Tornadoes devastate parts of Gulf Coast as storms sweep U.S.

Houses in Panama City Beach, Fla., were severely damaged by a sprawling storm on Tuesday. (Bay County Sheriff's Office/AP) By Justine McDaniel and Kasha Patel

Tornadoes inflicted damage across parts of the Gulf Coast on Tuesday, leaving at least three people dead on a day when severe weather swept through much of the United States.

In pockets of northern Florida and southern Alabama, tornadoes dismantled homes, overturned trailers and left behind destruction and debris. A local official described a small town in Alabama as “basically destroyed,” while a curfew was declared in a small, hard-hit section in Panama City Beach, Fla., in Bay County on Tuesday night as authorities contended with hazardous damage.