(Trends Wide) — The tornado that tore through Alabama this afternoon was likely on land for at least 50 miles and caused damage in seven counties across the state, National Weather Service meteorologist Gerald Satterwhite told Trends Wide.
“It was on the ground for quite some time,” Satterwhite said. “It was a pretty significant tornado,” he said, with “debris being lifted into the air at about 10,000 to 15,000 feet.”
Satterwhite believes that “depending on how high the debris was thrown into the air, it was either an EF-2 or EF-3.” The National Weather Service damage survey is likely to begin on Friday. This will determine the exact length, width, and strength of the tornado.
The tornado moved through Selma at 12:18 pm CST (1:18 pm Miami time), according to Satterwhite.
Meanwhile, severe weather that spawned tornadoes across the South caused multiple deaths in Autauga County, Alabama, a coroner told Trends Wide. “We have multiple deaths and we are continuing to search for bodies,” Autauga County Coroner Buster Barber said in a phone interview.
For her part, the governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, confirmed that there are six deaths in the state.
“I am saddened to learn that six Alabamans were lost in the storms that ravaged our state. My prayers are with their loved ones and their communities. We are all too familiar with devastating weather, but our people are resilient. We will overcome it and we will be stronger”, said the governor in a tweet on Thursday night.
A damaged structure and debris are seen after severe weather Thursday, January 12, in Selma, Alabama. Credit. Butch Dill/Alabama
“significant damage”
Previously, a massive tornado that tore through the Alabama city of Selma on Thursday caused “significant damage,” the Selma mayor said, one of more than a dozen tornado reports made in that state alone as severe storms ripped through the Southeast. country leaving several wounded.
The “large and extremely dangerous tornado” in Selma, confirmed by the National Weather Service, impacted the city at 12:19 pm CT (1:19 pm Miami time) and continued east, the service said.
“Refrain from traveling on the roads and stay away from power lines,” Mayor James Perkins Jr. said in a Facebook post.
Courtesy: Mike Pitts
What appeared to be a huge funnel cloud passed over the area, according to footage shared by Mike Pitts. After it happened, Pitts’ images showed houses without roofs, other roofs without tiles and roads blocked by piles of rubble.
The storm “dumped” the home of Selma resident Krishun Moore, but no one was hurt, he told Trends Wide. She took refuge in a bathroom with her mother.
“All we heard was wind and the whole house was shaking,” Moore described.
So far there are no fatalities, but there are minor injuries, according to a public security official.
The curfew will be in effect from dusk to dawn, the public safety official said.
Selma, a city of about 17,000 people about 50 miles west of Montgomery, is the site of a historic 1965 civil rights march in which police beat and tear gassed protesters on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, a incident known as “Bloody Sunday”.
Damage from the storm is seen in Selma, Alabama, on Thursday. Courtesy: Mike Pitts
The Selma tornado occurred as severe storms capable of tornadoes ripped through the Southeast Thursday, injuring multiple people and causing damage in several states.
More than 35 million people in the Southeast and Ohio Valley, from Louisiana east to the Carolinas and from Kentucky south to the Gulf Coast, are under some level of threat from severe storms Thursday that could include gusts. and destructive tornadoes, according to the Storm Prediction Center.
By early afternoon, tornado watches covered parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, northwestern Florida and far western North Carolina.
The highest risk of severe storms for Thursday, an “increased” risk, or level 3 of 5, is forecast for about 9.5 million people in parts of Alabama and Georgia, including the Birmingham, Montgomery and Atlanta areas, noted the prediction center.
Severe thunderstorms are especially possible in the Birmingham and Montgomery areas in the early afternoon and in the Atlanta area in the late afternoon.
The Storm Prediction Center issued two additional tornado watches.
The first is for southeast Alabama, southwest Georgia, and southwest Florida until 9 p.m. Miami time. The second is for northeast Georgia, western North Carolina, and western and central South Carolina until 10 p.m. ET. This notice includes Charlotte, North Carolina; Columbia and Greenville, South Carolina and Augusta, Georgia.
Tornado warnings now extend about 500 miles from the Gulf Coast near Pensacola, Florida, to north of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Georgia declares state of emergency
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency Thursday night due to the severe weather that has affected the state.
“Throughout this evening, Marty’s and my thoughts will turn to those affected by today’s severe storms and tornadoes,” Kemp said in a statement. Tweet.
“I have declared a state of emergency and ordered all relevant agencies to respond with an all hands on deck approach for affected communities,” he said.
A tornado warning was in effect for the southern part of Atlanta after a tornado was identified over East Point, according to the National Weather Service. This tornado was located near the Hartsfield Jackson International Airport. The storm is moving east at 72 km/h.
An airport spokesperson told Trends Wide that severe weather affecting Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has had minimal impact on the facility.
“We monitor the situation. There has been minimal impact to the airport. There will be more information if needed. We suggest you follow the FAA for information on weather-related flight impacts,” airport spokeswoman Anika Robertson said.
Injured in Morgan County in northern Alabama
Damage reports in the Southeast and Ohio Valley were piling up Thursday as the storms progressed.
In northern Alabama’s Morgan County alone, a storm caused 10 to 15 injuries Thursday morning, none of whom are believed to be in critical condition, and affected numerous buildings, the county sheriff’s spokesman said. , Mike Swafford.
Streets and fields were littered with debris and downed power lines in Decatur, a Morgan County community about 25 miles southwest of Huntsville, according to images from the city’s police and county sheriff’s department.
Damage is seen outside a hotel in Decatur, Alabama, Thursday morning. Courtesy: Mark G. Spychala
The siding of a Decatur hotel has come loose, according to photos taken by hotel guest Mark Spychala, who said he took shelter in a laundry room when the storm hit Thursday morning.
“We lost power and we could hear the wind and the rain” hitting the outside area, Spychala told Trends Wide. The National Weather Service preliminarily attributed Decatur’s damage to high winds.
Several preliminary reports of tornadoes were made in the morning in Alabama, including in Winston County in northwestern Alabama and Sumter County in western Alabama, where damage to buildings was reported, the weather service said.
Se reported Downed trees and power lines along several of the roads in Winston County, whose communities lie tens of miles northwest of Birmingham.
Damage is seen outside a hotel in Decatur, Alabama, Thursday morning. Courtesy of Mark G. Spychala
“Motorists are urged to travel only on the highways in emergency situations and to be aware of the weather,” the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said in a series of tweets about the damage in Winston County.
In northeastern Mississippi’s Monroe County, several rural buildings were leveled or badly damaged after a storm swept through Thursday morning, video tweeted by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency shows.
No injuries were reported there, according to the agency, which indicated that a tornado may have caused the damage. The weather service said preliminary that strong winds caused damage in the county.
Wind damage to trees and buildings was also reported elsewhere in parts of Mississippi, Alabama and Kentucky before noon, the weather service said.
More than 180,000 customers without power in at least three states
The severe weather currently affecting the south has caused more than 180,000 customers to be in the dark since Thursday night.
According to PowerOutage.US, there are 185,548 customers in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee without power.
In Georgia alone, more than 109,000 customers are without power, according to PowerOutage.US.
Trends Wide’s Caroll Alvarado, Dave Hennen and Sara Smart contributed to this report.
