At least nine people have been killed and the death toll is expected to rise after more than a dozen tornadoes ripped through the southeastern United States on Thursday.
Seven deaths were reported in Autauga County, Alabama, northwest of Montgomery, according to county Emergency Management Agency Director Ernie Baggett. Six of the deaths were reported on Thursday and the seventh was confirmed a day later.
In Georgia, a 5-year-old boy was killed when a tree hit the car he was riding in. The second fatality in Georgia was a Department of Transportation employee responding to storm damage, Gov. Brian Kemp said at a news conference Friday.
Kemp said multiple tornado damage was seen in Georgia.
«Unfortunately, the storm moved across our state, it’s been a tragic night and morning in our state,» he said. «It’s a very dangerous environment.»
Search and rescue efforts are underway across the southeast as authorities fear the death toll will rise.
In Autauga County, Alabama, crews resumed surveying the damage and discovered at least 40 homes completely destroyed or uninhabitable, Baggett said.
He said he had never seen anything like it in Autauga County before.
«It’s complete devastation,» he said. «There are a few, a couple of our county roads that only have one or two houses left that may be habitable.»
Drone video revealed extensive damage in Selma and Greensboro, Alabama, where roofs were torn off and trees were downed.
In downtown Selma, some areas are littered with power poles, trees, and some roads are completely blocked.
The National Weather Service office in Birmingham, Alabama, said it has received «many devastating reports of damage» and will inspect the damage in the coming days.
So far, an EF2 tornado, named the Delmar tornado, was confirmed in Winston Countynorth of Selma, meaning it had three-second gusts from 111 to 135 mph, according to the agency. Delmar had an estimated maximum wind of 125 mph and its path width was about 425 years.
EF2 damage was also confirmed in Selma and at least EF3 damage in Autauga County, meaning there were three-second gusts from 136 to 165 mph.
«While these damaged areas were caused by the same storm, it is not yet known if there was a continuous trajectory of damage,» the National Weather Service said.
In Georgia, multiple departments, including the state Emergency Management Agency, are responding and assessing the damage. The Department of Public Safety helped rescue students who were trapped at a high school overnight and reunited them with their parents, according to Col. Chris Wright.
The Governor of Georgia along with Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones took a helicopter tour of the damage on Friday.
At least 33,400 homes and businesses in Alabama and Georgia remained without power as of Friday afternoon, according to Poweroutage.us.
Minyvonne Burke, steve strouss, Doha Madani, phil helsell, nicole duarte Y Michelle Acevedo contributed.
