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Hoover police are continuing the investigation into the disappearance of "Carlee" Nichole Russell after she was found alive and safe Saturday night.The child reported in the 911 call made Thursday night by Russell was reported as a male toddler wearing a diaper, according to police. It was the only report about a toddler made to Hoover 911 Thursday.At 10:44 p.m. Saturday, police said they received a call that Russell had returned home on foot.Police responded to the scene to investigate and Hoover fire medics responded to the scene to assess and transported Russell to UAB hospital for evaluation.Talitha Russell, Carlee Russell's mother, posted on Facebook Sunday morning that "God is faithful and He has answered (their) prayers."The family is asking for privacy at this time and plans to speak in the "near future," according to their post.The disappearanceOn Thursday night, around 9:34 p.m., Hoover 911 received a call from Russell stating she saw a male toddler in a diaper on the interstate near the John Hawkins Parkway exit.Police said Russell was the only caller to report a toddler along the interstate Thursday night.She was on her way home from her job at the Woodhouse Day Spa in the Summit, stopped to get food at The Colonnade and was about 10 minutes from her house, according to her parents, Talitha and Carlos Russell.Video below: Timeline of the disappearance of Carlee RussellCarlee Russell then stopped to check on the child and called a family member, according to police. The family told investigators that they lost contact with her, but the phone line remained open.When police arrived, they found Carlee Russell's car and belongings, but there was no sign of her or a toddler.Police have not been able to locate anyone with Carlee Russell from the time she left where she picked up food to the time she made the 911 phone call.This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, on their website.Family gathered to search for Carlee Russell Friday morning at the Hoover Met and asked for help."We're just gonna scour the earth," said Carlee Russell's dad, Carlos Russell. "There's no stopping us."Her parents noted that there is a report from a trucker who said they saw her car with the door open and a grey vehicle had pulled in front of it.The Russells also said they believe that the child was used as 'bait' in order to lure Russell out of her car.Video below: Carlee Russell's family describes her Anyone who has any information about this case is asked to call Det. Brad Fountain at 205-444-7562. This is a developing story and will be updated as information becomes available.

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Voters in a trio of Southern states will head to the polls Tuesday to cast their ballots in the midterm primary elections.Alabama, Arkansas and Georgia take their turn this week selecting their candidates for November’s general election. Plus, Texas and Minnesota host a handful of runoff elections. While the Democrats will appear on the ballot in all of the states, it's the GOP that will headline the night, featuring a number of races that will certainly shine a light on the future of the party.A former White House press secretary, a football legend and a few hard-pressed incumbents take center stage Tuesday night.Here's what to watch for:Huckabee Sanders poised for Arkansas governorship?Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary for former President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2019, is the runaway favorite to become the next governor of Arkansas.Sanders, whose father, Mike Huckabee, served as governor for 10 years, is facing one long-shot challenger in Francis "Doc" Washburn, a fiery radio personality and podcaster from Little Rock. The 39-year-old Sanders boasts endorsements from Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tom Cotton, a long list of state officials and musician Kid Rock. The latest polling shows her up nearly 60 points on Washburn.Chris Jones, a nuclear physicist and ordained minister, is the leading candidate for the Democratic nomination.The other notable race in Arkansas is the GOP primary for U.S. Senate. Sen. John Boozman, who has held the seat since 2011, is seeking reelection.Also riding a Trump endorsement, Boozman is facing an aggressive challenge from his right by former NFL player Jake Bequette, however, polling shows the incumbent safely in the lead. Jan Morgan, who’s been endorsed by former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, conservative political consultant Roger Stone and musician Ted Nugent, is also vying for the nomination.Jack Foster, Natalie James and Dan Whitfield will duke it out for the Democratic nomination.Heisman Trophy winner leads pack, sitting governor under attackSen. Raphael Warnock has only been in the U.S. Senate for just over a year, defeating former Sen. Kelly Loeffler in a runoff election in January 2021.He will be back on the ballot in 2022, though he's basically running unopposed in the primary. Tamara Johnson-Shealey is the only challenger.It's the GOP primary that will attract the most eyes. Six Republicans are contending for the Republican nod, including top candidates Herschel Walker, a former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL star, and Gary Black, the current Georgia agriculture commissioner. Walker, who has endorsements from Trump, former Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, currently holds a sizable lead over Black in polling — 55% according to the latest aggregation.The GOP race for governor will also garner some attention, as Gov. Brian Kemp tries to fend off former Sen. David Perdue.Kemp, who has served as governor since 2019, boasts endorsements from Pence, former President George W. Bush and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.Meanwhile, Trump is in Perdue's corner, as well as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.The latest aggregation of polling shows Kemp in the lead by roughly 23 points. But a late surge by Perdue could make Tuesday night interesting.What will be less interesting is the Democratic primary, which features one candidate — Stacey Abrams. Abrams is expected to give whoever is the GOP's nominee a run for their money come November, testing whether Georgia will remain a blue state after flipping in the 2020 presidential election.Alabama may be headed for multiple runoffsThe biggest draw Tuesday night in Alabama is the three-person race for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate.Katie Britt, a lawyer and former chief of staff for Sen. Richard Shelby, who is vacating the seat, has emerged as the leader of the pack.Britt, who is attempting to become Alabama's first female senator, overtook Rep. Mo Brooks in polling earlier this year. It's been a fall from grace for Brooks, who, on top of losing his lead in polling, also lost his endorsement from Trump in March after Brooks started falling behind. Trump has slammed Brooks for not being strong enough in backing the unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged.Additionally, Brooks had endorsements rescinded by former Senior Advisor Stephen Miller and Michael Flynn.Meanwhile, Britt enjoys a deep bench of endorsements from state officials as well as Sens. Joni Ernst and Lindsey Graham. Rounding out the three-person race is U.S. Army pilot and businessman Mike Durant, who remains within earshot with endorsements from Flynn, Ted Nugent and former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.Important to remember is that Alabama is a runoff state for its primary elections, so if no candidate reaches the 50% threshold, the top two will face off again on June 21.Will Boyd, Brandaun Dean and Lanny Jackson will battle for the Democratic nomination.Also on the ballot Tuesday is the governor's race. Gov. Kay Ivey holds a steady lead in polling, but she will face a challenge reaching that 50% threshold with two strong candidates nipping at her heels — former Ambassador to Slovenia Lynda Blanchard and businessman Tim James, who is the son of former Gov. Fob James.Activist and educator Yolanda Flowers is the presumed front runner for the Democratic nod.Reproductive rights on the ballot in conesequential Texas runoffDemocratic Rep. Henry Cuellar is being pushed to the brink of being unseated by progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros. This is the second cycle in a row Cisneros has run against Cuellar, falling 51.8% to 48.2% in 2020.Reproductive rights has become a top issue in this race as Cuellar has come under fire for his anti-abortion stance — which is especially poignant now with Roe v. Wade's future uncertain.Moderates and the Democratic establishment have stood by Cuellar, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn.On the other side, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Katie Porter and numerous labor unions are backing Cisneros. During the first round of voting on March 3, Cuellar edged out Cisneros 48.7% to 46.6%. But things are quite different this time around. First, it's head-to-head, so there won't be a third candidate to dilute the vote count. And second, this election is taking place after the Supreme Court draft opinion leaked indicating Roe v. Wade may be overturned. The outcome of this race could signal a changing of the guard within the Democratic Party, or it could be a doubling-down on the same old. Either way, every Democrat in Congress will be watching.

