WASHINGTON D.C.: Local officials have said that at least nine people died after tornadoes destroyed homes and knocked out power to tens of thousands in the US Southeast, from Mississippi to Georgia.

The death toll in hard-hit central Alabama was expected to rise, they added.

National Weather Service meteorologist Jessica Laws said that the storms included least five tornadoes that struck central Alabama, with one tracking some 150 miles from southwest Selma, Alabama to the Georgia-Alabama state line.

In an interview with MSNBC, emergency management director Ernie Baggett said rescue teams were searching for missing people in Alabama's Autauga County, where seven deaths have been reported, and officials credited schools for saving more lives by not releasing students early.

In an interview with Reuters, county coroner Buster Barber said the number of casualties would rise, stating, "We are finding more bodies as we speak. We have got search teams out in the area."

The local sheriff's office in Autauga County said the storms damaged as many as 50 properties.

In Georgia, Governor Brian Kemp said two people died last week, adding that state employee also was killed while responding to the storm.

Butts County Coroner Lacey Prue said a 5-year-old child was killed after a tree fell on a car traveling home, leaving an adult passenger in critical condition.

Meanwhile, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey declared a state of emergency in Autauga, Chambers, Coosa, Dallas, Elmore and Tallapoosa counties.

According to PowerOutage.us, some 20,000 customers were without power in Alabama on the weekend, and the storm also led to power outages in neighboring Mississippi and Georgia.