At least 6 people have died as a result of a powerful tornado in Alabama

A giant storm system that moved south in central Alabama on Thursday killed at least six people and spawned a tornado that tore through walls, demolished roofs and uprooted trees in Selma, authorities said.

David Hill, the sheriff of Autauga County, Alabama, confirmed to CBS News that there were at least six victims in the county.

Ernie Baggett, emergency manager for Autauga County, Alabama, told The Associated Press that victims were scattered among several homes in the Old Kingston community. Both mobile homes and regular homes were damaged, Baggett said.

“It appears to have been several different houses where people were at home,” Baggett said.

Baggett said at least 12 people were seriously injured and were taken to hospital by EMS. Baggett said he did not know the extent of their injuries.

Autauga County, Alabama is 41 miles northeast of Selma.

“I am saddened to learn that six Alabamians have lost their lives as a result of the storm that hit our state,” said Alabama Governor Kay Ivey. tweeted Thursday evening. “My prayers are with their loved ones and the community.”

Across the country on Thursday, the National Weather Service issued 33 separate tornado reports, with several tornado warnings still in effect for Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. However, the reports are yet to be confirmed and some may later be classified as wind damage following an assessment made in the coming days.

In Selma, brick buildings collapsed, cars were on their sides, and utility poles were strewn across downtown. Columns of thick black smoke rose above the city from the fire. It is not yet known whether the storm was the cause of the fire.

A few blocks from the city’s famous Edmund Pettus Bridge, an enduring symbol of the suffrage movement, buildings were crumpled by the storm and trees blocked roadways.

Selma Mayor James Perkins said there were no reports of fatalities at this time, but emergency responders were continuing to assess the damage.

“People were injured, but there were no fatalities,” Perkins said. “We have a lot of downed power lines. There is great danger on the streets.”

A curfew is being imposed in the city, the mayor added.

A “large and extremely dangerous tornado” caused damage as it moved through the historic city, the National Weather Service said. There were confirmed reports of damage to trees and structures in Selma and reports of damage in other counties, the agency said.

Selma was the flashpoint of the civil rights movement. Black suffragists were brutally attacked by Alabama police as they marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965. Among those beaten by law enforcement officers was John Lewis, who suffered a fractured skull. He had a long and distinguished career as a US Congressman.

Selma Mayor James Perkins said WSFA that at least one person was trapped in a building on Broad Street and another person may be missing. There are several downed power lines and this is considered an emergency.

The exterior siding of the two-story building was shredded by the storm, a photo from The Selma Times-Journal showed. Huge pieces of insulation and metal were wrapped around the trunk of the tree, and fallen tree branches obscured a sign that read “Welcome to Historic Selma.”

Malesha McVeigh and her family were driving parallel to the tornado. She said he was less than a mile from her house before suddenly turning around.

“We stopped and prayed. We followed him and prayed,” she said. “It was 100% God’s thing that he turned around right before he hit my house.”

She captured a video of the giant twister blackening as it smashed into house after house.

“He would get into the house and black smoke would go up,” she said. “It was very terrifying.”

The weather service declared a tornado emergency for several counties north of the capital, Montgomery, as the same storm system moved east. “This is a life-threatening situation. Take shelter immediately,” the weather service said of the tornado.

Several tornado warnings were issued for Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee on Thursday as the storm system moved through the region.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey declared a state of emergency on Thursday night, announcing on Twitter that the declaration would apply to six counties: Autauga, Chambers, Coosa, Dallas, Elmore and Tallapoosa. Selma is in Dallas County.

In Georgia, more than 100,000 customers were without power just before sunset Thursday, according to PowerOutage.us, as a storm system made its way through a number of counties south of Atlanta. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency.

The storm hit Griffin, south of Atlanta, with winds damaging the shopping district, local news reports said. A Hobby Lobby store partially lost its roof and at least one car was overturned in the parking lot of a nearby Walmart.

Damage was also reported west of downtown Atlanta in Douglas and Cobb counties, with the Cobb County government releasing a damage report showing a collapsed cinder block wall at a warehouse in the suburb of Austell.

In Kentucky, the National Weather Service in Louisville confirmed an EF-1 tornado touched down in Mercer County and said crews were surveying several other counties. There were reports of downed trees, power outages and other scattered damage as the storm swept across the state.