A celebrated Ukrainian medic whose footage was smuggled out of the besieged city of Mariupol by an Associated Press team was freed by Russian forces on Friday, three months after she was taken captive on the streets of the city.Yuliia Paievska is known in Ukraine as Taira, a nickname she chose in the World of Warcraft video game. Using a body camera, she recorded 256 gigabytes of her team’s efforts over two weeks to save the wounded, including both Russian and Ukrainian soldiers.She transferred the clips to an Associated Press team, the last international journalists in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, one of whom fled with it embedded in a tampon on March 15. Taira and a colleague were taken prisoner by Russian forces on March 16, the same day a Russian airstrike hit a theater in the city center, killing around 600 people, according to an Associated Press investigation.“It was such a great sense of relief. Those sound like such ordinary words, and I don't even know what to say,” her husband, Vadim Puzanov, told The Associated Press late Friday, breathing deeply to contain his emotion. Puzanov said he spoke by phone with Taira, who was en route to a Kyiv hospital, and feared for her health.Initially the family had kept quiet, hoping negotiations would take their course. But The Associated Press spoke with him before releasing the smuggled videos, which ultimately had millions of viewers around the world, including on some of the biggest networks in Europe and the United States. Puzanov expressed gratitude for the coverage, which showed Taira was trying to save Russian soldiers as well as Ukrainian civilians.In a short video posted Saturday on Telegram, Taira thanked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for his efforts to get her released. Addressing Ukrainians still held by Russia, with a catch in her voice, she said: “I know that everything will work out and we will all be home as I am now.”Zelenskyy had announced Taira's release in a national address.“I'm grateful to everyone who worked for this result. Taira is already home. We will keep working to free everyone,” he said.Hundreds of prominent Ukrainians have been kidnapped or captured, including local officials, journalists, activists and human rights defenders.Russia portrayed Taira as working for the nationalist Azov Regiment, in line with Moscow’s narrative that it is attempting to “denazify” Ukraine. But the AP found no such evidence, and friends and colleagues said she had no links to Azov, which made a last stand in a Mariupol steel plant before hundreds of its fighters were captured or killed.The footage itself is a visceral testament to her efforts to save the wounded on both sides.A clip recorded on March 10 shows two Russian soldiers taken roughly out of an ambulance by a Ukrainian soldier. One is in a wheelchair. The other is on his knees, hands bound behind his back, with an obvious leg injury. Their eyes are covered by winter hats, and they wear white armbands.A Ukrainian soldier curses at one of them. “Calm down, calm down,” Taira tells him.A woman asks her, “Are you going to treat the Russians?”“They will not be as kind to us,” she replies. “But I couldn’t do otherwise. They are prisoners of war.”Taira was a member of the Ukraine Invictus Games for military veterans, where she was set to compete in archery and swimming. Invictus said she was a military medic from 2018 to 2020 but had since been demobilized.She received the body camera in 2021 to film for a Netflix documentary series on inspirational figures being produced by Britain’s Prince Harry, who founded the Invictus Games. But when Russian forces invaded, she used it to shoot scenes of injured civilians and soldiers instead.

