173 is the Death Toll so far for last night's storms that tore across Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, and much of the mid to upper Atlantic states, and tornadoes are still going on even at this early morning hour.

If anyone has seen it, there is a youtube video of an EF5 Tornado near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, that's pretty incredible.

I heard about that one this morning. It's about 20 miles from where one of my friends lives. Still waiting to hear from them whether they're alright or not. My heart is with anyone else who has family and friends that were affected by these tornadoes.

I saw that it was amazing, my hometown had a total of 5 form but thank the goddess none touched down, my family is still up there. We are currently under a severe storm warning right now, its very windy and pouring down right now. I am waiting for the hail cause one of my friends that lives about 3 miles west of me said she had quarter size hail coming down. One the offside the lighting is totally gorgeous, I love electrical storms. When I lived in Va, I used to love going to Va Beach and watching storms roll in off the ocean. From the safety of my window or balcony of course, I'm brave, not stupid. lol then again I have had a rope tied to me during a hurricane before to see if I would fly, my only reasoning is I was young, and well crazy, then again I ran into burning building for a living back then too, and I had like 5 or 6 other firefighters holding onto the rope. I was a bit of a hellion, and reckless way back when lol.

Good luck and stay safe out there today for everyone else in the path of these terrible storms.
Kori

5 people are dead and more missing in my town. We where lucky that our house is undamaged, but just down the road a trailer was carried off. all there is left is front steps.
we had to go driving this morning, checking on friends and family that had no power, and the destruction is just devastating.

My cousin in Alabama Tuscaloosa is the city. just called me she and her baby and little brother are safe her house had a storm cellar, thankfully, she said her house is damaged but still standing, but like the rest of the block and pretty much all those around her are gone, like wiped clean. She said they think that the storm at University of Alabama was like 2 miles wide , the one that hit her town was at least a half mile wide, and had a path of 7 to 8 miles. She said it was the scariest thing she ever lived through. Her husband was at work and he was lucky he was able to take cover too, I am glad they are ok.
I hope everyone else hears from their friends and families as the day goes on, and those that lost someone in this horrible tragedy find peace, and my heartfelt condolences and prayers for them.

I'm just a bit south of there actually.

I just got a CNN alert that the death toll is now over 200 from yesterday and last night.

I lived in Kalamazoo, MI, when a tornado when right through the heart of town... I watched it from the third story of my building at work and saw it pass less than 1/2 mile away from me. I lived on a busy street, but it was closed that night... instead of the sound of traffic, all you could hear was the sound of chainsaws, all night - and I remember that every time I hear a chainsaw, to this day.

I have an small idea what the people in all those affected areas are going through - no home, no power, no idea what's coming next. My heart goes out to them and to those who suffered casualties and deaths as a result of this massive, violent storm system. My thoughts and prayers are with them.

Oh wow Velvet. I'm glad to hear that you are safe. Although sorry to hear that there have been some deaths in your town.

I'm still waiting to hear from my friends near Birmingham and I hope to hear from them soon. I'm worried sick over here. =/

got family in those areas too,like Columbus, Ms and Eupora, Ms, they got no power for few days and there were some deaths there too, thank God it's none of my family. Hope everyone is fairing ok.

I live in Elmore Co. Alabama which is about 2 hours south of Tuscaloosa and the death toll across the state of Alabama alone is about or over 150...I can only imagine how high the overall toll is. By the grace of God, the tornadoes that passed through close to me, missed us by a few miles. The mile-wide F5 that swept through Tuscaloosa was even more devastating because T-town is such a densely populated area and I'm worried about friends I have there, whom I haven't heard from yet. And there's also about 400,000 people without power/water...not to mention those who lost their homes completely.

My cousin is in college near one of the areas affected. He and his friends live in their trailer not far from the campus. My aunt here got a call in the middle of the night and could barely hear her son telling her that they were all in the bathtub huddled up- between the wind and the screaming girlfriend it was apparently nearly impossible to hear that he said they were okay.

My aunt already lost a child to a tragedy, she was freaked out after that call and having to wait to hear if her other child was okay. Later that day we found out that he and his friends were fine.. but the trailer, vehicles, and everything around them was in shambles.

My thoughts and heart go out to everyone affected. I'm sorry for your losses and I hope for a quick recovery.

I live in Southern Virginia.
We didn't get hit by the storm, but I remember seeing all of the lightning last. No rain though. It was really cool. Though, I honestly didn't know about the tornadoes and such until late last night.
I'm praying for the families and places that were hit by the worst part of the storm.

I hope everyone is okay

I live in Washington County, Va. We had several storms come over last night and spent much of the night huddled near the hall closet (no basement). It was the strangest thing! Just over the state line into Tn., they had six people die and numerous injuries. Then, it came over us, and just two miles up the road seven people died, and many more are injured. I'm not ashamed to say that I had my three kids huddled together and prayed most of the night.

We were listening to the scanner and I81 was shut down, north and south bound. Glade Springs, Va, was hit the hardest here, and rescuers could not get through because every road into and out of G.S. was blocked with trees and debris. It was heart wrenching to hear of people calling in for help because they were trapped in their homes, and no one could come rescue them!

Thank God we made it through alright. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone and their loved ones today.

I live in Henrico, VA so we didn't get the worst of the storm - barely any at all, to be honest. The winds were strong and we got a lot of rain, but nothing too serious. Though a friend of mine who lives about ten minutes away from me in Goochland County said she saw the tornado pass by her house and another friend of mine also saw a tornado in Oilville, but my family and I didn't see it. As far as I know, there has been no major damage in this area and for that, I'm grateful.

I'm glad everyone here is safe though and my thoughts are with those who were affected by the weather.

I have power! For now...

As some of you know, I live in Birmingham, AL. First up, I and mine are all okay, with minimal damage. The biggest problem in my area is the lack of power and phone service. Several of the cell towers were taken down in the storms, which adds to the worry and confusion. One of my friends only found out about family by checking Facebook.

This has been an historic storm for the area, both in the immense area of devastation and the number of injured and dead. Please keep all of us in your prayers.

It's bizarre isn't it? (East coast gets hurricanes, but the tornadoes usually stay near Kansas and the middle of the country where all the flat land is.) There was a tornado that touched down just outside my campus (if it turned in the opposite direction, the landings (some dorm-rooms) could've been hit.

yeah those storms where intense i myself live in north alabama we had a tornado touch down ten minutes away from me but it didnt do bad damage like the other were with out power and last i heard it would be about 5 days till they got it back up i been having to stay in tenessee just to get electrcity and news reports and been using my cell for internet acsess my heart goes out to those who lost e everything, i been hearing reports about city's the have just been obliterated its eing considered the worst storm for alabama since the thirty's and i pray that the people still missing are found alive we've had enough deaths in this state and the chaos is unimaginable