WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Thousands of people poured into the streets outside the White House and in New York City on Monday, waving American flags and honking horns to celebrate the death of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Almost 10 years after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington that killed nearly 3,000 people, residents found joy, comfort and closure with the death of the mastermind of the murderous plot against Americans. For many, it was a historic, long-overdue moment.

"I'm thrilled. I really hope this is a turning point and a return to some kind of unity," said New Yorker Nick Kurczewski, who rushed to Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center Twin Towers that were destroyed by al Qaeda militants flying hijacked planes.

Washington residents began gathering at the White House fence soon after the first reports at 10:40 p.m. EDT (0240 GMT Monday) that bin Laden had been slain in Pakistan by U.S. special forces. The crowd swelled and were chanting "USA, USA, USA" by the time President Barack Obama formally announced the news in a televised address just before midnight.

"We had to be there to celebrate with everybody else. I'm very happy with the outcome of today's news," said Stephen Kelley, a Gulf War veteran and former U.S. Marine, who said he rushed to the White House after his wife texted him the news.

College students, who were just children when the attacks took place, turned out in huge numbers, like Jennifer Raymond, 18, wrapped in a huge U.S. flag outside the White House.

"We were all in our dorm rooms and everyone's Facebook was blowing up," said Raymond. "It's like 'Oh my God, Osama bin Laden's dead.' Everyone in the dorm was screaming. Everyone decided to come to the White House."

The celebration may well have been the biggest crowd to gather spontaneously outside the White House since Obama's election in November 2008.

'SOME CLOSURE AND COMFORT'

In New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg quickly issued a statement saying: "New Yorkers have waited nearly 10 years for this news. It is my hope that it will bring some closure and comfort to all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001."

Hundreds gathered after midnight in Times Square as a large police presence and firetrucks parked among the crowd. People cheered and drivers sent out staccato honking of horns.

Firefighters hold a special place in New Yorkers' memories of September 11, as hundreds died in the collapse of the Twin Towers while racing up flights of stairs to rescue trapped people on the upper floors.

"This is a tremendous moment, and hopefully it will bring us together, it doesn't matter if you're Muslim or Christian or whatever," said Patrice McLeod, a firefighter dressed in uniform. "We'll never give up."

It was also a night to remember the 100,000 or so U.S. troops deployed in Afghanistan, where bin Laden was believed to be hiding for many of the last 10 years. Elaine Coronado, 51, whose brother served a year in Afghanistan, said that joining the crowd outside the White House was a way of showing her support to U.S. military families.

"I was at home thinking I cannot stay at home tonight on such an historic evening. It's just an exciting evening. You have to be here," she said.

Amid the jubilation, some had words of caution about a terrorism threat that they felt was far from over.

"This is a wonderful day for our country, but it's not over. We have the next threat to think about," said Gwen Basaria, 30, who works in Washington and was visiting New York City, speaking after paying her respects at a fire department right next to Ground Zero.

(Additional reporting by Zachary Goelman, Mark Egan and Daniel Trotta in New York, and Toby Zakaria In Washington DC; writing by Mary Milliken; editing by Philip Barbara)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Sunday that he hoped the dramatic killing of Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks that brought down the city's Twin Towers, would comfort those who lost loved ones that day.

"The killing of Osama bin Laden does not lessen the suffering that New Yorkers and Americans experienced at his hands, but it is a critically important victory for our nation -- and a tribute to the millions of men and women in our armed forces and elsewhere who have fought so hard for our nation," he said in a statement.

"New Yorkers have waited nearly 10 years for this news. It is my hope that it will bring some closure and comfort to all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001," he said.

In the city's Times Square neighborhood, where one year ago law enforcement foiled a botched attempt to blow up the area known for its Broadway theaters, hundreds gathered to celebrate after midnight with a large police presence and firetrucks parked among the crowd.

Crowds also quickly amassed to celebrate at what became known after the attacks as Ground Zero, the site in lower Manhattan where the Twin Towers had stood. Many shouted "bin Laden is dead, bin Laden is dead."

"After September 11, 2001, we gave our word as Americans that we would stop at nothing to capture or kill Osama bin Laden. After the contribution of millions, including so many who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, we have kept that word," Bloomberg said.

(Reporting by Dan Trotta, editing by Philip Barbara)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The State Department on Sunday warned Americans worldwide of "enhanced potential for anti-American violence" following the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

"Given the uncertainty and volatility of the current situation, U.S. citizens in areas where events could cause anti-American violence are strongly urged to limit their travel outside of their homes and hotels and avoid mass gatherings and demonstrations," the State Department said in a statement.

(Reporting by Andrew Quinn, Editing by Will Dunham)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama went to town on Donald Trump Saturday night, mocking his possible presidential ambitions in a sendup at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

With Trump in the hotel ballroom audience of celebrities, politicians and journalists, Obama zeroed in on Trump-fed conspiracy theories that he was not U.S.-born.

"Donald Trump is here tonight," Obama said, grinning as he prepared to roast the real estate tycoon turned showman who was a guest of the Washington Post.

Obama earlier in the week released a longer version of his birth certificate after Trump had fueled the birth certificate controversy while testing the waters for a possible 2012 run for the Republican presidential nomination.

Now Trump can finally get "back to focusing on the issues that matter. Like, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?" Obama jibed.

Roswell is shorthand for a UFO incident in the vicinity of Roswell, New Mexico, where, according to some theories, an object that crashed in 1947 was an extra-terrestrial spacecraft carrying alien occupants.

Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur were slain rap icons, whose deaths also have also become a subject of continuing uncertainty.

Obama went on to suggest that Trump's biggest decisions typically involved the trademark firings he routinely carries out on his reality television business challenge series.

"These are the kinds of issues that would keep me up at night," Obama deadpanned. "Well handled, Sir, well handled," he said of a recent firing on an episode of the show "Celebrity Apprentice."

Trump grinned, pursing his lips and looking uncomfortable.

At one point big video screens in the ballroom flashed an image of what was labeled "Trump, The White House," a take-off on the mogul's practice of naming buildings after himself.