A U.S. judge on Tuesday agreed to delay Joran Van der Sloot's extortion trial until the fall to give him more time to prepare a defense or decide if he wants to enter a guilty plea.Van der Sloot's attorney Kevin Butler had asked for the continuance from the July 31 trial docket to give more time to "review the discovery, investigate this case, and prepare for trial." Prosecutors agreed to the change.Video above: Van der Sloot was extradited to the U.S. in June 2023Van der Sloot, often considered the chief suspect in Natalee Holloway's 2005 disappearance in Aruba, faces federal charges that he tried to extort money from the missing teen's mother in exchange for revealing where to find her daughter's remains. He was extradited from Peru this month to face trial in Alabama, Holloway's home state."Given the defendant's need to adequately prepare his defense and to make an informed decision on whether to enter a guilty plea or proceed to trial, the court finds that the ends of justice served by extending the pretrial deadlines and granting a continuance outweigh the best interest of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial," U.S. Magistrate Gray Borden wrote. Borden said the extension would last until Oct. 2, but said the exact trial date would be set later by the presiding judge.Holloway went missing during a high school graduation trip with classmates and was last seen leaving a bar with van der Sloot, a student at an international school on the island where he grew up. Her remains have never been found. No one has been charged in her disappearance.U.S. prosecutors said that in 2010, van der Sloot sought money from Beth Holloway to disclose the location of her daughter's body. A grand jury indicted him that year. He has initially plead not guilty to the charges.Van der Sloot earlier this month was brought shackled into an Alabama courtroom to be arraigned on federal charges as Holloway's parents watched.

As the main suspect in the unsolved disappearance of Natalee Holloway arrives in Alabama to face charges of wire fraud and extortion, the judicial process remains complicated. Video above: Natalee Holloway disappearance timelineJohn Carroll, professor of law at the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, explained that while the case has gained international attention, van der Sloot will not be given special attention. Why is Joran van der Sloot being extradited to Birmingham, Alabama?In 2010, van der Sloot was indicted on wire fraud and extortion charges. He is accused of trying to extort $250,000 from Natalee Holloway’s mother in exchange for information on where her daughter was buried. Natalee Holloway was on a trip to Aruba with her Birmingham-area high school in 2005 when she disappeared. Holloway's body was never found, and no charges were filed against van der Sloot in the case. What happens when van der Sloot arrives in Alabama? "He will be placed in a kind of detention facility that federal authorities use — a county jail somewhere around here," Carroll said. "He's already been appointed a public defender. He will now will be treated just like any other criminal defendant in the United States."Where will he be held? Joran van der Sloot will likely be held in a very secure part of the detention facility, given his history, according to Carroll. How soon can we expect van der Sloot in court? Van der Sloot's first appearance will likely be an arraignment where he will be given an opportunity to enter a plea, according to Carroll. How soon could this case go to trial? "It completely depends on the court docket," Carroll said. "Just talking to people, we are talking about a year out. First, the discovery process has to go on, the government has to share info with the defendant. There will be a motion practice, arguably where the defendant would get to file a motion. Just based on the court schedule, I see nothing that indicates that this gets any priority. I think this will be treated just like any other federal criminal case in Birmingham."What happens while van der Sloot is being held and awaiting trial? Both the prosecution and the defense will have to prepare for trial.In terms of van der Sloot's defense, "I am confident that lawyer has never interviewed client. He has to get the client side of story," Carroll said.He went on to say, "Just like any other criminal case, his lawyer has to develop the defendant's side of the case." How long could this trial last? Carroll told sister station WVTM that this does not look like a long trial, possibly a week, noting the facts in the indictment are straightforward. After a verdict, what happens next? If found guilty, van der Sloot would need to be sentenced.The maximum sentence for wire fraud charges is 20 years. After sentencing, van der Sloot would then go back to Peru to serve out the remaining part of his sentence for the murder of a business student in Peru.

