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PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — Tornadoes ripped through an RV park in Louisiana and significantly damaged nearly 100 homes and apartments in Florida as a deadly storm system rolled across the South, and forecasters warned that more twisters were possible Wednesday along the East Coast.
At least three people were killed and dozens of people were injured, some critically.
One of the hardest-hit areas along the Gulf Coast on Tuesday was a recreational vehicle park in the town of Convent, in southern Louisiana. RVs were tossed about and lay on top of wrecked cars and pickup trucks that had become twisted metal. Rescue workers searched through the night to make sure no one was buried in the rubble.
Two people were killed there and more than 30 were taken to hospitals.
Jerome Picou, who lives near the RV park, said the skies grew dark just before the tornado hit.
"Then all of a sudden all kinds of wind and rain started. It was so bad, I had to go inside the house or I would have been blown away with it," Picou said.
Thousands of people across the Gulf Coast region were without power and the threat of more tornadoes remained. At least 88 million people along the East Coast were at some sort of risk of severe weather Wednesday, the Storm Prediction Center said.
Forecaster Jaret Rogers said some of the larger metro areas included the North Carolina cities of Raleigh and Wake Forest. Straight-line wind gusts may be particularly strong, reaching 70 mph or greater.
Forecasters with the National Weather Service had to take cover Tuesday in a shelter in Slidell, Louisiana, because a tornado was nearby. Lightning took out the office's radar, forcing them to use backups.
"We felt the shockwave go through the building," said Ken Graham of the National Weather Service.
The storms dumped several inches of rain on Georgia, where forecasters had issued a flash flood watch ahead of the storm.
By 7 a.m. Wednesday, Albany, Georgia, had recorded 3.58 inches of rain in a 24-hour period. In Atlanta, the two-day total was approaching 3 inches before dawn Wednesday.
Schools were closed in parts of Georgia, Florida and South Carolina ahead of the storms.
At least seven tornadoes hit Louisiana and Mississippi, said Ken Graham of the National Weather Service.
In Mississippi, one person, 73-year-old Dale Purvis, died of blunt-force trauma in a mobile home west of Purvis, Lamar County Coroner Cody Creel said.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott said an apparent tornado in the Pensacola area significantly damaged more than 70 homes and 24 apartments, leaving three people with minor injuries.
He stopped at The Moorings apartment complex, where winds whipped the roof off of at least two buildings.
Apartment resident Milan Smith told the Pensacola News Journal (http://on.pnj.com/1XMegZY) that he heard the storm approaching and ran to the bathroom. He says the door was heaving and he could hear tree limbs beating on it.
"The upstairs walls were ripped off and you could see right into the kitchen," he said.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama urged the Republican-run Senate on Wednesday to fulfill its "constitutional responsibility" and consider his Supreme Court nominee, pushing back on GOP leaders who insist there will be no hearing or vote when he names a successor to the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
Obama, in a post on the legal blog SCOTUSblog, offered his most expansive description of the qualities he is seeking in a nominee: a sterling record, a deep respect for the judiciary's role and an understanding of how the law affects real people. He emphasized his duty under the Constitution to select justices for the high court, a message aimed squarely at Senate Republicans.
"I hope they'll move quickly to debate and then confirm this nominee so that the Court can continue to serve the American people at full strength," Obama said.
Obama's rebuttal, headlined "A responsibility I take seriously," came a day after Senate Republicans delivered an extraordinary election-year rebuff by insisting that voters November's election and the next president hold the authority to replace Scalia.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday that his 54-member GOP caucus was united against taking any step in the Senate's "advise and consent" process. The Judiciary Committee will not hold confirmation hearings for the nominee. The committee and the full Senate will not vote.
A few Republicans, including McConnell, said they would not even meet with the nominee when that person makes introductions on Capitol Hill.
"Why would I? We've made the decision," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a committee member.
In a statement, Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton said the Republicans' refusal to consider any appointee is "shameful and indefensible." She said it is offensive to Obama and the American people.
"It's time for the Senate to put statesmanship over partisanship, and live up to our constitutional principles," Clinton said.
In his post Wednesday, Obama tried to quell conservative concerns that he would choose an unabashedly liberal who would upend the court's balance. He said he would pick someone who recognized the court's limits and knows that a judge's job is to interpret law, not make it.
"I seek judges who approach decisions without any particular ideology or agenda, but rather a commitment to impartial justice, a respect for precedent, and a determination to faithfully apply the law to the facts at hand," Obama said.
The president also said the law isn't clear in all cases that reach the high court. He said he was looking for someone whose "life experience" outside the court would allow that person to understand how decisions affect "the daily reality of people's lives in a big, complicated democracy."
"There will be cases in which a judge's analysis necessarily will be shaped by his or her own perspective, ethics, and judgment," he wrote.
Republicans are adamant they will not budge.
McConnell won unanimous public backing from the 11 Republicans on the committee, and he told reporters, "In short, there will not be action taken."
Still, Obama said he would announce a nominee in the next few weeks.
Filling the vacancy left by Scalia's unexpected death on Feb. 13 is crucial because the Supreme Court now has a 4-4 ideological split between justices who are usually conservative and its liberal wing. The battle has invigorated both sides' interest groups and voters who focus on abortion, immigration and other issues before the court.
"He hasn't seen the pressure that's going to build," Sen. Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said when asked if he thinks McConnell might relent. "It's going to build in all facets of the political constituency and the country."
After meeting privately with GOP senators for the first time since Scalia's death, McConnell and other leaders said rank-and-file Republicans were overwhelmingly behind the decision to quickly halt the nomination process.
"Why even put that ball on the field?" Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said of hearings. "All you're going to do is fumble it. Let the people decide."
Moderate Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., who faces a tough re-election race this fall, are among the few who've voiced support for at least holding hearings on an Obama nominee. Democrats are hoping that other Republican senators facing re-election in states Obama won twice — New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — will relent over time or face retribution from voters.
Since the Senate started routinely referring presidential nominations to committees for action in 1955, every Supreme Court nominee not later withdrawn has received a Judiciary Committee hearing, according to the Senate Historical Office.
In remarks Tuesday at Georgetown University law school, Justice Samuel Alito sounded resigned to spending the rest of this year in a court whose members are locked in a 4-4 tie.
"We will deal with it," Alito answered when asked about Republicans' resolve to oppose anyone Obama nominates.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — When an initial report arrived saying the captain of the ship El Faro had called ashore for help, the U.S. Coast Guard didn't believe the vessel was at risk of sinking and later had software problems while preparing a response plan.
Still, Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew Chancery testified Wednesday at an investigative hearing that the ship's distress was soon clear and that software issues did not delay search efforts.
El Faro sank in a hurricane Oct. 1 after losing propulsion near the Bahamas. All 33 aboard died.
Chancery said a representative for the ship's owner, Tote Inc., led the Coast Guard to believe initially that the ship was disabled but could fix its problems.
Chancery said once he heard the ship's electronic distress alert, he became "very alarmed."