The mock-up portrayed a hotel-casino-golf course at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue with bikini-clad girls frolicking in the fountain that adorns the White House front lawn and gold columns substituted at the front for white ones.

Also coming in for ribbing were Tim Pawlenty, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman -- all potential Republican challengers for the White House in 2012.

(Editing by Greg McCune)

PHIL CAMPBELL, Alabama (Reuters) – Travis Roberts invited his neighbors into the storm cellar he built for $600, but they figured they would ride out the twister bearing down on them.

Five were killed and two critically injured when it struck, splintering their homes, but Travis and his wife Brenda survived below ground in their storm-rocked concrete shelter.

"We did not respect the warning enough," said Roberts of the tiny Alabama town of 1,100 people, which was largely flattened in the deadly tornado outbreak that killed at least 350 people across seven states.

He credits his wife Brenda's fear of twisters for saving their lives.

When they bought their property in the town 35 years ago, he accommodated her worries by building a storm cellar.

"It is patterned after a Cold War fallout shelter. I spent $600 on it. I got my money's worth," Roberts told Reuters.

The families behind and in front of his home did not elect to join him, and five of them did not survive the storm.

"Two of my neighbors chose to ride it out. They rode all right -- literally -- about 200 yards. I rescued them," he said. The other two remain in critical condition in hospital.

During the storm, the concrete shelter shook with the violent winds. He knew his house was gone before he clambered out of the shelter.

"It wasn't wind, it was an explosion," he said.

Eleven volunteers appeared at his shattered home on Saturday, bringing tents for shade, tools, a tractor, food and water. One found his wife's wedding rings.

"I didn't know there were so many honest people in the world," he said with emotion cracking in his voice. "I cashed in my savings bonds to buy those rings."

(Reporting by Verna Gates; Editing by Tim Gaynor and Greg McCune)

PLEASANT GROVE, Alabama (Reuters) – The U.S. government ramped up efforts on Saturday to help thousands of homeless victims of the country's second deadliest recorded tornado outbreak, which killed at least 350 people.

President Barack Obama, who surveyed the tornado destruction in the worst-hit state of Alabama on Friday and called it "heartbreaking," was sending top officials to the disaster zone this weekend to escalate federal assistance.

With some estimates putting the number of homes and buildings destroyed at close to 10,000, state and federal authorities in the U.S. South were still coming to terms with the scale of this week's devastation from the country's worst natural catastrophe since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Thousands of stunned survivors, many of whom had seen relatives and friends killed by twisters that obliterated whole communities, were camped out in the shattered shells of their homes or moved into shelters or with friends.

One disaster risk modeler, EQECAT, is forecasting insured property losses of between $2 billion and $5 billion from the havoc inflicted by the swarm of tornadoes that gouged through seven southern states this week.

"It is like living in some other world. Devastation is everywhere," said Pastor John Gates of the United Methodist Church in Pleasant Grove, Alabama, a community with a population of some 10,000 west of Birmingham.

Alabama, the hardest-hit state, revised down its fatalities to 249 on Saturday after initially reporting 255 dead. At least 101 more deaths were reported in Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, Virginia and Louisiana.

Several thousand people were injured and hurt.

Stories of survival from the deadly twisters were still emerging but one report from a Jefferson County, Alabama emergency official of three people pulled alive from their wrecked home after three days turned out to be false.

The death toll, which is expected to rise, was the second highest inflicted by tornadoes in U.S. history. In 1925, 747 people were killed after twisters hit the U.S. Midwestern states of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.

Unlocking federal assistance, Obama late on Friday signed major disaster declarations for Mississippi and Georgia, adding to the one already signed for Alabama.

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Small Business Administration Administrator Karen Mills were all due to visit devastated areas in Alabama and Mississippi on Sunday, FEMA said.

TORNADO HIT LIKE "EXPLOSION"

Obama, mindful of criticism that President George W. Bush was too slow to respond to the 2005 Katrina catastrophe, visited the wrecked city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Friday to pledge full federal assistance for states hit.

In many devastated communities, scenes of tangled piles of rubble, timber, vehicles and personal possessions recalled the destruction seen in the recent Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Power and water still were out in many areas.

In the small Alabama community of Phil Campbell, which lost 28 residents, Travis Roberts, 64, credited his wife Brenda's fear of storms for saving their lives. When they bought their property 35 years ago, he built a storm cellar for $600.

He invited seven of his neighbors to join them in the cellar when the twister hit but they chose to ride it out in their homes. Now five are dead and two critically injured.

"It wasn't wind, it was an explosion," Travis said at his shattered home as he received help from volunteers.

"It's not an exaggeration to say that whole communities were wiped out," Yasamie August, spokeswoman for the Alabama Emergency Management Agency, told Reuters.

Officials said even solidly built brick houses had been unable to withstand the force of some of the twisters.

The winds of one in Smithville, Mississippi, was recorded reaching 205 miles per hour. It was a rare EF-5 tornado, the highest rating on the Enhanced Fujita scale that measures tornado intensity.

"When you are talking about an EF-5 level tornado there is no place that is safe really," said Jeff Rent of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. "That kind of tornado sucks up the grass and concrete."

Many whose homes only lost roofs and windows were camping inside with tarps and plastic sheeting over them but those whose houses were completely razed were forced to move in with family or friends or go into government shelters.

There were 659 people in shelters across Alabama, August said. Tennessee had 233 people in shelters.

Volunteers in many communities turned out to help. "Big grills are set up everywhere to offer people food. The community has really pulled together," said Tammy Straate, 29, a Pleasant Grove foster mother who cares for 11 children.

Tornadoes are a regular feature of life in the U.S. South and Midwest but rarely are they so devastating.

Recovery could cost billions of dollars and even with federal disaster aid it could complicate efforts by affected states to bounce back from recession.

(Additional reporting by Colleen Jenkins in St. Petersburg, Peggy Gargis in Birmingham, Leigh Coleman in Mississippi, Pascal Fletcher in Miami, Writing by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Bill Trott)

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama (Reuters) – President Barack Obama promised federal aid on Friday to the tornado-ravaged South, where deadly twisters have killed at least 339 people and caused billions of dollars in damage.

