Astronauts take a look at the past, the future of space travel

Kennedy Space Center, Fla. — As the countdown clock ticks to the last shuttle mission is today and the final mission of the NASA shuttle in June, astronauts say they are nostalgic about the past and hope for the future of the cosmos. , Kim Shiflett, NASA, via AP

The crew of space shuttle endeavour's Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Thursday. Left: Michael Fink, Andrew j. Feustel, Greg Johnson, Mark Kelly, Roberto Vittori and Greg Chamitoff.

From Kim Shiflett, NASA, via AP

The crew of space shuttle endeavour's Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Thursday. Left: Michael Fink, Andrew j. Feustel, Greg Johnson, Mark Kelly, Roberto Vittori and Greg Chamitoff.

"I'm working on the space shuttle for 24 years, more than half of my life so I'm going to miss it," said astronaut Rick Mastracchio, who flew three space shuttle missions and was composed of approximately 40 days in space, including six outputs. Efforts will start at 3: 47 pm today from the Kennedy Space Center. NASA began fueling Shuttle, external fuel tank at 6: 22 am expert missions, monitoring heavy weather in the South, predicted 70 percent chance of launch-friendly environment, despite the threat of thunderstorms along the coast of Florida and a small brush fire smoldered around 3 miles from the launch site for NASA test Director Jeff Spaulding saidthat 45 000 people he expected to see from Kennedy Space Center, and 700 000 spectators in Brevard County. President Obama and his family will attend the launch, along with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., whose husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, Mission teams and who was shot in the head, "" 8. "This historic launch, Spaulding said. The shuttle program ends on 28 June with the launch of Atlantis, NASA has awarded seed capital. several companies to develop commercial rockets to transport goods and people into space. It is expected that five to seven years transportation, leaving a gap for astronauts United States until the commercial vehicles ready for human crew, NASA astronauts will rely on the Russian Soyuz capsules to get to and from the International Space Station Next week, Mastracchio, who was studying English for several yearsstarts preparations for his next mission: six-month stay aboard the international space station in 2013. It launches from Kazakhstan on a Soyuz. "For me, frustration is that people run into space is what we used to do," said astronaut Stan love, who joined the space programme in 1998 and 24 missions flew aboard Atlantis to the international space station. Love performed two spacewalks to help attach the Columbus laboratory module to the station by the European Space Agency. Nevertheless, he said he is excited about the future of space program. It will look at news from efforts in the payload, the Alpha magnetic spectrometer 2, which would collect and analyse of subatomic particles. "This can tell us something about the origin of the universe, "love said. "Reality is ten times cooler than imagination." for more information about Reprint permissions, visit our FAQ &. Report corrections and clarifications, contact standards editor Brent Jones. For consideration of publication in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and State to check. To view our corrections, go to corrections usatoday.com. We have updated the guidelines talk. Changes include a brief overview of the approval process and explains how to use the button "report abuse". For More Information.

Quiet on the coast; The central United States is in the wet weekend

Although both East and West Coast would be fairly quiet soft weekend, Central United States will be under the gun for heavy rain and thunderstorms, some severe, especially on Sunday. , Aaron Hardin, PS

Mike Yates took a break from the flood recovery in his Office in counter action in Jackson, Tenn., on Friday. More heavy rain in the Central United States this weekend could result in additional flooding.

From Aaron Hardin, PS

Mike Yates took a break from the flood recovery in his Office in counter action in Jackson, Tenn., on Friday. More heavy rain in the Central United States this weekend could result in additional flooding.

Central storm: rain and thunderstorms Saturday will extend from the Northern Plains and upper Midwest South to Northeast Texas, Eastern Oklahoma and Western Arkansas. Some serious thunderstorms can rattle North Texas and southern Oklahoma. Large hail is the major threat of rain was expected Saturday. hard in the Dakotas, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Some light snow also was possible in northern Rocky and far Northern North Dakota On Sunday., rain and thunderstorms will stretch from Southwest Eastern Great Lakes region of Texas. Drenching rain, probably already soaked Ohio Valley and Mississippi Valley, mid-which would aggravate the flooding along the Mississippi River, all the way from Illinois to Louisiana. Snow also forecast in high elevations in the Central Rocky Mountains in Colorado and Northern New Mexico.Wildfire worries: Little if any rain will fall on the parched sections to the Southwest this weekend, will continue to so conditions favourable for fires. Today, strong, gusty winds and low humidity can help fan fires in West Texas, Southern New Mexico and southern Arizona.Soft, cool Center: coast Temperature is well above average along the Gulf Coast, East Coast and West Coast Saturday and Sunday, but clouds and rain will keep temperatures significantly lower than the average in the regions of the Rocky Mountains, Plains, Midwest and Great Lakes region for more information about Reprint permissions, visit our FAQ &. Report corrections and clarifications, contact standards editor Brent Jones. For consideration of publication in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and State to check. To view our corrections, go to corrections usatoday.com. We have updated the guidelines talk. Changes include a brief overview of the approval process and explains how to use the button "report abuse". For More Information.

Southern storms left little hope

. Hundreds killed, entire communities flattened, city blocks reduced to splinters and deadly destruction across a half-dozen states. Nature's fury, delivered in a few violent moments.

