(CNN) — Powerful storms that have ripped across the Southeast killed as many as 44 people over the past three days, according to the National Weather Service and reports from several states.
A CNN meteorologist called the storms’ impact on North Carolina “epic.”
There were 14 deaths in Bertie County, North Carolina, a rural area in the northeast part of the state, the weather service said today.
Zee Lamb, Bertie County manager, told CNN that he could confirm 11 fatalities.
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“Reports are still incoming,” said Mike Sprayberry, deputy director of the North Carolina Division of Emergency Management.
The death toll across seven states includes 23 total in North Carolina; four in Virginia; seven in Alabama, two in Oklahoma, seven in Arkansas and one in Mississippi.
“When the storm count is finalized, this will likely be an historic tornado outbreak for North Carolina,” said CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. “It is quite unusual to have this many supercell tornadoes of this intensity strike the area.”
North Carolina normally gets about 19 tornadoes a year, according to the National Climatic Data Center. There are 90 preliminary reports of tornadoes in the state in the latest storm system.
