Daily US Times: Authorities have confirmed that at least 5 people have been killed and multiple injuries reported after a string of up to seven deadly tornadoes tore through Alabama, demolishing homes, toppling trees and knocking out power to thousands.
The confirmed deaths were in Calhoun County which is located in the eastern part of the state, where one of multiple twisters sprang from a “super cell” of storms that later moved into Georgia.
Search and rescue efforts were complicated due to strong weather that continued to hit the region.
Radar “debris signatures” showed a tornado that formed in southwest Alabama traveled roughly 100 miles and stayed on the ground for about an hour and 20 minutes, said De Block, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Birmingham.
He said on-sight investigations would determine the strength of the tornados, but based on the debris signatures, “we are pretty confident we will find at least seven tornadoes” passed through the state on Thursday.
The twisters ripped through towns from west to east. In the western city of Centreville, Cindy Smitherman and her family and neighbors huddled in their underground storm pit as the heavy storm passed over their home.
A tree fell on the shelter door, trapping the eight of them inside for about twenty minutes until someone came with a chain saw to cut and remove the tree, said Smitherman, 62.
The twister overturned cars, downed trees and destroyed a workshop on the property.
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