By Amanda Sowards, Montgomery Advertiser, via AP

Daniel Hinton looks through the remains of his house Thursday, after a tornado ripped through Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Wednesday.

By Amanda Sowards, Montgomery Advertiser, via AP

Daniel Hinton looks through the remains of his house Thursday, after a tornado ripped through Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Wednesday.

How can it still be possible?

In an age of instant personal communication, dazzling Doppler radar imagery and sophisticated computing, forecasters in the 21st century have the means to provide urgent and timely life-saving warnings to millions when killer storms advance.

However, experts, emergency responders and survivors say that Wednesday night's devastating weather brings home a glaring truth to veterans of America's tornado belts of the South and Midwest: When a monster twister strikes, there is little one can do but try to survive. And even with the best of preparations, some won't.

Experts will be examining the aftermath for a long time, seeking lessons that may make future storms more survivable, from building codes and advanced detection and warning systems to old-fashioned tornado sirens.

In the immediate aftermath, however, there is a basic acknowledgment of nature's power.

Wednesday?s tornado outbreak was among the deadliest in U.S. history:

*Note: April 27, 2011 data as of 6:30 p.m. Thursday

Source: Harold Brooks, National Severe Storms Laboratory

"These were extremely violent tornadoes," says Jim Stefkovich, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service office in Birmingham. "Unless you are underground, deaths and injuries occur with these storms."

"If a storm of this magnitude takes a direct hit on homes, people are going to perish," says Kevin Simmons, an economics professor at Austin College in Sherman, Texas, who studies the effects of tornadoes.

The tornado outbreak was savage, in numbers and intensity.

At least 297 people were killed, with deaths in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia and Kentucky. More than 200 died in Alabama alone. It was the sixth-deadliest occurrence of tornadoes in U.S. history, according to research meteorologist Harold Brooks of the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Okla.

Severe weather specialists said there appeared to be ample and effective warnings, available from TV to Twitter. Many people needed no more warning than a look out a window at the terrible specter of a gray funnel cloud growing larger on the horizon.

"I don't think this is a case where there was no warning," Simmons says. "This was just a horribly tragic event where a massive tornado went through a populated area."

"They didn't have time," says Weather Channel lead meteorologist Tom Moore. "There were so many tornadoes, and they moved so fast, at 60-70 mph."

Many of the deaths came from massive, unsurvivable trauma. Loring Rue, chief of trauma surgery at the University of Alabama-Birmingham Hospital, said victims and patients he saw had injuries consistent with high-speed motor vehicle accidents, particularly involving bone, head and chest. It was as if, he said, they were in the comfort of their homes in one minute, and flung violently by wind and debris in the next.

"The injuries were remarkable," he said with a physician's understatement.

The storms were forecast "so perfectly," said Bill Gallus, professor of meteorology at Iowa State University, that future research into Wednesday's storms will focus on factors that led to so many deaths despite advanced knowledge.

"Were people ignoring the warnings, or did they not hear them?"he asks. "Or did they do what they were supposed to, and the tornadoes were so intense they didn't have a chance of survival?"

But already, he said, it is clear that just as in the devastation that the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami brought to Japan recently, Mother Nature has the power to overcome all the technological tools that modern society assumes will protect it.

"We know that with extremely violent tornadoes, a lot of the safety tips that people are told are giving you as good a chance as you can have to survive,"Gallus says. "But you still may not."

On average, tornado warnings in Alabama preceded storms by 23 minutes, Stefkovich said. And, he notes, forecasts well before then advised of the likelihood of severe weather.

"Many lives were saved because of the tornado warnings," says Stefkovich. "The word was out well in advance in the forecast."

Studies of over a century's weather patterns indicate that the areas struck this week are historically the most dangerous in the nation for tornadoes, says Walker Ashley, professor of meteorology at Northern Illinois University.

"The heart of where most people die" in tornadoes is the mid-South and Deep South, he said.

Among the reasons:

•Tornadoes happen frequently.

•Mobile homes are common and often placed in dense clusters.

•Many homes lack basements, frequently the safest residential shelter possible.

•Forests and rolling terrain can obscure the horizon and make it harder to see a twister's approach.

•Prevalence of older homes built on cinder blocks, which can increase vulnerability.

Timing and human nature can be factors as well, Ashley says. Twisters that strike in the dead of night, when people are in their homes sleeping, frequently are the deadliest.

"In general, those that occur after midnight are 2.5 times more likely to kill than daytime tornadoes," he said.

Complacency is a danger.

"'It hasn't happened to me before, so I don't have to worry about it,'" can be a deadly assumption, Ashley says. "People need to take personal responsibility for their lives. The best way is to get a weather radio."

In Hendersonville, Tenn., alderman Matt Stamper said warning sirens were missing in his city of 51,000 because the city cut off funding for the sirens it once had. Sirens can cost $15,000 or more each, he said, and the city will have to find the money.

"I'll be beating the drum until we get them," Stamper said.

"It's not the only solution, but it's a good one."

And even those preparations may not be enough if The Big One strikes.

"Everything that was humanly possible was done," says Moore, of the Weather Channel. "The warnings that were issued were right on."

Alabama Public Safety Lt. George Thorpe says tornado warnings were sounded and local TV news reported the looming threats.

But some people may have missed the messsages, he says, and others may have ignored them.

"There probably were some that say, 'We get storms like this come along and we're fine,' " Thorpe says.