A giant, swirling storm system billowing across the South killed at least six people in central Alabama and another in Georgia and knocked out power to tens of thousands on Thursday, while a tornado spawned by the system shredded the walls of homes, toppled roofs and uprooted trees in Selma.In Autauga County, Alabama, which is 41 miles northeast of Selma, at least six fatalities were confirmed and an estimated 40 to 50 homes were damaged or destroyed by storms that cut a strip across the county, said Ernie Baggett, the county’s emergency management director.Several mobile homes were launched into the air and at least 12 people were injured severely enough to be taken to hospitals by emergency responders, Baggett told The Associated Press. He said crews were focused Thursday night on cutting through downed trees to look for people who may need help.“It really did a good bit of damage. This is the worst that I’ve seen here in this county,” Baggett said.In Georgia, a passenger died when a tree fell on a vehicle in Jackson during the storm, Butts County Coroner Lacey Prue said. In the same county southeast of Atlanta, the storm appeared to have knocked a freight train off its tracks, officials said.Officials in Griffin, south of Atlanta, told local news outlets that multiple people had been trapped inside an apartment complex after trees fell on it. Firefighters also cut a Griffin man loose who had been pinned for hours under a tree that fell on his house. A high school was damaged, and students were held at four middle schools for parents to pick up after officials determined it was unsafe to run buses. The city of Griffin imposed a curfew from 10 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday.School systems in at least six Georgia counties on the southern fringes of metro Atlanta canceled classes on Friday. Those systems enroll a total of 90,000 students.Nationwide, there were 33 separate tornado reports Thursday from the National Weather Service as of Thursday evening, with a handful of tornado warnings still in effect in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. However, the reports were not yet confirmed and some of them could later be classified as wind damage after assessments are done in coming days. In Selma, a city etched in the history of the civil rights movement, brick buildings collapsed, cars were on their side and traffic poles were strewn about in the downtown area. Plumes of thick, black smoke rose over the city from a fire burning. It wasn't immediately known whether the storm caused the blaze.A few blocks past the city’s famed Edmund Pettus Bridge, an enduring symbol of the voting rights movement, buildings were crumpled by the storm and trees blocked roadways.Selma Mayor James Perkins said no fatalities have been reported, but first responders were continuing to assess the damage.“We have a lot of downed power lines," he said. "There is a lot of danger on the streets.”With widespread power outages, the Selma City Council held a meeting on the sidewalk, using lights from cellphones, to declare a state of emergency. A high school was opened as a shelter, officials said.Mattie Moore was among Selma residents who picked up boxed meals offered by a charity downtown.“Thank God that we’re here. It’s like something you see on TV,” Moore said of all the destruction.A city of about 18,000 residents, Selma is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of the Alabama capital city of Montgomery. It was a flashpoint of the civil rights movement and where Alabama state troopers viciously attacked Black people advocating for voting rights as they marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965.After the tornado passed, Krishun Moore emerged from her home to the sound of children crying and screaming. She and her mother encouraged the kids to keep screaming until they found the two of them on top of the roof of a damaged apartment. She estimated the kids were about 1 and 4 years old. Both of them are OK, she said through Facebook messenger.Malesha McVay drove parallel to the tornado with her family. She said it got less than a mile from her home before suddenly turning.“We stopped and we prayed. We followed it and prayed,” she said. “It was a 100% God thing that it turned right before it hit my house.”She took video of the giant twister, which would turn black as it swept away home after home.“It would hit a house, and black smoke would swirl up,” she said. “It was very terrifying.”About 40,000 customers were without power in Alabama on Thursday night, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide. In Georgia, about 86,000 customers were without electricity after the storm system carved a path across a tier of counties just south of Atlanta.The storm hit in Griffin, south of Atlanta, with winds damaging a shopping area, local news outlets reported. A Hobby Lobby store partially lost its roof, and at least one car was flipped in the parking lot of a nearby Walmart.Damage was also reported west of downtown Atlanta in Douglas County and Cobb County, with Cobb County government posting a damage report showing a crumbled cinder block wall at a warehouse in suburban Austell.In Kentucky, the National Weather Service in Louisville confirmed that an EF-1 tornado struck Mercer County and said crews were surveying damage in a handful of other counties.Three factors — a natural La Nina weather cycle, warming of the Gulf of Mexico likely related to climate change and a decades-long shift of tornadoes from the west to east — came together to make Thursday’s tornado outbreak unusual and damaging, said Victor Gensini, a meteorology professor at Northern Illinois University who studies tornado trends. The La Nina, a cooling of parts of the Pacific that changes weather worldwide, was a factor in making a wavy jet stream that brought a cold front through, Gensini said. But that’s not enough for a tornado outbreak. What’s needed is moisture.Normally the air in the Southeast is fairly dry this time of year but the dew point was twice what is normal, likely because of unusually warm water in the Gulf of Mexico, which is likely influenced by climate change. That moisture hit the cold front and everything was in place, Gensini said.——Associated Press writers Alina Hartounian in Phoenix, Arizona; Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Seth Borenstein in Denver; Rebecca Reynolds in Louisville, Kentucky; and photographer Butch Dill in Selma, Alabama, contributed to this report.

A giant, swirling storm system billowing across the South killed at least six people in central Alabama and another in Georgia and knocked out power to tens of thousands on Thursday, while a tornado spawned by the system shredded the walls of homes, toppled roofs and uprooted trees in Selma.

In Autauga County, Alabama, which is 41 miles northeast of Selma, at least six fatalities were confirmed and an estimated 40 to 50 homes were damaged or destroyed by storms that cut a strip across the county, said Ernie Baggett, the county’s emergency management director.

Several mobile homes were launched into the air and at least 12 people were injured severely enough to be taken to hospitals by emergency responders, Baggett told The Associated Press. He said crews were focused Thursday night on cutting through downed trees to look for people who may need help.

“It really did a good bit of damage. This is the worst that I’ve seen here in this county,” Baggett said.

Courtesy Mark G. Spychala via CNN

In Georgia, a passenger died when a tree fell on a vehicle in Jackson during the storm, Butts County Coroner Lacey Prue said. In the same county southeast of Atlanta, the storm appeared to have knocked a freight train off its tracks, officials said.

Officials in Griffin, south of Atlanta, told local news outlets that multiple people had been trapped inside an apartment complex after trees fell on it. Firefighters also cut a Griffin man loose who had been pinned for hours under a tree that fell on his house. A high school was damaged, and students were held at four middle schools for parents to pick up after officials determined it was unsafe to run buses. The city of Griffin imposed a curfew from 10 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday.

School systems in at least six Georgia counties on the southern fringes of metro Atlanta canceled classes on Friday. Those systems enroll a total of 90,000 students.

Nationwide, there were 33 separate tornado reports Thursday from the National Weather Service as of Thursday evening, with a handful of tornado warnings still in effect in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. However, the reports were not yet confirmed and some of them could later be classified as wind damage after assessments are done in coming days.

In Selma, a city etched in the history of the civil rights movement, brick buildings collapsed, cars were on their side and traffic poles were strewn about in the downtown area. Plumes of thick, black smoke rose over the city from a fire burning. It wasn't immediately known whether the storm caused the blaze.

A few blocks past the city’s famed Edmund Pettus Bridge, an enduring symbol of the voting rights movement, buildings were crumpled by the storm and trees blocked roadways.

Selma Mayor James Perkins said no fatalities have been reported, but first responders were continuing to assess the damage.

“We have a lot of downed power lines," he said. "There is a lot of danger on the streets.”

