9 reported killed as tornadoes strike Ga.; Ala. search continues after school roof collapse

A powerful storm system packing tornadoes that killed at least seven people in Alabama and one other in Missouri is being blamed for nine more deaths in Georgia, a state official said early Friday.

The storm, which swept through Georgia Thursday night, killed six people in Baker County near the town of Newton, Fire Chief Andy Belinc said early Friday.

The storm destroyed several homes in the county, but authorities would know if there were more casualties and damage later Friday, Belinc said.

Buzz Weiss of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency said he did not know if the six died in the same incident or not.

A tornado apparently touched down near the Sumter Regional Hospital in Americus, 117 miles south of Atlanta, killing at least two people at or near the hospital, injuring an undetermined number of others and damaging the building, Weiss said.

Hospital spokesman Ed Farr said by telephone that a tornado had struck the building but that he had no time to discuss details.

"We're trying to move patients and trying to stabilize things for our patients," Farr said. "Call back in the morning."

By early Friday, parts of the hospital were under water, Atlanta television station WSB reported. The front windows were blown out and the winds had picked up cars in the parking lot and tossed them around, hurling one into a tree.

Sumter County deputy sheriff Eric Brown said he could not confirm the fatalities but that the storms had knocked out power to the entire city and part of the rest of the county. He said there were injuries but did not know how many.

There was one storm-related death and four injuries reported in Taylor County, Weiss said. He said reports of injuries and storm damage from other parts of Georgia, including Muscogee, Clay and McDuffie counties, were continuing to trickle in.

The burst of tornadoes was part of a larger line of thunderstorms and snowstorms that stretched from Minnesota to the Gulf Coast. Authorities blamed a tornado for the death of a 7-year-old girl in Missouri, and twisters were reported in Kansas.

Officials in Alabama were blaming the storms for at least seven deaths in that state, including five at a school in Enterprise, about 75 miles south of Montgomery, where a roof and wall collapsed, pinning people, after being struck by a tornado.

Authorities were still searching the debris early Friday for possible victims.

At City Hall late Thursday, anxious parents waited for news of their children. One man passed out when he was told his son had died, collapsing to the floor as a dozen people surrounded him. He regained consciousness a short time after, screaming for his son.

A counselor on hand said the man was a soldier slated to return to Iraq in June. His 16-year-old son was an honors student who called his mother on his cell phone five minutes before the storm hit to say they were being moved.

Tears and sobs could be seen and heard from others throughout the government building.

In the chaotic hours after the storm, as many as 18 people were reported dead. Officials later confirmed at least five were killed at the school, but declined to give an exact number late Thursday, saying the search was ongoing.

State emergency management spokeswoman Yasamie Richardson said miscommunication was to blame for the erroneous death toll.

The American Red Cross opened a shelter at a church in Enterprise, where about 75 people spent the night, said Jeffery Biggs, executive of the Covington County chapter.

"For the situation to be what it is, it's going good here," said Biggs. "This is the biggest thing we've had in this region for quite a while."

Barbour Alexander came to the shelter after a tree came through the kitchen of the home she shares with her husband and children. They couldn't return home because of a gas leak.

"It blew the whole porch out," Alexander said.

A tornado watch was in effect in 16 counties in eastern South Carolina until 8 a.m. Friday as strong wind and driving rain swept into the state. The worst of the weather was expected to move off the coast by about sunrise.

No tornadoes had been reported, but a wind gust of 56 mph was reported in Columbia in the overnight hours.

At least 25,000 customers lost electricity at some point as the storms moved across the state, mostly in the Columbia area.

The tornadoes were the second to devastate a portion of the South this year. In early February, tornadoes ripped through a 30-mile path in central Florida, killing 21 and destroying hundreds of homes and businesses.

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Associated Press writer Bernard McGhee in Atlanta, Bob Johnson and Stephen Majors in Enterprise, Ala., Marcus Kabel in Caulfield, Mo., contributed to this report.