A series of furious storms roared through the Southeast on Sunday, killing at least 18 people, splintering homes and toppling trees and power lines in the path.
Officials said 14 people were killed in Georgia.
Catherine Howden, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, said Sunday evening that three deaths were confirmed in Georgia’s Dougherty County, and local officials said search and rescue operations were underway after a reported tornado caused widespread destruction in the county.
Before the three latest deaths were confirmed, Georgia officials had reported 12 deaths statewide, but Howden said one of those was reported in error.
The Georgia tragedies pushed the two-day death toll from a wall of storms and tornadoes to 18. Four people died Saturday in southern Mississippi, when a tornado left a trail of devastation in and around Hattiesburg.
On Sunday, damaging storms were reported from South Carolina to northern Florida.
The National Weather Service said late Sunday afternoon that a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located about 21 miles north of Carrabelle, Fla., on the state's Gulf Coast, about 50 miles southwest of Tallahassee. The storm was moving northeast at 55 mph, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. A tornado watch for 30 counties in north and central Florida was extended until 8 p.m.
In south central Georgia, Karen Moore survived when an apparent tornado destroyed a swath of the Sunshine Acres Mobile Home Park in the Cook County seat of Adel. She said the storm woke her up before dawn Sunday.
"It sounded like a freight train coming through, and I told my husband that is no train, that is a tornado." Moore said. "There was rubble everywhere. ... It took out five trailers, double-wides, I mean, it just turned them."
Eight people were killed in Cook County and two each in Brooks and Berrien counties, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency reported. Howden said at least 23 people were injured. The numbers could rise.
"We are working with the local officials to assess the situation," she told USA TODAY. "This is ongoing."
Debra Buckholts, who lives just outside Adel, said she feared for the safety of her friends in Sunshine Acres. Closed roads, power outages and spotty cellphone service have made it difficult to check on friends and loved ones.
"Half the trailers aren't there anymore," Buckholts said. "There is nothing left of them."
@weatherchannel Adel in Cook County GA has extensive damage. A mobile home park is destroyed with at least 15 deaths. pic.twitter.com/hjTPrtavDQ
— Lauri Hartley (@laurihartley) January 22, 2017
Gov. Nathan Deal declared a week-long state of emergency for seven Georgia counties. He said the area could be increased as responders assess the damage. He added that "all indications suggest" a request would be made for federal assistance, as well.
“These storms have devastated communities and homes in south central Georgia, and the state is making all resources available,” Deal said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Georgians suffering from the storm’s impact."
Florida State issued an alert for it students on the Tallahassee campus.
*FSU ALERT!* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM! Main Campus - Tallahassee. Seek shelter immediately, away from doors and windows," the school tweeted.
As night fell, the danger across the region was far from finished. The National Weather Service forecast a possible "major severe weather outbreak" in parts of the South into early Monday.
Howden said all the Georgia deaths were related to severe weather, but it was not immediately clear whether tornadoes had touched down in the area. Patrick Marsh, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center, said, "In all likelihood it appears that these were tornadoes."
In Mississippi on Saturday, at least an EF3 tornado tore through the Hattiesburg area with wind gusts estimated from 136 mph to 165 mph, according to preliminary reports from the weather service. The tornado touched down about 4 a.m., leaving extensive damage for several blocks. The streets were littered with toppled tress and power lines, and thousands of homes and businesses were without power.
"The total debris cleanup will be weeks at this point," said Lee Smithson, executive director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.
Contributing: Tallahassee Democrat; WTLV/WJXX, Jacksonville, Fla.; Hattiesburg (Miss.) American; Greg Toppo, USA TODAY; AP
