A powerful storm system that tore across the United States in recent days is winding down Monday, but in its wake are devastated communities across states hit with violent tornadoes, wildfires and dust storms spun off by the massive system.

The weather cut a swathe of destruction across an area of the country that is home to more than 100 million people.

The National Weather Service surveyed a round of severe storms and tornadoes in west Alabama on Saturday afternoon. The Saturday storms prompted tornado warnings, leaving affected areas with uprooted trees and downed power lines. There have been multiple confirmed tornadoes, in Tuscaloosa, Cullman and Pickens counties.

A severe storm on Monday swept through the U.S. Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, bringing thunderstorms, hail, damaging winds and the potential for tornadoes. Days earlier, the same ferocious weather system spawned violent twisters,