At least seven people were killed Thursday when tornadoes swept through Alabama and Georgia in the southeastern United States, local authorities said.
Six people have died in Autauga County, central Alabama, local emergency services deputy director Gary Weaver confirmed to AFP on Thursday.
State of emergency declared
A six-year-old child died in Butts County, Georgia, about 90 miles south of Atlanta, after a tree fell on the car he was riding in, local media reported and then confirmed. State Governor Brian Kemp.
"
Our entire family is heartbroken by this tragedy
," Kemp tweeted.
A total of at least 45 tornadoes crossed the southeast of the country on Thursday, according to a preliminary report from the US Storm Prediction Center (SPC).
A state of emergency has been declared in Georgia and for some counties in Alabama.
The city of Selma, in the county of Dallas, affected by the state of emergency, suffered in particular “
significant damage
”, according to the services of its mayor James Perkins, who had called on residents to avoid moving on Thursday and stay away from downed power lines.
"
Teams from the city will be sent as soon as possible to clean up
," the municipality added on Facebook.
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Tornadoes, a weather phenomenon as impressive as they are difficult to predict, are relatively common in the United States, especially in the central and southern parts of the country.
They are nevertheless sometimes devastating.
The southern United States had already been bereaved at the end of November during the passage of 36 tornadoes which had killed two people in Alabama while in December 2021, around 80 people had lost their lives after the passage of several tornadoes in Kentucky.