At least four people injured in Sunday’s storm remained in intensive care units at hospitals in Georgia and Alabama as of Wednesday, officials said.
After seven or eight people were still missing Tuesday, Sheriff Jay Jones said Wednesday that all have been accounted for. The search and rescue operation has ended with no additions to the death toll, which remained at 23 by midweek.
“The situation will now move, as it should, to a recovery,” Jones said.
A powerful tornado ripped through Beauregard and other areas of Lee County Sunday, splitting trees, lifting some homes from their foundations while obliterating others and uprooting lives.
The tornado, the deadliest in the U.S. since 2013, killed at least 23 people, four of whom were children ages 6, 8, 9 and 10. Ten people from a single family died in the storm.
Officials said relief workers, volunteers and emergency personnel will now move into helping communities return to some sense of normalcy.
Officials believe the death toll is stabilized.
“We are still in a standby mode on the outside chance that they find somebody else, which is not likely,” Lee County Coroner Bill Harris said.
One tornado was an EF4 with 170 MPH winds, and the other was an EF2 tornado. An Alabama Power official said that at least 116 homes were destroyed or so severely damaged that they couldn’t restore power there.
As of Wednesday, one person was in the intensive care unit at East Alabama Medical Center, two were in the ICU at UAB Medical Center in Birmingham and another was in the ICU at Piedmont Columbus Regional Medical Center in Georgia.
Jones said Alabama State Trooper Sgt. Robert Burroughs was among those recovering at EAMC after being injured in the storm at his home.
“He’s pretty banged up,” Jones said.
The Poarch Creek Band of Indians and another company have pledged to pay funeral costs for the families of those killed, the coroner said.
Harris had said the day before that two major corporations would fund “most if not all” of the funeral expenses. The Poarch Creek Indians pledged to pay $50,000 for funeral costs.
The other company hasn’t been named.
“We have had many other offers for funeral expenses and monies that have already been spent,” Harris said.
The East Alabama Medical Center Foundation, a nonprofit organization in the community, has offered to handle and disperse the funds.
"There will be no administrative costs whatsoever," Harris said.
Gov. Kay Ivey visited Lee County on Monday and Wednesday to survey damage.
President Donald Trump announced he would visit the area Friday after signing a major disaster declaration to open up federal funding for individuals affected by the storm.
The destruction left in the storm’s wake, which officials characterized as “catastrophic,” prompted an international response.
Pope Francis prayed for the victims Wednesday.
“Upon all who are suffering the effects of this calamity, the Holy Father invokes the Lord’s blessing of peace and strength,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said in a telegram to Mobile Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi.
The coroner identified the 23 individuals who died in the storm Tuesday. Their remains were released to families for funeral arrangements Monday night.
The ages of those who died in the storm range from 6 to 89. A couple in their 80s — Mary Louise Jones and Jimmy Lee Jones — were among the dead. Eight other members of that family died in the storm, too.
Emmanuel Jones, the couple's 53-year-old son, also died. He was the uncle to seven cousins by both blood and marriage, the Associated Press reported: Eric Jamal Stenson, 38; Florel Tate Stenson; 63; Henry Lewis Stenson; 65; James Henry Tate, 86; Tresia Robinson, 62; Raymond Robinson Jr., 63; and Maggie Delight Robinson, 57.
Six-year-old Armondo “AJ” Hernandez was the youngest victim.
“We lost loved ones, classmates, family members,” said Richard LaGrand Sr., a Lee County commissioner and Beauregard High School alumnus.
The most devastated area included mobile home communities near Lee Road 38 and Highway 51, an area where most of the residents were related.
Four children are listed among the dead. The number increased by one Tuesday after officials initially reported there were three children killed in the storm.
First responders used cadaver-sniffing dogs, unmanned aircraft and other means in their searches. The storm flipped cars and split trees in half.
Jones said all of those unaccounted for were identified by investigators alive by Wednesday morning.
"We actually either shoock hands with, looked them in the eye or had direct contact with a family member who had had direct contact with a person on our list," Jones said.
Jones said officials will continue working the area in Beauregard and in Smiths Station to make sure no one is missed.
Birmingham National Weather Service lead meteorologist Chris Darden said Tuesday the main tornado was on the ground for about 70 miles through Lee County and well into Georgia.
It was nearly a mile wide at some points. Beauregard had less than 10 minutes of warning to get out of the way of the fast-approaching storm.
It was the deadliest tornado in the United States since 2013, and it was the first EF4 tornado in Alabama since 2011, Darden said.
More severe weather is expected Saturday, March 9. Most of the state will be under a signficant risk of severe weather Saturday night, National Weather Service meteorologist Kevin Laws said Wednesday.
"The bigger focus now starts to shift to Saturday," Laws said. "We have another storm system, very powerful, that will be entering the state."
Laws said hopefully the eastern half of the state will see a more minimal risk.
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Chip Brownlee, senior in journalism and political science, is the editor-in-chief of The Auburn Plainsman.
