Several powerful tornadoes swept through Alabama, destroying homes and businesses, killing dozens of people and leaving others wounded. While the destruction was evident, people were uncertain of what the storm's label meant. Three counties in central Alabama were affected by tornadoes on Sunday. Barbour County experienced two tornadoes, one being classified by the National Weather Service (NWS) in Birmingham, Alabama, as an EF1 and the other as an EF2. A third tornado, classified as at least an EF1, traveled from Macon County into Lee County. The fourth tornado, which decimated Lee County, was classified as an EF4, the most powerful of all four to hit Alabama on Sunday. What Is an EF4 Tornado? Tornadoes are measured on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which is abbreviated to EF when labeling storms. The Enhanced Fujita Scale was an update to the original F-Scale and was implemented in the United States in February 2007. Tornadoes on the EF scale range from zero to five, which represents estimated wind speeds, measured in three-second gusts, based on damage. An EF4 tornado is second highest on the scale and is reserved for tornadoes with three-second gusts between 166 miles per hour and 200 miles per hour. At that level, the tornado is considered to be devastating and can bring widespread damage to the area. In its preliminary assessment, the NWS found the tornado had winds around 170 miles per hour and the NWS's Chris Darden told NBC News that the tornado was estimated to have spanned at least 24 miles in length. What Damage Did the Tornadoes in Alabama Cause? In Lee County, roofs were blown off buildings and some homes were swept off their foundations, according to AL.com. Over 20 homes were destroyed in the 5,000-person town of Smiths Station, as reported by the Ledger-Enquirer. On Sunday, Troy Bell saw the tornado and quickly gathered his family to huddle in the bathtub. Within 30 seconds, the storm came and went, leaving his home and the garage he owns badly damaged. Fortunately, he told the Montgomery Adviser, his family remained unharmed, although, that's not been the case for other people he knew. "There's a lot of people I went to school with; they're dead," Bell explained. "Their whole families are dead. I was getting word on some of them this morning." Beauregard resident Douglas Griffin told ABC News that had he been home when the tornado struck, he believes he would be dead. Griffin called it a "disaster" and likened the aftermath of it to as if a "bomb went off." How Many People Were Killed? At least 23 people were killed when the powerful tornado came through Lee County, making it the deadliest in the United States since 2013, according to the NWS. Three children, aged six, nine and 10, were among the fatalities and officials said that the death toll may rise. "It's been a long, long night," Lee County Coroner Bill Harris said on Monday. "Some of these families have lost practically almost the entire family." In the wake of the storm, President Donald Trump instructed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to give "A-plus treatment" to Alabama and called Governor Kay Ivey "one of the best in the country." On Monday, Ivey signed an expedited major disaster declaration request asking Trump to approve their immediate assistance. "Yesterday, tornados ravaged through parts of Alabama, leaving behind trails of devastation and the loss of human life," Ivey said. "To know Alabama, is to know that we are a tightly-knit community of people. Today, each one of us mourns the loss of our fellow Alabamians. "​<doc-sep>National Weather Service survey teams fanned out across central and south Alabama on Monday to start the process of counting tornadoes from Sunday’s severe weather. Eight tornadoes have now been confirmed statewide as of Monday night: *Two EF1s in Washington County *An EF1 in Butler County *An EF1 in Crenshaw County *An EF2 in Macon County *Two EF2s in Barbour County *An EF4 in Lee County The Lee County storm caused at least 23 deaths, according to officials. Its top winds have been estimated at 170 mph. The EF4 storm tracked through the southern part of the county near Beauregard and Smiths Station and was nearly a mile wide, according to the weather service. It destroyed not only mobile homes but also single-family homes, the weather service said. BREAKING: Preliminary EF-4 Tornado Damage has been found along County Road 39 just east of Cave Mill Road in southwestern Lee County. Winds have been estimated at 170mph. Single family homes were completely destroyed. Photos are from those survey locations. #alwx pic.twitter.com/euYNfSDY11 — NWS Birmingham (@NWSBirmingham) March 4, 2019 That single storm caused more deaths than all of 2018’s tornadoes combined — nationwide — according to the Storm Prediction Center. According to their records 10 people were killed by tornadoes in 2018 across the country. The Lee County tornado is also the single deadliest tornado since the Moore, Okla., tornado on May 20, 2013. That was an