Killer storm pelts South, Southeast

ATLANTA, April 20 (UPI) -- A deadly storm system moved into the Carolinas after belting Alabama and Georgia with hail and tornado-strength winds, forecasters said Monday.

The National Weather Service said a tornado touched down in Alabama's Marshall County Sunday night. The twister destroyed an Asbury-area mobile home, killing Janice Salter, The Huntsville Times reported.

Her son, Gary Wayne Salter Jr., said he was in his mobile home next door when the tornado grabbed his parents' mobile home and slung it more than 100 yards. He said he found his mother's body in a field about 50 feet from the home, the newspaper said.

The Decatur Daily reported authorities said a man was killed Sunday night when two trees fell on his mobile home in the Priceville area. That storm tore through about 5 miles of Alabama's Morgan County, the newspaper said.

Meanwhile, homes were damaged, trees uprooted and power lines snapped Sunday night when a funnel cloud was reported in Cobb County, Ga., The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Tornado warnings also were issued for nearby Cherokee County, Ga., where resident Boyd Hanson reported losing three large trees in a matter of minutes.

"We got down in the basement just in time. It had the feel of a tornado. It was so fast," Hanson said, noting the lightning had a green hue.

No injuries were reported there aside from a 3-month-old baby who suffered a gash on the head when a tree came through the roof in Cherokee County, WSB-TV, Atlanta, reported.

AccuWeather.com. said the storm system, which carried a risk of flash flooding, was to hit the Carolinas Monday and then spread from northeastern Florida north to Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.