Birmingham, AL – Forecasters blame powerful straight line winds for Tuesday's storm damage along the Interstate 20 corridor from eastern Jefferson County to the Georgia line.
Three survey teams found a wide swath of 90 to 105 mile per hour wind damage in Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Calhoun, Talladega, Cleburne, Clay and Randolph counties.
A falling tree hit a mobile home and killed an elderly woman in Leeds. An aerial survey will be conducted today to determine if a tornado was responsible for the damage in Leeds and northern Shelby County.
In neighboring Georgia, two twisters touched down in Carroll County in west Georgia. Officials there say the first, an EF3, hit the Smithfield area, just inside the Alabama state line, and left a path eight miles long and 100 yards wide with winds estimated at 140 miles per hour.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)