(NBC NEWS) Communities across the South were on high alert Tuesday as a devastating storm system that left at least 28 people dead threatened to pack a one-two punch on the hardest-hit areas of Alabama and Mississippi.
The storm front killed at least 11 people on Monday when it slammed into parts of Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee and produced more than 50 tornado reports in 24 hours.
It spawned twisters, driving rain and scattered hail across swaths of the South and has been blamed for at least 17 deaths over the weekend in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Iowa.