BEAUREGARD, Ala. — A sheriff confirmed at least 14 people were killed by a possible tornado in Alabama on Sunday as severe storms destroyed mobile homes, snapped trees and left a trial of destruction and weather warnings extending into Georgia, Florida and South Carolina.
Dozens of emergency responders rushed in to assist in Lee County, Ala., after what appeared to be a large tornado struck Sunday afternoon as part of a powerful storm system raking the Southeast.
“I can say that at this time we have 14 confirmed fatalities,” Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones told WRBL-TV. “And again the search continues. We still have some people that are reported missing.”
Authorities warned that the death toll could rise further as search efforts continued in the small community of Beauregard and surrounding areas. Jones said the storm’s path of destruction stretched for miles through his rural county, and in places was about a fourth of a mile wide. He didn’t have an immediate account of how many were believed missing.
Several people in Lee County were taken to hospitals, “some of them with very serious injuries,” Jones said.
Rita Smith, spokeswoman for the Lee County Emergency Management Agency, said about 150 first responders were assisting in the storm’s aftermath.
Multiple homes were destroyed or damaged in Beauregard, about 60 miles east of Montgomery, Smith said.
“We’ve still got people being pulled out of rubble,” Lee County Coroner Bill Harris told Al.com on Sunday evening.
“We’re going to be here all night.”
No deaths had been reported Sunday evening from storm-damaged Alabama counties outside Lee County, said Gregory Robinson, spokesman for the Alabama Emergency Management Agency. But he said crews were still surveying damage in several counties in the southwestern part of the state.
Radar and video evidence showed what looked like a large tornado crossing the area near Beauregard shortly after 2 p.m. Sunday, said meteorologist Meredith Wyatt with the Birmingham, Ala., office of the National Weather Service.
Numerous tornado warnings were posted across parts of Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina on Sunday afternoon as the powerful storm system raced across the region.
In rural Talbotton, Ga., about 80 miles south of Atlanta, a handful of people were injured by either powerful straight-line winds or a tornado that destroyed several mobile homes and damaged other buildings, said Leigh Ann Erenheim, director of the Talbot County Emergency Management Agency.
