Tornados hit South; snow, freezing rain hit Midwest

PRATTVILLE, Alabama (AP) -- Severe weather howled through much of the nation Sunday, producing damaging tornadoes in the South that injured nearly 30 people and treating winter-weary parts of the Midwest to freezing rain, snow and flooding.

A tornado damaged or destroyed about 200 homes and businesses in Prattville, Alabama, outside Montgomery, where Mayor Jim Byard said crews searched for people trapped in the wreckage.

No fatalities were immediately reported, but two people were critically injured, said Fire Department official Dallis Johnson. Twenty-seven people had minor injuries, officials said.

"It's very possible we may have more injuries," he said, saying that some trapped people had been rescued.

A 35-bed mobile hospital unit was set up outside a Kmart to treat victims with minor to moderate injuries so that hospitals could take those with serious injuries, Dr. Steve Allen said.

Toppled utility poles and storm debris littered the area, northwest of Montgomery about five miles off Interstate 65. Shelters opened at churches, and school buses shuttled storm victims out of the stricken area to the city center.