Severe weather has plagued the southern U.S. during this week, and the misery continued as a tornado touched down in north-central Alabama.

Unseasonably warm weather starting Wednesday helped spawn torrential rain and deadly storms that left at least 15 people in three states dead and dozens of families homeless.

The tornado that touched down in Alabama on Friday was spotted by witnesses outside the city about 5 p.m. An hour later the National Weather service confirmed that first responders were on the scene in a working class neighborhood less than 10 miles from downtown Birmingham, AP reported.

Lt. Sean Edwards, a Birmingham police spokesman, said trees were down and people were trapped inside damaged houses. Several people were taken to hospitals for treatment of minor injuries. It wasn't clear if anyone was killed.