"Some people probably didn't want to be inconvenienced to go to a shelter."

Sirens are located in most populated areas, he said, but storms that preceded the twisters knocked out power, taking some radio stations off the air.

There is no reverse-911 phone messaging system in the area, he says.

Homes that survived previous severe storms were taken out this time, Thorpe says.

"One of the troopers from this area found a wood structure that survived some strong past storms, and only one room of the house was left," he says. "An older lady who lived there did not survive."

Contributing: Oren Dorell, Doyle Rice and Steve Marshall

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State considers only commence prohibiting waders

Felt-soled waders, long the backbone of a piece of gear for fishing on the rushing rivers and streams have employed prohibited due to environmental concerns, they can cause. Maryland Department of natural resources

Slimy didymo, algae, which are usually called rock snot found in Maryland gunpowder falls. Maryland was the first State to ban opinion Soles waders or boots, you intend to distribute algae.

Maryland Department of natural resources

Slimy didymo, algae, which are usually called rock snot found in Maryland gunpowder falls. Maryland was the first State to ban opinion Soles waders or boots, you intend to distribute algae.

Maryland became the first State to ban them on 21 March. They became legal in Vermont, 1 April and will be prohibited in Alaska next January 1. the foot, at a cost of anglers looking for a field slippery and can catch disputes and larvae of non-native plants and animals, allowing invaders hitchhike in the shoes of one stream to another ... This is what was happened in Vermont, where he felt-soled shoe is suspected of spreading didymo, slimy algae, also known as rock snot, said Sean goodness, fish biologist with the State of fisheries and Wildlife Department. Since the first show in 2006, Batten kill Riverin didymo has spread to Vermont White River, Mad River Gihon and Passumpsic River, well said.as the algae effect on native species is unclear, there is little doubt about his ugliness, well said. "This is very unsightly," said well. "It forms dense mats that blanket at the bottom of the stream as the shag carpet. It changes these lovely, pristine trout on green yucky mess. "Spread of didymo from Maryland gunpowder falls in 2009 on the Savage last year seems to be clearly linked to "shoes for fishermen," said Jonathan Mcknight, a biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Maryland ban on opinion. Soles of anglers must step to protect the treasured resursGovorit Other Mcknight.: • after Idaho legislature adopted a resolution on 7 April, which is not prohibited, but contains opinion Soles "harmful and catastrophic potential" didymo and other aquatic invaders, with felt soles, identified as a dangerous site. • Oregon legislature in 2011 legislative session, considered the Act prohibiting sales view Soles, but the Bill has not clearly Committee Department of wildlife. • Nevada is preparing a strategic action plan on invasive species and the only issue "will definitely be part of this," said a representative of the Department of Maryland Chris Healy .in, ban "generally received positive reactions from rybolovovGovorit Mcknight. There are adequate alternatives in the market, well said not all supported it. Dennis Ritchie, Executive Director of Oregon anglers, testified against the proposed ban Oregon during the hearing of the Legislative Committee. He said felt Soles probably saved his life when he fell into the river rushing Sandy about 15 years ago. "unless he felt Soles, I'd gone down the rapids. Richie says that there is no doubt in my mind, I would have drowned, "for additional information about Reprint permissions, visit our FAQ &. Report corrections and clarifications, contact standards editor Brent Jones. For consideration of publication in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and State to check. To view our corrections, go to corrections usatoday.com. We have updated the guidelines talk. Changes include a brief overview of the approval process and explains how to use the button "report abuse". For More Information.

Southern Tornadoes stir memories of Kansas City

Images of the devastation in Alabama this week brought back memories for Ray Stegmèn, emergency Manager in Kiowa County, Kan., on 4 May 2007 monster tornado tore through Greensburg, the county seat, killing 12 and 95% of the city center. , Jim Watson, AFP/Getty Images

President Bush flies over Greensburg, Kan., May 9, 2007 at the marine as he tours area stuck in Deadly Tornadoes.

Jim Watson, AFP/Getty Images

President Bush flies over Greensburg, Kan., May 9, 2007 at the marine as he tours area stuck in Deadly Tornadoes.

Tornado sirens sounded in Greensburg, 20 minutes before the Tornado hit may save lives, Stegmèn said. Despite this, due to a tornado destroyed four of the sirens, and they do not have a backup battery they do now, he said, and other things have changed in Greensburg after the deadly F5 Twister. Annual meeting for storm spotters have greater participation and more reconstructed houses basements where residents could seek refuge, Stegmèn said. Some old buildings have new underground storm shelters. system for determining a tornado and beep code remains the same: If the national weather service issued a tornado warning and sent notification, spotters look to the sky. Before the 2007 Greensburg Tornado Stegmèn, two other spotters and Deputy Sheriff were observing clouds. Stegmèn also was watching radar imagery on his cell phone when he saw a "Hook echo" feature of the supercell thunderstorms producing Tornadoes over the line, he instructed the Kiowa Sheriff's Department dispatcher include sirens. "Do not disconnect them until I tell you," said Manager Stegmèn. once the quarter mile, Tornado sirens faltered, "says Stegmèn. after the storm, five new sirens were installed, each with battery backup. Spending more money to get the system back up, he said. Greensburg is still recovering. When a tornado with winds estimated at 205 miles per hour that struck the central city of Kansas was about 1400 inhabitants. Now it is about half that number. Many houses, businesses and Government buildings were restored of energy efficiency standards. In the city tourist attractions, the world's largest hand-dug well and 1000 pound meteorite, survived. Four years after the disaster, Greensburg takes every tornado, warning seriously. "It's still all in mind, that is for sure," says Stegmèn. now that the dark clouds on the horizon "to make you a little more difficult," said Michael Taylor, 56, who owns the Greensburg convenience store. "You've got a little more respect for the Weather now."For more information about Reprint permissions, visit our FAQ &. Report corrections and clarifications, contact standards editor Brent Jones. For consideration of publication in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and State to check. To view our corrections, go to corrections usatoday.com. We have updated the guidelines talk. Changes include a brief overview of the approval process and explains how to use the button "report abuse". For More Information.