Obama toured smashed homes and met survivors on a visit to the worst-hit state, Alabama. It was one of seven southern states mauled by recent tornadoes and storms which have caused insured losses of between $2 billion and $5 billion, according to one catastrophe risk modeler's estimate.

"We are going to do everything we can to help these communities rebuild," Obama told reporters in Tuscaloosa, a university city in Alabama that was devastated by the tornadoes.

The destruction inflicted this week by the twisters, which flattened whole neighborhoods, was the deadliest natural catastrophe since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

"I have never seen devastation like this. It is heartbreaking," said Obama, accompanied by his wife Michelle and Alabama Governor Robert Bentley. "This is something I don't think anyone has seen before."

In Alabama, emergency officials again raised the death toll from the tornadoes in that state, to 238. Bentley said 1,700 people were injured.

At least 101 more deaths were reported across Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, Virginia and Louisiana.

Children were among the victims.

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said it was feared the number of deaths would rise as states searched for many people unaccounted for. But the number of missing was not clear.

"We can't bring those who've been lost back. They're alongside God at this point ... but the property damage, which is obviously extensive, that's something we can do something about," Obama said.

"With initial reports of buildings destroyed approaching 10,000, property insurance losses are expected to range from $2 to $5 Billion," catastrophe risk modeling company EQECAT said.

"Tornado activity in April is putting 2011 into the record books," it said, adding that the recent tornado outbreak had involved "hundreds of touchdowns, some tornado tracks reported to be almost a mile wide and tens of miles long causing hundreds of fatalities".

Obama was eager to show that federal relief is on its way and that he is not taking the disaster lightly. His predecessor George W. Bush was fiercely criticized for what was viewed as a slow response to Hurricane Katrina.

Flying into Tuscaloosa aboard Air Force One, Obama and his family saw a wide brown scar of devastation several miles (kilometers) long and hundreds of yards (meters) wide.

Tuscaloosa resident Jack Fagan, 23, was glad that Obama saw the damage. "Perhaps federal funds will help us, but I'm sure it will take longer than they say because it always does."

Recovery could cost billions of dollars and even with federal disaster aid it could complicate efforts by affected states to bounce back from recession.

Tornadoes are a regular feature of life in the U.S. South and Midwest, but they are rarely so devastating.

NUCLEAR PLANT SHUT, INDUSTRIES DAMAGED

The tornadoes hit Alabama's poultry industry -- the state is the No. 3 U.S. chicken producer -- and hurt other manufacturers in the state.

They also halted coal production at the Cliffs Natural Resources mine in Alabama.

The second-biggest U.S. nuclear power plant, the Browns Ferry facility in Alabama, may be down for weeks after its power was knocked out and the plant automatically shut, avoiding a nuclear disaster, officials said.

Apparel producer VF Corp, owner of clothing brands such as North Face and Wrangler Jeans, said one of its jeanswear distribution centers, located in Hackleburg, Alabama, was destroyed and one employee killed.

In Tuscaloosa, the twisters, including one a mile-wide, cut a path of destruction, reducing houses to rubble, flipping cars and knocking out utilities. The death count was expected to rise with many bodies still trapped under debris.

"We are bringing in the cadaver dogs today," said Heather McCollum, assistant to Tuscaloosa's mayor. She put the death toll in the city at 42 but said it could rise.

Of the more than 150 tornadoes that rampaged from west to east across the South this week, the National Weather Service confirmed that one that struck Smithville in Mississippi's Monroe County on Wednesday was a rare EF-5 tornado, with winds reaching 205 miles per hour.

This is the highest rating on the Enhanced Fujita scale that measures tornado intensity.

"The homes here are made well ... but when you are talking about a direct hit, it does not matter," Monroe County Sheriff Andy Hood said. "Right now, those homes are slabs of concrete. There is nothing left."

Across the South, many people were made homeless by the tornadoes and stayed in shelters. Some residents provided food, water and supplies to neighbors whose homes were destroyed.

Tuscaloosa resident Antonio Donald, 50, received help. "I got no light, no water. I have a newborn baby at home, a daughter who is pregnant and an 88-year-old aunt," he said.

The storms left up to 1 million homes in Alabama without power. Water and garbage collection services were also disrupted in some areas.

Alabama's Jefferson County, which is fighting to avoid what would be the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, suffered damage and 19 dead but said the storms would have little direct impact on its struggling finances because federal grants were expected.

(Additional reporting by Peggy Gargis in Birmingham and Colleen Jenkins in St. Petersburg, Leigh Coleman in Mississippi, Phil Wahba in New York; writing by Matthew Bigg and Pascal Fletcher, Editing by Paul Simao)

DEARBORN, Michigan (Reuters) – A controversial Florida pastor banned last week from protesting at a Detroit-area mosque on Friday cut short a demonstration at a city hall largely drowned out by counter-protesters.

Terry Jones, 59, had vowed to return this week, saying that his ban on demonstrating in front of the landmark Islamic Center of America in heavily muslim Dearborn had violated free speech protections of the Constitution.

"We are here today to speak out on issues that pertain to all American citizens," Jones said, using a wireless microphone at a podium set up at the top of the city hall steps.

Separate barricaded zones were created for Jones' protest on the steps of city hall and for counter-protesters across Michigan Avenue, a busy four-lane street. Jones' 75 supporters were outnumbered by about five-to-one.

Police were a visible presence on both sides of the street and on two rooftops across the street from city hall.

About an hour into his protest, Jones walked down the steps of city hall and approached Michigan Avenue, raising his arms as he continued his speech. About 150 people broke past a barrier and approached Jones and his group.

Some 30 police wearing helmets and protective gear stood shoulder-to-shoulder along the street in front of city hall and the event ended about 15 minutes later.

Dearborn Mayor John O'Reilly Jr. told reporters afterward that the event was stopped for security reasons.

"They asked him not to step toward the barricade and he did," O'Reilly said. "Our job is to serve and protect our community and that's what we did."

Three people were taken into custody and are expected to face misdemeanor charges, a Dearborn Police sergeant said.

Jones had scheduled three hours for the demonstration, but it ended after about 75 minutes and he was escorted by police to a waiting car. Dearborn Police had also picked Jones up at Detroit Metro Airport on Thursday.

