ABC NewsBy MAX GOLEMBO and EMILY SHAPIRO, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — At least six people are dead in the Deep South after tornadoes tore through the region on Thursday.
Five people lost their lives in Calhoun County, Alabama, after the state was hit with 17 reported tornadoes.
Three people from one family were among the victims, according to the Calhoun County Medical Examiner’s Office. A 13-year-old girl survived but lost her mother and grandparents, according to Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew Wade.
A long-track tornado may have been on the ground for roughly 100 miles Thursday, according to the National Weather Service in Birmingham.
One person also died in Coweta County, Georgia, where the damage is “catastrophic,” Coweta County Fire Chief Pat Wilson said Friday.
At least 23 tornadoes were reported across Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.
The severe weather is easing Friday but a new storm is expected to produce more severe weather for the hard-hit South this weekend, including tornadoes.
The biggest threat for tornadoes will be from Arkansas to northern Mississippi and into Tennessee on Saturday. The threat includes cities such as Memphis and Nashville and just north of Tupelo, Mississippi.
By Sunday, the severe weather risk will move into the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. Major cities like Atlanta, Raleigh, North Carolina and Washington, D.C., could see damaging winds, large hail and even an isolated tornado.
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