Policies cover damage a tornado, but may not cover

Almost all homeowners in the path of a tornado this week will have insurance to cover losses from damage, but not necessarily enough. , Dusty Compton, PS

Tornado rips through Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Wednesday.

By Dusty Compton, PS

Tornado rips through Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Wednesday.

A typical homeowner insurance includes cover for tornado, Tornado policy therefore should not be purchased separately as earthquakes, floods and hurricanes in some States, however, research has shown that 96% of people have homeowner's insurance, 64% of United States homes are undervalued for insurance purposes, says a study from 2008 researcher Marshall & Swift. This leaves homeowners with enough money rebuld 81% from home, says study. 33% of the value of the House drunk during the past five years. Perhaps that led people to think they don't need to update their insurance. "But the cost of building, in most areas, most likely went up, insurance experts say People won't." enough money to rebuild their homes, "said Martin Hartley, privilege underwriters reciprocal exchange that offers high value home insurance will also suffer from tenants. Only 43% of them are renter's insurance, says insurance Research Council In the State where President Obama declares disaster, uninsured or under insured-may receive federal aid which was limited to just over $ 30000. The average payments will probably be considerably less. last year, Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms caused no. 1 insured losses from natural disasters in the United States But for most of the past decade, the insurance, the second for losses from hurricanes and tropical storms, tornadoes, said losses by industry researcherInsurance Services Office, Tornadoes typically damaging wind.. If roofs, and maintaining a home destroyed by rain that covered the default policies. Homeowners insurance also covers home maintenance costs and living expenses while you are rebuilding homes. It does not cover damage from flooding, which is not a tornado, said Amy Danise consumers insurance Insure.com.While insurers reduce risk by selling individual insurance policies for floods and earthquakes, hurricanes, so widespread that it is more difficult for insurance companies in order to avoid ihGovorit damage from tornadoes Hartley.also tend to be more scattered in the area, with damage from earthquakes and hurricanes is generally, broad-based, "says Hartley. for additional information about Reprint permissions, visit our FAQ &. Report corrections and clarifications, contact standards editor Brent Jones. For consideration of publication in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and State to check. To view our corrections, go to corrections usatoday.com. We have updated the guidelines talk. Changes include a brief overview of the approval process and explains how to use the button "report abuse". For More Information.

Ex-Pentagon official Wheeler, was buried at Arlington

Washington-Former Pentagon official John Parsons Wheeler III, whose murder remains unsolved, was buried with full military honors this morning in the columbarium at Arlington National Cemetery. , Alex Brandon, AP

Ms. Katherine Klyce submitted flag during inurnment service for John p. Wheeler III, who served in the army from 1966 to 1971, and is a former employee of the Pentagon on Friday in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA.

By Alex Brandon, AP

Ms. Katherine Klyce submitted flag during inurnment service for John p. Wheeler III, who served in the army from 1966 to 1971, and is a former employee of the Pentagon on Friday in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA.

His funeral was attended by about 200 people or more, including more than two dozen other students in the United States Military Academy at West point who wore armbands with the year of completion, 1966. Among them was a retired Army General Wesley Clark, former presidential candidate. 66-year-old Wheeler's body was found in Wilmington dumps morning 31 December after being dumped there by a garbage truck. Cause of death was injuries of brute force, and his death was ruled homicide. Wheeler's family is offering a reward of 25 million dollars for information leading to the arrest. No suspects have been identified and the ToolTip strings is not created any versions, Newark Police Lt. Mark Farrall said Thursday Police uncertain whether. killing was accidental. Witnesses described Wheeler as disoriented two days before his body was found. He was last seen heading to Wilmington on the eastern side, but police did not know where he was beaten. Sergeant Monique Randolph, United States AIR FORCE

John Wheeler, a former Special Assistant to the Secretary of the air force, was found dead in a dustbin on Dec. 30 in Wilmington, del.

Newark Police are pursuing, with assistance from the FBI and Wilmington police. Full-time investigator was appointed, with others as necessary, "said Farrall. Wheeler, served in the army from 1966 to 1971 and retiring captain. Vietnam veteran, he was inurned in a columbarium to be right, because he served in the war is given full honours., which includes the caisson, escorts, casket teams, firing party group and gornist. Wheeler's wife, Katherine Klyce got burial flag. Wheeler, known as "Jack" friends and family, lived in New Castle and Pentagon consultant working on cyber defense at MITRE Corp., in Mclean, VA., when he was killed. He was considered the authority on biological and chemical weapons. over the past three Wheeler served as Republican presidential administrations. He led the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and worked on numerous other charitable causes he graduated at the top of this class of United States Military Academy at West point and also graduated from Harvard Business School and Yale Law School. He also spent a year visiting Virginia Theological Seminary. Contributing: Chris Barrish News Journal: For more information about reprint permission &, visit our FAQ. Report corrections and clarifications, contact standards editor Brent Jones. For consideration of publication in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and State to check. To view our corrections, go to corrections usatoday.com. We have updated the guidelines talk. Changes include a brief overview of the approval process and explains how to use the button "report abuse". For More Information.

