WEBVTT 00:02.000 --> 00:03.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Search crews in Alabama have spent this day looking through tornado 00:03.733 --> 00:06.200 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% wreckage, hoping to find nothing. 00:06.200 --> 00:11.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Sunday's storm ripped apart everything it hit, with winds of 170 miles-an-hour. 00:11.166 --> 00:15.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% At least 23 people were killed, making it deadliest tornado in the United States in 00:15.833 --> 00:18.666 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% six years. 00:18.666 --> 00:23.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% In Beauregard, Alabama, homes have been reduced to piles of debris along a county highway. 00:25.633 --> 00:29.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The deadly tornado tore through this rural community just 60 miles northeast of Montgomery 00:30.600 --> 00:32.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% near the Georgia border on Sunday. 00:32.666 --> 00:36.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The storm cut a path nearly one mile wide and 24 miles long after touching down. 00:38.666 --> 00:43.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% It snapped pine trees in half, wrapped metal siding around their trunks and ripped down 00:43.366 --> 00:48.100 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% power lines and a cell phone tower, now splayed across the highway. 00:48.100 --> 00:51.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Kevin and Becky Boyd were inside their mobile home when the tornado hit. 00:51.200 --> 00:56.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% MAN: I got underneath the bed, and the trailer's upside down in the backyard on top of my shed. 00:57.066 --> 00:59.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% WOMAN: I felt it rolling. 00:59.166 --> 01:02.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I tumbled over and ended up on my stomach, and I had to crawl out once I could get my 01:04.366 --> 01:06.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% legs straightened, and he lifted stuff off of me. 01:06.466 --> 01:09.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The Boyds escaped serious injury, but at least one of their neighbors 01:09.866 --> 01:11.966 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% was killed. 01:11.966 --> 01:14.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JAY JONES, Lee County Sheriff: It looks almost as if someone took a giant knife and just 01:14.000 --> 01:15.266 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% scrapped the ground. 01:15.266 --> 01:17.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% There are slabs where homes formally stood. 01:17.566 --> 01:19.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% There is debris everywhere. 01:19.733 --> 01:24.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones warned today that the death toll is likely 01:24.033 --> 01:26.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% to rise as rescue and recovery efforts continue. 01:26.533 --> 01:31.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JAY JONES: I have not seen this type of level of devastation ever in my experience here 01:33.300 --> 01:35.366 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% in Lee County. 01:35.366 --> 01:37.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Overall, the tornado that struck Alabama was one of more than a dozen 01:37.866 --> 01:41.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to hit parts of Georgia, South Carolina and Florida over the weekend. 01:41.566 --> 01:44.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% KEVIN LAWS, National Weather Service: When you get into this kind of range, like 165 01:44.800 --> 01:49.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% miles per hour, you start to see not only exterior walls that collapse on well-built 01:51.433 --> 01:54.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% homes, but you also start to see the interior walls. 01:54.133 --> 01:58.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Kevin Laws is chief scientist at the National Weather Service in Birmingham, 01:58.366 --> 02:00.900 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% Alabama. 02:00.900 --> 02:04.333 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% He says the storm quickly intensified after a front of cold arctic air slammed into warm, 02:05.066 --> 02:07.133 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% humid southern air. 02:07.133 --> 02:12.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And while warnings went out, Laws says homes in the area are simply not built to sustain 02:12.133 --> 02:14.133 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% such a storm. 02:14.133 --> 02:18.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% KEVIN LAWS: The teams are out assessing, where a lot of manufactured homes once were are 02:19.000 --> 02:21.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% now completely destroyed. 02:21.133 --> 02:23.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% So, if you're in one of those homes, it's probably about the worst place you could possibly 02:23.300 --> 02:25.333 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% be. 02:25.333 --> 02:27.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Just across the state line from Beauregard, in Georgia, another tornado 02:27.800 --> 02:32.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% touched down in Talbot County, about 80 miles south of Atlanta. 02:32.166 --> 02:37.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Today, residents surveyed what was left, picking up clothing and other personal items, some 02:38.300 --> 02:40.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% thrown hundreds of feet from their yard. 02:40.466 --> 02:44.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% One woman said she prayed for her family as the tornado blew through. 02:44.166 --> 02:49.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WOMAN: My babies, I just covered them just like this, calling on Jesus, just kept saying, 02:49.800 --> 02:50.800 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% Jesus, cover us. 02:50.800 --> 02:53.333 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% Cover us, Jesus. 02:53.333 --> 02:56.766 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: A handful of Georgians were hurt, but Governor Brian Kemp today said the 02:57.533 --> 02:58.300 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% state escaped the worst. 02:58.300 --> 03:00.466 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% GOV. 03:00.466 --> 03:02.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% BRIAN KEMP (R), Georgia: We certainly dodged a bullet, and we're thankful for that. 03:02.433 --> 03:05.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Back in Alabama, rescue efforts are continuing, but the storm system 03:05.966 --> 03:10.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% brought freezing temperatures in its wake, and some 8,000 people are without power. 03:10.833 --> 03:15.