By Rich McKay and Tatiana Bautzer (Reuters) -Portions of Pennsylvania, New York and Mid-Atlantic and Southeast states were still under a National Weather Service watch for damaging wind and tornadoes,

The death toll from tornadoes and violent storms that ravaged the central and southern United States over the weekend has risen to at least 40 people, with dozens more injured, local authorities said.

At least seven tornadoes hit Alabama on Saturday, and that number will likely climb even higher later today. The National Weather Service plans to continue looking at storm damage and has several areas that will be visited by storm survey teams today (Monday).

At least three people were confirmed dead in Alabama after a wave of severe storms spawned tornadoes across the state throughout Saturday evening, causing power outages, downed trees and destroyed structures.

A destructive wave of storms swept into Alabama on Saturday, bringing with them a rarely-seen threat level for possible long-track tornadoes, winds of up to 70 m.p.h., golf ball-sized hail and torrential rain.