Tornado deaths prove danger of staying in cars

The motorist deaths prompted Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt to issue a stern reminder to people to stay out of cars in storms.

Officials say drivers and their passengers should find a sturdy shelter or even lie flat in a ditch or other low spot, covering their heads with arms, coats or blankets if a tornado is moving in their direction.

Overpasses and bridges should also be avoided -overpasses can create a wind-tunnel effect, and bridges can collapse.

After touring the damage Monday by helicopter and on foot, Blunt called the weather-related destruction "some of the worst I've seen."

The National Weather Service said about 100 people have died in U.S. twisters this year. This could become one of the deadliest tornado years in recent history.

The weather service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said 130 people died in U.S. tornadoes in 1998, the eighth deadliest year since 1950. The highest number of tornado-related deaths came in 1953, when 519 people died.

To date this year, 910 tornadoes have been reported, though not all have been confirmed by the weather service. That compares with 1,093 confirmed twisters for all of last year.

Harold Brooks of the National Severe Storms Laboratory said the highest number of tornadoes ever recorded through May 11 of any year was 676 in 1999. Brooks said he expects the number of confirmed tornadoes through mid-May of this year to end up in the 650-to-700 range.

Tornado season typically peaks in the spring and early summer, then again in the late fall.

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