At least seven people were killed on Thursday, January 12, when tornadoes swept through the states of Alabama and Georgia in the southeastern United States, local authorities reported. Six people have died in Autauga County, central Alabama, deputy director of local emergency services Gary Weaver confirmed to Agence France-Presse on Thursday.
A 6-year-old child died in Butts County, Georgia, about 80 miles south of Atlanta when a tree fell on the car he was riding in, local news reported. Information confirmed by the state’s Governor Brian Kemp: “Our entire family is heartbroken by this tragedy,” he said on twitter.
At least 45 tornadoes crossed the country’s southeast on Thursday, according to a preliminary report from the Storm Prediction Center. A state of emergency has been declared in Georgia and some counties in Alabama.
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The state of emergency-hit Selma, Dallas County, suffered “substantial damage,” according to city officials, who urged residents Thursday to stay still and stay away from downed power lines. “City teams will be sent to clean up as soon as possible,” the community added on Facebook.
A meteorological phenomenon as impressive as it is difficult to predict, tornadoes are relatively common in the United States, particularly in the central and southern parts of the country. The South had already been robbed at the end of November by 36 tornadoes that had killed two people in Alabama; in December 2021, about eighty people lost their lives after multiple tornadoes swept through Kentucky.