Tornadoes kill at least 12 people in Georgia

Tornadoes ripped through rural southern Georgia on Sunday, killing at least 12 people, flattening much of a mobile-home park and prompting the governor to declare a state of emergency in seven counties near the Florida border.

The storms were the latest in a series of violent weather in the southeast that also killed four people in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on Saturday. In Georgia, eight people were killed in Cook County, with two more deaths each in neighboring Brooks and Berrien counties, according to the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency.

'These storms have devastated communities and homes in South Central Georgia, and the state is making all resources available to the impacted areas,” said Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R.). 'These storms have resulted in loss of life, numerous injuries and extensive property damage, and our thoughts and prayers are with Georgians suffering from the storm's impact.”

Deal said that as state officials assess the damage, he is prepared to expand his emergency declaration as needed. He also said it was likely that he also will submit a request for federal emergency aid.

President Donald Trump, speaking ahead of the swearing-in ceremony for his senior staff, said Sunday afternoon that he had just spoke to Deal about the storms and 'expressed our sincere condolences.”

'We'll be helping out the state of Georgia,” Trump said.

He also said Florida and Alabama had been affected, but did not specifically mention the devastation in Mississippi on Saturday.

'They all got hit hard,” Trump said. 'The tornadoes were vicious and powerful and strong.”

The largest devastation appeared to happen in Adel, Georgia, a town of about 5,300 in Cook County, where authorities told local media that seven people were killed. A tornado there tore through Sunshine Acres mobile-home park, demolishing several structures and casting an entire neighborhood into debris-strew chaos, according to amateur video recorded on the scene.

The National Weather Service said in an advisory that there was a 'high risk” of severe weather as far south as Sarasota, Florida, and as far north as Savannah, Georgia - something that is highly unusual for January. A tornado watch was issued as far north as Atlanta and its northern suburbs, and as far east as the coastal town of Brunswick, Georgia.

Eileen M. Lainez, a spokeswoman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said it was monitoring the weather in the region through its office in Atlanta, and touching base with state officials throughout the Southeast from there. FEMA liaison officers have been deployed to Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Florida to provide help to any response that is needed, she said.