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Two killed as severe storms sweep Southeast
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Tornado warning in Long County

The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for west central Long County and south center Tattnall at 3:15 and continuing until 4 p.m.

At 3:15, the service's doppler radar indicated a storm capable of producing a tornado 12 miles west of Donald, or about 10 miles northeast of Surrency, moving east at 30 mph.

That track put Donald in its path.

When a warning is issued it means a strong rotation has been detected by radar in the storm and that residents in the area should take cover, move indoors, on a building's lowest level, stay away from windows. Do not seek shelter under highway underpasses.

The whole area is also under a severe weather warning into Tuesday night.

To report severe weather such as hail, downed trees or limbs and power line, call the Charleston National Weather Service office toll free at 1-888-383-2024.


ATLANTA - A swath of severe weather moved across a storm-weary South on Monday, killing at least two, downing trees and cutting power to thousands of homes.

The storm system that hit Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and northern Florida brought torrential rain, flooding, hail and gusty winds to states still reeling from strong storms and tornadoes last week.

And the states braced for more rough weather expected later Monday. Tornado watches or warnings were in effect in several states.

An 18-year-old was killed in Etowah, Tenn., on Monday when a tree fell on his family's home as he slept. A second person was killed in Atlanta after a tree fell on their car. Names of the victims were not immediately released.

Many areas that were spared from Monday's rain and hail were hit with high winds that blew over trees weakened by several days of soaking rain.

"The ground is so wet that the root system is loose, so it doesn't take a lot to blow the trees over," said Nate Mayes, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Ga.

High winds on the Tennessee River in northern Alabama blew the roof off covered boat slips at the Guntersville Yacht Club, causing floating docks to pull apart and blow onto U.S. 431, said Anita McBurnett, emergency management director for Marshall County.

No one was injured, but four people who live on big sailboats and yachts stored at the marina had to be rescued after their vessels blew into the river during the storm, McBurnett said.

"It's right on the heels of the tornado on Friday, so we've really got our hands full," she said.

Florida emergency crews trying to work on flood recovery and damage assessment Monday in the northern part of the state were halted by the severe weather as high winds, hail and lightning threatened workers. Officials were worried about further flooding to areas damaged by a series of storms three weeks ago that caused river swelling throughout Florida's Panhandle.

U.S. Highway 90 remained closed for a sixth day at the Suwannee River about 65 miles east of Tallahassee. The flooding claimed two lives in late March in the Panhandle's Okaloosa County, and a third person - an elderly man - was still missing after he was swept away by flood waters.


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Book review: Author digs into mining's complicated past and present in 'River of Lost Souls'
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Jonathan Thompson will speak about his book "River of Lost Souls" at the King's English Bookshop on Tuesday, April 3 at 7 p.m. - photo by Amanda Olson
"RIVER OF LOST SOULS: The Science, Politics, and Greed Behind the Gold King Mine Spill," by Jonathan Thompson, Torrey House Press, 275 pages (nf)

Plenty has been written about the very small world of a mining town and the very broad reach of a beleaguered industry. From Loretta Lynns iconic song "Coal Miners Daughter," to the 2010 nail-biting coverage of 33 trapped Chilean miners, to the hit Broadway musicals "Paint Your Wagon" and "Billy Elliot," mining is a global story, and its one of heartbreak, hard work and hard times.

Jonathan Thompsons "River of Lost Souls" examines the many facets of risk involved in taking resources from below the earths surface. An environmental journalist, Thompson has reported on southwest Colorado for over 20 years. This book is special, however, because the Four Corners area of Colorado is his current and ancestral home. Thompson is writing about minings ecological, social, financial and political impact on his land, his landscape, his water, his people. That makes "River of Lost Souls" more than a regular reporting job.

Thompson begins with the Gold King Mine wastewater disaster of 2015, which the EPA caused while attempting to drain water near the mines entrance. The spill sent 3 million gallons of waste and tailings into Cement Creek, a tributary of the Animas River and part of the San Juan River watershed which drains into the Colorado, affecting the Utah, Colorado and New Mexico parts of that watershed as well as the Navajo Nation.

From there, Thompson jumps into far stretches of time to 1765, when a Spanish explorer named the Animas River; to 10,000 years earlier, when Paleo-Indians roamed the rivers valley; to the meridian of time, when the ancestors of the Zuni, Hopi and Rio Grande Pueblo people inhabited the land for 500 years; to the mid-1800s and the Swedes who came to Silverton, Colorado, to mine.

Its a grand scope, but telling any story of landscape is telling a very grand story.

It also makes a complex story difficult to follow. Thompsons time warps are important, but they are jarring. His time jumps need clear dates, and Thompson doesnt always make them available. A map would also be useful. Thompsons writing is good, but his sentences can be dense and require readers to do their own mining for the riches the writing embeds. The work is worthwhile, however, as there are many moving parts in any story about mines land, culture, policy, history, money, inevitable disaster and Thompson works to examine all of them.

"River of Lost Souls" is a thoughtful read, but not a quick one. Because Thompsons writings come from 20 years of his newspaper reports, the overall feeling can be disjointed and sparse, which is distracting if one is expecting to follow a tenable thread. This is not a typical narrative with a cast of characters and a traditional story arc. Readers should approach this text as the investigation it is: puzzle pieces of a larger-than-life story that is eons old. If you are the kind of reader who wants it laid out cleanly, this is not that book. But, to Thompsons point, nothing is clean about mining that has never been the case.

Thompsons best writing is in his descriptions of people and places. His telling of how he came to Silverton is familiar and engaging. If readers approach the book with care and attention, they will be rewarded with savoring these descriptive passages when they happen.
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