At least 5 deaths reported in Alabama after tornado touches down
Channel: Siri News
Date: 2021-03-27

At least 5 deaths reported in Alabama after tornado touches down.
(CNN)At least five deaths and multiple injuries have been reported in Calhoun County, Alabama, after a tornado passed through the area on Thursday, County Sheriff Matthew Wade told CNN.
"There's numerous homes damaged, numerous people injured, and at least five fatalities," Wade told CNN's Pamela Brown.
"We're worrying about the second storm that's coming through, possibly on the same track," Wade said.
Fourteen tornadoes have been reported in Alabama on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service, along with one in Mississippi and one in Georgia.
NWS described the large tornado that touched down late Thursday near Newnan, Georgia, just south of Atlanta, as a "particularly dangerous situation" and urged residents to "take cover now."
In Calhoun, three adults from the same family were killed when a tornado hit the town of Ohatchee, about 60 miles northeast of Birmingham, according to Calhoun County Coroner Pat Brown.
One man in a mobile home in Ohatchee also died, and the fifth death in the county was a woman in a mobile home in Wellington, according to the coroner.
The National Weather Service office in Birmingham, Alabama, has issued a "tornado emergency" for areas just south and east of the city, in Shelby and Jefferson counties, indicating there is a tornado that could have a potentially significant impact to human life and catastrophic destruction to property.Radar had earlier confirmed a large and extremely dangerous tornado had touched down just southwest of Birmingham, according to the National Weather Service office there.
About 60 homes were damaged in Pelham, Alabama, Pelham Fire Chief Michael Reid said Thursday night, and 22 of those sustained "major damage."
No injuries or deaths have been reported, Reid said at a news conference.
"We're also very grateful that of all the damage done, nobody was hurt," City Manager Gretchen DiFante said. "We're very thankful for that this evening."
Cesar Villaseñor, 22, was in a van with his boss when they were caught in a potential tornado in Pelham. They were trying to get to shelter at his boss' house, Villaseñor said.
"We were literally half a mile from his house and everything was all clear. Out of nowhere, it starts raining and I started recording -- everything starts going to hell basically."
"I was like, this is probably it. I'm probably dead," he said. "At one point, the van was shaking really bad to the point that I thought it was like to flip over. I was just shaking. I couldn't control my hands."
In a video Villaseñor shared, debris is seen flying through the air, uprooted trees lie on the ground and houses are damaged.Police previously reported extensive damage to the Crosscreek community, but no injuries have been reported in that neighborhood, city spokesperson Ainsley Allison said in a Thursday afternoon Facebook livestream. The footage showed trees, power lines and debris littering the streets. Roofs and entire rooms appeared to be torn off homes in the neighborhood, the video shows.
"It's bad back here, and we need to say prayers for the people who live in this community and come together to help rebuild," Allison said. "As you can imagine, these people are devastated."
Police in nearby Helena also reported major damage. All phone lines to the police department are down, the department said on Twitter, urging residents to call 911 if they need assistance.
Further north, in Florence, about 130 miles north of Birmingham, a police officer was transported to a local hospital after he was struck by lightning, the police department said on Twitter. Officers were able to provide first aid at the scene, and the officer was conscious and responsive.
Almost 55,000 customers were without power in the Southeast Thursday evening, according to poweroutages.us, including more than 36,000 in Alabama.
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/25/weather/tornadoes-flood-watches-storms-south-thursday/index.html