Alabama: Tornadoes kill at least nine people

• Alabama and Georgia governors have both declared states of emergency.
• At least six people have been killed by tornadoes in Alabama.
• The bad weather is expected to persist overnight.

More than a dozen tornadoes tore through the Southeastern United States on Thursday, leaving at least nine people dead with the number likely to rise.

Director of the county emergency management agency, Ernie Baggett, stated that seven fatalities were recorded in Autauga County, Alabama, which is located northwest of Montgomery. Seven of the deaths were reported on Thursday, and the eighth was verified the following day.

A tree in Georgia struck the automobile a 5-year-old kid was riding in, killing him. An employee of the Department of Transportation who was responding to storm damage was Georgia’s second fatality, Governor Brian Kemp announced at a news conference on Friday.

According to Kemp, multiple tornadoes caused damage throughout Georgia.

“The storm moved all across our state unfortunately, it’s been a tragic night and morning in our state,” he said. “It’s a very dangerous environment.”

Officials fear that the death toll may increase, so search and rescue operations are being conducted throughout the Southeast.

At least 40 homes in Autauga County, Alabama, have been found to be fully destroyed or are uninhabitable since crews begun evaluating the damage, according to Baggett.

He claimed that he had never before witnessed something such in Autauga County.
In Selma and Greensboro, Alabama, where roofs were ripped off and trees were felled, drone video showed considerable damage.

“It’s complete devastation,” he said. “There’s some, a couple of our county roads that there’s only one or two homes left that may be livable.”

In parts of downtown Selma, there are electricity lines, trees, and blocked roadways everywhere.
The Birmingham, Alabama, office of the National Weather Service reported receiving “a lot of severe reports of damage” and stated it will be assessing the damage over the next few days.

As of Friday night, authorities had information on seven tornadoes that wreaked havoc across a large portion of Alabama: four EF2 and three EF1.

According to the National Weather Service, one EF2 tornado that struck Dallas County stretched 23 miles and had a maximum width of 800 yards.

According to the EPA, the twister’s peak winds, which grew stronger as it approached Selma’s city boundaries, were measured at 130 mph.

According to the meteorological service, a tornado in Autauga County, northwest of Montgomery, inflicted “at least” EF3 damage, which denotes three-second winds of 136 to 165 mph.
Teams from the survey will continue their work on Saturday in more regions, such as Hale, Autauga, and Tuscaloosa counties.

Numerous agencies in Georgia are responding and evaluating the damage, including the state’s Emergency Management Agency. According to Colonel Chris Wright, the Department of Public Safety assisted in freeing pupils who had spent the night locked inside a middle school and in reuniting them with their families.

Friday, the governor of Georgia and Lt. Governor Burt Jones flew over the devastation.

According to the outage tracking website Poweroutage.us, at least 24,828 homes and businesses in Alabama and Georgia were still without electricity as of Friday night.

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