Crushed Miss. town checks Tornado damage

SMITHVILLE, Miss. town residents began trickling in were destroyed on Friday morning, picking through the crushed homes and businesses and looking for loved ones smashed and property. Rogelio v. Solis, AP

The wreckage remained Thursday in Jeep Phil Campbell, Ala., after Wednesday's Tornadoes.

Rogelio v. Solis, AP

The wreckage remained Thursday in Jeep Phil Campbell, Ala., after Wednesday's Tornadoes.

Powerful Tornado swept through the North Hamlet Mississippi and most of the South on Wednesday, splintering homes, shearing the roof and destroying lives. Smithville City Hall was destroyed in a local high school, four churches and each of the 14 enterprises of the city. Mattresses, hung from a tree branch, the cars were kept as if stepped on giant feet, and the three storey pine trees snapped in half, in the town of 857 inhabitants 13 were killed and 14 missing, Mayor Gregg Kennedy said. Search and rescue teams Friday continued to poke through the smashed concrete for survivors. More than 150 houses were destroyed and the entire city was evacuated late Thursday "I've never seen devastation like this," Kennedy said. Storms pummeled homes, shops, schools and churches in six States, as they moved east coast Wednesday, leaving a trail of more than 300 people. Alabama took the brunt of the devastation, reporting more than 220 storm related deaths. Other deaths were reported in Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, Kentucky, Louisianaand. More than 100 were wounded, 800 in Tuscaloosa only loss of life is the greatest outbreak of Tornadoes in the United States starting in March 1932, when the national weather service said storms 332 persons were killed by the national weather service survey. groups continued Friday to assess the damageThe Tornado outbreak. Several storm surveys were conducted on Thursday, with more planned for today so far, based on preliminary storm survey Weather Watch EF5 tornadoes, the strongest was in Monroe, Miss., that an estimated peak wind speed of 205 mph. Tornadoes 14 people were killed and another 40 were injured. This was the most powerful Tornado Hit Mississippi the March 1966 .the weather service also found evidence of at least six EF4 Tornadoes, including the estimated winds of 175 mph that ripped Catoosa County, Georgia, that killed seven people suffered the most damage to areas of Central Alabama still surveys today. In Alabama Weather Service reported that the immensity of the event, both in the extent of the damage and a large geographical area which it covers, it is likely to be a week or more before the survey can be completed. National Weather Service conducts surveys of damage in the first days after the Tornado outbreakto find out how many Tornadoes occur, as well as their estimated wind speed, width, and how long they were on the spot. President Obama arrived in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Friday to see the damage and met with gov. Robert Bentley. Late Thursday, he signed the Declaration, disaster for the State to provide federal aid for those who seek it as million homes and businesses were without power, and Bentley said 2000 was activated National Guard troops to assist. Governors of Mississippi and Georgia also issued emergency declarations for part of their States.Obama came across the wreckage and promised assistance to those who survived, but lost their homes in fear of flash. The President stated that: "I've never seen devastation like that." "We're going to make sure that you have not forgotten you," Obama said as he and first lady Michelle Obama walked the streets of mill neighborhood, he said that while nothing can be done for many people who were killed "along with God at this"-Obama assured support sustainable survivors President comments came as he absorbed by scenes from a community deeply deformed, Tornado, with trees and damaged houses. One young man said he witnessed Obama, repeal all around him, but he emerged with only cuts and bruises. "It's a blessing you are here", the President said.Obama said Tuscaloosa rebuild in such a way that would give him a story of pride, he would say of the whole nation as victims in Smithville, picked through debris across Alabama told that similar harrowing moments as Tornado roared through. When Irish Horton saw Tornadoesthe nearest Ridge for his house in Fultondale, a suburb of Birmingham, he left the kitchen, grabbed his wife Roland and ran in a closet in the bedroom. "I hugged her and kissed her, and I told her, "this," Horton said Friday that he protect your property from his two year old brick houses, loving couple since third grade, fell on their knees to pray when they came out of the closet after 20 minutes. Roof peeled from the living room and dining room. Nevertheless, Horton, secondary school physical education teacher and coach, said: "I feel so blessed."Close scene sadder, played by Vanessa Lessley worried about the fate of elderly friend who rode out the storm--and nowhere find a roof and walls were left out of the House, women and even a blanket in the bathroom, where she apparently took shelter with three grandchildren as a pair of notorious looked at homewomen, family member, stopped to say it was OK. Vanessa, 22, was driving from a storm in a house her MOM as people look for loved ones gawkers alike ducked under downed fiber and invade to get a look at the damage Friday morning. "I have never even heard about the storm is bad, "said Vanessa's husband, Jesse, 29. Dec Birmingham, h. King-Vaughan was to redeem what his home rubble through Friday gathering. He found photographs of his mother box containing ashes and his late aunt bathroom he crouched in a Tornado threw it across the street. Redemption-Vaughnbut remember, 63, flew across the street. He remembers waking to find himself under the shards of his house, which landed on top of other homes he broke through debris to free himself and ended up in hospital with two deep cuts on his legs "I just remember thinking, I don't want to dieI cannot die, "said he. City Pratt, where he lived is not intact homes. Tornado leaves and Bark stripped from a huge tree Tim Coleman, research meteorologist at the University of Alabama-Huntsville, which assesses the damage said stripped tree is an indication that the Tornado was EF5, the highest rating, can get Tornadoes. wind over 200 miles Points per hourHe says, "redeemed-Vaughn has its own description of the monster storm. "It was like a beast, he says. "This was an awesome thing in Mississippi 51 of 82 districts reported losses related to the storm, said Jeff rent, representative of the State Emergency Management Agency. Charred homes and miles of flat surroundings reminded emergency officials and residents of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina six years ago, he said "this is definitely a severe weather outbreak of historic significance for us," said rent. "But we can recover. We have shown this can be done. "

