At least 250 people have died in 6 southern states as a string of vicious tornadoes leveled property and left a swath of destruction in their path. Alabama was the hardest hit of the states with at least 162 confirmed fatalities. Governor Robert Bentley said, “We had a major catastrophic event.” Tornadoes also caused fatalities in Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia and Kentucky. Each of the states affected has declared a state of emergency.
The tornadoes moved in rapidly and devastated urban areas like Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Residents had little time to flee or prepare for the storms. The National Weather Service said it received reports of 137 tornadoes from the storm. An estimated 1 million people are without power and several hundred people were injured in the storm. A nuclear power plant was shut down in the aftermath of the storm.
Residents produced some absolutely incredible and terrifying videos of the disaster. In this clip, an obviously terrified videographer records as the tornado tears up trees in a nearby parking lot.
Entire neighborhoods were destroyed by the tornadoes.
Here’s video from storm chasers of four different tornadoes that touched down during the storms.
You can see how terrified the newscasters are as they report the storm live. The weatherman is clearly in shock and trying to keep it together.
This photo just captures the sheer size of one of the storms.
In this footage (posted by the AP), you get a real sense of just how wide these storms were.
Look at the sheer size of the storm as it approaches. Also, note that it is right downtown, in a highly populated area.
This video was shot from inside a car during the storms. You can see just how large the storm is and watch as it jumps across the highway.
I have no idea why anyone would be outside when they can see this so close to them.
This photo is perhaps most shocking of them all. The tornado is just tearing about an urban area.
Will update as new images/ videos become available.
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