Twister terror: at least 23 killed in Alabama tornado strike
- Severe weather unleashed one of numerous possible tornadoes that threatened the Southern United States on Sunday afternoon
- Authorities warned that the death toll could rise further
A tornado killed 23 people and caused “catastrophic” damage in the southern US state of Alabama on Sunday, local officials said.
Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said that children were among the dead and that it was possible the death toll could continue to rise.
Emergency workers faced a grim night of pulling the dead and injured from the wreckage of homes and businesses.
“The challenge is the sheer volume of the debris where all the homes were,” Jones said in an interview with CNN. “It’s the most I’ve seen that I can recall.”
On Twitter, US President Donald Trump urged residents of Alabama and other areas affected by the storms to be “careful and safe”.
“Tornadoes and storms were truly violent and more could be coming,” Trump wrote. “To the families and friends of the victims, and to the injured, God bless you all!”
Destruction left by the storm was about 400 metres (440 yards) wide and stretched for the “several miles that it travelled on the ground”, according to Jones.