CULLMAN — Portions of the City of Cullman were leveled by tornadoes Wednesday afternoon, and nothing but darkened rubble remained of some city blocks by sundown, as widespread electrical outages have left virtually the entire county without power.

Agencies ranging from Cullman Police and fire, Alabama State Troopers, the National Guard and volunteer fire departments responded to the city, and helped search several blocks in the northeast section of downtown for survivors.

As of Wednesday night, four injuries and no fatalities had been reported in the city (one death was reported earlier in the day in Johnson’s Crossing from a storm), and officials say most of the initial search and rescue operations have been completed.

“The storms followed a path of destruction through downtown and toward the Larkwood community,” Cullman Police Chief Kenny Culpepper said. “There is a lot of damage, with trees down on homes and things like that.”

Authorities are cordoning off the heavily damaged area of downtown, and a curfew was instituted Wednesday night within that perimeter.

“We’re trying to direct people around those areas to give rescue crews space to deal with gas lines, and downed power lines, and all those issues,” he said. “We have a lot of agencies coming in to help us, which is good because we have people who have been working since 5 a.m., so we can change shifts.”

Culpepper said his only concern is that some of those agencies providing assistance might be pulled back to other areas of the state, as areas across Alabama sustained heavy damage.

“Some of those folks could be pulled back, if their local areas were hit,” he said. “But, we really appreciate the help.”

Crews were working well into the afternoon to clear trees from area roadways, and Culpepper said he anticipates most major arteries will be open by Thursday.

“We’re trying to get as many open as possible to where vehicles can pass, for emergency workers and necessary vehicles to get through there,” he said. “But, that doesn’t mean both lanes will be open for full traffic, because that will take some time.”

In addition to downed trees, power outages are also expected to be a lingering issue across Cullman County. Officials with the Cullman Power Board said it could potentially take several days for service to be restored, as major infrastructure components were knocked offline by the storms.

“We’re looking at extended, prolonged outages,” power board manager Mike Manning said. “The TVA, which feeds us, has transformers down, and there are numerous substations out. We’ll be cleaning up debris, and trying to repair power to the substations. Once the TVA lines come back up, and we have things repaired, we’ll start to work to get as many people online as fast as possible.”

A statewide emergency was declared Wednesday afternoon, and officials have scheduled a press conference for 9 a.m. at city hall to provide the latest information available. Solid injury data, an updated clean-up plan and the latest on the area power outages will likely be among the topics broached.

Countywide damage and injury totals were unavailable by deadline of this article, though Cullman County Emergency Management Agency Director Phyllis Little said reports were widespread.

“It’s everywhere, because we had several tornado warnings, and we’ve had them track from Dodge City to Holly Pond, to Good Hope, through the city, and through West Point, Fairview, Baileyton and Joppa,” she said. “This was just a mixture of factors that got right at the same time, and everything came together for this type of super outbreak, and it’s that way across the state.”

The local EMA spent much of the evening scrambling to open a shelter for displaced residents, though widespread power outages left few viable facilities available.

“We’re about to open the civic center, even though we have no power, because there is just no power anywhere in the county,” Little said.

One of the biggest problems following the storm was a rush of traffic, Little said, which consisted mostly of curious on-lookers trying to survey damage.

“Please don’t go to these places to sightsee, because that’s a problem we’ve had throughout the day, with people out looking at the damage,” she said. “It makes it hard to get the emergency vehicles through. So, we need people to stay home and take care of their things there, and give us the space to try and get these roads opened up and debris cleared.”

Though it isn’t an issue yet, Little noted water supplies could become a concern if the power outages stretch out for several days. She encouraged all county residents to make an effort to ration water as much as possible.

“Because we’re out of power, we’re talking to folks to try and help us conserve water, because all we have is what’s in the storage tanks right now,” she said. “So, we’re asking people to be really cautious in their water use right now, and only use what is absolutely necessary.”

Initial reports indicated substantial damage to Cullman Regional Medical Center, though Little said her office was able to confirm those rumors were greatly exaggerated.

“We had heard, and folks were saying, the tornado that tracked through the city did damage at the hospital,” she said. “But, we’ve been able to confirm the hospital has not broken stride in their operations, and they’ve continued to work all the way through this.”