By Bob Johnson
The Associated Press
ENTERPRISE, Ala. — Apparent tornadoes ripped through Alabama and killed at least 18 people Thursday, including 15 at a high school where students became pinned under debris when a roof collapsed, state officials said. As night fell, crews dug through piles of rubble beneath portable lights at Enterprise High School, looking for other victims.
“The number could very well increase as the search effort continues through the night,” state emergency management spokeswoman Yasamie Richardson said.
Two died elsewhere in Enterprise and one in rural Millers Ferry, where a separate storm wrecked mobile homes, she said.
More than 50 people were hospitalized as the violent storm front crossed the state.
The storm struck about 1:15 p.m., and Richardson said some students were still trapped three hours later.
Erin Garcia, a 17-year-old senior, said students had gathered in hallways around 11 a.m. as a precaution. School officials wanted to send them home around 1 p.m., she said, but the weather turned bad and sirens wailed.
Then, she said, the lights went out.
“I was just sitting there praying the whole time,” she said.
After the storm passed, she found the hallway she was in was spared, but a roof and wall collapsed on students in another hallway.
“It was scary. It sounded like a bunch of people trying to beat the wall down. It was complete chaos out in the hallway,” she said.
“People didn’t know where to go. They were trying to lead us out of the building. I kept seeing people with blood on their faces,” Garcia said.
The burst of tornadoes was part of a larger line of thunderstorm and snowstorms that stretched from Minnesota to the Gulf Coast. Authorities blamed a tornado for the death of a 7-year-old girl in Missouri, and twisters also were reported in Kansas.