On Thursday, at least six people were killed in central Alabama as a tornado ripped roofs off homes and toppled trees due to a massive storm system sweeping across the southern United States.

In Georgia, where high winds knocked out power for tens of thousands of residents, another person was murdered.

At least six deaths were verified in Autauga County, Alabama, 41 miles northeast of Selma, and an estimated 40 homes were damaged or destroyed by a tornado that ripped a 20-mile path through two rural communities, according to Ernie Baggett, the county's emergency management director.

Mr. Baggett told the Associated Press that several mobile homes were catapulted into the air, and at least 12 individuals were hurt severely enough to be transported to hospitals. On Thursday night, he added, personnel were cutting through fallen trees to search for anybody who may need assistance.

"It caused a substantial amount of damage. This is the worst I've ever witnessed in this county, "Mr. Baggett stated.

During the storm, a tree fell on a vehicle in Jackson, Georgia, killing a passenger, according to the Butts County coroner, Lacey Prue. Officials added that the battery appears to have derailed a freight train in the same county southeast of Atlanta.

Officials in Griffin, south of Atlanta, reported to local news sites that numerous people were trapped in an apartment building after trees had fallen on it. In addition, firefighters freed a Griffin man trapped for hours under a fallen tree in his home.

Officials deemed it hazardous to operate buses, resulting in the destruction of a high school and the relocation of pupils to four middle schools for pick-up. The city of Griffin enforced a curfew from Thursday at 10 p.m. until Friday at 6 a.m.

Friday classes were canceled in at least six Georgia counties south of the Atlanta metropolitan area. These systems enroll 90,000 students in total.

As of Thursday evening, the National Weather Service had received 33 reports of tornadoes around the country, with a few tornado warnings remaining in effect in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

However, the complaints have not yet been validated, and some may be categorized as wind damage following assessments in the coming days.

In Selma, a city with a prominent place in the history of the civil rights struggles, a tornado tore a wide path through the downtown area, causing brick buildings to collapse, oak trees to be uprooted, cars to flip over, and electrical wires to be left dangling.

A fire was causing dense, black smoke to rise above the city. It was initially unknown whether the storm was the source of the fire.

The mayor of Selma, James Perkins, stated that no fatalities were reported, but several individuals were severely hurt. Officials hoped to obtain an overhead look at the city on Friday morning as first responders continued to survey the damage.

"We have a lot of downed power lines," he stated. There is a considerable risk on the streets.

To proclaim a state of emergency, the Selma City Council held a meeting on the sidewalk by the light of cell phones due to widespread power failures. According to official reports, a high school is opening as a shelter.

Krishun Moore arrived from her home to hear children wailing and screaming after the tornado had passed. She and her mother encouraged the children to continue crying until they located them atop a severely damaged apartment roof. She assessed the children's ages as between one and four. She stated via Facebook messaging that they were both fine.

Malesha McVay and her family traveled parallel to the tornado. She stated that it abruptly turned less than a mile from her residence.
"We halted and began to pray. We adhered to it and prayed, "She stated, "It was a 100 percent God thing that it turned right before it hit my house."

She filmed the massive tornado, which became dark as it swept away home after home.

She stated, "It would hit a house, and black smoke would swirl up," It was horrifying.

According to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages, approximately 40,000 people in Alabama were without power on Thursday evening. In Georgia, over 86,000 people were without power after the storm carved a path across several counties south of Atlanta.