MARBURY, Ala. – William Lambert can see the funnel forming outside his front door. When the tornado hit his home in central Alabama, he ran to the bathroom with his son while his wife ducked into the closet with their three grandchildren.
“It was so quick, it came and went,” Mr. Lambert said.
His house is still standing. It was one of the few mobile homes on County Road 140 in the unincorporated community of Marbury that remained intact after Thursday’s devastation. When he went to a neighbor’s house to check, he found his body lying on the ground next to the truck. A day later, Mr. Lambert was still shaking. “I hate seeing it,” he said.
At least nine people were killed after powerful storms caused tornadoes and winds to tear across the South, and many more were only just beginning to grapple with the devastation on Friday.
In Autauga County, which includes Marbury, rescuers went door-to-door in several places searching for the dead and wounded. In Spalding County, Ga., middle school principals used chainsaws to clear driveways to help students stuck on campus reunite with their parents. And in nearby Butts County, authorities said, a tree fell on a vehicle, killing a 5-year-old boy and seriously injuring one of his parents.
“I tell you, you can really understand the devastation of a tornado,” said Doug Jordan, a construction worker, as he helped clean up a Dollar Tree store in Griffin, Ga. smash.
Mr. Jordan, like many others in communities scattered across Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi, is trying to assess all that has been lost. Meteorologists tracked 45 reports of tornadoes, most of them in Alabama.
Autauga County, near Montgomery, the state capital, has suffered some of the worst; authorities say at least seven people were killed there. In nearby Selma, a city associated with the civil rights movement, some expressed relief on Friday: There haven’t been any deaths reported there. However, the storm caused significant damage in much of the city, destroying homes and businesses.
“It doesn’t look like Selma, Alabama anymore,” said Lemarkus A. Snow, a city native who runs a gardening and cleaning business. The houses were razed. Cars and signs were torn apart. Life has been raised. “This city is being destroyed,” he said, adding, “When I say it sucks, Selma is in a state of emergency as we speak.”
Governor Kay Ivey of Alabama actually declared a state of emergency for six counties on Thursday, including Dallas County, where Selma is located. “We are so used to brutal weather, but our people are resilient,” said Governor Ivey. say on Twitter. She also visited Selma and Autauga County on Friday to survey the devastation.
The storms that hit many places are still coming back from the effects of a severe winter storm that swept much of the country last month. Freezing temperature in December disrupt Selma .’s water system, when pipes burst in homes and businesses, prompting Mayor James Perkins Jr. must declare a state of emergency. Now, here’s another emergency: Mr. Perkins said in a statement that the city had “suffered substantial damage from the tornado.”
Across the region, officials are urging residents to stay off the roads, warning of dangers that remain even after the storm passes. In Georgia, both deaths were reported from falling debris, including a 5-year-old child in Butts County and an employee of the State Department of Transportation, officials said.
“We don’t want to add to that,” James C. Stallings, director of the Georgia Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said of the death toll during a news conference.
“Stay where you are,” Mr. Stallings said. “There are teams that are still trying to get through the debris. There are still inaccessible roads.”
Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia also declared a state of emergency and said in a statement that he has “ordered all relevant agencies to respond by a joint approach.”
“It’s dangerous work and there’s a lot of work to be done,” Kemp said Friday at a news conference.
Teams have been working to restore power to thousands of customers across the region who lost service. And many are searching through the rubble, a desperate search for people who might be trapped or any property that could be salvaged.
In Jackson, Ga., near where the 5-year-old boy was killed, workers were busy clearing trees and road debris.
Kenneth Black, 75, said he looked out on the porch on Thursday and could see trouble coming. “We have to go to the middle of the house,” he told his wife. About five minutes later, half of their roof was ripped from their house. “I’m just grateful it didn’t get worse,” Mr Black said.
Scott Hendrix was trapped in the house for more than five hours. “I heard what was like a big bang and suddenly I was stuck,” he recalled Friday. He called 911. “They said no one could catch me,” he said. In the end, rescuers had to get him out of the house and he was eventually reunited with his wife, Tracie, who was at work when the storm hit.
“We still have to get our two cats out of the house,” said Mrs. Hendrix, pointing to the cats in a crate in the back of their sedan. The couple went out looking for cell phone coverage so they could call their insurance company.
Tonia Dalton, 51, was rummaging through her mother’s belongings to see what could be saved. Her mother’s mobile home was destroyed by a tree that fell into the living room.
“We all grew up here,” she said. “There are so many good memories here.”
She is worried because her mother is uninsured. However, she also felt grateful. Her mother was not at home, having left for her sister’s house about half an hour before the tornado hit. “She has a feeling,” said Miss Dalton, “thank God.”
Bryant K. Oden reporting from Marbury, Ala., Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon from Jackson, Ga., and Rick Rojas from Nashville. Report contributed by Christine Hauser, Livia Albeck-Ripka, Mike Ives and Derrick Bryson Taylor. Susan C. Beach contribution research.