Promotion: Doyle Rice in Mclean, Virginia; The associated press

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NASA shuttle launch suddenly cancels; Monday will be zaselënnymi

Cape Canaveral-NASA abruptly cancelled following space shuttle endeavour on Friday, destroying the historic day brimming with emotion seriously wounded Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, as she saw her husband team shuttle program next last flight into space. , John Raoux, AP

The crew of space shuttle endeavour left operations and checkout building on board the orbiter before launch was scrubbed due to technical problems.

By John Raoux, AP

The crew of space shuttle endeavour left operations and checkout building on board the orbiter before launch was scrubbed due to technical problems.

Faulty thermostat on auxiliary power postponed for at least 72 hours. In the most optimistic scenario, the launch Director Mike Leinbach told the shuttle could launch is early 17: NASA has 33 Monday. to run until Wednesday. If efforts can not start if the mission would be postponed until May 9 or 10-so it doesn't conflict with other missions, including the launch of the Atlas v launch commercial rockets, from Cape Kanaverali detach Union, Mike Moses, Chairman of the space shuttle mission management team.Giffords was disappointed at the delay, but understands the security mission is a priority, her Office said in a statement. "Delays launch are not uncommon with the space shuttle," he said in a statement. "We are looking for a quick repayment of this scientific important mission."Giffords met with President Obama and the first family visited Kennedy Space Center and met with crew members and their families on Friday. , Charles Dharapak, AP

President Obama and his family to enter astronaut Janet Kavandi under the chassis of the space shuttle Atlantis at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

"We hope we can lure him back for another launch, Robert Cabana, Director of the Kennedy Space Center Astronaut will remain said. quarantine in a quarter of their crew or crew to launch from the beach house. They can spend time family members who cleared medical, "said Cabana. Whether Giffords will remain in Florida was ambiguous. her Office said her travel plans "set."Giffords, who is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head, was in Cape Canaveral on Wednesday to launch the space shuttle, which her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, team.Giffords has not appeared in public since 8 January assassination attempt, and she left a rehabilitation hospital its Houston for the first time to go to Florida. It is expected to watch the zaselënnymi privately and other families, Cosmonaut Cleaning on Friday abruptly close plant that seems to be a day-flawless launch: helicopter overhead and SWAT vehicle Chase, NASA space shuttle crew left in the center of operations in the airstream travel trailer 10-minute launch padWhen Word came: Gritty inception. Shuttle was scheduled to begin at 3: 47: 12: 16 pm p.m.Mission the Board of Directors decided to cancel the launch. Astronauts, fully dressed in their orange flight suits and minutes away from landing shuttlecraft, leaving their operations center only 11 minutes before.Obama and his family travel from storm damage in Alabama in Florida for launch, touched at Cape Canaveral AIR FORCE station, less than an hour later. Instead of watching the launch, they visited the orbiter processing facility and a large view of shuttle Atlantis. Atlantis will begin in the final Mission of the space shuttle programme on June 28. Dec for astronaut activities in Airstream trailer, dubbed Astrovan, were seconds from effort and less than three hours before the scheduled launch in 14-day mission to international space station, starting on Friday. Astrovan dramatically turned around, making for at least 72 hours hurry up and wait for the crew. "Astronaut Rick Mastracchio you're bored, you worry that you made in your training, and you're ready to go, "said before launch. "Slow time" Thermostat, one of the two to keep the fuel line from freezing, is the culprit, Leinbach said. Auxiliary power units with hydrazine fuel that can freeze in orbit. Thermostats should feel the reduced temperature and activated heaters "it was a hard failure. "We couldn't get it to come to life, no matter what we did," said Leinbach. Other heater further up the line: "do you also show Funny behaviour," he said "we don't want to make a flight with only one heater," which would leave the shuttle at risk for frozen fuel lineIf no other thermostat thermostat Leinbach. Fixing said and ramping up again to launch will require at least three days, Leinbach said. If the problem is more extensive and involves replacing the wiring that the power line, startup will face further delays, "he said. Testing replacement facility includes two full days of tests, he said: for more information about Reprint permissions, visit our FAQ &. Report corrections and clarifications, contact standards editor Brent Jones. For consideration of publication in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and State to check. To view our corrections, go to corrections usatoday.com. We have updated the guidelines talk. Changes include a brief overview of the approval process and explains how to use the button "report abuse". For More Information.