With widespread power outages, the Selma City Council held a meeting on the sidewalk, using lights from cellphones, to declare a state of emergency. A high school was opened as a shelter, officials said.

Mattie Moore was among Selma residents who picked up boxed meals offered by a charity downtown.

“Thank God that we’re here. It’s like something you see on TV,” Moore said of all the destruction.

A city of about 18,000 residents, Selma is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of the Alabama capital city of Montgomery. It was a flashpoint of the civil rights movement and where Alabama state troopers viciously attacked Black people advocating for voting rights as they marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965.

Butch Dill

After the tornado passed, Krishun Moore emerged from her home to the sound of children crying and screaming. She and her mother encouraged the kids to keep screaming until they found the two of them on top of the roof of a damaged apartment. She estimated the kids were about 1 and 4 years old. Both of them are OK, she said through Facebook messenger.

Malesha McVay drove parallel to the tornado with her family. She said it got less than a mile from her home before suddenly turning.

“We stopped and we prayed. We followed it and prayed,” she said. “It was a 100% God thing that it turned right before it hit my house.”

Vasha Hunt

She took video of the giant twister, which would turn black as it swept away home after home.

“It would hit a house, and black smoke would swirl up,” she said. “It was very terrifying.”

About 40,000 customers were without power in Alabama on Thursday night, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide. In Georgia, about 86,000 customers were without electricity after the storm system carved a path across a tier of counties just south of Atlanta.

Butch Dill

The storm hit in Griffin, south of Atlanta, with winds damaging a shopping area, local news outlets reported. A Hobby Lobby store partially lost its roof, and at least one car was flipped in the parking lot of a nearby Walmart.

Damage was also reported west of downtown Atlanta in Douglas County and Cobb County, with Cobb County government posting a damage report showing a crumbled cinder block wall at a warehouse in suburban Austell.

In Kentucky, the National Weather Service in Louisville confirmed that an EF-1 tornado struck Mercer County and said crews were surveying damage in a handful of other counties.

Three factors — a natural La Nina weather cycle, warming of the Gulf of Mexico likely related to climate change and a decades-long shift of tornadoes from the west to east — came together to make Thursday’s tornado outbreak unusual and damaging, said Victor Gensini, a meteorology professor at Northern Illinois University who studies tornado trends.

The La Nina, a cooling of parts of the Pacific that changes weather worldwide, was a factor in making a wavy jet stream that brought a cold front through, Gensini said. But that’s not enough for a tornado outbreak. What’s needed is moisture.

Normally the air in the Southeast is fairly dry this time of year but the dew point was twice what is normal, likely because of unusually warm water in the Gulf of Mexico, which is likely influenced by climate change. That moisture hit the cold front and everything was in place, Gensini said.

——

Associated Press writers Alina Hartounian in Phoenix, Arizona; Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Seth Borenstein in Denver; Rebecca Reynolds in Louisville, Kentucky; and photographer Butch Dill in Selma, Alabama, contributed to this report.

