Deadly Alabama tornado wider, longer, stronger than originally believed

Investigators in Lee County, Ala., say the deadly tornado that torethrough parts of the state yesterday was wider, longer and stronger than originally believed.

The trail of destruction was nearly 1.4 kilometres wide and at least 38 km long, according to Emergency Measures Agency state director Brian Hastings.He said it had maximum winds of 273 km/h.

Rescuers continued to search through the rubble of mobile homes and houses Monday looking for survivors. The tornado is blamed for the deaths of at least 23 people, including children.

"It looks like someone almost just took a giant knife and scraped the ground," Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said during a Monday morning news conference, referring to thedevastation. "There are slabs where homes formerly stood,debris everywhere, trees are snapped. I've not seen this levelof destruction ever in my experience in Lee County."

Jones said at least three children, ages six, nine and 10, were among the dead.

More than 50 people were reported injured, some very seriously, and the death tollis expected to rise, authorities said.Dozens remained missing.

Drones flying overhead equipped with heat-seeking devices had scanned the area for survivors, but the dangerous conditions haltedthe search late Sunday, Jones said. "The devastation isincredible."

The tornado was part of a powerful storm system that alsoslashed its way across parts of Georgia, South Carolina and Florida on Sunday. Officials confirmed Monday afternoon that two other, smaller tornados also touched down in the area.

Hastings says the main tornado was upgraded to anEF-4.EF-4storms typically are gauged at wind speeds of between 267 and 321km/h, on the upper end of theEnhanced Fujita scale, which meteorologists use tomeasure tornado strength.

Storm trackers have also confirmed two smaller twisters classified as EF-1, each of which packed winds of up to 177 km/h, according to Chris Darden, chief meteorologist for the National Weather Service office in Birmingham, Ala. "We'll be examining more areas tomorrow," he said.

Levi Baker, who lives near the hard-hit area in Alabama, took a chainsaw to help clear a path for ambulances and other first-responder vehicles. He said he saw dead people and animals.

He said some houses were demolished and trees were uprooted or snapped in half. One house was swept off its foundation and was sitting in the middle of the road.

"It was just destruction," Baker said. "There were mobile homes gone. Frames on the other side of the road."

Jones said the twister travelled straight down a county road in the rural community of Beauregard,a community about 95 kilometreseast of the state capital Montgomery, reducing homes to slabs.

No deaths have been confirmed from storm-damaged Alabama counties outside Lee County, according to local authorities. Butcrews are still surveyingdamage in several counties in thesouthwestern part of the state.

Warnings in 4 states

Numerous tornado warnings were posted across parts of Alabama,Georgia, Florida and South Carolina on Sunday afternoon as the storm system raced across the region.

Get a ground level view of the destruction caused by the three tornados Sunday:

Deadly tornado rips through Alabama county (courtesy Scott Fillmer)

6 years ago

Duration 1:39

At least 23 people, some of them children, died after a tornado swept through Lee County, Alabama, on Sunday. The death toll was expected to rise as rescuers searched through the rubble of destroyed homes.

In rural Talbotton, Ga.,about 130 kilometressouth of Atlanta, a handful of people were injured by either powerful straight-line winds or a tornado that destroyed severalmobile homes and damaged other buildings, said Leigh Ann Erenheim,director of the Talbot County Emergency Management Agency.

Televised news footage showed smashed buildings withrooftops blown away, cars overturned and debris everywhere. Treesall around had been snapped bare of branches.

"The last check I had was between six and eight injuries,"Erenheim said in a phone interview. "From what I understand it wasminor injuries, though one fellow did say his leg might be broken."

She said searches of damaged homes and structures had turned upno serious injuries or deaths there.

Henry Wilson of the Peach County Emergency Management Agency nearMacon in central Georgia said a barn had been destroyed and treesand power poles had been snapped, leaving many in the area withoutpower.

Authorities said a tornado was confirmed by radar in the FloridaPanhandle late Sunday afternoon.

The threat of severe weather continued into the late-night hours.A tornado watch was in effect for much of eastern Georgia, includingAthens, Augusta and Savannah. The tornado watch also covered a largearea of South Carolina, including the cities of Charleston andColumbia.