Thursday, May 29, 2008

Tornadoes on the Increase

WASHINGTON (AP) — Another week, another rumbling train of tornadoes that obliterates entire city blocks, smashing homes to their foundations and killing people even as they cower in their basements. With the year not even half done, 2008 is already the deadliest tornado year in the United States since 1998 and seems on track to break the U.S. record for the number of twisters in a year, according to the National Weather Service. Also, this year's storms seem to be unusually powerful. Nearly 90 tornadoes were reported in Kansas as of Monday, in a rough weather week that also included storms with large hail and record rainfall. "It's been kind of overwhelming," said Larry Ruthi, meteorologist in charge of the Dodge City branch of the National Weather Service. "On Friday evening, we had five (large tornadoes) on the ground at the same time. ... It's pretty amazing."

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