Damage and Power Outages Reported After Severe Weather in the South - The New York Times

Severe upwind swept the South connected Thursday, bringing beardown winds and imaginable tornadoes to parts of Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi, damaging homes and leaving tens of thousands of customers without power. The menace of terrible upwind and tornadoes was expected to proceed into the night, officials said.

Videos and images emerging from crossed the South showed felled trees arsenic good arsenic harm to homes and different buildings. There were preliminary reports of immoderate injuries successful cardinal Alabama, though it was not instantly wide however galore radical crossed the South had been wounded oregon however badly.

In Mississippi, the state’s exigency absorption bureau shared a video connected Twitter that showed a location successful Monroe County that had been fundamentally flattened. Other houses adjacent had sustained extortion damage, with debris littering the area.

“That location is wholly destroyed,” Malary White, a spokeswoman for the agency, said connected Thursday. More reports of harm were expected aboriginal arsenic section officials continued to measure parts of the state, Ms. White said.

Officials said the harm successful Monroe County, successful northeastern Mississippi, was believed to person been caused by a tornado sometime aft 7 a.m. section time.

As the tempest strategy moved eastbound connected Thursday morning, it besides brought terrible upwind conditions to portions of Alabama and Georgia.

A fig of terrible thunderstorm warnings were issued successful the Atlanta area, including 1 for the country astir Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, wherever the Weather Service warned of winds up to 60 miles per hour, quarter-size hail and what mightiness person been a tornado. The airdrome was nether a crushed halt connected Thursday day due to the fact that of thunderstorms successful the area, according to the Air Traffic Control System Command Center.

In Bibb County, Ala., the National Weather Service warned connected Twitter that a “large and EXTREMELY DANGEROUS tornado” was moving done the country astir 11:34 a.m. section time. Less than an hr later, the Weather Service warned residents successful Dallas County, Ala., that a “large and highly unsafe tornado” was moving done Selma.

The mayor’s bureau successful Selma said successful a statement that the metropolis had “received important harm from the tornado.”

The bureau urged residents to “please refrain from traveling the roadways” and to debar downed powerfulness lines. “City crews volition beryllium retired arsenic soon arsenic applicable to cleanable up,” it said.

At a quality league connected Thursday evening, officials successful Selma said that they had received nary reports of fatalities, but that determination were immoderate injuries. A curfew volition beryllium enactment successful spot from dusk to dawn crossed the city.

“This is simply a bittersweet time successful Selma and Dallas County,” Jimmy Nunn, a Dallas County probate justice said astatine the quality conference. “Please enactment astatine location and fto the exigency crews bash what they request to do.”

Videos and images from Selma that circulated connected societal media connected Thursday showed damaged buildings, fallen trees and vehicles with breached windows.

The Weather Service bureau successful Birmingham, Ala., said connected Twitter that determination was “confirmed damage” successful the metropolis of Selma.

The terrible upwind outbreak prompted respective tornado warnings to beryllium issued crossed portions of Georgia and Alabama, including 1 astatine 12:53 p.m., erstwhile the Weather Service warned radical successful Autauga County, northwest of Montgomery, of a tornado emergency.

“This is simply a life-threatening situation,” the Weather Service said. “Take structure immediately!!”

Gary Weaver, lawman manager of the Autauga County Emergency Management Agency, said that determination were reports of injuries and damage, including felled powerfulness lines, passim the county. Mr. Weaver said that his bureau had received reports of immoderate injuries, but that it was not wide however galore radical had been wounded and however badly.

“We don’t adjacent cognize the grade of it yet,” Mr. Weaver said of the damage.

While determination were respective reports of tornadoes crossed Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi, the fig of them and the spot of them had yet to beryllium confirmed by the National Weather Service, which sends tempest survey teams retired to affected areas successful the hours and days aft a storm.

More than 57,000 customers successful Alabama, much than 66,000 customers successful Georgia and much than 1,200 customers successful Mississippi were without powerfulness connected Thursday afternoon, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks outages crossed the country. It was unclear whether each of those outages were the effect of terrible upwind moving done the South.

Forecasters said terrible upwind was expected to proceed into the night, with much than 6.8 cardinal radical crossed Alabama and Georgia nether a tornado ticker until 7 p.m. Eastern time. The Weather Service said that those successful areas nether the ticker could spot apt tornadoes, isolated hail the size of quarters, and upwind gusts of up to 65 m.p.h.

Livia Albeck-Ripka contributed reporting.