Jones told reporters as he left he would return to Dearborn. He also said he had wanted the counter-protesters to join him in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Counter-demonstrators chanted "Terry Jones go home" and as Jones began speaking the driver of a large truck stopped in traffic on Michigan Avenue sounded its foghorn, setting off a cacophony of car horns that drowned out Jones' speech.

A largely unknown pastor until he courted publicity last year with threats to burn the Koran at his tiny fundamentalist church in Gainesville, Florida, Jones had said his planned protest last week was aimed at "radical Islam."

In March, Jones and Wayne Sapp, 42, staged and videotaped a mock "trial" for the Koran and burned a copy of the holy book, a gesture that prompted riots in Afghanistan and widespread condemnation in the U.S. and around the world.

On April 22, Jones and Sapp were jailed briefly after they refused to pay a $1 bond as ordered by District Court Judge Mark Somers. Somers also barred them from the vicinity of the Islamic Center mosque for three years.

Police in Dearborn denied Jones a permit to protest in front of the Islamic Center. He was tried under an obscure Michigan law dating to 1846 requiring people judged to present a risk to public order to post a "peace bond."

Dearborn's city hall was one of a handful of "free speech zones" where city officials indicated they would allow Jones to hold events. It is more than four miles from the Islamic Center, the largest mosque in the United States.

He has appealed the court's ruling and is represented in litigation by attorneys from the Thomas More Law Center, which is "dedicated to the defense and promotion of the religious freedom of Christians, time-honored family values, and the sanctity of human life," according to its web site.

The conservative law center has also represented Christian missionaries who were arrested in Dearborn last year.

(Additional reporting by Teri Murphy; Writing by David Bailey. Editing by Peter Bohan)

SEATTLE (Reuters) – City officials on Friday agreed to pay $1.5 million to the family of a Native American woodcarver fatally shot by a white cop in a confrontation that stoked racial tensions and helped spark a federal probe of Seattle's police force.

A police firearms review board deemed the August 2010 shooting of John Williams, 50, unjustified, ruling that although he was intoxicated at the time he posed no threat "of serious harm" to the officer.

But prosecutors chose not to bring criminal charges against the policeman, Ian Birk, 27, finding insufficient evidence of the criminal intent or malice required under Washington state law to prosecute a law enforcement officer for homicide.

Birk quit the force the same day, February 17.

The civil settlement, announced by the Seattle city attorney's office, was reached through mediation by municipal officials and Williams' relatives.

The settlement document states that $1.25 million will be paid to Williams' estate and $250,000 paid to his mother, Ida Edward of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Birk had insisted he believed Williams was armed and that he shot the man in self-defense. A knife with the blade folded closed was found next to Williams after the shooting.

His death sparked several rallies, attended mostly by minority citizens, protesting policing practices they claimed were racially discriminatory.

The Williams shooting was one of several incidents cited by the American Civil Liberties Union in seeking a U.S. Justice Department investigation into an alleged pattern of excessive force by Seattle police officers, particularly against ethnic and racial minorities. The Justice Department in March said it had launched such an investigation.

Williams' family on March 16 asked the King County Superior Court to convene a citizens grand jury to determine whether Birk should be criminally charged. No ruling has been made.

(Reporting and writing by Laura Myers; Editing by Steve Gorman and Peter Bohan)

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama (Reuters) – Tornadoes and violent storms tore through seven Southern states, killing at least 306 people and causing billions of dollars of damage in one of the deadliest swarm of twisters in U.S. history.

President Barack Obama described the loss of life as "heartbreaking" and called the damage to homes and businesses "nothing short of catastrophic." He promised strong federal support for rebuilding and plans to view the damage on Friday.

Over several days this week, the powerful tornadoes -- more than 160 reported in total -- combined with storms to cut a swath of destruction heading west to east. It was the worst U.S. natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which killed up to 1,800 people.

In some areas, whole neighborhoods were flattened, cars flipped over and trees and power lines felled, leaving tangled wreckage.

While rescue officials searched for survivors, some who sheltered in bathtubs, closets and basements told of miraculous escapes. "I made it. I got in a closet, put a pillow over my face and held on for dear life because it started sucking me up," said Angela Smith of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, one of the worst-hit cities.

In Birmingham, Alabama, which was also hard hit, Police Chief A.C. Roper said rescue workers sifted through rubble "hand to hand" on Thursday to pull people from destroyed homes.

"We even rescued two babies, one that was trapped in a crib when the house fell down on top of the baby," Roper said in an interview on PBS NewsHour.

Tornadoes are a regular feature of life in the U.S. South and Midwest, but they are rarely so devastating.

Wednesday was the deadliest day of tornadoes in the United States since 310 people lost their lives on April 3, 1974.

Given the apparent destruction, insurance experts were wary of estimating damage costs, but believed they would run into the billions of dollars, with the worst impact concentrated in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham.

"In terms of the ground-up damage and quite possibly the insured damage, this event will be of historic proportions," Jose Miranda, an executive with the catastrophe risk modeling firm EQECAT, told Reuters.

'ONE OF THRE WORST'

"I think this is going to rank up as one of the worst tornado outbreaks in U.S. history," said Federal Emergency Management Agency director Craig Fugate.

Fugate spoke in an interview with CNN from Alabama, where his agency said the tornadoes killed at least 204 people. There were still unconfirmed reports late on Thursday of "entire towns flattened" in northern parts of the state, Fugate said.

"We're still trying to get people through rescues and locate the missing," he said.

In preliminary estimates, other states' officials reported 33 killed in Mississippi, 34 in Tennessee, 11 in Arkansas, 14 in Georgia, eight in Virginia and two in Louisiana.

The mile-wide monster twister that tore on Wednesday through Tuscaloosa, home to the University of Alabama, may have been the biggest ever to hit the state, AccuWeather.com meteorologist Josh Nagelberg said.

Obama said he would visit Alabama on Friday to see the damage and meet the governor. He declared a state of emergency for Alabama and ordered federal aid.

"I want every American who has been affected by this disaster to know that the federal government will do everything we can to help you recover, and we will stand with you as you rebuild," Obama said at the White House.

