In wake of tornadoes, missing Alabamans located; no additional deaths

The remains of a home sit destroyed after two deadly back-to-back tornadoes, in Beauregard, Alabama, U.S., March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

By Gabriella Borter

(Reuters) – Alabama officials said they have accounted for everyone who was missing after a burst of tornadoes, the deadliest to hit the state since 2013, tore through rural Lee County on Sunday, killing 23 people and injuring dozens more.

The 23 victims, including four children and seven people from one family, were all killed in or around the tiny community of Beauregard near the Georgia border, where the tornadoes uprooted trees and destroyed about 100 homes with 170 mile (264 km) per hour winds, officials said.

Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said on Wednesday that search and rescue teams had located all the residents who had been marked as missing since the storms.

“We are now confident we have accounted for all of the individuals that we had not accounted for” earlier, Jones told a news conference.

U.S. President Donald Trump plans to visit the storm-hit area on Friday.

(Reporting by Gabriella Borter in New York; Editing by Scott Malone and Bernadette Baum)