Twisters and heavy storms brought “significant damage” to Alabama Thursday afternoon amid a day of ominous warnings from weather forecasters.
“Selma has received significant damage from the tornado,” Selma mayor James Perkins Jr. said on Facebook Thursday afternoon.
He warned citizens to stay off the roads and beware of downed power lines. That message came less than two hours after the National Weather Service in Birmingham warned a “considerable” tornado was coming through Dallas County.
“A large and extremely dangerous tornado is moving through Selma,” the warning said.
Residents in the area were urged to take shelter immediately.
“Sturdy shelter, centermost room, lowest floor,” the tweet advised. “This is extremely dangerous and serious!!!”
The Selma School District put schools on lockdown and asked parents on Facebook not to come for their children until conditions improved.
Some locals posted photos of semi trucks thrown from the road by harsh winds. Other images showed buildings practically reduced to rubble.
A very serious tornado threat was also issued for Bibb County, Ala., which sits south of the cities of Birmingham and Tuscaloosa.
Birmingham news station WVTM advised “several tornado warnings” had been issued throughout the state shortly before noon. The outlet said thunderstorms had developed over Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee Thursday morning and were sweeping southeast.
“Up front, no one can definitively say this place or that place will be ‘hit’ hours in advance,” WVTM reported. “If severe weather occurs, it would likely be strong wind gusts over 60-70 MPH. The tornado threat is increasing.”
Local news stations throughout the Yellowhammer State warned of rough weather throughout the morning Thursday. WBRC in Birmingham reported a line of storms brought “major damage” to multiple homes in Hale County, which is west of Bibb County. An emergency services director reportedly said a tornado may have hit the town of Greensboro.
One Facebook user posted a photo of a golf ball-sized chunk of hail he said had fallen on Sylacauga, Ala., roughly 60 miles north of the state capital in Montgomery.
