Thursday tornado covered three states

TRENTON Ga. — One of the three tornadoes that struck Dade County on Wednesday came out of Alabama, tracked 18 miles through the county and moved over into Tennessee, National Weather Service officials said today.

“This whole event is really unprecedented, off the charts. It’s very rare that one county would have three tornadoes in one day,” said Lans Rothfusz, meteorologist in charge, who was on the ground in Trenton this afternoon.

Rothfusz said the first tornado, an EF-1 with 100-mph winds, hit Trenton at 8:45 a.m. A larger, EF-3 twister with 150 mph winds, struck at 5:50 p.m.

Then another EF-1, with 110 mph winds, hit in the Rising Fawn area at 7:2o p.m.

Rothfusz spoke at a news conference where officials confirmed that two people died in the storms but said everyone was accounted for.

A dusk-to-dawn curfew is in effect until further notice, officials said.

The most pressing problem now is that there’s no power to run pumps so water supplies are low. Residents are asked to conserve water while the county receives and sets up generators to run the pumps.