Deadly tornadoes, thunderstorms tore through the south Wednesday killing more than 80 people in four states, authorities said.
This is latest round of storms to hit the region over past several days.
At least 82 deaths are being blamed on the severe weather, according to the Associated Press.
The majority of those deaths were reported in Alabama with 61 people killed – including 15 in the city of Tuscaloosa alone.
"They were telling us that it was going to be a pretty significant storm and that it has been. You can see that by the number of fatalities throughout the state," said Alabama Emergency Management Agency information manager Yasamie August.
Mayor Walter Maddox confirmed that 15 people died Wednesday in Tuscaloosa, Ala., a city of approximately 180,000 leveled by an estimated mile-wide tornado.
"I'm in my car at corner on McFarland. Milo's Hamburgers isn't there anymore," Tuscaloosa resident Phil Owen told ABC News affiliate WBMA. "Hobby Lobby [is the] only thing still standing at Woods Square Shopping Center. Big Lots, Full Moon Barbecue -- piles of garbage where those places were."
Maddox said at least a dozen city roads remain impassable and 83,000 homes were without power. Several city building including a fire station and a communication plant have been damaged.
The University of Alabama is located in Tuscaloosa. Classes have been canceled for today.
"We have way over 100 injuries throughout the city of Tuscaloosa," Mayor Maddox said Wednesday. "We have hundreds of homes and businesses destroyed and hundreds more damaged."
Maddox said the National Guard were being dispatched to devastated areas across the state the Associated Press reported.
President Obama declared a state of emergency for the search and rescue response in Alabama, and Gov. Robert Bentley told WBMA he expected him to declare another one to help pay for the cleanup.
"It's very difficult to see this," Bentley told WBMA of the damage.
In confirming the state of emergency, President Obama said federal officials had their eye on the storms and would offer help as needed.
"Michelle and I extend our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives because of the tornadoes that have swept through Alabama and the southeastern United States," he said in a written statement. "Our hearts go out to all those who have been affected by this devastation, and we commend the heroic efforts of those who have been working tirelessly to respond to this disaster."
August said the damage and destruction from on Wednesday's severe weather has left some Alabama residents with no place to go.
"We are opening shelters throughout the state to make sure folks who have nowhere to go, tonight, will have somewhere to go, out of the weather," said August.
Crystal Paulk-Buchanan, a spokeswoman for Georgia emergency management in Atlanta, said at least nine people have been killed so far.
"We have nine confirmed statewide fatalities at this time. There are seven total in Catoosa County where tornadoes hit Ringgold, the town of Ringgold earlier. And two in Dade County," Paulk-Buchanan told ABC News Radio.
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Paulk-Buchanan said officials have received more reports of damage in Merriweather, Polk and Pickens Counties.
"We've had several mobile home parks that have been reported to have received significant damage. In Pickens County, there were actually a couple of chicken houses that were destroyed and there are about 100,000 chickens that need to be rounded up," she said.
In addition, at least 11 were dead in Mississippi, ABC News confirmed.
The Associated Press reported at least one person killed in Tennessee Wednesday.
The weather system was expected to move into Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky overnight and into the Carolinas by Thursday morning.
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