Five people were killed Wednesday as a wave of thunderstorms laced with tornadoes and winds blowing near hurricane force snapped trees, damaged buildings and left more than 260,000 without power across a wide area of Alabama, prompting the governor to declare a state of emergency.
State and local authorities reported two deaths in St. Clair County, northwest of Birmingham, one death in Jackson County bordering Tennessee and Georgia, and another person killed in Cullman County in northern Alabama. A fifth person was reported dead south of Birmingham in Jefferson County.
Mike Ashburn, assistant emergency management director for Jackson County, said the storm toppled so many trees across roadways that emergency responders were having trouble accessing neighborhoods with storm damage.
"You can't assess all the damage yet because you can't get through," Ashburn said. "You've got the fire departments and EMS clearing roads."
The storms are moving into Georgia and North Georgia is under a tornado watch until 2am Thursday morning.