A powerful tornado tore through rural Mississippi and Alabama on Friday night, killing at least 13 people, destroying buildings and knocking out power as severe weather that produced hail the size of golf balls moved through several southern states and prompted authorities to warn some in its path that they were in a "life-threatening situation." Video above: Tornado damage in Rolling Fork, MississippiThe National Weather Service confirmed a tornado caused damage about 60 miles northeast of Jackson, Mississippi. The rural towns of Silver City and Rolling Fork were reporting destruction as the tornado continued sweeping northeast at 70 mph without weakening, racing towards Alabama through towns including Winona and Amory into the night.Sharkey County Coroner Angelia Easton told ABC News that 13 people were killed by the tornado in Mississippi. Rolling Fork is located in Sharkey County.ABC News early Saturday reported an additional six deaths, including three in Carroll County, two in Monroe County and one in Humphreys County, citing the county coroners and a Mississippi Highway Patrol trooper. The Associated Press was not immediately able to confirm those fatalities.The National Weather Service issued an alert as the storm was hitting that didn't mince words: "To protect your life, TAKE COVER NOW!"“You are in a life-threatening situation,” it warned. "Flying debris may be deadly to those caught without shelter. Mobile homes will be destroyed. Considerable damage to homes, businesses, and vehicles is likely and complete destruction is possible." Video below: Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs discusses tornado responseCornel Knight told The Associated Press that he, his wife and their 3-year-old daughter were at a relative’s home in Rolling Fork when the tornado struck. He said the sky was dark but “you could see the direction from every transformer that blew.”He said it was “eerily quiet” as that happened. Knight said he watched from a doorway until the tornado was, he estimated, less than a mile away. Then he told everyone in the house to take cover in a hallway. He said the tornado struck another relative’s home across a wide corn field from where he was. A wall in that home collapsed and trapped several people inside. As Knight spoke to AP by phone, he said he could see lights from emergency vehicles at the partially collapsed home.Storm chaser Reed Timmer posted on Twitter that Rolling Fork was in immediate need of emergency personnel and that he was heading with injured residents of the town to a Vicksburg hospital.The Sharkey-Issaquena Community Hospital on the west side of Rolling Fork was damaged, WAPT reported.The Sharkey County Sheriff’s Office in Rolling Fork reported gas leaks and people trapped in piles of rubble, according to the Vicksburg News. Some law enforcement units were unaccounted for in Sharkey, according to the the newspaper.Video below: Mississippi resident on tornado damage: 'Power out everywhere'Rolling Fork and the surrounding area has wide expanses of cotton, corn and soybean fields and catfish farming ponds. More than a half-dozen shelters were opened in the state by emergency officials.Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said in a Twitter post Friday night that search and rescue teams were active and that officials were sending more ambulances and emergency assets to those affected.“Many in the MS Delta need your prayer and God’s protection tonight,” the post said. “Watch weather reports and stay cautious through the night, Mississippi!”This was a supercell, the nasty type of storms that brew the deadliest tornado and most damaging hail in the United States, said University of Northern Illinois University meteorology professor Walker Ashley. What’s more this a night-time wet one which is “the worst kind,” he said.Meteorologists saw a big tornado risk coming for the general region, not the specific area, as much as a week in advance, said Ashley, who was discussing it with his colleagues as early as March 17. The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center put out a long-range alert for the area on March 19, he said.Tornado experts like Ashley have been warning about increased risk exposure in the region because of people building more.“You mix a particularly socioeconomically vulnerable landscape with a fast-moving, long-track nocturnal tornado, and, disaster will happen,” Ashley said in an email.Earlier Friday a car was swept away and two passengers drowned in southwestern Missouri during torrential rains that were part of a severe weather system. Authorities said six young adults were in the vehicle that was swept away as the car tried to cross a bridge over a flooded creek in the town of Grovespring.Four of the six made it out of the water. The body of Devon Holt, 20, of Grovespring, was found at 3:30 a.m., and the body of Alexander Roman-Ranelli, 19, of Springfield, was recovered about six hours later, Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Thomas Young said.The driver told authorities that the rain made it difficult to see that water from a creek had covered the bridge, Young said. Meanwhile, the search continued in another southwestern Missouri county for a woman who was missing after flash flooding from a small river washed a car off the road. The Logan Rogersville Fire Protection District said there was no sign of the woman. Two others who were in the car were rescued. Crews planned to use boats and have searchers walking along the riverbank.When a woman’s SUV got swept up in rushing flood waters Friday morning near Granby, Missouri, Layton Hoyer made his way through icy-cold waters to rescue her.Some parts of southern Missouri saw nearly 3 inches of rain Thursday night and into Friday morning as severe weather hit other areas. A suspected tornado touched down early Friday in north Texas.Matt Elliott, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, said the severe weather was expected across several states.The Storm Prediction Center warned the greatest threat of tornadoes would come in portions of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. Storms with damaging winds and hail were forecast from eastern Texas and southeastern Oklahoma into parts of southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois. More than 49,000 customers had lost power in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee as of Friday night, according to poweroutage.us.In Texas, a suspected tornado struck about 5 a.m. in the southwest corner of Wise County, damaging homes and downing trees and power lines, said Cody Powell, the county's emergency management coordinator. Powell said no injuries were reported.The weather service had not confirmed a tornado, but damage to homes was also reported in neighboring Parker County, said meteorologist Matt Stalley.___Associated Press writer Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson, Mississippi, Jim Salter in O'Fallon, Missouri, Lisa Baumann in Bellingham, Washington, Robert Jablon in Los Angeles, and Jackie Quinn in Washington, D.C. contributed to this report.

A kindergarten student in Alabama put a recent lesson about kindness into action."We just had a whole lesson on how you show love to everybody no matter what, kindness, you treat people how you want to be treated," kindergarten teacher Mandy Strawbridge told WPMI. The lesson inspired one of Strawbridge's students, 5-year-old John Reese Booker, to ask his favorite teacher to dinner to make sure she's not alone for Valentine's Day.Deborah Peterson is a teacher's aide who started working with John Reese at Huxford Elementary School last year and said they've become close."He's attached to me and I've been attached to him ever since," she said.John Reese gave Peterson a rose and asked her to dinner in a card he made himself. "And I opened up the card and it said, 'will you go to dinner with me at David's Saturday at 6 o'clock?' and I said of course, yes," Peterson said. John Reese said he picked the restaurant because he knew it was Peterson's favorite. Watch the video above to see the pair talk about their upcoming plans.