Miranda said estimated costs would be "in the same ballpark" as an Oklahoma City tornado outbreak in 1999 that caused $1.58 billion of damage and a 2003 tornado outbreak in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma that caused $4.5 billion of damage.

The Browns Ferry nuclear power plant in Alabama was expected to be shut for days, possibly weeks, as workers repaired damaged transmission lines.

But the backup systems worked as intended to prevent a partial meltdown like the nuclear disaster in Japan.

The rampaging tornadoes and violent storms destroyed 200 chicken houses that held up to 4 million chickens in Alabama, the No. 3 U.S. chicken producer.

They also battered a local coal mine.

Up to 1 million people in Alabama were left without power.

Daimler said it had shut down its Mercedes-Benz vehicle assembly plant in Tuscaloosa until Monday due to the tornadoes, but the plant itself sustained only minor damage.

'SOUNDED LIKE CHAIN-SAW'

Some of the worst devastation occurred in Tuscaloosa, a town of about 95,000 in the west-central part of Alabama, where at least 37 people were killed, including some students.

"It sounded like a chain-saw. You could hear the debris hitting things. All I have left is a few clothes and tools that were too heavy for the storm to pick up. It doesn't seem real," said student Steve Niven, 24.

"I can buy new things but you cannot replace the people. I feel sorry for those who lost loved ones," Niven told Reuters.

The campus of the University of Alabama, home of the famous Crimson Tide football team, was not badly damaged, but some students were killed off campus, Bentley said.

Shops, shopping malls, drug stores, gas stations and dry cleaners were all flattened in one section of Tuscaloosa.

Alabama's governor declared a state of emergency and deployed 2,000 National Guard members. Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Virginia also declared states of emergency.

Among the Alabama counties affected was Jefferson, which is struggling to avert what would be the largest bankruptcy in municipal history over a $3.2 billion bond debt.

The county suffered "widespread damage," a local emergency spokesman said, and at least 17 people were killed.

(Additional reporting by Peggy Gargis in Birmingham and Leigh Coleman in Biloxi, Colleen Jenkins in St. Petersburg, Tim Ghianni in Nashville, Tom Brown in Miami, Will Dunham in Washington; Writing by Matthew Bigg and Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Peter Cooney)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The California couple charged with abducting 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard in 1991 and holding her captive for 18 years pleaded guilty on Thursday to kidnapping and sexual assault charges that carry life prison sentences.

Phillip Garrido, 59, who authorities say fathered two daughters by Dugard during her captivity, and his co-defendant wife, Nancy, 55, are scheduled to be formally sentenced on June 2, the El Dorado County District Attorney's Office said.

The case made international headlines in 2009 when Dugard, forced to live nearly two decades in squalid tents and sheds in the backyard of the Garridos' San Francisco Bay-area home, was rescued at age 29 with her daughters, then 11 and 15.

Garrido, a previously convicted rapist, had aroused police suspicions while proselytizing at a college campus.

Dugard, who turns 31 next week, issued a brief statement through a representative saying she was "relieved that Phillip and Nancy Garrido have finally acknowledged their guilt and confessed to their crimes against me and my family."

Her family received a $20 million settlement in 2009 through a state victim's compensation fund.

The California inspector general found that state officials failed to properly supervise Garrido after his release from a 10-year prison term for a 1976 rape, overlooking a series of parole violations that should have led to his earlier capture.

District Attorney Vern Pierson credited Dugard with enabling prosecutors to bring the Garridos to justice.

"Jaycee's courage and willingness to confront her abductors in court directly led to the defendants' plea and life sentences," he said in a statement.

Under the plea deal, Phillip Garrido faces a sentence of 431 years to life, and his spouse 36 years to life, minus time already served. Both waived their rights to appeal

Nancy Garrido would be eligible for parole after 36 years if she lives that long. "The odds are she probably won't get out, but she has a chance," lawyer Steve Tapson told Reuters.

Dugard was snatched from a street near her South Lake Tahoe home on June 10, 1991, as she walked to catch a school bus.

She was forced to live in a makeshift compound at the Garridos' home near Antioch, California, for 18 years, bearing two daughters fathered by Garrido when she was a teenager.

Their discovery came after Phillip Garrido brought Dugard and the girls with him to a meeting with a parole officer, who determined their identity.

Dugard, who has kept a low public profile since her rescue, reached a deal with publisher Simon and Schuster last year to recount her ordeal in a book.

Tapson said last month the Garridos had given police a full confession in hopes of securing a relatively lenient sentence for Nancy Garrido, who said she was under her husband's sway and not involved in any the sexual abuse of Dugard.

But she ended up pleaded guilty to one count of rape -- for aiding and abetting her husband, Tapson said -- as well as one count of kidnapping. Phillip Garrido pleaded guilty to kidnapping as well as to 13 sexual assault counts alleged against him in the couple's indictment.

He was expected to plead guilty three weeks ago under an earlier agreement with prosecutors, but an unspecified legal hitch scuttled the deal and he pleaded not guilty instead.

(Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Jerry Norton)

SEATTLE (Reuters) – The North American branch of the Christian Brothers, a Roman Catholic order that runs schools around the world, has filed for bankruptcy protection amid mounting sexual abuse claims against U.S. and Canadian members.

Although the bankruptcy filing was made in New York, where the brothers' North American chapter is headquartered, the bulk of the abuse claims come from the Seattle area, said Michael Patterson, a lawyer for the Catholic Archdiocese in Seattle.

"It's a sad day. We're very disappointed that it reached this level," Patterson told Reuters on Thursday night.

"We had hoped that we could have partnered with the Christian Brothers to settle claims. What this means is that victims now have to deal with this out of bankruptcy court."

He said he did not know the extent of the claims.

But lawyers for the plaintiffs in lawsuits against the Christian Brothers said its members, who are not ordained as priests, sexually abused scores of children in the United States and Canada.

Seattle attorney Michael Pfau said on Thursday he has settled more than 50 abuse cases for a total of $25.6 million, paid out to victims in the last five years by the order and the Seattle Archdiocese.

