A dangerous weekend weather system has killed at least 15 people in the U.S. South, with Georgia officials on Sunday reporting that 11 had died in severe weather still threatening the region.
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal declared an emergency for seven counties in the south-central part of the state, warning that dangerous conditions persisted and could reach north to the Atlanta area.
WATCH: At least 19 dead following multiple tornadoes in US
“I urge all Georgians to exercise caution and vigilance in order to remain safe and prevent further loss of life or injuries,” Deal said in a news release.
The system had also injured 23 people in southern Georgia, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency said. Photos from the affected areas showed collapsed buildings, homes with their roofs torn off, toppled trees and fields littered with debris.
Seven of the fatalities occurred at a mobile home park outside Adel, Georgia, near the Florida state line, local media reported. The Cook County Coroner’s office told Reuters that search and rescue efforts were ongoing.
First Baptist Church Adel was sheltering more than 50 people, said Pastor Bill Marlette, who had just informed a family that two of their relatives were among the dead.
READ MORE: 4 killed, others trapped as tornado rips through Hattiesburg, Miss.
“There’s a lot of hurting people right now,” he said, adding that many in the hard-hit mobile home park escaped with only the clothing on their backs.
“There’s just a sense of shock. You always think it happens somewhere else, but when it happens to you, it catches you off guard,” he told Reuters in a telephone interview.
The deadly storms in Georgia, which also reportedly killed four people in Brooks and Berrien counties, followed a predawn tornado in Mississippi on Saturday that killed four people and caused widespread property damage.
WATCH: Trump gives condolences for southern states ‘hit hard’ by tornadoes
The system prompted U.S. weather forecasters to issue a rare, “high risk” warning of severe storms threatening parts of southern Georgia, north Florida and Alabama on Sunday, the first such warning since 2014.
“These could be the kind of tornados you don’t want to mess with,” said Rich Thompson, lead forecaster at the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
Severe winds toppled trees and downed power lines in Georgia and northern Florida on Sunday, the agency’s website reported, and hail was sighted in northern Florida.
READ MORE: Texas tornado destroys 30 homes, strands football fans at Dallas Cowboys’ stadium
The severe weather could extend to central Florida and South Carolina into Sunday evening, menacing population centers in Jacksonville, Gainesville and Tallahassee in Florida; and Savannah and Albany in Georgia, NWS said.
WATCH: The damage is devastating in southern Mississippi after a tornado that killed four people Saturday during a 25-mile rampage across the countryside.
President Donald Trump said Sunday that he had spoken to Georgia Governor Nathan Deal and planned to speak with Florida Governor Rick Scott about the storms.
He said he expressed condolences, and pledged federal assistance for Georgia, Florida and Alabama.
“The tornadoes were vicious and powerful and strong and they suffered greatly,” he said. “So we’ll be helping out.”
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