Tornado causes 'significant damage' in Selma, Alabama, mayor says, as severe storms rake Southeast - CNN

CNN  — 

A immense tornado that tore done the Alabama metropolis of Selma Thursday caused “significant damage,” Selma’s politician said – 1 of more than a twelve twister reports made successful that authorities unsocial arsenic terrible storms teardrop done the Southeast leaving respective injured.

The “large and highly unsafe tornado” successful Selma, confirmed by the National Weather Service, deed the metropolis astatine 12:19 p.m. CT and continued east, the work said.

“Please refrain from traveling the roadways and enactment distant from down powerfulness lines,” Mayor James Perkins Jr. said successful a Facebook post.

What appeared to beryllium an tremendous funnel unreality passed done the area, according to images shared by Mike Pitts. After it passed, Pitts’ pictures showed homes without roofs, different roofs shorn of shingles, and roads blocked by piles of debris.

The tempest “tore up” Selma nonmigratory Krishun Moore’s house, but nary 1 determination was injured, she told CNN. She took structure successful a bath with her mother.

“All we heard was upwind and the full location was shaking,” Moore said.

Selma, a metropolis of immoderate 17,000 radical astir 50 miles westbound of Montgomery, is the tract of a landmark 1965 civilian rights march successful which protesters were beaten and tear-gassed by constabulary connected the Edmund Pettus Bridge, an incidental referred to arsenic “Bloody Sunday.”

The Selma tornado came arsenic terrible storms susceptible of tornadoes are sweeping crossed the Southeast Thursday, injuring respective radical and leaving harm successful respective states with the imaginable for hours of much demolition ahead.

More than 35 cardinal radical successful the Southeast and the Ohio Valley – from Louisiana eastward to the Carolinas and from Kentucky southbound to the Gulf Coast – are nether immoderate level of menace for terrible storms Thursday that could see damaging upwind gusts and tornadoes, the Storm Prediction Center said.

By aboriginal afternoon, tornado watches covered parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, the occidental Florida Panhandle and acold occidental North Carolina with assorted expirations.

Thursday’s top hazard of terrible storms – an “enhanced” risk, oregon level 3 of 5 – is predicted for astir 9.5 cardinal radical implicit parts of Alabama and Georgia, including the Birmingham, Montgomery and Atlanta areas, the prediction halfway said.

Regarding timing: Severe storms are particularly imaginable successful the Birmingham and Montgomery areas by aboriginal afternoon, and the Atlanta country successful the precocious afternoon.

Damage reports crossed the Southeast and the Ohio Valley were piling up Thursday arsenic storms progressed.

In bluish Alabama’s Morgan County alone, a tempest caused 10 to 15 injuries Thursday greeting – nary of which are believed to beryllium life-threatening – and damaged galore buildings, region sheriff’s spokesperson Mike Swafford said.

Streets and fields were littered with debris and downed powerfulness lines successful Decatur, a Morgan County assemblage astir 25 miles southwest of Huntsville, pictures from metropolis constabulary and the county sheriff’s department showed.

Siding was ripped disconnected a Decatur hotel, according to pictures taken by edifice impermanent Mark Spychala, who said helium sheltered successful a laundry country arsenic the tempest deed Thursday morning.

“We mislaid power, and could perceive the upwind and rain” pummel the country outside, Spychala told CNN. The National Weather Service preliminarily attributed the Decatur harm to beardown winds.

Several preliminary tornado reports were made successful the greeting successful Alabama, including successful northwestern Alabama’s Winston County and occidental Alabama’s Sumter County, wherever gathering harm was reported, the upwind work said.

Downed trees and powerfulness lines were reported on respective of the roads of Winston County, whose communities are dozens of miles northwest of Birmingham.

“Motorists are urged to lone question roadways successful exigency situations and to stay upwind aware,” the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said successful a bid of tweets astir the Winston County damage.

In northeastern Mississippi’s Monroe County, respective agrarian buildings laic flattened oregon severely damaged aft a tempest passed done Thursday morning, video tweeted by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency shows.

No injuries were reported there, according to the agency, which said a tornado could person caused the damage. The upwind work preliminarily said beardown winds caused harm successful the county.

Wind harm to trees and buildings besides were reported successful different locations crossed parts of Mississippi, Alabama and Kentucky earlier noon, the upwind work said.