Tornadoes claim 22 lives in Alabama

WASHINGTON/(XINHUA): At least 22 people including children were dead in a southern U.S. town worst hit by apparent tornadoes moving through states of Alabama and Georgia on Sunday, according to local media reports.

Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones on Sunday night confirmed to the Associated Press the latest death toll in the town of Beauregard, some 96 km east of Montgomery, the capital city of the state of Alabama.

However, a report from CBS affiliate WRBL-TV put the death toll at 23, also quoting the sheriff.

Some people are still believed to be missing, Jones told WRBL-TV, calling the damage “catastrophic.”

“I cannot recall, at least in the last 50 years, and longer than that, a situation where we have had this type, this loss of life that we experienced today,” Jones told WRBL-TV.

Photos issued by multiple media outlets showed debris from strong wind gusts and heavy rain knocking down power lines.

The U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) issued tornado emergencies in Alabama and Georgia on Sunday afternoon.

At least six people were in rural Talbotton, Georgia, about 129 km south of Atlanta, were injured amid the terrible weather, Leigh Ann Erenheim, director of the Talbot County Emergency Management Agency, told local media.