About 35 of those cases originated with the now-defunct Briscoe Memorial School, an orphanage and boarding school jointly run by the archdiocese and Christian Brothers in Kent, Washington.

"There were rapes, molestations and beatings. The brothers carried long leather straps. It was a very abusive place," Pfau told Reuters.

Most lawsuits still pending involve allegations of sexual abuse at schools and orphanages the Brothers owned and operated in Washington state and Canada, he said, adding that the order filed for bankruptcy in a bid to shield its assets in Rome.

"They made money taking over the care of children but put many of their members who were known abusers in charge of them," Pfau said. "Then they tried to cover it up. This bankruptcy is just another effort for them to avoid responsibility."

A spokesman for the order reached by telephone on Thursday declined to comment.

The bankruptcy filing comes weeks after the Pacific Northwest branch of another Catholic order, the Jesuits, agreed to pay $166 million to settle more than 500 child sexual abuse claims against priests, nuns and other non-clergy. Those claims led the Jesuits to file for Chapter 11 two years ago.

Last year, the Congregation of Christian Brothers came under fire over a report by the government of Ireland finding widespread sexual abuse of children in schools and other institutions run by the order in that country.

(Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Jerry Norton)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala (Reuters) – Tornadoes and storms killed 45 people in Alabama on Wednesday bringing the total dead in storms and flooding across the U.S. South to at least 72 people over the last three days, authorities said.

The violent storms included what may be the worst ever twister to hit Alabama. It killed 15 people as it ripped through the university city of Tuscaloosa, crushing houses, picking up cars and uprooting trees by the hundreds.

"Everybody says it (a tornado) sounds like a train and I started to hear the train," Anthony Foote, a resident of Tuscaloosa whose house was badly damaged, told Reuters. "I ran and jumped into the tub and the house started shaking. Then glass started shattering."

Deaths occurred in Arkansas and Mississippi, where 11 were killed in each state, and also in Louisiana, Georgia and Tennessee. But Alabama appeared the hardest hit.

The Alabama Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) confirmed 45 storm-related deaths in nine different counties across the northern and central parts of the state, with at least nine people also injured, authorities said.

Authorities there and in Mississippi said they expect the toll to rise as emergency workers attempt rescues and recovery in the storm's wake.

Tornadoes are a regular feature of life in the South and Midwest but rarely are they so devastating.

President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency for Alabama and ordered federal aid for the stricken state.

"While we may not know the extent of the damage for days, we will continue to monitor these severe storms across the country and stand ready to continue to help the people of Alabama and all citizens affected by these storms," Obama said in a statement on Wednesday night.

Governors in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee also declared a state of emergency.

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley mobilized around 1,400 National Guardsmen and said they would be on the ground early on Thursday to help with search and rescue, logistics and debris removal, a statement from his office said.

"These guardsmen are well trained and will take every action necessary to protect lives and property in this emergency," Bentley said.

DIRECT HIT

The supercell thunderstorm that produced the tornado in Tuscaloosa, west central Alabama, was still producing a tornado three hours later in northwestern Georgia, said Josh Nagelberg, a meteorologist on the AccuWeather.com website.

"This could be the worst tornado in Alabama's history," Nagelberg said, adding that by 9 p.m. local time 0200 gmt the twister passed within a few miles of Rome in northwestern Georgia and appeared to be weakening.

Marshall county in northeastern Alabama had six fatalities, according to the state emergency agency.

"At this time, we have six dead and one missing," Sheriff Scott Walls told Reuters, adding that five of the victims were killed in a single house.

"That house was in the direct path of the tornado. We had homes and businesses that took direct hits. Every community in the county has suffered damage," he said.

On Wednesday night, Mississippi authorities said that the storms had caused at least 11 deaths in eight separate counties in the state in the last 24 hours.

The storms also forced the Tennessee Valley Authority to close three nuclear power plants in Alabama and knocked out 11 high voltage power lines. Tens of thousands of homes have lost power.

Two people also died in Dade County, Georgia, near the border with Tennessee and Alabama and hundreds of homes destroyed when a tornado hit on Wednesday evening, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported on its website.

The storms and flooding were the latest in the violent weather that has pummeled much of the mid-South this month. Two weeks ago more than 47 people died as storms tore a wide path from Oklahoma all the way to North Carolina.

(Additional reporting by Verna Gates in Birmingham, David Beasley in Atlanta and Leigh Coleman in Biloxi; Writing by Matthew Bigg, Editing by Jerry Norton and Peter Bohan)

OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) – The Oklahoma Senate on Wednesday approved a bill that would create criminal penalties for undocumented immigrants who work in Oklahoma and those who smuggle them into the state.

It would also give police officers more authority to question citizenship status of suspects.

The bill, approved by a 37-8 vote, originated in the Oklahoma House and underwent revisions in the Senate. The two chambers must reconcile differences in the bill before it can go to Governor Mary Fallin. Senators faced a deadline on Thursday to pass bills that originate in the House.

Oklahoma is one of several states -- including Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah -- where Republicans are pushing immigration measures reminiscent of the one that became law in Arizona a year ago. The Arizona law required police to investigate the immigration status of anyone they detained and suspected of being in the country illegally.

Under the Oklahoma measure, local police officers trained through a federal program would be authorized to ask about immigration status.

The bill would also make it a misdemeanor for undocumented immigrants to work, apply for work or solicit work in a public place. Convictions could result in up to a year in jail and/or a $500 fine.

In addition, the measure:

- Targets the common practice of employers hiring day workers who gather along roadways by making it a misdemeanor to stop a vehicle in a roadway and impede traffic while picking up workers. In addition, it prohibits undocumented workers from entering vehicles stopped in a roadway.

- Prohibits employers from hiring workers who do not have proper identification issued by state or federal authorities, but it does not call for any specific punishment for violations.

- Makes human smuggling for profit a felony offense punishable by no less than a year in jail and/or a $1,000 fine; it also allows for the forfeiture of vehicles used to smuggle illegal immigrants into the country.

- Repeals a section of Oklahoma law that enables undocumented immigrants in the state to pay in-state tuition for college.

