‘It’s awful’: Alabama governor tours devastation

BEAUREGARD, Ala. (AP) – Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey toured tornado damage in rural Lee County, where 23 people perished over the weekend.

“It’s awful,” the governor told reporters Wednesday as she took a walking tour past shattered mobile homes as residents hunted amid piles of debris for belongings they could salvage.

Ivey first toured the area by helicopter, then set out on foot along a county road where many fatalities occurred.

Ivey said she was surprised there weren’t more deaths from the Sunday twister. She said she hoped the devastation would bring “awareness that when you hear the first alert, you need to take shelter.”