Many buildings and trees in Selma are damaged by a large tornado
On Thursday, a massive tornado that was sweeping across the South tore down the walls of houses, overturned roofs, and uprooted trees in Selma, Alabama, a place that is indelibly linked to the Civil Rights fight. As it passed through, the city was damaged by the massive, potentially catastrophic storm.
There were no reports of deaths, though, right away. The weather service confirmed reports of tree and structure damage in Selma, as well as reports of damage in other nations, as reported by The Associated Press.
“A tornado has definitely damaged Selma. In fact, it hit our house, but not head-on. It blew out windows in the bedroom and in the living room. It is raining through the roof in the kitchen.” Hank Sanders said
While Malesha McVay and her family rode out the storm in a car parallel to the path of the twister. She said it was about a mile away from her house when it abruptly reversed course. She filmed the massive twister as it ominously darkened and swept away house after house.
“We stopped and we prayed. We followed it and prayed. It was a 100% God thing that it turned right before it hit my house,” she added.
“It would hit a house and black smoke would swirl up. It was very terrifying,” AP quoted
As the storm system passed across the area on Thursday, officials in Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee issued several tornado warnings.
The Louisville office of the National Weather Service reported that an EF-1 tornado had hit Mercer County, Kentucky, and that damage assessments were still being conducted in a number of additional counties. Storms that passed across the state reportedly brought down trees, knocked off electricity, and caused other localised damage.
The EF-1 tornado had earlier made landfall around 6 miles northeast of the Milton town, as reported by Fox News. Tornadoes and “straight-line wind damage” were possible outcomes of a line of severe thunderstorms that travelled over the Northern San Joaquin Valley and into the Sierra Foothills on Tuesday, the report said “