Alabama Tornado Devastation in Photos

Alan Taylor
March 6, 2019
28 Photos
In Focus

On March 3, a tornado outbreak struck several southern states in the U.S., including Alabama, where a monster of a tornado reached estimated wind speeds of 170 mph. It left a path of destruction more than 20 miles long in Lee County, killing 23 people and injuring at least 100 others. In the days since, survivors have been picking through the pieces of their homes, recovering what they can, as they try to determine their next steps.

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The shattered pieces of a home blown off its foundation (lower right) lie scattered among downed trees on March 4, 2019, the day after a tornado struck Beauregard, Alabama. #

David Goldman / AP

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Residents and family members sift through the debris of their homes near Lee County Road 38 in Beauregard, Alabama, on March 4, 2019, a day after tornadoes ravaged the area. #

Julie Bennett / AP

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On March 5, 2019, debris litters the neighborhood where multiple members of the same family were killed in a tornado in Beauregard, Alabama. #

David Goldman / AP

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Granadas Baker retrieves personal items from his home on March 4, 2019, after a tornado caused extensive damage to a neighborhood a day earlier in Beauregard, Alabama. #

David Goldman / AP

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Tornado destruction in Lee County, Alabama, photographed on March 4, 2019 #

Gerald Herbert / AP

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Tim Lancaster (center) sifts through debris on March 5, 2019, while helping his sister retrieve personal items after a tornado destroyed her home in Beauregard. #

David Goldman / AP

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Debris is seen scattered on March 5, 2019, after a tornado blew a home off its foundation in Beauregard, Alabama. #

David Goldman / AP

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Carol Dean (right) cries while being embraced by Megan Anderson and her 18-month-old daughter, Madilyn, on March 4, 2019, as Dean sifts through the debris of the home she shared with her husband, David Wayne Dean, who died when a tornado destroyed the house in Beauregard. "He was my wedding gift," Dean said of her husband, whom she married three years ago. "He was one in a million. He'd send me flowers to work just to let me know he loved me. He'd send me some of the biggest strawberries in the world. I'm not going to be the same." #

David Goldman / AP

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On March 4, 2019, first responders walk through a neighborhood in Beauregard heavily damaged by a tornado a day earlier. #

David Goldman / AP

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Beauregard High School students hold a prayer service for the community on March 4, 2019. #

Vasha Hunt / AP

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Trees stripped of their branches by a tornado stand against the setting sun in Beauregard on March 5, 2019. #

David Goldman / AP

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Matthew Schell looks for personal mementos by flashlight at dusk on March 4, 2019, in the rubble of a house destroyed by a tornado that killed his uncle David Wayne Dean in Beauregard. #

David Goldman / AP

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On March 6, 2019, the sun rises through the shattered windshield of a car damaged by a tornado in Beauregard. #

David Goldman / AP

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Damage is seen in the Buck Wild Saloon on U.S. Route 280 in Smiths Station, Alabama, on March 5, 2019. #

Alex Wong / Getty

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On March 5, 2019, Richard Tate stands amid what's left of his home in Beauregard, where he survived a tornado with his wife. Tate lost a sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and uncle in the storm. "I'm lucky to be alive," Tate said. "It could have taken all of us the way it was moving." #

David Goldman / AP

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A damaged airplane lies among wreckage at the Eufaula Municipal Airport in Eufaula, Alabama, on March 5, 2019. #

Elijah Nouvelage / Reuters

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Joey Roush walks through the debris of his mother's home on March 4, 2019, after it was destroyed in a tornado in Beauregard. #

Tami Chappell / AFP / Getty

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On March 4, 2019, Danny Allen recovers a family photo while sifting through the debris of a friend's home destroyed by a tornado in Beauregard. #

David Goldman / AP

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A debris field is seen on March 4, 2019, the day after a tornado hit Beauregard. #

David Goldman / AP

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Cindy Sanford (second from right) sifts through the debris of her home in Beauregard with help from her brother, Tim Lancaster; her daughter, Kayla Causey; and her stepfather, Michael Boutwel, on March 5, 2019. #

David Goldman / AP

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Brandon Cummings clears downed trees with a chainsaw while helping homeowners in Beauregard on March 6, 2019. #

David Goldman / AP

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Kiara Slater carries personal items from her parents' damaged home on March 4, 2019, in Beauregard, where they survived a tornado a day earlier. #

David Goldman / AP

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Debris lies scattered on March 4, 2019, after homes were damaged by a tornado a day earlier in Beauregard. #

David Goldman / AP

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A damaged HondaJet is seen at the Eufaula Municipal Airport on March 5, 2019. #

Elijah Nouvelage / Reuters

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On March 4, 2019, Beauregard residents sift through the damage to their home in the aftermath of a tornado. #

David Goldman / AP

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A man eats a meal surrounded by donated clothes and household items at the Providence Baptist Church in Opelika, Alabama, on March 4, 2019, after a string of tornadoes caused several fatalities in neighboring Beauregard. #

Elijah Nouvelage / Reuters

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On March 5, 2019, crews clean up the debris in a neighborhood in Beauregard devastated by a tornado. #

David Goldman / AP

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Cindy Sanford sifts through debris while retrieving personal items from her destroyed home in Beauregard, Alabama, on March 5, 2019. #

David Goldman / AP

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