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Tornadoes

Carole Beckett reacts as she sorts through belongings at her home after a tornado moved through Woodward, Okla., Sunday, April 15, 2012. Residents of several states scoured through the wreckage of battered homes and businesses after dozens of tornadoes blitzed the Midwest and Plains Saturday night. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Bryan Terry)

Early warnings credited in Midwest tornado outbreak

Grant Schulte, Sean Murphy The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, April 16, 2012 - 9:55am

THURMAN, Iowa — Concerned that Midwesterners might be complacent after repeated tornado warnings came to nothing, forecasters issued a sternly worded alert, well in advance, that weekend storms could prove fatal.

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Juan Ventura Sr., smiles after discovering the portrait of his two-year-old grandson Adrian Ventura in the tornado damaged home of Ventura's son Wednesday, April 4, 2012, in Forney, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Texas residents start to rebuild after tornadoes

Chris Vaughn, Susan Schrock Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Last updated Wednesday, April 4, 2012 - 4:54pm

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Amid preliminary estimates that an EF-2 tornado might have touched down in southwest Arlington on Tuesday, city officials Wednesday switched to recovery mode, allowing homeowners back into devastated neighborhoods, setting up a help center, and warning residents about shady contractors.

An estimated 428 homes were damaged when winds estimated at 135 mph roared through shortly after lunch, officials said.

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Tornadoes hammer central Texas

Chris Vaughn, Domingo Ramirez Jr. Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Last updated Tuesday, April 3, 2012 - 5:16pm

FORT WORTH, Texas — A powerful spring storm swept suddenly into the Dallas-Fort Worth area shortly after lunch on Tuesday, spawning reported tornadoes in Arlington and Kennedale, parts of Johnson County, and in Lancaster and Mesquite in Dallas County.

Television footage showed residential and commercial damage in southwest Arlington and Lancaster, and large hail fell throughout Arlington and then moved through Northeast Tarrant County.

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NEXRAD Radar at the WSR-88D Radar Operations Center

New weather radar better tracks violent storms

Steve Campbell Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Last updated Monday, March 19, 2012 - 10:03am

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Faster and more precise storm detection radar will get its first urban test this spring in Dallas-Fort Worth, mapping weather hazards down to street levels when tornadoes, high winds or flash floods threaten.

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Social media sites help aid agencies, families after disasters

Deborah M. Todd Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Last updated Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - 4:29pm

As a series of catastrophic storms and twisters touched down in at least 10 states the end of last month, those in the midst of the destructive weather tapped into social media sites to report the status of their neighborhoods and to try to connect with lost loved ones.

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This undated photo provided by Joe Decker Monday, March 5, 2012, shows Decker with his 36-year-old wife, Stephanie Decker. Decker told the Courier-Journal his wife lost parts of both her legs when the family's home collapsed onto her Friday in Marysville, Ind., as she was shielding their two children from a devastating tornado. The Deckers' 8-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter weren't injured. (AP Photo/Courtesy of the Decker family)

Woman loses legs saving kids from tornado

Rick Callahan The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - 11:30am

INDIANAPOLIS -- An Indiana woman who saved her two children by binding them together with a blanket and shielding them with her body as a tornado ripped apart their house lost parts of both her legs, which were crushed by the falling debris, her husband says.

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Family and friends arrive at the memorial service for Joseph Babcock, Moriah Brough, and their three children _ Angel, 15 months, Jaydon, 2, and Kendall, 2 months _ Monday, March 5, 2012 at Life Tabernacle church in Salem, Ind. The family was killed after a tornado ripped through the home of Joe Miller, 31, where they were taking refuge from the storm. Angel was initially found alive in a field after Friday's storm, but succumbed to her injuries on Sunday. The family was buried in two caskets in the pauper section at Crown Hill Cemetery in Salem, Ratts said. (AP Photo/Stephen Lance Dennee)

Baby dropped in field by tornado buried in Indiana

Dylan T. Lovan, Tom LoBianco The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, March 5, 2012 - 6:53pm

SALEM, Ind. -- A 15-month-old Indiana girl who clung to life for two days after being scooped up by a tornado that killed her parents and two siblings was buried Monday in a snow-covered cemetery, a poignant end to what had seemed to be a miracle story of survival.

