A cluster of tornadoes swept through the southern US state of Alabama on Thursday evening, killing at least five people, authorities said.
Video posted on social media showed debris swirling in the air, trees uprooted and homes damaged.
“I urge all folks in the path of these tornadoes and storm systems to remain on high alert,” Governor Kay Ivey tweeted.
Three members of one family were killed while sheltering in “a wooden structure” in the town of Ohatchee and another died in mobile home there, Calhoun County coroner Pat Brown told AFP.
Another person died in the town of Wellington, Brown said.
The sheriff’s office said on Facebook that there had been significant damage in Calhoun County and advised residents to stay home and off the roads as more storms were expected.
More than 35,000 customers in Alabama were without power as of Thursday evening, according to poweroutage.us.
Officials said dangerous weather was expected to continue through the night.
In Pelham, Alabama, 60 miles southwest of Ohatchee, fire chief Mike Reid told news website Al.com that 60 homes were damaged in the area, but no fatalities or injuries.
Tens of thousands of people were left without power.
Allison Allred, a 23-year-old floral designer, hid in a hallway with her 73-year-old grandmother in their home in Georgia’s Bartow County, near the Alabama state line.
“I was crying ... we got really panicked ... my heart was racing. It was awful,” she said in a phone interview. “It had been hailing and it was raining so heavy you couldn’t see anything. It was very dark, but thankfully we are safe.”
A police officer in Florence was struck by lightning as he set up road barriers, the police department there said.
The officer was “conscious and responsive” at North Alabama Medical Centre, Florence police said on Twitter.
At least two storms produced long tracking, violent tornadoes that swept across about 100 miles of Alabama on Thursday afternoon, said Chris Darden, a National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologist in Birmingham.
More tornadoes may have touched down in the area, Darden said, but the number of twisters would be unknown until a survey can be completed in the coming days.
“The number is not as important as the magnitude of what has transpired,” he said. “We are seeing significant damage in several communities. There are many counties in central Alabama that have been hard hit with substantial damage.”
The news website Al.com said “multiple injuries” had been suffered in Shelby County, southeast of Birmingham.
No further details were immediately available.
“Shelby County has suffered significant tornado damage. We can confirm local residential structures have been completely destroyed,” Shelby County Sheriff John Samaniego said in a statement.
A search and outreach effort would “continue throughout the night and into the early morning hours”, he said.
In Jefferson County the sheriff alerted residents that another twister had struck.
“Jefferson County now has a CONFIRMED tornado on the ground ... SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY,” the sheriff’s department said on Twitter.
First Lady Jill Biden cancelled a trip to Alabama with actress Jennifer Garner that had been planned to promote President Joe Biden’s coronavirus relief plans, according to the White House.