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Twister takes $100 million toll in OklahomaMore severe weather predicted for Midwest, Southeast
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma (CNN) -- Oklahoma's Insurance Department estimates tornado damage from Thursday's storms to be about $100 million. "That's a loose estimate," commissioner Carroll Fisher said Friday afternoon after flying over some damaged areas. "When you see the track that this thing took and the way homes were leveled, it's going to be major." The insurance department said large insurance companies have flown in emergency adjusters to begin taking claims, though their work has been delayed while emergency workers clear downed electrical lines and other hazards. Oklahoma City residents awoke Friday to the aftermath of a twister that had taken the same path as one that crashed through the area four years ago. But the storms haven't cleared yet. Another round of wind and rain held the middle and southern U.S. in its grip Friday, casting tornadoes and raising rivers at a populace already battered by severe storms for the better part of a week. Chattanooga, Tennessee, saw its worst flooding in 30 years, and a tiny town in Alabama was shut off from the rest of its county. In Chattanooga, South Chickamauga Creek crested at its highest level on record, 29.5 feet, The Associated Press reported. The water blocked access to East Ridge Hospital on Thursday, and employees used a pickup truck to reach the entrance. "I saw a carp in the front parking lot this morning," hospital CEO Jerri Underwood told the AP. Funnel clouds menaced the skies in California and Colorado, where so much hail fell that it looked like snow on the roads. Heavy rains drenched Detroit, Michigan; and Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo, all in Ohio; and some parents of Auburn University students wondered how they'd get to Saturday's graduation ceremony over a flooded Chattahoochee River on the Alabama-Georgia state line. More severe weather is on the way. CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said that as Thursday's storm moved to the east, "More weather will be firing up in the Plains states tonight -- believe it or not, in the exact same place as last night. "The problem with tonight's weather -- it doesn't start until after midnight, after [tornado] spotters have gone home," he said. Those are frightening words for Oklahomans, who saw Thursday's storm "hop and skip through the town," a police official said. The tornado dropped debris on interstate highways and slammed a General Motors manufacturing plant. "This town is in total shock this morning as they wake up," said American Red Cross spokesman Michael Spence. "This is the second time in four years this town has been devastated by a tornado." The May 3, 1999 tornado killed 47 people, injured hundreds more and damaged thousands of buildings. Cleanup from that twister cost about $750 million, with 50,000 claims ultimately being filed, according to the state's insurance department. "Unfortunately, if your house was destroyed yesterday, it was the worst storm in history," state Emergency Management director Albert Ashwood said. Ashwood said "upwards of 125 people" were injured Thursday, but no one was killed. He credited early warnings and a "safe room" program initiated after the 1999 tornado for the lower number of casualties. The safe room program offered rebates to homeowners who built reinforced areas in their houses to offer shelter during severe storms. Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry toured the damaged area by air and on the ground, and declared Cleveland and Oklahoma counties state disaster areas. He said he had requested a federal declaration from President Bush, which he expected after federal teams reported back to Washington. Tornadoes and flooding have killed more than 40 people this week as band after band of severe storm cells rammed across the country from Kansas to the Carolinas. Tennessee Valley Authority spokesman Randy Battle said the Chickamauga Dam was sending about 30 million gallons of water a day over spillways for flood control -- up from the normal 3 million gallons a day. Chattanooga authorities have estimated the damage at $17 million so far in a city where cars remained submerged and streets were closed Friday morning. Nearly 500 buildings have been damaged, and more than 1,600 people have been evacuated. I-85 closed at Alabama-Georgia line
Even more problems were reported farther south -- where the Chattahoochee River forms part of the state line between Alabama and Georgia as it winds its way to the Gulf of Mexico. Interstate 85 was closed north and southbound on both sides of the state line Friday as the river reached four feet above flood level, covering bridges and roadways. Just 24 miles west of the flooded state line, Auburn University prepared for Saturday's graduation. Jim Jackson, manager of the broadcasting unit of the school's office of communications and marketing, said there would be problems, particularly for parents and friends coming from Georgia and points east. "It's gotten worse overnight," Jackson said. "If they leave early enough, they should be fine. They'll have to go down to Columbus [Georgia], about 30 miles out of the way, and then drive up." Few of the southern floods were records -- the waters in Chattanooga began receding just before reaching 30 feet, nearly 12 feet above flood stage but just shy of the record flood of 30.75 feet, and the Chattahoochee topped out at about 23 feet, nearly seven feet below the record, at the Georgia-Alabama state line. But the Tallapoosa River in Wadley, Alabama, topped out at over 38 feet, nearly nine feet over the record and 25 feet above flood stage. "The water is receding at this time, if we don't have any more storm fronts come through," said Wadley Police Chief Larry Lacy. "The bridge across the Tallapoosa was under water yesterday, but you can see it now." But, Myers said, with severe storms to the north in Ohio, southern rivers might still flood. "Things do run downhill, and eventually it will get to the Gulf of Mexico somehow," he said.
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