Vernon – Two apparent tornadoes toppled trees and caused scattered damage today as strong storms moved into Alabama where thousands of students were sent home early as a precaution.
Jim Westland is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Birmingham. He said this evening that suspected twisters touched down in the Lamar County town of Sulligent and in the Wiley community in northern Tuscaloosa County.
Westland said storm survey teams would be sent to those areas tomorrow to determine whether tornadoes actually touched down.
Downed trees and power lines, structural damage and power outages were reported in various parts of the state.
Severe weather warnings continued into the evening for some areas.
The University of Alabama suspended classes and the University of North Alabama shut down in Florence. A number of public and private schools from the state line to Birmingham dismissed classes early because of the threat of severe weather.
At least two people were killed in traffic accidents and more than a dozen injured in Mississippi, where more than 100 homes were also damaged or destroyed and power outages were widespread.
The storms were ahead of a cold front that expected to drop high temperatures into the low 50s across much of the state today.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)