At least 23 people, some of them children, have died after a tornado swept through Lee County, Alabama on Sunday.
The death toll was expected to rise as rescuers searched through the rubble of destroyed homes, authorities said.
Emergency workers faced a grim night of pulling the dead and injured from the wreckage of homes and businesses in the county that includes Alabama’s largest city of Auburn.
“The challenge is the sheer volume of the debris where all the homes were located,” Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said in an interview “It’s the most I’ve seen that I can recall.” he added.
Storms, including at least one apparent tornado, uprooted trees and destroyed homes in neighboring Georgia, initially knocking out power to 21,000 customers, said Georgia Power spokeswoman Meredith Stone.
President Donald Trump has taken to his twitter handle to urge residents of Alabama and other areas affected by the storms to be “careful and safe.”
“Tornadoes and storms were truly violent and more could be coming,” Trump wrote. “To the families and friends of the victims, and to the injured, God bless you all!”, he addded.
