Tornadoes Destroy Houses In North Alabama

Two tornadoes have reportedly touched down in Alabama Friday, leveling houses and damaging a school and a jail, as a severe weather system continues to sweep across a region from southern Ohio through much of Kentucky into Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia.

Huntsville police spokesman Harry Hobbs said people have been injured in Madison County and were being taken to hospitals in the area. He did not know the extent of the injuries, or how many people were hurt.

The NOAA's National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center has upgraded today to a "High Risk" for tornadoes across the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys Friday afternoon and into overnight hours - that indicates a higher threat for than for February 29, when a string of twisters across several states killed 13 people.

Emergency management officials told CBS News that one tornado has touched down in Limestone County, and another in Madison County heading towards an elementary school in Meridianville.

Buckhorn High School and Middle School in New Market, Ala., have been damaged, with part of the roof torn off the middle school. The students are said to be safe - no injuries reported - according to CBS Affiliate WHNT, but a nearby farmhouse was reported completely destroyed.

Madison County officials have told CBS News of "major damage to several houses" in the area of Harvest and Monrovia, but there is no word yet on injuries. Officials told CBS News one of the twisters cut a 4-5 mile swath.

The Associated Press is reporting that several houses were "leveled" in one neighborhood in the Walker Lane area.

WHNT is also reporting the Limestone County Correctional Facility, a state maximum security prison about 10 miles from Huntsville, took a direct hit. The inmates remained secured, according to Alabama Department of Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett. He told the Associated Press there were no reports of injuries but the roof was damaged on two large prison dormitories that each hold about 250 men.

"It was reported you could see the sky through the roof of one of them," Corbette said. A portion of the prison fence was knocked down by the storm but the prison was secure and no one had escaped, he said.

Huntsville Utilities is also reporting several large outages affecting 35,000 customers in northwestern Madison and Limestone Counties reports WHNT.

At 10:44 a.m. CT the National Weather Service's doppler radar indicated a tornado located near Jericho in Perry County moving east at 45 mph.

The National Weather Service said severe storms are likely across north Alabama from Friday afternoon through Saturday morning. A tornado warning was issued Friday morning for east-central Limestone County and northern Madison County. The weather service said there's a chance of long-track tornadoes, strong winds, flooding and large hail.

A tornado warning was also called in southeastern Franklin and north central Jackson Counties, and tornado warnings remain in effect until 1:00 p.m. ET for Marion, Hamilton and Sequatchie Counties in Tenn.

Twenty school systems - including the cities of Birmingham, Fayetteville and Russellville, and Colbert, Cullman, Etowah, Giles, Lauderdale, Lawrence and Walker Counties -are dismissing students early because of the possibility of strong storms.

Elsewhere, CBS Affiliate KMOV has received a report of a possible tornado that touched down in Clinton County in Illinois. Minor damage was reported in the north New Baden area about four miles south of Trenton, and roof and shingle damage in Belleville.

In parts of eastern Missouri a large amount of hail fell, with several reports of hail the size of a quarter in places ranging from Florissant in St. Louis County to Hermann, about 60 miles southwest of St. Louis. There were no immediate reports of significant damage.