Tornadoes and flooding kill at least seven in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.

At least seven people have died and many more have been injured as tornadoes and severe storms swept across the southern United States on Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 April 2020. At least three people died and more than twenty were injured when a tornado hit the town of Onalaska in Polk County, Texas, destroying 46 houses and damaging 245 more. Two people died in the city of Madill in Marshall County, Oklahoma, which is reported to have suffered severe damage after being hit by a tornado. In Louisiana a man is reported to have died after falling into a drainage ditch in the city of Mansfield in DeSoto Parish, and a woman is reported to have died in a storm in the town of Lecompte in Rapids Parish. Elsewhere the city of Adel in Cook County, Georgia, is reported to have suffered damage to a number of properties after being hit by a tornado, as is the city of Tallahassee, in Leon County, Florida. In Alabama two emergency workers are reported to have been injured by a falling tree in the city of Anniston in Calhoun County, while attempting to rescue a homeowner trapped by an earlier treefall. Around 150 000 homes and businesses across the southern US are reported to be without electricity due to fallen power lines.

A tornado over the city of Madrill, Oklahoma, at about 5.00 pm local time on Wednesday 22 April 2020. NBC.

Tornadoes are formed by winds within large thunder storms called super cells. Supercells are large masses of warm water-laden air formed by hot weather over the sea, when they encounter winds at high altitudes the air within them begins to rotate. The air pressure will drop within these zones of rotation, causing the air within them so rise, sucking the air beneath them up into the storm, this creates a zone of rotating rising air that appears to extend downwards as it grows; when it hits the ground it is called a tornado.

Tornado damage in Woodworth, Louisiana. USA Today.

Tornadoes can occur anywhere in the world, but are most common, and most severe, in the area of the American mid-west known as 'Tornado Ally', running from Texas to Minnesota, which is fuelled by moist air currents from over the warm enclosed waters of the Gulf of Mexico interacting with cool fast moving jet stream winds from the Rocky Mountains. Many climatologists are concerned that rising temperatures over the Gulf of Mexico will lead to more frequent and more severe tornado events.

Simplified diagram of the air currents that contribute to tornado formation in Tornado Alley. Dan Craggs/Wikimedia Commons/NOAA.

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Significant spill from Keystone XL Pipeline in South Dakota.

Part of the Keystone XL Pipeline has been closed down after a leak was discovered about 35 km to the south of the Ludden Pump Station in Marshall County, South Dakota, on Thursday 13 November 2017. The spill was detected by pipeline operators TransCanada, who noticed a drop in pressure in the pipeline and shut down flow while the situation was investigated.  The leak was originally thought to have been quite small, with about 210 000 barrels (333 900 000 litres) of oil having been lost, however inspection of the site has suggested a much larger loss, with current estimates running at 600 000 barrels (953 900 000 litres) and environmental groups concerned that the real figure will eventually be found to be much higher. This discrepancy is thought to have been caused by the dense nature of the bituminous oil running through the pipeline, which will have resulted in a slower drop in pressure that would happen with a lighter oil fraction.

The November 2017 South Dakota spill. TransCanada.

The Keystone XL Pipeline is intended to carry crude oil from tar sands deposits in Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Illinois and Texas in the US. It been opposed at almost every stage by environmental groups concerned about the possibility of leaks such as this week's one in South Dakota, the environmentally destructive nature of extracting oil from tar sands, and the contribution of a major expansion in hydrocarbons production to atmospheric carbon dioxide and global warming. These concerns led former American President Barrack Obama to halt the construction of the pipeline in 2015, however this order was rescinded by incoming President Donald Trump in March 2017. The pipeline currently pumps oil from Alberta to a refinery in Patola, Illinois, with construction of the final leg to Texas underway.

Protests against the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline in Washington DC in 2014. Kristina Banks/Huffington Post.

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One dead and two injured following roof collapse at West VIrginia mine.

One worker has died and another two have been injured following a collapse at the Marshall County Mine in Cameron, West Virginia, which occurred at about 10.00 pm local time on Sunday 8 March 2015. Earlier reports suggested that more miners might injured or trapped at the mine, which is operated by Murray Energy, but all workers have now been accounted for. It is understood that one of the injured miners has been evacuated to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown by air ambulance, while the other is being treated more locally at Wheeling Hospital.

The entrance to the Marshall County Mine. WRTF.

Murray Energy is one of the largest mining corporations in the US, but has a poor record on employee relations. While its safety record is not exceptionally poor, the company was held culpable for a mine collapse in Ohio that trapped six miners, Murray Energy has repeatedly made headlines for attempting to coerce workers into making political donations to favored candidates, canceling pension rights for workers at mines it has acquired from other companies and for its outspoken opposition to the regulation of carbon emissions and other environmental measures.

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Two fatalities following roof collapse at West Virginia mine.

Two miners have been confirmed dead by West Virginia State Police following a roof collapse at the Patriot Coal operated Brody Mine #1 near Wharton in Boone County, West Virginia, at about 10.00 pm local time on...

Worker killed at West Virginia coal mine.

A man has died of head injuries sustained in an incident at the CONSOL Energy operated McElroy Coal Mine in Marshall County, West Virginia, according to the West Virginia Office of Miners' Health, Safety and...

Executive faces prison over West Virginia's Upper Branch Mine Disaster.

David Hughart, a former executive with Massey Energy has been sentenced to 42 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his role in the organized evasion of health and safety regulations...

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Worker killed at West Virginia coal mine.

A man has died of head injuries sustained in an incident at the CONSOL Energy operated McElroy Coal Mine in Marshall County, West Virginia, according to the West Virginia Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training. The incident took place at about 12.50 pm local time (about 4.50 pm GMT) on Friday 4 October 2013, and is thought to have been caused by the failure of a conveyor chain while moving equipment. The man has been named as Roger King, 62, of Moundsville, who had been employed at the mine for 17 years.

The approximate location of the McElroy Coal Mine. Google Maps.

McElroy is the largest coal mine in West Virginia, employing nearly a thousand workers, 890 of which operate below ground. It produced 9.4 million tons of coal in 2012. This is the sixth fatality at a West Virginia mine so far this year, and the third at a CONSUL operated mine, though the first at McElroy. The mine has closed while an investigation into the incident takes place, and is not expected to reopen until Sunday 6 October.

See also Executive faces prison over West Virginia's Upper Branch Mine Disaster, Fatality at Mexican Silver Mine, Worker dies at Saskatchewan potash mine and Iowa sinkhole linked to nineteenth century mines.

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