Deadly storms claim 324 lives in US states

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Deadly storms claim 324 lives in US states

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In Alabama, the worst-hit state, the toll reached 210, with more than 1,700 injured.

29 April,2011 06:51 pm

Shocked Americans on Friday sifted through the rubble from the worst US tornadoes in decades, which carved a trail of destruction across the south claiming at least 321 lives.Communities like Alabama Governor Robert Bentleys home town of Tuscaloosa were virtually wiped off the map, and officials warned the body count would rise as rescuers uncovered more dead in the debris.Disbelief was written on faces across eight states crippled by the ferocious spring storms -- the deadliest tornado tragedy to strike the United States since 332 people were killed by a tornado outbreak on March 21, 1932.Recalling the more recent horror of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, families picked through the remains of homes, businesses and schools, bearing witness to scenes of devastation more common in war zones or after earthquakes.In Alabama, the worst-hit state, the toll reached 210, with more than 1,700 injured and up to a million people left without power. States of emergency were declared from central Oklahoma to Georgia on the eastern seaboard, and governors called out the National Guard -- including 2,000 troops in Alabama -- to help with the rescue and clean-up operations.