CNN
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Recovery and search efforts continued in the south on Friday, a day after a severe storm and tornado hit the area, killing at least nine people, blowing roofs off homes and powering thousands.
At least seven people died in Autauga County, central Alabama, and two people died in Georgia, including a 5-year-old boy, officials said.In those states and Kentucky, at least 37 tornado bulletins Storms were recorded that damaged power lines, cut tree branches, and threw debris into the streets.
According to the National Weather Service, two areas of Spalding County in central Georgia were found to have suffered damage from two possible tornadoes, preliminarily classified as EF-3 and EF-2. The Bureau of Meteorology said EF-2 damage was found in three more nearby counties to the east, but added that the total number of tornadoes had not yet been determined.
Tornadoes rate EF-2 swarms at least 111 mph, and EF-3 tornadoes include winds between 136 and 165 mph.
A particularly damaging storm with at least one powerful tornado hit both the city of Selma, Alabama, known for its role in the civil rights movement, and the community of Autauga County, one county east of the National Weather Service. tore up. Said.
State emergency management official Ricky Adams told CNN on Friday.
“Our number one priority today is to save lives in any of the areas where search and rescue is taking place,” said Adams, who put the county’s death toll at seven.
Authorities “discovered more bodies” on Friday morning, coroner Buster Barber previously said.
The search and rescue phase of the response effort will transition to the recovery phase on Saturday, Autauga County Emergency Management Director Ernie Baggett told CNN Friday afternoon.
In neighboring Dallas County, a massive tornado caused widespread destruction in Selma, home to about 17,000 people. At the tax office in Selma, Deborah Brown and others had to rush to safety after seeing what appeared to be a tornado tumbling down the street.
“We could have been gone,” Brown said in a Facebook video. .”
The damage was “extreme” but no fatalities have been reported, Selma Mayor James Perkins Jr. said Friday.
After giving an aerial tour of the damage, the mayor got emotional, talking about the affected communities, including the devastated neighborhood where he grew up.
“It’s hard,” he said. “Many people are suffering. The devastation is real. We have much work to do.”
Selma Tornado rated EF-2weather service SaidMeanwhile, wind strength in neighboring Autauga County was rated EF-3means gusts of at least 136 mph – Weather Service Said.
“The damage in these areas was caused by the same storms, but it is not yet known whether there was a continuous damage pathway,” the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The day before, a weather service meteorologist said the Selma tornado could have been at least 50 miles above the ground.
“It’s far worse than I could have imagined,” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said during a visit to Selma on Friday. “The roof is just gone and the wood looks like a toothpick.”
In Butts County, central Georgia, a 5-year-old child died when a tree fell on top of his car, the county coroner’s office said. Governor Brian Kemp said on Friday that state officials were also killed by falling debris while responding to the storm.
About 40,000 homes and businesses across Georgia and Alabama remained dark on Friday morning due to Thursday’s severe storm, according to tracking sites. PowerOutage.us.
The storms mark the latest bout of severe weather turning deadly in the United States, as experts point to the human-induced climate crisis as the cause of such extreme events. Millions of people in California are reeling from weeks of flooding rains. killed at least 18 people And lost thousands of strength.
The mayor of Selma asked residents to conserve water after a power outage affected a treatment facility.
“You have to dress in layers and be prepared,” Perkins said.
Governors of Alabama and Georgia have declared states of emergency in the affected areas and supported rescue and cleanup efforts.
On Friday, Ivy said she reached out to President Joe Biden to encourage him to declare a state of emergency.
In addition to the destruction caused by tornadoes and storms, winds blew across regions from Mississippi to Virginia.
In the southern and central United States, more than 160 wind damage reports were recorded in Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia. Nineteen severe hail reports were recorded in Kentucky, Ohio, Alabama, West Virginia, Mississippi, Tennessee and Georgia.
In northeastern Mississippi, a video tweeted by the state’s emergency management agency shows several buildings collapsed or severely damaged in Monroe County after a storm passed through Thursday morning. increase. No injuries have been reported, the agency said.
Tornado damage in Selma’s hometown of Dallas County, Alabama, is widespread throughout the county, coroner William Allan Daly said in a videoconference.
Krishn Moore’s home in Selma was demolished when a storm forced her and her mother to take refuge in the bathroom, she said. “All we heard was the wind and the whole house was shaking,” Moore told CNN, adding that no one was hurt.
The damage in downtown Selma made it nearly impossible to leave the area on Thursday, said Priscilla Lewis, who shared a photo with CNN. No deaths were reported in Dallas County as of Thursday, but some residents were injured.
“This is a disaster area. Power lines are down. Trees are down. This is really dangerous,” Dallas County probate judge Jimmy Nunn said at a press conference.
In neighboring Autauga County, at least 20 homes were damaged or destroyed, according to Gary Weaver, deputy director of the county’s emergency management agency.
According to Birmingham’s National Weather Service, damage survey teams will be on site throughout the region over the next few days.
Some students were stuck out of four middle schools south of Atlanta after storm damage blocked roads in Georgia, the school system said Thursday night.
By Friday morning, more than 20 students had been reunited with their families, the Griffin-Spalding County School System said in a social media post.
Spalding County declared a state of emergency on Thursday after a tornado was reported, officials said on Facebook and urged residents to evacuate. Parts of the state were under tornado watch Thursday night.
Spalding County Public Works Director TJ Imberger said:
Griffin Spalding School District will be closed Friday as the area recovers.
Selma City Schools in Alabama said: statement Many families in the district had been forced from their homes by the storm.
