Clay , Alabama ( CNN ) -- Alabama Gov . Robert Bentley on Tuesday toured communities hit by a tornado that destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes and killed two people . `` I do not understand , except by God 's grace , that people can survive some of the damage that I see in some of the residential areas , '' Bentley said . The National Weather Service confirmed at least three tornadoes touched down in Alabama early Monday . Two were detected in north central Tuscaloosa County , while the third hit near the town of Clay in Jefferson County , packing winds estimated at 150 miles per hour . The storm destroyed at least 211 homes and seriously damaged another 218 in Jefferson County alone , according to the Alabama Red Cross . The severe weather obliterated the three-story home of Darrell Heichelbech , his wife and two children . Daughter Christina Heichelbech , 16 , was one of two killed in the storm . `` She had just such spirit , such life ... She was the kind of kid you wanted to have , '' her father told CNN , barely able to speak through tears . `` All her plans were coming into play , and now they 're gone . I do n't know what to do . '' The girl 's family found her about 40 feet from the house , he told The Birmingham News . She was still on her mattress . `` She just looked like she was sleeping like a baby , '' the newspaper quoted the father as saying . `` But she was n't sleeping . She was gone . '' Heichelbech said the storm woke him up , and he called for his family to get downstairs , according to the newspaper . But he said the storm hit as soon as his 13-year-old son emerged from his room . `` I grabbed a hold of his legs and held on as hard as I could , '' the newspaper quoted him as saying . `` I felt wind , but no movement . It was a blink of an eye . There 's no question in my mind we took a direct hit . '' Authorities said the storm also killed Bobby Sims , 83 , a resident of Oak Grove , a community west of Birmingham . At least seven Alabama counties reported damage from the storm , with the majority in Jefferson and Chilton counties , the governor 's office said . Bentley pledged `` whatever resources we have available '' to take care of victims . In Jefferson County , five schools remained closed Tuesday , including one that will have to be torn down . Center Point Elementary was 80 % destroyed , district spokeswoman Nez Calhoun said . `` It 's like Mother Nature has a mean way of doing things , '' Calhoun said . `` This building was only six or seven years old . We added 22 classrooms for growth . '' The storm comes less than nine months after a tornado outbreak killed 243 people across Alabama , including 61 in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa . `` The one thing that we can say is thank goodness we 're not looking at what happened in this state last year in April , '' Art Faulkner , director of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency , said Monday . CNN 's Reynolds Wolf and Rick Martin contributed to this report .
NEW : Storm killed 243 people ; the father of the younger victim recalls his daughter . Alabama governor tours hard-hit communities . 2 schools in Jefferson County remained closed after storm . Storms come Tuesday after a tornado outbreak that killed 2 in Jefferson County .