Band of tornadoes leaves 33 dead

EMERGENCY crews searched for survivors yesterday amid the wreckage of communities smashed by a series of pulverising storms that barreled through more than a half-dozen states, killing at least 33 people and injuring more than 100.

The long band of storms, including several tornadoes, stretched from Louisiana to Pennsylvania, with Tennessee and Alabama the hardest hit.

The death toll included 16 in Tennessee, 10 in Alabama and five in Ohio. Pennsylvania and Mississippi reported one death each. One tornado in Ohio blasted apart a theatre just minutes after a movie ended.