Tuscaloosa, Ala. — President Obama tours "heartbreaking" devastation left by tornadoes and storms that killed more than 300 people and vowed to help Southern communities rebuild.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: SAUL LOEB / AFP / Getty Images

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Tuscaloosa, Ala. — Olivia Allen, right, with a disaster response team, hugs Janet Price, relieved to see she is safe. The tornado that touched down in Tuscaloosa is estimated to have been a mile wide.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Jessica McGowan / Getty Images

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Tuscaloosa, Ala. — James Dixon Jr. returns to his destroyed home in the Rosedale neighborhood. "Something like this will weigh on you for a long time," he says.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Jessica McGowan / Getty Images

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Tuscaloosa, Ala. — President Obama greets locals as he tours tornado-damaged areas of Alabama.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: SAUL LOEB / AFP / Getty Images

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Pleasant Grove, Ala. — Tim Parrish removes debris from his house in Pleasant Grove, just west of downtown Birmingham, Ala. Tornadoes and violent storms have raked seven Southern states.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: TAMI CHAPPELL / Reuters

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Tuscaloosa, Ala. — Fire Lt. Bill Savage looks for a missing child at the Rosedale Courts housing complex.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: David Bundy / AP

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Tuscaloosa, Ala. — An aerial view of tornado damage. Firefighters searched one splintered pile after another for survivors, combing the remains of houses and neighborhoods pulverized by the nation's deadliest tornado outbreak in almost four decades.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Dave Martin / AP

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Tuscaloosa, Ala. — Mary Abrams sits in what is left of her home in the Rosedale Court public housing project.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Michelle Lepianka Carter / Tuscaloosa News

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Tuscaloosa Ala. — A motorist drives his damaged car away.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Butch Dill

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Tuscaloosa, Ala. — Daniel Hinton looks through the remains of his house Thursday.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: AMANDA SOWARDS / MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER

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Eclectic, Ala. — Stephanie Macon finds a family photo while looking for belongings on Thursday in the wreckage of a mobile home owned by her parents.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mickey Welsh / MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER

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Tuscaloosa, Ala. — People reclaim some of their belongings in the Alberta City neighborhood Thursday.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: David Bundy / Associated Press

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Cottondale, Ala. — An aerial view shows the devastation after Wednesday's tornado cut through Alabama. President Obama said he would visit the state Friday to view damage and meet with the governor and families devastated by the storms.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Dusty Compton / Tuscaloosa News

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Ringgold, Ga. — Ray Steele helps clean up Sew Bee It, a quilt shop. The building was destroyed, but two glass vases remained on a shelf, unharmed.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Allison Carter / Chattanooga Times

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Tuscaloosa, Ala. — Kelly Giddens helps University of Alabama law student Daniel Hinton remove belongings from his destroyed home in the Cedar Crest neighborhood in Tuscaloosa.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Jessica McGowan / Getty Images

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Tuscaloosa, Ala. — Firefighters search the rubble of a home in the Alberta City section of Tuscaloosa. Dozens of tornadoes ripped through the South, flattening homes and businesses and killing at least 250 people in six states.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Jay Reeves / Associated Press

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Tuscaloosa, Ala. — University of Alabama Air Force ROTC cadet Kristin Wolse, left, carries a dog she and other students rescued from a house hit by a tornado in the Alberta City area of Tuscaloosa. The dog died soon after this image was made.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Jay Reeves / Associated Press

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Concord, Ala. — Faye Hyde, right, sits on a mattress in what was her yard as she comforts her grandchildren, including Sierra Goldsmith, 2, front. Their home was destroyed by a tornado. [For the record: An earlier version of this caption incorrectly gave the name of the town as Conord.]

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Jeff Roberts / THE BIRMINGHAM NEWS

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Pratt City, Ala. — Overnight tornadoes leave part of Pratt City, a suburb of Birmingham, Ala., in ruins.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: MARVIN GENTRY / Reuters

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Concord, Ala. — Rescue workers tend to an injured person.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Jeff Roberts / The Birmingham News

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Tuscaloosa, Ala. — John Boxmeyer climbs through the rubble of a home where he was helping friends recover belongings.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Jay Reeves / Associated Press

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Pleasant Grove, Ala. — Residents search through what is left of their homes after a tornado hit Pleasant Grove, just west of downtown Birmingham.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Butch Dill / Associated Press

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Pleasant Grove, Ala. — Residents search through what is left of their homes after Wednesday's tornado hit Pleasant Grove, just west of downtown Birmingham.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Butch Dill / Associated Press

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Cullman, Ala. — A utility pole hangs from wires in front of a church.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Brennen Smith / Decatur Daily

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Tuscaloosa, Ala. — People look at storm damage along 15th Street on Wednesday. A strong tornado moved through the city in the afternoon.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Dusty Compton / Tuscaloosa News

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Tuscaloosa, Ala. — A tornado moves through the city Wednesday.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Dusty Compton / Tuscaloosa News

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Pratt City, Ala. — Residents survey the destruction after a tornado hit the area.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Butch Dill / Associated Press

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A displaced family is assisted by emergency responders near Tuscaloosa, Ala.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Dusty Compton / Tuscaloosa News

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Pratt City, Ala. — Residents gather on a blocked street in Pratt City, just outside Birmingham.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Butch Dill / Associated Press

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Tuscaloosa, Ala. — Along 15th Street.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Dusty Compton / Tuscaloosa News

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Phil Campbell, Ala. — First responders carry an elderly woman away after rescuing her from the rubble of her home.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Giles / TIMES DAILY

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Automotive fluids leak from an overturned car in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Dusty Compton / Tuscaloosa News

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Lorna McCarter, left, and daughter Susan Hutchins regroup with their dog Shadow after their home was destroyed in the Cedar Crest neighborhood.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Dusty Compton / Tuscaloosa News

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Tuscaloosa, Ala. — McFarland Boulevard.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Dusty Compton / Tuscaloosa News

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Tuscaloosa, Ala. — In the Forest Lake neighborhood.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Michelle Lepianka Carter / Tuscaloosa News

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