36 tornadoes confirmed in deadly Southeast outbreak

Published 10:15 am Thursday, March 7, 2019

BEAUREGARD, Ala. (AP) — The number of tornadoes confirmed to have touched down in a deadly weekend outbreak across the Southeast has risen to at least 36.

Survey teams for the National Weather Service found evidence of the twisters in Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina.

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The most powerful was an E4 tornado blamed for killing 23 people Sunday in rural Lee County, Alabama. Its destructive winds reached 170 mph as it carved a path of destruction nearly a mile wide. The tornado trekked nearly 70 miles from eastern Alabama into Georgia after crossing the Chattahoochee River at the state line.

All of the tornado deaths were in Alabama, though several people in Georgia were injured.