South Begins Recovery

Residents of Southern states affected by tornadoes are beginning the recovery process. The Red Cross, Salvation Army, and other groups have opened shelters and distributed food to displaced people in Alabama, Mississippi, and other states. There have been scattered reports of looting in parts of Alabama, but the Alabama National Guard had received no reports of looting as of Friday. Parts of the South are under tornado watches again on Sunday, but any new tornadoes are not expected to be as severe as the recent outbreak on Wednesday and Thursday. The current death toll from those storms is at more than 340, the highest death toll from tornadoes since 1936. The National Weather Service estimates that 211 tornadoes touched down in the 24-hour period from Wednesday to Thursday.