EF5 tornado that killed 24 people and injured 212. It was the deadliest tornado in Alabama since the super outbreak of April 2011, according to data from the National Weather Service. More information was trickling in about the other Sunday tornadoes. The Macon County tornado has been upgraded to an EF2, according to the weather service. It tracked through the eastern part of the county, south of Tuskegee, and had top winds of 115 mph. It later crossed into Lee County. There were two tornadoes that hit Barbour County. Both have been given preliminary ratings of EF2. One had with top winds of 115 mph, the weather service said. It tracked along County Road 79, northwest of Eufaula. It was on the ground for 6.68 miles and was 700 yards wide. It touched down about three miles south-southwest of Batesville and lifted near Lugo. The storm snapped and uprooted hundreds of trees and also topped a large wooden double power pole, the weather service said. The weather service said a second tornado hit the county closer to Eufaula and also upgraded that storm from an EF1 to a preliminary EF2 with peak winds of 130 mph. It was on the ground for 4.2 miles and was 600 yards wide. It touched down three miles northwest of the Old Town Creek Rec Area, or four miles north of Eufaula, according to the weather service. This storm did considerable damage. It struck the Weedon Field Complex and damaged a home, several metal structures and several airplanes, the weather service said. Mobile homes were damaged elsewhere as well. The tornado crossed the Chattahoochee River and into Georgia, where it was still producing damage, the weather service said. The National Weather Service in Mobile confirmed four tornadoes on Monday -- all of them EF1s. Damage Survey Team #1 has confirmed two separate EF-1 tornadoes in Washington County Alabama. One south of Chatom, AL and one near Sims Chapel, AL. Click here for the full report: https://t.co/Ay29lwo6SH pic.twitter.com/OnBtkKpXts — NWS Mobile (@NWSMobile) March 4, 2019 The first storm was in Washington County and had top winds of 95 mph, according to a preliminary storm report. It touched down about three miles south of Chatom at 12:55 p.m. Sunday and was on the ground for only 0.17 miles, the weather service said. It was 300 yards wide at its peak. The storm didn’t damage any structures but snapped numerous trees, the weather service said. The second Washington County tornado touched down less than 45 minutes later about eight miles southwest of McIntosh. It was stronger, with top winds estimated at 105 mph. It was on the ground for 2.6 miles and was 100 yards wide at its peak, the weather service said. This tornado damaged a new addition at the Sims Chapel Holiness Church, the weather service said. A few other structures had minor damage, mainly because of downed trees. The weather service added two other tornado confirmations later Monday. One was an EF1 in Butler County with top winds of 90 mph. It touched down at 2:34 p.m. Sunday about six miles northeast of Honoraville and had a path length of 0.27 miles. The storm partially lifted the roof off one home and damaged an outbuilding, the weather service said, as well as snapping and toppling many trees. The other late addition was also an EF1 in Crenshaw County. It had top winds of 90 mph and a path length of 2.66 miles, the weather service said. It touched down at 2:38 p.m. Sunday about 4.5 miles northwest of Honoraville and was on the ground for four minutes. The storm did a lot of tree damage, and one large tree fell on a mobile home, the weather service said. That’s not all the possible tornadoes.The weather service in Birmingham said it is planning to look at damage in Bullock and Autauga counties on Tuesday. The weather service in Tallahassee, Fla., will send teams to southeast Alabama after multiple tornado-warned storms in that region on Sunday. The weather service said updates will be released periodically as more information becomes available.<doc-sep>The tornado was an EF4 with winds estimated at 170 mph and carved a path of destruction up to nine-tenths of a mile wide in Alabama, scraping up the earth in a phenomenon known as "ground rowing," the National Weather Service said. It traveled a remarkable 70 miles or so through Alabama and Georgia, where it caused more damage.