Memphis Area Tornado
At 5:32 pm CST (2332 UTC), a supercell thunderstorm produced a tornado in Southaven, Mississippi, inflicting heavy damage upon Southaven High School, now Southaven Middle School. The tornado quickly tracked across the Mississippi – Tennessee state line and into southeastern portions of Memphis, where WREG tower cameras showed the tornado tracking across Memphis' southeastern suburbs, particularly over Southaven, Mississippi. National Weather Service officials issued a Tornado Emergency (the first of five in the outbreak) for most of the Memphis metropolitan region.
This tornado produced a swath of extensive damage over residential and commercial areas. Hickory Ridge Mall suffered damage when portions of a wall and roof were destroyed. Major damage was also reported in the Pleasant Ridge area of Germantown in the southern end of Memphis. In addition, damage was reported at Memphis International Airport, where a hangar lost its roof, the FedEx freight terminal's fire station suffered roof damage, airstair trucks were thrown 100 yards (91 m), and aircraft were moved around, including a Boeing 737 that was moved one foot. FedEx service was disrupted due to flight delays and closed roads, all because of the tornado damage in surrounding areas. The airport weather station's reporting equipment recorded a wind gust of 73 knots (84 mph, 135 km/h). The Hardy Bottling Company facility was also damaged, which released 120,000 pounds (54,500 kg) of anhydrous ammonia into the atmosphere, although no public health impacts were reported. Electricity supply to about 65,000 customers was briefly cut.
The National Weather Service office in Memphis rated the tornado as an EF2. Four people in the metropolitan area were killed; three of whom were in a warehouse when it collapsed in the Hickory Hill section of Memphis. A spokesperson for the state's Emergency Management Agency also reported one fatality at the Hickory Ridge Mall, although the NWS office in Memphis did not confirm this. Thirty-six other people were injured in Shelby County by the tornadoes. One additional death took place southeast of Hebron, Tennessee from a separate EF3 tornado. Shelby County Election Commission administrator James Johnson stated the weather did not interfere with Super Tuesday primary voting.
Read more about this topic: 2008 Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak
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