, we put 'em in," Fires said.

The 137th Kentucky Derby, run this year on May 7, brought in a crowd of more than 160,000. The annual spring tradition, the first leg of horseracing's Triple Crown, is known as much for its mint juleps and fancy hats as the racing.

The track, owned by Churchill Downs Inc., underwent extensive renovations in 2002 and 2003 totaling more than $200 million. Thursday's racing card, training and simulcast wagering operations were canceled because of the damage. The track has nine live racing days left in its spring meet that runs until July 4.

In August 2009, a flash flood heavily damaged the Kentucky Derby Museum, situated just off Gate 1 at Churchill Downs. The museum was closed for nine months while it underwent a $5.5 million renovation.

No damage has been reported at the university, which is sparsely populated at this time of year, said John Drees, a university spokesman. Scattered reports of damage to buildings in the Louisville metro area were reported from the storms that continued to move through into the night. The worst damage appeared to be in the Churchill Downs area, though, said Chris Poynter, a spokesman for Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer.

Eyewitnesses said they saw about a dozen power poles downed near the track and university. Some 2,600 customers were without power around the Louisville area at about midnight.

Storm sirens wailed in Kentucky's largest city as multiple tornado warnings were issued as the storm went through.

"It looks like we dodged what could have been a really bad ... evening," Poynter said.

___