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March 1 (Bloomberg) -- A tornado struck a high school in Alabama as a supercell thunderstorm swept across three southeastern counties. The Associated Press reported 18 people killed in the state.

Cable News Network reported at least eight deaths in the city of Enterprise, where a high school science building collapsed. The collapse may have trapped some students still unaccounted for, said Coffee County Emergency Management Agency's Deputy Director Larry Walker. He said he had received unconfirmed reports of injuries and deaths earlier today.

``The thing tore a swath through town a mile and a half, maybe two miles long,'' Walker said in a telephone interview.

The tornado sent 50 to 60 people to the emergency room at Medical Center Enterprise, spokeswoman Toni Kaminski said in an interview. A sister hospital received 29 people in its emergency room, Kaminski said.

Joe Clark, a volunteer at the Emergency Management Agency, said coordinating information has been difficult because the storm knocked down so many phone lines.

``Communications right now are terrible,'' Clark said.

A massive thunderstorm, which moved across the Alabama counties of Coffee, Dale and Henry, may have triggered two or three tornadoes, said Bob Goree, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Tallahassee, Florida, forecast office. Precise injury and damage assessments would begin tomorrow, he said.

Weather Threat

Tornadoes, large hail and destructive thunderstorm winds will remain a threat in parts of the southeastern U.S. and possibly even the mid-Atlantic region through this evening and overnight, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in an e-mailed statement.

``It looks like the most significant damage was in Enterprise,'' Goree said in a telephone interview. Enterprise is more than 170 miles (283 kilometers) northeast of Mobile, Alabama.

Heavy equipment was moved to Enterprise High School to check for any missing students or employees, Walker said. The storm has moved out of the state and into west-central Georgia, Goree said.

``We're not giving out any information at this time,'' said Margaret Shaver of the Enterprise Police Department. A telephone line at Enterprise High School wasn't answered today.

Tornadoes also struck Kansas and Missouri, ripping up power lines, damaging local businesses and mobile homes, and killing a 7-year-old girl who was sheltering with her family, the Associated Press reported.

In Missouri, Howell County Sheriff Robbie Crites identified the girl as Elizabeth Croney, according to AP. The tornadoes emerged as part of a powerful series of thunderstorm and snowstorms that stretched from Minnesota to Louisiana, AP said.

Power Out

Southern Co.'s Alabama Power unit reported 21,100 homes and businesses without power at about 4:30 p.m. New York time as a result of the storms, spokeswoman Alice Gordon said today in an interview. About 13,500 of the customers without power were concentrated around Enterprise and Eufaula, at Alabama's eastern border with Georgia, she said.

Crews hadn't fully assessed the extent of the damage to Alabama Power's grid, and the storm may have taken down high- voltage lines that serve a large area, she said.

An alert issued at 3:06 p.m. New York time by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center warned of a high risk of severe thunderstorms in parts of Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama and Florida.

President George W. Bush was briefed on the damage caused by the tornadoes and telephoned Alabama Governor Bob Riley and Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said aboard Air Force One as the president returned from a trip to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Bush extended condolences to those affected and told the governors that ``the federal government stands by to help,'' Perino said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been in touch with state officials, she said.
 
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