TUSCALOOSA, Ala., April 28 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama will go to Alabama Friday to meet with Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley and view the damage created by deadly storms, the White House said.
"We will stand by you as you rebuild," Obama said Thursday before announcing new members of his national security team. "The loss of life has been heartbreaking, especially in Alabama."
CNN reported at least 288 people in six states died, the most in Alabama, where 198 people perished. Bentley's office said lives were lost in 18 Alabama counties -- 36 people died in DeKalb County and 14 were killed in Jefferson County.
Tuscaloosa Mayor Walter Maddox said 36 people had been killed in his city as of Thursday. The toll in Tuscaloosa County overall was 39, Sheriff Ted Sexton said.
"I don't know how anyone survived," Maddox said. "We're used to tornadoes here in Tuscaloosa. It's part of growing up. But when you look at the path of destruction that's likely 5-to-7 miles long in an area half a mile to a mile wide ... it's an amazing scene. There's parts of the city I don't recognize, and that's someone that's lived here his entire life."
The storms laid portions of states to waste, leveling neighborhoods, obliterating roadways and crippling towns.
"It's nothing short of catastrophic," Obama said.
In Rainsville, Ala., Police Chief Charles Centers said 25 bodies were recovered near a trailer park, CNN reported. Many people remained missing, Centers said, and destroyed roads prevent authorities from reaching all the affected areas.
Obama said he would meet with Bentley, local officials and affected families Friday and Federal Emergency Management Administration Administrator Craig Fugate was sent to Alabama Thursday.
Obama already approved the disaster declaration in Alabama.
Bentley deployed about 2,000 National Guardsmen.
A Facebook page was set up for users to claim photos and documents found strewn by the storms, CNN said.
One post read: "House mortgage from Tuscaloosa found in Rainbow City," about 116 miles away.
"We've lost two water tanks on the east side of the city, which is crippling the water supply," Maddox said. "We're facing an overwhelming situation in which we are short of men, materials and equipment."
"We've lost our environmental services," he said. "We've lost police precincts. We've lost fire stations. So our own infrastructure itself, which would deal with these issues, has been crippled. It's just compounding the situation."
Crews were focused on search and rescue, Maddox said, adding recovery efforts are likely 24 to 48 hours away.
Birmingham Mayor William Bell said a tornado that devastated the northwest corner of the city "looked like it was probably a mile wide," CNN reported.
The neighborhoods of Pratt City and Pleasant Grove were among the hardest hit areas, officials said.
Red Cross spokesman Chris Osborne said activity by ambulances along the street in Birmingham resembled "taxicabs in New York."
Cierra Brown told WBMA-TV her neighborhood was "bare land [with] debris everywhere ... There's no house."
Officials said it would be days before the full death toll and property destruction is known because damage was so widespread.
The tornado that whooshed through Birmingham was from the same supercell system that produced the tornado that churned south of downtown Tuscaloosa, said Jim Stekovich, National Weather Service chief meteorologist in Birmingham.
"We've had -- just as predicted -- a massive outbreak of strong, violent tornadoes today," Stekovich said.
The state had warning of the storms. Schools were closed and employees took vacation days in anticipation of the violent weather, the Birmingham News said.
Firefighters, police officers and residents worked into the night trying to free a University of Alabama student trapped under several feet of debris, The Tuscaloosa News reported. Tuscaloosa, Alabama's fifth-largest city, is home of the University of Alabama.
The university announced on its Web site it will not conduct final exams next week and its commencement exercise was rescheduled from May 7 to Aug. 6.
