4 Members of Same Family Killed in Alabama Tornadoes

They lived in 2 separate houses on the same road
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 16, 2023 12:58 AM CST
4 Members of Same Family Killed in Alabama Tornadoes
All the remains of a house on County Road 43 is the foundation, at left, in the aftermath from Thursday's severe weather, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023, in Prattville, Ala.   (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

Four of the people killed in tornadoes in Alabama last week were members of the same family. Robert Gardner Jr., 70, and Deanna Marie Corbin, 59, lived at one house on Sandy Ridge Road in Prattville, and Christopher Allen Corbin Jr, 46, and Tessa Celeste Desmet, 21, lived at another house on the same road, the Hill reports. Corbin and Desmet "are related to Gardner and Corbin" from the other residence, the Autauga County Sheriff’s Office says in a press release, though it does not specify how the four were related. Three others were killed in the county: Carmen Cox Autery, 59, who also lived on Sandy Ridge Road; Andrea Sue Taylor, 61; and Solomon Antiono Smith, 50.

Two others were killed elsewhere in Alabama. Selma, an Alabama town well-known for its role in the civil rights movement, suffered heavy damage in the storm as well. And at least two people were killed in neighboring Georgia, which was also hit by tornadoes, the Washington Post reports. Among them was a 5-year-old boy killed when a tree fell on a car; another passenger in the vehicle was also injured and in critical condition. A state Department of Transportation worker responding to storm damage was the other Georgia victim. (More tornadoes stories.)

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