document: A tornado blasted through this North Florida town before dawn today , destroying several homes and a college library , blowing off rooftops , flipping cars and leaving four people dead and 15 injured , officials said . The tornado touched down at 4:30 a.m. just west of Madison , about 50 miles east of Tallahassee , and cut a 12-mile swath of destruction , authorities said . `` There was this huge roar and then I heard a tree crack out there and thought we were all gone , '' said Marie Prince , a Madison County sheriff 's dispatcher . The tornado passed only four blocks from her office . Four people were killed north of town , said Sheriff Joe Peavy . Fifteen people were injured , but none of the injuries was critical , according to Madison County Memorial Hospital administrator Jeannie Baker . A house-to-house search found no more bodies , but a man and a baby had to be freed from separate homes where they were trapped , Peavy said . Two of the deaths occurred in mobile homes blown apart by the tornado , and four other houses were seriously damaged as well , said Madison County Civil Defense Director Bernard Wilson . `` It did n't leave any of it . Not even a dish . You 'd never know there was a trailer here , '' said Dorothy Butler , sister of one of the victims . Rescue units from adjoining counties were helping out , along with state law enforcement and forestry officials . State prisoners were also on their way to help with the cleanup , Peavy said . He had no estimate of the damage . The tornado was part of a storm system that struck across the Southeast with high winds , lightning and hail . Trees , roofs and mobile homes were damaged , and at least six other injuries were reported . Madison , a town of about 3,500 people , is the county seat of Madison County , a thinly populated tobacco growing area of piney woods , rolling hills and swamps on the border with Georgia . The twister 's destructive path started in front of a shopping center and then proceeded straight into North Florida Junior College , where it `` totaled the new library and took the roof off the auditorium , '' Peavy said . The twister blew away several homes , blew the roof off a nearby church , overturned cars and knocked down trees , Peavy said . As far as his office knew , all the damage was from one tornado , Peavy said . He said the tornado 's sweep through town lasted under 30 minutes . Electric company workers were restoring power throughout the area . Two tornadoes struck near the towns of Malone and Bascom , about 100 miles to the west of Madison , said Jackson County emergency management director John Mader . Three homes and a trailer were destroyed and five homes seriously damaged , he said , and two people were slightly injured . Many county roads were blocked by fallen trees , he said , and officials were surveying the area by helicopter . The tornadoes were spawned by a belt of thunderstorms being pushed by a cold front . Hail the size of golf balls and damaging winds hit Louisiana , Mississippi , Alabama and Georgia . More than one inch of rain fell in one hour this morning in Waycross , Ga. , 70 miles northeast of here , and wind gusts of 40 mph were reported in Valdosta , according to the National Weather Service . Elsewhere in Georgia , trees and power lines were reported blown down , a barn was reported destroyed and a tin roof was blown off an old building . The winds destroyed up to nine mobile homes west of Bainbridge , Ga. , Monday night , injuring three people , one seriously . The sheriff 's office said the wind left the homes in shreds . Bainbridge is 25 miles northwest of Tallahassee . A 9-year-old girl from Cottonwood , Ala. , was injured by lightning as she stood near a stove at her home Monday night . The lightning accompanied a tornado that moved through southern Houston County about 60 miles northwest of Tallahasse . In the eastern Georgia 's Bulloch County , six mobile homes and one house were heavily damaged shortly after dawn today , but no injuries were reported , the weather service said . Tornado watches were still in effect across 14 southeastern Georgia and 15 northeastern Florida counties until at least five hours after the tornado hit . Madison County has been hit by seven tornadoes since 1959 with only one injury reported , according to the National Weather Service .
extractive_keyphrases: tornado destruction thunderstorms deaths madison
abstractive_keyphrases: tornado watches