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Death toll from tornadoes at 39

Bruce Schreiner, Tom LoBianco The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, March 5, 2012 - 12:39pm

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Fifteen-month-old Angel Babcock seemed to be the miracle survivor of a deadly tornado that killed her parents and two siblings when she arrived Friday night at Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville, Ky. Though critically injured when the twister scooped her up and deposited her in a field, Angel was opening her eyes. Hospital workers said that was a hopeful sign.

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Snow covers a demolished house in Marysville, Ind., Monday, March 5, 2012 after a tornado ripped through the town on Friday, March 2. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Snow covers the rubble from a tornado

The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, March 5, 2012 - 11:42am

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Jessie Sexton, a volunteer, helps rummage through the remains of a home after a tornado in Henryville, Ind., on Sunday. (AP Photo/Lincoln Journal Star, Brynn Anderson)

Baby found in field after tornadoes dies

Rebecca Yonker, Tom Liabanco The Associated Press

Last updated Sunday, March 4, 2012 - 10:35pm

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — An Indiana toddler found in a field after violent tornadoes died Sunday after being taken off life support, ending a hopeful tale for survivors in the Midwest and South picking through the storms’ devastation.

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Stories of survival emerge from tornado victims

Bruce Schreiner, Jim Suhr The Associated Press

Last updated Sunday, March 4, 2012 - 10:14am

EAST BERNSTADT, Ky. -- The stories from tornado survivors across the South and Midwest were remarkable: schoolchildren took cover under desks, people hunkered down in a church basement or hid out in a bank vault. One family even piled on top of one another for protection.

One of the most remarkable survivors was a toddler found alone in a field near her Indiana home. Her four immediate family members were among at least 36 people killed by tornadoes that scarred communities scattered across hundreds of miles of the nation's midsection from Alabama to Indiana.

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(AP Photo/David Kohl) Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, right, and Washington Township fire chief Dana Kellenberger, left, look over damage in the village of Moscow, Ohio, Saturday, March 3, 2012. Massive thunderstorms, predicted by forecasters for days, threw off dozens of tornadoes as they raced Friday from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes. Twisters crushed blocks of homes, knocked out cellphones and landlines, ripped power lines from broken poles and tossed cars, school buses and tractor-trailers onto roads made impassable by debris.

Storms demolish small towns in Ind., Ky.; 38 dead Storms demolish small towns in Ind., Ky.; 38 dead

Jim Suhr, Roger Alford The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, March 3, 2012 - 4:47pm

WEST LIBERTY, Ky. — Rescue workers with search dogs trudged through the hills of Kentucky, and emergency crews in several states combed through wrecked homes in a desperate search Saturday for survivors of tornadoes that killed dozens of people.

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Violent Midwest storms kill 31, death toll could rise

Jim Suhr, Ken Kusmer The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, March 3, 2012 - 8:13am

HENRYVILLE, Ind. -- A string of violent storms scratched away small towns in Indiana and cut off rural communities in Kentucky as an early-season tornado outbreak killed more than 30 people, and the death toll rose as daylight broke on Saturday's search for survivors.

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Tornado deposits checkbook 65 miles away

Jesse Rininger Evansville Courier

Last updated Friday, March 2, 2012 - 4:06pm

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- A tornado that struck Harrisburg, Ill., Wednesday carried off a checkbook and deposited it 65 miles away in a parking lot here.

An instructor at Holy Redeemer Catholic School found the mangled, waterlogged checkbook in the school parking lot that morning and turned it in

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People look at a truck that was blown off the road by debris from a reported tornado that passed through the Harvest, Ala., area Friday, March 2, 2012. (AP Photo/The Huntsville Times, Bob Gathany)

Tornadoes hit Alabama

Michael Muskal, Richard Fausset Los Angeles Times

Last updated Friday, March 2, 2012 - 3:13pm

Apparent tornadoes destroyed homes, damaged a prison and injured about 10 people in Alabama on Friday as the South and Midwest braced for what was expected to be a full day of severe weather.

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