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Weather cleanup efforts continue, Alabama preps for College Football Playoff

The National Weather Service in Mobile will be sending out assessment teams tomorrow following a day of rough weather along the gulf coast. 

Forecasters say residents of Baldwin and Escambia counties were among those dealing with seventeen tornado warnings stretching from Mississippi to Florida.

Alabama had the most with ten.

Preliminary reports show no structures damaged, but power poles were knocked over and trees torn down. The National Weather Service says, fortunately, there were no reports of injuries or deaths.

Alabama is cleaning up from Christmas Day tornadoes that hit Tuscaloosa County and Birmingham.

Forecasters say more unstable weather is possible between now and New Year’s Day. The National Weather Service confirmed Tuscaloosa’s twister had winds of seventy five miles per hour, and Birmingham’s was at one hundred and thirty miles per hour.

Forecaster Jim Stefkovich says the conditions that contributed to the storms may not be over and flooding is a big concern…

 “It’ll be very poor drainage, so anything like in urban areas, or any places…low lying areas that typically flood. Those will flood very quickly with probably only a quarter to half inch of additional rainfall.”

Warm Christmas week weather is considered a factor in the violent weather in Alabama.

The Good Year Cotton Bowl Classic might be just a few more days away, but the second ranked Alabama football team is all business as usual. 

The Crimson Tide is practicing this week to get prepared for Number Three Michigan State in their College Football Playoff matchup on New Year’s Eve.

Coach Nick Saban says he and his players know how tough of a challenge the Spartans will be…

“They run well.  They play with really great toughness as a team.  And I think our players really respect the team that they’re going to play.  They’re really focused on what they have to do to have a chance to be successful at it.”

One challenge Saban says his team is dealing with is the layoff.  The game will be played 27 days after defeating Florida in the SEC Championship.  Kickoff at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas is set for Thursday at 7 p.m. on ABC.

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