Alabama tries to get on its feet even as weekend storms loom
BEAUREGARD, Ala. – Lee County authorities on Tuesday released the names of the victims of a monstrous tornado that killed at least 23 people, including seven in one family, as meteorologists warned that another blast of severe weather could roar through the region in coming days.
President Donald Trump also said Tuesday that he will visit the stormbattered area on Friday, five days after the deadly twister left a mile-wide path of destruction.
Sheriff Jay Jones said the number of people unaccounted for was down to seven or eight, and he hoped the number would decrease as more of the missing contact friends and family.
“We hope to transition from search and rescue to recovery status later today or certainly tomorrow,” Jones said at a news conference Tuesday.
Drones swept the area while teams picked through the rubble of dozens of homes as temperatures dipped in the 20s. Forecasters warned that the chill could last into Thursday.
When the deep freeze lifts, the weekend could bring more dangerous storms. The weather service warned that severe thunderstorms with the potential for “tornadoes, damaging winds and large hail” would be possible across Central Alabama late Saturday into Sunday.
AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tom Kines said a storm system moving into California in coming days will sweep into the Midwest later in the week before reaching the Gulf Coast. It was too early to determine how ferocious the storm will be by then, or exactly where it might hit hardest.
People in the region must remain vigilant, Kines said.
“It’s going to be a strong system,” he said. “There is no doubt there will be severe weather, maybe all the way up to Missouri. My gut feeling, however, is that it won’t be quite as bad (as Sunday’s storm). But I hate to play it down.”
The tornado that blasted through Lee County was one of 18 that struck Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina over the weekend, the National Weather Service said.
County coroner Bill Harris released the names of the victims, including seven who were related through marriage. He said identifications were completed and the families formally notified late Monday.
Most of the victims suffered bluntforce trauma, Harris said, and many were thrown or sucked out of their homes. “Keep these families in your prayers,” he said.
More than 90 people were injured, and authorities said about a dozen remained hospitalized Tuesday. Sunday’s tornado was the deadliest twister since 2013, when 25 people were killed in Oklahoma.
About 10,000 people live in the Beauregard community, about 60 miles east of Montgomery. It has a few stores, two schools and a volunteer fire department along the main highway.
“Everybody in Beauregard is a real close-knit family,” said Jonathan Clardy, who huddled with his family inside their trailer as the tornado ripped the roof off.
“Everybody knows everybody around here. Everybody is heartbroken.”