Dozens of Tornadoes killed at least 297 people in the South

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The tornadoes roared into cities like runaway freight trains, devouring houses, leveling entire neighborhoods and burying people who scrambled to get away under mounds of dirt and rubble.

By Butch Dill, AP

Residents search through what is left of their homes Thursday after a tornado hit Pleasant Grove, just west of downtown Birmingham, Ala., a day earlier.

By Butch Dill, AP

Residents search through what is left of their homes Thursday after a tornado hit Pleasant Grove, just west of downtown Birmingham, Ala., a day earlier.

The twisters ripped through six states killing at least 297 people -- 210 in Alabama alone -- in the deadliest outbreak of tornadoes in almost 40 years.

Rescuers used pieces of debris as makeshift stretchers for survivors. Relatives frantically tried to find family members who were missing. And those who did survive were in shock at what they saw around them.

"There's not a word for what you see," said Becky Russell, spokeswoman for the Salvation Army's Alabama-Louisiana-Mississippi (ALM) Division as she surveyed the damage in Tuscaloosa. "This has to be close to what a war zone looks like. I can turn in any direction and there is nothing normal standing."

"It happened so fast it was unbelievable," said Jerry Stewart, 63, a retired firefighter who was picking through the remains of his son's wrecked home in Pleasant Grove, a suburb of Birmingham, Ala. "They said the storm was in Tuscaloosa and it would be here in 15 minutes. And before I knew it, it was here."

Stewart and his wife, along with their daughter and two grandchildren, survived by hiding under their front porch. Friends down the street who did the same weren't so lucky. Stewart said he pulled out the bodies of two neighbors whose home was ripped off its foundation.

Alabama had confirmed 195 deaths, Gov. Robert Bentley said. The other deaths were in Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia and Kentucky.

In DeKalb County, Ala., where the twisters and storms killed at least 35 people and injured 100, power was out and people were still trying to find out if their relatives were safe or among the dead and injured.

"We are still in process of searching the houses and areas that were damaged, looking for people who may be trapped," Sheriff Jimmy Harris said in a statement. "There are still many people who've been reported missing and are unaccounted for, and we are doing our best to locate them."

The tornadoes in DeKalb all hit on Sand Mountain, a rural area sprinkled with farms and chicken houses. The largest town there: Rainsville, pop. 5,000.

The tornado cut a 1/2-mile swath through the county from Grove Oak to the Georgia state line, Harris said.

He asked non-locals who are worried about family members "to bear with us as we search the areas that were hit and try to identify those who were killed."

In Tuscaloosa, a city of more than 83,000 that saw some of the worst damage, residents began to sift through what little remained of their homes.

The whine of chain saws filled the background as a state trooper helicopter clattered overhead.

The city is home to the University of Alabama, which largely escaped major damage.

T. Spivey, 22, a senior at the university from Rogersville, searched through his H3 Hummer that rested on the front porch of the home where he rode out the storm. Spivey survived with two buddies in the bathroom of the almost-destroyed wood-framed structure.

"I came over here because I live on the fourth-floor of a condominium," he said. "I thought a one-story house would be safer."

Spivey and his friends saw the massive tornado that barreled through late Wednesday afternoon from about 200 yards away and rushed into the bathroom.

"I really don't remember what we were doing when it hit," Spivey said. "I was holding onto the toilet and all I can remember is dirt and everything flying past us. It took maybe 20 or 30 seconds and it was over. It really did sound like a freight train."

After it passed, the trio went outside.

"We began running up and down the street seeing if we could help people," he said. "In another minute or two, people started popping out of the houses. There was a lot of screaming, and police and fire got here real quick."

About two blocks away, Anne Cathryn Allen, 20, a sophomore from Russellville, walked down 15th Street stunned by what she saw. She rode out the storm in her Midtown Village apartment complex, about two blocks from where the more serious damage occurred.

"We were watching it on our phone on the Internet and they said it was five minutes away," she said. "We decided to get in the closet instead of the bathroom."

Her apartment building was not damaged.

"I just don't know how to describe what I see here," Allen said. "You don't really realize this can happen until it happens where you are and it destroys things you're used to seeing every day."

Many of the streets in the hardest hit areas of Tuscaloosa were open only to one-way traffic. Overturned, damaged and destroyed vehicles peppered a neighborhood near the intersection of McFarland Boulevard and 15th Street that abuts a business district full of fast-food restaurants, pawn shops and car repair shops.

Large trees that snapped or were stripped of most of their limbs littered the area. Occasionally, a wisp of pink insulation could be seen blowing through the area accompanied by the smell of natural gas.

"When I looked back, I just saw trees and stuff coming by," said Mike Whitt, a resident at DCH Regional Medical Center who ran from the hospital's parking deck when the wind started swirling and he heard a roar.

On Thursday morning, he walked through the neighborhood next to the hospital, home to a mix of students and townspeople, looking at dozens of homes without roofs. Household items were scattered on the ground ? a drum, running shoes, insulation, towels and a shampoo bottle. Streets were impassable, the pavement strewn with trees, pieces of houses and cars with their windows blown out.

