Tornado victims pick up the pieces in Alabama after deadliest outbreak in 6 years
Lee County, Alabama, residents are sifting through debris of their destroyed homes following devastating tornadoes that ripped through the region on Sunday.
Among those residents is Carol Dean. She is mourning the loss of her 53-year-old husband David Wayne Dean who was killed as the tornado leveled their home.
"Our son found him," Dean told the Associated Press. "He was done and gone before we got to him. My life is gone. He was the reason I lived, the reason that I got up."
"He was my wedding gift," Dean said of her husband. "He was one in a million. He'd send me flowers to work just to let me know he loved me. He'd send me some of the biggest strawberries in the world. I'm not going to be the same."
At least 23 fatalities and more injuries were reported after damaging tornadoes hit Lee County, Alabama, on Sunday.
Numerous tornadoes were reported across Alabama, Georgia and Florida on Sunday afternoon amid a severe weather outbreak across the southeastern United States. The most powerful of these storms left behind significant damage.
AccuWeather's Reed Timmer is reporting from the scene this week and said that the people inside the structures shown below survived.
These before-and-after photos show a house and trailer in Beauregard, Alabama, that were completely blown off their foundations after an EF4 tornado struck on Sunday. AccuWeather's Reed Timmer said the occupants survived. (Before: Google Earth; After: AP Photo/David Goldman)
This was the deadliest tornado outbreak in the U.S. since May 2013, when a massive and devastating tornado killed 24 people in Moore, Oklahoma.
The death toll is more than double the total number of tornado-related fatalities across the United States in all of 2018, which was 10, and includes almost entire families and at least three children between the ages of 6 and 10, according to the AP.
A little boy named Armando Hernandez, 6, is believed to be the youngest person killed in Lee County, CNN reported. Hernandez was one of at least three children killed by the tornadoes.
Jonathan Clardy told the AP he rode out the tornado with his children in his trailer in Beauregard, Alabama. “All we could do is just hold on for life and pray,” he said to the AP. “It’s a blessing from God that me and my young’uns are alive.”
The most violent tornado of the day hit just east of Montgomery, Alabama.
The National Weather Service (NWS) in Birmingham, Alabama, issued a tornado emergency in Lee County at 2:09 p.m. CST Sunday due to a “confirmed large and destructive tornado.”
Tornado emergencies are rare and only issued when significant, widespread damage is expected due to a strong and violent tornado with a high likelihood of numerous fatalities.
A preliminary report from the NWS Birmingham said that the first tornado to strike Lee County was at least an EF4 with 170 mph winds and width of at least one-half mile. This is the first EF4 tornado to touch down in the U.S. since April 29, 2017.
According to NWS Birmingham, damage was confirmed with a second tornado in Lee County, Alabama.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey extended the state of emergency issued on Feb. 23 to statewide due to today’s severe weather and tornadoes.
A state of emergency was also issued in Georgia for Harris, Talbot and Grandy Counties following Sunday's severe weather.
The mayor of Cairo, Georgia, Booker Gainor, said a tornado caused heavy damage just south of downtown in Cairo. There are reports of many damaged or destroyed homes and businesses.
President Donald Trump issued a statement of support for the victims on Twitter Sunday night.
"To the great people of Alabama and surrounding areas: Please be careful and safe. Tornadoes and storms were truly violent and more could be coming. To the families and friends of the victims, and to the injured, God bless you all!"
President Trump also announced that he will be visiting Alabama on Friday to see the areas devastated by Sunday's tornadoes.
U.S. President Donald Trump has paid tribute to the 23 people who died in a deadly tornado that ripped through Alabama and Georgia.
Dry weather is expected across the region throughout much of the week, allowing favorable conditions for families and officials working to clean up after the storms.
The next opportunity for rain will arrive at the end of the week and into the weekend as a new storm system approaches from the west.
This upcoming system will bring the risk of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes with the area at greatest risk focusing from Louisiana to Missouri.
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