By Associated Press
Undated, AL – Alabama emergency management officials say at least 20 people were killed in apparent tornadoes, including 8 at a high school in Enterprise.
State Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Yasamie Richardson said the fatalities were related to the high school but that it wasn't clear whether it was all students or a mix of students and teachers.
More than 40 people were injured in Enterprise, about 90 miles south of Montgomery, and rescue workers dug into rubble at Enterprise High School in search of students unable to get out.
Richardson said shelters were being opened at First Baptist Church and the Salvation Army in Enterprise.
Martha Rodriquez, a 15-year-old sophomore at the high school, said she had left the school about five minutes before the storm hit. When she returned, she said that "a hall at the school collapsed, and there were kids inside."
Toni Kaminski, at Medical Center Enterprise, which also received storm damage, said about 45 patients were brought in, including some from the high school, and 17 were in the emergency department. But she said the injuries were mostly lacerations and stress-related.
Paul Duval, meteorologist with National Weather Service in Tallahassee, Florida, which monitors southeast Alabama said there are still more storms on the way.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)