(Additional reporting by Tim Gaynor; Editing by Corrie MacLaggan and Jerry Norton)

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Funds for refinancing home mortgages were much more available in predominantly white sections of major U.S. cities than in minority areas after the recent housing crash, a study showed on Thursday.

The study's authors called for more investment by lenders in poor communities and for improved disclosure requirements for mortgage lenders to protect unwary borrowers.

"Paying More for the American Dream V," found that in the seven metropolitan areas included in the study -- Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York City and Rochester, New York -- conventional mortgage refinancing in minority communities decreased by an average of 17 percent in 2009 compared with the previous year.

But in predominantly white neighborhoods, mortgage refinancing loans jumped by an average of 129 percent.

This is the fifth in a series of reports that began in 2007, compiled by a coalition of nonprofit groups across the country, including the California Reinvestment, the Woodstock Institute in Chicago and the Ohio Fair Lending Coalition.

The study also found lenders "were more than twice as likely" to deny refinancing applications by borrowers in minority communities than in majority white neighborhoods.

Previous reports by the coalition showed that during the recent property boom minority borrowers were more likely to obtain high-risk subprime loans than white Americans, even if their credit was good.

"These findings build on our past reports, which have documented ongoing racial disparities in mortgage lending," Adam Rust, Director of Research at the Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina, said in a statement. "Lenders are loosening up credit in predominantly white neighborhoods, while continuing to deprive communities of color of vital refinancing needed to aid in their economic recovery."

Subprime loans -- offered to borrowers with poor credit -- and risky products like "stated income," or "liar loans" where banks did not check borrower's income, exploded during the housing boom. Irresponsible lending contributed to a housing market crash in 2007 that triggered America's worst downturn since the Great Depression.

The crash also resulted in an unpopular bailout program for the U.S. banking sector that continues to have political repercussions.

A separate study published in the American Sociological Review in October found that predatory lending aimed at predominantly minority neighborhoods led to mass foreclosures and directly contributed to the crash.

(Editing by Doina Chiacu)

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) – Tornadoes and flooding, which killed at least 10 people in Arkansas this week, threatened more destruction in the mid-South and Ohio Valley region Tuesday night into Wednesday, forecasters said.

As of 9 p.m. local time Tuesday, 24 tornadoes had been reported, with extensive damage in Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas, according to AccuWeather.com

An 18-wheel tractor trailer was blown off the road in Coy, Ark., a rural area about 28 miles east of Little Rock, and a person was trapped inside, local officials reported.

Storm damage also was reported at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, Ark., in the western part of the state.

"It's a very dangerous day," said AccuWeather.com senior meteorologist Henry Margusity, quoted on the AccuWeather web site. "It's the kind of day where tornadoes could cause massive destruction."

Floods also remain a big concern in several states, where days of rain and the snowmelt from the winter's heavy snows have caused rising rivers and saturated soils.

On Tuesday, the levee on the swollen Black River near Poplar Bluff in southeastern Missouri was breached south of the city, local officials said.

More than 1,000 people were evacuated on fears of flash flooding. Authorities continued to help people leave their homes on Tuesday afternoon as the river overflowed the levee.

"We are continuing our efforts to get them out of harm's way," said Butler County Sheriff Mark Dobbs.

So far, no more injuries or deaths have been reported.

A three-year-old girl was killed early on Tuesday in Mississippi after an oak tree fell on her family's home during storms that brought 70 mph winds, said Jeff Rent, director of external affairs for the state's Emergency Management Agency.

Ten people were killed in Arkansas from Monday's storms and flooding -- six from flood waters and four from a tornado that hit the town of Vilonia. About 41,000 Arkansas residents were still without power as of Tuesday night.

Some of the same towns still recovering from tornadoes that ripped through Arkansas on Monday may be struck again.

The storms and flooding were the latest in the violent weather that has pummeled much of the mid-South this month. Two weeks ago more than 47 people died as storms tore a wide path from Oklahoma all the way to North Carolina.

CONCERNS THROUGH THE NIGHT

Night-time storm violence was seen afresh last Friday as a tornado blew out dozens of windows at Lambert Airport in St Louis, downing power lines and flattening many buildings.

The greatest threat of more violent storms on Tuesday evening was a region stretching from northeast Texas to Memphis, Tennessee, according to John Hart, meteorologist with the National Storm Prediction Center.

The threat will continue through the night, moving into the Mississippi Valley by daybreak, he said.

On Wednesday, Hart added, more severe weather with the possibility of strong tornadoes is expected from Ohio southward through the Tennessee Valley and into portions of Mississippi and Alabama.

Flooding is an concern along rivers in Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, southern Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee, prompting evacuations of hundreds of people.

More than 200 Indiana National Guardsman and 30 inmates are assisting with sandbagging efforts, according to the state's Department of Homeland Security.

In southern Illinois, 325,000 sandbags were placed at a facility in Carbondale for quick deployment if floods threatened, the state's emergency management agency said.

Many towns have flooding along the Ohio River from Cincinnati several hundred miles southwest to the Mississippi River, said National Weather Service meteorologist Robert Szappanos in Louisville, Kentucky.

Some areas of Kentucky may get another six inches of rain, said Buddy Rogers, spokesman for the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management.

One problem for towns along the Ohio River is that the Mississippi and the Ohio are flooding at the same time, so the Ohio, which usually drains into the bigger river, can't drain, Rogers said.

To prevent flooding in Cairo, Illinois, located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to detonate the levee at Birds Point on the Mississippi, according to the Missouri Attorney General.

But the attorney general has sued in federal court to intervene, saying the action could flood 130,000 acres of farmland in that state.

Late Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it could probably hold off making a final decision on the controversial plan until Saturday, after the National Weather Service lowered its forecast for flooding on the Mississippi by half a foot.

In Tennessee, many school systems were closed Tuesday due to power outages and trees blocking roadways, especially in an area northwest of Nashville hit hard by Monday storms.

Flood warnings were in effect along the Cumberland and its tributaries.

(Additional reporting by Susan Guyett, Tim Ghianni, Leigh Coleman, Kevin Murphy and James B. Kelleher; Writing by Barbara Goldberg and Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Peter Bohan and Jerry Norton)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – With Americans upset over rising gasoline prices, Republicans in Congress aim to fix the blame on one person when they return next week from recess: President Barack Obama.

