Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

From Staff Reports

Alabama Power crews continue to work on restoring power to Selma and Dallas County residents in the wake of Thursday’s devastating tornado that racked the city and county. At their noon update, power company officials said there were 13,400 customers without power in Central Alabama, with 5,500 of those in Selma and Orrville. As of 2 p.m., Alabama Power Company’s outage map showed 4,319 residents without power in Selma, with 206 without power in Marion Junction and 483 without power in Orrville in Dallas County. Power has been restored to much of downtown Selma, including the area where local officials have set up their command center.

Alabama Power spokesperson Mike Jordan said restoration efforts will continue into the weekend.

“Work will continue in hardest hit areas of Dallas and Tallapoosa Counties into Saturday and Sunday.  Updated restoration times will be provided later today as they become available,” he said. “More than 1,000 additional resources from within Alabama and 5 states are in place and assisting with the restoration effort. Damage is severe. There exists a multitude of broken poles, damaged transformers, and fallen spans of wire.”

This is a developing story. More information will be provided as updates are made available.