24 tornadoes hit US South over 2 days – weather officials

Cathie Morris, right, tells Red Cross volunteer Laurie Howell on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2019 that her sister was killed by one of the April 2011 tornadoes, not far from what they’re standing, in front of Morris’ house, damaged by the Monday, Dec. 16, 2019 storms off Neely Hill Loop in Limestone County, Alabama. (Photo by JERONIMO NISA / The Decatur Daily via AP)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — At least two dozen tornadoes hit the Southeast this week in a deadly outbreak of severe weather, assessments by the National Weather Service show.

Survey teams from regional weather service offices found evidence that twisters struck from western Louisiana to southern Georgia on Monday and Tuesday, with 10 tornadoes in Mississippi alone, according to reports issued online. Another nine touched down in Alabama, survey teams found.

Louisiana was hit by three twisters, and two struck Georgia.

The strongest storm was an EF-3 tornado with winds of as much as 160 mph (258 kph) . It left a path 62 miles (100 kilometers) long and as wide as 400 yards (366) in Louisiana between the cities of DeRidder and Alexandria.

Storm surveys were continuing Wednesday, the weather service said.

A husband and wife died when a tornado struck their home in north Alabama, and a woman was killed in a twister in Louisiana. Another person died in flash flooding in Kentucky.

/atm