<doc-sep>People in the path of the deadly tornado that ripped through Lee County, Alabama, had eight to nine minutes of warning before touchdown, said Holly Allen, a senior forecaster with the National Weather Service in Birmingham. That is below the national average: Typically, the tornado warning lead time – the time between when a warning is issued and when the tornado hits ground – is about 14 minutes, the weather service has said. On average in Alabama, there’s about a 15 minute lead time for warnings, according to National Weather Service data. That's a vast improvement since 1990, when the national lead time was 5 five minutes. The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, had posted forecasts for higher possible tornado activity in the region on Thursday, three days before the killer twister struck. Also that day, the weather service in Birmingham issued its first forecast about possible tornadoes on Sunday. On Saturday afternoon, one day before the twister hit, both the weather service and the prediction center upgraded the risk for severe weather. Finally, Sunday morning at 11:04 a.m. CST, about three hours before the tornado hit, the weather service issued a tornado watch for south-central Alabama, Allen said. A watch means conditions are ripe for tornadoes to form. The specific warning for the deadly tornado was issued at 1:58 p.m. CST. At about 2:06 to 2:07 pm CST, the tornado roared between Marvyn and Beauregard, Alabama, producing EF4 damage and killing dozens of people. EF4 tornadoes have estimated wind speeds of 166 to 200 mph. University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd praised the warnings from the weather service and its prediction center, saying they “were all over it in the days and hours before the storms.” As for tornado sirens in Lee County, reports were conflicting on whether they sounded. More information about the sirens were expected in the days ahead. Contributing: Marty Roney, Montgomery Advertiser; The Associated Press<doc-sep>
The deadliest U.S. tornado in nearly six years that ripped through a rural Alabama community Sunday afternoon came so fast there was less than 10 minutes of warning time before touchdown, according to The National Weather Service. USA TODAY reported that on average in Alabama, there is about a 15- minute lead time for tornado warnings. On Sunday, the time was 8 to 9 minutes, according to Holly Allen, a senior forecaster with the National Weather Service in Birmingham. At least 23 people were killed, some of them children. Lee County Coroner Bill Harris said at a Monday afternoon news conference that the children killed were ages 6, 9, and 10. CNN identified the youngest victim: Armando Hernandez, 6, whose family also lost their home in the twister. The news outlet also reported about another of the children who died in the tornado: Taylor Thornton, a fourth-grader at Lee-Scott Academy, a private school in Auburn, Alabama. Carol Dean found her wedding dress among the wreckage of her mobile home. But the storm took her 53-year-old husband. She said David Wayne Dean was at home Sunday afternoon and had texted a friend to beware when the tornado hit. “He didn’t make it out,” she said. Dean said she rushed home from her job at Walmart when she couldn’t reach her husband on the phone. She pushed her way past sheriff’s deputies who tried to keep her out of the damaged area. Her children had found David Dean’s body in a neighbor’s yard. “They took me down to him,” Dean said, “and I got to spend a little time with him before they took him away.” Harris warned that the overall death toll could still increase as searches continue. The National Weather Service said one and possibly two tornadoes struck the area Sunday afternoon, with a powerful EF-4 twister with winds estimated at 170 mph blamed for most of the destruction. The bigger tornado carved a path nearly 1 mile wide and 24 miles long, stretching toward Georgia, said Chris Darden, the agency’s chief meteorologist in Birmingham. The killer winds left shredded metal dangling from the trees and obliterated homes, leaving little more than concrete slabs. PULPIT LEFT STANDING AFTER STORM DEVASTATES RURAL GEORGIA TOWN Dozens remained missing in Lee County nearly a day later, according to the sheriff, who said that crews had combed the hardest-hit areas but that the search was far from over. The twister was part of a powerful storm system that slashed its way across the Deep South, spawning numerous tornado warnings in Georgia, South Carolina and Florida. It seemed to hit hardest in Beauregard, an unincorporated community of roughly 10,000 people about 60 miles east of Montgomery near the Georgia state line. “Everybody in Beauregard is a real close-knit family,” said Jonathan Clardy, who huddled with his family inside their Beauregard trailer as the tornado ripped the roof off. “Everybody knows everybody around here. Everybody is heartbroken.” Beauregard, named for a Confederate general, is in a rural corner of the same Alabama county that is home to Auburn University. The community has a few small stores, two schools and a volunteer fire department dotting the main highway that runs through town. CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said President Trump called her cellphone to offer help. At a Monday news conference, Ivey said Trump called her around 8:15 a.m. She said he told her, “of course you’ve got my support.” Trump has told the Federal Emergency Management Agency to give Alabama “the A Plus treatment.” Addressing storm victims in one hard-hit county, Ivey said, “I want you to know I’ve got your back. We will do everything in our power to help the citizens of Lee County recover.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.