people. violent weather rolling through since states last evening. kentucky, tennessee, mississippi, georgia, north carolina, and alabama where at least six of the fatalities occurred. one local disaster official describing the damage as complete devastation. areas in and near selma taking some of the most destructive hits. there were at least 40 reported tornadoes in the storm zone. several now confirmed. tonight utilities still racing to restore power after tens of thousands were left in the dark. let s go right to blayne alexander now in selma. and, blayne, how widespread is the damage there? reporter: well, lester, in many places you can look in any direction and just see the devastation. tonight the national weather service has confirmed at least ef-3-level tornado damage. that means winds possibly as high as 165 miles per hour in
storms that have killed at least nine people. even an eagle-eye view can barely tell the full story of the storm s devastation. across parts of the south, terrifying pictures of tornado sightings. with at least 43 reported tornadoes stretching across seven states including hard-hit alabama where some counties are under a state of emergency. in selma, much of downtown took a direct hit. annetta smith has lived on this street most of her life. this is your mother s house. yes. and this is your house. yes. reporter: now she says both are unhabitable. when the storm hit, her 78-year-old mother was right in the living room. miraculously she barely had a scratch. she heard the windows breaking and the walls crackly. reporter: the storms brought wind so powerful they left power lines littering the streets, leaving tens of thousands without power. roofs are just gone, and trees looked like tooth picks. reporter: governor ki
prepared to cooperate with this investigation. phil mattingly, thank you so much. of course, we will stay on top of this developing story. and still ahead, a massive tornado outbreak leaving a trail of death and destruction across the south. hundreds of homes and businesses damaged. and one corner says searchers, quote, keep finding bodies. live in hard-hit alabama. the 6-year-old boy accused of shooting his teacher. turns out officials might have been warned the child had a gun prior to the shooting. even if you got ppp anand it only takes eight minutes to qualify. i went on their website, uploaded everything, and i was blown away by whahat they could do. getrefunds.com has helped businesses get over a billion dollars and we can help your business too. qualify your business for a big refund in eight minutes. go to getrefunds.com to get started.
jackson s death, new and disturbing firsthand stories of sexual abuse and the coverup. good morning. welcome to early start. monday, march 4, it is 4:00 a.m. in the east. 3:00 a.m. in hard hit alabama. ma that is where we began begin. a series of tornadoes ripped across alabama and georgia. at least 12 of the deaths occurred in one area. here is the local fire chief. homes are completely gone. family members are still missing. we re searching. we are asking people to stay out of the area. the sheriff says someone it looks like someone just took a blade and skracraped the grou.