At least two people were killed in severe storms that triggered strong winds and spawned numerous tornadoes across a large swath of the South on Tuesday,
The first fatality linked to the storm system occurred in the early morning hours in Whitehouse, Texas when a tree toppled onto the home of W. M. Soloman, 71.
Whitehouse Mayor James Wansley announced Soloman’s death and said trees fell on at least four other homes in the city.
On Tuesday night, as the storms moved east, a woman was killed in Pembroke, Georgia when a suspected twister ripped through the city, according to Matthew Kent, a county government spokesman.
In Pembroke, part of the roof of the Bryan County courthouse was ripped off during the severe weather and a local government building was also damaged.
Gage Moore, 23, was driving home from work in the county where Pembroke is located when he witnessed a tornado churning across the interstate.
“Everybody started slamming on brakes all around me,” Moore told The Associated Press.
“I could actually feel my truck shaking back and forth and hear the roar of it passing by. Thankfully we all stopped and left a huge gap in the interstate where it crossed.”
The storms also left behind a trail of damage in parts of Alabama and Mississippi.
Forecasters warned that more severe weather could impact areas from western Alabama to the Carolinas on Wednesday.
With Post wires
