A giant storm system surging across the South killed at least six people Thursday in central Alabama, authorities said, and generated a tornado that tore walls and roofs off homes and uprooted trees in Selma.
David Hale, the sheriff of Ouaga County, Alabama, confirmed to CBS News that there were at least six fatalities in the county.
The deaths were scattered across multiple homes in the old Kingston community, Ernie Paget, director of emergency management for Otoga County, Alabama, told the Associated Press. Mobile homes and traditional homes have been damaged, Paget said.
“It looks like they were two different homes where people were at home,” Paget said.
Paget said at least 12 people were injured seriously enough to be taken to hospitals by emergency responders. Paget said he did not know the extent of their injuries.
Otoga County, Alabama, 41 miles northeast of Selma.
“I am saddened to learn that six Alabamians have gone missing due to the storms that ravaged our state,” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey chirp Thursday night. “My prayers are with their loved ones and their communities.”
Nationally, there were 33 separate tornado reports Thursday from the National Weather Service as of Thursday evening, with a few tornado warnings in effect in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. However, the reports are yet to be confirmed and some of them could later be classified as wind damage after assessments are made in the coming days.
In Selma, brick buildings collapsed, cars were on their sides and traffic jams littered the downtown area. Plumes of thick black smoke billowed over the city from a blazing fire. It was not immediately known if the storm caused the fire.
A few blocks away from the city’s iconic Edmund Pettus Bridge, an enduring symbol of the voting rights movement, buildings were toppled by the storm and trees blocked roads.
Selma Mayor James Perkins said no deaths have been reported at this time, but first responders are continuing to assess the damage.
“People were injured, but there were no fatalities,” Perkins said. “We have a lot of downed power lines. There is a lot of danger on the streets.”
The mayor added that a curfew has been imposed in the city.
The National Weather Service said the “large and extremely dangerous” tornado caused damage as it passed through the historic city. The agency said there were confirmed reports of tree damage and structural damage in Selma, and reports of damage in other counties.
Butch Dale / AP
Selma was a flashpoint in the civil rights movement. Alabama state troopers viciously attacked black voting rights advocates as they walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965. Among those beaten by law enforcement officers was John Lewis, whose skull was fractured. He went on to a long and distinguished career as a member of the United States Congress.
Selma Mayor James Perkins said WSFA At least one person is believed to be trapped in a building on Broad Street and another person may be missing. There are many downed power lines, and it is considered an emergency.
Pictures from the Selma Times-Journal showed that the outer casing of a two-story building was torn away by the storm. Huge pieces of insulation and metallic materials were wrapped around a tree trunk, and fallen tree branches enclosed a sign declaring, “Welcome to Historic Selma.”
Butch Dale / AP
Malisha McVay and her family drove parallel to the hurricane. It was less than a mile from her house, she said, before turning abruptly.
“We stopped and prayed. We followed her and prayed,” she said. “It was a 100% God thing that he turned right before he hit my home.”
I took a video of the giant tornado, which would turn black as it swept through house after house.
“It was hitting a house and black smoke was coming out,” she said. “It was very terrifying.”
The weather service issued a tornado emergency for several counties north of the capital, Montgomery, as the storm system itself moved east. “This is a life-threatening situation. Take shelter immediately,” the weather service said of the reported tornado.
Multiple tornado warnings were issued Thursday for Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee as the storm system moved through the region.
Butch Dale / AP
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey declared a state of emergency Thursday night. Announce on Twitter The proclamation will apply to six counties: Otoga, Chambers, Coca Cola, Dallas, Elmore and Tallapoosa counties. Selma is located in Dallas County.
In Georgia, more than 100,000 customers were without power before sunset Thursday, according to PowerOutage.us, as the storm system made its way through a layer of counties south of Atlanta. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp Declare a state of emergency.
Local media reported that the storm hit the city of Griffin, south of Atlanta, where winds destroyed a shopping district. The Hobby Lobby store partially lost its roof, and at least one car was flipped over in a nearby Walmart parking lot.
Damage was also reported west of downtown Atlanta in Douglas County and Cobb County, where the Cobb County government released a damage report showing a crumbling concrete block wall at a warehouse on the outskirts of Austell.
In Kentucky, the National Weather Service in Louisville confirmed that an EF-1 tornado had struck Mercer County and said crews were surveying damage in a few other counties. There were reports of fallen trees, power outages and other scattered damage from the storms that swept the state.
[ad_2]
