Tornado Warning: Storms Rip Through Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi
Severe storms, including suspected tornadoes, hit the South Wednesday morning causing severe damage in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, but certain areas are expecting more storms.
According to an update on Accuweather.com, "tornado producing thunderstorms have pushed from eastern Alabama into northwestern Georgia early this afternoon."
One or more tornadoes with a thunderstorm were reported in Auburn and Opelika, Ala. and Hamilton, Ga. The thunderstorms are currently moving eastward across Georgia and the Carolinas and could potentially produce more tornadoes Wednesday evening.
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Counties in northern Georgia that are under a severe thunderstorm watch include Fulton, Cobb, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Clayton, Henry, Fayette, Forsyth, Hall, Carroll, Coweta, Spalding and Cherokee. Alabama and portions of Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee are also under a tornado watch until 7 p.m.
It is believed that tornadoes touched down this morning on the cities of Montgomery and Tysonville, Ala. and Tangipahoa, La., during thunderstorms that produced heavy rains and 50 mph wind gusts. Damages included fallen trees, power lines and damages to homes and buildings.
According to MSNBC, the storms left 16 injured and one dead.
Fifteen of those injured during the storms were in southeastern Mississippi, and some of those injuries were sustained from people being trapped in their homes by fallen trees.
The National Weather Service reported that homes were significantly damaged near Jones, Miss., and in the town of Laurel, three homes were damaged with people trapped inside.
"There were no fatalities, so it was a good day," Jones County Emergency Director Don McKinnon told MSNBC.
Lee County in Eastern Alabama also reported significant damage.
"We've got reports of damage at an apartment complex, structures at a lake, mobile homes and trees down," Rita Smith, a public information officer with Lee County Emergency Management, told CNN.
