Tornadoes may have wiped out one-quarter of poultry houses in Alabama, state officials say

"Alabama officials estimated that up to 25 percent of the poultry houses in the state were destroyed or damaged Wednesday by the tornado outbreak, likely killing millions of birds," Scott Kilman reports for The Wall Street Journal reports. "Preliminary reports indicate that about 200 poultry houses were destroyed and another 180 were damaged by the fierce storms."

Alabama is the third-ranking producer of chicken, behind Arkansas and Georgia. State officials "were having a difficult time gauging the damage because many rural roads were impassable Thursday," Scott Kilman writes. "Likewise, electric power was out and telephone systems were down in many areas." (Read more)