Alabama.- At least seven people were killed Thursday night by strong storms and tornadoes that hit the southeastern United States, local media reported Friday.
Rescue teams and local authorities continue the search today to rule out additional victims and recount the damage in the states of Georgia and Alabama, the most affected.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey lamented the deaths in her state: “We are all too familiar with devastating weather, but our people are resilient,” the president wrote.
Several tornadoes in the central Alabama area caused six deaths, while the passage of a strong storm in Georgia claimed the life of a seventh victim.
The southeastern US region was under a severe storm watch and at least a dozen tornadoes were reported overnight and late Thursday.
In the state of Alabama there was evidence of more than a dozen tornadoes and one of them caused significant damage in the city of Selma this Thursday, US media reported.
Selma Mayor James Perkins Jr. asked citizens through a Facebook post to refrain from using cars and stay away from power poles.
“Emergency response teams are already in the area, we ask you to remain calm,” Perkins wrote.
In videos and images shared on social networks, you can see the disaster that the tornado left in its wake: destroyed houses, fallen trees and the streets full of rubble.
Much of the southeastern part of the country, including the states of Georgia, Alabama, and parts of Tennessee and North Carolina, was on Thursday alert for storms that affected 35 million people, according to the National Weather Service.
