Suspected tornado causes major damage to 50 homes, school in small Alabama town

ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Ala. — Authorities in Alabama say a suspected tornado spurred by Tropical Storm Claudette demolished or badly damaged at least 50 homes in a small town just north of the Florida border.

Sheriff Heath Jackson in Escambia County says a suspected tornado “pretty much leveled” a mobile home park, toppled trees onto houses and ripped the roof off of a high school gym. 

There were immediate no reports of deaths.

Most of the damage was done in or near the towns of Brewton and East Brewton, about 48 miles north of Pensacola, Florida. Early Saturday, the storm dumped flooding rains north of Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana and along the Mississippi coast.