Congress wrapped up its last work session on April 15 with Democrats and Republicans in a blistering debate over budget deficits and the size of the federal government.

Now, Republican leaders in the House of Representatives aim to pivot to another hot-button issue: high gasoline prices that are hitting consumers who are already struggling to recover from a prolonged economic downturn.

"Running on empty: Obama administration does nothing to address skyrocketing gas prices," screamed a press release on Tuesday from House Speaker John Boehner's office.

The Republicans' focus on energy comes as the national retail price for regular gasoline has hit $3.88 a gallon, more than $1 a gallon more than a year ago.

Gas pump sticker shock could get worse as the looming U.S. summer driving season hikes demand for gasoline and political unrest continues in Middle East oil-producing countries.

All this has U.S. motorists worried that gasoline prices could approach the record-high $4.11 per gallon of July 2008.

Boehner's move to put a bull's eye on gasoline prices also comes as public opinion polls show opposition to Republican initiatives that would further cut taxes for the rich while making senior citizens pay more for health insurance.

A CBS News/New York Times poll, for example, found that 61 percent of people think Medicare coverage for the elderly is worth the costs. Meanwhile, 45 percent said military spending should be cut while only 21 percent favored Medicare cuts.

When Congress resumes next week, the Republican-led House will bring to a vote at least one bill aimed at bolstering domestic energy production.

"As gasoline prices close in on $4 a gallon, that is going to be part of the conversation," said Spencer Pederson, a spokesman for the House Natural Resources Committee.

Doc Hastings, chairman of that committee, is leading Republican efforts to expand U.S. offshore oil drilling while easing some industry regulations -- moves that are expected to be blocked by Obama and his fellow Democrats in the Senate.

'LOST OIL'

The Republicans believe Obama wrongfully stood in the way of offshore oil drilling because of safety concerns following last year's BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Gulf of Mexico oil output will decline by 190,000 barrels per day in 2011, according to Energy Department forecasts.

"That's lost oil on the world market," leading to higher prices, Pederson said. That quantity, however, is only a speck of the estimated 1.52 million barrel per day increase in global demand this year.

The 2012 presidential and congressional elections are 18 months away, but they already dominate the Washington dynamic.

On Monday, House Speaker John Boehner, interviewed by ABC News, predicted Obama would not win a second term if gasoline prices were to rise to $5 or $6 a gallon.

While the White House would quarrel with that assessment, Democrats are worried rising energy prices could undermine the U.S. economic recovery and hurt Obama's re-election chances.

In an interview with a Virginia radio station on Tuesday, Obama said his administration was "talking to oil producers around the world and letting them know it's in their interest to make sure that high oil prices don't end up hurting the world economy."

Oil producing countries, he said, should ramp up their production to moderate gasoline prices.

Obama also urged Congress to end oil and gas industry tax breaks that cost billions of dollars.

Senator Charles Schumer, one of the top-ranking Democrats, backed up Obama's call saying: "These subsidies are a relic of a time when oil was $17 per barrel and oil companies needed incentives to drill. That time has long since ended."

Oil prices are now around $112 per barrel.

Obama's request to Congress came after Boehner said that "we should be looking at" the multibillion-dollar subsidies for oil companies and that those companies "ought to be paying their fair share" in taxes.

But by Tuesday, it was less clear whether Boehner really wanted to switch Republican gears and consider pulling the oil company subsidies.

"We'll look at any reasonable policy that lowers gas prices. Unfortunately, what the president has suggested so far would simply raise taxes and increase the price at the pump," said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel.

(Editing by Laura MacInnis)

MIAMI (Reuters) – The 2011 Atlantic hurricane season will be active with the energy-rich U.S. Gulf Coast facing a significant threat of a hurricane landfall, a leading private weather forecaster predicted on Tuesday.

The forecast by Weather Services International follows one of the busiest seasons on record last year that saw intense levels of storm and hurricane activity but no direct hit on the U.S. coastline.

WSI slightly lowered its December forecast, calling for 15 named storms and eight hurricanes. Four are expected to strengthen into major hurricanes of Category 3 or higher on the five-step Saffir-Simpson intensity scale, it said.

"While we expect less overall activity this year, we do expect a much more impactful season along the U.S. coastline," WSI's chief meteorologist Todd Crawford said in a statement.

Other private forecasters have made similar predictions for the 2011 season set to begin June 1 and run through November 30.

The La Nina phenomenon, which fosters hurricane formation, is weakening faster than expected and prompted WSI to lower its prediction, Crawford said.

The 2010 season spawned 19 named storms, tying for the third most active season with 1887 and 1995, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Twelve storms grew into hurricanes last year, making it the second-highest season tied with the year 1969.

NO LANDFALLS SINCE 2008

The U.S. coastline has been spared a direct hit since 2008. Last year, Hurricane Earl, which grew into a Category 4 hurricane, came the closest by approaching to about 100 miles off North Carolina and southern New England in September.

"Our recent good fortune in avoiding landfalling hurricanes is not likely to last," Crawford said.

Projection models, he said, showed the western states on the U.S. coast of the Gulf of Mexico, where major oil and gas installations are located, facing "sharply increased" chances of a landfall this year.

Crawford predicted two or three hurricanes could come ashore.

"The U.S. has not had a three-year stretch without a hurricane landfall since the 1860s," he added.

A change in weather conditions is also increasing chances of an hurricane making impact on the U.S. coastline, according to Crawford.

Pockets of low pressure in the Atlantic helped to shield the U.S. East Coast from direct hits last year, but are not expected to be present later this summer when storm activity intensifies, he said.

Warmer sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean may also help storms develop more easily there instead of farther out in the Atlantic, Crawford added.

"Storms developing in the Gulf and the Caribbean are a much greater threat to make landfall along the U.S. coast than those that develop off the coast of Africa," he said.

WSI said its forecast numbers were similar to the 2008 season when Hurricanes Dolly, Gustav and Ike impacted Louisiana and Texas.

(Editing by Tom Brown and Lisa Shumaker)