ADEL, Georgia — Powerful storms kicked up tornadoes and pushed the weekend toll to 16 people killed and dozens injured as a fast-moving storm system punched through the Southeast for a second day Sunday, authorities said.

A tornado blew through a mobile home park early Sunday in southern Georgia’s rural Cook County – sheering off siding, upending homes and killing seven people, local authorities said. An eighth death was reported in Cook County by state officials, although it was unclear whether that victim lived in the park.

Coroner Tim Purvis said the tornado “leveled” the park before dawn Sunday and that emergency responders searched for survivors for hours after the twister struck. Purvis said the park had about 40 mobile homes, and roughly half were destroyed.

Not far from the mobile home park, 19-year-old Jenny Bullard wore a sling on her injured arm as she searched through the rubble of her family’s brick house. All that remained standing Sunday was the master bedroom and parts of the kitchen.

“It’s a horrible tragedy,” Bullard said. “But all this stuff can be replaced. We can’t replace each other. We’re extremely lucky.”

Bullard said she awoke before dawn Sunday to the sound of hail pounding on the roof. When she went outside her bedroom door, she was knocked down by a collapsing wall in the hallway. She managed to get up and found her father calling for her, trapped under debris.

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She pulled him free, and they found her mother in the master bedroom. They escaped by climbing over piles of furniture and debris where the wall to their home office once stood.

President Trump said Sunday he had spoken with Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and “expressed our sincere condolences for the lives taken.”

“Tornadoes were vicious and powerful and strong, and they suffered greatly,” Trump said during a White House ceremony where he was swearing in aides. “So we’ll be helping out the state of Georgia.”

Several homes appeared to be destroyed along a road within about 2 miles of the mobile home park, with cinderblocks scattered on the ground, and pine trees uprooted and snapped in half. The tops of broken utility poles lay alongside the road.

The South Georgia Motorsports Park in Cecil was heavy damaged; a grandstand was ripped apart. Barrels, signs, insulation and garbage were strewn over the speedway and parking lot.

Georgia’s governor declared a state of emergency in seven southern Georgia counties, freeing up state resources to assist with recovery efforts.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Georgians suffering from the storm’s impact,” Deal said.

In addition to eight deaths in Cook County, four people were killed in adjoining counties Sunday. Another four people were killed in Mississippi by a tornado Saturday, bringing the weekend death toll to 16.

The National Weather Service said southern Georgia, northern Florida and the corner of southeastern Alabama all faced severe weather threats Sunday. Forecasters said that included the possibility of long track tornadoes, somewhat rare and capable of staying on the ground for 20 or more miles.


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