13 tornadoes confirmed in several Southern states

Associated Press

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.

Tornadoes that dropped out of the night sky killed five people in two states and injured at least a dozen more early Wednesday, adding to a seemingly biblical onslaught of drought, flood and fire plaguing the South.

The storms tore through just as firefighters began to get control of wildfires around the resort town of Gatlinburg, Tenn. In Alabama, the weather system dumped more than 2 inches of rain in areas that had been parched by months of choking drought.

At least 13 confirmed twisters damaged homes, splintered barns and toppled trees in parts of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee, the National Weather Service said. Tombstones were even knocked over in the cemetery behind the badly damaged Rosalie Baptist Church, near where three people died in northeastern Alabama.

“It looks like the rapture happened up there,” said church member Steve Hall, referring to the end-times belief of many Christians.

“Are we thinking the Lord is trying to get our attention?” said the pastor, Roger Little.

The National Weather Service was assessing damage from multiple possible tornadoes across the region. At least five hit Alabama, and three more struck southern Tennessee, and one confirmed in Louisiana and at least four in Mississippi, forecasters said.

A possible tornado was spotted on the ground Wednesday a few miles from Atlanta, and flights were briefly delayed at the city’s main airport, but no major damage occurred.

Three people were killed and one person critically injured in a mobile home after an apparent twister hit tiny Rosalie, about 115 miles northeast of Birmingham, said Jackson County Chief Deputy Rocky Harnen.

A suspected tornado was responsible for the death of a husband and wife in southern Tennessee’s Polk County, while an unknown number of others were injured, said Tennessee Emergency Management Agency spokesman Dean Flener. No details were immediately available.

The Daily Post-Athenian in Athens, Tenn., reported the Meigs County sheriff’s office said lightning is suspected as the cause of two deaths in a mobile home fire overnight.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley issued a state of emergency because of the storms. Meanwhile, thousands of people were without power, including up to 45,000 homes at one point in Alabama.