1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:03,733 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Search crews in Alabama have spent this day looking through tornado 2 00:00:03,733 --> 00:00:06,200 wreckage, hoping to find nothing. 3 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:11,166 Sunday's storm ripped apart everything it hit, with winds of 170 miles-an-hour. 4 00:00:11,166 --> 00:00:15,833 At least 23 people were killed, making it deadliest tornado in the United States in 5 00:00:15,833 --> 00:00:18,666 six years. 6 00:00:18,666 --> 00:00:23,666 In Beauregard, Alabama, homes have been reduced to piles of debris along a county highway. 7 00:00:25,633 --> 00:00:29,433 The deadly tornado tore through this rural community just 60 miles northeast of Montgomery 8 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:32,666 near the Georgia border on Sunday. 9 00:00:32,666 --> 00:00:36,633 The storm cut a path nearly one mile wide and 24 miles long after touching down. 10 00:00:38,666 --> 00:00:43,366 It snapped pine trees in half, wrapped metal siding around their trunks and ripped down 11 00:00:43,366 --> 00:00:48,100 power lines and a cell phone tower, now splayed across the highway. 12 00:00:48,100 --> 00:00:51,200 Kevin and Becky Boyd were inside their mobile home when the tornado hit. 13 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:56,166 MAN: I got underneath the bed, and the trailer's upside down in the backyard on top of my shed. 14 00:00:57,066 --> 00:00:59,166 WOMAN: I felt it rolling. 15 00:00:59,166 --> 00:01:02,533 I tumbled over and ended up on my stomach, and I had to crawl out once I could get my 16 00:01:04,366 --> 00:01:06,466 legs straightened, and he lifted stuff off of me. 17 00:01:06,466 --> 00:01:09,866 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The Boyds escaped serious injury, but at least one of their neighbors 18 00:01:09,866 --> 00:01:11,966 was killed. 19 00:01:11,966 --> 00:01:14,000 JAY JONES, Lee County Sheriff: It looks almost as if someone took a giant knife and just 20 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:15,266 scrapped the ground. 21 00:01:15,266 --> 00:01:17,566 There are slabs where homes formally stood. 22 00:01:17,566 --> 00:01:19,733 There is debris everywhere. 23 00:01:19,733 --> 00:01:24,033 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones warned today that the death toll is likely 24 00:01:24,033 --> 00:01:26,533 to rise as rescue and recovery efforts continue. 25 00:01:26,533 --> 00:01:31,533 JAY JONES: I have not seen this type of level of devastation ever in my experience here 26 00:01:33,300 --> 00:01:35,366 in Lee County. 27 00:01:35,366 --> 00:01:37,866 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Overall, the tornado that struck Alabama was one of more than a dozen 28 00:01:37,866 --> 00:01:41,566 to hit parts of Georgia, South Carolina and Florida over the weekend. 29 00:01:41,566 --> 00:01:44,800 KEVIN LAWS, National Weather Service: When you get into this kind of range, like 165 30 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:49,766 miles per hour, you start to see not only exterior walls that collapse on well-built 31 00:01:51,433 --> 00:01:54,133 homes, but you also start to see the interior walls. 32 00:01:54,133 --> 00:01:58,366 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Kevin Laws is chief scientist at the National Weather Service in Birmingham, 33 00:01:58,366 --> 00:02:00,900 Alabama. 34 00:02:00,900 --> 00:02:04,333 He says the storm quickly intensified after a front of cold arctic air slammed into warm, 35 00:02:05,066 --> 00:02:07,133 humid southern air. 36 00:02:07,133 --> 00:02:12,133 And while warnings went out, Laws says homes in the area are simply not built to sustain 37 00:02:12,133 --> 00:02:14,133 such a storm. 38 00:02:14,133 --> 00:02:18,133 KEVIN LAWS: The teams are out assessing, where a lot of manufactured homes once were are 39 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:21,133 now completely destroyed. 40 00:02:21,133 --> 00:02:23,300 So, if you're in one of those homes, it's probably about the worst place you could possibly 41 00:02:23,300 --> 00:02:25,333 be. 42 00:02:25,333 --> 00:02:27,800 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Just across the state line from Beauregard, in Georgia, another tornado 43 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:32,166 touched down in Talbot County, about 80 miles south of Atlanta. 44 00:02:32,166 --> 00:02:37,166 Today, residents surveyed what was left, picking up clothing and other personal items, some 45 00:02:38,300 --> 00:02:40,466 thrown hundreds of feet from their yard. 46 00:02:40,466 --> 00:02:44,166 One woman said she prayed for her family as the tornado blew through. 47 00:02:44,166 --> 00:02:49,166 WOMAN: My babies, I just covered them just like this, calling on Jesus, just kept saying, 48 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:50,800 Jesus, cover us. 49 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:53,333 Cover us, Jesus. 50 00:02:53,333 --> 00:02:56,766 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: A handful of Georgians were hurt, but Governor Brian Kemp today said the 51 00:02:57,533 --> 00:02:58,300 state escaped the worst. 52 00:02:58,300 --> 00:03:00,466 GOV. 53 00:03:00,466 --> 00:03:02,433 BRIAN KEMP (R), Georgia: We certainly dodged a bullet, and we're thankful for that. 54 00:03:02,433 --> 00:03:05,966 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Back in Alabama, rescue efforts are continuing, but the storm system 55 00:03:05,966 --> 00:03:10,833 brought freezing temperatures in its wake, and some 8,000 people are without power. 