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- A tornado outbreak hit the South on Sunday, leaving damage in several states.
- At least 23 people were killed as multiple tornadoes hit Lee County, Alabama.
- More than 10,000 homes and businesses in the South still had no power Monday morning.
- Temperatures are expected to fall below freezing overnight in many areas.
Search resumed Monday for victims of a vicious tornado outbreak that ripped across the South on Sunday killing at least 23 people in Alabama.
The violent storms left debris strewn across southern Alabama and Georgia, the Florida Panhandle and into parts of South Carolina. More than 10,000 homes and businesses still had no electricity as of 8 a.m. Monday.
"Much colder air is pushing into the South from the Midwest, and that will make conditions even worse for those without power into midweek," weather.com meteorologist Christopher Dolce said. Parts of Alabama and Georgia will see low temperatures in the 20s and low 30s each morning Tuesday through Thursday"
The Lee County Sheriff's Office told local media that no fewer than 23 people were killed and more than 50 people were hurt when the tornado roared through the community of Beauregard in southern Alabama county shortly after 2 p.m. CST.
Sheriff Jay Jones said at a new conference Monday morning that the number of missing people was in double digits. He added, however, that some of those may be people who left the area and haven't contacted family members.
He said the dead included children but he had no specific count.
"It’s extremely upsetting to me to see these people hurting like this," Jones said. "This is a tight-knit community of tough, resilient people, and this has knocked them down."
"It hurts my heart too see this," he said.
Hospitals in the Beauregard area have canceled elective surgeries so they can care for the number of people injured in the storms, Dave Malkoff of The Weather Channel reported.
The National Weather Service said the twister was at least EF3 in strength and was a half-mile wide or more.
Sunday was the deadliest day for tornadoes in the United States since May 20, 2013.
"We’ve still got people being pulled out of rubble," Lee County Coroner Bill Harris told AL.com. "We’re going to be here all night."
A makeshift morgue was set up in a parking lot and medical examiners from other locations were coming to assist in identifying the victims.
