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© Dusty Compton, The Tuscaloosa News, via APA car is overturned and buildings are destroyed Wednesday in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
A vicious series of tornadoes and powerful storms lashed the South on Wednesday, killing at least 77 people in the region and leaving behind a trail of massive damage.

At least 61 people were killed in Alabama alone. At least 16 more died in neighboring states - 11 in Mississippi, four in Georgia and one in Tennessee.

Tuscaloosa Mayor Walter Maddox said 15 died in his city, home to the main campus of the University of Alabama. He said sections of Tuscaloosa were destroyed and its infrastructure decimated. An additional 11 people were killed in Jefferson County surrounding Birmingham.

One twister battered the university campus in Tuscaloosa, severely damaging buildings nearby. The university turned a student center into an emergency shelter for students displaced from off-campus housing, and at least 100 people were treated at a hospital emergency room.

The university canceled classes for today and suspended normal operations on campus. TV news video showed flattened homes in the city.

"The city experienced widespread damage from a tornado that cut a path of destruction deep into the heart of the city," Maddox said.

President Obama said he spoke with Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley and approved his request for emergency federal assistance, including search and rescue assets.

The storms were triggered by volatile weather systems moving across the South toward the East Coast, where forecasters said more storms could be expected today.

Tornadoes, suspected tornadoes and severe thunderstorms were seen from Texas to Georgia as they moved eastward.

Weather Channel lead meteorologist Tom Moore said he was having trouble keeping up with all the tornado reports.

"They're all over the place right now. Too numerous to count," Moore said.

The deadly storms continued a wave of thunderstorms and tornadoes that earlier this week had killed 10 people in Arkansas and Mississippi.

Moore said the intensity of this week's storms, and the complex weather patterns that created them, were unusual even in areas accustomed to spring tornadoes. "They are very powerful, even for this time of year," he said.

Parts of the South battered this week should get a calmer, drier weather the next few days as the storms move east toward the Mid-Atlantic and southern coasts.

"Everything will be on the East Coast" today, Moore said.

Among those killed Wednesday were a Louisiana police officer who was camping in Choctaw, Miss., when a tree fell onto his tent. He was using his body to shield his 9-year-old daughter, who was unhurt, said Kim Korthuis, a supervisor with the National Park Service.