MONTGOMERY, Alabama — The death toll from violent weather tearing across the southern US rose dramatically late Wednesday, with at least 25 people reported dead in Alabama and many more fatalities confirmed in Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee — bringing the total figure close to 50.
At least 25 people were killed in Alabama after several storms swept through the state, emergency officials told AFP.
The Alabama toll stood at six Wednesday afternoon, but rose considerably after a giant twister — reported by FOX 19 to be 1 mile (1.6km wide) — hit the towns of Tuscaloosa and Birmingham late Wednesday.
The mayor of Tuscaloosa, Walter Maddox, told The Weather Channel that the damage to his town was “catastrophic”.
More than 50,000 Tuscaloosa homes were without power Wednesday night, as emergency crews searched for trapped residents.
“We’ve got extensive structural damage within the city, houses and business hit and people trapped inside. We are still trying to assess the extent of the damage,” Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Sgt. Andy Norris told The Birmingham News.
In Birmingham, wild weather felled trees and powerlines, but the metro area was spared a direct hit from the twister.
Other states continued to grapple with the severe weather Wednesday.
Emergency managers in Georgia said two people were killed and several others injured after a tornado hit Dade County and the city of Trenton in the state’s north Wednesday afternoon.
Media crews arriving in Trenton late Wednesday described areas of the city as “flattened”, MyFOXAtlanta.com reported.
Elsewhere, eight deaths were reported in Mississippi, 11 fatalities were reported in Arkansas and one person was reported dead in Tennessee. In Missouri, a man died after his car was swept away from a flooded road Monday.
Areas of Virginia, the District of Columbia and the Carolinas were bracing themselves Wednesday night as the storm front moved eastward.