Injuries, substantial damage reported after likely tornado in Alabama

Brian Lada
·2 min read

At least two people were hospitalized on Friday after a likely tornado tracked across southern Alabama as severe thunderstorms swept across the southeastern U.S.

Nine mobile homes were destroyed in Atmore, Alabama, when the tornado-warned thunderstorm moved through the area, according to WALA-TV. The National Weather Service has yet to determine if it was straight-line winds or a tornado that caused the damage.

Several people were injured in addition to the two people that were taken to the hospital by ambulance. Fortunately, no fatalities were reported and everyone that lives in the area has been accounted for, The Associated Press said.

"We had one guy that was in his mobile home when the storm hit. He was asleep. He said when he woke up, he was in the woods," Escambia County Sheriff Heath Jackson said.

Video from Atmore showed mobile homes that were shredded apart during the intense storm with debris scattered across a large area.

"It's devastating, and those people have nothing left. We are so thankful that nobody was killed or severely injured," Jackson said.

The storm that hit Atmore was just one of many to rumble across the southeastern U.S. on Friday with the worst of the storms focusing on southern Alabama, southwestern Georgia and the Florida Panhandle.

Ominous shelf clouds appeared ahead of the storms as they approached, a type of cloud that is often associated with the leading edge of strong thunderstorms.

Shelf Cloud 3/18

A shelf cloud moves towards Cumming, Georgia Mar. 18, 2022.

Several other suspected tornadoes moved across places like Panama City, Florida, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and Salem, Indiana. The tornado in Panama City reportedly blew a 24-foot boat off a trailer, damaged multiple homes and boat docks, and downed power lines. As of late Friday night, nearly 10,000 were without power across Jefferson County, Kentucky.

Residents across the Southeast should not let their guard down as a significant severe weather outbreak is in the forecast for a large area of the southern U.S. on Monday and Tuesday.

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