Violent storm rips through Tuscaloosa

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A wave of severe storms laced with tornadoes strafed the South on Wednesday, killing at least 16 people around the region and splintering buildings across swaths of an Alabama university town.

The death toll appeared likely to rise, with Alabama's governor saying there could be a half-dozen more deaths. Tuscaloosa's mayor said sections of the city that's home to the University of Alabama had been destroyed by a massive tornado. News footage showed paramedics lifting a child out of a flattened home there, with many neighboring buildings in the city of more than 77,000 also reduced to rubble.

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

The storm system spread destruction Tuesday night and Wednesday from Texas to Georgia. Falling trees were blamed for deaths in several states, including a father struck while protecting his daughter at a Mississippi campsite.