(AP Photo from Arkansas on April 26)
In this image from WBMA-TV, a tornado moves through Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo)WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama has declared an emergency in Alabama after a wave of tornado-spawning storms swept across the state Wednesday, killing at least 58 people.
In a statement released late Wednesday, Obama said he had spoken with Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley and approved his request for emergency federal assistance, including search and rescue assets.
The president and first lady Michelle Obama offered condolences to families affected by the storms and commended "the heroic efforts of those who have been working tirelessly to respond to this disaster."
The White House declaration authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts in Alabama.
More than 70 people in four states have been killed by the storms, including at least 15 in Tuscaloosa, home of the University of Alabama.
Tuscaloosa Mayor Walter Maddox said sections of the city have been destroyed and its infrastructure has been decimated.
A hospital in Tuscaloosa said its emergency room has admitted at least 100 people.
News footage showed paramedics lifting a child out of a flattened home, with many neighboring buildings in the city of more than 83,000 also reduced to rubble.
A state of emergency has been declared in Alabama.
Also on Wednesday, storms killed 11 in Mississippi, two in Georgia and one in Tennessee.
The victims include a police officer who was camping with his daughter in Mississippi. He was struck by a tree while trying to shield his daughter. The 9-year-old wasn't injured.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
