Multiple tornadoes, violent storms tear across Southeast, killing 6

Debris is all that remains of The Game Room, located on highway 109 at intersection with highway 64, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011 in Davidson County, N.C. (Sonny Hedgecock - AP) Severe thunderstorms and as many as 16 tornadoes ripped through the Southeast Wednesday, killing at least six people and injuring dozens. Scores of homes and buildings were damaged according to reports. Tornadoes touched down in Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, states that have seen more than their share of tornado devastation in 2011.

The storms were triggered by a strong cold front that barreled across the region.

The storms that resulted in fatalilties occurred in the Carolinas and Georgia according to the Associated Press (AP):

In South Carolina, three people were killed and five injured when a likely tornado swept through a rural community near Rock Hill, about 20 miles south of Charlotte, N.C. In north Georgia, a man was killed when a tree fell on his sport utility vehicle. Authorities also said an adult and child were killed in central North Carolina.

The AP reports a damaging but not deadly tornadic storm occurred near Auburn, Alabama:

In eastern Alabama, a suspected twister splintered trees and demolished mobile homes at a pair of housing parks near the Auburn University campus. Less than seven months ago, a massive tornado roared past the campus of archrival University of Alabama in the western part of the state.

Track of supercell thunderstorm that caused tornadic activity from southeast Louisiana into west central Georgia ( Brad Panovich Twitter Feed ) The tornado that hit Auburn was part of a long-lived supercell (o rotating) thunderstorm that may have tracked from southeast Louisiana all the way into west central Georgia. Here’s a video of the tornado striking a residence in Auburn...

Through November 16, the preliminary count for tornadoes in 2011 in the U.S. is 1870, second most on record, trailing only 2008 which had 2200.

Watch this video recap of yesterday’s outbreak from CBS News: