Six killed in Alabama as severe weather sweeps the south

The threat of severe weather and tornadoes was expected to continue into the night, officials said, with two states issuing emergency declarations Thursday evening.

The governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, declared a state of emergency for six counties, including Autauga, Chambers, Coosa, Dallas, Elmore and Tallapoosa. “Please continue using caution, and stay safe out there!” Ivey said on Twitter.

I — along with my partners at the Alabama EMA — will continue monitoring to determine if an expanded state of emergency is needed. I am ready to be a helping hand to our local officials. Please continue using caution, and stay safe out there! #alwx (2/2)

— Governor Kay Ivey (@GovernorKayIvey) January 12, 2023

The governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, also declared a state of emergency.

Videos and images emerging from across the South showed felled trees as well as damage to homes and other buildings. There were preliminary reports of some injuries in central Alabama, although it was not immediately clear how many people across the South had been hurt or how badly.

In Mississippi, the state’s emergency management agency shared a video on Twitter that showed a home in Monroe County that had been essentially flattened. Other houses nearby had sustained roof damage, with debris littering the area.

“That home is completely destroyed,” Malary White, a spokesperson for the agency, said Thursday. More reports of damage were expected later as local officials continued to assess parts of the state, White said.

More extensive damage coming out of Alabama! A garage collapsed onto the cars parked inside after a tornado moved through the area. #alwx pic.twitter.com/4NwpemLly1

— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) January 13, 2023

Officials said the damage in Monroe County, in northeastern Mississippi, was believed to have been caused by a tornado sometime after 7 a.m. local time.

As the storm system moved east Thursday morning, it also brought severe weather conditions to portions of Alabama and Georgia.

A number of severe thunderstorm warnings were issued in the Atlanta area, including one for the area around Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where the National Weather Service warned of winds up to 60 mph, quarter-size hail and what might have been a tornado. The airport was under a ground stop Thursday afternoon because of thunderstorms in the area, according to the Air Traffic Control System Command Center.

In Bibb County, Alabama, the weather service warned on Twitter that a “large and EXTREMELY DANGEROUS tornado” was moving through the area around 11.34 am local time. Less than an hour later, the weather service warned residents in Dallas County, Alabama, that a “large and extremely dangerous tornado” was moving through Selma.

The mayor’s office in Selma said in a statement that the city had “received significant damage from the tornado.”

The office urged residents to “please refrain from travelling the roadways” and to avoid downed power lines. “City crews will be out as soon as practical to clean up,” it said.

At a news conference Thursday evening, officials in Selma said that they had received no reports of fatalities, but that there were some injuries. A curfew will be put in place from dusk to dawn across the city.

“This is a sad day in Selma and Dallas County,” Jimmy Nunn, a Dallas County probate judge said at the news conference. “Please stay at home and let the emergency crews do what they need to do.”

Videos and images from Selma that circulated on social media Thursday showed damaged buildings, fallen trees and vehicles with broken windows.

The weather service office in Birmingham, Alabama, said on Twitter that there was “confirmed damage” in the city of Selma.

The severe weather outbreak prompted several tornado warnings to be issued across portions of Georgia and Alabama, including one at 12:53 p.m., when the weather service warned people in Autauga County, northwest of Montgomery, Alabama, of a tornado emergency.

“This is a life-threatening situation,” the weather service said. “Take shelter immediately!!”

Gary Weaver, deputy director of the Autauga County Emergency Management Agency, said that there were reports of injuries and damage, including felled power lines, throughout the county. Weaver said that his office had received reports of some injuries, but that it was not clear how many people had been hurt and how badly.

“We don’t even know the extent of it yet,” Weaver said of the damage.

While there were several reports of tornadoes across Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi, the number of them and the strength of them had yet to be confirmed by the weather service, which sends storm survey teams out to affected areas in the hours and days after a storm.

More than 57,000 customers in Alabama, more than 66,000 customers in Georgia and more than 1,200 customers in Mississippi were without power Thursday afternoon, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks outages across the country. It was unclear whether all of those outages were the result of severe weather moving through the South.

Forecasters said severe weather was expected to continue into the night, with more than 6.8 million people across Alabama and Georgia under a tornado watch until 7 pm Eastern time. The weather service said that those in areas under the watch could likely see tornadoes, isolated hail the size of quarters and wind gusts of up to 65 mph.