See, climate is what you expect—and weather is what you get. (Dr. Jeff Masters explains here.] The more of certain kinds of weather you get, the bigger the effect on the climate—and that's why we're seeing bigger, more frequent extreme storms, destroying more communities and killing more people:
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – At least 17 people [Editor's note: 36 reported now] were killed in southern Indiana and Kentucky after a series of fierce storms carved a path of destruction through the Midwest on Friday.
The National Weather Service estimated there may have been 10 or more tornado touchdowns in the two states.
Kentucky declared a state of emergency, and Indiana officials said they were discussing that late Friday night.As night fell, crews were searching for victims and beginning the cleanup.
In the town of Chelsea in Jefferson County, Ind., first responders found a 4-year-old boy and his great-grandparents lying on the ground 50 feet from where the elderly couple's home had been blown off its foundation. The house was thrown more than 100 feet away. All three died of multiple blunt force injuries, according to David Bell the county's Emergency Management director.
A man who lived nearby also was killed when the storm slammed into his residence, Jefferson County Sheriff John Wallace said.
The victims' names were being withheld pending notification of relatives, Wallace said.
"All of this happened in less than 30 seconds," said Cory Thomas, a Hanover volunteer firefighter, who was sitting in a firetruck watching and videotaping the funnel cloud as it moved from the north.
Michelle and Daniel Cartwright, whose parents lived at an intersection nearby, had rushed from their home to his parents' house to help his grandmother during the storm. They moved her to the basement and heard a tremendous roar as the storm bore down on the house, Michelle Cartwright said.
"It's undescribable. It sounded like the house was collapsing," she said. "I thought I was gone. The windows shattered. Dust was flying everywhere."
In Washington County, four people were found dead in a structure along Old Pekin Road, according to Sheriff Claude Combs. The victims were a family of two adults, a child and a baby, he said.
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