AUTAUGA COUNTY, Ala. — Four of the seven people killed in an Alabama tornado that devastated Autauga County were related to one another, authorities said Saturday.
According to a news release from the Autauga County Sheriff’s Office, preliminary reports from the National Weather Service Office stated that Thursday’s tornado, part of a strong cell of storms that raked the South, was at least an EF-3 with winds approaching 150 mph.
The seven deaths occurred in Old Kingston, an unincorporated community northwest of Prattsville that was one of the hardest-hit areas in Autauga County, WSFA-TV reported.
Relatives who were killed, according to the sheriff’s office, were Robert Gardner Jr., 70; Deanna Marie Corbin, 59; Christopher Allen Corbin Jr., 46; and Tessa Celeste Desmet, 21. Gardner and Deanna Corbin lived at one residence, while Corbin Jr. and Desmet lived together in another home.
It was unclear how the four people were related.
The other people who died were identified as Carmen Cox Autery, 59; Andrea Sue Taylor, 61; and Solomon Antonio Smith, 50, according to the sheriff’s office.
[ Tornado causes ‘significant’ damage in Selma, Alabama; 9 deaths reported across South ]
Hundreds of homes in Old Kingston, Posey’s Crossroads, White City, and Marbury have been damaged or destroyed, WSFA reported.
The National Weather Service confirmed that Selma, Alabama -- a city in neighboring Dallas County with historic ties to the civil rights movement -- sustained major damage after an apparent tornado. Walls were knocked down, roofs were ripped off and trees were uprooted in the city, according to The Associated Press.
On Sunday, President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in Alabama and ordered federal aid to the state, according to a news release from the White House.
The declaration makes federal funding available in Autauga and Dallas counties.
“Please pray for the families that lost loved ones and the ones recovering from injuries received from this tornado,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.