The Latest on the College Football Playoff championship game (all times local): 11:57 p.m.Stetson Bennett threw two touchdown passes to lead Georgia to a 33-18 win over Alabama on Monday night for its first national championship in 41 years.Bennett, a former walk-on, threw scoring passes of 40 yards to Adonai Mitchell and 15 yards to Brock Bowers.Georgia again leaned on its defense. The clinching touchdown came on cornerback Kelee Ringo’s 79-yard interception return of Bryce Young's pass with less than a minute remaining.Georgia won its first national title since 1980. Vince Dooley, the 89-year-old coach of that team, attended the game.The Bulldogs lost to Alabama 41-24 in the Southeastern Conference championship game on Dec. 4.Bennett’s lost fumble set up an Alabama touchdown for an 18-13 lead with about 10 minutes remaining. Georgia dominated the remainder of the game.It was the first win for Georgia coach Kirby Smart, the former Alabama defensive coordinator, in five meetings with Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban.11:28 p.m.Stetson Bennett’s 40-yard touchdown pass to Adonai Mitchell has given Georgia a 19-18 lead over Alabama in the national championship game.Bennett lost a fumble on Georgia's previous drive, leading to an Alabama touchdown.The Bulldogs responded with their most pass-happy drive of the game. Jermaine Burton had a 10-yard catch to open the drive before drawing a pass-interference penalty.Bennett was sacked but answered quickly with the scoring pass to Mitchell, a freshman.Georgia’s James Cook was stopped on the 2-point run. 11:15 p.m.Alabama regained the lead in the national championship game with its first touchdown, thanks to a nonchalant-looking fumble recovery and Bryce Young’s short touchdown pass to Cameron Latu.Young’s 3-yard scoring pass gave the Crimson Tide an 18-13 lead with 10:14 left against Georgia. Young was tackled behind the line on a 2-point attempt.The score was set up when Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett lost the ball while Christian Harris was dragging him to the turf. Bennett was trying to throw the ball, but it appeared to come out before his arm moved forward and it was ruled a fumble on the field. Replay upheld the call.Alabama safety Brian Branch almost casually collected the ball as he was headed out of bounds, getting one foot in bounds.10:50 p.m.Georgia took its first lead of the national championship game with the first touchdown by either team.A 67-year-old run by James Cook set up Zamir White's 1-yard score that put the Bulldogs ahead of Alabama 13-9 with 1:20 left in the third quarter.Before White found the end zone, the Southeastern Conference rivals had combined for five field goals.10:35 p.m.Alabama receiver Jameson Williams’ national championship game ended early, but his team still led 9-6.The All-American, a transfer from Ohio State, returned to the sideline in street clothes midway through the third quarter. Williams appeared to hurt his left knee in the first half at the end of a 40-yard catch. It was a non-contact injury. He had four catches for 65 yards.Alabama spread the ball around without Williams, with eight different players catching passes. The Tide also used running back Brian Robinson Jr. more after Williams was hurt.___9:50 p.m.No. 1 Alabama leads No. 3 Georgia 9-6 at halftime of the CFP championship game, a contest that has turned into a defensive struggle.The two teams combined for five field goals and and have just 31 yards rushing.The Crimson Tide lost top receiver Jameson Williams with what appeared to be an injured left knee early in the second quarter. He has not returned.Coach Nick Saban told ESPN at halftime that young receivers would have to step up."They've got talent. So they've got to play with competitive character and have a chance to make some plays. They’re capable," Saban said. "They don’t have the experience, but they're going to get it tonight."Georgia coach Kirby Smart says his team needs to avoid mistakes on offense."We've got to settle down," he said. "We haven’t had probably one drive where we didn’t have negative yards starting where we had to back up."Georgia will receive the second-half kickoff.___9:18 p.m.Alabama wide receiver Jameson Williams went down with an apparent left knee injury.The Crimson Tide All-American clutched his left knee lying on the ground after a 40-yard catch in the second quarter against Georgia. Williams was helped off the field, putting minimal weight on his left leg. He walked toward the locker room minutes later.Alabama scored on the drive to take a 6-3 lead.Alabama was already without 1,000-yard receiver John Metchie III, lost to a knee injury in the Southeastern Conference championship game. Freshman Agiye Hall was pressed into action.Williams is one of the nation’s top deep threats, with four touchdown catches of 70-plus yards to lead the nation. He had four catches for 65 yards at the time of the injury.Williams had seven catches for 184 yards and two touchdowns in the SEC title game against the Bulldogs.___8:10 p.m.A sellout crowd, clad largely in red, filled Lucas Oil Stadium arrived early for the national championship game between SEC rivals No. 1 Alabama and No. 3 Georgia.Organizers were following the county health department's guidelines — strongly encouraging masks be worn but not requiring it. Unlike last year's title game in Miami, fans were not socially distanced.Capacity of the stadium is about 70,000.___7:30 p.m.New College Football Hall of Fame inductee Andrew Luck returned to Lucas Oil Stadium for what is believed to be his first appearance at the Indianapolis Colts home field since he retired unexpectedly in August 2019.Luck was one of 21 former players or coaches named as part of this year's Hall of Fame class earlier in the day.The two-time Heisman Trophy runner-up looked much thinner than he did when playing for the Colts from 2012-18. He was the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2012 and replaced Peyton Manning as the Colts starter.When word leaked of Luck's retirement near the end of a preseason game, Indy fans began booing. After the game, Luck made his official retirement announcement — a little sooner than he had planned.___3 p.m.Indianapolis' city streets were bustling Monday afternoon, almost five hours before No. 1 Alabama and No. 3 Georgia played for college football's national championship.The blue Colts attire that local fans usually wear was replaced with red hats, shirts, jackets and jerseys of the two Southeastern Conference teams, playing for a title in the Midwest.Fans waited in long lines inside and outside restaurants despite temperatures hovering in the mid-20s, while others flocked to Monument Circle for afternoon concerts with Breland and Sam Hunt underneath the sun-drenched skies.Alabama beat Georgia five weeks ago in the SEC title game, but the Bulldogs are a slight favorite. This is the first rematch for the championship in the playoff era. The game kicks off at Lucas Oil Stadium at 8 p.m.

INDIANAPOLIS —

The Latest on the College Football Playoff championship game (all times local):

11:57 p.m.

Stetson Bennett threw two touchdown passes to lead Georgia to a 33-18 win over Alabama on Monday night for its first national championship in 41 years.

Bennett, a former walk-on, threw scoring passes of 40 yards to Adonai Mitchell and 15 yards to Brock Bowers.

Georgia again leaned on its defense. The clinching touchdown came on cornerback Kelee Ringo’s 79-yard interception return of Bryce Young's pass with less than a minute remaining.

Georgia won its first national title since 1980. Vince Dooley, the 89-year-old coach of that team, attended the game.

The Bulldogs lost to Alabama 41-24 in the Southeastern Conference championship game on Dec. 4.

Bennett’s lost fumble set up an Alabama touchdown for an 18-13 lead with about 10 minutes remaining. Georgia dominated the remainder of the game.