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And now, for an on-the-ground report, we're joined by phone by Jeremy Redmon of The Atlanta 03:16.566 --> 03:17.766 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Journal-Constitution. 03:17.766 --> 03:19.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% He's in Lee County, Alabama, today. 03:19.966 --> 03:23.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Jeremy, thank you very much for being here. 03:23.000 --> 03:27.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The pictures that we're seeing of the devastation there are just horrible. 03:27.133 --> 03:30.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I wonder if you could give us a sense of what you're seeing on the ground now. 03:30.833 --> 03:32.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JEREMY REDMON, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Yes. 03:32.900 --> 03:34.866 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% The sheriff here, Jay Jones, gave an adequate description, I thought. 03:34.866 --> 03:38.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% He said it looked like someone had taken a knife and scraped the ground with it. 03:38.566 --> 03:42.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I went out there today in Beauregard, the hardest-hit area, and there was this yellow 03:42.400 --> 03:44.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% installation hanging from the trees. 03:44.666 --> 03:48.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% One house has got a Coca-Cola truck up on its side in the front yard. 03:48.433 --> 03:53.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Some homes were just completely destroyed, their roofs taken off, cars on their side. 03:54.200 --> 03:56.200 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% It's pretty grim. 03:56.200 --> 03:59.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And we're hearing that the number of victims is expected to go up, as 03:59.766 --> 04:01.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% search-and-rescue efforts continue. 04:01.866 --> 04:06.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Can you tell us about the people that we already know who have who have been killed in this 04:06.533 --> 04:07.466 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% tragedy? 04:07.466 --> 04:08.966 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% JEREMY REDMON: Yes. 04:08.966 --> 04:11.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Unfortunately, they have said that 23 people have been killed. 04:11.866 --> 04:14.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Among them are three children, ages 6, 9 and 10. 04:14.966 --> 04:17.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% They have not identified any of them. 04:17.033 --> 04:20.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% The oldest is in the 70s or 80s, I understand. 04:20.933 --> 04:25.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But it's still certainly possible, they're telling us, as they come to the wreckage, 04:25.200 --> 04:27.366 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% that they may find more. 04:27.366 --> 04:29.400 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And as you have been hearing from people that you're talking to who obviously 04:29.400 --> 04:32.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% survived this storm, what kind of stories have they been telling you? 04:32.333 --> 04:36.733 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% JEREMY REDMON: Yes, it's a pretty harrowing, stories of people scrambling to get into their 04:36.733 --> 04:39.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% bathroom, in the bathtub, in the closet. 04:39.266 --> 04:43.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The sound of a freight train is how they described the tornado coming. 04:43.066 --> 04:44.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% People are openly weeping here. 04:44.466 --> 04:47.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% There's just a lot of stunned expressions. 04:47.200 --> 04:51.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% People are still grappling with the devastation that has hit their community. 04:51.400 --> 04:53.500 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And I understand it's quite cold there now. 04:53.500 --> 04:57.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And there's still thousands of people without power. 04:57.000 --> 04:59.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% More broadly, how are people holding up? 04:59.000 --> 05:01.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% JEREMY REDMON: Yes, it was really striking. 05:01.600 --> 05:05.833 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% This morning, around 10:00, 10:30, there were dozens of people that filed into the Beauregard 05:07.800 --> 05:12.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% High School gymnasium, stood in a circle and held hands and led a prayer. 05:12.166 --> 05:15.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And there were people openly crying during the service. 05:15.266 --> 05:17.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% But it was certainly a sign of solidarity. 05:17.933 --> 05:22.200 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And I understood you heard from one local reverend and about what happened 05:22.200 --> 05:23.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% to his particular family. 05:23.200 --> 05:25.233 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% JEREMY REDMON: Certainly. 05:25.233 --> 05:29.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% So this is Providence Baptist Church that is serving as a shelter for storm victims. 05:29.000 --> 05:33.800 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% The associate pastor there, Chuck Adams, said he got an urgent call from his daughter that 05:33.800 --> 05:38.800 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% her future father-in-law was trapped underneath the wreckage of his own home in the Beauregard 05:39.600 --> 05:41.100 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% area. 05:41.100 --> 05:43.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% His family apparently had taken shelter in the house. 05:43.266 --> 05:48.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The storm took home -- this is a modular home - - and threw it 70 yards, according to Reverend 05:50.300 --> 05:55.000 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% Adams, destroying it and trapping this Alabama state trooper, Robbie Burroughs, underneath 05:55.766 --> 05:57.900 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% the debris. 05:57.900 --> 06:01.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% He was rescued, but he suffered serious injuries, a concussion, broken ribs, and a back injury. 06:03.833 --> 06:05.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Jeremy Redmon of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, thank 06:05.800 --> 06:06.800 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% you very much. 06:06.800 --> 06:06.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% JEREMY REDMON: My pleasure.