Massive storm system weakens after 12 deaths

Weary residents may get some good news Thursday as the monster storm system that already battered many Midwestern states and caused a dozen deaths is expected to weaken.

The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center downgraded its outlook for severe weather from moderate to slight over the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. It said there was only a 5% probability of tornadoes through Thursday morning.

The death toll from the enormous storm system that plowed through the Midwest and spawned more tornadoes as it moved east was at 12 late Wednesday, authorities said.

Hardest hit was Harrisburg, Illinois, a town that was thrashed by a pre-dawn EF4 killer tornado that packed 170 mph winds. Six people were killed in the southern Illinois city, many were injured or left with harrowing stories like Justin Hicks.When we woke up half the roof was coming off the house," said Hicks. "We managed to get the small children in the closet, and about the time the small children were in the closet my wife and I noticed the walls separating from the house."

Hicks' home was destroyed but he says it could have been much worse"We're very lucky to be alive," he said. " It happened so fast. I woke up to a chaos, and I'm sure a lot of people woke up to chaos. I wasn't expecting it to be that bad."

The dead included four women and two men. The tornado had a preliminary rating of EF4, the second most powerful on the rating scale, according to the National Weather Service.

The twister appeared to have been on the ground for several miles, said Mayor Eric Gregg. The path of destruction was about three or four football fields wide, he said.

This Just In: Harrisburg's path of destruction

The scene in the southern part of Harrisburg, was one of debris and collapsed houses. Commercial and residential buildings were crushed. A tractor-trailer could be seen laying on its side, off the highway.

"When the sirens were going on this morning ... it was eerily quiet. I had a gut feeling something was wrong," Gregg told reporters.

"We will rebuild this city. This will make us stronger," Gregg said.

There were no reports Wednesday evening of anyone missing, the mayor said.

Harrisburg resident Caleb Cattivera said he rushed to his workplace early Wednesday only to find it gone. "I know a lot of people who live back near there."

Resident Les Winkeler said, "You just hoped your house didn't come down around you."According to the sheriff's office, some 100 people were injured and between 250 and 300 houses were damaged or destroyed.

Among the structures hit was the Harrisburg Medical Center. CEO Vince Ashley said the tornado took out 80 feet of exterior wall, exposing patient rooms, and a significant portion of the roof.

A smaller tornado caused significant damage in the music resort city of Branson, Missouri.

Nearly 200 people were hurt across the region, officials said.

Two twisters were reported Wednesday night near Hodgenville, Kentucky. Winds in excess of 100 mph were reported in northwestern Alabama.

Tourist town of Branson, Missouri, hit

At least six counties in Kentucky suffered storm damage. A shaken and bruised Steven Vaught of Greenville, Kentucky, recounted how he and his two dogs tumbled when his trailer rolled several times down the hill. They all survived.

"It's a joy to be here. I don't know how I'm here," Vaught told CNN Nashville affiliate WSMV. "The good Lord just didn't call me. It wasn't my time."

iReport: Branson Hilton windows blown out

An apparent tornado near Cassville, Missouri, left one person dead, the Barry County Sheriff's Office said. That person was thrown out of a mobile home, the sheriff's office said.

One death each has been reported in Buffalo and Puxico, Missouri officials said.

"I woke up this morning and looked outside and saw houses were destroyed," said Steven Scharmanzer in Branson. "I've never seen anything like this in the 20 years I've lived here."

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, who declared a state of emergency, said the damage there was in at least the tens of millions, but there were no reported deaths. "We are confident that Branson will be back bigger and better than ever," Nixon said.

An EF2 tornado smashed at least seven miles of the city's commercial strip, leaving 33 people hurt, most with minor to moderate injuries.

The city's convention center and an attached Hilton were damaged, as was a portion of Branson Landing, a large shopping and entertainment complex.

City Administrator Dean Kruithof said about five or six of the city's roughly 40 theaters were damaged.

"We have so many people who want crews in here to clean up, who want to start rebuilding," Kruithof said.

There were also three deaths Wednesday evening in Tennessee, authorities said.

Source CNN

Bomb explosion outside NOC office kills 3, injures 6

Three persons have been killed and six others injured in a bomb explosion in front of the Nepal Oil Corporation office at Babarmahal in the capital on Monday afternoon

Krishna Bahadur Tamang, apparently in his mid-thirties, of Baireni-9, Dhading was killed on the spot in the blast, SP Rajendra Shrestha, chief of Kathmandu police, said. The identities of the other two--one of whom also was killed on the spot and the other who died in Bir Hospital during treatment--are yet to be established, according to the police officer.

Among the injured were Som Bahadur Tamang of Bara, Raghunath Khadka of Bhaktapur, Lal Bahadur Tamang, of Dhading, Bishnu Pulara, an NOC employee, of Dhangadi, Basu Shrestha of Luvu, Lalitpur and Man Bahadur Kunwar and Bhim Bahadur Kunwar of Achham. All the injured are undergoing treatment at Bir Hospital.

Speaking to the media, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar, who visited the explosion site, said preliminary investigation suggested the involvement of Samyukta Jatiya Morcha, an armed outfit, in the blast that happened at around 1pm.

Kathmandu police chief Shrestha, however, declined to name any particular group behind the broad daylight explosion carried out in the capital´s one of the sensitive areas, only some 200 meters south of the country´s administrative hub Singha Durbar, poising grave question to the city´s security arrangement.

"We have identified who are behind the explosion. We will soon track them down and make arrests, " the police officer said. Security personnel have currently cordoned off the incident site.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has talked to chiefs of security agencies with regard to the incident and instructed them for improved security situation in the country. Likewise, a meeting of security chiefs, following the incident, is underway in Singha Durbar.

Source myrepublica