56 00:03:10,833 --> 00:03:15,833 And now, for an on-the-ground report, we're joined by phone by Jeremy Redmon of The Atlanta 57 00:03:16,566 --> 00:03:17,766 Journal-Constitution. 58 00:03:17,766 --> 00:03:19,966 He's in Lee County, Alabama, today. 59 00:03:19,966 --> 00:03:23,000 Jeremy, thank you very much for being here. 60 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:27,133 The pictures that we're seeing of the devastation there are just horrible. 61 00:03:27,133 --> 00:03:30,833 I wonder if you could give us a sense of what you're seeing on the ground now. 62 00:03:30,833 --> 00:03:32,900 JEREMY REDMON, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Yes. 63 00:03:32,900 --> 00:03:34,866 The sheriff here, Jay Jones, gave an adequate description, I thought. 64 00:03:34,866 --> 00:03:38,566 He said it looked like someone had taken a knife and scraped the ground with it. 65 00:03:38,566 --> 00:03:42,400 I went out there today in Beauregard, the hardest-hit area, and there was this yellow 66 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:44,666 installation hanging from the trees. 67 00:03:44,666 --> 00:03:48,433 One house has got a Coca-Cola truck up on its side in the front yard. 68 00:03:48,433 --> 00:03:53,433 Some homes were just completely destroyed, their roofs taken off, cars on their side. 69 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:56,200 It's pretty grim. 70 00:03:56,200 --> 00:03:59,766 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And we're hearing that the number of victims is expected to go up, as 71 00:03:59,766 --> 00:04:01,866 search-and-rescue efforts continue. 72 00:04:01,866 --> 00:04:06,066 Can you tell us about the people that we already know who have who have been killed in this 73 00:04:06,533 --> 00:04:07,466 tragedy? 74 00:04:07,466 --> 00:04:08,966 JEREMY REDMON: Yes. 75 00:04:08,966 --> 00:04:11,866 Unfortunately, they have said that 23 people have been killed. 76 00:04:11,866 --> 00:04:14,966 Among them are three children, ages 6, 9 and 10. 77 00:04:14,966 --> 00:04:17,033 They have not identified any of them. 78 00:04:17,033 --> 00:04:20,933 The oldest is in the 70s or 80s, I understand. 79 00:04:20,933 --> 00:04:25,200 But it's still certainly possible, they're telling us, as they come to the wreckage, 80 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:27,366 that they may find more. 81 00:04:27,366 --> 00:04:29,400 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And as you have been hearing from people that you're talking to who obviously 82 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:32,333 survived this storm, what kind of stories have they been telling you? 83 00:04:32,333 --> 00:04:36,733 JEREMY REDMON: Yes, it's a pretty harrowing, stories of people scrambling to get into their 84 00:04:36,733 --> 00:04:39,266 bathroom, in the bathtub, in the closet. 85 00:04:39,266 --> 00:04:43,066 The sound of a freight train is how they described the tornado coming. 86 00:04:43,066 --> 00:04:44,466 People are openly weeping here. 87 00:04:44,466 --> 00:04:47,200 There's just a lot of stunned expressions. 88 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:51,400 People are still grappling with the devastation that has hit their community. 89 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:53,500 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And I understand it's quite cold there now. 90 00:04:53,500 --> 00:04:57,000 And there's still thousands of people without power. 91 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:59,000 More broadly, how are people holding up? 92 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:01,600 JEREMY REDMON: Yes, it was really striking. 93 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:05,833 This morning, around 10:00, 10:30, there were dozens of people that filed into the Beauregard 94 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:12,166 High School gymnasium, stood in a circle and held hands and led a prayer. 95 00:05:12,166 --> 00:05:15,266 And there were people openly crying during the service. 96 00:05:15,266 --> 00:05:17,933 But it was certainly a sign of solidarity. 97 00:05:17,933 --> 00:05:22,200 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And I understood you heard from one local reverend and about what happened 98 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:23,200 to his particular family. 99 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:25,233 JEREMY REDMON: Certainly. 100 00:05:25,233 --> 00:05:29,000 So this is Providence Baptist Church that is serving as a shelter for storm victims. 101 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:33,800 The associate pastor there, Chuck Adams, said he got an urgent call from his daughter that 102 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:38,800 her future father-in-law was trapped underneath the wreckage of his own home in the Beauregard 103 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:41,100 area. 104 00:05:41,100 --> 00:05:43,266 His family apparently had taken shelter in the house. 105 00:05:43,266 --> 00:05:48,266 The storm took home -- this is a modular home - - and threw it 70 yards, according to Reverend 106 00:05:50,300 --> 00:05:55,000 Adams, destroying it and trapping this Alabama state trooper, Robbie Burroughs, underneath 107 00:05:55,766 --> 00:05:57,900 the debris. 108 00:05:57,900 --> 00:06:01,766 He was rescued, but he suffered serious injuries, a concussion, broken ribs, and a back injury. 109 00:06:03,833 --> 00:06:05,800 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Jeremy Redmon of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, thank 110 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:06,800 you very much. 111 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:06,933 JEREMY REDMON: My pleasure.