WASHINGTON: A tornado has left one person dead and several people critically injured in Alabama, US media said Tuesday.

The storm, which hit the town of Fultondale in Jefferson County late Monday, caused "significant damage," the National Weather Service (NWS) tweeted.

One person has died and at least five people have been hospitalized with critical injuries, Fultondale Police Chief D.P. Smith told local news media AL.com.

"It looks like a bomb went off," local pastor's son Sam Moerbe, 18, told the outlet.

Smith said he understood that the individual died after a tree collapsed on their home as they sheltered in the basement.

Pictures on social media showed homes and buildings reduced to splinters, wrecked cars and blocked roads.

Fultondale's Fire Chief Justin McKenzie told ABC 33/40 the town had been "hit bad, multiple injuries, multiple houses, trees, people trapped."

Rescuers were still working into Tuesday morning -- with authorities urging people to stay away from the area to allow emergency services to get to work.

"We do still have people trapped in houses," the city's mayor Larry Holcomb told the New York Times.

Neighboring fire service Homewood tweeted they were sending "units to assist with search & rescue operations after the storms."

An NWS tornado watch remained in place for many Alabama counties into Tuesday.