It was the first win for Georgia coach Kirby Smart, the former Alabama defensive coordinator, in five meetings with Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban.

11:28 p.m.

Stetson Bennett’s 40-yard touchdown pass to Adonai Mitchell has given Georgia a 19-18 lead over Alabama in the national championship game.

Bennett lost a fumble on Georgia's previous drive, leading to an Alabama touchdown.

The Bulldogs responded with their most pass-happy drive of the game. Jermaine Burton had a 10-yard catch to open the drive before drawing a pass-interference penalty.

Bennett was sacked but answered quickly with the scoring pass to Mitchell, a freshman.

Georgia’s James Cook was stopped on the 2-point run.

11:15 p.m.

Alabama regained the lead in the national championship game with its first touchdown, thanks to a nonchalant-looking fumble recovery and Bryce Young’s short touchdown pass to Cameron Latu.

Young’s 3-yard scoring pass gave the Crimson Tide an 18-13 lead with 10:14 left against Georgia. Young was tackled behind the line on a 2-point attempt.

The score was set up when Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett lost the ball while Christian Harris was dragging him to the turf. Bennett was trying to throw the ball, but it appeared to come out before his arm moved forward and it was ruled a fumble on the field. Replay upheld the call.

Alabama safety Brian Branch almost casually collected the ball as he was headed out of bounds, getting one foot in bounds.

10:50 p.m.

Georgia took its first lead of the national championship game with the first touchdown by either team.

A 67-year-old run by James Cook set up Zamir White's 1-yard score that put the Bulldogs ahead of Alabama 13-9 with 1:20 left in the third quarter.

Before White found the end zone, the Southeastern Conference rivals had combined for five field goals.

10:35 p.m.

Alabama receiver Jameson Williams’ national championship game ended early, but his team still led 9-6.

The All-American, a transfer from Ohio State, returned to the sideline in street clothes midway through the third quarter. Williams appeared to hurt his left knee in the first half at the end of a 40-yard catch. It was a non-contact injury. He had four catches for 65 yards.

Alabama spread the ball around without Williams, with eight different players catching passes. The Tide also used running back Brian Robinson Jr. more after Williams was hurt.

___

9:50 p.m.

No. 1 Alabama leads No. 3 Georgia 9-6 at halftime of the CFP championship game, a contest that has turned into a defensive struggle.

The two teams combined for five field goals and and have just 31 yards rushing.

Paul Sancya / AP Photo

The Crimson Tide lost top receiver Jameson Williams with what appeared to be an injured left knee early in the second quarter. He has not returned.

Coach Nick Saban told ESPN at halftime that young receivers would have to step up.

"They've got talent. So they've got to play with competitive character and have a chance to make some plays. They’re capable," Saban said. "They don’t have the experience, but they're going to get it tonight."

Georgia coach Kirby Smart says his team needs to avoid mistakes on offense.

"We've got to settle down," he said. "We haven’t had probably one drive where we didn’t have negative yards starting where we had to back up."

Georgia will receive the second-half kickoff.

___

9:18 p.m.

Alabama wide receiver Jameson Williams went down with an apparent left knee injury.

The Crimson Tide All-American clutched his left knee lying on the ground after a 40-yard catch in the second quarter against Georgia. Williams was helped off the field, putting minimal weight on his left leg. He walked toward the locker room minutes later.

Alabama scored on the drive to take a 6-3 lead.

Alabama was already without 1,000-yard receiver John Metchie III, lost to a knee injury in the Southeastern Conference championship game. Freshman Agiye Hall was pressed into action.

Williams is one of the nation’s top deep threats, with four touchdown catches of 70-plus yards to lead the nation. He had four catches for 65 yards at the time of the injury.

Williams had seven catches for 184 yards and two touchdowns in the SEC title game against the Bulldogs.

___

8:10 p.m.

A sellout crowd, clad largely in red, filled Lucas Oil Stadium arrived early for the national championship game between SEC rivals No. 1 Alabama and No. 3 Georgia.

Paul Sancya / AP Photo

Organizers were following the county health department's guidelines — strongly encouraging masks be worn but not requiring it. Unlike last year's title game in Miami, fans were not socially distanced.

Capacity of the stadium is about 70,000.

___

7:30 p.m.

New College Football Hall of Fame inductee Andrew Luck returned to Lucas Oil Stadium for what is believed to be his first appearance at the Indianapolis Colts home field since he retired unexpectedly in August 2019.

Luck was one of 21 former players or coaches named as part of this year's Hall of Fame class earlier in the day.

The two-time Heisman Trophy runner-up looked much thinner than he did when playing for the Colts from 2012-18. He was the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2012 and replaced Peyton Manning as the Colts starter.

When word leaked of Luck's retirement near the end of a preseason game, Indy fans began booing. After the game, Luck made his official retirement announcement — a little sooner than he had planned.

___

3 p.m.

Indianapolis' city streets were bustling Monday afternoon, almost five hours before No. 1 Alabama and No. 3 Georgia played for college football's national championship.

The blue Colts attire that local fans usually wear was replaced with red hats, shirts, jackets and jerseys of the two Southeastern Conference teams, playing for a title in the Midwest.

Fans waited in long lines inside and outside restaurants despite temperatures hovering in the mid-20s, while others flocked to Monument Circle for afternoon concerts with Breland and Sam Hunt underneath the sun-drenched skies.

Alabama beat Georgia five weeks ago in the SEC title game, but the Bulldogs are a slight favorite. This is the first rematch for the championship in the playoff era.

The game kicks off at Lucas Oil Stadium at 8 p.m.