- At least 23 people, including two children, were killed by tornadoes that swept through Alabama and Georgia on Sunday.
- Photos and videos from rescuers and residents posted to social media documented what was left behind after the tornado swarm passed.
- Authorities say the number of fatalities is likely to rise as officials continue to clear through massive piles of debris and wreckage.
Several tornadoes tore through Alabama and Georgia on Sunday, killing at least 23 and injuring many more.
Local residents, emergency crews, and storm chasers posted to social media images and footage detailing the damage.
Alabama’s Lee County was the worst hit. Sheriff Jay Jones said it was “as if someone had taken a blade and just scraped the ground.”
The death toll, which includes two children (one of whom was 6 years old,) is expected to rise.
Here's what the affected counties in Alabama and Georgia look like.
Amateur aerial images show what was once a large bar called the Buck Wild Saloon, with its roof torn off and missing most of a wall.
Some homes were practically turned 90 degrees onto their sides.
Tornadoes felled this radio tower onto Route 280 in Alabama's Lee County.
An upturned light aircraft was found scattered among wreckage in neighboring Barbour County.
Some homes were ripped apart by the tornadoes.
Here is video footage of the same home that shows the area around it as well.
Video shows destruction in Beauregard, Alabama after tornado leaves at least 14 people dead, according to officials in Lee County. https://t.co/Nh2TAH8mVz pic.twitter.com/6keijqTy3g
— ABC News (@ABC) March 4, 2019
This video shows rescue crews sifting through debris and finding a trapped puppy in the wreckage.
SHOCKING VIDEO: A puppy was rescued from rubble after a tornado struck Lee County, Alabama on Sunday afternoon. WRBL News reports at least 14 are dead as a result of the tornado. (Source: WRBL News Columbus, GA). pic.twitter.com/LKsaAy3aW5
— WKRG (@WKRG) March 4, 2019
Roads near Alabama's eastern border with Georgia were covered with debris.
Cars left out in the open in Talbotton, Georgia, were trashed by high winds.
https://twitter.com/AlexHaworthWx/status/1102384599907356673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
A couple walked amid the debris in Lee County.
Northside Fire Station in Barbour County was crushed.
Parts of Eufaula, Alabama (Barbour County) are now unrecognizable after a strong tornado hit earlier today.
This includes the Northside Fire Station located next to the Municipal Airport... the insulation from that building is now tangled in the snapped trees. #ALwx pic.twitter.com/bwLEjx2zfV
— Amanda Curran ☼ (@amanduh_curran) March 4, 2019
A news reporter for the Georgia-based WRBL, Elizabeth White, explored the wreckage and posted this video on Facebook.
This egg hatchery sustained serious damage from a tornado that passed through Lee County. (Click to play the video)
Smiths, a gas station about 20 miles east of Beauregard, was stripped by the tornado.
Tornado warnings and watches were still in effect for parts of Georgia and Alabama through Sunday evening.
The tornadoes ripped trees out the ground, like this one in Beauregard.
Emergency crews near a wrecked building in Lee County.
Emergency crews worked through Sunday night to search for the dead or injured.
Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones gave the number of fatalities as 23 on Sunday night. The number is expected to rise.
