Alabama Tornadoes: What's The Death Toll For The Natural Disaster? Local Sheriff Calls Twisters 'Catastrophic'

A tornado that tore through a county in Alabama only five minutes after a storm warning was issued on Sunday has claimed the lives of at least 23 people. At least 50 people have also sustained serious injuries and many remain missing.

Some of the deaths included children, though no specific casualty count has been given. The county confirmed that the youngest victim was 6 years old.

A statement Monday from Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones called the damages "catastrophic" and said the scene was "as if someone had taken a blade and just scraped the ground."

The twisters that hit Lee County, which has an estimated population of about 161,000, were part of a larger storm system, which affected parts of states along the Southeastern corridor, including Georgia, North Carolina, and northern Florida in addition to Alabama.

Residents on Sunday had only minutes to prepare for the deadly tornado, according to the National Weather Service. A tornado watch was issued at about noon and an alert in Lee County was issued at 2:58 p.m. ET.

Damage, destruction, and debris were first reported merely five minutes after the alert went out.

Another tornado warning was issued in Lee County at 3:38 p.m. ET and hit the area 13 minutes later.

The tornadoes hit back-to-back within the span of one hour.

The NWS categorized the damage wrought by both twisters as EF-3, meaning that the winds during the storm are estimated to have been anywhere in between 136 to 165 miles per hour, and measured half a mile wide.

Incoming weather in the area is expected to be no less forgiving, with a frost and freezing weather advisory in effect from Monday evening until Tuesday morning.

More than 10,000 businesses and homes in southern Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and the Florida Panhandle are still without power.

According to the Southeast Regional Climate Center, an average of 1,200 tornadoes occur in the U.S. every year, though only 20 out of that total are considered dangerous storms. A statistical report from the NWS counted 46 tornadoes in Alabama for 2018.