Dr. David Hinton was working at the hospital when the tornado hit. He and his wife had to walk several blocks to get to their house, which was destroyed. Several houses down, he helped pull three students from the rubble. One was dead and two were badly injured. He and others used pieces of debris as makeshift stretchers to carry them to an ambulance.

"We just did the best we could to get them out and get them stabilized and get them to help," he said.

University officials said there didn't appear to be significant damage on campus, and dozens of students and locals were staying at a 125-bed shelter in the campus recreation center.

The governors of Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Virginia issued emergency declarations for parts of their states.

In Alabama, where as many as a million people were without power, Bentley said 2,000 National Guard troops had been activated and were helping to search devastated areas for people still missing. He said the National Weather Service and forecasters did a good job of alerting people, but there is only so much that can be done to deal with powerful tornadoes a mile wide.

President Obama said he had spoken with Bentley and approved his request for emergency federal assistance. He will travel to Alabama on Friday to view storm damage and meet with the governor and families.

"Our hearts go out to all those who have been affected by this devastation, and we commend the heroic efforts of those who have been working tirelessly to respond to this disaster," Obama said in a statement Thursday.

Russell of the Salvation Army said two Salvation Army buildings that served the Tuscaloosa area for 100 years were totally gone.

The buildings, a church and a shelter, had 30 people in them when the twister hit. "They all survived," she said. "It's amazing."

As of Thursday afternoon, she said all shelters in the Tuscaloosa area were full and 600 people had no place to stay.

The Salvation Army has 10 mobile feeding units deployed to storm-ravaged areas. Each unit can feed 1,000 people a day and these are hot meals, she said. In Tuscaloosa, two mobile units, also called canteens, are roaming.

In Franklin County, Ala., Roy Gober, director of Emergency Management, said four additional bodies were found Thursday morning, raising the number of fatalities there to 22.

Tornado sirens went off but some people didn't get in their basements and didn't take prevention action, Gober said.

Some died in buildings that had structural damage, "some (buildings) were completely blown away," he said.

Crews with chain saws and heavy equipment were out in force clearing roads of trees and debris so recovery workers and family members can get in, Gober said.

"We're checking on people for the relatives because phone service is out down here," he said.

Back in Tuscaloosa, Rachel Sugart walked down 15th Street carrying a case of bottled water to give out to emergency responders. The 20-year-old nursing student from Fort Payne rode out the tornado in the closet of her 12th Street home.

"I just felt like I had to do something," the University of Alabama sophomore said. "So I got all the water and the food I could find in the house and came down here. I just couldn't sit by and do nothing. I had to help in some way."

Sugart's home was undamaged in the tornado.

"We had lost power, we had lost the Internet," she said. "All we could do is sit there and pray."

Andrew Meinsen, and his fraternity brother Alex Grodner, searched the storm-damaged area for Boomer, a mixed-breed dog that belonged to their fraternity brother, Michael Aronowitz.

The black and white dog was in a cage with a German shepherd husky mix named Bear when the storm hit. The cage was in Aronowitz's bedroom, which was destroyed.

"We found Bear running along the top of the debris from the house," Meinsen said. "They were in the same cage, so we hope Boomer got out too."

Meinsen and Grodner were sifting through the rubble that was once their house.

Aronowitz was at the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity house when the storm hit. He was white as a sheet as he searched through rubble.

"We hope we don't find Boomer, not under all this," Grodner said.

About two blocks away, Russ Lewis Jr., 23, a business senior from Moundville, was removing fishing tackle and hunting gear from his brick home, which was destroyed.

"I rode it out in the bathroom," he said. "When it was over and I got out, I didn't know what to think. I ran to check on the girls next door because their house was destroyed. I don't know how it happened, but nobody on this block got hurt."

Russ's father, Russ Lewis Sr., helped his son remove items from the house.

"We were at home in Moundville watching it on TV, we knew it was heading to Tuscaloosa but our power went out and we didn't know what was going on," the senior Lewis said.

He tried to reach his son several times by telephone.

"We just couldn't get through," his father said. "Then he called us. It sure was good to hear him on the other end of that phone."

Pete Brown, 20, had fled to the basement of his rental home in Tuscaloosa when it was destroyed.

Brown, a sophomore management information systems major at the University of Alabama, said he was playing video games with a roommate when the power went out and the wind kicked up. They were already headed toward the basement when they saw the tornado coming.

"We ran down there, settled in, heard it go through," he said. A few minutes later they walked out of the basement and saw the sun shining down on them where the roof should have been. Parts of the house had caved in.

"We looked at each other and said 'we don't have a house anymore,'" he said.

"There are no words, I've never seen anything like it."

Mary Agnew, 22, drove out of Tuscaloosa to the sound of tornado warning sirens late Wednesday. Agnew, a recent University of Alabama graduate, drove through storms in nearby Walker County and elsewhere on her way home to Faulkville, less than two hours from Tuscaloosa.

She said the roads were strewn with trees, power lines and even a metal cow trough that had been blown onto Interstate 65.

"I've never seen so many snapped trees in all my live. All the interstate signs had been blown away," she said. "We got really lucky."

Contributing: Roney reports for The Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser; Oren Dorell, Steve Marshall, John Bacon and Carolyn Pesce in McLean, Va.; Associated Press.

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