At least one person is dead and 28 others injured in connection with the tornado in Fultondale, a suburb north of Birmingham, WBRC and other news outlets reported.
Hours after the storm, photos and video reveal the extent of the damage. Footage from WBMA reporter Stoney Sharp shows a car flipped onto a tree next to a field of disheveled furniture.
When Sam Moerbe raced with his dad to the part of Fultondale where they once lived, he found the roofs damaged on most houses, AL.com reported.
"It looks like a bomb went off," he said, according to the news outlet.
At least one car was buried under debris, while others were missing windows, according to photos from WVTM reporter Magdala Louissaint.
Richard Ring, a visitor from Tennessee, told the TV station he's "thankful to be alive" after the roof tore off the hotel where he was staying.
"All of the sudden, the windows blew out in my room," Ring said, according to WVTM. "And the lights went out and the siren shrieked. It was just surreal."
The tornado struck after forecasters warned of the potential for severe weather overnight Monday. The National Weather Service said in a preliminary report that there was "major structural damage" and wrote on Twitter that it planned to survey the Fultondale area.
By Tuesday morning, the Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency urged people to steer clear of Fultondale.
"On top of road dangers such as power lines and debris...traffic is clogging the roads," officials wrote in a Twitter post. "Once again, PLEASE stay out of the area."
Fultondale Mayor Larry Holcomb said crews on Tuesday morning were looking for people who may have been trapped, and photos showed trees being cleared away from the hardest hit area, according to AL.com and its reporter Connor Sheets.
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